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FACTS OF FAITH |
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Chapter 27
The Jesuits
"They are called the Society or Company of Jesus, the latter
designation expressing more correctly the military idea of the
founder, which was to establish, as it were, a new battalion in the
spiritual army of the Catholic Church."–The Encyclopedia Americana,
art. "Jesuits."
Organization And Rules Of The Society
Loyola organized his Company on the strictest military basis. Its
General was always to reside at Rome, supervising from his
headquarters every branch scattered over the world. Theodor
Griesinger says:
"Its General ruled as absolute monarch in all parts of the world,
and the different kingdoms of Europe, Asia, Africa, and America lay
at his feet divided into provinces. Over each province was placed a
provincial, as lieutenant of the general, and every month it was the
duty of this provincial to send in his report to his General ....
From these thousands of reports the General was in possession of the
most accurate information regarding all that was going on in the
world. Moreover, by means of the Father Confessors at the various
Courts, he was initiated into all the secrets of these latter. [The
officials] had to be careful to report nothing but the exact truth,
[for] each one of them was provided with an assistant who was also
in direct coramunication with the General, [who checked the reports
of the one against the other.]"–"History of the Jesuits," p. 280.
London:1892.
The Abbate Leone, after personal investigation, writes:
"Every day the general receives a number of reports which severally
check each other. There are in the central house, at Rome, huge
registers, wherein are inscribed the names of all the Jesuits and of
all the important persons, friends, or enemies, with whom they have
any connection. In those registers are recorded . . . facts relating
to the lives of each individual. It is the most gigantic
biographical collection that has ever been formed. The conduct of a
light woman, the hidden failings of a statesman, are recounted in
these books with cold impartiality. . . When it is required to act
in any way upon an individual, they open the book and become
immediately acquainted with his life, his character, his qualities,
his defects, his projects, his family, his friends, his most secret
acquaintances."–"The Secret Plan of the Order," with preface by M.
Victor Considerant, p. 33. London:1848.
Similar registers are also found in the offices of the provincials,
and in the "novitiate houses," so that when one Jesuit follows
another in office, he has at his finger tips the fullest knowledge
of the most secret lives of those for whom he is to labor, whether
they are friends or foes. The Abbate Leone says of his secret
investigation of this fact:
"The first thing that struck me was some great books in the form of
registers, with alphabeted edges.
"I found that they contained numerous observations relative to the
character of distinguished individuals, arranged by towns or
families. 'Each page was evidently written by several different
hands."–Id., p. 31.
Those who enter the Jesuit society spend two years of "noviceship,"
and then take the "simple vows." After several more years of
intensive training, they take the fourth vow, by which they pledge
themselves under oath to look to their General and their Superiors
as holding "the place of Christ our Lord," and to obey them
unconditionally without the least hesitation. The Jesuits being a
secret order, they did not publish their rules. How then can we be
absolutely sure about these regulations? Dr. William Robertson says:
"It was a fundamental maxim with the Jesuits, from their first
institution, not to publish the rules of their order. These they
kept concealed as an impenetrable mystery. They never communicated
them to strangers, nor even to the greater part of their own
members. They refused to produce them when required by courts of
justice." But during a lawsuit at Paris, in 1760, Father Montigny
committed the blunder of placing the two volumes of their
"Constitutions" (the Prague edition of 1757) in the hands of the
French court. "By the aid of these authentic records the principles
of their government may be delineated"–"History of Charles the
Fifth," Vol. II, p. 332. (See also "History of the Jesuits," Theodor
Griesinger, pp. 435-439, 474-476.)
The author was so fortunate as to have the privilege of carefully
reading "The Constitutions of the Society of Jesus." He saw a Latin
edition of 1558, and an English translation of it printed in 1838,
together with the three Papal Bulls: 1. The Bull of Pope Paul III,
given September 27, 1540, sanctioning "The Society of Jesus." 2. The
Bull of Clement XIV, abolishing the "Society," July 21, 1773.3. The
Bull of Pins VII, restoring it, August 7, 1814. We shall now quote
from "The Constitutions," thus presenting firsthand evidence of
their Rules:
"It is to be observed that the intention of the Vow wherewith the
Society has bound itself in obedience to the supreme Vicar of Christ
without any excuse, is that we must go to whatever part of the world
he shall determine to send us, among believers or
unbelievers"–"Constitutions," pp. 64, 65.
