CONSPICUOUS PERSONAGES
Ignatius--Laínez--Borgia--Bellarmine--Toletus--Lessius--Maldonado
--Suárez--Lugo--Valencia--Petavius--Warsewicz--Nicolai--Possevin
--Vieira--Mercurian.
St. Ignatius died on July 31, 1556. During his brief fifteen years as
General, he had seen some of his sons distinguishing themselves in one
of the greatest councils of the Church; others turning back the tide of
Protestantism in Germany and elsewhere; others again, winning a large
part of the Orient to the Faith; and still others reorganizing Catholic
education throughout regenerated Europe, on a scale that was bewildering
both in the multitude of the schools they established and the splendor
of their success. Great saints were being produced in the Society and
also outside of it through its ministrations. Meantime, its development
had been so great that the little group of men which had gathered around
him a few years before had grown to a thousand, with a hundred
establishments in every part of the world.
Magnificent as was this achievement he did not allow it to reflect any
glory upon himself personally. On the contrary, he withdrew more and
more from public observation, and devoted to the establishment of his
multiplied and usual charities, among the humblest and most abandoned
classes of the city of Rome, what time was left him from the absorbing
care of directing, advising, exhorting and inspiring his sons who were
scattered over the earth in ever changing and dangerous situations. The
palaces of the great rarely, if ever, saw him, and he was the most
positive and persistent antithesis of what he is so commonly accused of
being: a schemer, a plotter, a politician, a poisoner of public morality
and the like. Nor was he seeking to exercise a dominating influence
either in the Church or State, as he is calumniously charged with doing.
The glory of God and the advancement of the spiritual kingdom on earth
was his only thought, and so far was he from imagining that the Society
was an essential factor in the Church's organization that he did not
hesitate to say that if it were utterly destroyed, or as he expressed
it, "if it were to dissolve like salt in water," a quarter of an hour's
recollection in God would have been sufficient to console him and
restore peace to his soul, provided the disaster had not been brought
about by his fault.
He was not, as he has often been charged with being, stern, severe,
arbitrary, harsh, tyrannical; on the contrary, his manner was most
winning and attractive. He was fond of flowers; music had the power of
making him forget the greatest bodily pain, and the stars at night
filled his soul with rapturous delight. He would listen with infinite
patience to the humblest and youngest person, and every measure of
importance before being put into execution was submitted to discussion
by all who had any concern in it. He would show intense and outspoken
indignation, it is true, at flagrant faults and offences, especially if
committed by those who were in authority in the Society; his wrath,
however, was vented not against the culprit, but against the fault.
Moreover, while reprehending, he kept his feelings under absolute
control. Indeed, his longanimity in the cases both of Rodriguez and
Bobadilla is astounding, and it is very doubtful if St. Francis Xavier,
whom he wanted to be his successor, would have been as tolerant or as
gentle. In his directions for works to be undertaken he was not
meticulous nor minute, but left the widest possible margin for personal
initiative; nor would he tolerate an obedience that was prompted by
servile fear. He continually insisted that the only motive of action in
the Society was love of God and the neighbor.
The gentle Lionel Johnson, poet though he was, gives us a fairly
accurate appreciation of the character of Saint Ignatius. "In the Saints
of Spain," he says, "there is frequently prominent the feature of
chivalry. Even the great Saint James, apostle and Patriarch of Spain,
appears in Spanish tradition and to Spanish imagination as an _hidalgo_,
a knight in gleaming mail who spurs his white war horse against the
Moor. And of none among them is this more true than of the founder of
the Society of Jesus. Cardinal Newman, describing him in his most famous
sermon, finds no phrase more fitting than 'the princely patriarch, St.
Ignatius, the Saint George of the modern world with his chivalrous lance
run through his writhing foe.' He was ever a fighter, a captain-general
of men, indomitable, dauntless. The secret of his character lies in his
will; in its disciplined strength; its unfailing practicality; its
singleness and its power upon other wills. It was hardly a Franciscan
sweetness that won to him his followers who from the famous six at
Montmartre grew so swiftly into a great band; it was not supremacy of
intellect or of utterance; it was not even the witness of his intense
devotion and self-denial. It was his unequalled precision and tenacity
of purpose; it was his will and its method. But we can detect no trace
of that proud personal ambition and imperiousness often ascribed to him.
He simply had learned a way of life that was profitable to religion
which was all in all to him, and he could not be lukewarm in its
service. _Noblesse oblige_, and a Christian holds a patent from the King
of kings. The Jesuit A. M. D. G. was his ruling principle. The former
heroic soldier of Spain was still a soldier, a swordsman, a strategist,
but in a holy war. His eyes were always turned towards the battle; but
he was far from forbidding, harsh, grim. He was tender and stern and
like Dante kept his thoughts fixed on the mysteries of good and evil."
His death was in keeping with his life. There was no show, no
ostentation, nothing "dramatic" about it, as Henri Joly imagines in his
"Psychologie des Saints." There was no solemn gathering of his sons
about his bedside, no parting instruction or benediction, as one would
have expected from such a remarkable man who had established a religious
order upon which the eyes of the world were fixed. He was quite aware
that his last hour had come, and he simply told Polanco, his secretary,
to go and ask for the Pope's blessing. As the physicians had not said
positively that there was any immediate danger, Polanco inquired if he
might defer doing so for the moment, as there was something very urgent
to be attended to; whereupon the dying Saint made answer: "I would
prefer that you should go now, but do as seems best." These were his
last words. He left no will and no instructions, and what is, at first,
incomprehensible, he did not even ask for Extreme Unction--possibly
because he was aware that the physicians disagreed about the seriousness
of his malady, and he was unwilling to discredit any of them; possibly,
also, he did so in order to illustrate the rule that he laid down for
his sons "to show absolute obedience in time of sickness to those who
have care of the body." When at last they saw that he was actually dying
someone ran for the holy oils, but Ignatius was already in his agony.
For one reason or another, he had not designated the vicar, who,
according to the Constitution, was to govern the Society, until a
General was regularly elected. Hence, as the condition of the times
prevented the assembling of the professed from the various countries of
Europe, the fathers who were in Rome elected Laínez. He, therefore,
summoned the congregation for Easter, 1557, but it happened just then
that Philip II and the Pope were at odds with each other, and no
Spaniard was allowed to go to Rome. Because of that, Borgia, Araoz and
others sent in a petition for the congregation to meet at Barcelona.
This angered the Pope, and he asked Laínez, who put the case before him:
"Do you want to join the schism of that heretic Philip?" Nevertheless,
when the papal nuncio at Madrid supported the request of the Spanish
Jesuits, his holiness relented somewhat, and said he would think of it.
The situation was critical enough with a Pope who was none too friendly,
when something very disedifying and embarrassing occurred. The
irrepressible Bobadilla who had not only voted for the election of
Laínez as vicar, but had served under him for a year, suddenly
discovered that the whole previous proceeding was invalid, and he
pretended, that, because St. Ignatius had failed to name a vicar, the
government of the Society devolved on the general body of the professed.
