THE SOVEREIGN PONTIFFS AND THE SOCIETY
Devotion, Trust and Affection of each Pope of the Nineteenth and
Twentieth Centuries manifested in their Official and Personal
Relations with the Society.
The restored Society, like the old, has been the recipient of many
favors from the Sovereign Pontiffs. Pius VI would have immediately
undone the work of Clement XIV, had it been at all possible; and Pius
VII faced the wrath of all the kings and statesmen of Europe by issuing
the Bull that put back the Society in the place it had previously
occupied in the Church.
The election of Leo XII, who succeeded Pius VII on September 28, 1823,
had, at first, thrown consternation among the members of the Order,
because of his previous attitude as Cardinal della Genga. He had been
associated with its enemies and had uttered very harsh words about the
Society, but it soon became evident that it was all due to the
impression which the plotters had given him that they were fighting
against the influence of Paccanarism in certain members of the
congregation. When he became Pope, he understood better the facts of the
case and became one of the warmest friends the Society ever had.
On May 7, 1824, he recalled the Fathers to the Roman College and gave
them a yearly revenue of 12,000 scudi, besides restoring to them the
Church of St. Ignatius, the Caravita Oratory, the museum, the library,
the observatory, etc. He entrusted to them the direction of the College
of Nobles; assigned to them the Villa of Tivoli; set apart new buildings
for the Collegium Germanicum, and on July 4, 1826, he established them
in the College of Spoleto, which he had founded for the teaching of
humanities, philosophy, civil and canon law, theology and holy
Scripture; for all of which he had provided ample revenues.
In the same year he issued the celebrated Bull "Plura inter," restoring
the ancient privileges of the Society and adding new ones. This list of
spiritual favors fills seven complete columns. "Everyone is aware," he
said in the Bull, "how many and how great were the services performed by
this Society, which was the fruitful mother of men who were conspicuous
for their piety and learning. From it we expect still more in the
future, seeing that it is extending its branches so widely even before
it has taken new root. For not only in Rome but in Transalpine countries
and in the remotest regions of the world, it is affectionately received,
because it leaves nothing undone to train youth in piety and the liberal
arts, in order to make them the future ornaments of their respective
countries."
On July 27, he increased the revenues of the College of Beneventum, and
on October 11, of the same year, he told the people of Faenza that he
could not, just then, give them a Jesuit College because of the lack of
funds, but that he would meet their wishes as soon as possible. The very
month before his death, he sent encouraging words to the Fathers in
England, who were harassed by all sorts of calumnious accusations, and
told the Bishop of Thespia that "the English scholastics could be
ordained _sub titulo paupertatis_, and had a right to the same
privileges as other religious orders in England." Finally, he would have
appointed Father Kohlmann Bishop of New York and Father Kenny to the See
of Dromore, had not the General persuaded him not to do so. The same
thing occurred in the case of Father Pallavicini who was named for the
See of Reggio in Calabria. Pope Leo XII died on February 10, 1829, a few
days after the demise of Father Fortis, who was his affectionate and
intimate friend.
The name of his successor, Pius VIII, was Francis Xavier Castiglione--a
good omen for the brethren of the great Apostle. Indeed, brief though
his pontificate was, he always made it clear that the Society was very
dear to him. "I have always let it be known," he said to the Fathers who
had presented themselves to greet him at his accession, "and I shall
avail myself of every occasion to declare that I love the Society of
Jesus. From my earliest childhood that feeling was deep in my heart, and
I have always profoundly venerated St. Ignatius and St. Francis Xavier.
I bear, all unworthy as I am, the name of Xavier. I have been taught by
the most distinguished Jesuits, and I know how much good they have done
for the Church, so that as the Church cannot be separated from the Pope,
he cannot be separated from the Society. These are sad days and there
never was witnessed greater audacity and hate. Impiety has never
employed greater cunning against the truth. Perhaps very soon other
grievous wounds will be inflicted on the Church; but together we shall
fight the enemies of God. Return to your provinces, therefore, and
arouse in your brethren the same ardor that is in your hearts. Preach
and teach obedience and integrity of life in your schools, in your
pulpits, by voice and pen, and with all your soul. May God second your
efforts. Meantime keep always unshaken in the assurance that I shall
always be, before all, your most tender and devoted Father."
On December 2, 1829, accompanied by Cardinals Somaglia and Odescalchi he
went to the Gesù, and after praying at the altar of St. Francis Xavier,
published the beatification of Alphonsus Liguori, the founder of the
Redemptorist Order. He lavished favors on the Germanico-Hungarico and
the College of Nobles; and when Charles Augustus von Reisach, a student
of the Collegium Germanicum who was very young at the time, was named
rector of the Propaganda, the Pope said to those who referred to it:
"Never mind; he is young but he has studied in the best of schools and
every one praises him for the maturity of his character, his
irreproachable life and his fitness for the office."
