The Jesuits, 1534-1921

Against the immense majority of historians of every shade of opinion, Theiner in his "Pontificate of Clement XIV" denounces this account of the embassy as "a fabrication of the Jesuit Benislawski," though Benislawski was not then a Jesuit, nor did he ever re-enter the Society. Besides, although Theiner characterizes the distinguished canonist whom the Pope had just made a bishop as "a liar" and "an intriguer," he admits at the same time that he was "a virtuous man" and "a pious priest." If the account of the audience had been untrue, the Pope would certainly have been compelled to denounce it; for it was published immediately in the Florence Gazette; and the falsifier would assuredly never have received his mitre. Nevertheless, to settle the matter definitely and to allay all doubts and suspicions, Benislawski, after he was installed as Bishop of Gadara, was invited to the second congregation of the Jesuits. It met at Polotsk, on July 25, 1785, and he there made the following declaration under oath:

"Having been sent to Rome by the Most Illustrious Empress of all the Russias to interview the Pope with a view of settling the difficulty about the Archbishopric of Mohilew and of the Co-adjutorship of that see, as well as to obtain from the Pope the approval of the Society of Jesus in White Russia, I represented to His Holiness the state of the Jesuits living there in conformity with the laws of their Institute, and I acquainted him with the fact that they had elected a General in obedience to the command of the Most Illustrious Empress. After having heard me, His Holiness kindly approved of the manner of life which the Jesuits were leading in White Russia, and ratified the election of the General, repeating three times, 'approbo, approbo, approbo.' I affirm under a most solemn oath, the truth of this verbal approbation; in confirmation of which I hereunto affix my seal and signature."

Theiner adduces three Briefs of Pius VI to offset this affidavit of Benislawski, but two of them antedate the episode at Rome; the third was issued a month later, and has nothing in common with the question at issue. Besides this, a few years subsequent to this approval, when Father Joseph Pignatelli, who may one day be among the canonized saints of the Church, asked permission of the Pope to go to White Russia "if the Society existed there," His Holiness answered: "Yes, it exists there; and if it were possible I would have it extended everywhere throughout the world. Go to Russia. I authorize you to wear the habit of the Jesuits. I regard the Jesuits there, as true Jesuits and the Society existing in Russia as lawfully existing." (Bonfier, Vie de Pignatelli, 196.)

As their status was now settled, the Fathers addressed themselves to the educational reform which the empress wanted to introduce into the schools of Russia. It consisted mainly in giving prominence to the physical sciences. They had no difficulty in complying with her wishes, and Father Gruber, who was an eminent physicist, immediately established a training-school for the preparation of future professors, and in March 1785, a number of Jesuit scientists were summoned by Potemkin to St. Petersburg.

On June 20, of that year, the Vicar General Czerniewicz died. He was born in 1728, and had entered the Society at sixteen; after teaching at Warsaw, he was called to Rome as secretary to Father Ricci; later he was substitute assistant of Poland. He was then sent to be rector of Polotsk, and was at that post when Clement XIV issued the decree of Suppression. At the congregation which was called on October 1, Father Lenkiewicz was elected to succeed him.

By this time, many of the old Jesuits were sending in their requests for admission. Among them were such distinguished personages as the astronomer Hell; two of Father Ricci's assistants, Romberg and Korycki and others. All could not be received in Russia itself, but wherever they were, in America, Europe, China, the East and West Indies, etc., they were all gladly welcomed back and their names were inscribed in the catalogue. It is of especial interest for Americans to find those of Adam Britt of Maryland and of several who were sent from White Russia to the United States when Carroll was empowered to re-establish the Society in 1805. They are Anthony Kohlmann, Malevy, Brown, Epinette and others. Those who, for one reason or another, were unable to go to Russia in person, were informed that they were duly recognized as Jesuits and were given permission to renew their vows. This arrangement was made especially for the ex-members who had been appointed to bishoprics, or were employed in some important function, such as royal confessors, court preachers, scientists, etc., or again, who were prevented by age and infirmity from making the long and difficult journey.