The matter was discussed by the Fathers and he was overruled, but he
still persisted and demanded the decision of Carpi, the cardinal
protector of the Society. When that official heard the case, he decided
against Bobadilla who forthwith appealed to the Pope. This time the
Cardinal assigned to investigate was no other than the future St. Pius
V. He took in the situation at a glance and dismissed Bobadilla almost
with contempt. There was another offender, Cogordan, who does not appear
to have objected to Laínez personally but who sent a written
communication to his holiness saying that Laínez and some others really
wanted to go to Spain, so as to be free from Roman control. This so
incensed the Pope that Laínez, though greatly admired by Paul IV,
obtained an audience only with the greatest difficulty, and was then
ordered to hand over the Constitutions for examination. Fortunately, the
same holy Inquisitor was sent, and Cogordan never forgot the lesson he
received on that occasion for daring to suggest such a thing about
Laínez. In the meantime, Philip had allowed the Spanish Jesuits to go to
Rome, and Laínez was elected General on July 2, 1558. As has been said
in speaking of Rodriguez, this incident is another illustration of the
tremendous difficulty of the task St. Ignatius undertook when he
gathered around him those unusually brilliant men, who were accustomed
to take part in the diets of the Empire, to be counsellors of princes
and kings and even popes. He proposed to make them all, as he said
"think the same thing according to the Apostle." He succeeded
ultimately.
The splendid work performed by Laínez at the Council of Trent had
naturally made him a prominent figure in the Church at that time.
Personally, also he was most acceptable to the reigning Pontiff, Paul
IV; nevertheless, owing to outside pressure, there was imminent danger
on several occasions of serious changes being made in the Constitutions
of the Society. The Pope had been dissuaded from urging most of them,
but he refused to be satisfied on one point, namely the recitation of
the Divine Office. He insisted that it must be sung in choir, as was the
rule in other religious orders. Laínez had to yield, and for a time the
Society conformed to the decision, but the Pope soon died, and in the
course of a year, his successor, Pius IV, declared the order to be
merely the personal wish of his predecessor and not a decree of the Holy
See.
During this generalate there were serious troubles in various parts of
Europe. Thus, in Spain, when Charles V withdrew into the solitude of
Yuste he was very anxious to have as a companion in retirement his
friend of many years, Francis Borgia. It was hard to oppose the
expressed wish of such a potentate as Charles, but Laínez succeeded, and
Borgia continued to exercise his great influence in Spain to protect his
brethren in the storm which was then raging against them. There were
troubles, also, throughout Italy. A veritable persecution had started in
Venice; an attempt was made to alienate St. Charles Borromeo in Milan;
in Palermo, the rector of the college was murdered. The General himself
had to go to France to face the enemies of the Faith at the famous
Colloquy of Poissy; Canisius was continuing his hard fight in Germany;
there were the martyrdoms of two Jesuits in India where, as in Brazil,
the members of the Society were displaying the sublimest heroism in the
prosecution of their perilous missionary work.
Laínez died in 1565, and was succeeded by Francis Borgia, who for many
years had been the most conspicuous grandee of Spain. He was Marquis of
Lombay, Duke of Gandia, and for three years had filled the office of
Viceroy of Catalonia. His intimacy with the Emperor Charles V, apart
from his great personal qualities, naturally resulted in having every
honor showered upon him. Astrain, in his history of the Society in
Spain, notes the difference in the point of view from which the Borgia
family is regarded by Spaniards and by other mortals. The former always
think of the saintly Francis, the latter see only Alexander VI. It is
not surprising, however, for it is one of the weaknesses of humanity to
exult in its glories and to be blind to its defects. Francis Borgia was
the great-grandson of Alexander on the paternal, and of King Ferdinand
on the maternal, side; there are, however, bar sinisters on both
descents that are not pleasant to contemplate, and Suau says, "he was
unfortunate in his ancestry."
Born on October 28, 1510, Borgia began his studies at Saragossa,
interrupting them for a short space to be the page of the Infanta
Catarina, daughter of Joanna the Mad. At eighteen, he was one of the
brilliant figures of the court of Charles V. At nineteen, he married
Eleanor de Castro, who belonged to the highest nobility of Portugal, and
at that time he was made Marquis of Lombay. When he was twenty-eight,
the famous incident occurred, which has been made the subject of so much
oratorical and pictorial exaggeration--his consternation at the sight of
the corrupting remains of the beautiful Empress Isabella, and his
resolution to abandon the court and the world forever. Astrain in
speaking of this event merely says: "he was profoundly moved;" Suau, in
his "Histoire de Saint François de Borgia," makes no mention of any
perturbation of mind and ascribes Borgia's vocation rather to subsequent
events. The Bollandists do not vouch for the story of his consternation,
but note that he was the only one who dared to approach the coffin, the
others keeping aloof on account of the odor. They add that his
biographers make him say: "Enough has been given to worldly princes." As
a matter of fact, later on, he willingly accepted the office of major
domo to Prince Philip, who was about to marry the Infanta of Portugal.
As the King and Queen of Portugal, however, refused to accept him in
that capacity, he was simply disgraced in the eyes of all diplomatic
Europe and was compelled to keep out of the court of his own sovereign,
for three whole years. "This and other serious trials, at that period,"
says Suau, "probably developed in him the work of sanctification begun
at Granada."
Borgia was thirty-six years of age when his wife died in 1546, and he
then consulted Father Faber, who happened to be in Spain at the time,
about the advisability of entering a religious order. He made the
Spiritual Exercises under Oviedo, and determined to enroll himself as
one of the members of the Compañía founded by Ignatius, with whom he had
been for some time in communication. He was accepted and given three
years to settle his worldly concerns. By a special rescript, the Pope
allowed him to make his vows of profession immediately. In January,
1550, he was allowed to present himself for ordination to the priesthood
whenever he found it feasible. On August 20 of the same year, he
obtained the degree of doctor of theology and ten days later, set out
for Rome with a small retinue. Accompanying him were nine Jesuits, among
whom was Father Araoz, the provincial. In every city he was officially
received, the nobility going out to meet him at Rome. He was sumptuously
lodged in the Jesuit house, part of which St. Ignatius had fitted up at
great expense to do honor to the illustrious guest. Soon, however, it
was rumored that he was to be made a cardinal, whereupon he took flight,
making all haste for Spain, without any of the splendor or publicity
which had surrounded him three months before. His only purpose was to
escape observation. Arriving in Spain, he visited Loyola, the birthplace
of Ignatius, and then fixed his residence at the hermitage of Oñate,
where, after receiving the Emperor's leave, he renounced all his honors
and possessions in favor of his son Charles. He was ordained priest on
May 23, 1551.
After six months spent in evangelizing the Basques, Borgia was sent to
Portugal to put an end to the troubles caused by Simon Rodriguez, but
did not reach that country until 1553. Meantime, sad to say, Father
Araoz astounded every one by displaying an intense jealousy of Borgia,
who had been made independent of all superiors except Ignatius himself,
and he demanded that his former friend and benefactor should show
himself less in public and give evidence of greater humility. His
complaints were incessant, and unfortunately an accidental unpopularity
involving the whole Borgia family which just then supervened gave some
color to the charges. In the meanwhile the Pope had again insisted on
bestowing the cardinalitial honor upon Borgia, and for a moment Nadal,
the Commissary General of Spain, was afraid that it might be accepted,
not out of any ambition on the part of Francis, but because of his
profound reverence for the will of the Sovereign Pontiff, especially as
he had not as yet pronounced the simple vow of the professed against the
reception of ecclesiastical dignities. Whereupon, Ignatius sent an order
for him to make the vow, and from that forward his conscience was at
rest on the question of running counter to the desires of the Pope.
