Dominus ac Redemptor

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Pope Clement XIV

Dominus ac Redemptor (Lord and Redeemer) is the

Society of Jesus. The Society was restored in 1814 by Pius VII.[1]

Background

Main article: Suppression of the Society of Jesus

The Jesuits had been expelled from

Parma (1768).[1] Though he had to face strong pressure on the part of the ambassadors of the Bourbon courts, Pope Clement XIII
always refused to yield to their demands to have the Society of Jesus suppressed.

The issue had reached such a crisis point, however, that the question seems to have been the main issue determining the outcome of the conclave of 1769 that was called to elect a successor to Clement XIII. While in France, Spain, and Portugal the suppression had taken place de facto; the accession of a new pope was made the occasion for insisting on the abolition of the order root and branch, de facto and de jure, in Europe and all over the world. Giovanni Cardinal Ganganelli, a

Conventual Franciscan friar, was one of five papabili. His position on the "Jesuit question" was somewhat ambiguous. When asked, he told the anti-Jesuit court cardinals that "he recognized in the sovereign pontiff the right to extinguish, with good conscience, the Society of Jesus, provided he observed the canon law; and that it was desirable that the pope should do everything in his power to satisfy the wishes of the Crowns".[2] At the same time, the pro-Jesuit Zelanti
believed him to be indifferent or even favourable to the Jesuits. Ganganelli was elected and took the name of Clement XIV.

Context

For a few years Clement XIV tried to placate the opposition to the Jesuits by treating them harshly. He refused to meet the

Louis in 1770, Empress Maria Theresa promised not to impede Bourbon efforts at suppression although she herself had nothing against the Jesuits".[3]

Cardinal François-Joachim de Pierre de Bernis, whose work for the dissolution won him the appointment of French Ambassador to the Holy See, worked with Clement in securing the delays for which the pope had asked. Samples of a papal statement circulated among Bourbon courts for over a year. The final draft was downgraded from a bull to a less important papal brief.[3] However, the pressure exercised by the Bourbons of Spain, Naples, and France, and the passive attitude and tacit consent of Austria brought the negotiations to an abrupt termination.[4]

The pressure kept building up to the point that Catholic countries were threatening to break away from the Church. The papal bull was issued mainly at the instigation of Joseph Moniño, the Spanish ambassador. Clement XIV ultimately yielded "in the name of peace of the Church and to avoid of secession in Europe" and suppressed the Society of Jesus by the brief Dominus ac Redemptor on 21 July 1773.

Content

The opening page of Dominus ac Redemptor in French and Latin

The document is forty-five paragraphs long.

In the introductory paragraph Clement XIV gives the tone: Our Lord has come on earth as "Prince of peace". This mission of peace, transmitted to the apostles is a duty of the successors of

Innocent X's suppression of the Order of St. Basil of Armenia.[1]

What follows is a long section in which Clement XIV reviews the reasons which, in his judgment, are calling for the extinction of the

Society of Jesus
.

  1. A long list of charges against the Society is enumerated.
  2. He recalls that, in its history, the Society encountered severe criticism.
  3. The distress occasioned to earlier popes by clashes among Catholics with regard to Jesuit doctrine is evoked.

In a final, more technical section Clement XIV pronounces the actual sentence of suppression of the Society of Jesus. Some provisions are dictated for the implementation of the brief.

Despite being portrayed as a threat to the peace, the Society is suppressed but not explicitly condemned by the papal brief.

Execution

A second brief Gravissimis ex causis (16 August) established a commission of five cardinals entrusted with the task of informing the Jesuits and handling the many practical problems caused by the suppression. Two days later, a letter of the Cardinal president of the commission ordered all bishops of the Church to proclaim and publish the brief in every Jesuit house, residence or school in the presence of the assembled community of Jesuits. That unusual approach created a good number of problems since there were 22,589 Jesuits, 49 Provinces, 669 Colleges and over 3000 missionaries.[5] Hundreds of schools were closed or transferred to other religious orders or the state.[1]

Non-Catholic countries such as Prussia and Russia forbade the bishops to promulgate the brief and ordered the Jesuits to carry on their academic activities as if nothing had happened.

See also

Notes

  1. ^ a b c d "Dominus ac Redemptor (1773)", Institute for Advanced Jesuit Studies, Boston College
  2. ^ Wilhelm, Joseph. "Pope Clement XIV." The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 4. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1908. 5 Jan. 2015
  3. ^ a b McCoog SJ, Thomas M., "Jesuit Restoration - Part Two: The Society under Clement XIV", Thinking Faith, August 14, 2014
  4. ^ Sollier, Joseph. "François-Joachim-Pierre de Bernis." The Catholic Encyclopedia Vol. 2. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1907. 7 January 2019
  5. ^ ""Aug 16 1773 - Society of Jesus Suppressed", Jesuit Restoration 1814, August 16, 2014". Archived from the original on February 2, 2016. Retrieved March 9, 2015.

Bibliography

  • The full text of the brief, in Latin and French, can be found in Bref de N.S.P. le Pape Clément XIV en date du XXI juillet 1773 portant suppression de l'Ordre régulier dit Société de Jésus, n.d.
  • The full text is available in English at the Portal to Jesuit Studies (http://jesuitportal.bc.edu/research/documents/1773_dominusacredemptor/).
  • Bangert, William: A History of the Society of Jesus, Saint-Louis, 1972.
  • Maryks, Robert Aleksander, and Jonathan Wright. (2015). Jesuit Survival and Restoration, ed. Brill.


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