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From its foundation by St. Ignatius of Loyola and its approval by
Paul III the Society of Jesus had remained true to the teaching
and spirit of its holy founder and loyal to the Holy See. In the
defence of the Church, especially in Germany, Austria, Poland,
Hungary, and France, in the domain of education and of literature,
in the work of spreading Christianity amongst the races and peoples in
India, China, Japan, and America, the Jesuit Fathers took the
foremost place. They laboured incessantly to stay the inroads of
heresy, to instil Catholic principles into the minds of the rising
generation, and to win new recruits to take the place of those who had
gone over to the enemy.
But their very success was sufficient to arouse the wrath of their
adversaries and the jealousy of their rivals. Lutherans and
Calvinists, enraged by the success of the Counter-Reformation,
denounced the Jesuits as enemies of progress and enlightenment, whose
very existence was a danger to the peace and the liberty of Europe.
These charges were re-echoed by Jansenists and Gallicans, by
infidel philosophers and absolutist politicians, and, stranger still,
by many whose orthodoxy could not be questioned, but whose judgment was
warped by their annoyance at the wonderful success of a comparatively
young organisation. The Jesuits were accused of favouring laxity of
morals on account of the support given by some of them to Probabilism,
of sympathising with Pelagianism on account of the doctrine of
Molina, of supporting tyrannicide on the strength of the work of
Mariana, of upholding absolutism on account of their close relations
with the rulers of France, and Spain, and of seeking to undermine
governments and constitutions by their secret political schemes and
their excessive wealth. Garbled extracts taken from the works of
individual Jesuits were published as representing the opinions of the
body, and the infamous "Monita Secreta", purporting to contain the
instruction of Aquaviva to his subjects, was forged (1612) to
bring discredit upon the Society.[183]
More than once the combined assaults of its enemies seemed on the point
of being crowned with success. During Aquaviva's tenure of office as
general (1585-1615) the society was banished from France and
from Venice, while the demands of the Spanish Jesuits for a Spanish
superior, backed as it was by the influence of the court, threatened
to destroy the unity of the Society. Again in the time of Paul
Oliva (1664-1681) and Charles Noyelle
(1682-1686) controversies regarding Jansenism,
Probabilism, the "Regalia", and the Gallican Declaration of the
French clergy (1682), endangered the existence of the Society
in France, and threatened to lead to misunderstandings with the Holy
See, but under the Providence of God these dangers were averted,
and the eighteenth century found the Jesuits still vigorous in Europe
and not less vigorous in their labours among the heathen nations.
But their opponents though beaten time and again were not
disheartened. The infidel philosophers of the eighteenth century
recognised in the Jesuits the ablest defenders of the Catholic
Church. If only they could succeed in removing them, as Voltaire
declared, the work of destroying the Church seemed comparatively
easy. Hence they united all their forces for one grand assault upon
the Society as the bulwark of Christianity. They were assisted in
their schemes by the Jansenists, eager to avenge the defeat they had
received at the hands of the Jesuits, and by the absolutist statesmen
and rulers of Europe, who aimed at the enslavement of the Church,
and who feared the Jesuits as the ablest exponents of the rights of
religion and of the Holy See. The Jesuits controlled to a great
extent Catholic education both lay and clerical, and it was hoped that
by installing teachers devoted to state supremacy and Enlightenment in
their place the future of absolutism and of rationalism might be
assured.
The attack on the Jesuits was begun in Portugal during the reign of
Joseph Emmanuel (1750-1777). He was a man of liberal
views, anxious to promote the welfare of his country, as well as to
strengthen the power of the crown. In accomplishing these objects he
was guided by the advice of the prime minister, Joseph Sebastian
Carvalho, better known as the Marquis of Pombal.[184] The latter
had travelled much, and was thoroughly imbued with the liberal and
rationalistic spirit of the age. He regarded the Catholic Church as
an enemy of material progress, and the Jesuits as the worst teachers
to whom the youth of any country could be entrusted. A treaty
concluded with Spain, according to which the Spaniards were to
surrender to Portugal seven of the Reductions of Paraguay in return
for San Sacramento, afforded him the long desired opportunity of
attacking the Jesuits (1750). The Indians on the Reductions,
who had been converted by the Jesuits, were to be banished from their
lands to make way for mining operations in search of gold, and though
the Jesuits tried hard to induce their people to submit to this
decree, the Indians, maddened by the injustice and cruelty of the
treatment of the Portuguese, rose in revolt. The Jesuits were
blamed for having fomented the rebellion. By orders of Pombal they
were arrested and brought to Portugal, where the most extravagant
charges were published against them in order to damage them in the eyes
of the people.
