Kevin Burns asks important questions for today’s Jesuits as we try to apply lessons learned from the suppression and restoration, and apply those lessons. Why did the Society bounce back so quickly, to again get busy with service as usual, almost as if nothing had changed?
I would sum up the answer in the Jesuits’ heroic faith in Christ, and therefore obedience to Christ, an obedience mediated through popes, bishops, and superiors. Joseph Pignatelli accepted the role of Provincial for the men who sailed from Spain in 1767. He was loyal to these men as he tried to keep them alive and together until the group finally reached the Papal States. He accepted Pope Clement XIV’s decision but continued to encourage his now former Jesuit colleagues to live up to their commitment to Christ through the Church. At the same time he kept after authorities to keep the order at least partially alive.
This obedience gave Joseph an infectious and courageous optimism; a trust in God although Christ’s vicar on earth seems to have ended hope for the Society. For Joseph and his friends, there was room for a lot of pessimism, but they did not give up. Rather they did what they could, where they could, as loyal Catholic priests and religious.
This optimistic faith and trust in God spilled into the people these men served, so that when Pope Pius VII restored the Society, their enthusiasm and joy multiplied, as did that of their friends. So the Society quickly spread and grew.History shows that persecution has helped the People of God grow in faith. The same seems to have happened to former Jesuits during the suppression period. We need not look for trouble, rather rise to keep looking for God’s will whatever comes. I thank Ignatius for the Exercises, and pray that we can live his challenges to seek God’s way for us to the full.