How the Jesuits Survived Their Suppression: The Society of Jesus in the Russian Empire (1773–1814)
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- Format:
- Book
- Year:
- 2015
- Publisher:
- Saint Joseph's University Press
- Place published:
- Philadelphia, PA
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- Abstract:
From its founding in 1540, the Society of Jesus has been one of the most important religious orders in the Catholic Church. However, it almost vanished from the pages of history when Pope Clement XIV suppressed the Jesuits worldwide on July 21, 1773, with the brief Dominus ac Redemptor. Catherine the Great of Russia saved the Society almost singlehandedly. She protected the 201 Jesuits she had acquired in 1772 with the First Partition of Poland and insisted that they continue their apostolic work as Jesuits. For decades, her successors continued to support the Jesuits. The "Russian" Society was the only surviving Jesuit entity in the world after 1780, except for a few Jesuits in Quebec, where Governor James Murray and Bishop Jean-Olivier Briand refused to implement the brief of suppression. The "Russian" Society served as a beacon of hope for former Jesuits everywhere, made possible partial restorations outside the empire before 1814, and led directly to the general restoration of the Society in that year. How the Jesuits Survived Their Suppression: The Society of Jesus in the Russian Empire (1773-1814) examines this crucial, but little known, chapter of Jesuit history.
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- Number of Pages:
- 305
- ISBN:
- 9780916101831