Woot! A good Jesuit!

While I do hate strumming the strings of that Catholic blogosphere canard -- "oy, the Jesuits are all rotten... 'Jesuits -- again'..." -- I admit, very sadly, it has too much of a basis in reality. Whole swaths of the Society, especially in Europe and North America, are just cracked, semi-, would-be-, and outright-heteredox. Hence (or nevertheless?) I always take the chance to highlight "good Jesuits" and was reminded of a fellow Catholic blogger's Jesuit hono[u]r roll today (check out the links on his sidebar, too).

Consider this story about a good Jesuit, right here in my neck of the woods: Taiwan Jesuit Defends Video Depicting Abortion

The video was produced by leading former US abortionist turned pro-life activist, Dr. Bernard Nathanson, as part of his many efforts to undo the damage of the abortion movement. The images left some girls with nightmares, which triggered the criticism. The video is produced and distributed by the Catholic Church.

In response to the public outcry, Fr. Louis Aldrich, SJ, rector of the theological seminary at Fu-Jen Catholic University near Taipei, held a press conference last week [late April 2004 -- EBB]. ...

He described how the Church's position on sex outside of marriage and opposition to abortion was never much in the public interest before now. Fr. Aldrich described how the video has inspired young women to have greater respect for their own bodies, the Taiwan Church News said. He said that many young people have entered into a pledge with their partners to abstain from sexual relations before marriage as a result.

He encouraged teachers to preview the video before presenting it to students, to be better able to prepare them psychologically for what is portrayed. Fr. Aldrich encouraged teachers to use the video as an opportunity to explain how abortion is harmful to women's health. He even encourages classes to take field trips to a hospital obstetrics department to cement for youth the reality that abortion kills babies.