In 1554 he was made commissary general in place of Nadal, who had been
summoned to Rome to assist Ignatius, now in feeble health. The
appointment of Borgia to such a post was most extraordinary for the
reason that he had been but such a short time in the Society, and had
never been in a subordinate position. The difficulty of his task was
augmented by the fact that he had been commissioned to divide the
Spanish section of the Society into four distinct provinces, and to
assume, in this and other matters the duties and functions of an office
which had no defined limitations, and which would inevitably bring him
into conflict with other superiors. As a matter of fact, the
commissariate was such a clumsy contrivance that it had soon to be done
away with.
Araoz had previously been at odds with Nadal, but he found it still more
difficult to get along with Borgia. This disedifying antagonism
continued for some time, and it is said that the old worldly superiority
of the viceroy showed itself occasionally in Borgia. His dictatorial
methods of government, his resentment of interference with his plans,
even when Nadal spoke to him, showed that he was not yet a Jesuit saint.
As if he still possessed unlimited revenues he established no less than
twenty new houses; and, when there were not sufficient resources to
carry them on, he expected his subjects to live in a penury that was
incompatible with general content and fatal to the existence of the
institutions. Moreover, his old propensity for great mortifications
manifested itself to such an extent that there was danger of the Jesuits
under him becoming Carthusian in their mode of life. Indeed, he was of
opinion that the old monastic prison and stocks should be introduced
into the Society, and he sent a _postulatum_ or petition to that effect
to the congregation which elected Laínez. The result was that a spirit
of revolt began to manifest itself in Spain, and Nadal, who was
temporarily there, was happy when recalled to Rome.
How all this can be reconciled with the admittedly remarkable prudence
of St. Ignatius and his profound knowledge of the character of those he
had to deal with is difficult to say. Had he perhaps received some
divine intimation of what Borgia was yet to be? On the other hand, it
must be borne in mind that these isolated instances of impatience,
authoritativeness, resentment and the like, naturally attract more
attention when seen in one who is possessed of brilliant qualities than
they would in any ordinary personage. Moreover, they occurred only in
his dealings with Jesuits of the same official standing, and were never
remarked when he had to treat with the rank and file who were entrusted
to his care and guidance. They were, in any case, faults of judgment and
not of perversity of will. Indeed so intent was he on acquiring the
virtue of obedience that he fell into a state of almost despondency and
distress when he was warned that Ignatius would disapprove of his
methods and measures. Finally, he was then only on the way to sanctity;
he had not yet achieved it.
It must be confessed, however, that Nadal was not at all pleased with
the attitude of Borgia and the other Spanish Jesuits, when the call for
the election of a new general was issued. He fancied that it was the
beginning of a schism. When, as previously pointed out, Philip II
allowed the Spanish delegates to go to the congregation, Borgia,
remained in Spain. The fear of the red hat still haunted him. The famous
_postulatum_ about the prison and stocks which he sent to the
congregation was, of course, promptly rejected. Borgia, however, had
other reasons not to go to Rome. Several Spanish cities were up in arms
against the Society; he himself was assailed openly in church by
Melchior Cano; a book he had written or was accused of having written
was condemned by the Inquisition, and he expected momentarily to be
arrested; evil things were also said about his character. Unfortunately,
Araoz took advantage of all this and began to pen a series of
denunciatory letters to the General against Borgia, and, though he was
rebuked for them and made public reparation for his offense, he soon
relapsed into his customary antagonism. To put an end to it all Laínez
summoned Borgia to Rome and conferred on him the honor of assistant.
Even that lesson Araoz failed to take to heart.
Francis reached Rome only in 1561. In the following year when Laínez had
to attend the re-opened Council of Trent, he made Borgia vicar general,
and, when Laínez died at the age of fifty-three in January, 1565, the
congregation which was convened in July of that year elected Borgia in
his place. At the same time stringent laws were enacted against the
hasty multiplication of houses and the inevitable lack of formation
which ensued. This was a notice served on the new General to control his
zeal in that direction. Borgia instituted novitiates in every province;
he circulated the book of Exercises and laid down rules for common life,
which on account of the enormous growth of the Society had now become a
matter of primary importance. Instead of showing any proneness to the
eremitical life or wishing to impose it on the Society, he gave an
example of immense and intense activity in public matters. Thus he had
much to do with the revision of the Bible, the translation of the
"Catechism" of the Council of Trent; the foundation of Propaganda; and,
omitting other instances of his administrative ability, when the plague
broke out in Rome in 1566, he so successfully organized the financial
and medical machinery of the city that two years afterwards, when the
plague appeared again, all the public funds were immediately placed in
his hands.
The impression that his administration was severe, exacting, harsh and
narrow has no foundation in fact. It is sufficient to glance at the five
bulky volumes made up mainly of correspondence and documents in the
"Monumenta Borgiana" to be convinced that the reverse was the case.
There is a kindliness, a graciousness, even a joyousness observable in
them on every page. He even kept a list of all the sick in the Society,
and consoled them whenever the opportunity offered. The vastness of his
correspondence is simply astounding; his letters are addressed to all
kinds of people, the lowest as well as the highest, and deal with every
variety of topic. Finally, there was no General who developed the
missions of the Society so widely and so solidly as did St. Francis
Borgia. He reformed those of India and the Far East, created those of
America, and before he died he had the consolation of knowing that
sixty-six of his sons had been martyred for the Faith during his
Generalate. The discovery of him by St. Ignatius was an inspiration, for
Borgia is one of the great glories of the Society. He ended his
remarkable life by a splendid act of obedience to the Pope and of
devotion to the Church.
On June 27, 1571, St. Pius V, his intimate friend, requested him to
accompany Cardinal Bonelli on an embassy to Spain and Portugal. He was
just then recovering from a serious illness, and felt quite sure that
the journey would result in his death, but he accepted the call. In
Spain he was received with the wildest enthusiasm. Indeed the papal
legate was almost forgotten in the public ovations. Portugal also
lavished honors on him, and when in consequence of new orders from the
Pope the embassy continued on to France to plead with Charles IX and
Catherine de' Medici, he was received in the same manner in that
country. On February 25 he left Blois but by the time Lyons was reached
he had been stricken with congestion of the lungs. From Lyons, the route
led across the snow-clad Mt. Cenis and continued by the way of Turin to
Alexandria, where they arrived on April 19.
As the invalid was in too perilous a state to permit of his going any
further for the moment, his relative, the Duke of Ferrara, kept him
through the summer until September 3, when another start was made for
Rome, where he wanted to die. The last stage of his journey inflicted
untold suffering on him, but he never complained. On September 28, he
arrived at the professed house in Rome, and throngs of cardinals and
prelates hurried to see him to get his blessing, for he was already
canonized in the popular mind. For two days he lingered, retaining full
consciousness, conversing at times with those around him, but most of
the time absorbed in prayer. When asked to name his vicar he laughed and
said: "I have enough to do to give an account of my own stewardship."
Towards evening he became speechless and about midnight peacefully
expired, ending a career which it would be hard to equal in romance--a
gorgeous grandee of Spain, a duke, a viceroy, the affectionate friend of
the greatest potentate on earth, and now dying in the poor room of a
Jesuit priest, atoning by his splendid sanctity for the offenses which
have made the name of the family to which he belonged a synonym of every
kind of iniquity.