When this devoted friend of the Society died, Cardinal Cappellari, the
learned Camaldolese monk, ascended the pontifical throne and took the
name Gregory XVI. Fifteen days afterwards all Italy was in the throes of
Revolution. The Carbonari were in control, and as usual the Society felt
the first blow. On February 17th, at the same hour, the colleges of
Spoleto, Fano, Modena, Reggio, Forlì and Ferrara were attacked and the
masters and pupils thrown out in the street. A decree of banishment was
issued, but the people arose in their wrath, suppressed the insurrection
and the Fathers were re-instated.
When peace was restored, the Pope gave a notable illustration of his
esteem for the Society. He summoned all the religious of the various
orders in Rome to the Gesù to make the Spiritual Exercises. A short time
afterwards, at the instance of the Propaganda, he entrusted to it the
administration of several colleges and formulated the concessions in the
most eulogistic of terms, declaring among other things that a long and
happy experience from the very beginning of the Institute until the
present time, and in divers parts of the world, had shown the Holy See
the incontestable aptitude of the Fathers for directing both clerical
and secular schools. The same conviction, he said later, also prompted
him to give them the Illyrian College.
The cholera which was sweeping over Europe finally reached Rome. The
Pope had already established ambulances and hospitals in various parts
of the city, and his appeal to the religious sentiments of the people
prevented the frightful orgies which had disgraced London, Madrid and
Paris when similarly afflicted. Cardinal Odescalchi, soon to be a
Jesuit, was especially conspicuous in tranquillizing the populace, and a
solemn ceremony in which the entire city participated is especially
worthy of note, since it was intended by the Sovereign Pontiff to be an
official announcement that while the pestilence lasted, the Jesuit
Fathers were to be the principal channel of the Papal charities. The
miraculous picture of the Blessed Virgin was carried in procession from
St. Mary Major's to the Gesù and, in spite of the stifling heat, the
Pope himself, surrounded by his cardinals, the clergy and the principal
civil officials, accompanied the picture through the kneeling multitudes
in the streets, and placed it on the altar in the Jesuit church, which
thus became the prayer centre for the city while the pestilence lasted.
On August 23, 1837, it struck the city at the same moment in several
places. Two princesses were its first victims, but the Pope in person
went wherever the harvest of death was greatest, and his example
inspired every one to emulate his devotion. Naturally members of the
Society did their duty in those terrible days when 9,372 people were
attacked by the disease and more than 5,000 perished. By the month of
October the plague had ceased.
Cardinal Odescalchi, who had won the affection of the people of Rome by
his heroic devotion to them at this crisis, astounded them in the
following year by the renunciation of the exalted dignities which he
enjoyed in the Church and in the State, for he was a prince--in order to
assume the humble garb and subject himself to the obedience of the
Society of Jesus. The Pope and the cardinals endeavored to dissuade him
from taking the step, pleading the interests of the Church, but he
persisted, and on the day of his admission, December 8, 1838, he wrote
to Father Roothaan to say that he could not describe the happiness that
he felt, and he requested the General to deal with him as he would with
the humblest of his subjects. He was then fifty-two years old. He died
at Modena, on August 17, 1841, and had thus been able as one of its sons
to celebrate the third centenary of the Society, which occurred in 1840.
There was little if any public declaration, however, of this
anniversary, for Father Roothaan had sent a reminder to all the
provinces that the dangers of the time made it advisable to keep all
manifestations of happiness and of gratitude to God within the limits of
the domestic circle.
In 1836 an imperial edict in answer to a popular demand permitted the
Jesuits to establish schools anywhere in the limits of the Austrian
empire and to follow their own methods of teaching independently of
university control. The emperor and empress honored by their presence
the first college opened in Verona. Other cities of Italy invited the
Fathers to open schools, and Metternich, who is sometimes cited as their
enemy, allowed them to install themselves at Venice, where a remnant of
antagonism had remained, ever since the time of Paolo Sarpi; but by St.
Ignatius Day in 1844 that had all vanished and the patriarch, the doge,
the nobility, the clergy and the people united in giving the Fathers a
cordial welcome.
In the Island of Malta, which had become a British possession, the
inhabitants sent a letter of thanks to Lord Stanley, the secretary of
State, for having granted them a college of the Society. The letter had
4,000 signatures. The Two Sicilies welcomed the Society in 1804 and
restored to it the Professed house, along with the Collegium Maximum and
the old churches; other establishments were begun elsewhere in the
kingdom. After the Jesuits had been expelled by the Carbonari in 1820
the usual reaction occurred and they were soon back at their posts. The
cholera of 1837 gave them a new hold on the affection of the people, and
for the moment their position in the kingdom appeared to be absolutely
secure.