The Portuguese government appealed to Benedict XIV to take
action against the Society. The Pope appointed Saldanha an
apostolic visitor to examine into the charges that had been made.
Though the instructions laid down for the guidance of the visitor were
precise in every detail, Saldanha, unmindful of the restrictions
imposed by the Pope and without hearing any evidence that might favour
the accused, decided against the Jesuits and procured the withdrawal
of their faculties in Lisbon (1758). In September of that year
a plot directed against one of the royal officials, but supposed to
have for its object the murder of the king, was discovered and
attributed without any evidence to the Jesuits. They and many of
their supposed allies among the nobility were arrested and thrown into
prison; their schools were closed, and various fruitless attempts were
made to induce the younger members to disown the Society. Finally in
September 1759 a decree of banishment was issued against the
Jesuits. Most of them were arrested and despatched to the Papal
States, while others of them, less fortunate, were confined as
prisoners in the jails of Portugal. Father Malagrida, one of the
ablest and most saintly men of the Society, was put to death on a
trumped-up charge of heresy (1761). Clement XIII
(1758-1769) made various attempts to save the Society, and
to prevent a breach with Portugal, but Pombal determined to push
matters to extremes. The Portuguese ambassador at Rome suddenly
broke off negotiations with the Holy See and left the city, while the
nuncio at Lisbon was escorted to the Spanish frontier (1760).
For a period of ten years (1760-1770) friendly relations
between Rome and Portugal were interrupted.
In France the Jesuits had many powerful friends, but they had also
many able and determined enemies. The Jansenists who controlled the
Parliament of Paris, the Rationalists, the Gallicans, and not a
few of the doctors of the Sorbonne, though divided on nearly every
other issue, made common cause against the Society. They were
assisted in their campaign by Madame de Pompadour, the king's
mistress, for whom the Jesuit theology was not sufficiently lax, and
by the Duc de Choiseul, the king's prime minister. The well-known
Jesuit leanings of Louis XV and of the royal family generally,
imposed a certain measure of restraint upon the enemies of the
Society, until the famous La Valette law suit offered its opponents
an opportunity of stirring up public feeling and of overcoming the
scruples of the weak-minded king. The Jesuits had a very important
mission in the island of Martinique. The natives were employed on
their large mission lands, the fruits of which were spent in promoting
the spiritual and temporal welfare of the people. La Valette, the
Jesuit superior on the island, had been very successful in his
business transactions, and encouraged by his success, he borrowed
money in France to develop the resources of the mission. This money
he could have repaid without difficulty, had it not been that during
the war between France and England some vessels bearing his
merchandise were seized by the English (1755). La Valette was
in consequence of this unable to pay his creditors, some of whom sought
to recover their debts by instituting a civil process against the
procurator of the Paris province. For several reasons the Jesuits,
though not unwilling to make a reasonable settlement, refused to
acknowledge any responsibility. The creditors insisted on bringing the
case to trial, and the court at Marseilles decided in their favour.
The Jesuit procurator then appealed to the Parliament of Paris, at
that time strongly Jansenist in its tendencies. The Parliament, not
content with upholding the verdict, took advantage of the popular
feeling aroused against the Society to institute a criminal process
against the entire body (1761).
A commission was appointed to examine the constitutions and privileges
of the Jesuits. It reported that the Society was dangerous to the
state, hostile to the "Gallican Liberties", and unlawful. The
writings of Bellarmine and Busenbaum were ordered to be burned, and
the famous "Extrait des Assertions", a kind of blue-book
containing a selection of unpopular views defended by Jesuit writers,
was published to show the dangerous tendencies of the Society and to
prejudice it in the eyes of the people. The Provincial of the
Jesuits offered for himself and his subjects to accept the Declaration
of the French clergy and to obey the instructions of the bishops, but
the offer, besides being displeasing to the Roman authorities, did
not soften the wrath of the anti-Jesuit party, who sought nothing
less than the total destruction of the Society.