In the "Catalogus mortuorum," or list of deceased members, which covers the period between 1773 and 1814, Zalenski counts 268 who are extra provinciam; all nations under the sun are represented. From everywhere gifts were sent by former Jesuits. Thus, Father Raczynski who had become Primate of Poland gathered together at various auctions as many as 8000 Jesuit books and sent them to the College of Polotsk. Others followed his example, and in 1815 the college library had 35,000 volumes on its shelves. Other contributions came in the form of money. As early as 1787, Polotsk had a printing-press, and produced its own text-books, besides publishing a number of works which were out of print. Fr. Gruber kept at work forming a corps of able scientists, and he even made many coadjutor brothers architects, painters and skilled artificers in various crafts. The institution soon became famous for its physical and chemical laboratories, its splendid theatre, its paintings, sculpture, etc. The minor colleges soon followed its example, and the Jesuit churches resumed their customary magnificence. Sodalities were established, distant missions were undertaken, and among the neighboring Letts, Jesuit missionaries created a veritable Paraguay.

Catherine reigned for thirty-five years, and until her death, as she had promised, she had never failed to protect the Society. Her word alone counted in Russia. She was alone on the throne for she had murdered the czar, her husband, because of his repudiation of her son Paul, and also because of her natural intolerance of an equal. It is true that Father Carroll, in far-away America, was lamenting that his brethren had such a protectress, but that was beyond their control. It can at least be claimed that they had never yielded an iota in their duties as Catholic priests. During the whole of her reign she kept her unfortunate heir almost in complete seclusion. He was confided to the care chiefly of Father Gruber, who besides being a saint was a man of wonderful ability. He was a musician, a painter, an architect, a physicist and a mathematician. One of his oil paintings adorns the refectory of Georgetown today; brought over, no doubt, by some of the Polish Fathers. It is very far from being the work of an amateur. Naturally, therefore, Paul took to him kindly, and the affection continued till the end. When on the throne, he multiplied the colleges of the Society, enlarged the novitiate, installed the Fathers in the University of Vilna, and even persuaded the Grand Turk to restore to the Jesuits their ancient missions on the Ægean Archipelago.

The intimacy was so great that Gruber was supposed to be able to procure any favor from Paul and hence his life was made miserable by the swarm of suitors who beset him; but he was not foolish enough to forfeit the favor of the prince by being made a tool to further the selfish aims of the petitioners. He did, however, request the czar to ask the newly-elected Pope Pius VII for an official recognition of the Society in Russia. The Pope was only too willing to grant it, but the lingering hostility to the Jesuits, even in Rome itself, made it somewhat difficult. Indeed, a certain number of the cardinals pronounced very decidedly against it, and only yielded, when the Pope made them take all the responsibility of a refusal. He appointed a committee of the most hostile among them to report on the imperial request, thus bringing them face to face with the consequences of opposing the ruler of a great empire and converting him from a friend into a persecutor of the Church. Looking at it from that point of view, they quickly came to a favorable conclusion, and on March 7, 1801, the Bull "Catholicæ Fidei" was issued, explicitly re-establishing the Society of Jesus in Russia. It was the first great step to the general restoration throughout the world thirteen years later. The approbation arrived very opportunely, for sixteen days after its reception Paul I was assassinated.

At his accession, Alexander, though less demonstrative than Paul, showed his esteem for the Society to such an extent that when the General, Father Kareu, was at the point of death, the czar went in person to Polotsk to offer his condolence. This condescension was so marked that Father Gruber availed himself of the opportunity to solicit the publication of the Papal Bull which the turmoil consequent upon Paul's assassination had prevented from being officially proclaimed. The emperor made no difficulty about it, and issued a ukase to that effect. He even went further in his approval, for when Gruber was elected General in place of Father Kareu, he was summoned to St. Petersburg to occupy a splendidly equipped College of Nobles which Paul had established in the city itself. It was there that Gruber met the famous Count Joseph de Maistre who was at that time Ambassador of Sardinia at the imperial court. A deep and sincere affection sprung up between the two great men, and in the storm that, later on, broke out against the Society, de Maistre showed himself its fearless and devoted defender.