During the fifteen years of his pontificate, Gregory XVI published no
less than fifteen rescripts in favor of the Society. On March 30, 1843,
he empowered Georgetown College in Washington to confer philosophical
and theological degrees. In the following year he restored the Illyrian
College, which Gregory XIII had established at Loreto, and gave it to
the Society together with the Villa Leonaria. At the request of Cardinal
Franzoni, the prefect of the Propaganda, he turned over the Urban
College to the Society, and in the rescript announcing the transfer he
said: "Whereas the Congregation of the Propaganda was convinced that the
instruction of the young clerics who are to be sent to foreign parts to
spread the light of the Gospel and to cultivate the vineyard of the Lord
could not be better trained for such a task than by those religious who
make it the special work of their Institute to form youth in piety,
literature and science, and who always strive intensely in whatever they
undertake to promote the greater glory of God; and whereas, from the
very establishment of the Society of Jesus, the Church has had daily
experience of the aptitude of the Fathers of the Society in the
education of youth both in secular and clerical pursuits in all parts
of the world; and whereas the testimony which even the enemies of the
Holy See and of the Church are compelled by the evidence of things to
pay to the Society of Jesus for the excellent education which the youth
of their colleges receive, we do therefore assent most willingly to the
petition of the lord cardinal of the Congregation of the Propaganda."
On October 11, 1838, a chair of canon law was erected in the Roman
College. In the following year on March 5, the Pontiff gave the Society
the College of Fermo, and on September 28, the College of Camerino. In
brief, there was no end of the spiritual favors which Gregory XVI
bestowed on the Society through its General, Father Roothaan, whom he
honored with his most intimate friendship.
Pius IX succeeded Gregory XVI, and although he greatly esteemed Rosmini,
who was attacked for his philosophical views by the Jesuits, chiefly by
Melia, Passaglia, Rozaven and Ballerini, that did not affect the great
Pontiff's affection for the Society. Hence when the procurators at their
meeting of 1847 presented themselves to His Holiness to protest against
the charge that they were averse to his governmental policies, he
assured them that he was well aware of the calumnious nature of the
accusation. He repeated the same words in 1853 to the electors of the
twenty-second general congregation, and in 1860, when Garibaldi expelled
the Jesuits from the Two Sicilies, Pope Pius not only welcomed the
refugees to Rome, but, when they arrived, went in person to console
them. "Let us suffer with equanimity," he said, "whatever God wishes.
Persecution always brings courage to Catholics. What you have suffered
is passed. What is to come who knows? It is splendid," he said as he
withdrew, "to see that even when you are scourged you do not cease to
work."
Not only did he comfort them verbally, but he issued as many as one
hundred and thirty-two briefs and Bulls, in each of which some favor was
conferred on the Society. He beatified seventy-seven Jesuits and
canonized three of them. He gave the College of Tephernatum to the
Society and endowed it richly. In 1850 he ordered Father General, who
was hesitating because of the difficulty of the work, to establish the
"Civiltà Cattolica." In 1851 he built and endowed a college at
Valiterno, and gave them another at Sinigaglia. He entrusted to them the
Collegium Pio-Latinum Americanum, a confidence in their ability which
was reaffirmed in 1908 by Pius X when he said: "For fifty years this
college has been of singular advantage to the Church by forming a
learned body of holy bishops and distinguished ecclesiastics."
As for Leo XIII, he was during his entire life intimately associated
with the Society. "You Jesuits have enjoyed the great privilege," he
once said to a Father of the Roman Province, "of having had saints for
Generals. I knew Father Fortis; he was a saint. I knew Father Roothaan
intimately; he was a saint. I was long acquainted with Father Beckx; he
was a saint. And now you have Father Anderledy."
On February 25, 1881, he gave to the college at Beirut in Syria the
power of conferring degrees in philosophy and theology. Four years later
when there was question of a new edition of the third volume of the
Institute, and Father Anderledy had asked His Holiness to re-affirm the
ancient privileges of the Society, Leo XIII replied with the Brief
"Dolemus inter," which is regarded by the Society as one of its great
treasures. After expressing his sorrow for the persecution which it was
just then suffering in France, the Pope says: "In order that our will
with regard to the Society of Jesus may be more thoroughly understood,
we hereby declare that each and every Apostolic letter which concerns
the establishment, the institution and confirmation of the Society of
Jesus and which has been published by our predecessors, the Roman
Pontiffs, beginning with Paul III of happy memory, up to our own time
either by briefs or Bulls, and whatever is contained in them or follows
from them and which either directly or by participation with other
religious orders has been granted to the Society and has not been
abrogated or revoked in whole or in part by the Council of Trent and
other Constitutions of the Apostolic See, namely, its privileges,
immunities, exemptions and indults, we hereby confirm by these letters,
and fortify them by the strength of our Apostolic authority and once
more concede.... Let these letters be a witness of the love which we
have always cherished and still cherish for the illustrious Society of
Jesus which has been most devoted to Our Predecessors and to Us; which
has been the fruitful mother of men who are distinguished for their
holiness and wisdom, and the promoter of sound and solid doctrine, and
which, although it suffered grievous persecution for justice sake, has
never ceased to labor with a cheerful and unconquerable courage in
cultivating the vineyard of the Lord. Let this well-deserving Society of
Jesus, therefore, which was commended by the Council of Trent itself and
whose accumulated glory has been proclaimed by Our Predecessors,
continue in spite of the multiplied attacks of perverse men against the
Church of Jesus Christ to follow its Institute in its fight for the
greater glory of God and the salvation of souls. Let the Society
continue in its efforts to bring to pagan nations and to heretics the
light of truth, to imbue the youth of our times with virtue and
learning, and to inculcate the teachings of the Angelical doctor in our
schools of philosophy and theology. Meantime, embracing this Society of
Jesus, which is most beloved by Us, We impart to its Father General and
his vicar and to all and each of its members our Apostolic benediction."
