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{{Use British English|date=April 2020}}
{{Use British English|date=April 2020}}
{{Infobox Christian leader
{{Infobox Christian leader
| type = priest
| type = priest
| honorific-prefix = [[The Very Reverend]] <br>
| honorific-prefix = [[The Very Reverend]] <br>
| name = Tadeusz Brzozowski
| name = Tadeusz Brzozowski
| honorific-suffix = [[Society of Jesus|SJ]]
| honorific-suffix = [[Society of Jesus|SJ]]
| title = 19th [[Superior General of the Society of Jesus]]
| title = twentieth [[Superior General of the Society of Jesus]]
| image = T.Brzozowski.jpg
| image = T.Brzozowski.jpg
| image_size = 220px
| image_size = 220px
| alt =
| alt =
| caption = Very Rev. Tadeusz Brzozowski
| caption = Very Rev. Tadeusz Brzozowski
| elected = <!-- or | appointed = -->
| elected = <!-- or | appointed = -->
| term_start = 1805<ref>{{cite book|title=Pre-suppression Jesuit Activity in the British Isles and Ireland|
| term_start = 1805, Papal confirmation 1814<ref>{{cite book|title=Pre-suppression Jesuit Activity in the British Isles and Ireland|
author= Thomas M. McCoog, SJ|publisher= BRILL|date= 2019|page=93|isbn= 978-9-0043-9529-9}}</ref>
author= Thomas M. McCoog, SJ|publisher= Brill|date= 2019|page=93|isbn= 978-9-0043-9529-9}}</ref>
| quashed =
| quashed =
| term_end = 5 February 1820
| term_end = 5 February 1820
| predecessor = [[Gabriel Gruber]]
| predecessor = vacat
| successor = [[Luigi Fortis]]
| successor = [[Luigi Fortis]]
| opposed =
| opposed =
| other_post =
| other_post = <!---------- Orders ---------->
⚫
| ordination = 1775
⚫
<!---------- Orders ---------->
| ordained_by =
⚫
| ordination = 1775
| ordained_by =
| consecration =
| consecration =
| consecrated_by =
| consecrated_by =
| cardinal =
⚫
| rank = <!---------- Personal details ---------->
| cardinal =
| rank =
| created_cardinal_by =
⚫
| birth_name = Tadeusz Brzozowski
⚫
<!---------- Personal details ---------->
⚫
| birth_date = {{Birth date|1749|10|21|df=y}}
| created_cardinal_by =
⚫
| birth_place = [[Koenigsberg in Preussen|Koenigsberg]], [[Kingdom of Prussia]]
⚫
| birth_name = Tadeusz Brzozowski
| birth_date = {{Birth date|1749|10|21|df=y}}
| death_date = {{Death date and age|1820|02|05|1749|10|21|df=y}}
⚫
| death_place = [[Polotsk]], [[Russian Empire]]
⚫
| birth_place = [[Koenigsberg in Preussen|Koenigsberg]], [[East Prussia]]
⚫
| buried = Polotsk, Belarus
⚫
| death_date = {{Death date and age|1820|02|05|1749|10|21|df=y}}
⚫
| nationality = [[Polish people|Polish]]
⚫
| death_place = [[Polotsk]], [[Russian Empire]]
⚫
| religion = [[Catholic Church|Roman Catholic]]
⚫
| buried = Polotsk, Belarus
| residence =
⚫
| nationality = [[Poles|Polish]]
| parents =
⚫
| religion = [[Catholic Church|Roman Catholic]]
| residence =
| spouse = <!-- or | partner = -->
| parents =
| children =
⚫
| occupation =
| spouse = <!-- or | partner = -->
| children =
| profession = <!-- or | previous_post = -->
⚫
| alma_mater = [[Slutsk]], [[Nieswiez]], [[Vilnius University]]
⚫
| occupation =
| signature =
| profession = <!-- or | previous_post = -->
⚫
| coat_of_arms = [[Korab coat of arms|Korab]]
⚫
| alma_mater = [[Slutsk]], [[Vilnius University]]
| signature =
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⚫
| coat_of_arms =
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| coat_of_arms_alt = <!---------- Sainthood ---------->
| feast_day =
<!---------- Sainthood ---------->
| feast_day =
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⚫
| saint_title =
| venerated =
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⚫
| saint_title =
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| suppressed_date = <!---------- Other ---------->
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⚫
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<!---------- Other ---------->
| honorific_prefix = The Very Reverend
| other =
⚫
| module =
}}
}}
{{Jesuit}}
{{Jesuit}}
'''Very Rev. Tadeusz Brzozowski, S.J.''' (October 21, 1749 – February 5, 1820) was a [[Poland|Polish]] scholar, teacher, administrator and a [[Jesuit]] priest. Having secured its continuity during the [[Suppression of the Society of Jesus|suppression of the Society]] until its restoration, he was elected nineteenth [[Superior General of the Society of Jesus]] and was its first world-wide general.
'''Tadeusz Brzozowski''', SJ (October 21, 1749{{snd}}February 5, 1820) was a Polish scholar, teacher, administrator and a [[Jesuit]] priest. Having secured its continuity during the [[Suppression of the Society of Jesus|suppression of the Society]] until its restoration, he was elected twentieth [[Superior General of the Society of Jesus]] and was its first world-wide general.<ref>{{cite book|title= Jesuit Survival and Restoration: A Global History, 1773-1900. Studies in the History of Christian Traditions|editor1=Robert Aleksander Maryks |editor2=Jonathan Wright|edition=revised reprint|publisher=Brill|date= 2014|page=393|isbn=978-9-0042-8387-9}}</ref>


