Jesuitical reasoning in Georgetown

[Judi Lynn]

Jesuitical reasoning in Georgetown
Why has the Jesuit university in Georgetown honoured the former president of Colombia?

Hugh O'Shaughnessy guardian.co.uk,
Thursday 21 October 2010 13.29 BST

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.

Yet anyone with even the most superficial knowledge of Latin America knows that the files of Amnesty International bulge to breaking point with evidence of atrocities committed in ex-president Uribe's time (Father Giraldo himself has been targeted for elimination by right-wing terrorists).he former leader has for years been widely detested as the principal client of the US and its efforts to recover some of its former political and military influence in the region.

In his letter Father Giraldo recalled how Uribe had founded and protected paramilitary groups in his native province of Antioquia who "murdered and 'disappeared' thousands of people and displaced multitudes, committing many other atrocities." During Uribe's time in the presidency, says the writer, the Colombian Congress and government offices were filled with criminals and drug traffickers while the judiciary was so manipulated by him that "it ended up destroying the moral conscience of the country."

More:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/belief/2010/oct/21/religion-colombia-jesuits-uribe-georgetown

[BlueMTexpat]

1. As a Georgetown alum, I applaud the many fine Jesuits I

have known who are NOT apologists for RW dictators, tyrants and terrorists.

But I have been extremely upset for years that the GU administration saw fit to hire Iraq WMD lie manufacturer Douglas Feith after he left the Bush Administration. In that light, their bestowing honors on Uribe - someone whom Feith certainly admires - is understandable, albeit still inexcusable. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Douglas_J._Feith

Out with Feith and his ilk! Feith should be in prison, together with all the BushCo war criminals - and Uribe could still be hauled before the ICC at some point. I hope that will happen sooner rather than later.

[mudplanet]

2. Seconded

[COLGATE4]

3. It's really remarkable how Father Giraldo remains alive, being

that he's 'targeted for elimination by right-wing terrorists'. He lives unprotected in a convent in Bogota, Colombia's capital and, as far as I know, has suffered no harm nor attempts on his life. This in a country where political groups have had no problem (or difficulty) in publicly and violently assassinating a sitting Colombian Cabinet Minister or a Presidential Candidate during the run up to the election. It seems that either Father Giraldo has divine protection or perhaps the situation is not quite as dire as some would have you believe.

[Judi Lynn]

4. My god, he's even been forced to exile at other times because of death threats.

As far as you know? Why speak first without knowing anything about it?

He has been hounded and harrassed for many, MANY years. What keeps you from recognizing Jesuits have been killed repeatedly by rightists in Latin America? Don't you ever read the newspapers or magazines? Father Giraldo has been in danger forever.

~~~~~
The Jesuit Center of Investigation and Popular Education (CINEP) in Bogota, Colombia, denounced a series of death threats and political intimidation leveled against a Jesuit Priest, Javier Giraldo, SJ, a human rights analyst who manages the human rights monitoring database at CINEP. The threats culminated in the scrawling of graffiti upon the wall of the CINEP offices and other buildings throughout Bogota that read, "Against the Priest," and "Javier Giraldo = Dead."

The CINEP and Jesuit Refugee Service/USA call upon the Government of Colombia to take these threats seriously, to launch an immediate investigation, and to offer protection and security to those who work for CINEP, most especially for Father Javier Giraldo.

On May 19, 1997, two CINEP associates and two of their family members were assassinated when armed paramilitaries invaded their home in Bogota. Like Father Javier, two of the victims of this attack – Elsa Alvarado and Mario Calderon – were the human rights analysts who managed the CINEP human rights database. In light of this history, we take these threats against Fr. Javier and against the safety of any of those who work for CINEP very seriously and see this as part of a troubling pattern of the targeting and terrorization of human rights defenders in Colombia. CINEP released the following statement on April 27, 2010 in support of Father Javier and human rights defenders in Colombia:

The graffiti expresses death threats against Father Giraldo because he has denounced crimes and assassinations committed by the Colombian National Army, the paramilitaries and guerrilla groups since July 1996 in the Peace Community of San José de Apartadó. Moreover, he has organized and signed petitions to denounce countless criminal actions by armed groups, the majority of which have gone unpunished.

We reject these threats against Father Giraldo, who has defended human rights and denounced the pattern of impunity toward crimes against International Humanitarian Law that have occurred and continue to occur in Colombia. These threats are clearly a result and response to his unwavering commitment to the victims of violence.

Because of this, CINEP/PPP, as well as the Society of Jesus , demand that the National Government of Colombia conduct an investigation to find those responsible for these threats and clearly define the methods of protection that will be offered to those affected. Without this assistance from the Colombian Government there is no guarantee that the defenders of human rights will be able to continue their work in safety.

http://www.cmsm.org/CMSM_Alert/May10/index.shtml

