200th anniversary of restoration of Jesuits

September 29, 2014

Presiding over Vespers and the Te Deum at the Church of the Gesù, Pope Francis commemorated the bicentennial of the restoration of the Society of Jesus, which he entered in 1958.

Under pressure from Catholic monarchs, Pope Clement XIV suppressed the Society in 1773. It survived in Prussia and Russia-- “thanks to a Lutheran monarch and an Orthodox monarch,” the Pontiff recalled-- and was restored by Pope Pius VII in 1814.

During his homily, Pope Francis reflected on the example of Father Lorenzo Ricci, the Society’s superior general from 1758 to 1773.

“Faced with the loss of everything, even of their public identity, they did not resist the will of God, they did not resist the conflict, trying to save themselves,” Pope Francis preached. “The Society-- and this is beautiful-- lived the conflict to the end, without minimizing it. It lived humiliation along with the humiliated Christ; it obeyed. You never save yourself from conflict with cunning and with strategies of resistance.”

Father Ricci “does not defend himself, feeling like a victim of history, but he recognizes himself as a sinner,” Pope Francis continued.

“Recognizing oneself as a sinner, really recognizing oneself as a sinner, means putting oneself in the correct attitude to receive consolation,” the Pope added. “Ricci concludes with an exhortation to keep alive the spirit of charity, unity, obedience, patience, evangelical simplicity, true friendship with God. Everything else is worldliness.”

 

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Further information:

• Liturgia di ringraziamento nel 200° anniversario della ricostituzione della Compagnia di Gesù (Holy See Press Office)
• Pope: Jesuits 'brave and expert rowers' in barque of Peter (Vatican Radio)