Jesuits know how to laugh
Amsterdam is celebrating its 750th anniversary, and the Bishop of Haarlem-Amsterdam invited Pope Francis to mark the occasion. Pope Francis replied that he did not see how he could include such a visit in his agenda, but he invited the bishop and his congregation to come and meet him in Rome.
No sooner said than done. At the beginning of May, a delegation of 40 Catholics from Amsterdam met Pope Francis and presented him with a tulip created especially for him. It is white and yellow and is called the “Fratelli Tutti tulip”. Jan Stuyt, rector of the Jesuit church of St Francis Xavier in Amsterdam, was part of the delegation.
In addition to the tulip, Fr Stuyt presented the Pope with a book by Jesuit communicator Nikolaas Sintobin entitled, in the Spanish version, “En todo amar y reír” (In everything to love and laugh). Throughout history and in many cultures, there has been no shortage of opportunities to mock the Jesuits, and the Jesuits themselves have not shied away from hurling humorous arrows.
The
book is published in five languages: Spanish, Dutch (“Jezuïeten Grappen”),
English (“Jesuits Telling Jokes”), French (“Moquez-vous des jésuites”) and
Arabic. The subtitles of the various editions add depth to the publication,
presenting it as a treatise on humour and spirituality and as a serious
introduction to Ignatian spirituality.
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