On the occasion of his golden jubilee in 1888, he showed his esteem for
the Society by canonizing Peter Claver, and when the Fathers went to
express their gratitude for this mark of affection, he replied that the
Society had always been dear to the Sovereign Pontiffs, considering it
as they did to be a bulwark of religion, and a most valiant legion that
was always ready to undertake the greatest labors for the Church and the
salvation of souls. To himself personally it had always been very dear.
He had shown this affection as soon as he was made Pope, by making a
cardinal of Father Mazzella, whose virtue and doctrine he held in the
highest esteem, and by employing Cardinal Franzelin as long as he lived
in the most important and most secret negotiations. Neither of whom ever
waited for the expression of his wish. A mere suggestion sufficed. He
then began to speak of his boyhood in the College of Viterbo, where he
had learned to love the Jesuit teachers, and he went on to say that his
affection had increased in the Roman College under such eminent masters
as Taparelli, Manera, Perrone, Caraffa and others whom he named. He
spoke enthusiastically of Father Roothaan, and then reverting to Blessed
John Berchmans whom he had canonized, he told how his devotion to the
boy saint began in his early college days of Viterbo.
In 1896 he showed his approval of the Society's theology by giving it
the Institutum Leoninum at Anagni, and in the _Motu proprio_ which he
issued on that occasion, he said: "To the glory which the Society
acquired even in its earliest days among learned men, by its scientific
achievements and the excellent work it accomplished in doctrinal
matters, must be added the art which is so full of cleverness and
initiative of instilling knowledge and piety in the hearts of their
scholars. Such has been their reputation throughout their history, and
we recall with pleasure that we have had the opportunity of studying
under the most distinguished Jesuits. Hence, as soon as by the
Providence of God we were called to the Supreme Pontificate, we asked
more than once that young men, especially those who were to consecrate
themselves to the Church, should be trained by the members of the
Society, both in our own city and in distant countries of the world. We
recall especially in this connection their work among the Basilians of
Galicia and in the Xaverian Seminary which we established at Kandy in
the East Indies. Hence, wishing to inaugurate an educational institution
in our native city of Anagni, we cast our eyes upon the members of the
Society and in neither case have we been disappointed."
The mention of the Ruthenian Basilians refers to an extremely delicate
work entrusted to the Jesuits. Something had gone wrong in the Basilian
province of Ruthenia, and at the request of the bishops and by command
of the Pope, a number of Galician Jesuits took up their abode in the
monastery of that ancient and venerable Order, and after twelve years of
labor restored its former fervor. One scarcely knows which deserves
greater commendation: the prudence and skill of those who undertook the
difficult task or the humility and submission of those who were the
objects of it. When the end had been attained, the Jesuits asked to be
relieved of the burden of direction and government, and far from leaving
any trace of resentment behind them, it was solemnly declared by a
general congregation of the Basilian monks that the link of affection
which had been established between the two orders was to endure forever.
The second apostolic work alluded to by the Pope in this Brief of 1897,
was the Pontifical Seminary for all India which he had built on the
Island of Ceylon and entrusted to the Belgian Jesuits.
In 1887, he had established a hierarchy of thirty dioceses in the
Indies, and as a native clergy would have to be provided, an
ecclesiastical seminary was imperative. The Propaganda was therefore
commissioned to erect the buildings and provide for the maintenance of
the teachers, and in virtue of the command 250 acres of land were bought
in 1892 near the city of Kandy on the Ampitiya Hills. Father Grosjean,
S. J., was appointed superior and began his work in a bungalow. It took
five years before any suitable structures could be provided. The course
of studies included three years of philosophy and four years of
theology. There is now a staff of eleven professors and they have
succeeded in overcoming a difficulty which seemed at first
insurmountable, namely, the grouping together under one roof of a number
of men who were of different castes and of different races. The bishops
held off for a time, and in the first year only one diocese sent its
pupils; three years later, seven were represented and now there are one
hundred seminarians from all parts of India. They are so well trained
that it is a rare thing for them not to satisfy their bishops when they
return as priests. "The project of the great Pontiff, Leo XIII," says
the Belgian chronicler, "seemed audacious but the results have justified
it."
The Fathers found another friend in Pius X. They knew him when he was
Bishop of Mantua, and he not only frequented their house but used to
delight to stand at the gate distributing the usual dole to the poor.