Following close upon St. Francis Borgia came a number of men who have
reflected glory upon the Church and on the Society, some of them, the
most illustrious theologians of modern times, and others acting as the
diplomatic agents of the great nations of Europe in the tentative but
usually unsuccessful efforts to reunite Christendom. We refer to
Bellarmine, Toletus, Suárez, Petavius, Possevin and Vieira.
Speaking of Bellarmine, Andrew White, in his "Conflict of Science and
Religion" informs us that "there must have been a strain of Scotch in
Bellarmine, because of his name, Robert,"--a typical illustration of the
unreliability of Andrew White as a witness. The first Robert who appears
in Scottish history is the son of William the Conqueror, and
consequently a Norman. Even the name of Robert Bruce frequently occurs
as Robert _de_ Bruce, just as there is a John _de_ Baliol; Robert _de_
Pynkeny, etc. There is also a Robert of Arbrissel, associated with Urban
II in preaching the Crusades; Robert of Geneva, an antipope; Robert de
Luzarches, who had to do with the building of Notre-Dame in Paris, and
scores of others might be cited.
Robert Bellarmine was born at Montepulciano, in 1542. He was a nephew of
Pope Marcellus II, and after entering the Society was immediately
admitted to his vows. He studied philosophy for three years at the Roman
College and was then assigned to teach humanities. In 1567 he began his
theology at Padua, but towards the end of his course, he went to Louvain
to study the prevailing heresies of the day at close range. While there,
his reputation as a preacher was such that Protestants came from England
and Germany to hear him. In 1576 he was recalled to Rome to fill the
recently established chair of controversy, and the lectures which he
gave at that time form the groundwork for his remarkable work "De
controversiis." It was found to be so comprehensive, conclusive and
convincing in its character that special chairs were established in
Protestant countries to refute it. It still remains a classic.
Singularly enough, though Sixtus V had permitted the work to be
dedicated to him, he determined later to put it on the Index, because it
gave only an indirect power to the Holy See in temporal matters. But he
died before carrying out his threat, and his successor, Gregory XIII,
gave a special approbation to the book and appointed its author a member
of the commission to revise the Vulgate, which Sixtus had inaugurated,
but into which certain faults had crept. At Bellarmine's suggestion the
revision was called the "Sixtine edition" to save the reputation of the
deceased Pontiff.
He was rector of the Roman College in 1592, and in 1595 provincial of
Naples. In 1597 he was made theologian of Pope Clement VIII, examiner of
bishops, consultor of the Holy Office, cardinal in 1599, and assessor of
the Congregation "de Auxiliis," which had been instituted to settle the
dispute between the Thomists and Molinists on the question of the
conciliation of the operation of Divine grace with man's free will.
Bellarmine wanted the decision withheld, but the Pope differed from him,
though afterwards he adopted the suggestion. He had, meantime, been
consecrated Archbishop of Capua, by the Pope, and was twice in danger of
being raised to the papacy. He remained only three years at Capua, and
passed the rest of his life in Rome as chief theological adviser of the
Holy See. During this period occurred the dispute between Venice and the
Holy See in which Bellarmine and Baronius opposed the pretensions of
Paolo Sarpi and Marsiglio, the champions of the Republic. The English
oath of allegiance also came up for consideration at that time. In this
controversy Bellarmine found himself in conflict with James I of
England. He was conspicuous also in the Galileo matter. His life was so
remarkable for its holiness that the cause of his beatification was
several times introduced, but was not then acted on, because his name
was connected with the doctrine of papal authority, which was extremely
obnoxious to the French regalist politicians. It has, however, been
recently re-introduced.
When Baius, the theological dean of Louvain, first broached his errors
on grace, he was answered by Bellarmine; and in 1579 when he again
defended them, he was taken in hand by Toletus, who, after refuting him,
induced him to acknowledge his heresy before the united faculties of the
university. Unlike Bellarmine, who was of noble blood and the nephew of
a Pope, Toletus came of very humble people in Spain. Rosa says he was
one of the "new Christians," that is, of Jewish or Moorish blood. He was
born at Córdova in 1532 and was, consequently, ten years older than his
friend and fellow-Jesuit, Bellarmine. He made his studies at Salamanca,
where his master, the famous Soto, described him as an intellectual
prodigy; he must have been such, for he occupied a chair of philosophy
when he was fifteen. He entered the Society in 1558, and was sent to
Rome as professor of theology. He was appointed theologian and preacher
of Pius V, Gregory XIII, Sixtus V and Urban VIII, successively. He
accompanied Cardinal Commendone in his diplomatic visit to Germany, to
form a league against the Turks, just as Bellarmine had been deputed to
go with Gaetano to France during the Huguenot troubles. He was made a
cardinal in 1593, and in 1595 he induced Pope Clement to grant Henry IV
the absolution that brought peace to France. He warned the Pontiff that
a refusal in that case would be a grievous sin. Shortly afterwards he
was named legate to that country, but, as he had offended his
fellow-countrymen by showing himself hostile to Philip II in the matter
of the succession of Henry IV, it was considered advisable to send
someone else in his stead. He died in the following year, and that gave
occasion to the now discredited historian, d'Etoile, to say that the
Spaniards had poisoned him.
The writings of Toletus are very numerous. Bossuet was a great admirer
of his "Instructions to Priests," in which, as in his "Commentaries,"
his enemies discovered the "lax" principles of probabilism,
ultra-montanism, and the like, and he has been accused of teaching even
perjury, simony and regicide. He was the preacher and theologian of four
of the Popes, the counsellor of princes, and the great defender of the
Faith in the northern countries. Cabassut, one of the most learned of
the French Oratorians in the reign of Louis XIV, declared that we should
have to wait for several centuries before a man would appear who would
equal Cardinal Toletus. Tanner says that his life could not have been
more useful or better employed for Jesus Christ if he travelled over the
whole earth preaching the Gospel. Gregory XIII indignantly denounced
what he called the lies of those who assailed his character. "We set
against those calumnies our own testimony," he wrote, "and we affirm in
all truthfulness that he is incontestably the most learned man living
to-day; we have a greater opinion still of his integrity and his
irreproachable life. We have had personal proofs of both. We know him
perfectly and we testify to what we know. We beg of your Highness to
give full and entire faith to the truth and to the sincerity of our
testimony, and to regard this man henceforward as a true servant of
Jesus Christ, and marvellously useful to the whole Christian world."
These words were uttered before Toletus was clothed with the purple. He
will appear again at the election of Aquaviva.
Very angry at the punishment he had received at the hands of Bellarmine
and Toletus, Baius turned on Lessius, who was then teaching in the
Jesuit College at Louvain, where, acting on misinformation, the
university condemned thirty-four propositions which Baius ascribed to
him. Lessius declared that they were not his, but the university refused
to accept his word. Baius, therefore, continued his denunciation of
Lessius in particular and of the Jesuits in general as Lutherans and
heretics. Whereupon, not only the other universities but the whole
country took up the quarrel. When the question was ultimately referred
to the Pope, he replied that he himself had taught the same doctrine as
Lessius. Besides being one of the very great theologians of the Society,
Lessius was remarkable for the holiness of his life. Pope Urban VIII,
who made such stringent laws about canonization, and who knew Lessius
personally, paid a special tribute to his sanctity. He is now like
Bellarmine ranked among the venerable, and the process of his
beatification is proceeding.