"Displaying this virtue of obedience, first to the Pope, then to the
Superiors of the Society . . . we . . . attend to his voice, just as
if it proceeded from Christ Our Lord; . . . doing whatever is
enjoined us with all celerity, with spiritual joy and perseverance;
persuading ourselves that everything is just; suppressing every
repugnant thought and judgment of our own in a certain obedience
.... Every one.., should permit themselves to be moved and directed
under divine Providence by their Superiors just as if they were a
corpse, which allows itself to be moved and handled in any way ....
Thus obedient he should execute anything on which the Superior
chooses to employ him "–Id., pp. 55, 56.
It is this corpse-like obedience, required of all its members, that
has made the Jesuits such a power in the world. Rene Fulop-Miller in
his book: "The Power and Secret of the Jesuits," commended by Father
Friedrich Muckermann, leading Jesuit writer of Germany, and Father
Alfonso Kleinser, S. J., and the Deutsche Zeitung, Berlin's leading
Catholic organ, says:
"The Society of Jesus represented a company of soldiers. Where
'duty' in the military sense is concerned, as it is in the Society
of Jesus, obedience becomes the highest virtue, as it is in the
army. The Jesuit renders his obedience primarily to his superior . .
. and he submits to him as if he were Christ Himself"–"The Power and
Secret of the Jesuits," pp. 18, 19.
"So the Jesuits seek to attain to God through 'blind obedience.'
"Ignatius requires nothing less than the complete sacrifice of the
man's own understanding, 'unlimited obedience even to the very
sacrifice of conviction."–Id., pp. 19, 20.
He taught his Jesuit members by a complete "corpse-like obedience"
to be governed by the following principle:
"'I must let myself be led and moved as a lump of wax lets itself be
kneaded, must order myself as a dead man without will or
judgment."–Id, p. 21.
"It was the obedience of the Jesuits that made it possible to oppose
to the enemies of the Church a really trained and formidable
army"–Id., p. 23.
"For, within a short time after the foundation of the order, the
Jesuits were acting as spiritual directors at the courts of Europe,
as preachers in the most remote primeval forests, as political
conspirators, disguised and in constant danger of death; thus they
had a thousand opportunities to employ their talents, their
cleverness, their knowledge of the world, and even their
cunning"–Id., p. 26.
Jesuits Decide On Their Mission
Loyola first planned to convert the Mohammedans of Palestine, but
finding himself entirely unprepared for that work, and the road
blocked by war, and finding, after his return to Paris, that the
Protestant Reformation was turning the minds of men from the Roman
church to the Bible, he resolved to undertake a propaganda of no
less magnitude than the restoration of the Papacy to world dominion,
and the destruction of all the enemies of the pope. The Jesuit T. J.
Campbell says:
"As the establishment of the Society of Jesus coincided with the
Protestant Reformation the efforts of the first Jesuits were
naturally directed to combat that movement. Under the guidance of
Canisius so much success attended their work in Germany and other
northern nations, that, according to Macaulay, Protestantism was
effectually checked. In England . . . the Jesuits stopped at no
danger, . . . and what they did there was repeated in other parts of
the world .... The Jesuits were to be found under every disguise, in
every country.
"Their history is marked by ceaseless activity in launching new
schemes for the spread of the Catholic faith.
"They have been expelled over and over again from almost every
Catholic country in Europe, always, however, coming back again to
renew their work when the storm had subsided; and this fact has been
adduced as a proof that there is something iniquitous in the very
nature of the organization"–The Encyclopedia Americana,
sixteen-volume edition, Vol. IX, art. "Jesuits." 1904.