He enjoyed immensely the joke of the coadjutor brother who said, "Bishop
Sarto (_sarto_ means tailor) will make a fine garment for the Church
when he is Pope;" though the holy prelate never dreamt of any such honor
in those days or even when he was Patriarch of Venice. When he went to
his new see, he took his Jesuit confessor with him, and there, as at
Mantua, he was at home with the community and found particular delight
in talking to the brothers. When Farther Martín lost his arm in
consequence of an operation for sarcoma, the Pope gave him permission to
celebrate Mass. "I tried it myself to see if it were possible," he said,
"and I found it could be done without much difficulty, so I give
permission to Father General to offer the Holy Sacrifice, provided
another priest assists him." When the new General, Father Wernz, and his
associates presented themselves to the Pope after the election, he
thanked God for having given him the Society, which he described as "a
chosen body of soldiers, who were skilled in war, trained to fight, and
ready at the first sign of their leader." He gave a further proof of the
trust he had in them by putting into their hands the Pontifical Biblical
Institute, which was part of the general purpose he had in view when, in
1901, he organized the Biblical Commission already described.
Apart from the esteem manifested by the Sovereign Pontiffs for the
Society itself as a religious order, their personal regard for each
successive General is worthy of note. Thus Pius VII, on being informed
of the election of Father Brzozowski as General, immediately expressed
his gratification by letter "that the Society had chosen a man of such
merit and virtue." Leo XII, as we have said, lived on the most intimate
and affectionate terms with Father Fortis. Only his brief career as
Pontiff prevented him from giving more positive proofs of his
affection. The same may be said of Pius VIII, whose term was even
shorter than that of Leo XII. During that time, however, he lavished
favors on the Society. Gregory XVI made Father Roothaan his intimate
friend and gave him any favor he asked, and Pius IX expressed the wish
that "the Society would elect a General of equal prudence and wisdom,
and who, like Roothaan, would be a man according to the heart of God."
The amiable Father Beckx was always welcomed by Pius IX and their
intercourse with each other was almost one of familiarity. When the
General was on his death-bed, Leo XIII said to the Roman provincial: "I
am deeply moved by the illness and suffering of Father Beckx for whom I
have always entertained a great regard and even a filial affection. I
most willingly send him my blessing; tonight in his pain and agony, I
shall be at his side in spirit and aid him with my prayers."
In Father Beckx's successor, Father Anderledy, Leo XIII had absolute
confidence. So too, Father Martín's return to Rome from Fiesole was made
an occasion of great rejoicing for the Pope, who used to ask Cardinal
Aloysius Massella good humoredly: "Why don't you give up your office and
be a Jesuit?" When Father Martín presented himself for an audience in
times of trouble, Leo would say to him affectionately: "Come here,
Father General and sit beside me so that we can talk over our sorrows;
for your sufferings are mine."
Of course, affection was almost expected from Pius X, and when Father
Martín returned to Rome with his health slightly improved, his reception
by the Pope was like that of a son coming from the grave to the arms of
his father. Later on he kept himself informed about Father Martín's
suffering and prayed for him several times every day. "We cannot spare
such men" was his expression; and when at last the General died, the
Pope was deeply affected. "He was a man of God," was his exclamation, "A
saint! A saint! A saint!" At the election of Father Wernz, Pius X spoke
of the great good he had done to the whole Church by his profound
learning as teacher in the Gregorian University. "There was scarcely any
part of the world," he said, "where his merit was not acknowledged. He
was known to all as the possessor of a great, solid and sure
intelligence; of vast erudition which found expression in his learned
treatises on the Law of Decretals, and which won the applause of all who
were versed in canon law."
Another mark of this esteem for the Society, though an unwelcome one,
was the elevation of so many of its members to ecclesiastical dignities
by the Sovereign Pontiffs. First, in point of time, was the selection of
John Carroll to be the founder of the American hierarchy. It was all the
more notable because Challoner, the Vicar Apostolic of London, had
repeatedly said that there was no one in America who measured up to the
height of the episcopal dignity. The sequel proved that the Pontiff was
wiser than the Vicar. We have already called attention to the fact not
generally known that there was another Jesuit appointed to the See of
Baltimore; though he never wore the mitre. He died before the Bulls
arrived. His name was Laurence Grässel, and he had been a novice in the
Society in Germany at the time of the Suppression. Carroll describes him
as "a most amiable ex-Jesuit." Shea records the fact that "the Reverend
Laurence Grässel, a learned and devoted priest, of whose sanctity
tradition has preserved the most exalted estimate, revived the missions
in New Jersey which had been attended by the Reverend Messrs. Schneider
and Farmer." (Vol. II.)
Leonard Neale, who succeeded Archbishop Carroll in the See of Baltimore,
was a Jesuit priest in Liège at the Suppression. Before returning to his
native country, he spent four years in England and four more in
Demerara. In Philadelphia, when vicar general of Bishop Carroll, he was
stricken with yellow fever while administering to the sick during the
pestilence. Later he was made president of Georgetown College, and in
1801 was appointed Coadjutor of Baltimore. The successor of the
illustrious Cheverus in the See of Boston was Benedict Fenwick, who had
entered the Society in Maryland eight years before Pius VII
re-established it throughout the world. The first Bishop of New York
also would have been a Jesuit, Anthony Kohlmann, had not Father
Roothaan, entreated the Pope to withdraw the nomination.
