RELIGIOUS ENCYCLOPEDIA
Jerusalem Jesuits
a kinswoman of Giovanni Colombini, preserved the original vigor of its rule, and consequently survived the male Jesuates fully two centuries.
(O. ZoCKLERf.) Bibliography: Vita J. Columbini, in ASB, July, viii. 354-
398, and by G. Bonafide, Rome, 1642. Later working over of the material is given in the lives by F. Poesl, Regensburg, 1846; and Countess Rambuteau, Paris, 1889. Consult: Helyot, Ordres monastiques, iii. 407 sqq.; Heimbucher, Orden und Kongregationen, ii. 240-242; KL vi 1371 sqq.
JESUITS.
I. Organization and Discipline of the Privileges and Exemptions (§ 1).
II.
Society.
Qualifications of Candidates (§ 1). Analysis of the Constitutions (§ 2). " On the Virtue of Obedience " (§ 3). Rules and Other Manuals (§ 4). History of the Society.
Early Achievements in Italy, Portugal, and France (§ 2). In Germany and Austria (§3). In Belgium, Holland, and England (§ 4). Mission Work in America (§ 5). Unethical Teachings and Practises (§ 6).
III.
Internal Development and Moral
Declension (§ 7). Decline and Proscription (§ 8). Illicit Continuance and Restoration
(§9). Female Orders in Imitation of
Jesuits.
The Jesuits (Societas Jesu, " Company of Jesus ") is " the most wide-spread of all the religious orders founded in modern times." For an account of the founding of the order see Ignatius of Loyola.
I. Organization and Discipline of the Society:
The Constitutiones Societatis Jesu cum earum dec-
larationibus, having been approved by
i. Qualifi- Paul III., Julius III., and Paul IV.,
cations of and commended after careful exami- Candidates. nation by the Council of Trent, was again emphatically approved and confirmed by Gregory XIII. (Feb., 1582) and printed in Rome in 1583. The text is accompanied by marginal declarations or explanatory notes printed in italics, with a full alphabetical index. The end of the society is declared to be the salvation and perfection of the souls of its members as well as of men in general. The ordinary vows of obedience, poverty, and chastity are required of all members, and that of poverty is explained so as to exclude absolutely not only individual but collective possessions. Receiving compensation for masses, sermons, lectures, or any sort of religious service, even in the form of alms, is absolutely prohibited (Examen, i. 3). An exception is made in the case of colleges and houses of probation with their buildings and revenues. Scholars take the three ordinary vows of poverty, obedience and celibacy and promise to enter the higher ranks of service if the glory of God should require it. Coadjutors or helpers, whether in spiritual or in temporal things, take only the same. Their promotion to the ranks of the Professed depends on their faithfulness and efficiency in the things committed to them. The Professed, or members of the inner circle, who possess the secrets of the order, and from whom the officers are chosen, take in addition to these vows a special vow to the pope, that they will journey without parleying and without asking for traveling expenses, whithersoever he may order, whether among believers or unbelievers. A fourth class is made up of those whose position in the order has not yet been determined, but who are in readiness to enter either grade that the superior may direct. A period of probation (novitiate) usually lasting for two years, in which the candidate is trained in obedience and thoroughly tested as regards aptitude, mental, physical, moral, and spiritual, for the purposes of the order, precedes entrance into any of the grades mentioned (Examen, i. 12). Inquiry is to be made of each candidate whether he has ever been separated
from the Church by reason of denial of the faith or falling into errors or into schism; whether he has perpetrated homicide or become infamous on account of enormous sins; whether he has belonged to another order; whether he has been bound by the chain of matrimony or servitude; whether he is afflicted with poor judgment. Affirmative answers to these questions disqualify for admission (Examen, ii.). Careful inquiry is further to be made respecting name, age, birth-place, legitimacy of birth, religious character of ancestors, names, occupations, and worldly condition of parents (similar inquiries about brothers and sisters) ; whether he is under obligation to marry, whether he has any son, whether he is in debt or has civil liabilities, whether he has a trade and can read and write, whether he has any disease, has received ecclesiastical ordination, or is under a vow; what have been his habits of religious devotion, reading, and meditation; whether he entertains any religious opinions different from those of the Church, whether he is ready to leave the world and to follow the counsels of our Lord Jesus Christ, whether he fully purposes to live and die in the society; and when, where, and by whom was he first moved to take this position. The answers expected to these inquiries are manifest (ibid. iii.). The candidate is required to relinquish his possessions, if not immediately, at latest after one year. Intercourse with relatives is restricted and practically prohibited. He must agree to have all his defects and errors pointed out to him. He must submit to training in the " Spiritual Exercises," and spend a month doing menial work in a hospice and another month in traveling as a mendicant. For the rest of the two years of probation many other tests are applied, the aim being to make the candidate as a "corpse or a staff" in the hands of his superior. The candidate must express a willingness to become a secular coadjutor or whatever his superiors may determine to be for the greater glory of God and to be willing in all things to submit his own feeling and judgment to that of the society (ibid. v.). For coadjutors and scholars a still further testing of absolute obedience and requisite efficiency is provided (ibid, vi.-viii.).
The body of the work consists of eight books. Part I. treats of " Admission to Probation." To the general belongs the final decision as to whether an applicant shall be accepted or rejected. The qualities sought in those to be admitted are given in detail; good appearance, health, youth, physical
Jesuits