Simposio Internacional de Estudios Jesuitas «El compromiso social de los jesuitas: perspectivas históricas»

The peruvian jesuit province and reception of Vatican II: reimagining the jesuit mission through the practice of the social apostolate

Juan Miguel Espinoza

This presentation examines the reception of the Second Vatican Council in the Jesuit province of Peru. The analysis will be focused on the social apostolate as an ecclesial praxis shaped by the conciliar teachings and its Latin American reception in the episcopal conferences of Medellín and Puebla, as well as the institutional transformations within the Society of Jesus. Based on the academic historiography, institutional documentation, and oral sources, the paper discusses to what extent the dynamics and institutions associated with the Jesuit Social Apostolate configured a laboratory to reimagine the Jesuit mission and priestly identity, as well as to transform lifestyles, institutional structures, and pastoral practices in the light of the utopia of a Church of the Poor in Latin America.

Jesuit andean art: visual strategies of social engagement and political-religious accommodation

Ramón Mujica

This presentation will analyze the way the Jesuits used Christian figurative art and iconography as a strategy of social engagement with the indigenous population since their arrival of the Society of Jesus to Perú in 1568. By appropriating the Imperial Inca symbolism, the Jesuits ended up propitiating a hybrid Andean art of ethnic vindication with profound political connotations.

Organized charity: confraternities and cooperation at the casa Santa Marta

Michael Mohr, S.J.

This paper treats the story of the Casa Santa Marta and how the early Jesuits understood the role of cooperation in their social ministries. Officially established in 1543 as a house of reform for women caught in prostitution, the Casa Santa Marta stands out as a unique social apostolate for the early Society of Jesus because of the central role women played in its success. As a ministry “for women, by women”, the Casa Santa Marta reveals a zealous and innovative sensibility of the early Jesuits. The collaboration among Ignatius of Loyola, the early Jesuits, lay benefactors and laborers established a social apostolate that sought to address societal and individual reform rooted in the virtue of charity. The role of the laity in establishing, funding, and administering this new “halfway house” through the newly erected Confraternity of Grace is particularly worth examining as we consider the growth of the Society of Jesus in the context of reforming efforts in Rome. While it enjoyed much success in its initial years, the Casa Santa Marta soon moved beyond its original purpose, ultimately becoming a more typical institution for women religious of its time as it adopted a monastic rule. The story of the Casa Santa Marta, because of its level of organization, influence on society, and way of drawing in a number of important collaborators, stands out in the history of the Society of Jesus as an unique early effort of organized social charity.

Jesuit, crishitan women and confrarias in persecution

Haruko Nawata Ward

The Society of Jesus in Japan organized many confraternities, confrarias or cumis to reach the wide population during their mission between 1549 and 1650. These neighborhood sodality groups regularly engaged in the works of physical mercy in aiding the poor and the sick, and the works of spiritual mercy in teaching catechisms and gathering for devotional activities. Christianity spread through these confrarian evangelism. In 1587, Unifier Hideyoshi prohibited missionary proselytization and in 1612 the Tokugawa Shogunate banned Christianity. The shogunate expelled the Jesuits and mendicant missionaries from Japan. While some missionaries hid, others reentered. With the severe shortage of clergy, the lay confrarias carried out liturgical and pastoral functions for their members. During the time of fierce persecution, confrarias and their regional networks aided refugees, and sheltered underground Jesuit missionaries. 

This paper examines three cases of Kirishitan (i.e. Catholic convert) women who worked closely with the Jesuits in creating and sustaining confrarias. The Jesuit kept detailed records of each case. Yamada Justa helped the Jesuits establish the House of Misericordia in Nagasaki and recruited the member brothers in the 1580s. She also started a consorority of twelve married women to found and administer a hospital for the indigent women. Because of the good works of Misericordia for the society, the government allowed its operation until 1633 despite the ban of Christianity. Takeda Joana, Ines and Minami Magdalena worked in tandem with the Jesuits and jihiyaku (officers of mercy) in a Confraria in Yatsushiro. In 1607 because of their defiance against the ban of Christianity, Daimyo Kato crucified them publicly. Araki Susana founded a women’s confraria dedicated to Ignatius of Loyola and Francis Xavier in Arima around 1622, with the approval of the Jesuit Provincial. She was charged with sheltering Jesuit Brother Gaspar Sadamatsu, and after brutal torture, executed with 7 others in Nagasaki in 1626.