Anthony Kohlmann was born at Kaisersberg in Alsace, July 13, 1771. The
outbreak of the French Revolution compelled him to leave his country
when he was a young man and betake himself to Switzerland to continue
his interrupted studies. He completed his theological course and was
ordained a priest in the College of Fribourg. In 1796 he joined the
Congregation of the Fathers of the Sacred Heart, and labored for two
years in Austria and Italy as a military chaplain. We find him next at
Dillingen in Bavaria as the director of an ecclesiastical seminary. By
this time the Fathers of the Faith, Paccanari's organization, had united
with those of the Sacred Heart, and Kohlmann was dispatched to Berlin
and subsequently to Amsterdam as rector of a new college in that place.
As soon as he heard that the Jesuits in White Russia had been recognized
by the Pope, he applied for admission, and entered the novitiate at
Duneburg on 21 June, 1803, and in the following year was sent to
Georgetown as assistant-master of novices. While holding that position
he travelled extensively through Pennsylvania and Maryland to look after
several groups of German colonists who had settled in those states. When
the ecclesiastical troubles of New York were at their height, Bishop
Carroll selected Kohlmann to restore order. With him went Father
Benedict Fenwick and four scholastics. He was given charge of that whole
district in 1808. There were about fourteen thousand Catholics there at
the time: French, German and Irish. In 1809 he laid the corner stone of
old St. Patrick's, which was the second church in the city. He also
founded the New York Literary Institution as a school for boys, on what
is now the site of the present cathedral, but which then was far out of
town. In 1812 he began a nearby school for girls and gave it to the
Ursuline nuns, who had been sent from Ireland for that purpose.
Father Kohlmann rendered a great service to the Church by the part he
took in gaining a verdict for the protection of the seal of Confession.
He had acted as agent in the restitution of stolen money when the owner
of it demanded the name of the thief. As this was refused, he haled the
priest to court, but the case ended in a decision given by the presiding
Judge, DeWitt Clinton, that "no minister of the Gospel or priest of any
denomination whatsoever shall be allowed to disclose any confession made
to him in his professional character in the course of discipline
enjoined by the rules or practices of such denomination." This decision
was embodied in a state law passed on December 10, 1828. His controversy
with Jared Sparks, a well-known Unitarian, brought his reply entitled
"Unitarianism, theologically and philosophically considered." It is a
classic on that topic.
As mentioned above, Kohlmann was designated Bishop of New York, but at
the entreaty of the General of the Society, the Pope withdrew his name.
In 1815 he returned to Georgetown as master of novices, and in 1817 was
appointed president of the college. In 1824 he was called to Rome as
professor of theology in the Gregorian University and occupied that post
for five years. Among his students were the future Pope Leo XIII,
Cardinal Cullen of Dublin, and Cardinal McCloskey of New York. Both Leo
XII and Gregory XVI held Kohlmann in the highest esteem and had him
attached to them as consultor to the staffs of the College of cardinals
and to several important congregations such as that of Extraordinary
Ecclesiastical Affairs; of Bishops and Regulars; and the Inquisition. He
died at Rome in 1836, in consequence of overwork in the confessional.
It might be of interest to quote here a passage from the "Life of John
Cardinal McCloskey" by Cardinal Farley: "About this time Father
McCloskey suffered the loss of a very dear and devoted friend, Father
Anthony Kohlmann, S. J. As pastor of St. Peter's, Barclay Street, he had
been the adviser of the young priest's parents in New York for many
years. He had seen him grow up from childhood, and had been his guide
and friend in Rome. It is therefore but natural that he should express
himself feelingly on the death of this holy man, as in this letter
addressed to the Very Rev. Dr. Power:
Rome, April 15, 1836.
'Very Rev. dear Sir:
'It is truly with deep regret that I now feel it my duty to
acquaint you with the news which, if not already known to you,
cannot but give you pain. Our venerable and most worthy friend,
Father Kohlmann, is no more. He has been summoned to another
world, after a warning of only a few days. On Friday, the 8th.
inst., he was as usual in his confessional. During the course
of the day he was seized with a violent fever which obliged him
to take to his bed, and on Sunday morning, about five o'clock,
he was a corpse. On Monday, I had the melancholy pleasure of
beholding him laid out in the Church of the Gesù, where numbers
were assembled to show respect for his memory, and to view for
a little time his mortal remains. His sickness was so very
short that death effected but little change in his appearance.
He seemed to be in a gentle sleep, such calmness and placidity.
His countenance seemed to have lost nothing of its usual
fulness or even freshness. And such was the composure of every
feature, that one could hardly resist saying within himself: He
is not dead, but sleepeth. His loss as you may well conceive,
is deeply regretted by the members of his Order here as well as
by all who knew him.
'As for myself, I feel his death most sensibly, having lost in
him so prudent a director, so kind a father and friend. You
also, Very Reverend and dear Sir, are deprived by his death of
a most active and valuable friend in Rome.'"