==Background==
==Background==
Brzozowski was born in [[Königsberg]], [[East Prussia]], on October 21, 1749, into a [[Poles|Polish]] family. He entered the [[Society of Jesus]] in 1765, and studied Rhetoric, Greek, French and classical literature in [[Slutsk]] (Belarus) (1767–70), followed by Philosophy and Mathematics in [[Nesvizh|Nieśwież]] (1770–73). After the Suppression of the Order in the rest of the world on 21 July 1773 (it did not apply to the Russian Empire), he continued his theological studies in [[Vilnius]], where he was ordained priest in 1775. In effect he was no longer formally a member of the Society.<ref>{{cite book | title = [[Polski Słownik Biograficzny]] | volume = 3 | publisher = [[Polska Akademia Umiejętności]] – Skład Główny w Księgarniach Gebethner i Wolff | place = [[Kraków]] | date = 1937 | series = Brożek Jan – Chwalczewski Franciszek | chapter = Brzozowski Tadeusz | author = Bednarski, Stanisław | page = 68}} Reprint: [[Zakład Narodowy im. Ossolińskich]], Kraków 1989, {{ISBN|83-04-03291-0}}</ref>
Brzozowski was born in [[Königsberg]], [[Kingdom of Prussia]], on October 21, 1749, into a [[Polish people|Polish]] family. He entered the [[Society of Jesus]] in 1765, and studied Rhetoric, Greek, French and classical literature in [[Slutsk]] (Belarus) (1767–70), followed by Philosophy and Mathematics in [[Nesvizh|Nieśwież]] (1770–73). After the Suppression of the Order in the rest of the world on 21 July 1773 (owing to [[Catherine the Great]], patron of "her" Jesuits, it did not apply in the Russian Empire), he continued his theological studies in [[Vilnius]], where he was ordained priest in 1775. In effect he was no longer formally a member of the Society.<ref>{{cite book | title = [[Polski Słownik Biograficzny]] | volume = 3 | publisher = [[Polska Akademia Umiejętności]] – Skład Główny w Księgarniach Gebethner i Wolff | place = [[Kraków]] | date = 1937 | series = Brożek Jan – Chwalczewski Franciszek | chapter = Brzozowski Tadeusz | author = Bednarski, Stanisław | page = 68|language=pl}} Reprint: [[Zakład Narodowy im. Ossolińskich]], Kraków 1989, {{ISBN|83-04-03291-0}}</ref> However, as the [[Partitions of Poland|partitions of Poland-Lithuania]] progressed over the next 20 years, paradoxically the range of the Jesuits expanded temporarily along with the borders of the Russian
Empire.


