Introduction:
Pedro Arrupe said, “Nothing is more
practical than finding God, than falling in Love in a quite absolute, final
way. What you are in love with, what seizes your imagination, will affect
everything. It will decide what will get you out of bed in the morning, what
you do with your evenings, how you spend your weekends, what you read, whom you
know, what breaks your heart, and what amazes you with joy and gratitude. Fall
in Love, stay in love, and it will decide everything.” When we think about
Restoration of The Society of Jesus one thing is certain our founding fathers
and our earlier companions have a tremendous love to the Society of Jesus. The
intimate love gave our early companions strength to ‘go against all odds’. The
year 2014 is an important year in the history of the Society of Jesus because
the Jesuits all over the world celebrate the 200th anniversary of the
Restoration of the Society of Jesus. People might ask why we have to look back
at the past? Are we living in the past glory? What lessons we have to learn
from the history? Our General Fr Adolfo Nicolas in his letter dated on 14
November 2013 called every Jesuits to look back the past with a desire to learn
from our history and as an occasion for spiritual and apostolic renewal.
General Congregation 35, Decree 1 writes, “Memory and identity are profoundly
linked: one who forgets his past does not know who he is. The better we
remember our history and the more deeply we understand it, the better we will
understand ourselves and our identity as an apostolic body in the Church. We
wish to understand and appreciate our past better so that we may go forward into
the future with renewed fervor and zeal for our life and mission today”[1]. In this context it is important to study the
past and the various factors that led to the restoration of the Society of
Jesus so that we deepen our understanding about the Society of Jesus, we deepen
our love and become more fervent in serving Christ under the banner of the
cross.
An
old saying goes, “Life is not a bed of roses.” This saying is quite true in the
history of the Society of Jesus. Ignatius started the Society of Jesus after
much difficulties and problems. Then its members, the Jesuits experienced the
Easter season when the Society was well accepted and appreciated by the people
in Europe and elsewhere. The glorious moment did not remain for long. Power,
position, and wealth of powerful kings and others destroy the image of the
Society of Jesus which led to its suppression in 1773. During suppression the
Society lost everything except in Russia under the protection of Catherine the
Great. Many Jesuits join other congregations or dioceses while others live in
exile or discontinued as priest. It was a time of chaos and confusion in the
lives of many Jesuits then. Some of the Jesuits like Saint Joseph Mary
Pignatelli, S.J preserved and was faithful to the Ignatian Heritage in a vastly
changed world. This paper is dividing into two parts in the first part, the
various factors that led to the restoration of the Society of Jesus is shown.
The second part attempts to show how the Society of Jesus preserved and
developed its Ignatian Heritage. “The commemoration of the second centenary of
the Restoration offers us an occasion to ask ourselves how the Society can
again restore itself today. Blessed Cardinal Newman said, “To live is to change
and to have lived long in to have changed often.” The restored Society of 1814
was not the same as the Society of 1773. The Society of today has to look to
the future than to the past. Of course we have to get back to our roots if we
want to keep our deeper identity. At the same time, we have to adapt ourselves
to a fast changing world, if we wish to be relevant. In this sense, life is an
ongoing moment of restoration that is also an adaptation”[2].
Reasons
for the Restoration of the Society of Jesus:
The Suppression
is the most difficult part of the history of the Society. No one could ever
imagine that Jesuits who enjoyed very high favor among Catholic peoples, kings,
prelates, and popes for two centuries and a half were now considered as enemies
to the church, banished into exile and lived like beggars in the streets.
Imagine the Society of Jesus emerging from the rubble of the French
Revolution’s teeth and the disintegrating Bourbon Empire! The Society of Jesus
was fully restored by Pope Pius VII, on August 7, 1814. It is said that from
the first moment of the Society’s suppression, there were voices demanding its
restoration. Cardinal Ercole Consalvi, for example, one of the most perceptive,
clear minded and practical churchmen, who appreciated what the Jesuit role,
could be in those times said, “If I were
master, I would re-establish them tomorrow.” Fr B.V.Bangert mentions three
important factors that hastened Society’s restoration: collapse of the Bourbon
united front; gradual and prudent shift of Pope Pius VI from the stringent
sanction to a clearly enunciated desire to Society’s restoration; and clear
determination of Pope Pius VII to realize his immediate predecessor’s desire.
The suppression of the Society of Jesus
is the result of pressure by the royal courts of Portugal, France and Spain.
With remorse heart Pope Clement XIV suppressed the Society of Jesus which
lasted for 41 years, until the Society’s restoration on August 7, 1814. The
restoration of the Society of Jesus is also a move by political leaders and
hard works of the Jesuits themselves. The main political factor that influenced
the restoration was the French Revolution. The sacredness of Kings was ignored.
The Bourbons were overthrown. Liberty, Equality, Fraternity; the Rights of Man;
combined to change Europe and to give power to the people. In this new world,
the Bourbons were the first to call for the return of the Jesuits-in Parma
(where the suppression had been particularly cruel), and in Sicily (Irish
novices go to Sicily).