In Hughes's "History of the Society of Jesus in North America" (I, pt.
ii, 866) there is a quotation from the "Memoirs" of Father Grassi which
refers to Father Kohlmann and calls for consideration. He is described
by the odious name of Paccanarist. As a matter of fact, Kohlmann joined
the Fathers of the Sacred Heart in 1796, three years before Paccanari
was even heard of. In April 1799, by order of the Pope, the Fathers of
the Sacred Heart were amalgamated with Paccanari's Fathers of the Faith,
but from the very beginning there was distinct cleavage between the two
sections; and in 1803 when it became evident that Paccanari had no
intention of uniting with the Jesuits in Russia, Kohlmann was one of the
first to separate from him and was admitted to the Society in that year.
If he was a "Paccanarist," then so were Rozaven and Varin.
We are also informed that Kohlmann was an ex-Capuchin. It is strange,
however, that Guidée makes no mention of it in his historical sketches
of the Fathers of the Sacred Heart. Moreover, if he ever were a member
of that Order, it must have been for an extremely brief period; for he
was born in 1771, and at the outbreak of the French Revolution which
swept away all religious communities he was only eighteen years of age.
We find him then finishing his theological studies at Fribourg where the
Jesuits had been conspicuous before the Suppression, and he was ordained
a priest in 1796, when he was twenty-five years old. Immediately
afterwards, he joined the Fathers of the Sacred Heart. So that if he
ever had been a Capuchin it must have been at a very early age; and in
any case he did not leave his Order voluntarily. It had been swept out
of existence in the general storm.
Grassi tells us also that, out of pity for the distressed religious who
had been thrown out of their homes at that time, the General of the
Society had asked the Pope to lift the ban against the Society's
receiving into its ranks the members of other Orders--a policy which it
had always pursued, both out of respect for the Orders themselves, and
because a change in such a serious matter would imply instability of
character in the applicant. Father Pignatelli was deputed to submit the
cause to His Holiness, and Grassi is in admiration at the sublime
obedience of Pignatelli in doing what he was told; but it is hard to
imagine why he should be so edified. The Professed of the Society make a
special and solemn vow of obedience to the Pope and admit his decision
without question. Even when the Pope suppressed the entire Society they
defended his action. Where is there anything heroic in being merely the
messenger between the General and the Pope? In any case Kohlmann's
admission to the Society was with the full approval of both the
Sovereign Pontiff and the General, even if he had been a Capuchin, which
is by no means certain.
We are also informed that the authorities in Rome were surprised that
Kohlmann was admitted to his last vows before the customary ten years
had elapsed, but there are many such instances in the history of the
Society, and the General in referring to it may have been merely asking
for information. Finally with regard to the alleged worry about
Kohlmann's appointment as Vicar General of New York; it suffices to say
that the office is of its nature temporary, and cannot well be
classified as a prelacy; especially as there was only one permanent
church structure in the entire episcopal territory that stretched
between the Hudson River and Lake Erie, and the clergy was largely made
up of transients.
At the time that Father Kohlmann was mentioned for the See of New York,
Father Peter Kenny was proposed for that of Dromore in Ireland. Foley in
his "Chronological Catalogue of the Irish Province S. J." gives a brief
account of this very distinguished man, who like Kohlmann was for some
time identified with the Church in the United States.
He was born in Dublin, July 7, 1779, and entered the Society at Hodder,
Stonyhurst, September 20, 1804. He died in the Gesù at Rome, November
19, 1841. When a boy he attracted the notice of Father Thomas Betagh,
the last of the Irish Jesuits of the old Society, who was then Vicar
General of Dublin, and was sent to Carlow College. Even in early youth
he was remarkable for his extraordinary eloquence. When a novice he was
told to come down from the pulpit, his fellow-novices being so
spell-bound that they refused to eat. At Stonyhurst, he wrote a work on
mathematics and physics. In 1811 he was Vice-President of Maynooth
College. He purchased Clongowes Wood in 1814, and in 1819 was sent as
visitor to the Jesuit houses of Maryland. He was made vice-provincial of
Ireland in 1829, and again came to America in 1830, where he remained
for three years and then installed Father McSherry as the first
provincial of the American province. His retreats in Ireland are still
enthusiastically referred to and quoted. In 1809 when he was finishing
his theology in Palermo, Father Angiolini wrote to Father Plowden
"Father Kenny is head and shoulders over every one. He has genius,
health, zeal, energy, success in action and prudence to a remarkable
degree. May God keep him for the glory and increase of the Irish
Missions!" God did so and the missions of America also profited by his
genius and virtue.
Later on, Father Van de Velde was made Bishop of Chicago, but he
continually petitioned Rome to be allowed to return to the Society;
while Father Miège after twenty-four years of the episcopate and without
waiting to celebrate his silver jubilee became a Jesuit again and spent
his last days at Woodstock, where he met Father Michael O'Connor, who
had resigned the See of Pittsburg in order to assume the habit of St.
Ignatius. His brother before being made Bishop of Omaha asked to enter
the Society but he was told "Be a bishop first like your brother and
afterwards a Jesuit." One of the most distinguished Jesuits of New York,
Father Larkin, had to flee the country to avoid being made Bishop of
Toronto, and Father William Duncan of Boston would have occupied the
See of Savannah had not he entered the Society.