=== Return to the Society in Russia ===
=== Return to the Society in Russia ===
In 1782 he left for [[Polotsk]], [[Belarus]] in the [[Russian Empire]], in order to rejoin the Society, which was allowed to continue there. A gifted linguist (fluent in Latin, French, German, Russian) he translated theological works into his native [[Polish language|Polish]], such as, ''Dykcjonarz filozoficzny religii'' (a Philosophical Dictionary of Religion) by C. F. Nonnotte, Wilno 1782 and ''O naśladowaniu Najświętszej Maryi Panny'' (The Imitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary) by A. de Rouville, Połock 1800. He was also a successful and well known preacher. In 1797 he was named Secretary of the Society and worked closely with [[Gabriel Lenkiewicz]], [[Franciszek Kareu]] and [[Gabriel Gruber]], the successive Vicars General of the Society in Russia. On their behalf he corresponded with the many ex-jesuits abroad who wished to rejoin the Society. At the Regional Congregation of 1802 he was made Assistant of the newly elected Superior of the Jesuits of the Russian Province, [[Gabriel Gruber]]. He had an especial devotion to the Jesuit martyr, [[Andrew Bobola]] and in 1808 he exhumed his remains from [[Pinsk]] and brought them for reburial in Polotsk. He expanded missionary activity in [[Mozdok]], in the [[Caucasus]] (1806), [[Irkutsk]] (1810) and in [[Tomsk]] (1814). He also planned to send missionaries to [[China]]. In 1806-1810 he despatched eight Belorussian Jesuits to [[Boston]] to help foster the Society's revival there.
In 1782 Brzozowski left for [[Polotsk]], [[Belarus]] in the [[Russian Empire]], in order to be able to rejoin the Society, which was allowed to continue there. A gifted linguist (fluent in Latin, French, German, Russian) he translated theological works into his native [[Polish language|Polish]], such as, ''Dykcjonarz filozoficzny religii'' (a Philosophical Dictionary of Religion) by C. F. Nonnotte, Wilno 1782 and ''O naśladowaniu Najświętszej Maryi Panny'' (The Imitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary) by A. de Rouville, Połock 1800. He was also a successful and well known preacher. In 1797 he was named Secretary of the Society and worked closely with [[Gabriel Lenkiewicz]], [[Franciszek Kareu]] and [[Gabriel Gruber]], the successive Vicars General of the Society in Russia. On their behalf he corresponded with the many ex-jesuits abroad who wished to rejoin the Society. At the Regional Congregation of 1802 he was made Assistant of the newly elected Superior of the Jesuits of the Russian Province, Gabriel Gruber. He had an especial devotion to the Jesuit martyr, [[Andrew Bobola]] and in 1808 he exhumed his remains from [[Pinsk]] and brought them for reburial in Polotsk. He expanded missionary activity in [[Mozdok]], in the [[Caucasus]] (1806), [[Irkutsk]] (1810) and in [[Tomsk]] (1814). He also planned to send missionaries to [[China]]. In 1806-1810 he despatched eight Belarusian Jesuits to [[Boston]] to help foster the Society's revival there.


=== Superior General ===
=== Superior General ===
Line 83: Line 81:
It became clear that the suppression of the Society would eventually be lifted. in 1812 the college in Polotsk was upgraded by [[Alexander I of Russia]] into a university academy, thus allowing affiliation of all the Jesuit schools and affording them protection from undue local political interference.
It became clear that the suppression of the Society would eventually be lifted. in 1812 the college in Polotsk was upgraded by [[Alexander I of Russia]] into a university academy, thus allowing affiliation of all the Jesuit schools and affording them protection from undue local political interference.


In October 1806, the "ex-Jesuits" of [[Maryland]] in [[United states of america|America]] were fully incorporated into the Society and Brzozowski allowed an [[United States|American]] [[novitiate]] to be opened with ten novices at [[Georgetown University|Georgetown]]. Later that year, [[Bishop]] [[Joseph-Octave Plessis]] of [[Québec]] wrote to exiled [[ Pope Pius VII]] and to Brzozowski, begging for Jesuits to be sent from [[Great Britain]] both to [[City of Halifax|Halifax]] [[Nova Scotia]] and also to work among the [[Aboriginal peoples in Quebec|aboriginal people]] in [[Upper Canada]]. Brzozowski sent four men as requested, two from Russia and two from England, but the [[Napoleonic Wars]] in Europe and the dangers of travel made their mission impossible.
In October 1806, the "ex-Jesuits" of [[Maryland]] in [[United States|America]] were fully incorporated into the Society and Brzozowski allowed an [[United States|American]] [[novitiate]] to be opened with ten novices at [[Georgetown University|Georgetown]].<ref>{{cite book|title=The Jesuit Suppression in Global Context: Causes, Events, and Consequences|editor1= Burson, Jeffrey D. |editor2=Wright, Jonathan|publisher =Cambridge University Press|date= 2015|pages=205–238|isbn=978-1-1070-3058-9}}</ref> Later that year, [[Bishop]] [[Joseph-Octave Plessis]] of [[Québec]] wrote to exiled [[Pope Pius VII]] and to Brzozowski, begging for Jesuits to be sent from [[Great Britain]] both to [[City of Halifax|Halifax]] [[Nova Scotia]] and also to work among the [[Aboriginal peoples in Quebec|aboriginal people]] in [[Upper Canada]]. Brzozowski sent four men as requested, two from Russia and two from England, but the [[Napoleonic Wars]] in Europe and the dangers of travel made their mission impossible.


