Breaking the Chains
Page 32
Ignatius spent the next twelve years as a student. By 1526 he had a small group of followers, however, after being arrested and imprisoned in Alcala and Salamanca, Ignatius left Spain for France. He arrived in Paris early in 1528 and stayed there until 1535. It was in Paris that Ignatius met Francis Xavier and the other cofounders of the Jesuits. On 15 August 1534 Ignatius and his followers travelled to Montmartre, there they vowed to live lives of poverty, chastity, and obedience. On 24 June 1537 Ignatius was ordained, and on Christmas Day 1538 he said his first mass in Rome. He spent the rest of his life in or near Rome.
The most important work of his last years was the 'Constitutions of the Society of Jesus'. In this work Ignatius Loyola commanded his followers to abandon some of the traditional forms of religious life in order to achieve greater adaptability and mobility. He became very ill in January 1551 and asked to be allowed to resign his position as general of the order. His request was denied. Ignatius continued to be general of the order until his death in July 1556. By the time of his death about 1 000 Jesuits were already at work in Europe, Asia, Africa, and the New World. By 1626 the number of Jesuits had grown to 15 544.
When Ignatius became a student at the University of Paris (the theological centre of Europe) he was assigned to room with Francis Xavier. Francis, who was fifteen years younger than Ignatius, was born in Navarre. Basque was also his native language. After the seven cofounders of the Jesuits had made their vows in the Montmartre chapel, Francis carried out the 'Spiritual Exercises' developed by Ignatius; they took about thirty days to complete. The experience had a powerful effect upon Francis. When the seven had finished their studies they travelled to Venice, where, on 24 June 1537, Francis, Ignatius, and other of their companions, underwent ordination as priests into the Catholic Church. In 1538 the seven travelled to Rome to place themselves at the Pope's disposal. The Jesuits, whose number had increased, became popular throughout central Italy. Various Catholic princes sought their services. King John the third of Portugal, who needed priests to evangelise his new Asian territories, engaged the Jesuits to that end. One of the Jesuits chosen for the job fell ill, and Ignatius sent Francis in his place. Francis left Rome on 15 March 1540. Later that year Pope Paul the third formally recognized the followers of Ignatius as a religious order.
Francis arrived in Goa on 6 May 1542. His original companion had remained in Lisbon. Over the next two years Francis spent time with the Paravas on the southeastern coast of India, and the Macuans on the southwestern coast. Towards the end of 1544 Francis baptized about 10 000 of the later. In 1545 Francis was attracted to the Malay Archipelago. After spending time at Malacca he went on to establish Christian missions among the Malays, and the Moluccas (Spice Islands) headhunters. Francis went back to India in 1548. Other Jesuits had been sent to join him. The Jesuits were given a college in Goa. It became a centre for the education of native catechists and priests. The dioceses of Goa reached from the Cape of Good Hope to China.
At Malacca Francis had met Anjiro, who was from Japan. Francis converted him to Christianity. On 15 August 1549 they arrived at the port of Kagoshima, Japan. By 1551 Francis had two thousand Christians in that country. Towards the end of 1551 Francis returned to India. He was now the superior of the new 'Jesuit Province of the Indies'. At some point Francis concluded that the key to making Japan a Christian country lay in China: it was from China that Japan sought its religious wisdom. Japan had, from the 12th century, been greatly influenced by Chinese Buddhism (Chan or Zen), which was founded by Bodhidharma, who also founded Shao-lin boxing. Francis never reached China. He died on 3 December 1552 on Shang-ch'uan Tao (off the Chinese coast). At that time China was closed to foreigners - Europeans got to Japan about a decade before the death of Francis Xavier.
Education was important to the leaders of the Counter-Reformation; the Jesuits became the most important teachers of the Counter-Reformation. The first Jesuit College was opened in Sicily in 1548. In 1615 the number of Jesuit Colleges had reached 372, and by 1755 the number had reached 728. Their successful teaching and relaxed discipline caused the Jesuit schools to attract thousands of students. The Jesuits were sometimes referred to as the 'shock troops of the Counter-Reformation'. Jesuits educated many members of the nobility. Because of their influence with their students they were in a position to wield political power. The Jesuits became the leading force in the Christianisation of lands in Asia, the islands of the sea, and the Western Hemisphere. The Jesuits were suppressed in 1773, but popular demand for their missionary and educational services forced Pope Pius the seventh to restore the order in 1814.
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