Another great Jesuit theologian of this period was the Spaniard, Juan
Maldonado, who was born in 1533 at Casas de Reina, about sixty-six
leagues from Madrid. He went to the University of Salamanca, where he
studied Latin under two blind professors. He took up Greek with El
Pinciano, philosophy with Toletus, and theology with Soto. He was
endowed with a prodigious memory and never forgot anything he had ever
learned. His aspirations were at first for law, but he turned to
theology; and after obtaining the doctorate, taught theology, philosophy
and Greek at the university. He entered the Society in 1562, and was
ordained priest in the following year. He lectured on Aristotle in the
new College of Clermont in 1564, and then taught theology for the four
following years; after an interruption of a year, he continued his
courses until 1576. His lectures attracted such crowds that at times the
college courtyard was substituted for the hall. He was appointed a
member of the commission for revising the Septuagint; his knowledge of
Latin, Greek, Hebrew, Syriac, Chaldaic and Arabic and his comprehensive
knowledge of history, of the early Fathers and of all the heresies, gave
him the first rank among the Scriptural exegetes of his time. In
Cornely's opinion, his "Commentaries on the Gospels" are the best ever
published. Above all, he was a man of eminent sanctity, endowed with an
extraordinary instinct for orthodoxy, and an unflinching courage in
fighting for the Church as long as he had life. "His constant desire,"
says Prat, "was to make everything the Society undertook, bear the mark
of the greatness and sanctity which St. Ignatius had stamped on the
Institute."
There was also the great Suárez, who was born at Granada in 1548, and
became a Jesuit in 1564. Pope Paul V appointed him to answer King James
of England and wanted to retain him in the Holy City, but Philip II
claimed him for Coimbra to give prestige to the university. When he
visited Barcelona the doctors of the university went out to meet him
processionally to pay him honor. Bossuet declared that his writings
contained the whole of Scholastic theology. In Scholasticism he founded
a school of his own, and modified Molinism by his system of Congruism.
His book, "De defensione fidei," was burned in London by royal command,
and was prohibited as containing doctrines against the power of
sovereigns. One edition of his works consisted of twenty-three and
another of twenty-eight volumes in folio. De Scoraille has written an
admirable biography of this great man.
Cardinal de Lugo also should be included in this catalogue; indeed he is
one of the most eminent theologians of modern times. His precocity as a
child was almost preternatural, he was reading books when he was three
years old and was tonsured at ten; at fourteen, he defended a public
thesis in philosophy, and about the same time he was appointed to an
ecclesiastical benefice by Philip II. He studied law at the University
of Salamanca, but soon followed his brother into the Society. After
teaching philosophy at Medina del Campo and theology at Valladolid, he
was summoned to Rome to be professor of theology. His lectures were
circulated all over Europe before they were printed, and only when
ordered by superiors did he put them in book form. Between 1633 and 1640
he published four volumes which cover the whole field of dogmatic
theology. Their characteristic is that there is little, if any,
repetition of what other writers had already said. St. Alphonsus Liguori
rated him as only just below St. Thomas Aquinas; and Benedict XIV
styles him "a light of the Church." He was made a cardinal in 1643.
The distinguished Father Lehmkuhl appropriates four long columns in "The
Catholic Encyclopedia" to express his admiration for Gregory de Valencia
who was born in 1541 and died in 1603. He came from Medina in Spain and
was studying philosophy and jurisprudence in Salamanca, when attracted
by the preaching of Father Ramírez, he entered the novitiate and had the
privilege of being trained by Baltasar Álvarez, who was one of the
spiritual directors of St. Teresa. St. Francis Borgia called him to
Rome, where he taught philosophy with such distinction that all North
Germany and Poland petitioned for his appointment to their universities.
He was assigned to Dillingen, and two years afterwards to Ingolstadt,
where he taught for twenty-four years. His "Commentary" in four volumes
on the "Summa theologica" of St. Thomas is one of the first
comprehensive theological works of the Society. He contributed about
eight polemical treatises to the war on Lutheranism, which was then at
white heat; but he was not at one with his friend von Spee in the matter
of witchcraft. Von Spee wanted both courts and trials abolished; Gregory
thought their severity might be tempered. He had much to do with the
change of view in moral theology on the subject of usury; and the two
last volumes of his great work, the "Analysis fidei catholicæ"
culminates in a proof of papal infallibility which expresses almost
literally the definition of the Vatican Council.
In 1589 he was summoned to Rome to take part in the great theological
battle on grace. The task assigned to him was to prove the orthodoxy of
Molina, which he did so effectively and with such consummate skill that
both friend and foe awarded him the palm. But the battle was not over,
for it was charged that isolated statements taken from Molina's book
contradicted St. Augustine. Consequently all of St. Augustine's works
had to be examined; a scrutiny which of course called for endless and
crushing labor, but he set himself to the task so energetically that
when the debates were resumed his health was shattered, and he was
allowed to remain seated during the discussions. Thomas de Lemos was his
antagonist at this stage. In the ninth session, Gregory's strength gave
way and he fainted in his chair. His enemies said it was because the
Pope had reproached him with tampering with St. Augustine's text, but as
his holiness had decorated him with the title of "Doctor doctorum," the
accusation must be put in the same category as the other which charged
the Jesuits with poisoning Clement VIII so as to prevent him from
condemning their doctrine.
According to the "Biographie universelle," Denis Pétau, or Petavius, was
one of the most distinguished savants of his time. He was born at
Orléans, August 21, 1583, and there made his early studies. Later he
went to Paris, and at the end of his philosophical course defended his
thesis in Greek. He took no recreation, but haunted the Royal Library,
and amused himself collecting ancient manuscripts. It was while making
these researches, that he met the famous Casaubon, who urged him to
prepare an edition of the works of Synesius. While engaged at this work,
he was chosen for the chair of philosophy at Bourges, though he was then
only nineteen years old. As soon as he was ordained to the priesthood,
he was made canon of the cathedral of his native city. There he met
Father Fronton du Duc and entered the Society. After his novitiate, he
was sent to the University of Pont-à-Mousson for a course of theology.
He then taught rhetoric at La Flèche, and from there went to Paris. His
health gave way at this time, and he occupied himself in preparing some
of the works which Casaubon had formerly advised him to publish. In
1621, he succeeded Fronton du Duc as professor of positive theology, and
continued at the post for twenty-two years with ever increasing
distinction.
Pétau's leisure moments were given to deciphering old manuscripts and
studying history. Every year saw some new book from his hands;
meanwhile, his vast correspondence and his replies to his critics
involved an immense amount of other labor. Though naturally of a mild
disposition, his controversies unfortunately assumed the harsh and
vituperative tone of the period. It was the accepted method. His great
work on chronology appeared in 1627 and won universal applause; Philip
IV of Spain offered him the chair of history in Madrid, but he refused
it on the score of health. In 1637 he dedicated to Pope Urban VIII a
"Paraphrase of the Psalms in Greek verse," for which he was invited to
Rome, but he escaped the honor on the plea of age. As a matter of fact,
he was so frightened at the prospect of being made a cardinal that he
fell dangerously ill, and recovered only when assured that his name was
removed from the list. He stopped teaching in 1644, only eight years
before his death. The complete list of his books fills twenty-five
columns in Sommervogel's catalogue of Jesuit publications. They are
concerned with chronology, history, polemics, and the history of dogma.