On August 7, 1814 Pope Pius VII Went
with much pomp to the Gesu, offered Mass at the altar of St Ignatius, and read
out to the public assembled there the bull Sollicitudo
omnium ecclesiarum. The bull began like this:
With
one voice the Catholic world demands the re-establishment of the Company of
Jesus.
We
would believe ourselves guilty before God of great error if, among these great
dangers to
the Christian Republic, we neglected the help
granted us by God’s special providence, and if,
placed
in Peter’s boat, rocked and assailed by continual storms, we refused to
make use of
vigorous
and tested branches which offer themselves spontaneously to break the force of
a sea
that
threatens us at every moment with shipwreck and death. Resolved by so many and
such
powerful
motives, we have decided to do today what we would have wished to do at the
beginning
of our Pontificate….
With
this proclamation the Society of Jesus was no more ostracized, but restored to
its rights and privileges. The Jesuits have celebrated several triumphs. But in
extent and importance, few have matched this one. The resurrection of the
Company was hailed everywhere. On the part of Pius VII, it was a bold stand
that he took against his predecessor Clement XIV. On the sidelines, Fr. Echaniz
mentions, “A few days later, almost incognito, Charles IV (of Spain, whose
father had been the one who relentlessly stood by the abolition and vetoed the
Society’s restoration), visited the Gesu and the Spanish Jesuits resident in
Rome gathered to greet him. He saw himself face to face with the men he had
persecuted. He found that the feared and hated Jesuits were harmless over-grown
children who kept no grudge. Tears came to his eyes several times”.[3]
Restoration was not an end of struggle
for the Jesuits. Political revolution that is happening in different countries
during those years brought uncertainty to the restored Society. During the
revolution we see that there is hostility to religion and the killing of some
religious. Britain becomes a haven for Catholic refugees and a supporter of the
Pope when he was taken prisoner by Napoleon. The Jesuits had no fund to even
support their newly form communities. They were forced to seek support from the
very Bourbons who had destroyed them and from kings who have supported them for
the restoration. Though the Society of Jesus was restored we still see that
there are some people who are still not in favour of Jesuits. For example,
Louis XVIII of France commented: ‘Let the fathers resume neither the name nor
the habit of the Company; let them go noiselessly about their affairs and they
have nothing to fear’. They were to act like lay Catholics in Public and have
to work hard for their daily bread. The Jesuits of the restored Society, like
the Bourbons, sought to reproduce the social order of pre-Revolutionary Europe.
At the Restoration in Europe, the Society was made up of young men and old.
Then in 1820, the 358 Jesuits in Russia were expelled and they become a
powerfully influential force in the restored Society. They had never
experienced the French Revolution with its Rights of Man and they followed a
structured almost monastic style of life which they presented as the true way
of the Society.
The way Society
of Jesus Preserved and developed its Ignatian Heritage:
The suppression
of the Society of Jesus in 1773 was not only a tragedy for the Jesuits but
people too had to undergo so much of difficulties. The physical needs of the
people which the Jesuits were providing through education, charity, and
medicine no longer exist. But the most important thing was the spiritual need
of the people. People longed for the Ignatian spiritual exercises and to meet
their Jesuit councilors or spiritual fathers who are now in exile. The
restoration of the Society inaugurated an attempt on the part of some
government leaders to recreate a pre-revolutionary world and pushed the Jesuits
into a way of proceeding contrary to their own way of proceeding. Yet in spite
of the seismic changes brought by the French revolution and the subsequent
changes caused by this revolution, the Jesuit Spirituality continued in spite
of the suppression by means of former Jesuits, religious manuals, and new
religious institutes who spread Ignatian spirituality by means of the
revitalized or adapted Marian Congregations. Helen Keller said, “When one door
of happiness closes, another opens; but often we look so long at the closed
door that we do not see the one which has been opened for us.”[4] The
Jesuits tried their best to open new doors during suppression and after
restoration in order to reach the people who are in need of them. The
reflections given by General Fr Adolfo Nicolas SJ regarding some lessons we
have to learn from the event of restoration could help us to understand the
Ignatian spiritual heritage better.
1.
Creative
Fidelity: When I think about this aspect, I feel that
Society of Jesus is the work of God. After the suppression the society was able
to rise from the ashes. It began once again without any resources. An old
saying goes, “Life is not always a bed of roses.” In our lives too there will
be hardships and difficulties that will overshadow us but like the suppressed
Jesuits we should never lose hope. Instead we should creatively find out ways
and means to make our lives beautiful amidst suffering. We have to trust the
lord when life seems to be rather absurd.
2.