Guidance in a time of crisis: the Institute of Social Order and jesuit educational engagement during world war II

A. Taiga Guterres

Between 1943 and 1947, the ISO Bulletin—the official publication of the Jesuits’ Institute of Social Order—offered a unique lens into the Society of Jesus’s evolving societal and educational commitments amid the upheaval of World War II. This paper explores the emergence of «guidance» as a formative concern within Jesuit education, as articulated through the ISO Bulletin and its broader wartime engagements. Drawing on archival issues of the Bulletin, the paper analyzes how Jesuit social thought during this period increasingly emphasized vocational, moral, and psychological guidance for students as part of a broader effort to contribute to national reconstruction and social order. The paper also investigates the relationship between the ISO and the Jesuit Educational Association, revealing how their collaborative discourse helped shape institutional sensitivities to the role of guidance in postwar Jesuit educational practice.

Evangelization and dournals: jesuit nissions and the bulletin of the Institute of Social Order

Emanuele Colombo

The paper examines the relevance of the missionary theme in two major Jesuit American publications during the first half of the twentieth century: the ISO Bulletin – the official publication of the Jesuit Institute of Social Order, issued between 1943 and 1947 – and Jesuit Missions, a publication of the New York Jesuit province issued between 1927 and 1967. It highlights the different approaches of the two publications, with the first intended for internal circulation and the second designed for broader dissemination. This emphasizes the differences in Jesuit communication strategies regarding such a central theme as missions in distant lands.

Bridging cultures and communities. Jesuit social engagement through the lens of cinema

Steven Stergar

May 15, 1961. Pope John XXIII published the encyclical Mater et magistra on Christianity and social progress. This document urged the Church to guide societies in promoting human dignity across economic, educational, and social dimensions. Inspired by its principles, Italian Jesuits reflected on their role in addressing social challenges in modern times. For those already incorporating cinema into their apostolic mission, the encyclical underscored the medium’s potential to strengthen cultural exchange and foster connections. In response, new film initiatives emerged within and beyond Italy, particularly in South America. Examples include the “Bahia Film Week” held in Salvador de Bahia, Brazil, in 1963, and the activities of Colombianum in Genoa, Italy, throughout the 1960s. More than others, these events exemplified the Jesuits’ commitment to social engagement through cinema over those years. In Brazil, cinema served as an alibi to ensure meaningful impact on local communities, while in Genoa, it became a primary tool for fostering new social interactions. In both contexts, films facilitated the Jesuits’ accommodatio strategies for adapting to and engaging with diverse cultural environments. This approach resonated with the principles articulated in Pope Paul VI’s encyclical Inter Mirifica (December 4, 1963), which focused on social communications and was partly shaped by Jesuit cinephile Enrico Baragli S.J. Today, Jesuit archives preserve records detailing how the Society of Jesus used cinema to engage with different cultures, the goals and impacts of their social initiatives, and the reciprocal influence of films on their apostolate. Moreover, these sources invite historians to reexamine Jesuit social engagement through the lens of cinema. The paper accepts this invitation, offering a historical and analytical overview of these initiatives. It explores their objectives, methods, and outcomes, shedding light on how cinema became a meaningful ally to the Jesuits’ apostolic and social missions.

The Bachajón mission: 1958-present

Francisco Mota, S.J.