His "Dogmata theologica" is incomplete, not having been carried beyond
the fifth volume.
In those days there was an extraordinary amount of exaggerated
confidence entertained by many of the dignitaries of the Church that the
Jesuits had an especial aptitude for adjusting the politico-religious
difficulties which were disturbing the peace of Europe. Thus, we find
Father Warsewicz sent to Sweden in 1574 to strengthen the resolution of
the king of that country, who, under the influence of his Catholic
queen, was desirous of restoring the nation to the Faith. Warsewicz
appeared in the court of King John, not as representing the Pope, but as
the ambassador of the King of Poland, who was related to Queen
Catherine. It was she who had suggested this means of approaching the
king. Accordingly, private meetings were held with the monarch during an
entire week, for five and six hours consecutively, for John prided
himself on his theological erudition. He agreed to re-establish
Catholicity in his realm, provided the chalice was granted to the laity
and that marriage of the clergy and the substitution of Swedish for
Latin in the liturgy were permitted. He had no difficulty about the
doctrinal teaching of the Church.
The king's conditions were, of course, unacceptable, and in 1576 Father
Nicolai was sent to see if he could induce him to modify his demand.
According to the "Realencyclopädie für protestantische Theologie und
Kirche" and Böhmer-Monod, Nicolai represented himself as a Lutheran
minister, and taught in Protestant seminaries. The "Realencyclopädie"
adds, "he almost succeeded in smuggling in what was virtually a Romish
liturgy." But in the first place, this "liturgy" was not "smuggled in"
by the Jesuit or anyone else. It was imposed by the king, and was in use
until his death which occurred seventeen years later, (The Catholic
Encyclopedia). Secondly, Nicolai could not have been posing as a
minister, for he let it be known that he had studied in Louvain,
Cologne, and Douay, which were Catholic seminaries. It is true that he
did not declare he was a Jesuit; but it is surely possible to be a
Catholic without being a Jesuit. It is more than likely that the school
was a sort of union seminary, which was striving to arrive at
conciliation, for, according to the king, what kept the two sections
apart was merely a matter of ecclesiastical usage. Finally, the
Confession of Augsburg was not admitted in Sweden as the religion of the
State until 1593. Had Nicolai advocated Luther's doctrines either in the
pulpit or the professor's chair, he would have been instantaneously
expelled from the Society.
The next Jesuit who appeared in Sweden was Anthony Possevin, an Italian
of Mantua, who was born either in 1533 or 1534. He began his career as
the secretary of Cardinal Ercole Gonzaga, and became a Jesuit at the age
of twenty-five. He accomplished much in France as a preacher and founder
of colleges; and in 1573 was made secretary of the Society under
Mercurian. In 1577 he was sent as a special legate of the Pope to John
III of Sweden, and also to the Courts of Bohemia and Bavaria to secure
their support for John in the event of certain political complications.
These political features of the mission made it very objectionable to
the Jesuits because of their possible reaction on the whole Society. But
as the order came from the Pope, and as the conversion of the king and
of all Sweden was the predominating idea of the mission, the attempt was
made in spite of its possible consequence.
Like his predecessor, he did not appear in his clerical garb, nor even
as the legate of the Pope. That would scarcely be tolerated in a
Protestant country like Sweden, but he came as the ambassador
extraordinary of the Empress of Germany, the widow of Maximilian II.
With him were two other Jesuits--Good, an Englishman, and Fournier, a
Frenchman. Crétineau-Joly makes Good an Irishman, but the English
"Menology" for July 5 says he was born at Glastonbury in Somersetshire,
and was one of the first Englishmen admitted to the Society. After his
noviceship he was sent to Ireland, where he labored for four years under
the Archbishop of Armagh. He then accompanied Possevin to Sweden and
Poland, and after passing four years in the latter country, died at
Naples in 1586.
When Possevin had finished discussing the political situation with the
king, he began his work as ambassador of the Lord. He had many private
interviews with his majesty, and convinced him of his errors in matters
of faith; but the king insisted on points of discipline and liturgy
which could not be granted. In brief, he was a Catholic, but reasons of
State prevented him from making any public declaration. However, on May
16, 1578, he decided to take the step, and an altar was erected in a
room of his palace. There he assisted at Mass, and in the presence of
the queen, the Governor of Stockholm and his secretary, declared himself
a Catholic. But he still hesitated about making it known to his people,
and begged Possevin to return to Rome to see if he could not obtain the
dispensation already asked for,--such as Communion under both kinds,
Mass in Swedish, the marriage of priests, which Possevin knew would
never be granted. However, he set out for Rome with seven young
converts, and sent two Jesuits to Stockholm as preachers. He also got
others ready in Austria, Poland, and Moravia, and made arrangements with
the Emperor Rudolph to give his daughter in marriage to King John's son,
Sigismund. He finally reached Rome, but the congregation of Cardinals,
of course, rejected the king's pusillanimous petition.
In spite of this failure, Possevin was then sent as legate to Russia,
Lithuania, Moravia, Hungary, and, in general, to all the countries of
the North; while Philip II of Spain entrusted him with a confidential
mission to the King of Sweden. In Bavaria, he has to see the duke; at
Augsburg, he makes arrangements for the Pope with the famous banking
firm of Fugger, the Rothschilds of those days, who had figured so
conspicuously in the question of Indulgences in Luther's time. From
there he proceeded to Prague to deliver a message to the Emperor; and at
Vilna he conferred with Bathori, the King of Poland. A Swedish frigate
waited for him at Dantzig and, after a fourteen days' voyage, he landed
at Stockholm on July 26, 1579. He was no longer dressed as a layman, but
went to the court in his Jesuit cassock and was received with great
ceremony by the dignitaries of the realm.
Meantime, however, the king's brother and sister-in-law had aroused the
Lutherans; the Swedish bishops were banded against him, and finally,
when the king learned that none of his demands had been granted, except
that of keeping the confiscated ecclesiastical property, he lost courage
and reverted to Protestantism. The assurance given him by Possevin that
he could rely on the help of Spain, of the Emperor, and of the Catholic
princes of Germany did not move him. He saw before him the revolt of his
subjects, and the accession of his brother; and, while insisting that he
was a Catholic at heart, he refused to act, unless the Pope granted all
his demands. On February 19 he convoked a Diet at Wadstena, at which
Possevin was present, but as the majority was clearly against returning
to the old Faith, the legate had to be satisfied with being merely an
onlooker, while the king, convinced that he was acting against his
conscience, yielded to the popular clamor. Another Diet was held with
the same result. Meantime, the legate remained in Stockholm, devoting
himself to the sick and dying, in a pestilence that was then devastating
the city. He also succeeded in so strengthening the faith of the young
Sigismund, the heir apparent, that when there was question subsequently
of his renouncing Catholicity in order to ascend the throne, he had the
courage to say that he would relinquish all his rights and withdraw into
private life, rather than abandon the Faith.
