How the Jesuits Survived Their Repression: The Society of Jesus in the Russian Empire (1773-1814). By Marek Inglot, S. J. Edited and translated by Daniel L. Schlafly

Abstract

Originally published in Italian in 1997 as La Compagnia di Gesù nell’Impero Russo (1772–1820) e la sua parte nella restaurazione generale della Compagnia, Father Marek Inglot’s revised doctoral dissertation offers a detailed institutional history of the Society of Jesus from its official repression in 1773 to its restoration in 1814. Translated and edited by Daniel L. Schlafly, this English edition makes Inglot’s fascinating account accessible to a wider audience. In July 1773, the Catholic monarchs of France, Spain, and Portugal, who regarded the Society of Jesus with deep suspicion, pressured Pope Clement XIV (r. 1769-74) to issue the brief Dominus ac Redemptor, which aimed to forever annul and extinguish the Jesuit order throughout the globe. Paradoxically, the Jesuits owed their continued existence to the Orthodox czars of the Russian Empire, including Catherine II (r. 1762-96), Paul I (r. 1796-1801), and, for a time, Alexander I (r. 1801-25). The Russian rulers were able to save the Jesuits because of a happy historical accident (or perhaps the work of Providence). In the summer of 1772—one year before Clement published his brief of suppression—Russia, Prussia, and Austria had each seized a portion of the Polish Commonwealth. Russia’s share included 201 Jesuits: 97 priests, 49 scholastics (who were studying to become priests), and 55 brothers—less than one percent of the nearly 23,000 Jesuits who were serving around the world. During the 41 years that the Society found refuge in Russia, its numbers remained small. There were only 358 Jesuits in 1820, when Alexander I expelled them. Nevertheless, their influence proved to be extensive.