Catherine II had, in her time, attempted the colonization of the vast steppes of her empire, and Paul I had been energetic in carrying out her plans. Alexander I, also, was anxious to further the project which called for not a little heroism on the part of those who undertook it. Incidentally, it would relieve the government of considerable anxiety and worry; for as the new settlers came from every part of Germany, and professed all kinds of religious beliefs, it was considered to be of primary importance politically, to establish some sort of unity among them and to accustom them to Russian legislation and ways of life. The Jesuits were selected for the task, and in spite of the hardships and the isolation to which they were subjected, and in face, also, of the hatred and opposition of their enemies as well as the usually surly mood of the brutalized immigrants who had been driven out of their own country by starvation and oppression, order was restored within a year, and the government reported that these few priests had achieved what a whole army of soldiers could never have accomplished. The missions of Astrakhan were said to be similarly successful. But it appears in the light of subsequent events, that no solid or permanent results had been effected.

A glance at the map will show us that these two fields of endeavor were at the extreme eastern and western ends of Russia's vast empire. The Riga district is on the Baltic or, more properly, on the Gulf of Riga. Below it, are the now famous cities of Köningsberg and Dantzic. Astrakhan is on the Caspian Sea into which the great River Volga empties. On both sides of this river, as in the city itself, the Jesuits had established their mission posts. But from both the Baltic and the Caspian they had to withdraw, when driven out of Russia by Alexander in 1820.

The present condition of these two sections of the now dismembered empire is most deplorable. Indeed, as early as 1864 Marshall (Christian Missions, I, 74) says of them: "Let us begin with the Provinces of the Baltic. The Letts who inhabit Courland and the southern half of Livonia, though long normally Christians and surrounded by Lutherans and Russo-Greeks, sacrifice to household spirits by setting out food for them in their gardens or houses or under old oak trees. Of the Esthonians, Kohl says: 'The old practices of heathenism have been preserved among them more completely than among any other Lutheran people. There are many spots where the peasants yet offer up sacrifices.' Let us now accompany Mr. Laurence Oliphant down the Volga to the Caspian Sea. Everywhere his experience is uniform. The Kalmuks whom he discovered are still Buddhists. Near the mouth of the Volga he visits a large and populous village in a state of utter heathenism and apparently destined to remain so. At Sarepta near Astrakhan, the Moravians had attempted to convert the neighboring heathen but the Greek clergy prevented them. One tribe is made up of followers of the Grand Lama; another of pagans; a third of Mahometans. In the city of Kazan, once the capital of a powerful nation, there are 20,000 Mahometans, and the immense Tatar population of the entire region reaching as far as Astrakhan has adopted a combination of Christianity, Islamism and Shamanism, or are as out and out pagans as they were before being annexed to the Russian Empire."

Among these degraded peoples the Jesuits were at work while they were directing their colleges at Polotsk, St. Petersburg and elsewhere until 1814.

CHAPTER XXII

THE RALLYING

Fathers of the Sacred Heart – Fathers of the Faith – Fusion – Paccanari – The Rupture – Exodus to Russia – Varin in Paris – Clorivière – Carroll's doubts – Pignatelli – Poirot in China – Grassi's Odyssey.

While the Society was maintaining its corporate life in Russia several contributory sources began to flow towards it from various parts of Europe. The most notable was the association that was formed under the eyes and with the approval of the wise and virtuous Jacques-André Emery, the superior of the Seminary of Paris, who himself had been trained in the Jesuit college of Macon. Under his guidance and very much attached to him, was a little group of seminarians consisting of Charles and Maurice de Broglie, sons of the celebrated Marshal of that name, both of whom bore the title of Prince; François Eléonore de Tournély, who was the animating spirit of the little association, and, omitting others, Joseph Varin who succeeded de Tournély as the guide of the growing community.

