Orlandini naively confesses, however, that at the election Ignatius
gave a blank vote, and we can hardly suppose that he was so far lost
in contemplation as to be unaware that a blank vote was a vote for
himself. Further, the result of the second ballot plainly suggests
that, if Ignatius had again refused to accept the office, Favre would
have been appointed. It is difficult to doubt that he intended from
the first to hold the office of General, and indeed it would have been
ludicrous for them to appoint any other. But Ignatius knew his young
followers, and he seems to have acted in this way in order that they
might place the authority in his hands in the most emphatic manner.
They are described in the chronicles as little less than angelic, but
we shall presently find that some of them were very human, especially
in the matter of obedience, and that at the death of Ignatius they
quarrel like petty princes for the succession. Ignatius was piously
diplomatic. He would use his power unreservedly in the cause of Christ
and the Pope, but it is important to note how from the start the
founder of the Society employs casuistry or diplomacy in _getting_
power.
During the next fifteen years Ignatius remained at Rome, making only
three short and relatively unimportant missions into Italy. They
had moved from the house in the Piazza Margana to the foot of the
Capitoline Hill, where the famous church of the Gesù now is. The old
church of Sta Maria della Strada had been given to them, and Codacio
(who had joined the Society and given his wealth to it) had built
a house beside it for them. When Sta Maria proved too small, they
proposed to build a larger church, and nearly secured the services
of Michael Angelo; but the actual Gesù was begun in 1568 by Cardinal
Alexander Farnese.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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