Paolo Dezza; Jesuit Leader, Second-Oldest Cardinal

Paolo Dezza, 98, the second-oldest Roman Catholic cardinal and the Jesuit scholar chosen by Pope John Paul II to rein in the left-leaning Society of Jesus. Dezza, born in Parma, Italy, began the 14-year training of a Jesuit in 1918 and was ordained in 1928. In 1941, he was appointed rector of the most prestigious academic institution of the Roman Catholic Church, the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome. Karol Wojtyla, the future John Paul II, attended his lectures. He developed a reputation as an excellent teacher of students for the priesthood. In the 1950s, he began a steady climb up the Jesuit hierarchy, rising to president of the Society of Jesus’ Commission of Superior Studies by 1974. A Vatican insider, he came to know five popes well and served as confessor to John XXIII and Paul VI. Because of his loyalty to the Holy See, he was chosen by Pope John Paul II in 1981 to serve in the new post of “personal delegate of the Supreme Pontiff” to the Society of Jesus, which had become increasingly involved in left-wing politics and social justice. Dezza’s task was to persuade the more rebellious Jesuits to focus on more strictly religious concerns. He earned the respect of fellow Jesuits in Rome and stepped down as interim leader in 1983. Dezza was rewarded for his service in 1991 when the pope appointed him a cardinal even though he was well over the age to vote in any conclave to elect a pope. On Friday in Rome.