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READING HALL THE DOORS OF WISDOM |
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HISTORY OF THE POPES FROM THE CLOSE OF THE MIDDLE AGES |
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PAUL V. (1605-1621)
CHAPTER VIII.
Spread of Christianity in Missionary
Countries.
One of the most striking features of the government of Paul V is the
support he gave to the worldwide activity of the men who were preaching the
Gospel in Japan, in China, in India, in the uplands of Ethiopia and the
lowlands of the Congo, in Persia, and on the banks of the Tigris and the
Euphrates. No persecution, however bloody, could induce them to give up their
apostolic undertakings and the Pope on his part considered it as one of his
most sacred duties to give them all the support he could. Of this the events in
Japan furnished the most splendid proof.
Of all the princes who, in the island empire
of the Far East, were striving for supremacy, the no less ambitious than
energetic Tjejasu, who was also the founder of the
house of Tokugawa which reigned until 1868, had succeeded in crushing his
opponents and in securing from the emperor the title of Shogun. In 1605, Tjejasu passed the title on to his son, though he retained
all power in his own hands. Under him the Christian missions enjoyed at first a
measure of tranquillity of which full advantage was
taken by the Jesuits, the Franciscans, who, in Clement VIII’s pontificate had
come over from the Philippines, by the Dominicans and by the Augustinians. The
statistics of the Jesuits for the years 1606-1607 record the conversion of
15,000 adults. Nagasaki was the most important Christian centre.
There, in addition to five parishes served by Japanese priests, the Jesuits,
Franciscans, Dominicans, and Augustinians had their own churches, so that
Nagasaki came to be surnamed little Rome. The number of the missionaries from
the Mendicant Orders increased when, on June 11th, 1608, at the request of
Philip III, Paul V revoked the prescription of Clement VIII which obliged
missionaries to travel by way of Lisbon and Goa. But by that time a fearful
storm was gathering against the Christian communities. Dutch and English
sailors and merchants contributed to its outbreak. The merchants were not
concerned with the spread of the “pure Gospel”; all they aimed at was to
capture a lucrative trade and to give vent to their hatred of Catholicism. They
represented to Tjejasu that the Catholic missionaries
were a danger to the State, inasmuch as they were but
the agents of the king of Spain who disguised his intention to turn Japan into
a Spanish colony under the cloak of Christianity. Insinuations of this kind
were all the more readily listened to inasmuch as Tjejasu, who was a convinced adherent of Buddhism, saw in
the profession of a new faith, to which the bulk of his people were strangers,
an obstacle to his effort at unifying Japan. The trade which the country needed
could be secured by dealing with the English and the Dutch who, unlike the
Spaniards and the Portuguese, did not demand liberty for their religion. The
persecution broke out in 1613. In the month of August, twenty-nine Christians,
and the Franciscan, Luis Sotelo, were arrested at Ieddo (Tokio). The former suffered death, whilst Sotelo was
set at liberty through the intervention of Date Masamune,
the powerful prince of Osiu, in the North-East of the
Island of Nippon. Masamune, an ambitious and
enterprising man, bore with reluctance his dependence on the aged Tjejasu. He aimed at making use of the commercial relations
with Spain to which Tjejasu could not object, for the
purpose of making himself master of the whole of Japan, with the combined
assistance of the Japanese Christians, the king of Spain and the Pope. The
fiery and eloquent Luis Sotelo, a native of southern Spain, was to be another
tool of the prince. Sotelo had the imprudence to fall in with the plan; more
than that, he took it up with the utmost enthusiasm and already he saw himself
as archbishop of all Japan. Together with Sotelo, Masamune put at the head of the embassy which was to visit the courts of Madrid and
Rome, his own vassal, Hasekura Rokuyemon. The
ambassadors took boat in October, 1613, their plan
being to go to Spain by way of Mexico. On January 30th,1615, Hasekura handed to
the king of Spain a letter from his overlord in which the latter prayed for the
dispatch of Franciscan missionaries and for the conclusion of an alliance. By word
of mouth the envoy conveyed the information that it was Masamune’s intention to put both his person and his territory under the protectorate of
Philip III. The cabinet of Madrid was too shrewd to allow itself to become
involved in so adventurous a proposal. The envoys, of whom several received
baptism, Hasekura among them, were entertained with the utmost courtesy, but
when, nine months later, they took their departure they had completely failed
to achieve their real purpose. From Spain they journeyed to Rome by way of
Genoa. The Pope assigned lodgings to them in the Franciscan convent of Ara coeli. On October 25th, 1615, Paul V received them in
private audience. On 29th October they made a solemn entry, and on November 3rd
they were received in public audience, in presence of many Cardinals.