May 15, 1961. Pope John XXIII published the encyclical Mater et magistra on Christianity and social progress. This document urged the Church to guide societies in promoting human dignity across economic, educational, and social dimensions. Inspired by its principles, Italian Jesuits reflected on their role in addressing social challenges in modern times. For those already incorporating cinema into their apostolic mission, the encyclical underscored the medium’s potential to strengthen cultural exchange and foster connections. In response, new film initiatives emerged within and beyond Italy, particularly in South America. Examples include the “Bahia Film Week” held in Salvador de Bahia, Brazil, in 1963, and the activities of Colombianum in Genoa, Italy, throughout the 1960s. More than others, these events exemplified the Jesuits’ commitment to social engagement through cinema over those years. In Brazil, cinema served as an alibi to ensure meaningful impact on local communities, while in Genoa, it became a primary tool for fostering new social interactions. In both contexts, films facilitated the Jesuits’ accommodatio strategies for adapting to and engaging with diverse cultural environments. This approach resonated with the principles articulated in Pope Paul VI’s encyclical Inter Mirifica (December 4, 1963), which focused on social communications and was partly shaped by Jesuit cinephile Enrico Baragli S.J. Today, Jesuit archives preserve records detailing how the Society of Jesus used cinema to engage with different cultures, the goals and impacts of their social initiatives, and the reciprocal influence of films on their apostolate. Moreover, these sources invite historians to reexamine Jesuit social engagement through the lens of cinema. The paper accepts this invitation, offering a historical and analytical overview of these initiatives. It explores their objectives, methods, and outcomes, shedding light on how cinema became a meaningful ally to the Jesuits’ apostolic and social missions.

Francisco Furtado: a trajectory map of the elite’s interactions and commitments in China mission

Ana Cristina Pereira

The objective of the present communication will be to map the trajectory of the interaction of Father Francisco Furtado (1587–1653) and his commitment to social work in China through various examples drawn from his work, which comprises all of his official documents, most of which remain unpublished. 

Father Francisco Furtado arrived in China as a missionary alongside Procurator Nicolas Trigault in 1618, where he remained for 32 years until his death. During this time, he served as the Superior of the Chinese Mission Residencies, Vice-Provincial of China, Vice-Provincial of the northern provinces of China, and Visitor for Japan and China during the last three years of his life.

We will follow Francisco Furtado through examples that it will illustrate: 

1. His interaction with the various levels of the Chinese community;
2. His socially related ideas, initiatives, and strategies in relation to those established by institutions, and how these interactions influenced their methods;
3. His respect for and awareness of the different needs of the populations, particularly the needs of the poor;
4. The significance of his role as a mediator and proactive facilitator in various controversies related to missionary practice, as well as the real challenges he faced in direct contact with the Chinese population, and the outcomes of the strategies he proposed and implemented;
5. How he managed to reconcile personal sentiments with established practices.
   

Jesuits’ engagements in eighteenth century medical practices

Xiangyi Liu

Eighteenth-century Jesuit science and Jesuits’ role in early modern scientific developments reveal both the collaboration and the tension between science and religion during the time. Recent scholarships have greatly enhanced our understanding of Jesuit science in different aspects. However, among all the different disciplines, Jesuits’ medical knowledge has not been adequately studied. The lack of a comprehensive understanding of Jesuits’ medical beliefs and practices raises the following questions: Did the Jesuits contribute to medicine like they did in other fields? How did they use medicinal remedies and engage in medical practices in Europe and their overseas missions? What were their responses and beliefs in medicine when the field itself was changing and developing rapidly?

This essay intends to answer these questions by closely examining the Journal de Trévoux (1701–1767), a Jesuit scientific journal in which Jesuits constantly engaged in scholarly conversations, publishing paper reviews as well as their ideas and research on various topics. I will pay specific attention to the appearance of medical knowledge and research in the journal to reveal an overall interest of the Jesuits in medicine. I will then turn to a case study of surgery of a dead fetus to analyze the methods and attitudes of Jesuits’ medical practices, especially on reproductive knowledge. Lastly, I will turn to examples of Jesuits’ medical practiced in their overseas missions to depict the overall picture of Jesuits’ engagements in the medical developments of the eighteenth century, such as their legacies in Saint-Domingue and colonial Latin America, as well as their engagements in Qing China.