Internal tensions grew in the Society as non-Russian or Polish Jesuits, not being conversant with the political situation of the Russian empire, criticized Brzozowski for certain decisions he took which, in their estimation, were too liberal, such as allowing the [[Orthodox Church of Russia|Orthodox faith]] to be taught in Jesuit schools.
Internal tensions grew in the Society as non-Russian or Polish Jesuits, not being conversant with the political situation of the Russian empire, criticized Brzozowski for certain decisions he took which, in their estimation, were too liberal, such as allowing the [[Orthodox Church of Russia|Orthodox faith]] to be taught in Jesuit schools.


=== Restoration of the Society ===
=== Restoration of the Society ===
Brzozowski worked tirelessly to obtain the general restoration of the Society, both personally and through his delegate in Rome, Father [[Luigi Fortis]] SJ. On his return from Napoleonic exile to Rome, Pope Pius VII lifted the suppression of the Society on August 7, 1814.<ref>{{cite book|title= Jesuits|author = Malachi Martin|publisher = Simon and Schuster|date = 2013| page = 217|isbn = 978-1476-75188-7}}</ref> Forty-one years after Clement XIV suppressed the Society, Pius VII celebrated mass in the [[Church of the Gesú]], and formally promulgated the [[Papal bull]] of restoration, ''Sollicitudo omnium ecclesiarum''. The newly reconstituted Society of Jesus deemed a general congregation unnecessary: Brzozowski retained his role and became formally [[Superior General of the Society of Jesus]]. However, Tsar Alexander prohibited Brzozowski from leaving Russi. Brzozowski therefore appointed Luigi Fortis, as his representative in Rome from 1814 until his death in 1820. Brzozowski had managed to secure the continuity of the Society from his exile in Russia.
Brzozowski worked tirelessly to obtain the general restoration of the Society, both personally and through his delegate in Rome, Father [[Luigi Fortis]] SJ. On his return from Napoleonic exile to Rome, Pope Pius VII lifted the suppression of the Society on August 7, 1814.<ref>{{cite book|title= Jesuits|author = Malachi Martin|publisher = Simon and Schuster|date = 2013| page = 217|isbn = 978-1476-75188-7}}</ref> Forty-one years after Clement XIV suppressed the Society, Pius VII celebrated mass in the [[Church of the Gesú]], and formally promulgated the [[Papal bull]] of restoration, ''Sollicitudo omnium ecclesiarum''. The newly reconstituted Society of Jesus deemed a general congregation unnecessary: Brzozowski retained his role and became formally [[Superior General of the Society of Jesus]]. However, Tsar Alexander prohibited Brzozowski from leaving Russia. Brzozowski therefore appointed Luigi Fortis, as his representative in Rome from 1814 until his death in 1820. Brzozowski had managed to secure the continuity of the Society from his exile in Russia.


=== Political complications ===
=== Political complications ===
The Society's restoration coincided with Russia becoming more nationalistic and strengthening its native [[Orthodox Church]]. The Jesuits were seen as an obstacle to those developments. Opposed to the expansion and influence of the Society, Alexander published an edict on December 20, 1815, expelling the Jesuits from [[Saint Petersburg]] and taking over their high school on the grounds that they were converting Russian nobles to Catholicism. Despite his ailing health and protests, Brzozowski was detained and forbidden to return to Rome. Sensing that the days of the Society in Russia were numbered, Brzozowski sent several Jesuits to Western Europe to speed up the reestablishment of the order.
The Society's restoration coincided with Russia becoming more nationalistic and strengthening its native [[Eastern Orthodox Church]]. The Jesuits were seen as an obstacle to those developments. Opposed to the expansion and influence of the Society, Alexander published an edict on December 20, 1815, expelling the Jesuits from [[Saint Petersburg]] and taking over their high school on the grounds that they were converting Russian nobles to Catholicism. Despite his ailing health and protests, Brzozowski was detained and forbidden to return to Rome. Sensing that the days of the Society in Russia were numbered, Brzozowski sent several Jesuits to Western Europe to speed up the reestablishment of the order.


