Jesuits, and Papal Orders by John Norton Loughborough

Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · Aug 25, 1874

Jesuits, and Papal Orders.

By John Norton Loughborough

(Concluded.)

And it is these priests of Rome that are “the best educators;” and foremost among them we are pointed to the Jesuits as models for teachers. Who are these Jesuits? and what do they propose to do? In reply to this, we will quote from an article, published in the Irish World of June 28, 1873, setting forth “the origin, character, and history of the Jesuits.” The writer says: “Three centuries ago, a great rebellion was started by the apostate Luther, a man who had broken every vow that the church holds sacred; rebelled, and was pleased to call his rebellion ‘The Reformation.’ God raised up Ignatius of Loyola to conquer this new heresy, or rather heap of heresies. . . . We are willing to admit that the church wanted a reformation, but not in the way Mr. Luther attempted it.”

“If three centuries ago any one was raised up to oppose Luther and his compeers, and put down Protestantism, it was Ignatius of Loyola, and his rules are the foundation of the Jesuits. Ignatius had in mind the destruction of Protestantism; to do all in his power, to labor with all his might, to crush Protestantism.”

Speaking of Ignatius, the above writer says, “He had not yet formed any idea of founding a society. He came to his cave, spent the night on the hard floor, with a stone for a pillow, spent hours in prayer, fasted for days together, submitted to scourging till the blood poured in streams down his back—all that he might do penance for his former indifference.” In proof that this rigid course was right, this writer quotes their version of Paul’s language in 1 Cor. 9:27: “I chastise my body and bring it under subjection, that I may make up for what is wanting to me of the passion of Jesus Christ,” and then says of Protestants, “perhaps they will say that St. Paul speaks figuratively and means prayer. Have a little common sense; chastisement is one thing, prayer is another. Chastisement suggests something of the idea of a cat-o-nine-tails or a birch rod. . . . It would have been much better for Luther had he submitted to a little discipline and let out a little of his blood; he would not have let out so much bile. So, then, we find Ignatius chastising himself in order to find out the will of God. . . .”

Shortly after the completion of the exercises, he conceived something of the plan of his society. He thought it would be a good thing in those evil times if there were organized a band of men formed entirely on the spirit of the exercises. . . . He gathered together eleven or twelve men devoted to the accomplishment of his design. . . . At first he restricted the number of professed members to sixty, but it was afterward left unlimited and still remains so.”

In the preamble of his constitution he says, equivalently, as follows: “All those who wish to serve God in this little society, which we desire to see honorable by the name of Jesus, after making three ordinary vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience, must understand that they are to devote themselves to the glory of God, by teaching the Christian doctrine, and defending the Christian faith against all unbelievers.”

“Another principle of St. Ignatius’ system is the exaction of a sort of blind, unquestioning obedience, the bowing not only of the will, but also, as far as possible, of the intellect, to the commands of a superior. Ignatius was, as I have said, essentially a military man; and he determined that in his company of Jesus, the members should be ruled as he had been accustomed to rule his soldiers. How would it be if every soldier were allowed to question the commands of his captain, and say, ‘Captain, I don’t think that’s quite right. Wouldn’t it be better this way?’ No; as a soldier must obey the orders of his captain under pain of death, so must we the commands of our superiors under the severest penalties. Speaking of this, Ignatius says: ‘Let others surpass us in watching, fasting, and other austerities of diet and apparel; but in true and perfect obedience, I desire that the members of this society should excel all others, and that the true Jesuit should be known by this mark, that in all his superior’s commands he should recognize the voice and will of God.’”

“This is the spirit of Ignatius. In accordance with this we promise to go to Africa, to India, to Japan; it is our part to go wherever we can save souls, to employ ourselves in the directing of colleges and missions, to undertake any work by which souls can be saved and men reclaimed from sin. We are not bound down to Toronto, or Kingston, or to Canada. Our mission is the world, to go wherever we may be sent without a murmur. It is related that a novice of St. Ignatius, on one occasion, said of some order which he received, ‘I don’t like it.’ The saint, having heard this, gave him such a scolding as would scarcely have been expected for so small an offense. He told him he had a great mind to expel him, but he would give him another trial on condition of his submitting to the penance which he would impose. The novice promised submission. ‘Well, then,’ said the saint, ‘for having dared to express an opinion adverse to what you have been commanded, you will for six months stand in the middle of the refectory, whilst the others take their dinner, and exclaim at intervals: “I will, I won’t, are not allowed in this house.”’ You may say that was a very severe penance; but it had its effect, and after he had performed it, he had entirely lost all inclination of setting himself up against his Superiors.”