Seeking divine signs: jesuit engagements with the yijing (book of changes) in late imperial China

John T.P. Lai

With far-reaching impacts on Chinese religion, philosophy, and politics, the cultural influence of the Yijing (Book of Changes), venerated as the “classic of classics” of ancient China, has extended to other parts of East Asia and beyond to Europe and North America. The multifarious symbolism of the 64 hexagrams in this highly influential Chinese cosmological and philosophical/religious text captured considerable attention from Jesuit missionaries in late imperial China. This paper examines the Figurist interpretations of the French Jesuit Joachim Bouvet (1656–1730) and of Lü Liben, a Chinese Jesuit convert in the Qing period, who took advantage of the openness and diversity of the Yijing, and elucidated the symbolic dimensions of the hexagrams in light of the salvation story and Catholic theology.

As one of the leading missionaries of the so-called “Figurist” movement, Bouvet spared no efforts in seeking divine “signs” (figurae) among the Confucian classics, particularly the Yijing, to prove that the ancient Chinese sages possessed knowledge of God’s revelations. Notably, the three unbroken lines of the Trigram Qian ☰ (The Creative/Heaven) were astoundingly interpreted as an early Chinese awareness of the Holy Trinity. Following in the footsteps of Bouvet, Lü Liben represents a rare Chinese voice of the Figurist interpretation of the Yijing against the backdrop of the Qing prohibition of Catholicism and the expulsion of Jesuit missionaries. Lü adopted an intercultural interpretative approach to integrate the Yijing commentarial traditions of the Song and Ming dynasties to construct a Catholic Yijing —a new “holy scripture” that enabled the underground Catholic communities to accommodate their religious identity with their Chinese cultural heritage, as well as provide a solid basis for sustaining their faith in the midst of suffering and persecution.

Seventeenth-century arguments against forced labor in the mines of Potosí, Viceroyalty of Peru

Sarah Elizabeth Penry

The silver mines of Potosí in the Viceroyalty of Peru were the site of one of the most notorious forced labor regimes in early modern world. Known as mita, from the Quechua word for turn, evoking its transitory nature, every year some 14,000 indigenous Andeans traveled to Potosí as mita workers for the mines. The Jesuit Colegio in Potosí educated both creole and indigenous young men, with a pedagogy that favored Renaissance civic humanism. Many of the indigenous lords who captained the mita workers were educated in the Jesuit colegio and could describe to the Jesuit fathers first-hand the brutalities of the system. Drawing on Jesuit notions of Renaissance humanism, Rector of the Potosí Colegio Valentin Caravantes, wrote a lengthy denunciation of mita labor as it existed in 1611 (AGI Charcas 54). This paper analyzes Caravantes’s critique of the mita and those put forward by indigenous lords, such as that of Gabriel Fernández Guarache, an early 17th century indigenous mita captain (AGI Escribanía 868A, published in Mita, caciques y mitayos, Sucre, 2012) to argue that indigenous people adapted Jesuit notions of Renaissance civic humanism that resonated with their preconquest ideas of reciprocity to form new ideas of justice. This reveals not only the social commitment of early modern Jesuits to ameliorate the working conditions of indigenous peoples, but also the social impact of their teachings as reinterpreted by indigenous Andean lords.

Confronting the demonic in early modern Europe: jesuits, exorcism, and the witchcraze

Robert Scully, S.J.

The early modern period in Europe witnessed a sharp rise in concerns about the demonic, especially as manifested in what was believed to be demonic possession, as well as a supposed and dramatic increase in witchcraft and maleficium. The Jesuits, as a whole, like the great majority of their contemporaries, believed that these manifestations of evil were, or at least in many cases could well be, fearsome realities. Yet, how Jesuits responded to these phenomena varied widely, depending on time, place, personal dispositions, societal pressures, etc. Some wrote about these activities, while others engaged in ministering to those who were linked in some way to forces of darkness, whether through possession or witchcraft.