Loyola's plan of operation was to have his emissaries enter new
fields in a humble way as workers of charity, and then begin to
educate the children and youth. After gaining the good will of the
higher classes of society, they would, through their influence,
secure positions as confessors to the royal families, and advisers
of civil rulers. These Jesuit Fathers had been skilfully trained to
take every advantage of such positions to influence civil rulers and
direct them in the interest of the Roman church, and to instill in
them, that it was their sacred duty to act as worthy sons of the
Church by purging their country from heresy. And when war against
"heretics" commenced, the Jesuits would not consent to any truce
till Protestantism was completely wiped out.
At the time Loyola and his "knights" took the field, the Protestant
Reformation had swept over the greater part of Europe, and one
country after another was lost to the Papacy. But in a short time
the Jesuits had turned the tide. The Netherlands, France, and
Germany were swept by fire and sword till the very strongholds of
Protestantism were threatened. The Protestant countries were finally
forced to combine in the Thirty Years' War to save themselves from
being brought back by force under the papal yoke. (See "History of
the Jesuits," T. Griesinger, Book II, chap. 2.)
The Abolition Of The Jesuit Order
As long as this war of extermination was waged against
Protestantism, the assistance of these daring "knights" was
accepted, but when they continued to meddle in politics, and to
gather the civil reins in their own hands, the Catholic princes at
length became aroused to their danger, and complaints began to pour
into the Vatican from various heads of Catholic states. Finally,
Pope Clement XIV, after four years of investigation, felt compelled
to abolish the Jesuit Order. In his "Bull of Suppression," issued
July 21, 1773, he wrote, that repeated warnings had been given to
the Society of "the most imminent dangers, if it concerned itself
with temporal matters, and which relate to political affairs, and
the administration of government." It was "strictly forbidden to all
the members of the society, to interfere in any manner whatever in
public affairs." Clement then cites eleven popes who "employed
without effect all their efforts · . . to restore peace to the
Church" by keeping the Jesuits out of "secular affairs, with which
the company ought not to have interfered," as they had done "in
Europe, Africa, and America."
The Pope continues:
"We have seen, in the grief of our heart, that neither these
remedies, nor an infinity of others, since employed, have produced
their due effect, or silenced the accusations and complaints against
the said society .... In vain [were all efforts.]" –"Bull of Clement
XIV," in "Constitutions of the Society of Jesus," pp. 116, 117.
London:1838.
"After so many storms, troubles, and divisions . . . the times
became more difficult and tempestuous; complaints and quarrels were
multiplied on every side; in some places dangerous seditions arose,
tumults, discords, dissensions, scandals, which weakening or
entirely breaking the bonds of Christian charity, excited the
faithful to all the rage of party hatreds and enmities. Desolation
and danger grew to such a height, that . . . the kings of France,
Spain, Portugal, and Sicily,–found themselves reduced to the
necessity of expelling and driving from their states, kingdoms, and
provinces, these very companions of Jesus; persuaded that there
remained no other remedy to so great evils; and that this step was
necessary in order to prevent the Christians from rising one against
another, and from massacring each other in the very bosom of our
common mother the Holy Church. The said our dear sons in Jesus
Christ having since considered that even this remedy would not be
sufficient towards reconciling the whole Christian world, unless the
said society was absolutely abolished and suppressed, made known
–their demands and wills in this matter to our said predecessor
Clement XIII"–Id., p. 118.
"After a mature deliberation, we do, out of our certain knowledge,
and the fulness of our apostolical power, suppress and abolish the
said company .... We abrogate and annul its statutes, rules,
customs, decrees, and constitutions, even though confirmed by oath,
and approved by the Holy See .... We declare . . . the said society
to be for ever annulled and extinguished"–Id., pp. 119, 120.
"Our will and meaning is, that the suppression and destruction of
the said society, and of all its parts, shall have an immediate and
instantaneous effect"–Id., p. 124.