Louis XV endeavoured to bring about a compromise by procuring the
appointment of a vicar for France. With this object he called a
meeting of the French bishops (1761), the vast majority of whom
had nothing but praise for the work of the Jesuits, and wished for no
change in the constitution of the Society. Similar views were
expressed by the assembly of the French clergy in 1762. Clement
XIII laboured energetically in defence of the Jesuits, but in
open disregard of his advice and his entreaties, the decree for the
suppression of the Society was passed by Parliament in 1762,
though its execution was delayed by orders of the king. Meanwhile
proposals were made to the Pope and to the general, Ricci,[185] for
a change in the constitution, so as to secure the appointment of an
independent superior for France, which proposal was rejected by both
Pope and general. In 1763 the Jesuit colleges were closed;
members of the Society were required to renounce their vows under
threat of banishment, and, as hardly any members complied with this
condition, the decree of banishment was promulgated in 1764.
Clement XIII published a Bull defending the constitution of the
Society, and rejecting the charge against its members (1765),
while the French bishops addressed an earnest appeal to the king on its
behalf (1765).
The example of Portugal and France was soon followed by Spain.
Charles III (1759-1788) was an able ruler, anxious to
restore the former greatness of his country by encouraging the
establishment of industries and by favouring the introduction of foreign
capital and foreign skill. He was by no means irreligious, but he was
influenced largely by the liberal tendencies of the age, as were also
in a more marked degree his two principal ministers Aranda and de
Roda. Popular feeling was aroused by the favour which the king showed
towards French capitalists and artisans, and in some places ugly
commotions took place. The ministers suggested to the king that the
Jesuits were behind this movement, and were the authors of certain
dangerous and inflammatory pamphlets. Secret councils were held, as a
result of which sealed instructions were issued to the governors of all
towns in which Jesuit houses were situated that on a fixed night the
Jesuits should be arrested (1767). These orders were carried
out to the letter. Close on six thousand Jesuits were taken and
hurried to the coast, where vessels were waiting to transport them to
the Papal States. When this had been accomplished a royal decree was
issued suppressing the Society in Spain owing to certain weighty
reasons which the king was unwilling to divulge. Clement XIII
remonstrated vigorously against such violent measures, but the only
effect of his remonstrances was that the bishops who defended the papal
interference were banished, those who would seek to favour the return
of the Society were declared guilty of high treason, and the
punishment of death was levelled against any Jesuit who attempted to
land in Spain.
In Naples, where Ferdinand, son of Charles III of Spain then
ruled, the suppression of the Jesuits was planned and carried out by
the prime minister, Tanucci, a man hardly less unfriendly to the
Society than Pombal. The Jesuits were arrested without any trial,
and were sent across the frontier into the Papal States (Nov.
1767). Much the same fate awaited them in the territories of the
Duke of Parma and Piacenza, where the minister du Tillot had
pursued for years a campaign against the rights of the Catholic
Church. In 1768 Clement XIII issued a strong protest
against the policy of the Parmese government. This aroused the ire of
the whole Bourbon family. France, Spain, and Naples demanded the
withdrawal of this "Monitorium" under threat of violence. The
Papal States of Avignon and Venaissin were occupied by French
troops, while Naples seized Benevento and Pontecorvo. Various
attempts were made to secure the support of the Empress Maria
Theresa, and to stir up opposition in the smaller kingdoms of Italy.
But Clement XIII, undaunted by the threats of violence of the
Bourbons, refused to yield to their demands for the suppression of a
Society, against which nothing had been proved, and against which
nothing could be proved except its ardent defence of the Catholic
Church and its attachment to the Holy See. In January 1769 an
ultimatum was presented by the ambassadors of France, Spain, and
Naples demanding the suppression of the Society. The Pope refused
to agree to it, but before the threats it contained could be carried
into execution Clement XIII passed away (Feb. 1769).
In the conclave that followed the Bourbon rulers made every effort to
secure the election of a Pope favourable to their views. Their
representatives were instructed to use the veto freely against all
cardinals known to be favourable to the Jesuits. After a struggle
lasting three months Cardinal Ganganelli was elected and took the
title Clement XIV (1769-1774). He restored friendly
relations with Parma, opened negotiations with Portugal, created the
brother of Pombal a cardinal, appointed Pereira, one of the court
theologians, to a Portuguese bishopric, despatched a nuncio to
Lisbon, and brought about a formal reconciliation (1770).