Among the Jesuits whose ministries will be examined in this paper are Martin Delrio, Friedrich Spee, and William Weston. Martin Delrio wrote an influential demonological work, Disquisitionum magicarum (Investigation into Magic, 1599), which was more of an academic as opposed to pastoral approach to demonology because, as far as is known, Delrio never personally encountered a witch. In sharp contrast, Friedrich Spee, who served as confessor to a number of witches in Germany in the late 1620s, was appalled by the unfair trials and terrible treatment that many of the accused suffered. In response he wrote the Cautio Criminalis (1631), but, tellingly, he published this work anonymously, fearing the accusation of denying the reality of witchcraft. Another Jesuit, William Weston, engaged in a famous if controversial ministry to the possessed, performing a series of exorcisms in England in the 1580s. These and many other Jesuits were caught up in the frenzy of the witch-craze and demonology. Whether through writings, ministering the sacraments, exorcisms, prison ministry, or other means, the Society attempted to help, especially the victims, but also the so-called guilty, to overcome the forces of evil.

The jesuits in spanish America at the time of the expulsion: profile, societal role and colonial evangelization

Robert Jackson

On June 25, 1767, royal officials began the implementation of the decree of King Carlos III (r. 1759–1788) to expel members of the Society of Jesus from all Spanish territories. The expulsion process generated considerable paperwork that can be used to analyze the profile of the members of the Society of Jesus at the time of the expulsion, their societal role, and their missionary activities on behalf of the Spanish Crown. This proposed presentation will examine three topics, with special reference to the Jesuit presence in Mexico. The first is the total number of members of the Society of Jesus reconstructed from Spanish documents generated by the expulsion process, and their profile. There were some 2,400 Jesuits at the time of the expulsion, and the majority of Jesuits were American-born criollos. The second is their urban role. The Jesuits educated the children of the Spanish American elites, administered many of the Tridentine Seminaries, and also attended to the spiritual needs of urban-folk, for example in casas de ejercicios where people could study the Ignatian Exercises. They enjoyed considerable societal support, and received donations of money and properties used to finance their activities, and used these resources to construct large churches and urban complexes. The Spanish Crown promoted a policy the evangelization of the indigenous peoples of the Americas, and the Jesuits played an important role in the administration of frontier missions. The staffing of the frontier missions, however, reflected a European bias against the American-born. The majority of the missionaries were European-born, as shown in case studies of the north Mexican frontier missions and the missions among the Guarani in the Rio de la Plata region of South America.

Transversing on dirt and mud streets: discourses and practices of the jesuit network in shantytowns in Santiago during the 1930s

Pablo Toro-Blanco

This paper analyses the catechetical and missionary proposal developed by the Society of Jesus in the western part of Santiago during the 1930s (especially in the shantytowns of Velázquez, Buzeta and Bulnes). In this space of accelerated urban expansion, there were areas of precarious housing inhabited by a population strongly affected by the critical situation generated by the consequences of the economic crisis of 1929. In this sense, the process experienced in Santiago was one of the consequences of the accelerated and unregulated urbanization that plagued, to a greater or lesser extent, the main cities of Latin America at the time.

The urban conflict in the period under study operated, according to our initial perspective, as a stimulus for the Chilean Jesuits to implement catechetical actions of a diverse nature and to rethink, in part, their proposal for intervention in society. In this context, it is interesting to observe the discourses and practices of the Jesuit network deployed in the indicated area and to highlight its continuities and changes, especially those related to the role of youth in the new forms of evangelization and interaction with a demographic segment in increasing contact with revolutionary doctrines and Marxist parties.

Eastern missions of the jesuits. First globalization: “Giving an account of”, informing and communicating

Eduard López Hortelano, S.J.

