Province News

Testimony" from Peru: Fr. Jeffery Klaiber, SJ
Monday, June 30, 2003

Fr. Jeffery Klaiber, SJ
This piece, originally printed in Partners, the newsletter of the Peruvian Jesuits, is reprinted with permission from the Peru Province.

I am Jeffrey Klaiber, SJ, originally of the Province of Chicago. I came to Peru in 1963 in order to make my Juniorate, and after I finished all of my studies in Peru and the United States, I returned in 1976 in order to stay here. I am a university professor (The Pontifical Catholic University), author, and was Chairperson of the Department of Humanities for a time. As well, I dedicated my pastoral work strictly in the Pastoral Center of the university, and celebrate a couple of Masses during the weekend.

I teach History in the university. I have felt that History was like a vocation from the time I was a boy. My attraction to it was not merely an attraction to the past (I also enjoy science fiction and everything that is futuristic), but in part it was a gift to teach (the past, present and future) and to communicate History. I feel very good in the classroom speaking about the Russian revolution, the independence of the United States, or the life of Gandhi, because they are very interesting themes and because I believe that God has given me talent in order to take these histories and convert them into living dramas that wake up the imagination of my students. In addition, my students have told me that I am very clear: my listeners understand what happened and why such-and-such subject is important. For that reason, to me, to teach History is not a “work,” but a vocation: it is something natural that arises in me naturally.

One can ask (and some students of non-Jesuit high schools have asked): Doesn’t a priest have have to teach theology? The answer is very easy for a Jesuit. Ignatian spirituality discovers a God in the world and in the total of human works, large and small. As well, it discovers the absence of God in these same things. For that reason, there is a long humanistic tradition in the Society of Jesus that emphasizes the necessity to look for God in all human disciplines. So, with this understanding, I feel very much like a Jesuit to speak of themes that are purely secular. One who understands Ignatian spirituality knows that the Christian lives his faith in the world, and for this reason it is necessary to know the world and, in this, to find the power to speak about Him. If not, the Christian message would have little credibility for the men and women of today. In addition, (and this story is in the form of a joke), in fact I have taught classes in Theology, and when I did, these were obligatory classes, and I felt a little insecure about it. The reason is that the students didn’t have the power to actually see the subject of the course: God. However, I feel very secure teaching History because the students can see very clearly what is the theme of the class, and doesn’t doubt the reality (one can see the Second World War, the collapse of the Soviet Union, or the triumph of Nelson Mandela).

I teach many courses in the University, some are obligatory and are not enjoyable to me (which one has to do for the good of the institution) and others that I positively enjoy. My specialty is the History of the Church in Latin America, which I offer as an elective course. From this specialty I have created my own sub-specialty: religion and politics. On two occasions, when I have been a visiting professor to the United States, I offered a course “Religion and politics in Latin America,” that attracted many students. I also teach different courses in general history: contemporary history, history of the United States, modern history, etc. To teach these courses in general history obliges one to study a lot. I bring myself up to date by reading histories of China, Japan, Nazi Germany, etc. But I read these as novels, which makes this updating of knowledge for me rather a pleasure and not so much work.

But the work of a Jesuit university hardly ends in the classroom. I also feel a vocation to write, and in reality, I spend much of my time investigating and writing what I am teaching in a class. But one doesn’t write for the sake of writing. There is always a message that one wants to communicate. The difference between a philosopher and an historian is that the former establishes the existence of an idea (liberty) and speaks about this idea to his students, while the latter, the historian, discovers the idea in history itself as a vital and dynamic reality. In my first book, Religion and Revolution in Peru (English translation in 1976) (“Religión y revolución en el Perú”) I present the thesis that the politicians have not always understood the people. Thus were the liberators of the 19th century. However, with time different groups and people (indigenous, Mariátegui, Haya de la Torre, for example) freed the people, and the key was their discovery of the importance of religion to the people. My second book is a treatment of the same Church (La Iglesia en el Perú, 1988) (The Church in Peru). Mi interest in writing about the Church stems from two facts: there wasn’t a history of the modern Church in Peru, and there wasn’t a modern history of the Church. Yes: a modern history of the modern Church. There are Catholics who still don’t understand how one can criticize one’s own church. But this mentality mainly belongs to another apologetic period of time that doesn’t correspond to the modern world, and in total, the spirit of the Second Vatican Council. My goal was to leave a model of a history written from someone within and caring of the Church, but also critical: exactly what the Bishops of the Council did when they spoke of the Church.

My last book follows the same line of thought, but at the level of the continent: Iglesia, dictaduras y democracia en América Latina (1997) (Church, dictators and democracy in Latin America). The theme is sufficiently evident: how the Church was a positive force (with one or two exceptions) in favor of human rights and the fight to return democracy in many of the Latin American countries from the 1960’s to 1990’s. I traveled to 10 countries in order to accomplish this investigation.

Now, I am in the middle of another book: Los Jesuitas en América Latina (The Jesuits in Latin America). Although the theme seems quite obvious, in fact there is a message that goes well beyond a history of a determined religious order. The thesis is: in the same way that the Jesuits accomplished a synthesis between modernity and inculturation in colonial Latin America, they continue looking for this synthesis, today, Christians (and non-Christians) of the 21st century can also discover a synthesis between modernity and the local cultures around the world. I hope to finish this in a year, more or less.

These books are the projects of years. It is very difficult to write on book, one that includes everything about a period of time or of a continent, because there isn’t a lot of stimulation and reward along the way. Unlike the experience of teaching a class, when one can return every day with the immediate satisfaction of having made something concrete and positive, in order to write a book, one has months and years of work before seeing some fruitfulness of the hours and hours of work.

Good, I also want to describe the pastoral work. I have been celebrating a weekly Mass in the Agostino for many years, and another one in English that I alternate with Fr. Edward Schmidt, SJ. In the university, I help in the Pastoral Center with a weekly Mass and other activities. Of course, students with academic and personal problems come to my office. As well, I give talks about such subjects as “love and sexuality” and give retreats to adults and youth. Good, this is a small summary of my life. I enjoy my life and believe that I am on a good path. I believe that everything falls within my vocation to be a Jesuit and to proclaim the Kingdom. With frequency I have my doubts about the best way to do things, and in fact have come to understand some of my experiences that seemed good, but later decided that they were not for the “Greater Glory of God.” I also like to read political or espionage novels, and I enjoy walking a lot. But this is another history...