"Our will and pleasure is, that these our letters should for ever
and to all eternity be valid, permanent, and efficacious, have and
obtain their full force and effect .... Given at Rome, at St. Mary
the Greater, under the seal of the Fisherman, the 21st day of July,
1773, in the fifth year of our Pontificate"–"Bull for the Effectual
Suppression of the Order of Jesuits." Quoted in "Constitutions of
the Society of Jesus," p. 126.
We now respectfully ask: Can any Roman Catholic doubt that the pope
is telling the truth about the Jesuits? If he is telling the truth,
can we be blamed for feeling that there is a Jesuit danger, after
that society has been reinstated and has labored incessantly for
more than a century, and is unchanged in principle?
When we reflect upon their past history, and remember that the
Jesuits have been expelled from fifty different countries, seven
times from England, and nine times from France, and from the Papal
States themselves, there must be a reason why civil governments,
Catholic as well as Protestant, have found it necessary to take such
steps. Only in countries such as the United States, where they are
allowed to carry on their work peaceably, we hear little of them.
But some day Americans may wake up to find our present generation
completely Romanized, and our boasted "liberty" a thing of the past.
The prophet declares: "And through his policy also he shall cause
craft to prosper in his hand; . . . and by peace shall destroy
many." Daniel 8:25..
Any one desiring to know the historical facts should read the
"History of the Jesuits," by T. Griesinger, and "The Roman Catholic
Church," by F. T. Morton, pp. 167, 168.
"The end justifies the means." This maxim is generally attributed to
the Jesuits, and while it might not be found in just that many words
in their authorized books, yet the identical sentiment is found over
and over again in their Latin works. Dr. Otto Henne an Rhyn quotes
many such sentiments from authorized Jesuit sources. We quote from
him the following:
"Herman Busembaum, in his 'Medulla Theologiae Moralis' (first
published at Frankfort-on-the-Main, 1650) gives this as a theorem
(p. 320). Cum finis est licitus, etiam media sunt licita (when the
end is lawful, the means also are lawful); and p. 504:Cui licitus
est finis, etiam licent media (for whom the end is lawful, the means
are lawful also). The Jesuit Paul Layman, in his 'Theologia
Moralis,' lib. III., p. 20 (Munich, 1625), quoting Sanchez, states
the proposition in these words. Cui concessus est finis, concessa
etiam sunt media ad finem ordinata (to whom the end is permitted, to
him also are permitted the means ordered to the end). Louis
Wagemann, Jesuit professor of moral theology, in his 'Synopsis
Theologiae Moralis' (Innsbruck and Augsburg, 1762) has. Finis
determinat moralitatem actus (the end decides the morality of the
act)."–"The Jesuits," pp. 47, 48. New York:1895. "But the mischief is that the whole moral teaching of the Jesuits from their early days till now is but a further extension of this proposition, so redoubtable in its application."–ld., pp. 49, 50.
Rene Fulop-Miller says of the Jesuits:
"In actual fact, the Jesuit casuists deal with two forms of
permissible deception, that of 'amphibology' and that of reservatio
mentalis. 'Amphibology' is nothing else than the employment of
ambiguous terms calculated to mislead the questioner; 'mental
reservation' consists in answering a question, not with a direct
lie, but in such a way that the truth is partly suppressed, certain
words being formulated mentally but not expressed orally.
"The Jesuits hold that neither intentional ambiguity nor the fact of
making a mental reservation can be regarded as lying, since, in both
cases, all that happens is that one's neighbor is not actually
deceived, but rather his deception is permitted only for a
justifiable cause.'''–'' The Power and Secret of the Jesuits," pp.
154, 155.
The Jesuit Gury gives examples of this; among others he says:
"Amand promised, under oath, to Marinus, that he would never reveal
a theft committed by the latter .... But . . . Amand was called as a
witness before the judge, and revealed the secret, after
interrogation.
