IIRC, many orders have never “had” a pope. May just mean that no Jesuits were in that league before.
It’s an interesting question. First, maybe find out what % of Cardinals belong to a particular order, Dominican, Jesuit and so on. Then see where those Cardinals are from, especially looking at Italy if you go back farther than the last few Popes. Then you would have to look at the ages of the Cardinals (can’t be too young or too old) and if they coincided in a suitable way with conclaves. Maybe it’s just something like black left handed knuckleball pitchers, a minority of a minority of a minority.
Maybe the order of Albino Asassin Monks wouldn’t take orders from a Jesuit until recently.
Freegards
I have been thinking that Pope Francis had a connection to St Francis of Xavier because of both being of the Jesuit order and similar church histories and both from the Southern Hemisphere. I’ll have to change my thinking even though I still wonder why there is no mention of Francis Xavier in Pope Francis’s life..
Historically, the Jesuits were the “zealots”... indeed for centuries the Jesuits were the “enforcement” order, established to make certain the Pope’s orders were followed.
When a priest “stepped out of line”, it was the Jesuits that often would “come knocking”.
I believe part of the answer is that the Jesuits don’t usually “seek” higher office. I think I have only seen one Jesuit bishop, a monsignor, and the rest were priests. it’s unusual for a Jesuit to be in an office high enough for consideration. This is not the only reason, obviously. And I am only speaking from my own experience. Numbers could be different worldwide.
Their Order didn’t allow them to take higher offices outside the Order. It’s part of the promises they make when they join the Order. “ Jesuit priests at the time of their solemn and final profession in the Society of Jesus promise: I will never strive or ambition, not even indirectly, to be chosen or promoted to any prelacy or dignity in or outside the Society; and I will do my best never to consent to my election unless I am forced to do so by obedience to him who can order me under penalty of sin (Constitutions S.J., Part X, N°6 [817]).”
If they do serve outside the Order they lose their voice within the Order and are no longer under obedience to the Superior General.
A very interesting question and a very informative, educational thread. Thanks to all posters.
What an interesting Inquisition!
Why the first Jesuit pope is a big deal
By Caleb Bell, Religion News Service, The Washington Post, March 14, 2013
Jesuits are bound by oath not to seek higher office in the Roman Catholic Church, and now one of them has been elected to its highest office: Bishop of Rome, Vicar of Christ, Pontifex Maximus.
Pope Francis, the first Jesuit to become pope, not only represents a paradox for the papacy, but also the larger history of the Society of Jesus, as the Jesuits are formally known.
Complete article:
Most Cardinals are chosen from the diocesan ranks. “Diocesan” means one is not a member of a religious order like the Jesuits, Franciscans, Dominicans, Benedictines, and so on.
Basically for the same reason we have never had a US Marine as President.
But things can change.
If you want some real hard core knowledge of the Jesuits, here is a long read but fascinating. I don’t know how much is true but where there is smoke there is fire. FYI
http://www.theforbiddenknowledge.com/hardtruth/blackpope.htm
It is my understanding that there haven’t been many Jesuits who have been made Cardinals, so they just weren’t ‘in the running’.
I may be completely off-base here, but I would presume that it’s not typical for a priest from an order like the Jesuits to get appointed to a position like a bishop of a major diocese. I thought bishops usually came from the ranks of diocesan priests, not from an order of priests like the Franciscans, Jesuits, etc.
Timing is everything
because Jesuits have traditionally been left wing progressives that didn’t believe in God?
check the cemetery, oh sorry, I mean seminary rosters, they have infiltrated every religious sect of religion, even Islam.
Think not they come to change from without, NO, true destruction comes from within. Know Thy Word and Thy Word will set one free to be at peace as it all unfolds.
Why the first Jesuit pope is a big deal
“Jesuits are bound by oath not to seek higher office in the Roman Catholic Church, and now one of them has been elected to its highest office: Bishop of Rome, Vicar of Christ, Pontifex Maximus”