The Jesuits, 1534-1921

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.