A much more curious exercise of diplomacy came in Possevin's way in the
quarrel between the King of Poland and the ruler of Muscovy. The latter
had made vast conquests in the East, and then turned his attention to
Livonia, which was Polish territory. Bathori, who was ruler of Poland,
met and conquered the invader in a series of successful battles.
Whereupon the Czar, knowing Bathori's devotion to the Holy See, asked
the Sovereign Pontiff, Gregory XIII, to intervene. Possevin was again
called upon, and set out as plenipotentiary to arrange peace between the
two nations. Incidentally, the intention of the Pope was to obtain the
toleration of Catholics in the Russian dominions, to secure a safe
passage for missionaries to China through Russia, to induce the Czar to
unite with the Christian princes against the Turks, and even to bring
about a union of the Greek and Latin churches.
Possevin arrived at Vilna in 1581. He found Bathori elated by his
victories, but in no humor to entertain proposals of peace, which he
wisely judged to be merely a device of his opponent to gain time.
However, he yielded to persuasion, and Possevin set out to find the
Russian sovereign at Staritza. He was received with all the honors due
to an ambassador, and succeeded in gaining a suspension of hostilities,
the surrender of Livonia to Poland, as well as the agreement to the
demands of the Pope for religious toleration, and the passage across
Russia to China for Catholic missionaries. Even the proposal to join the
crusade against the Turks was accepted, in the hope that it would put
Constantinople in the hands of Russia. But when the question of the
union of Churches was mooted, which, of course, implied the recognition
of the Pope as Supreme Pastor, the savage awoke in the Czar, and, for a
moment, it seemed as if the life of the ambassador was at stake. The
treaty of peace was finally signed on January 15, 1582, the delegates
meeting in the chapel, where the ambassador celebrated Mass; all the
representatives of Poland and Russia kissing the cross as a declaration
of their fidelity to their oath. Possevin and his associates then
started for Rome towards the end of April. They were loaded with
presents from the Czar; but to the amazement of the barbarians, they
distributed them among the poor of the city.
There was, however, an appendix to this mission. Though the Polish king
did all in his power to preserve the Faith in Livonia, the German
Lutherans, Calvinists, Baptists, and other heretics had already invaded
the country, and were inflaming the population with hatred of the Pope
and the Church. Added to this was the alarm awakened in the mind of the
Emperor of Germany at the growing power of the Poles. Again Possevin had
to return to the scenes of his labors, but this time it was more as a
priest than a diplomat. Indeed, much of his energy was expended in
proving that he was neither German nor Pole, but an ambassador of Christ
sent to build up the Faith of both nations against heresy. We hear of
him once more in the matter of the reconciliation of Henry IV of France
to the Holy See. To him and Toletus was due the credit of inducing the
Pope to absolve the king, and by so doing, save France from schism. When
this was done, Possevin became an ordinary Jesuit, laboring here and
there, exclusively for the salvation of souls. It is a curious story,
and it would be hard to find anything like it in the chronicles of the
Church, except, perhaps the career of the famous Portuguese Jesuit,
Antonio Vieira, surnamed by his fellow-countrymen, "the Great."
Vieira was born in Lisbon, on February 5, 1608, and died at Bahia, in
Brazil, on July 18, 1697. He was virtually a Brazilian, for he went out
to the colony when still a child, and after finishing his studies in the
Jesuit college there, entered the Society in 1623, when he was only
fifteen years of age. At eighteen, he was teaching rhetoric and writing
commentaries on the Canticle of Canticles, the tragedies of Seneca, and
the "Metamorphoses" of Ovid, but it was twelve years before he was
raised to the priesthood. The eloquence of his first sermon astounded
everyone.
In 1640 Portugal declared its independence from Spain, to which it had
been subject for sixty years. As the union had been effected by fraud
and force, and as all the former Portuguese possessions in the East and
a part of Brazil had been wrested from Spain by the Dutch and English;
and as the taxes imposed on Portugal were excessively onerous, there was
a strong feeling of hatred for the Spaniards. This hostility broke out
finally in a revolution, and John IV ascended the throne of Portugal,
but the change of government involved the country in a disastrous war of
twenty years' duration.
Before the outbreak, the Jesuits were solemnly warned by their Superiors
to observe a rigid neutrality. But in the excited state of the public
mind, Father Freire forgot the injunction, and, in an Advent sermon in
the year 1637, let words escape him that set the country ablaze.
Crétineau-Joly says "the provincial promptly imprisoned him," which
probably meant that he was kept in his room, for there are no prisons in
Jesuit houses. But even that seclusion produced a popular tumult. The
provincial was besieged by protests, and a delegation was even sent to
Madrid to protest that the words of the preacher had been
misinterpreted. The Spanish king accepted the explanation, and when the
envoys returned to Lisbon, Freire had been already liberated.
Ranke asserts in his "History of the Popes" that as there was question
of establishing a republic in Portugal at that time, it is possible that
Spain preferred to see the innocuous John of Braganza, whose son was a
dissolute wretch, made king, than to run the risk of a republic like
those projected at that time by the Calvinists in France and by the
Lutherans in Sweden. Later, however, an investigation was ordered, and a
Jesuit named Correa was incarcerated for having predicted at a college
reception given to John of Braganza some years earlier that he would one
day wear the crown. Meantime the explosion took place, and in 1640 John
of Braganza was proclaimed king of an independent Portugal.
In the following year Vieira arrived from Brazil and was not only made
tutor to the Infante, Don Pedro, as well as court preacher, but was
appointed member of the royal council. In the last-named office he
reorganized the departments of the army and navy, gave a new impetus to
commerce, urged the foundation of a national bank, and the organization
of the Brazilian Trading Company, readjusted the taxation, curbed the
Portuguese Inquisition, and was mainly instrumental in gaining the
national victories of Elvas, Almeixal, Castello Rodrigo, and Montes
Claros.
Between 1646 and 1650 he went on diplomatic missions to Paris, the
Hague, London, and Rome, but refused the title of ambassador and also
the offer of a bishopric. He wanted something else, namely, to work
among his Indians, and he returned to Brazil in 1652. There he provoked
the wrath of the slave-owners by his denunciation of their ill-treatment
of the negroes and Indians, and was soon back in Lisbon pleading the
cause of the victims. He won his case, and, in 1655, we find him once
more at his missionary labors in Brazil, evangelizing the cannibals,
translating the catechism into their idioms, travelling over steep
mountain ranges and paddling hundreds of miles on the Amazon and its
numberless tributaries. Eleven times he visited every mission post on
the Maranhon, which meant twenty journeys along the interminable South
American rivers, on some of which he had to keep at the oar for a month
at a time. It is estimated that he made 15,000 leagues on foot, and
advanced 600 leagues farther into the interior of the continent than any
of his predecessors. He continued this work till 1661, and then the
slave-owners rose against him with greater fury than ever, and sent him
a prisoner to Lisbon. He was no longer as welcome at court as
previously, for the degenerate Alfonso, who had to be subsequently
deposed, was on the throne. In 1665 the Inquisition forbade him to
preach, and flung him into a dungeon, where he lay till 1667, when he
was released by the new king Pedro II. He then went to Rome, and was
welcomed by the Pope, the cardinals, and the General of the Order,
Father Oliva.
