Tadeusz Brzozowski
The Very Reverend Tadeusz Brzozowski Nieswiez, Vilnius University | |
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Tadeusz Brzozowski, SJ (October 21, 1749 – February 5, 1820) was a Polish scholar, teacher, administrator and a
Background
Brzozowski was born in
Return to the Society in Russia
In 1782 Brzozowski left for Polotsk, Belarus in the Russian Empire, in order to be able to rejoin the Society, which was allowed to continue there. A gifted linguist (fluent in Latin, French, German, Russian) he translated theological works into his native Polish, such as, Dykcjonarz filozoficzny religii (a Philosophical Dictionary of Religion) by C. F. Nonnotte, Wilno 1782 and O naśladowaniu Najświętszej Maryi Panny (The Imitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary) by A. de Rouville, Połock 1800. He was also a successful and well known preacher. In 1797 he was named Secretary of the Society and worked closely with Gabriel Lenkiewicz, Franciszek Kareu and Gabriel Gruber, the successive Vicars General of the Society in Russia. On their behalf he corresponded with the many ex-jesuits abroad who wished to rejoin the Society. At the Regional Congregation of 1802 he was made Assistant of the newly elected Superior of the Jesuits of the Russian Province, Gabriel Gruber. He had an especial devotion to the Jesuit martyr, Andrew Bobola and in 1808 he exhumed his remains from Pinsk and brought them for reburial in Polotsk. He expanded missionary activity in Mozdok, in the Caucasus (1806), Irkutsk (1810) and in Tomsk (1814). He also planned to send missionaries to China. In 1806-1810 he despatched eight Belarusian Jesuits to Boston to help foster the Society's revival there.
Superior General
Following the death of Gruber, in 1805, the Regional (Polish) Fourth Congregation met at Polotsk, again part of Lithuania and elected Tadeusz Brzozowski as Superior General of the Society which was still functioning in the territory of Russia. The newly elected General immediately sent a message to Pope Pius VII thanking him for having restored the Society in Sicily. By then a steady stream of young men was coming to Russia to join the Society. Between 1803 and 1805, 103 candidates entered the novitiate of Polotsk, 23 of them already ordained priests. The total number of Jesuits grew to 333, mostly engaged in educational activities, in 7 high schools in Russia, but also moving into pastoral work in Latvia and Lithuania.
It became clear that the suppression of the Society would eventually be lifted. in 1812 the college in Polotsk was upgraded by Alexander I of Russia into a university academy, thus allowing affiliation of all the Jesuit schools and affording them protection from undue local political interference.
In October 1806, the "ex-Jesuits" of
Internal tensions grew in the Society as non-Russian or Polish Jesuits, not being conversant with the political situation of the Russian empire, criticized Brzozowski for certain decisions he took which, in their estimation, were too liberal, such as allowing the
Restoration of the Society
Brzozowski worked tirelessly to obtain the general restoration of the Society, both personally and through his delegate in Rome, Father
Political complications
The Society's restoration coincided with Russia becoming more nationalistic and strengthening its native Eastern Orthodox Church. The Jesuits were seen as an obstacle to those developments. Opposed to the expansion and influence of the Society, Alexander published an edict on December 20, 1815, expelling the Jesuits from Saint Petersburg and taking over their high school on the grounds that they were converting Russian nobles to Catholicism. Despite his ailing health and protests, Brzozowski was detained and forbidden to return to Rome. Sensing that the days of the Society in Russia were numbered, Brzozowski sent several Jesuits to Western Europe to speed up the reestablishment of the order.
Death
Brzozowski died on February 5, 1820, and was buried in Polotsk. He had taken the precaution to nominate an Italian, Mariano Petrucci, as his Vicar General, to ensure that the Congregation to elect his successor would meet in Rome. On 13 March 1820 the Society of Jesus was expelled from the Russian Empire.
References
- ISBN 978-9-0043-9529-9.
- ISBN 978-9-0042-8387-9.
- ISBN 83-04-03291-0
- ISBN 978-1-1070-3058-9.
- ISBN 978-1476-75188-7.
Bibliography
- Worcester SJ, T. (Ed.), (2017). Brzozowski, Tadeusz, SJ (1749–1820) in The Cambridge Encyclopedia of the Jesuits (p. 124). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. doi:10.1017/9781139032780.002
- Inglot, M., La Compagnia di Gesù nell'impero Russo (1772–1820), Rome, 1997.
- Rouet de Journel, M.-J., La Compagnie de Jésus en Russie; un collège jésuite à Saint Petersbourg (1800–1816), Paris, 1922.
- Zalenski, S., Les Jésuites de la Russie blanche (2 vol.), Paris, 1886.
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