It is proper to the Jesuits to be and proceed in order to “give an account of the soul”, to “examine (themselves)” and to communicate. Our interest here is to investigate and bring to light the “first modern globalization” that the Society of Jesus carried out with its missionaries in the East Indies. From their writings, “Europe” is constructed through the relationships, texts, and letters that contribute to a greater political, social, and cultural knowledge of the people of those territories. Therefore, first of all, we will investigate and offer the main keys that answer why the Jesuits, unlike other religious institutes of the time, wrote, noted, and gave an account of their missionary activities to the main powers of the time: the Church and the courts (with their different sections and interlocutors). First, Alessandro Valignano (1539–1606), a great organizer and visitor of the missions in East Asia, put together the first Japanese embassy to Europe (1582–1590), composed of four young Japanese nobles presented to the Pope and the European courts, and wrote the Summary of Things of Japan (1583). Second, Michele Ruggieri (1543–1607), who was treated as a diplomatic dignitary and dedicated himself to the study and transmission of the Chinese language and culture while in 1580 Philip II annexed Portugal (and its territories) to the Spanish crown. Third, the duo Matteo Ricci (1552–1610) and Diego de Pantoja (1571–1618). The latter with the famous letter Relation of the entry of some Fathers of the Society of Jesus in China, which aroused such great interest that it was translated into French, German, English and Latin.

Ethiopia revisited: jesuit education in mid-twentieth century Addis Ababa

Jonathan Greenwood

Recent scholarship on the Society of Jesus in Ethiopia has focused on the early modern mission to the detriment of later contemporary endeavours. Though expelled in the seventeenth century, the Jesuits mulled over their return to the kingdom that had to wait until 1945 when Emperor Haile Selassie I (r. 1930–1974) asked for French-Canadian Jesuits to reorganize an elementary school in the Ethiopian capital of Addis Ababa. A college followed five years later and became what is now Addis Ababa University. This institution, one overlooked by researchers, delineated the social engagements of the Society through an institute of higher learning. The college’s faculty tended to the various strata in Ethiopian society and also other African students, whose education was funded through bursaries. The academics on staff, initially all French-Canadians, allowed for further cultural cross-pollination through a combination of francophone cachet favoured by Ethiopian elites, English instruction to internationalize the college, and the institutionalization of Ge’ez and Amharic through scholarship and the hiring of Ethiopian instructors. Drawing from previously classified documents at Library and Archives Canada, this paper is a case study of a time, place, and institution that has gone overlooked, which conveys the Jesuits’ social engagement in Ethiopia through education that negotiated hierarchies and languages.

Jesuit “Flying missions” in andean rural area of the Viceroyalty of Peru, 16th century

Pedro Guibovich

«Many fathers have stayed in this kingdom of Peru, where they do the works of apostolic men, because by surrounding the cattle of the Divine Shepherd, they free it from the rabid wolf with their doctrine and continuous work» wrote the Jesuit Antonio de Vega in his History or Narration of the things that happened in this school in Cuzco, a work written at the beginning of the 17th century and which narrates the first three decades of existence of said institution. Vega’s work, as several authors have already pointed out, was written by order of General Claudio Aquaviva, who commissioned all the schools of the Society of Jesus to compose their respective stories. For this reason, Vega warns that in the histories of the other colleges the Jesuits «who have died in this kingdom, exercising our ministries, will be mentioned, as will also be mentioned for the missions that this college has carried out in 10 or 11 provinces of the Cusco». And he concludes that to better understand the magnitude of the work of the Ignatians it is convenient to know the provinces that made up the extensive jurisdiction of Cuzco, «so that one can see how spacious and copious the harvest is», this is the parishioner that must be attend. Certainly, the jurisdiction was enormous, since it included the province of Vilcabamba in the north, the province of Condesuyos in Arequipa in the south, the provinces of Carabaya and Charcas in the east, and Abancay in the west. The study of the “flying missions” (misiones volantes) of the College of Cuzco not only offers the possibility of approaching the pastoral strategies of the Company of Jesus at the end of the 16th century, but also of understanding the social dynamics that gave rise to them and made them possible, as well as their limitations. In other words, although the missionary task was designed by the authorities of the order, the colonial context was decisive in its historical development.