While at Rome he met Christina of Sweden, who had abdicated her throne
in order to become a Catholic. Ranke, in his "History of the Popes,"
devotes a whole chapter to this extraordinary woman, and she is referred
to here merely because of her admiration for Vieira, and also to call
attention to the fact that the first priest she spoke to about her
conversion was the Jesuit, Antonio Macedo, who was the confessor of
Pinto Pereira, the Portuguese ambassador to Sweden. The "Menology" tells
us that Macedo did not wear his priestly dress in that country. He was
the ambassador's secretary and interpreter, but he attracted the
attention of the queen, who remembered no doubt that the Jesuit,
Possevin, had appeared in the same court, in the time of John III,
disguised as an officer. She finally asked Macedo about it, and he
admitted that he was a Jesuit. Then began a series of conversations in
Latin, which Christina spoke perfectly, as she did several other
languages. She finally told him that she had resolved to become a
Catholic, even if she forfeited her crown, and she commissioned him to
inform the Sovereign Pontiff of her purpose. To reward Macedo she asked
the Pope to make him a bishop, but as he had been a missionary in
Africa, the mitre did not appeal to him, and he went back to Lisbon,
where he died after sixty-seven years passed in the Society.
Macedo's departure from Stockholm was so sudden that it excited comment,
and possibly to persuade the public she had nothing to do with it, the
queen pretended to despatch messengers in pursuit of him. In fact, she
had requested the General of the Society to send some of the most
trusted members of the Order to Sweden. It may be that the old African
missionary, Macedo, was not skillful enough in elucidating some of the
metaphysical problems which she was discussing. "In February, 1652,"
says Ranke, "the Jesuits who had been asked for arrived in Stockholm.
They were two young men who represented themselves to be Italian
noblemen engaged in travel, and in this character they were admitted to
her table." They were Fathers Cavati and Molenia, who were able
mathematicians as well as theologians. Descartes also was there about
that time. The queen did not recognize the young noblemen in public,
but, says Ranke: "as they were walking before her to the dining-hall,
she said, in a low voice to one of them: 'Perhaps you have letters for
me.' Without turning his head he replied that he had. Then, with a
quick word, she bade him keep silence. On the following morning they
were conducted secretly to the palace. Thus," continues Ranke, "to the
royal dwelling of Gustavus Adolphus there now came ambassadors from Rome
for the purpose of holding conferences with his daughter about joining
the Catholic Church. The charm of this affair for Christina was
principally the conviction that no one had the slightest suspicion about
her proceedings."
The conferences seem to have been long drawn out, although the envoys
subsequently reported that "Her Majesty apprehended with most ready
penetration the whole force of the arguments we laid before her.
Otherwise we should have consumed much time. Suddenly she appeared to
abandon every desire to carry out her purpose, and attributed her doubts
to the assaults of Satan. Her spiritual advisers were in despair, when
just as suddenly she exclaimed: 'There is no use. I must resign my
crown.'" The abdication was made with great solemnity amid the tears and
protests of her subjects. She left her country and spent the rest of her
life in Rome, where her unusual intellectual abilities and great
learning excited the wonder of everyone. Her heroism in sacrificing her
kingdom was, of course, the chief subject of the praise that was
showered upon her.
When Vieira arrived in Rome and fascinated everyone by his extraordinary
eloquence, Christina wanted him to be her spiritual director. But the
old hero preferred ruder work, and by 1681 he was again back in Brazil
among his Indians. Even in his old age he was a storm centre, and
although he had done so much for the glory of God and the good of
humanity, he was deprived of both active and passive voice in the
Society, that is to say, he could neither vote for any measures of
administration or be eligible to any office, because he was supposed to
have canvassed a provincial congregation. It was only after he had
expired, at the age of ninety, that his innocence was established. His
knowledge of scripture, theology, history, and literature was
stupendous, and he is said to have been familiar with the language of
six of the native races. Southey, in his "History of Brazil," calls him
one of the greatest statesmen of his country. He was a patriot, whose
one dream was to see Portugal the standard-bearer of Christianity in the
Old and New Worlds. As an orator he was one of the world's masters, and
as a prose writer the greatest that Portugal has every produced. His
sermons alone fill fifteen volumes, and there are many of his
manuscripts to be found in the British Museum, the National Library of
Paris, and elsewhere.
When St. Francis Borgia, the third General of the Society, died in 1572,
his most likely successor was Polanco, who had been the secretary of St.
Ignatius, and was generally credited with having absorbed the genuine
spirit of St. Ignatius. Had he been elected, he would have been the
fourth successive Spanish General. It would have been a misfortune at
that time, and would have fastened on the members of the Society the
name which was already given to them in some parts of Europe: "the
Spanish priests," a designation that would have been an implicit denial
of the catholicity of the Order, even though the Spanish monarch was
"His Catholic Majesty."
Their devoted friend, Pope Gregory XIII, saw the danger and determined
to avert it. Fortunately, he had just been asked by Philip of Spain,
Sebastian of Portugal, and the cardinal inquisitor not to allow the
election of Polanco, who was of Jewish descent. The Pope determined to
go further and to exclude any Spaniard from the office, for the time
being. At the customary visit of the delegates, prior to the election,
he intimated that as there had been three successive Spanish Generals,
it might be wise, in view of the world-wide expansion of the Society, to
elect someone of another nationality, and he suggested Mercurian.
Doubtless his words found a ready response in the hearts of many of
those to whom they were addressed, and even most of the Spaniards must
have seen the wisdom of the change. A remonstrance, however, was
respectfully made that His Holiness was thus withdrawing from the
Society its right of freedom of election, to which the Pope made answer
that such was not his intention; but in case a Spaniard was chosen he
would like to be told who he was, before the public announcement was
made. As the Pope's word is law, the Spaniards were excluded as
candidates, and apparently, as a measure of conciliation, Everard de
Mercoeur, or Mercurian, was elected. As his native country, Belgium, was
then subject to Spain, the blow thus given to the Spaniards was, to a
certain extent, softened. But it was the beginning of trouble which at
one time almost threatened the Society with destruction. Fortunately,
Mercurian's successor, Aquaviva, had to deal with it when it came.
Mercurian had as yet done nothing great enough to attract public
attention; but he evidently enjoyed the unqualified esteem of the Pope.
In the Society itself he had filled many important posts such as
vice-præpositus of the professed house in Rome, rector of the new
college of Perugia, visitor and provincial of Flanders and France, and
assistant of Francis Borgia. And in all of these charges he was said to
have reproduced in his government the living image of St. Ignatius. A
man with such a reputation was invaluable, especially for the spiritual
life of the Society, and that is of infinitely greater importance than
outward show. There is one thing for which the Order is especially very
grateful to him namely, the "Summary of the Constitutions," and the
"Common Rules" and the rules for each office, which he drew up at the
beginning of his administration. This digest is read every month in the
refectory of every Jesuit house and selections from it form the basis of
the domestic exhortations given twice a month to the communities by the
rector or spiritual father. By this means the character and purpose of
the Institute is kept continually before the eyes of every Jesuit, from
the youngest novice to the oldest professed, and they are made to see
plainly that there is nothing cryptic or esoteric in the government of
the Society. Hence, when the priest, after his ordination, goes through
what is called his third year of probation, in which the study of the
Institute constitutes a large part of his work, nothing really new is
presented to him. It is familiar matter studied more profoundly.
There were other great men whose names might be mentioned here, but they
will appear later in the course of this history.