[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

favour of the Jansenists, during the great theological quarrel of that time; in his
"Provincial letters", he exposed their too worldly opponents, the Jesuits, to
eternal ridicule.
In spite of it, the secure place they held at Court assured them of victory, and
those of Port-Royal succumbed. The Order was to win another great victory
for Rome, whose consequences were against national interests. It goes
without saying that they had only unwillingly accepted the religious peace
assured through the Edict of Nantes, and had continued a secret war against the
French Protestants. As Louis XIV was getting older, he turned more and more
to bigotry under the influence of Madame de Maintenon and Father La
Chaise, his confessor. In 1681, they persuaded him to restart the persecution
against the Protestants. Finally, on the 17th of October 1685, he signed the
"Revocation of the Edict of Nantes", making those of his subjects who
refused to embrace the Catholic religion outlaws. Soon after, to accelerate
the conversions, those famous "dragonnade" started; that sinister name
became part of all subsequent attempts to proselytize by fire and chains.
While the fanatics cheered, the Protestants fled from the kingdom en-masse.
According to Marshal Vauban, France lost in that way 400,000 inhabitants
and 60 million francs. Manufacturers, merchants, shipowners, skilful
artisans went to other countries and brought them the benefit of their
abilities.
"17th of October 1685 was a day of victory for the Jesuits, the final
(40) H. Boehmer, op.cit., p. 100.
FRANCE 49
reward for a war which had gone on for one hundred and twenty-five years
without respite. But the State paid the cost of the Jesuits' victory. "The
depopulation, the reduction of national prosperity were the acute material
consequences of their triumph, followed by a spiritual
impoverishment which could not be cured, even by the best Jesuit school. This
what France suffered and the Society of Jesus had to pay for very dearly
later".(4l)
During the century following, the sons of Loyola saw, not only France,
but all the european countries reject them from their midst but, once
again, it was only for a while; these fanatical janissaries of the papacy had
not finished to accumulate ruins in the pursuit of their impossible dream.
(41) H. Boehmer, op.cit., p.103.
Section III
Foreign missions
Chapter 1
India, Japan, China
The conversion of "pagans" had been the first objective of the Society of
Jesus' founder. Even though the necessity to combat Protestantism in
Europe involved its disciples more and more, and this political as well as
religious action, of which we just gave a short summary, became their main
task, they still pursued the evangelisation of distant lands.
Their theocratic ideal: to bring the world under the Holy See's authority,
required that they should go into all the regions of the globe, in the
conquest of souls.
Francis Xavier, one of Ignatius' first companions who, like him, was
canonised by the Church, was the great promoter of Asia's evangelisation. In
1542, he disembarked at Goa and found there a bishop, a cathedral and a
convent of Franciscans who, together with some Portuguese priests, had
already tried to spread around them the religion of Christ. He gave that
first attempt such a strong impetus that he was surnamed the "Apostle of
India". Actually, he was more a pioneer and "exciter" than one who really
accomplished something lasting. Fiery, enthusiastic, always on the look-out
for new fields of action, he showed the way more than he cleared the
ground. In the kingdom of Travancore, at Malacca, on the islands of
Banda, Macassar and Ceylon, his personal charm, and his eloquent
speeches did wonders and, as a result, 70,000 "idolaters" were converted
especially amongst the low caste. To obtain this, he did not despise the
political and even military support of the Portuguese. These results, more
showy than solid, were bound to rouse interest for the missions in Europe as
well as throwing a brilliant lustre over the Society of Jesus.
The untiring but little persevering apostle soon left India for Japan, then
China, where he was about to enter when he died at Canton, in 1552.
His successor in India, Robert de Nobile, applied in that country the
same methods the Jesuits used in Europe very successfully. He appealed to
the higher classes. To the "untouchables", he gave the consecrated water
INDIA, JAPAN, CHINA 51 [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]