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HISTORY OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH From The Renaissance To The French Revolution
Volume I
(d) The Suppression of the Society of Jesus.
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Cretineau-Joly, /Clement XIV. et les Jesuites/, 1847. De Ravignan,
/Clement XIII. et Clement XIV./, 1856. Theiner, /Histoire du
pontificat de Clement XIV. d'apres des documents inedits des arch.
secr. du Vatican/, 2 vols., 1852. Weld, /The Suppression of the
Society of Jesus in the Portuguese Dominions/, 1877. Rosseau,
/Regne de Charles III. d'Espagne/, 1907. Riffel, /Die Aufhebung
des Jesuitenordens/, 3 auf., 1855. Foley, /Records of the English
Province of the Society of Jesus/, 1877. Hogan, /Hibernia
Ignatiana/, 1880. Taunton, /The Jesuits in England/, 1901.
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.[1]
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.[2] 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,[3] 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.
[1] On the /Monita Secreta/, cf. Bernard, /Les instructions secretes
des Jesuites/, 1903. Duhr, /Jesuitenfabeln/, 1904. Gerard, /Jesuit
Bogey/, etc. (/The Month/, Aug., 1901, p. 179).
[2] Du Breuil, /Un ministre philosophe, Carvalho, marquis de Pombal/
(/Revue historique/, 1895, pp. 1 sqq.).
[3] Carayon, /Le pere ricci et la suppression de la compagnie de Jesus
en 1773/, 1869.
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