When the Revolution broke out, Varin yielding to his martial instincts, left the seminary and became a soldier in the royalist army; but Charles de Broglie kept the group together and under the direction of Pey, a distinguished canon of Paris, they plunged into the study of the spiritual life and continued to dream of an association which might in one way or another take up the work of the suppressed Society of Jesus. In 1791 they were compelled to seek a refuge in Luxembourg. Two years later, they fled to Antwerp, and finally found themselves in the old Jesuit villa of Louvain, which is still standing near the château of the Duc d'Arenberg. There they were joined by de Broglie's brother, Xavier, and by Pierre Leblanc, both of whom had served for two years in the army of the Prince de Condé. Varin joined them in that year. He had been a soldier ever since the seminary had closed, and had given up all idea of ever resuming the soutane. But it happened that he was absent from his regiment when a battle occurred, and in disgust he had gone to Belgium to ask to be transferred to another corps. While there, he fell into the hands of his old seminary friends; in a few days his former fervor returned and he was accepted as the sixth member of what de Tournély had determined to call "The Society of the Sacred Heart."

On the very day of Varin's entrance, he and five associates started off on foot, with their bags on their backs, to beg their way to Bavaria. It took them five days to get as far as Augsburg, and there they remained, though their intention was to establish themselves at Munich. But the Bishop of Augsburg told them that if they wanted to learn what the Society of Jesus was, no better place could be found than the city in which they then found themselves, for the memory of many illustrious Jesuits was still fresh in the hearts of the people. The bishop who gave them this welcome hospitality was Clemens Wenzeslaus, who besides being a prelate was a prince of Saxony and Poland. Yielding to his advice, they took up their abode in Augsburg where they were soon joined by two distinguished men who were afterwards to be conspicuous in the reconstructed Society, Grivel, who was to be sent to Georgetown in America as master of novices, and the famous Rozaven, who was to save the Society from wreck in the first general congregation held after the Restoration, and who was subsequently to be the assistant General both of Fortis and Roothaan.

As they were all Frenchmen, they were necessarily debarred from apostolic work among the people whose language they could not speak. But that was providential, for they had thus a better opportunity to devote themselves to the study of the spiritual life. On March 12, 1796, Varin and some others were promoted to the priesthood, and about the middle of December, they were installed first at Neudorf and then at Hagenbrünn, near Vienna, as the invading armies of Moreau and Jourdan made Augsburg an unsafe place to live in. They were now sixteen in number and their close imitation of the Jesuit mode of life caused a sensation there, as Austria had only a short time before suppressed the Society.

De Tournély died on July 9, 1797, and Varin was elected in his place on the first ballot. The organization however, had not yet received the authorization of the Sovereign Pontiff, for as Napoleon held him a prisoner now in one place now in another, it was impossible to make any personal application for his approval of the new organization. Hence, a petition was drawn up, signed by twenty-five or thirty bishops asking the Holy Father's approbation. The answer came in the month of September 1798, assuring them that their project afforded him the greatest consolation, and with all his heart he gave them his blessing.

The establishment of this Society was not as has been said "the underhand work of the Jesuits," for Varin and his associates had as yet never met any member of the old Society, nor were they aware of the existence of any similar organization in Italy. Indeed, when a letter came from Rome, signed Nicolas Paccanari, announcing that he was their superior, and was such, "in virtue of an express wish of the Pope to have the two communities united," the associates regarded it as the abolition of their Society of the "Fathers of the Sacred Heart," especially as this unknown individual announced that he was then on his way to Hagenbrünn to carry the plan into effect.

Nicolas Paccanari was a very curious personage. He had no education whatever, and in his early life had been engaged in various occupations which scarcely seemed to fit him to be the founder of a religious order. He was born near Trent, and had been for some time a soldier, then a merchant on a small scale, and when swindled by an associate, he took to tramping from town to town, vending, as Guidée says, "objects of curiosity," that is, he was an itinerant peddler. He was a pious man, and as he belonged to one of the guilds in the Caravita at Rome, he was prompted by the spirit that prevailed in that famous Oratory to do something more than usual for the glory of God. He first thought of being a Carmelite, and then the fancy seized him that he was destined to resuscitate the Society of Jesus. Strangely enough, although he was not even a priest, he was joined by a doctor of the Sapienza and two French ecclesiastics, Halnat and Epinette, the latter of whom entered the Society and later taught philosophy at Georgetown D. C. He was undoubtedly clever, and so plausible in his speech that he won the confidence of the most distinguished personages in Europe: cardinals and noblemen and heads of religious orders, with the result that he and his two friends made their vows on the eve of the Assumption 1797, in the chapel of the Caravita, and Paccanari was elected superior. He succeeded even in seeing the Pope, who was then a prisoner at Spoleto, and obtained his approval and blessing. He called his organization "The Society of the Fathers of the Faith of Jesus," which was shortened later into "The Fathers of the Faith." In Böhmer-Monod we find them styled "The Brothers of the Faith."