==Death==
==Death==
Brzozowski died on February 5, 1820 and was buried in Polotsk. He had taken the precaution to nominate an Italian, Mariano Petrucci, as his Vicar General, to ensure that the Congregation to elect his successor would meet in Rome. On 13 March 1820 the Society of Jesus was expelled from the Russian Empire.
Brzozowski died on February 5, 1820, and was buried in Polotsk. He had taken the precaution to nominate an Italian, Mariano Petrucci, as his Vicar General, to ensure that the Congregation to elect his successor would meet in Rome. On 13 March 1820 the Society of Jesus was expelled from the Russian Empire.


==References==
==References==
Line 100: Line 98:


==Bibliography==
==Bibliography==
⚫
{{EB1911 poster|Brzozowski, Thaddeus}}
* Worcester SJ, T. (Ed.), (2017). Brzozowski, Tadeusz, SJ (1749–1820) in The Cambridge Encyclopedia of the Jesuits (p. 124). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. doi:10.1017/9781139032780.002
* Worcester SJ, T. (Ed.), (2017). Brzozowski, Tadeusz, SJ (1749–1820) in The Cambridge Encyclopedia of the Jesuits (p.&nbsp;124). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. doi:10.1017/9781139032780.002
* Inglot, M., ''La Compagnia di Gesù nell'impero Russo (1772-1820)'', Rome, 1997.
* Rouet de Journel, M.-J., ''La Compagnie de Jésus en Russie; un collège jésuite à Saint Petersbourg (1800-1816)'', Paris, 1922.
* Inglot, M., ''La Compagnia di Gesù nell'impero Russo (1772–1820)'', Rome, 1997.
* Rouet de Journel, M.-J., ''La Compagnie de Jésus en Russie; un collège jésuite à Saint Petersbourg (1800–1816)'', Paris, 1922.
* Zalenski, S., ''Les Jésuites de la Russie blanche'' (2 vol.), Paris, 1886.
* Zalenski, S., ''Les Jésuites de la Russie blanche'' (2 vol.), Paris, 1886.

⚫
{{Wikisource1911Enc|Brzozowski, Thaddeus}}


{{s-start}}
{{s-start}}
{{succession box | before=[[Gabriel Gruber]] | title=[[Superior General of the Society of Jesus#Notes|Superior General of the Society of Jesus In Exile (Russia)]] | after=''restoration'' | years=1805–1814}}
{{succession box | before=[[Gabriel Gruber]] | title=[[Superior General of the Society of Jesus#Notes|Superior General of the Society of Jesus In Exile (Russia)]] | after=''restoration'' | years=1805–1814}}
{{succession box | before=''suppression'' | title=[[Superior General of the Society of Jesus]] | after=[[Luigi Fortis]] | years=1814 – 1820}}
{{succession box | before=''suppression'' | title=[[Superior General of the Society of Jesus]] | after=[[Luigi Fortis]] | years=1814–1820}}
{{s-end}}
{{s-end}}


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[[Category:1749 births]]
[[Category:1749 births]]
[[Category:1820 deaths]]
[[Category:1820 deaths]]
[[Category:People from Königsberg]]
[[Category:Clergy from Königsberg]]
[[Category:Polish Jesuits]]
[[Category:18th-century Polish Jesuits]]
[[Category:Polish nobility]]
[[Category:18th-century Polish nobility]]
[[Category:Superiors General of the Society of Jesus]]
[[Category:Superiors General of the Society of Jesus]]
[[Category:19th-century Polish Jesuits]]
[[Category:19th-century Polish nobility]]


[[tg:Тадеусз Брзозовски]]
[[tg:Тадеусз Брзозовски]]

Latest revision as of 04:17, 15 April 2024

For the Polish painter, see Tadeusz Brzozowski (painter).

