Secreta Monita Societatis Jesu. The Secret Counsels of the Society of Jesus, in Latin and English
History
Secreta Monita Societatis Jesu. The Secret Counsels of the Society of Jesus, in Latin and English
Jesuits -- Controversial Literature
VIII. Si de aliquo nostrorum spes certa sit de obtinendo episcopatu, aut
alia dignitate ecclesiastica, præter consueta societatis vota, cogatur
alterum emittere; quod semper bene de instituto societatis censurus sit,
ac dicturus, neque alio confessario quam qui de societate sit, utetur;
quinimo se in nullis rebus alicujus momenti quidquam dispositurum, nisi
audito judicio societatis; quod quia cardinalis _Toletus_ non observavit,
societas à sancta sede impetravit, ut posthac nullus _Maranus_, perfidiæ
_Judaicæ_ aut _Mahometicæ_ hæres admittatur; qui tale votum præstare
noluerit, tanquam acerrimus societatis hostis, quantumcumque celebris
esset, dimittatur.
CHAP. XIV.
_Of reserved cases, and of cause of dismission from the
society._
I. Besides the cases laid down in the constitutions, in which a superior
alone, or an ordinary confessor, by the license of the superior, can
grant absolution, there are, sodomy, wantonness, fornication, adultery,
incest, male or female uncleanness as well as one’s becoming the cause,
or even the occasion, and through the utmost zeal, even of any injury
to the society, to its honor or success,—all which are just causes for
dismission.
II. When any one shall sacramentally confess any thing of this kind,
he shall not be absolved, until he has promised, that, besides the
confession, he will, personally or through his confessor, discover
himself to the superior; then the superior must determine what seems best
for the common good of the society; for if there be certain hope, that
the crime may be concealed, it can be punished by an adequate penance, if
otherwise, let him be immediately dismissed; the confessor, however, will
be careful not to tell the penitent his danger of dismission.
III. If any confessor should hear, from a strange woman, that she has
carnally known some member of the society, he must not absolve her,
unless besides her confession, she reveals the name of her paramour, nor
even then, until she shall solemnly swear never to disclose it again to
any mortal, without the society’s consent.
IV. If two members, sin carnally, and one discovers it first, let him be
retained in the society, and the other dismissed; but the one retained
should be afterwards so humbled and constantly worried, that through
weariness and impatience, he may offer an occasion for dismission, which
is to be instantly seized.
V. Our society must, if it would perpetuate in the church its noble and
exalted association, cut off such persons, as appear at all unfit for
our purpose, even though they begin well; and occasion will readily be
found, if they be continually vexed, and all things managed contrary to
their wishes, by subjecting them to harsh superiors, depriving them of
more honorable pursuits and functions, &c., until they murmur.
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