Paccanari failed to arrive at Hagenbrünn for a considerable time, for he had fallen into the hands of the police and was kept a prisoner in Sant' Angelo. His restless activity and constant change of abode had attracted the notice of the authorities, and he was suspected of being concerned in some political plot against the Roman Republic, which the French had just then set up in the Papal dominions. His associates were arrested at the same time, and were not released for four months. It was during this time of incarceration that Paccanari sent a second letter to Varin more startling than the first. It announced that the Fathers of the Sacred Heart had been received into the Paccanari association, and that Father Varin was appointed superior of the society in Germany. Such a communication from a man whom they had not even seen, made them conclude that they had to do with a lunatic. Finally, in the month of February 1799, a third letter arrived, clearing up what had been said in the second. The explanation offered was that not knowing if he would ever be let out of jail, and not wishing that the privileges he had received from the Holy See should lapse, he had as a precaution admitted Varin and his associates into the Society of the Fathers of the Faith.

When at last he was released, he started for Vienna, and on his way, made it his business to see some of the dispersed Jesuits who were in Parma and Venice. They were very kind to him, procured him financial assistance, but did not welcome him with the enthusiasm he expected. They had remarked that he never spoke of uniting his associates with the Jesuits of Russia. Paccanari was keen enough to divine their reason, and he was therefore only the more eager to affiliate with the people at Hagenbrünn, for he had only twenty members of his own, not more than three of whom were priests. He reached Vienna on April 3, and was naturally received with some reserve, but when Cardinal Migazzi and the nuncio made known the desire of the Pope, all opposition ceased and the discussion of the mode of union began. The sessions lasted ten days and ended by the election of Paccanari as general. The Society of the Fathers of the Sacred Heart thus passed out of existence on April 18, 1799.

The house at Hagenbrünn at once took on a different aspect. There was less study, fewer exercises of piety, the recreations were immoderately prolonged, and the Fathers were actually compelled to take up a series of athletic exercises that made them think they were back in their college days. Of course this soon became intolerable, but little else could have been expected from a man like Paccanari, who was absolutely ignorant of the first elements of community life. What is still more curious is that he was not even yet tonsured; but he was, nevertheless, so wonderfully insinuating in his manner that he succeeded in persuading everyone outside of his own household that he was the man of the hour. The public praised him, but his subjects were exasperated at his opinionativeness, his despotism, his repeated absences from home, and above all by his avoidance of all association with the dispersed Jesuits. All that quickly convinced the Fathers of the Sacred Heart that a serious mistake had been made. It is true that on August 11, 1799, Paccanari made a formal announcement that his sole purpose was to amalgamate with the Jesuits of Russia, but it was tolerably clear that if he ever had any such intention it was rapidly vanishing from his mind. He began by founding several establishments in various parts of Europe, even Moravia being favored in this respect. In this distribution, de Broglie and Rozaven were dispatched to England, and Halnat, Roger and Varin to France.

After the example of the old Jesuits, the first work that Varin and his companions undertook when they arrived in Paris was the care of the hospitals of La Salpétrière and Bicêtre, the first of which had 6,000 patients and had not seen a priest in its wards for ten years. The government now admitted the folly of its previous methods of procedure, and sought the help of the ministers of religion. A tremendous transformation was immediately effected. Nor could it have been otherwise, for the zealous priests spent thirteen and fourteen hours a day there, going from bed to bed to comfort the patients.