Edmond Paris - The Secret History of the Jesuits

So they work relentlessly at propagating this spirit and these idolatrous practices; because of the influence they hold over the Holy See, which cannot do without them, they force them on the Roman Church, in spite of (4) and (5) J. Huber, op.cit., pp.98-99.

(6) "Oeuvres completes" de Bucher (Munich 1819, II, p.477 ss.)

THE TEACHING OF THE JESUITS

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the resistance which has gradually decreased.

"Father Barri wrote a book entitled: "Paradise opens through one hundred devotions to the Mother of God". In it, he expounds the idea that the way by which we enter paradise is not important: the important thing is to enter. He enumerates exercises of exterior piety to Mary which open heaven's doors. Amongst other things, these exercises consist of giving to Mary morning and evening salutations; frequently charging the angles to greet her; expressing the desire to build her more churches than all those built by monarchs put together; carrying day and night a rosary as a bracelet, an image of Mary, etc...

"These practices are enough to assure our salvation and if the devil, when we are about to die, makes claims on our souls, we just have to remind him that Mary is responsible for us and he must sort things out with her".(7) In his "Pietas quotidiana erga S.D. Mariam", Father Pemble recommends the following: "To beat or flagellate ourselves, and offer each blow as a sacrifice to God, through Mary to carve with a knife the holy name of Mary on our chest: to cover ourselves decently at night so as not to offend the chaste gaze of Mary; to tell the Virgin you would be willing to offer her your place in heaven if she didn't have her own; to wish you had never been born or go to hell if Mary had not been born; to never eat an apple, as Mary had been kept from the mistake of tasing of it".(8) All this was written in 1764, but one only has to glance through similar works published today in great numbers, or just the Catholic press, to establish the fact that, for two hundred years, this wild idolatry had done nothing but grow and embellish. The late pope Pius XII distinguished himself as far as the ownership of Mary is concerned. Under his rule, a large part of the Roman Church followed suit.

Moreover, the sons of Loyola, who are always anxious to conform to the spirit of the age, try to today to accommodate these mediaeval puerilities, and there are several tracts published by some of these good Fathers under the grand auspices of the "Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique"

(C.N.R.S.)

If we add to this the scapulars of various colours with their appropriate virtues, the worship of saints, images, relics, the apology of the "miracles", the adoration of the Sacred Heart, we will have some idea of the

"mysticism" with which "the children's souls are impregnated" through their contact with masters "who are saturated with it"—as R.P. Charmot wrote in 1943.

There is no other way to form "elite Christians".

Nevertheless, if they were to win their fight against the Universities, the Jesuit colleges had to expand their teaching and include secular subjects, as (7) and (8) J. Huber, op.cit., 106-108.

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THE SECRET HISTORY OF THE JESUITS

the Renaissance had awakened a thirst for learning. We know that they gladly carried it out while taking all the necessary precautions to prevent this learning going against the aim of their teaching: maintaining the minds in complete obedience to the Church.

That is why their pupils are first of all "surrounded" by this "great web of prayers", which would not be sufficient if the learning imparted was not carefully purged from all heterodox spirit and ideas. So, Greek and Latin, (Latin is regarded very highly in these colleges), were studied for their literary value; but the "antique" orthodox thought was expounded just enough to establish the so-called superior scholastic philosophy. These

"humanists" they were training were able to compose discourses and latin verses, but the only master of their thoughts was saint Thomas Aquinas, a monk of the 13th century

Listen to "Ratio Studiorum", fundamental treatise of Jesuit pedagogy, quoted by R.P. Charmot: "We will carefully discard secular subjects which do not favour good morals and piety. We will compose poems; but may our poets be Christians and not followers of pagans who invoke Muses, mountain nymphs, sea-nymphs, Calliope, Apollo, etc... or other gods and goddesses. What's more, if these are to be mentioned, may it be with the view to caricature them, as they are only demons..."(9) So, all sciences—and especially natural sciences—will be "interpreted" in like manner.

In fact, R.P. Charmot doesn't even try to hide it in what he said about the Jesuit professor in 1943: "He teaches sciences, not for themselves, but only with the view to bring about God's greatest glory. It is the rule laid down by Saint Ignatius in his "Constitutions". 10) And again: "When we speak of a whole culture, we do not mean that we teach all subjects and sciences, but we give a literary and scientific education which is not purely secular and impermeable to the lights of Revelation".(11)

The instruction dispensed by the Jesuits was therefore bound to be more flashy than profound, or "formalistic" as it is often called. "They did not believe in liberty, which was fatal as far as teaching is concerned", wrote H.

Boehmer.

"The truth is that the relative merits of the Jesuits' teaching diminished while science and the methods of education and instruction progressed and developed, on the basis of a wider and deeper conception of Humanity.

Buckle said: "The more civilisation advanced, the more the Jesuits lost ground, not merely because of their own decadence, but because of all the modifications and changes in the minds of those around them... During the 16th century, the Jesuits were ahead, but during the 18th century, they were behind their time".(12)

(9,10,11) F. Charmot, S.J. op.cit., pp.318-319, 508-509, 494. (12) J.

Huber, op.cit., II, p.177.

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Sectio n I V

Chapter 2

The morals of the Jesuits

The conquering spirit of their Society, the burning desire to attract consciences and hold them under their exclusive influence, could only induce the Jesuits to be more lenient with the penitents than confessors of other Orders or the secular clergy.

"We do not catch flies with vinegar", rightly says the proverb.

As we have already seen, Ignatius expressed the same idea in different terms and his sons drew their inspiration from it. "The extraordinary activity deployed by the Order in the field or moral theology already shows that this subtle science had, for him, a much greater practical importance than the other sciences".(13) Mr. Boehmer, who wrote the phrase we just quoted, reminds us that confession was very rare during the Middle Ages and the faithful resorted to it only in the gravest cases. But the domineering character of the Roman Church made the practice of it spread and grow more and more. In fact, during the 16th century, confession had become a religious duty which had to be diligently observed. Ignatius considered it most important and recommended to his disciplies that as many of the faithful as possible should observe it regularly.

"The results of this method were extraordinary. The Jesuit confessors soon enjoyed everywhere the same consideration shown to the Jesuit professors, and the confessional was considered by all as the symbol of the Order's power and activity, as were the professorial chair and the latin grammar...

"If we read Ignatius' Instructions regarding confession and moral theology, we must admit that, from the beginning, the Order was prepared to treat the sinner kindly, that as time went on, it showed more and more indulgence until this kindness degenerated into slackness...