Author Bio: Ignatius Loyola was a soldier who turned to religion while recovering from wounds. A Spanish knight, he turned to religion and his devotion to the Catholic Church was characterized by unquestioning obedience and loyalty. He founded the Society of Jesus (Jesuits) in 1540.
Date/Context: Written in 1540 when Loyola found the Society of Jesus during the Protestant movement, "Constitution" illustrates firm leadership which led to the Jesuits disciplined organization that was "dedicated to serving the pope with unquestioned loyalty." Loyola emerged as a religious leader during the Counter-Reformation. The author, Loyola, is credible as this is his own work and therefore illustrates his own beliefs and ideas for the time.
Summary: Loyola breaks down the requirements and duties of those in the Society. He calls to those who wish to "serve God alone and the Roman pontiff, his vicar on earth, after a solemn vow of perpetual chastity..." The Society's purpose is to provide for the "advancement of souls in Christian life" and the "training of the young and ignorant in Christianity." Those who accept the responsibilities and duties, must "take care to keep first God and next the purpose of this organization always before his eyes..." Loyola reminds members that they must "recall daily" that they are fighting for God under loyal obedience to the pope. He demands complete and unquestionable obedience and loyalty to the pope, whatever his decision may be. In order to serve God, they must serve the pope on earth. Of course as the leader of the Jesuits, Loyola is completely biased because these are his own personal beliefs, but they still illustrate the era's differing ideas and how they now affect society, such as the Catholic Church's idea of complete loyalty to the Vatican.
Key Quotation: "All the members shall realize, and shall recall daily, as long as they live, that this society as a whole and in every part is fighting for God under the faithful obedience to one most holy lord, the pope, and to other Roman pontiffs who succeed him" (450).
Good job analyzing this document. The summary does a good job of breaking down all the parts of Loyola's text, including all the aspects which he feels are important for Jesuits. I also though it was a good point to bring up that this text is kind of strange in terms of bias, since Loyola is writing it as an original document only influenced by his own ideas, but at the same time these ideas are very biased towards supporting the Catholic Church and Pope, etc. I thought that the key quotation that you chose described Loyola's ultimatum to his followers very well, in that they are fighting for God and swear unwavering loyalty to the Pope.
ReplyDeleteMaybe a bit more information could have been included regarding Loyola as part of his author bio, such as exactly why he decided to found the Jesuits and why he felt that they were so important. The document's significance as the 'Constitution' and thus framework of the whole Jesuit group could probably have been addressed and discussed a bit more as well. Likewise, the historical relevance of this text could possibly have been elaborated on more; I liked how you mentioned that it "illustrates the era's differing ideas and how they now affect society," but maybe you could have expanded on this to suggest some ways that it did this.
When considering Loyola (or any of the reformers/counter-reformers) we must remember that they are ardent, devout men who have devoted their lives to finding & understanding their faith. This document reasserts both papal authority and the divinity of the Catholic church.
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