The Very Reverend

Tadeusz Brzozowski

SJ
twentieth Superior General of the Society of Jesus
Very Rev. Tadeusz Brzozowski
Installed1805, Papal confirmation 1814[1]
Term ended5 February 1820
Predecessorvacat
SuccessorLuigi Fortis
Orders
Ordination1775
Personal details
Born
Tadeusz Brzozowski

(1749-10-21)21 October 1749
Koenigsberg, Kingdom of Prussia
Died5 February 1820(1820-02-05) (aged 70)
Polotsk, Russian Empire
BuriedPolotsk, Belarus
NationalityPolish
DenominationRoman Catholic
Alma materSlutsk, Nieswiez, Vilnius University
Coat of armsKorab
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Tadeusz Brzozowski, SJ (October 21, 1749 – February 5, 1820) was a Polish scholar, teacher, administrator and a Jesuit priest. Having secured its continuity during the suppression of the Society until its restoration, he was elected twentieth Superior General of the Society of Jesus and was its first world-wide general.[2]

Background

[edit]

Brzozowski was born in Königsberg, Kingdom of Prussia, on October 21, 1749, into a Polish family. He entered the Society of Jesus in 1765, and studied Rhetoric, Greek, French and classical literature in Slutsk (Belarus) (1767–70), followed by Philosophy and Mathematics in Nieśwież (1770–73). After the Suppression of the Order in the rest of the world on 21 July 1773 (owing to Catherine the Great, patron of "her" Jesuits, it did not apply in the Russian Empire), he continued his theological studies in Vilnius, where he was ordained priest in 1775. In effect he was no longer formally a member of the Society.[3] However, as the partitions of Poland-Lithuania progressed over the next 20 years, paradoxically the range of the Jesuits expanded temporarily along with the borders of the Russian Empire.

Return to the Society in Russia

[edit]

In 1782 Brzozowski left for Polotsk, Belarus in the Russian Empire, in order to be able to rejoin the Society, which was allowed to continue there. A gifted linguist (fluent in Latin, French, German, Russian) he translated theological works into his native Polish, such as, Dykcjonarz filozoficzny religii (a Philosophical Dictionary of Religion) by C. F. Nonnotte, Wilno 1782 and O naśladowaniu Najświętszej Maryi Panny (The Imitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary) by A. de Rouville, Połock 1800. He was also a successful and well known preacher. In 1797 he was named Secretary of the Society and worked closely with Gabriel Lenkiewicz, Franciszek Kareu and Gabriel Gruber, the successive Vicars General of the Society in Russia. On their behalf he corresponded with the many ex-jesuits abroad who wished to rejoin the Society. At the Regional Congregation of 1802 he was made Assistant of the newly elected Superior of the Jesuits of the Russian Province, Gabriel Gruber. He had an especial devotion to the Jesuit martyr, Andrew Bobola and in 1808 he exhumed his remains from Pinsk and brought them for reburial in Polotsk. He expanded missionary activity in Mozdok, in the Caucasus (1806), Irkutsk (1810) and in Tomsk (1814). He also planned to send missionaries to China. In 1806-1810 he despatched eight Belarusian Jesuits to Boston to help foster the Society's revival there.

Superior General

[edit]

Following the death of Gruber, in 1805, the Regional (Polish) Fourth Congregation met at Polotsk, again part of Lithuania and elected Tadeusz Brzozowski as Superior General of the Society which was still functioning in the territory of Russia. The newly elected General immediately sent a message to Pope Pius VII thanking him for having restored the Society in Sicily. By then a steady stream of young men was coming to Russia to join the Society. Between 1803 and 1805, 103 candidates entered the novitiate of Polotsk, 23 of them already ordained priests. The total number of Jesuits grew to 333, mostly engaged in educational activities, in 7 high schools in Russia, but also moving into pastoral work in Latvia and Lithuania.

It became clear that the suppression of the Society would eventually be lifted. in 1812 the college in Polotsk was upgraded by Alexander I of Russia into a university academy, thus allowing affiliation of all the Jesuit schools and affording them protection from undue local political interference.

In October 1806, the "ex-Jesuits" of Maryland in America were fully incorporated into the Society and Brzozowski allowed an American novitiate to be opened with ten novices at Georgetown.[4] Later that year, Bishop Joseph-Octave Plessis of Québec wrote to exiled Pope Pius VII and to Brzozowski, begging for Jesuits to be sent from Great Britain both to Halifax Nova Scotia and also to work among the aboriginal people in Upper Canada. Brzozowski sent four men as requested, two from Russia and two from England, but the Napoleonic Wars in Europe and the dangers of travel made their mission impossible.

