THE GUARDIAN
Jesuitical reasoning in Georgetown
Why has the Jesuit university in Georgetown honoured the former president of Colombia?
The 31,000 members of the Society of Jesus (also known at the Company of Jesus in Spanish) make up a formidable, driven organisation. They underline their sense of discipline and commitment so it is not surprising that a group of them electrified the church in 1989 when six of them were murdered by US-trained troops at the university their order ran in San Salvador. The Salvadorean military régime could not stand their criticism of its actions.
It is a remarkable fact therefore that at a very vehement argument has just blown up among them. Father Javier Giraldo, a teacher in the Jesuit university in Bogotá who is probably the finest political intellect in Colombia, fired off a sharp letter last month about the decision of his Jesuit brethren at Georgetown University in Washington. It expressed great concern at their decision to appoint Álvaro Uribe, the outgoing President of Colombia, a "Distinguished Scholar in the Practice of Global Leadership" at their establishment. The move has provoked widespread protest inside and outside the university.
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