Voyageurs Fieldsport LLC

Fly-fishing Guide Service, Adirondacks, Frederick MD, and United Kingdom

Jesuits and Me

Contact Voyageurs Fieldsport, and I will make you fishers of fish.
Here I am demonstrating the mechanics of a bow-n-arrow cast. Follow Voyageurs Fieldsport, and I will make you fishers of fish.

This short dispatch is biographical, despite the fact that I initially intended to write about sporting travel. Yet, a person with whom I’m acquainted recently commented that my mentality is very Jesuit and that it permeates voyageursfieldsport.com. In response, I stated something to the effect of disliking the order’s current enthusiasm for theological liberalism, to which my interlocutor admitted he shared the same sentiment.

Still, I was flattered. The Jesuits possess élan, suggesting they have aptitude for dangerous game hunting. I admire that, of course. But I also took his remark as a compliment due to the order’s historical emphasis on scholarship and evangelism. For I value catechesis and believe in getting the word out. Review Fieldsports and the Faith and you’ll see what I mean. The Jesuits, though, also have a reputation for intrigue, and intrigue always arouses nervous curiosity. Perhaps that now causes you to muse, “Watch yourself, Steve!” or to even shout something worse at the screen.

Ah, don’t worry about me. Yet, what’s curious in the present case is not that I’m engaged in something mysterious, but that I’m not Catholic. And yet I could be, which you may find…well, intriguing. I reckon the plot then has thickened enough such that I ought to expound upon where I fit within the Christian faith. And since doing so actually is germane to at least one October or November dispatch about deerstalking in the United Kingdom, then why not? After all, there’s little to lose if the path ultimately leads back to fieldsports.

The Roman Road

I come from a family that is largely Low Church Anglican, and specifically a fusion of Methodism and the British Keswick Movement (a para-church phenomenon represented on these shores by the likes of Moody Bible Institute and Christian and Missionary Alliance). As an adult, though, I fit poorly in the Methodist-Keswick Movement scene both temperamentally and doctrinally, as I favor less emotional expressions of the Christian faith and became theologically Augustinian in my early twenties, respectively. The latter, in particular, re-aligned me with non-Methodist Anglicans (a.k.a. Low Church Episcopalians) as well as Presbyterians. Since then, my thinking in regard to ecclesiology and other matters also has shifted, and very much in the same direction and to the same degree that John Henry Newman’s did in the 19th Century. Of course, some of you know where he ended up.

All of which means that, for me, the road leading to Rome was well-blazed. In fact, the odds were reasonably high that I would’ve travelled it following the institution, in 2009, of the Anglican Ordinariate by Pope Benedict XVI (1927 – 2022), which created fully Roman Catholic canonical structures that incorporate Anglican liturgy and patrimony, in recognition of the fact that the Church of England (and its cadet provinces by extension) was once part of Rome but split from it as a function of temporal politics rather than being a new denomination in the Protestant manner. And here in the United States, the Ordinariate was extended especially to the two largest American Anglican groups, namely Episcopalians and Methodists.

The Jesuit missionary, Father Isaac Jogues (1607 – 1646), is believed to be the first European to 'discover' what is today called Lake George New York. Yet, when he did so in 1646, he named it Lac du Saint-Sacrement. Later that same year, he was killed by the Mohawk, an Iroquoian nation, near present day Auriesville, New York. Shown in the photo is his monument in Battlefield Park in the town of Lake George, New York.
The Jesuit missionary, Father Isaac Jogues (1607 – 1646), was the first European to behold what is today called Lake George. Yet, when he did so in 1646, he named it Lac du Saint-Sacrement. Later that same year, he was killed by the Mohawk, an Iroquoian nation, near present day Auriesville, New York. Shown in the photo is his monument in Battlefield Park in the town of Lake George, New York.

I appreciated the offer, too. For there were multiple doctrinal shifts and practices within the Episcopal Church of which I disapproved. Although the proverbial straw came in early 2010 when the priest of the parish to which I belonged denied the divinity of Jesus Christ with the bishop’s blessing. How could I count myself an Episcopalian in the wake of that?

So, why didn’t I then become Roman Catholic? It’s on account of two reasons. Firstly, the Global Fellowship of Confessing Anglicans formed about the same time that Benedict XVI instituted the Anglican Ordinariate and, since I’m an adherent of conservatism and thus favor evolution over revolution, remaining in the Anglican camp struck a chord. But secondly, Pope Francis (1936 – 2025) – a Jesuit of all things – un-nerved me. Now, I thought highly of Pope Benedict XVI. He even was theologically Augustinian. Yet, Pope Francis equivocated and I wasn’t keen on paradoxy after dealing with unorthodoxy in the Episcopal Church.1

Merely Christian.

I’m always willing to fight my corner, theologically speaking. In the end, though, I choose to focus on that which is essential or, in other words, on that which is meant by the term mere Christianity. Coined from C. S. Lewis’ eponymously titled volume of Christian apologetics, it entails refraining from elevating differences – like the divide between Catholic and Orthodox and Protestant and Catholic, etc. – above their natural positions such that they eclipse essential Christianity and the unity that exists between all groups avowing the Nicene Creed.

Personally, I wish both the Great Schism and the Protestant Reformation never happened. I truly believe that being in communion with Rome is ideal. Yet, I’m not up for unscrambling omelettes either. Here we are. You say you’re Greek Orthodox or you’re Baptist? That’s fine. Since we avow the same Faith, I’ll extend my hand and work with you. Besides, all Christians like to fish or at least they should. Jesuits, in fact, have proven over time to be quite good at it.

Counterfactually then, I might have enjoyed a fishing adventure guided by Pope Francis. He was personable and he sought to maximize the catch. Yet, if I am Jesuit in any way, then I’m part of the stream represented by the likes of Avery Dulles (1918 – 2008), which is why I found Jorge’s casting mechanics, presentation methods, and choice of flies to be paradoxical. Actually, they totally confused me. But what about you? What is your approach to fishing?

This is the view of the south end of Lac du Saint-Sacrement, a. k. a. Lake George, in the Adirondacks of New York, which was Iroquoian country prior to European colonization. The Jesuits struggled among the Iroquois because of their association with New France, which had allied itself with enemies of the Iroquois, but namely the Huron, in the interest of controlling the fur trade and to thwart first Dutch then British incursion to the interior of North America.
A view of the south end of Lake George, in the Adirondacks of New York. It was Iroquoian territory prior to European colonization. On balance, the Jesuits performed poorly among the Iroquois, but really through no fault of their own. The problem was the order’s association with New France, which had allied itself with enemies of the Iroquois, namely the Huron, in the interest of controlling the fur trade and to thwart first Dutch then British incursion regarding the interior of North America.
  1. The Global Fellowship of Confessing Anglicans has problems as a consequence of its failing to fully confront theological liberalism. It’s a house divided, and one without a Magisterium. Therefore, who’s to say it won’t fracture in the end? ↩︎