Ignatius of Loyola Speaks

Karl Rahner, S.J. (1904–1984) ranks among the most influential theologians of our time. His contributions to the Second Vatican Council (1963–1965) shaped to a large degree the doctrinal formulations on the church, the sacraments, and the role of the laity. And his efforts at reconciling the scholastic method with an existential and anthropological understanding of humanity’s relationship with God earned him the reputation of having opened doors for ecumenical dialogue and to those outside the church.
    Less well known is that toward the end of his life, Rahner had slipped into the role of Ignatius of Loyola in an essay titled “Speech of Ignatius of Loyola to a Modern-Day Jesuit.” In doing so, Rahner proved not only that he could readily identify with the spirit of the sixteenth-century reformer and founder of the Society of Jesus, but he also offered a summary of his own theological thought. In fact, Rahner had called the Ignatius speech “a sort of last will and testament” and “a resumé of my theology, in general, and of how I tried to live.”
    This is the first English translation of Rahner’s Ignatius speech in more than thirty years and the first time for it to appear as a single volume with annotations. Readers are being offered here a fresh lens through which to reappraise Rahner’s writings and a contemporary interpretation of the teachings and mysticism of Ignatius of Loyola.