Religion: Standpat in Rome

To the Sistine Chapel—where Popes are elected and many solemn church decisions announced—Paul VI last week summoned delegates of the Jesuit General Congregation that for two months has been debating the reform of the order traditionally regarded as Roman Catholicism's highly disciplined and educated shock troops. To outsiders, the renewal effort has seemed dryly procedural and strikingly inconclusive; Paul's surprising purpose was to denounce sternly the "strange and sinister suggestions" that he detected in the discussions.

"Do you wish, sons of Ignatius, militants of the Society of Jesus, to be today, and tomorrow and always, that which you have been from...