~~~~~
Interesting statement from Fr. Giraldo:

~snip~
Mapiripán is the site of one of the worst paramilitary massacres to date, yet many of the town's residents voted for the "paramilitary" candidate, Uribe. Father Javier Giraldo of the Colombian human rights group Justicia y Paz was in Mapiripán on election day: "There was a great deal of fraud. There were paramilitaries in the voting booths. They destroyed a lot of ballots. This was denounced to the Ombudsman, but nothing happened." Electoral fraud, widespread paramilitary threats—denounced by virtually all the other candidates during the election campaign—and the almost total decimation of the electoral left in the preceding decade all contributed to Uribe's election victory.

http://www.globalexchange.org/countries/americas/colombia/1901.html

~~~~~
URGENT ACTION:

4 May 2010
UA 103/10 Fear for safety
COLOMBIA Father Javier Giraldo
Father Alberto Franco
Other members of the Inter-Church Justice and Peace Commission

Members of the Colombian human rights NGO the Inter-Church Justice and Peace Commission (Comisión
Intereclesial Justicia y Paz), including priest Father Javier Giraldo, are in danger following the appearance of threatening
graffiti in Bogotá, Colombia’s capital.

On the morning of 22 April, threatening graffiti appeared on a number of walls in central Bogotá. Some of the
graffiti accused members of the Inter-Church Justice and Peace Commission of being terrorists (“ONG Justicia y
Paz= terrorista”). Other graffiti made an explicit reference to Father Javier Giraldo, a Jesuit priest and a member of
the Inter-Church Justice and Peace Commission. The graffiti called for the death of Javier Giraldo (Javier Giraldo =
Muerte). Some of the graffiti messages state: “Against the Marxist priest- national action” (Contra el cura marxista –
Accion nacional). It is thought that this refers to either Father Javier Giraldo, or another priest, Father Alberto Franco,
who is also the lawyer who represents the Inter-Church Justice and Peace Commission. Both men are high-profile
human rights defenders in Colombia. Father Javier Giraldo also oversees a database of human rights violations
reported around Colombia.

The Inter-Church Justice and Peace Commission has been receiving death threats for several years. The Inter-
American Commission on Human Rights, part of the Organization of American States, has in recent years called on
Colombia to protect members of the organization as a result of these death threats.

More:
http://www.amnestyusa.org/actioncenter/actions/uaa10310.pdf

[VioletLake]

5. The Jesuit university in Georgetown "honoured" Uribe

because he is an important ally of the Empire of America. And, to quote the article from the OP, "Here it must be said that, despite its Jesuit connections, Georgetown University, President Uribe's new base, is well-known as a safe haven for establishment figures of the extreme right."

Georgetown University's connections with the Empire and Opus Dei outweigh its Jesuit connections, which are not what the article makes them out to be. Jesuits like Father Giraldo are the exception.

[CHIMO]

6. Head Office

Orders

Religion: John Paul Takes On the Jesuits


The Pope picks his own team to head the powerful order

The Jesuits swear an oath of obedience to the papacy but, throughout their 441-year history, their independent ways and elitist style have ruffled many Popes. John Paul II, no stranger to controversy, last week took a bold step to bridle the Society of Jesus. In a move interpreted as a warning to all religious orders, he suspended the normal workings of the Jesuit Constitutions, removed the acting leader of the organization and replaced him with two Italian Jesuits who enjoy the Vatican's confidence: Paolo Dezza, 79, and Joseph Pittau, 53.

John Paul has entered a high-stakes game. The Jesuits are the largest (27,000) and the most dominant of the men's orders, with far-flung influence in education, theology and missions. The Superior General of the society is considered the second most powerful figure in Roman Catholicism.

Pontiffs have intervened in the past by dictating the elections of Superiors General. In 1773 Pope Clement XIV even dissolved the society, a 41-year-long humiliation that some Jesuit intellectuals close to the Vatican are comparing with John Paul's treatment.

http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,922654,00.html