So much for the statements of the Irish World concerning the character of the Jesuits. We will now quote from “The exercises of Ignatius Loyola,” edited by the late Cardinal Wiseman, Dolman’s London Edition 1847: “That we may in all things attain the truth, that we may not err in anything, we ought ever to hold it as a fixed principle, that what I see white I believe to be black, if the Hierarchical church so define it to be.”

Concerning the moral theology of the Romish Church, which, of course, has its controlling influence on these Jesuits, I will now quote from Gavazzi: “The popish church has her particular code of morality, what is called ‘Moral Theology,’ and that, in brief, is the word of man, substituted for the law of God. I cannot now quote all the immoralities allowed by this code, but, as an instance, it allows lies, swearing under mental reservation, perjury, to deceive our brethren for a good end. It allows all manner of deceit under this pretext; for example, to appear a Protestant among Protestants, though really a Roman Catholic. For purposes of conversion this is permitted, sometimes it is obligatory. One great maxim of this moral theology is, that a man may do evil if he hope good shall result from it, and another (the great Jesuitical secret) is, that the end sanctifies the means. Therefore, if for the spread of the gospel, it were judged necessary to kill the honorable President, Senate, and Representatives of the United States, the horrible crimes find their full justification in this moral theology.”

“The Jesuits are called ‘a company,’ that is, ‘an army,’ without will, reason, discretion; having merely the passive obedience which belongs to ‘brute force.’ . . . Their motto is, ‘ad majorem Dei gloriam;’ their end ‘the greater glory of God.’ Christ promoted the glory, the Jesuits, more instructed, promote the greater glory of God! Christ, to promote God’s glory, preached charity, honesty, justice, reasonable religion; the Jesuits, to uphold ‘Christ’s vicar,’ which is their greater glory, preach mental reservation, perjury, immoralities, regicide, the subversion of society.” “The Jesuits taught the killing of kings. True, many were murdered before the order existed; but that order first taught that it is honest, just, and right, to kill a tyrant king—when the Jesuits have declared him a tyrant! The cardinal point and ground of the immoralities is the theory of Fathers Tirino, Nicholai, and others, that ‘the end justifies the means!’”

On the progress of the Jesuit order, we quote still further from the Irish World July 28, 1873. This order, “which three hundred years ago consisted of eleven or twelve members, has since spread all over Europe and the civilized world, forming houses, colleges, convents, in Africa, Asia, and America. The order has been numerous, but never so numerous as has been imagined. In the palmiest days of the order it never exceeded 45,000 full members. At the present time, the order numbers about 9,000, of whom 4,000 are professors; the rest students or brothers, leaving about 5,000 full Jesuits in the world.”

As these Jesuits have their mission to establish, colleges, schools, monasteries, and convents, and as they are being suppressed in foreign countries, they come to our shores. What are they doing here? I state on the authority of the Independent Defender, San Francisco, 1874: “There are in the United States 128 monasteries with their 3000 monks, 300 nunneries with 7000 nuns, of whom 3000 are Sisters of Charity.” Gavazzi says in his lectures that every one of these Sisters of Charity are “Female Jesuits.” Of course in this order of sisters and nuns, they have their “lady Superiors.”

There are many orders besides the Jesuits in the Romish church. Of these we will quote from the number of the Irish World referred to above: “The Catholic church is unity. The Benedictines, the Franciscans, the Dominicans, the Christian Brothers, and the different orders of nuns, are all simple branches of the same church. All profess the same faith, receive the same sacraments, attend the same sacrifice. They are only organizations in the church for some specific end. Each end requires a slightly different method of attaining it. People here are all inhabitants of Ontario, yet you join different political parties; still you are people of the same country. In the same manner, we have one community for preaching, another for teaching, like the Christian brothers here, another, as the Precious Blood, for penance and prayers; but in all these different orders there is no difference of religion; but whatever difference of rule there may be, it is for some specific end.”

Their great end to be attained by all these means is the support and extension of the Catholic faith, and the suppression, and overthrow, if possible, of all sects, powers, or nations, that oppose papacy, or the pope. J. N. LOUGHBOROUGH.