Bernardino Ochino, elected vicar-general of the newly founded Capuchin Order in 1538, had become a prominent Catholic preacher before converting to Protestantism and fleeing to Geneva in 1542. His defection was a great shock, and several attempts were made to reconcile him to the Catholic Church. In this letter, Ignatius asks Claude Jay to make […]
Ignatius on Charity (1545) Read More »
In the following letter, Ignatius enjoins that greater order and care be used when Jesuits write to him. Their regular letters, Ignatius explains, might be shown to the Society’s friends and benefactors. Recently, Ignatius wished to show some of the letters to “a couple of cardinals,” whom Ignatius believed could help the situations raised in
Ignatius on Writing (1542) Read More »
The following text is the “Formula of the Institute” composed by St. Ignatius and his first companions in 1539 as a kind of charter or mission statement for the new Society of Jesus. It was inserted with minor revisions into the 1540 bull Regimini militantis Ecclesiae, in which Pope Paul III formally approved the foundation
Formula the Institute (1540) Read More »
Just before Easter in the spring of 1539, Ignatius and his companions gathered to determine whether or not they should continue to informally collaborate with one another, as they had for some five years. Their deliberations took the form of group discernment, consisting of several days of prayer and discussions. Jean Codure or Pierre Favre later
The Deliberations of Our First Fathers (1539) Read More »
This document, a chapter from the Part IX of the Constitutions of the Society of Jesus, articulates the desired qualities in the Jesuits’ superior general. Though the Constitutions were not approved until the first General Congregation of 1558, the first Jesuits elected Ignatius as their superior general in April 1541. Ignatius collaborated with Juan Alfonso
The Kind of Person the Superior General Ought to Be (1558) Read More »
On March 1, Daniel Greenberg, lecturer in Asian Art and East Asian Studies at Smith College, visits the Institute for Advanced Jesuit Studies to present on “Landscapes of Power: Mongol Ritual, Jesuit Painting, and the Construction of Eighteenth-Century Chinese Empire.” Greenberg’s remarks at Boston College consider the meaning behind paintings completed by the Jesuit missionary
March 2016: Greenberg Presents on Jesuit Art in Mongol China Read More »
Oxford University Press has published The Jesuit Suppression in Global Context: Causes, Events, and Consequences, edited by Jeffrey Burson (Georgia Southern University) and Jonathan Wright (University of Oxford). Contents of this volume include: Plots and rumors of plots: the role of conspiracy in the international campaign against the Society of Jesus, 1758–68, by Dale K. Van
October 2015: Published Collection on Jesuit Suppression Read More »
A Companion to Luis de Molina, edited by Matthias Kaufmann and Alexander Aichele, is now available through Brill. According to the publisher, Molina (1535-1600) “remains one of the most influential and least known authors of late scholasticism and early modern philosophy.” Chapters in the volume: The Real Possibility of Freedom, by Alexander Aichele; Divine Foreknowledge
December 2013: Molina Companion Available Read More »
