The Jesuits, 1534-1921: A History of the Society of Jesus from Its Foundation to the Present TimeCampbell, Thomas J. (Thomas Joseph)
History
The Jesuits, 1534-1921: A History of the Society of Jesus from Its Foundation to the Present Time
Campbell, Thomas J. (Thomas Joseph)
Jesuits -- History
For a person of ordinary intelligence, the conclusion would be that
Barberini recognized that the Society had been grossly calumniated; if
not, he had a curious way of showing his affection for the King by
bringing back his deadly enemies and destroying the pillar. The author
of this effusion also fails to inform his readers that Pope Urban VIII
was a pupil of the Jesuits; that during all his life he was particularly
attached to the Order; that one of his first acts after ascending the
pontifical throne was to raise Francis Borgia to the ranks of the
beatified; that the Jesuit, Cardinal de Lugo, was his particular
adviser, and that in the reform of the hymnody of the Breviary, he
entrusted the work exclusively to the Jesuits. With regard to the
expulsion of the Society from France, Henry IV had no hand in it
whatever. That injustice is to be laid to the score of the parliament of
Paris over which Henry had no control. Far from being an enemy he was
the devoted and affectionate friend of the Society, as well he might be,
for it was the influence of the Spanish Jesuit, Cardinal Toletus, that
made it possible for him to ascend the throne of France.
Long before his election as General, Oliva had achieved considerable
reputation as an orator; and, as his correspondence shows, he was held
in the highest esteem by many of the sovereigns of Europe for his wisdom
as a counsellor. Unfortunately, however, nearly all the trouble that
occurred in his time originated in the courts of kings. Thus in France,
Louis XIV made his confessor, Father François Annat, a member of his
council on religious affairs, with the result that when the king fell
out with the Pope, Annat's position became extremely uncomfortable; but
it is to his credit that he effected a reconciliation between the king
and the Pontiff. After Annat, François de Lachaise was entrusted with
the distribution of the royal patronage, and, of course, stirred up
enmity on all sides. In Portugal, Don Pedro insisted upon Father
Fernandes being a member of the Cortes; but Oliva peremptorily ordered
him to refuse the office. In Spain, the queen made Father Nithard, her
confessor, regent of the kingdom, and, German though he was, grand
inquisitor and councillor of state. When he resisted, she appealed to
the Pope, and the poor man was obliged to accept both appointments. Of
course he aroused the opposition of the politicians and resigned. The
queen then sent him as ambassador to Rome, and on his arrival there, the
Pope made him a cardinal. He wore the purple for eight years and died in
1681. The saintly Father Claude de la Colombiére, the spiritual director
of the Blessed Margaret Mary, also enters into the category of "courtier
Jesuits." He was sent to England as confessor of the young Duchess of
York, Mary Beatrice of Este, and though he led a very austere and
secluded life in the palace, he was accused of participation in the
famous Titus Oates plot, about which all England went mad; and although
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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