"He ought not to have revealed the theft, . . . but he ought to have
answered: 'I do not know anything,' understanding, 'nothing that I
am obligated to reveal,' by using a mental restriction .... So Amand
has committed a grave sin against religion and justice, by revealing
publicly, before the court, a confided secret."–"The Doctrine of the
Jesuits," translated by Paul Bert, Member of the Chamber of
Deputies, Professor at the Faculty of Sciences (in Paris), pp. 168,
169, American edition. Boston:1880.
Alphonsus de Liguori, the sainted Catholic doctor, says in
"Tractatus de Secundo Decalogi Praecepto," on the second [third]
precept of the decalogue:
"One who is asked concerning something which it is expedient to
conceal, can say, 'I say not,' that is, 'I say the word "not" since
the word 'I say' has a double sense; for it signifies 'to pronounce'
and 'to affirm':now in our sense 'I say' is the same as 'I
pronounce.'
"A prisoner, when lawfully questioned, can deny a crime even with an
oath (at least without grievous sin), if as the result of his
confession he is threatened with punishment of death, or
imprisonment, or perpetual exile, or the loss of all his property,
or the galleys, and similar punishments, by secretly understanding
that he has not committed any crime of such a degree that he is
bound to confess.
"It is permissible to swear to anything which is false by adding in
an undertone a true condition, if that low utterance can in any way
be perceived by the other party, though its sense is not
understood."–The Latin text, and an English translation of the above
statements are found in "Fifty Years in the Church of Rome," by
Father Chiniquy, chap. XIII, and in "Protestant Magazine," April,
1913, p. 163.
Violations of the sixth, seventh, eighth, and ninth commandments are
justified by many leading Jesuit writers, according to many
quotations from their books, cited in "The History of the Jesuits,"
by Theodor Griesinger, pp. 285-304, 478-488, 508-616, 670, 740; and
in Gury's "Doctrines of the Jesuits," translated by Paul Bert; and
in "The Jesuits," by Dr. Otto Henne an Rhyn, chap. V.
Theodor Griesinger quotes from eight prominent Jesuit authorities,
who advocate that it is permissible to kill a prince or ruler who
has been deposed by the pope. Here are a few samples:
"In the 'Opuscula Theologica' of Martin Becan, at page 130, the
following passage occurs:
"'Every subject may kill his prince when the latter has taken
possession of the throne as a usurper, and history teaches, in fact,
that in all nations those who kill such tyrants are treated with the
greatest honor. But even when the ruler is not a usurper, but a
prince who has by right come to the throne, he may be killed as soon
as he oppresses his subjects with improper taxation, sells the
judicial offices, and issues ordinances in a tyrannical manner for
his own peculiar benefit'"
"With such principles Father Hermann Buchenbaum entirely agreed,
and,in the Medulla Theologia Moralis,' permission to murder all
offenders of mankind and the true faith, as well as enemies of the
Society of Jesus, is distinctly laid down. This 'Moral Theology' of
Father Buchenbaum is held by all the Society as an unsurpassed and
unsurpassable pattern-book, and was on that account introduced, with
the approval of their General, into all their colleges.
"Imanuel Sa says, in his aphorisms, under the word ' Clericus', the
rebellion of an ecclesiastic against a king of the country in which
he lives, is no high treason, because an ecclesiastic is not the
subject of any king.' 'Equally right,' he adds further, 'is the
principle that anyone among the people may kill an illegitimate
prince; to murder a tyrant, however, is considered, indeed, to be a
duty.'
"Adam Tanner, a very well known and highly esteemed Jesuit professor
in Germany, uses almost the identical words, and the not less
distinguished Father Johannes Mariana, who taught in Rome, Palermo,
and Paris, advances this doctrine in his book 'De Rege' (lib. i., p.
54), published with the approbation of the General Aquaviva and of
the whole Society, when he says: 'It is a wholesome thought, brought
home to all princes, that as soon as they begin to oppress their
subjects, and, by their excessive vices, and, more especially, by
the unworthiness of their conduct, make themselves unbearable to the
latter, in such a case they should be convinced that one has not
only a perfect right to kill them, but that to accomplish such a
deed is glorious and heroic.' . . .
