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Reflection on Today’s Feast

By Fr. Harry Geib, SJ

The Society of Jesus owes much to Joseph Mary Pignatelli (1737-1811), who worked to hold together dispersed Jesuits during the suppression of the worldwide Society of Jesus, from 1773-1814.

Born in Spain in 1737, he entered the Society of Jesus at the age of 15, despite his family's opposition. After his ordination, Pignatelli was assigned to teach at the College of Zaragoza. In 1766 Pignatelli's persuasive power over the people of Zaragoza averted a potential riot against the Governor. Despite the letter of thanks sent by King Charles III of Spain, the Jesuits were accused of instigating the riot. Pignatelli's refutation of the charge was followed by the decree of expulsion of the Jesuits of Zaragoza in 1767.

Now refugees, and not permitted by Pope Clement XIII to land in Italy, the Jesuits from Zaragoza, along with those of the province of Aragon, sought refuge in the Corsican Republic. There, Pignatelli displayed a marked ability for organization in caring for 600 priests and Jesuits in training. He organized studies and the Jesuits were able to maintain their regular religious observances.

When France took control of Corsica in 1770, the Jesuits were again expelled and obliged to go to Genoa for shelter. The community, however, was dissolved upon the suppression of the entire Society by Pope Clement XIV in August 1773. Joseph Pignatelli was obliged to seek refuge in Bologna, where he lived in retirement, being forbidden to exercise Christian ministry. He devoted himself to study and Pignatelli began to collect books and manuscripts bearing the history of the Society.

A few years later, the newly elected Pope Pius VI granted permission for the surviving ex-Jesuits to reunite with the members of the Society of Jesus still functioning in the Russian Empire. Pignatelli was permitted by Ferdinand, Duke of Parma (who had violently expelled them from his lands in 1768), to re-establish the Society in his duchy. In 1793, having obtained through Empress Catherine II of Russia a few Jesuit fathers from Russia, along with some other Jesuits, the new establishment was made.

In 1799 he was appointed master of novices for a new novitiate in Colorno, which had been authorized by the pope. Pignatelli was appointed provincial superior of the Jesuits within Italy in 1800 by Pope Pius VII. After considerable discussion he obtained permission for the Jesuits to serve in the Kingdom of Naples. Pignatelli founded colleges in Rome, Tivoli, and Orvieto, and other cities. He also secured the restoration of the Society in Sardinia in 1807.

Pignatelli died in Rome. Three years later, the Society of Jesus was fully restored in the Catholic Church in 1814. After St. Ignatius of Loyola, Pignatelli is arguably the most important Jesuit in the history of the Society, linking the old Society, which was first founded in 1540, and the new Society, which was founded forty years after it had been suppressed by Pope Clement XIV in 1773. Pignatelli is rightly considered the "second founder" and restorer of the Society of Jesus.

St. Joseph Pignatelli, pray for us!

Fr. Harry Geib, SJ, is the superior of the Gonzaga Jesuit Community in Washington, DC, and a regional vocation promoter for the USA East Jesuit Province