It is not true that before his election Clement XIV had bound
himself formally to suppress the Jesuits. Hardly, however, had he
been crowned when demands were made upon him by the representatives of
France and Spain similar to those presented to his predecessor.
Clement XIV promised to agree to the suppression (1769),
but asked for time to consider such a momentous step. In the hope of
satisfying the opponents of the Jesuits the Pope adopted an unfriendly
attitude towards the Society, and appointed apostolic visitors to
examine into the affairs of the seminaries and colleges under its
control, from most of which, as a result of the investigation, the
Jesuits were dismissed. He offered to bring about a complete change
in the constitution of the Society, but this offer, too, was
rejected. Charles III of Spain forwarded an ultimatum in which
he insisted upon the instant suppression of the Society under threat of
recalling his ambassador from Rome. This ultimatum had the approval
of all the Bourbon rulers. Faced with such a terrible danger, the
courage of Clement XIV failed him, and he determined to accept
the suppression as the lesser of two evils (1772). In July
1773 the Brief "Dominus ac Redemptor noster", decreeing the
suppression of the Society in the interests of peace and religion, was
signed by the Pope. The houses of the Jesuits in the Papal States
were surrounded by soldiers, and the general, Ricci, was confined as
a prisoner in the castle of St. Angelo. The decree was forwarded to
the bishops to be communicated by them to the Jesuits resident in their
dioceses. In most of the countries of Europe the decree of
suppression was carried out to the letter, the Jesuits as a body
submitting loyally to the decision of the Pope.
Catharine II of Russia, however, and Frederick II of
Prussia were impressed so favourably by the work of the Jesuits as
educators that they forbade the bishops to publish the decree in their
territories. In 1776 an agreement was arrived at between Pius
VI and Frederick II, according to which the Jesuits in
Prussian territory were to be disbanded formally and were to lay aside
their dress, but they were permitted to continue under a different name
to direct the colleges which they possessed. The Empress Catherine
II of Russia continued till her death to protect the Society. In
1778 she insisted upon the erection of a novitiate, for which oral
permission seems to have been given by Pius VI. In the other
countries many of the Jesuits laboured as secular priests, others of
them united in the congregation, known as the Fathers of the Faith
(1797), and others still in the congregation of the Fathers of
the Sacred Heart. In 1803 the English Jesuit community at
Stonyhurst was allowed to affiliate with the Russian congregation; in
1804 the Society was re-established with the permission of Pius
VII in Naples, and in 1814 the Pope issued the Bull,
"Sollicitudo omnium Ecclesiarum" formally re-establishing the
Society. Strange to say the very next year (1815) a persecution
broke out against the Jesuits in Saint Petersburg, and in 1820
they were expelled from Russian territory.
It was fear of the Bourbon rulers that forced Clement XIV to
agree to the suppression of the Jesuits. By sacrificing a society
that had been noted for its loyal defence of and submission to the
Pope, he had hoped to restore peace to the Church, and to avert the
many calamities that threatened its very existence in France, Spain,
Portugal, and Naples. But he lived long enough to realise that his
weakness led only to new and more exorbitant demands, and that the
professors, who had taken the chairs vacated by the Jesuits, were
only too ready to place their voices and their pens at the disposal of
the civil power and against the Holy See. The suppression of the
Society was hailed as a veritable triumph by the forces of irreligion
and rationalism. The schemes that this party had been concocting for
years were at last crowned with success; the strongest of the outposts
had been captured, and it only remained to make one last desperate
assault on the fortress itself. The civil rulers, who had allowed
themselves to be used as tools for promoting the designs of the
rationalists and the Freemasons, had soon reason to regret the cruelty
and violence with which they treated the Society of Jesus. In a few
years the Revolution was in full swing; the thrones of France,
Spain, Portugal and Naples were overturned, and those members of
the royal families, who escaped the scaffold or the dungeon, were
themselves driven to seek refuge in foreign lands, as the Jesuits had
been driven in the days of Clement XIV.
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