"But most precise are the words of the work, so highly prized above
all others by the Roman Curie, :Defensio Fidei Catholicce et
Apostolicae [Defence of the Catholic and Apostolic Faith]' of the
Jesuit Suarez, which appeared in Lisbon in the year 1614, as therein
it is stated (lib. vi, cap. iv, Nos. 13 and 14): 'It is an article
of faith that the Pope has the right to depose heretical and
rebellious kings, and a monarch dethroned by the Pope is no longer a
king or legitimate prince. When such an one hesitates to obey the
Pope after he is deposed, he then becomes a tyrant, and may be
killed by the first comer. Especially when the public weal is
assured by the death of the tyrant, it is allowable for anyone to
kill the latter.'
"Truly regicide could not be taught by clearer words .... The sons
of Loyola . . . declared that a more learned, or God-fearing book,
had never appeared .... Indeed, from this time forth no Jesuit
professor whatever wrote on moral theology, or any similar subject,
without adopting the teaching of Suarez."– "History of the Jesuits,"
pp. 508-511. Can any one doubt that the Jesuits have faithfully carried out this "Article of Faith," wherever they thought it advisable, when he reads of the many attempts upon the life of Queen Elizabeth of England; of the "Gunpowder Plot" to murder James I, and to destroy the "Houses of Parliament" in one blast; of the assassination of William, Prince of Orange; of the attempts upon his son, Maurice, Prince of Orange, and upon Leopold I of Germany, by agents of that Society? We could refer to the "Holy League" of 1576, sponsored by the Jesuits, for the purpose of uniting Catholic Europe to crush Protestantism and the assassination of Henry III and Henry IV of France in the interest of that scheme.
"The Jesuits were, indeed, the heart and soul of the Leaguist
conspiracy."–Id., p. 210. See also pp. 508-608.
If the political activities of the Jesuits, of which Pope Clement
XIV complained so pathetically, are not a serious problem to civil
governments, then why were the Jesuits expelled from so many states,
Catholic as well as Protestant, as the following table shows?
Francis T. Morton, Member of the Massachusetts Bar, gives the
following: Jesuits Expelled From. . .
–" The Roman Catholic Church and Its Relation to the Federal
Government," pp. 167, 168. Boston:1909.
Those who feel that the foregoing facts constitute no danger to
American civil and religious liberty, would do well to remember that
the Jesuits carry on an extensive educational program in this
country, and that, according to their textbooks, their principles of
civil government are diametrically opposed to the American ideas of
separation of church and state. See their "Manual of Christian
Doctrine, by a Seminary Professor," pp. 131-133. Philadelphia:1915.
The author has stated the foregoing facts, not
because of any enmity towards Jesuits as individuals, nor to
Catholics in general, but only from a feeling of responsibility to
enlighten the American people regarding a public danger. We can
truly love the persons, while we warn people against their dangerous
tendencies. If we did not sincerely love everybody, we would not be
true Christians. (Matthew 5:43-48.) Jesus loves the sinner, while He
hates his sins; and we must have the mind of Christ. (Philippians
2:5; 1 Corinthians 2:16.) To those who wish to study this subject further we recommend the careful reading of the following books, besides those referred to in this chapter: "History of the Jesuits," by Andrew Steinmetz, London, 1848; "History of the Jesuits," by G. B. Nicolini, London, 1854; "Secret Instructions of the Jesuits," translated from the Latin by W. C. Brownlee, D. D., New York, 1841; "The Footprints of the Jesuits," by R. W. Thompson; "The Jesuit Enigma," by E. Boyd Barrett; "The Programme of the Jesuits," by W. Blair Nearby, London, 1903; "Provincial Letters," by Blaise Pascal, New York, 1853; "History and Fall of the Jesuits," by Count Alexis de Saint-Priest, London, 1861; "Political Life of an Italian," by Francesco Urgos, Battle Creek, Mich., 1876; and "The Jesuit Morals, collected by a Doctor of the College of Sorbonne in Paris," translated into English, London, 1670. |