Author Bio: Ignatius of Loyola (1491-1556 CE) emerged in the counter reformation period as a prominent religious leader. His strong, catholic teachings pushed complete obedience to the Pope. In fact, historians credit him most for his foundation of the Society of Jesus; a society which consists of a male congregation for the catholic church and strengths the teachings of Jesus. Even though Ignatius’s heritage is Spanish (Local Basque) and not Roman, he eventually moved around Europe after he fought in the Battle of Pamplona. His injury in this battle catalyzed his religious conversion and encouraged his active involvement in the church. Finally, after all of his contributions, his life ended in Rome.
Speaker: Ignatius of Loyola: see previous description above.
Date/Context: Ignatius wrote this set of obligations in 1548 around the peak of the Renaissance to regain stability in the Catholic Church. Since this occurred fairly soon after the sack of Rome, the Protestant Reformation left the Catholic Church in shambles with very few strong leaders. Ignatius filled this void after his conversion and made these straight forward rules in order to gain more credibility for the church from common citizens.
Summary: This short list of rules was set by Ignatius for the Society of Jesus and common Catholic Church followers. These 10 obligations and limitations enforce the complete devotion to christ through the church. For instance, the document commands its readers to obey the Church because it is the voice of Jesus and the Virgin Mary. It also commands followers to admit their sin and vow a life of chastity, poverty, (of course) unfailing obedience. In addition, it asks the people to never question the credibility of the church. Moreover since the members of the church and this society have pledged to god, they must therefore be the eyes and ears of go in the community. They must right the wrongs and evils that they see in order to maintain their complete allegiance to the church. When reading this document, it is extremely important to keep in mind the bias that Ignatius inserts because he is a passionate founder of this organization. Also, remember that at this time the Catholic Church was quickly losing stability and credibility. These exercises could be a call to the common citizens and an effort to gain more followers because of its presentation in the vernacular.
Key Quotations:
- “Always to be ready to obey with mind and heart, setting aside all judgment of one's own, the true spouse of Jesus Christ, our holy Mother our infallible and orthodox mistress, the catholic Church, whose authority is exercised over us by the hierarchy.”
- “To uphold especially all the precepts of the Church. and not censure them in any manner”
Thorough and precise, awesome job Lara!. You easily explained the rule of Ignatius and how powerful he was. Your description of him and his past, easily explains as to how strict the rules he created were. He obviously wanted to keep everything together, because of how at this time, Martin Luther was questioning and criticizing the Catholic Church. Your second quote perfectly emphasizes that.
ReplyDeleteThis document is a list of directives for Jesuit priests and one of the defining characteristics is the numbers. This document also reasserts priestly celibacy ("4...to give preference to celibacy or virginity over the married state.") and the importance of saints ("6. To praise relics, the veneration and invocation of Saints").
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