Absolutism and the Jesuits: an ambiguous relationship

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The Society of Jesus was founded between 1537-1540 by Ignatius of Loyola, followed by a few friends (Francis Xavier, Jacques Laynez, Pierre Favre), and was quickly considered as one of the main elements of the Counter-Reformation, which corresponded to a will to renew the Catholic Church after it was contested by the Reformation. One of the most important aspects of the Jesuit theology is indeed the stress on the implication in the spiritual and temporal sphere … In the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries, the secular sphere corresponds to the construction of absolutism (concentration of all the powers by one person) in the European monarchies. This absolutism can be defined more precisely by two elements: the absolute authority of the leader, which leads both to a strong centralization and personalization; the confusion of powers, between executive, legislative and judicial powers, but also between the temporal and spiritual powers. What were the relations between the absolute power and the Jesuits between 1540, official date of the foundation of the Society, and 1773, date of the dissolution of the Society by Pope Clement XVI?

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[...] This absolutism can be defined more precisely by two elements: the absolute authority of the leader, which leads both to a strong centralization and personalization; the confusion of powers, between executive, legislative and judicial powers, but also between the temporal and spiritual powers. What were the relations between the absolute power and the Jesuits between 1540, official date of the foundation of the Society, and 1773, date of the dissolution of the Society by Pope Clement XVI? Although the Society of Jesus rather seemed to support absolutism at that time, conflicts have often appeared between the Jesuits and absolute power, which explains the dissolution of the Society in 1773. I. [...]

[...] Absolutism ( Creating democratic societies: the example of the Republic of the Guarani In 1609, Father Marcel de Lorenziana created the first community of Guarani in Paraguay, called a “reduction”. Reductions are organized in an independent and democratic way (the leaders are elected), and combines private and collective property in a kind of “pre-socialist” way. Death punishment is abolished, every child has access to a professional, primary education. This system leaded in a non-absolutist way by Jesuits, and is admired by many intellectuals in Europe, including Voltaire. [...]

[...] He is accompanied by an important number of elected counsellors; special procedures limit his power. One of Ignatius' first friends, Bobadilla, even wished to introduce a collegial direction of the Society by all its founding fathers at Ignatius' death, revealing the interest of the Jesuits for democracy. ( Criticisms of the absolutism of the Church The total loyalty of the Jesuits to the Church was not a synonym of total submission: in 1555, when Pope Paul IV wished to have the rule of the Society modified on a question of rites, Ignatius resisted and finally only gave in on part of the problem, in order to avoid open conflict with the Pope. [...]

[...] The superior general gives to order to obey to the kings, but the Jesuits ask for more time. After a few years of hesitation, the Spanish armies invade the reductions in 1767. The Jesuits are expulsed from both Spain and its colonies and Portugal, and the reductions are entirely destroyed; the dream of a “catholic socialism” has ended, but the Jesuits remain the first to have dreamed of creating out of nothing democratic societies and to have dared resisted to European kingdoms in order to do so. [...]

[...] The royal throne is no human throne, but the throne of God himself”. But another important reason must be raised: the Pope is a temporal and absolute leader himself . ( Jesuits in China: an example of obedience at the other end of the world In the 1580, eager to continue the work started by Francis Xavier in Eastern Asia, Jesuits leave to China and India. In China, Matteo Ricci, willing to be well-accepted by the Chinese and to spread the word of God beyond cultural diversity, dresses like one and tolerates Chinese rites (rites to Confucius and the ancestors). [...]