Love
for our Institute: Deriving inspiration from the letter
written by Fr. General Jan Roothan, one of the most significant figures of the
restored Society, we are called to promote a love for the inner reality of the
Society: her institute, her spirit and values, her way of proceeding rooted in
the Spiritual Exercises. Jesuits are ‘friends in the Lord’ working for the
greater glory or God. Society of Jesus is the mother which provides us an
opportunity to serve Christ under the banner of the Cross. Therefore, we ought
to love our institute and the work we do. Ultimately serving people is serving
God Himself. We need to fall in love with the values and rich Ignatian Heritage
like the Spiritual Exercises, Gift of discernment, our way of proceeding,
Jesuit Spirituality.
3.
Fraternal
Companionship: During the period of Suppression and Restoration
we come across an important figure St.Joseph Pignatelli, who during the
difficult times of expulsion and homelessness, united, strengthened and
encouraged his brothers. Even during the suppression, he maintained
communication, friendship, and hope among former companions. This witness of
St. Joseph Pignatelli calls us to be truly ‘companions of Jesus’, to take care
our brothers during a time of crisis and difficulties. This is the mission
given by GC 35 to live “Community as Mission”. As Jesuits we need to be
exemplary men who love and care our companions just as how Christ loved and
cared His disciples. We need to have the humility to wash each others feet and
make our community a home of love.
4.
Universal
Mission:
Jesuits are known to be men on a move. They are men to ‘set the world on fire’
and enkindle other fires. These reveal the missionary spirit that the restored
Jesuits have. By the generalate of Fr.Roothan, of the 5,209 members of the
Society, 19% worked outside the Provinces they entered. Many Provinces in Asia,
Africa, America and Australia trace their origins to this time of the restored
Society. The newly restored Society had a strong sense of universal mission. As
Jesuit we need to be men available for any mission anywhere and anytime. We
need to be men who are mobile in nature and work to build God’s Kingdom here on
earth.
5.
Faith
in Providence: When I think about this point of Father General, I
am reminded of the begging experience we had in the Novitiate. Begging
experience have reminded me about the unconditional love of God to humanity and
that God will always be there to provide us what we need. Our forefathers in
the Society lived through challenging times: the suppression; the precarious
existence of the Society in the Russian empire; localized recognition of the
Society until its Universal Restoration in 1814; the fragile and difficult
beginnings of the restored Society. In all the circumstances and at all time
God’s providential hands are always there with the Jesuits. What we need to
learn at this modern juncture is that we need to be patient, endure and
persevere in our work of promulgation of faith and justice to people. Like the
blind man in front of the temple, like the woman who suffered from hemorrhage
and like the centurion whose son was ill at home, we should never lose hope but
always just in God’s providential hands.
Conclusion:
Heraclitus
said, “Life is in flux.” Our lives keep moving and we keep changing from time
to time. When the Society of Jesus celebrates the 200th anniversary
of its restoration, the times are considerably different from August 7, 1814.
Now we are living in a global village, consumerist world and post-modern
thinking pattern. Politics, economics and information technology have
transformed the very lifestyle and ideology of the people the Society seeks to
serve. The Creator God has been replaced by idols that seem to be more
dominant: pleasure, power, wealth and prestige. Restoration of the Society of
Jesus does not mean that now the Jesuits can live an Easter or resurrected life
but there are numerous challenges ahead of them. Jesuits should not be
contented but think creatively, in this context the words of Pope Francis “I
don’t have all the answers; I don't even have all the questions. I always think
of new questions, and there are always new questions coming forward” will
enhance Jesuits too keep striving. The commemoration of the restoration of the
Society of Jesus is an eye opener for all Jesuits to ‘fight with an undaunted
spirit’ of St. Ignatius to bring spiritual transformation in society; to have
special ‘option for the poor; to reach out to geographical areas where no one
dares to go and help our brothers and sisters who are still living in the
shadow of illiteracy, superstition, injustices, violence and persecutions; and
to be men who always aim for MAGIS.
Adolfo Nicolas SJ, Commemoration of the Second Centenary of the Restoration of the Society
of Jesus : To the Whole Society ( Rome: 14 November 2013)
Ignacio Echaniz SJ, Passion and Glory, Volume III: A Flesh and Blood history of The Society of Jesus (Gujarth: Gujarth
Sahitya Prakash, 1999)
http://www.goodreads.com/quotes/3443-when-one-door-of-happiness-closes-another-opens-but-often
Bibliography
Echaniz,
Ignacio SJ. Passion and Glory, Volume
III: A Flesh and Blood History of the Society of Jesus (Gujarth: Gujarath
Sahitya Prakash, 1999).
Bangert,
William V SJ. A History of the Society of
Jesus, (Missouri: The Institute of Jesuit Sources, 1986).
Nicolas, Adolfo SJ. Commemoration of the Second Centenary of the Restoration of the Society
of Jesus: To the Whole Society (Rome: 14 November 2013).
Booklet, The Paschal Mystery of the Society of Jesus (Suppression and Restoration) by Loyola Mandir, Bangalore.
Jivan: News and Views of Jesuits in India, February 2014.
Jesuits: A Multibiography (1995).
Jesuits: Yearbook of the Society of Jesus, 2014.
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