Internal tensions grew in the Society as non-Russian or Polish Jesuits, not being conversant with the political situation of the Russian empire, criticized Brzozowski for certain decisions he took which, in their estimation, were too liberal, such as allowing the Orthodox faith to be taught in Jesuit schools.

Restoration of the Society

[edit]

Brzozowski worked tirelessly to obtain the general restoration of the Society, both personally and through his delegate in Rome, Father Luigi Fortis SJ. On his return from Napoleonic exile to Rome, Pope Pius VII lifted the suppression of the Society on August 7, 1814.[5] Forty-one years after Clement XIV suppressed the Society, Pius VII celebrated mass in the Church of the Gesú, and formally promulgated the Papal bull of restoration, Sollicitudo omnium ecclesiarum. The newly reconstituted Society of Jesus deemed a general congregation unnecessary: Brzozowski retained his role and became formally Superior General of the Society of Jesus. However, Tsar Alexander prohibited Brzozowski from leaving Russia. Brzozowski therefore appointed Luigi Fortis, as his representative in Rome from 1814 until his death in 1820. Brzozowski had managed to secure the continuity of the Society from his exile in Russia.

Political complications

[edit]

The Society's restoration coincided with Russia becoming more nationalistic and strengthening its native Eastern Orthodox Church. The Jesuits were seen as an obstacle to those developments. Opposed to the expansion and influence of the Society, Alexander published an edict on December 20, 1815, expelling the Jesuits from Saint Petersburg and taking over their high school on the grounds that they were converting Russian nobles to Catholicism. Despite his ailing health and protests, Brzozowski was detained and forbidden to return to Rome. Sensing that the days of the Society in Russia were numbered, Brzozowski sent several Jesuits to Western Europe to speed up the reestablishment of the order.

Death

[edit]

Brzozowski died on February 5, 1820, and was buried in Polotsk. He had taken the precaution to nominate an Italian, Mariano Petrucci, as his Vicar General, to ensure that the Congregation to elect his successor would meet in Rome. On 13 March 1820 the Society of Jesus was expelled from the Russian Empire.

References

[edit]
  1. ^ Thomas M. McCoog, SJ (2019). Pre-suppression Jesuit Activity in the British Isles and Ireland. Brill. p. 93. ISBN 978-9-0043-9529-9.
  2. ^ Robert Aleksander Maryks; Jonathan Wright, eds. (2014). Jesuit Survival and Restoration: A Global History, 1773-1900. Studies in the History of Christian Traditions (revised reprint ed.). Brill. p. 393. ISBN 978-9-0042-8387-9.
  3. ^ Bednarski, Stanisław (1937). "Brzozowski Tadeusz". Polski Słownik Biograficzny. Brożek Jan – Chwalczewski Franciszek (in Polish). Vol. 3. Kraków: Polska Akademia Umiejętności – Skład Główny w Księgarniach Gebethner i Wolff. p. 68. Reprint: Zakład Narodowy im. Ossolińskich, Kraków 1989, ISBN 83-04-03291-0
  4. ^ Burson, Jeffrey D.; Wright, Jonathan, eds. (2015). The Jesuit Suppression in Global Context: Causes, Events, and Consequences. Cambridge University Press. pp. 205–238. ISBN 978-1-1070-3058-9.
  5. ^ Malachi Martin (2013). Jesuits. Simon and Schuster. p. 217. ISBN 978-1476-75188-7.

Bibliography

[edit]
Wikisource has the text of the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica article "Brzozowski, Thaddeus".
  • Worcester SJ, T. (Ed.), (2017). Brzozowski, Tadeusz, SJ (1749–1820) in The Cambridge Encyclopedia of the Jesuits (p. 124). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. doi:10.1017/9781139032780.002
  • Inglot, M., La Compagnia di Gesù nell'impero Russo (1772–1820), Rome, 1997.
  • Rouet de Journel, M.-J., La Compagnie de Jésus en Russie; un collège jésuite à Saint Petersbourg (1800–1816), Paris, 1922.
  • Zalenski, S., Les Jésuites de la Russie blanche (2 vol.), Paris, 1886.
Preceded by Superior General of the Society of Jesus In Exile (Russia)
1805–1814 		Succeeded by
restoration
Preceded by
suppression
 Superior General of the Society of Jesus
1814–1820 		Succeeded by
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