Report Task: The Jesuit Movement Essay, Research Paper
Although
the Counter-Reformation can only be understood as a diverse movement, it is
above all the Society of Jesus (better known as the Jesuits) which came to
dominate it, and in many ways personify it. The most prominent of the new
orders, the Jesuits stood by the motto ad majorem dei gloriam (?to the
greater glory of God?). There complete loyalty to the church and its leadership
were a feature throughout this time period, this is again shown, this time in
the Jesuit handbook ?we ought always be ready to believe that what seems to us
white is black, if the hierarchical church so defines it?. The Jesuits crossed
national and cultural boundaries at a time when there was a great deal of
turmoil and resentment against the papacy. Throughout, the society managed to
maintain a unified missionary endeavour, and endeavour to help others but also
campaign for the good of the papacy. The
Jesuit movement was founded by a Basque gentlemen soldier, Don Inigo Lopez de
Loyola (St Ignatius). His military life was put to a halt when he became lame
on the battlefield. From this point on he underwent a mystical religious
conversion. This was triggered when he read a book about the lives of saints
whilst recovering. He continued to fight, but this time for the Mother of
Christ and the salvation of souls. Loyola can be considered a second-generation
reformer like Calvin, albeit a Catholic one. Both men were educated in the same
college in 1528. Loyola was one of the most dramatic and important characters
in sixteenth century history. His starting point was through the lowest form
and perhaps purest form of religious salvation and education; he lived the life
of a hermit near Manresa, near Catalonia. After this he went of on a pilgrimage
to Jerusalem. Loyola was preoccupied through two major sources, through his own
spiritual education for example in Paris (1528-35) but also with the
composition of the works that were to become the handbook of the Jesuit
movement, ?Spiritual Exercises?. In Paris in 1534 Loyola formed the pious
fraternity that was soon to become the founder members of the Jesuits. The
group took vows of poverty and chastity as well as vows of absolute obedience
to the Pope. In 1535 the group left Paris for Italy and spent the appalling
winter of 1538-9 in Rome tending to the sick and looking after the poor. A
Papal Bull of 1540 by Pope Paul III formally established the society. With the
official recognition of the society brought about the naming of Loyola as
General. Loyola had a number of influences and clear beliefs. Thomas À Kempis
and leading Spanish mystics, e.g. Garcia de Cisnerol, influenced him. He
believed that man is a free agent and may ?find God where he will?. Loyola?s
military influences shone through, particularly with the regimental fashion
that things were carried out. The
founding members put together a number of clear aims. To begin with the
intention was to forsake a pilgrimage to the Holy Land to convert the Muslims;
however all access to the Holy Land was barred by the outbreak of the war with
the Ottoman Turks. Missionary activity was at the heart of the Jesuit society,
this involved helping the needy but also in the process carrying the word to
non-believers ?fighting for God in faithful obedience?. Loyola believed that
his members should be able to adapt to local circumstances. But saying this
Loyola believed that the Jesuit members should not only preach Catholic ideas
but also some individual Jesuit ideas like ?persons of considerable
importance?; their primary task was to ?save the souls of other people?. This
accompanied with the fact that they had some sympathies for humanists like
Erasmus did not always make them one hundred percent in favour from the papal
leaders. The Jesuit movement is renound for its educational institutions; this
clearly made education one of its aims. People should be educated and informed.
Among the laity the Jesuits were concerned chiefly with the education of the
nobility and those of wealth and influence. But they did conduct trade schools
and in mission countries, schools for the poor. One of the aims instilled into
the Jesuits by the papacy was an important one, to combat the power of the
infidel Turks. For
150 years the Jesuits were leaders in European Education. The extent of this
success is shown by the fact that they even began to teach non-Jesuit pupils.
At first they set up training facilities in Bologna (1546), Messina (1548) and
Palermo (1549). Rapid growth of education institutions throughout Europe
followed. Later they carried the struggle into more hostile territory, at the
end of the sixteenth century 155 colleges in Habsberg. The educational system
applied by the Jesuit members had strong French influence. This is closely
linked to the cosmopolitan character of the founding Jesuits, but also linked
to Loyola?s educational experiences in Paris. In the missionary field growth
was equally great. At first things started liberally but Jesuits like St
Francis Xavier set the example with journeys around the East Africa to the Far
East. When he arrived in Japan in 1549 he commented, ?This land is full of
idolatries and enemies of Christ?. It was from these types of mission that
lessons were learnt. So increasingly the troubles in Europe were of major
concern. There work abroad could be considered as a diversion of effort: the
heretics nearer home posed more of a serious threat. St Peter Canisus was the
most successful Jesuit agent in the reconquest of Southern Germany and central
Europe for Catholicism. The Jesuits used a number of methods to consolidate and
reclaim ?lost souls?. They used methods of preaching, in the early years large
crowds often gathered to listen. Also more innovative methods were used such as
printing and visual arts to campaign for papal matters. But above all the
Jesuits were the educators of many and this was in turn their major weapon
against the spread of Protestantism. The Society of Jesus was not founded with the avowed
intention of opposing Protestantism. Neither the papal letters or approbation nor
the constitutions of the order mentioned this as an object of the new
foundation. There are a number of clear conclusions that can be drawn. The
Jesuits were a dynamic, and almost regimental force; they were the educators of
the aristocracy and confessors of princes. At a time when the Church was in
turmoil and distracted by a number of sources the Jesuits acted almost live a
cavalry force to consolidate the church in Southern Europe and reclaim these so
called ?lost souls? in Protestant North. People felt betrayed by the papacy,
The Jesuits used a number of techniques to cohere these people back to the
Roman Catholic way of thinking. Their missionary work outside of Europe
developed Christianity throughout the known world. I started by saying the
Jesuits dominated Europe, one can conclude that without the aid of the Jesuits
the situation in Europe for the papacy would have considerably worse.?????
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