The same thing is true of the cardinalate. An unusually large number of
Jesuits have been raised to that dignity in the hundred years of the new
Society, in spite of the oath they have taken to do all in their power
to prevent it, an oath which they have all most faithfully kept,
yielding only because they were bidden to do so under pain of sin.
Camillo Mazzella entered the Society in 1857, and when the scholasticate
at Woodstock in Maryland was opened, he was made prefect of studies. He
was called to Rome in 1878 to take the place of Franzelin in the
Gregorian University. In 1886 he was created Cardinal deacon and ten
years later Cardinal priest, while in 1897 he was appointed Cardinal
bishop of Palestrina. Camillo Tarquini was made cardinal because of his
prominence as a canonist; Andreas Steinhüber's learning and his great
labors as Vatican librarian won for him the honor of the purple, while
Louis Billot after teaching dogmatic theology at Angers and the
Gregorian University was named Cardinal deacon of Santa Maria in Via
Lata on November 27, 1911. But much greater consolation has been
afforded to the new Society by the canonization of its saints than by
the choice of its members for the cardinalate. One is a recognition of
the intellectual ability and personal virtue; the other is an official,
though indirect, approval of the Institute.
At the very time that Pombal, Choiseul and Charles III were crushing the
Society in their respective countries, Rome as if in condemnation of the
act was jubilant with delight over the heroic virtue of the Italian
Jesuit, Francis Hieronymo; and people were asking each other how a
Society could be bad when it produced such a saint? In an issue of the
"Gazette" of distant Quebec at that time we find a bewildered Protestant
Englishman who was the journal's correspondent at Rome asking himself
that question. The political troubles of the period caused the
proceedings of the canonization to be suspended, but Gregory XVI, who
succeeded Leo XII, canonized Francis on the Feast of the Blessed
Trinity, 1839. Pius IX beatified Canisius, Bobola, Faber, de Britto and
Berchmans, with Peter Claver, the apostle of the negroes, and the
lay-brother Alphonso Rodríguez, besides placing the crown of martyrdom
on the throng of martyrs in Japan, Europeans and natives alike, as well
as upon Azevedo and his thirty-nine Portuguese associates who were
slaughtered at sea near the Azores.
Leo XIII beatified Antonio Baldinucci and Rudolph Aquaviva with his
fellow-Jesuits who were put to death at Salsette in Hindostan, besides
raising to the honors of sainthood Peter Claver and Alphonso Rodríguez,
and also placing John Berchmans in the same category, thus re-affirming
the sanctity of the rules of the Society, for the realization of which
the holy youth had already been beatified. The canonization of Alphonso
is also notable because it was by Leo XII, whose name Leo XIII had
adopted, that the humble porter of Minorca was raised to the first
honors of the altar. Finally, Pius X showed his love for the Society and
his approval of the rule by beatifying the three martyrs of Hungary whom
scarcely anybody had ever heard of before: Mark Crisin, Stephen Pongracz
and Melchior Grodecz. There is also under consideration the
beatification of the great American apostles Jogues, Brébeuf, Lalemant,
Daniel, Chabanel, Garnier, Goupil and Lalande, five of whom died for the
Faith in Canada, and three in what is now the State of New York.
The new Society has not failed to add new names to this catalogue of
honor of prospective saints. They are Joseph Pignatelli, who died in
1811; Father Joseph de Clorivière, 1820; Paul Cappelari, 1857; and Paul
Ginhac, 1895. Five Jesuits were put to death at Paris in 1871 by the
Communards: namely Pierre Olivaint, Anatole de Bengy, Alexis Clerc, Léon
Ducoudray, and Jean Caubert.
Between 1822 and 1902, forty-four others have given glory to the Society
either by the heroic sanctity of their lives, or by shedding their blood
for the Faith. Besides these, there are thirty-five Jesuits who have
been put to death in various parts of the world. They are: four
Italians, Ferdinando Bonacini and Luigi Massa in 1860; Genaio Pastore in
1887 and Emilio Moscoso in 1897; four Germans: Anthony Terorde in 1880;
Stephen Czimmerman, Joseph Platzer and Clemens Wigger who were killed by
the Caffirs in 1895-6. The French can boast of 12 namely: Bishop
Planchet in 1859; Edouard Billotet; Elie Jounès, Habib Maksoud, and
Alphonse Habeisch who were killed in Syria in 1860; Martin Brutail in
1883; Gaston de Batz in 1883; Modeste Andlauer, Léon Mangin, Remi Isoré,
and Paul Denn, who met their death in the Boxer Uprising in 1900; Léon
Müller was killed by the Boxers two years later. Sixteen Spaniards were
put to death: Casto Hernández, Juan Sauri, Juan Artigas, José Fernández,
Juan Elola, José Urrietta, Domingo Barreau, José Garnier, José Sancho,
Pedro Demont, Firmin Barba, Martín Buxons, Emanuel Ostolozza, Juan
Ruedas, Vincente Gogorza, who were massacred in Madrid in 1834.