H. Fraser's Letter to Father Arrupe
THE JESUIT AND NON-JESUIT REACTIONS
In our February 1979 issue we published Mr. Hamish Fraser's "Open Letter to Father Arrupe." What follows is reprinted from the Midsummer 1979 issue of Approaches, a magazine edited by Mr. Fraser in Scotland.
Our "Open Letter to Father Arrupe, S. J." which was published in Approaches 64, was sent to Fr. Arrupe himself and to the following official Jesuit publications: Civilta Cattolica (Rome), Etudes (Paris), The Month (London), and America (New York). It was also sent to a host of other publications both Jesuit and non-Jesuit. The reactions were interesting.
THE NON-JESUIT REACTION
Our "Open Letter" was published in full in the following publications: The Bulletin (Malta) of January 12, 1979, which, the week previously, had published Fr. Arrupe's statement on catechesis at the 1977 Synod; The Laity (India) of January 1979; The Remnant (USA) of January 18, 1979; SiSiNoNo (Rome) of February 1979; The Angelus (USA) of February 1979; Chiesa Viva (Brescia, Italy) of March 1979.
Moreover in the National Catholic Register (USA) of February 4, 1979, Dr. Paul Hallett devoted his entire column to the "Open Letter."
Other editors, while not reproducing the "Open Letter," expressed thanks for it and said they would use the material in it as background for comment on the question of Marxist infiltration in the Church.
THE JESUIT REACTION
Father Arrupe's reply (in English) was as follows:
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8 January 1979 Dear Mr. Fraser: Thank you for your open letter of December 14 which reached me January 2nd. I regret very much that you find me naive in my hopes of positive developments in the Marxist world and guilty of a dangerous invitation to collaboration with Marxist movements. I trust too that I have more respect for the social teaching of the Church than you seem to credit me. In view of other commitments and obligations I cannot see my way to engaging in a clarification of my position as expressed in that intervention. Yours is the first such interpretation and criticism that I have received in the more than a year since the Synod. May God bless you throughout the new year which we are beginning. Please pray for me and I shall pray for you. Sincerely in Christ, (2) Official Jesuit Journals
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No reply or even acknowledgment was received from Civilta Cattolica (Rome) or The Month (London). However, replies were received from America and Etudes, official Jesuit organs in the USA and France, respectively. They were as follows:
Reply from the Editor of America
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106 West 5 6th Street January 25, 1979 Dear Mr. Fraser: Mr. Paul Hallett has forwarded on to me your letter of December 13, 1979 which accompanies a copy of your open letter to Father Arrupe. I regret to say that we do not consider it appropriate to publish the open letter in America. Although America magazine is edited by Jesuits, we are anxious to keep the editorial concerns as universal as possible. 1 think your criticism of Father Arrupe's statement, while not without interest, does not represent the viewpoint that most of our readers would find instructive. With all good wishes, I am Sincerely,
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Reply from Editor of Etudes
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15 rue Monsieur, le 12 Janvier 1979 Cher Père, Je vous remercie de m'avoir communiqué la lettre que vous envoyez au Père Arrupe sur la difficulté d'une collaboration entre Chrétiens et marxistes. Nous avons déjà beaucoup travaillé ce thème aux Etudes, dans le contexte français. Sans doute connaissez-vous suffisamment notre revue pour comprendre que nous ne publions pas ce genre de communiqué; nous en serions submergés. Avec 1'expression de mes sentiments respectueux. (sgd.) André Masse, S.J.
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English translation of Etudes letter
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Dear Father, Thank you for having sent me the letter you sent to Father Arrupe concerning the difficulty of collaboration between Christians and Marxists. In Etudes, we have already devoted much consideration to this theme in the French context. You no doubt are sufficiently familiar with our review to understand that we do not publish this kind of statement; we would be submerged by them. Respectfully yours, etc.
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OUR OBSERVATIONS
We are grateful to Fr. Arrupe for replying to our "Open Letter" so courteously and promptly.
It is certainly not without interest that more than a year later he should so unhesitatingly reaffirm the views expressed in his 1977 Synod statement, and that his only regret is that anyone should consider him either naive or guilty because of his standpoint.
We are not, however, surprised that ours seems to have been the first "such criticism and interpretation" to be addressed to him in person. For it has for long been manifest that it would be a waste of time for any anti-Communist to seek to engage him in dialogue. And in fact he quite explicitly confirms this in the penultimate paragraph of his letter.
Our "Open Letter" was not sent in the hope of engaging Fr. Arrupe in dialogue. Indeed, it was precisely because this was considered to be unrealistic that it was written in the form of a public challenge not only to Father Arrupe but to any Jesuit in agreement with him. It was sent to Fr. Arrupe personally, and also to the editors of four official Jesuit organs, out of courtesy and also on the off chance that our challenge might be at least officially acknowledged by one or other of these accredited Jesuit spokesmen. And in fact, it has been officially acknowledged not only by Fr. Arrupe himself but also by the editors of two official Jesuit organs, America and Etudes.
Our purpose has thus been accomplished and we are now able to reveal that despite its thus having been officially acknowledged (even said to be "not without interest" by the editor of America), there is no member of the Society of Jesus anywhere who is prepared to accept our challenge—not even in France where, as the editor of Etudes so forthrightly admits, the theme of collaboration between Christians and Marxists has been discussed, ad nauseum.
The Unaccepted Challenge
To remind readers of the precise terms of the challenge which no Jesuit is willing to accept it is as follows:
IF YOU [Father Arrupe] INSIST ON PRETENDING THAT ANY CHRISTIAN PURPOSE IS SERVED BY YOUR ADVOCACY OF "HONEST AND OPEN COLLABORATION" WITH ANY BRAND WHATEVER OF REVOLUTIONARY MARXISM, I DEFY YOU OR ANY OTHER MEMBER OF THE SOCIETY OF JESUS TO CITE A SINGLE INSTANCE WHERE SUCH COLLABORATION HAS NOT REDOUNDED TO THE ADVANTAGE OF REVOLUTIONARY MARXISM AND TO THE DISADVANTAGE OF CHRISTIANS AND THE CHURCH.
In other words, no Jesuit anywhere can cite "a single instance" where "honest and open collaboration with any brand whatever of revolutionary Marxism . . . has not redounded to the advantage of revolutionary Marxism and to the disadvantage of Christians and the Church."
Silence could scarcely be more eloquent.
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