In this assembly a Latin translation of Masamune’s letter was read, some further elucidations of the document being given by the
Franciscan Gregorio Petrocha. In his letter, now one
of the treasures of the Sala Sistina, in the Vatican
library, the Japanese prince hinted at his eventual conversion to Christianity;
in the meantime, however, and until certain obstacles were removed, he prayed
that Paul V would send Franciscan missionaries, appoint an archbishop, and further
his alliance with the great emperor of Spain. According to the report of the
Venetian envoy, Simone Contarini, Sotelo assured the Pope that Masamune would soon win the supreme crown, when not only
himself would become a son of the Roman Church, but he would also see to it
that all his subjects embraced Christianity. In a petition which some Japanese
Christians presented to the Pope at this time, they declared: “ We expect Masamune will be
emperor before long”.
The Japanese envoys tarried in Rome until January 7th,1616. Their
presents had been appropriately acknowledged by a return of gifts; in other
ways also the Pope had not been niggardly with his
attentions, and he bore the expenses of their stay. For all that, as the
Venetian envoy clearly perceived, they went away dissatisfied. The Pope had
fully considered his line of conduct; he had even sought the advice of the
Congregation of the Inquisition. The granting of the demand that the Pope
should extend his protection to Masamune as to a
sovereign prince, and that he should grant him the same privileges as were
enjoyed by Catholic princes, among them being the authorization to found Orders
of chivalry and episcopal sees, Paul V made dependent on the conversion of the
prince. As for the preliminaries of a treaty of commerce with Spain, the Pope
undertook to recommend the matter to Philip III. In like manner, in respect to
the dispatch of Franciscans, the envoys were told to apply to the king of
Spain. The reply to the Japanese Christians was to the same effect: the only
thing they obtained was the Indulgences and the relics they had asked for. The
appointment of an archbishop was flatly refused, before such a nomination could
be made there must be several bishops in Japan, and the canonization of the
Franciscan Martyrs could only be granted after an inquiry by the Congregation
of Rites.
Paul V’s caution and reserve in respect to the far-reaching schemes of Masamune and Sotelo were fully justified by events, for it
soon became apparent, as the Jesuits had seen from the first, that Masamune’s intentions were purely worldly ones. The heart
of the licentious pagan had in no way been touched by the grace of faith. The
disappointment of the credulous Sotelo was very great. The extreme imprudence
of the Franciscan in trusting the astute Japanese is shown by what followed.
The ambitious designs of Masamune could not escape so
acute an observer as Tjejasu. With a view to
diverting all suspicion from himself, the ruler of Osiu decided to expel the Christians from his domain. However, he delayed the
execution of this plan until the return of his envoy, Hasekura, in 1620. From
that time Masamune openly concurred with the
persecution of the Christians which Tjejasu had
inaugurated in 1614, and to which, in the end, Sotelo himself fell a victim. As
early as 1613, a census of all Christians was taken, and in the following year
an open persecution was begun. The death of the chief pastor of the Church in
Japan, which at that time numbered about a million adherents, coincided with
the crisis. The bishop of Funai, Luis de Cerqueira, died on February 20th, 1614. Before he expired
the prelate committed his flock to the care of the vice-provincial of the
Jesuits, an arrangement which was subsequently ratified by Paul V.
The era of Martyrs, which opened, in 1614, for the Japanese Church,
whose future seemed so full of promise, is in many ways reminiscent of the
persecutions of the early centuries of Christianity. Now, as then, the majority of the recent converts displayed wonderful
constancy. At Arima a special confraternity of Martyrs was formed, the members
of which prepared themselves by prayer and penitential exercises to endure even
the most cruel tortures. “All churches and convents are being
destroyed”, a Jesuit writes in 1614, “our Fathers are banished, but a score of
them are in hiding, in order to assist the faithful.
Every effort is being made to cause these to apostatize, but all in vain. Already
eighty-five persons have shed their blood for Christ”.
Tjejasu died in 1616. However, conditions did not improve, for Hidetada, who succeeded
him, followed in all things in the steps of his fathers. The persecution
constantly grew in violence. The missionaries needed all their ingenuity to
evade pursuit. They disguised themselves as Japanese, or as European merchants.
Some of them sought hiding places which they only left at night for fear their
fair complexion should betray them. Such an existence, as one of the
missionaries wrote, demanded a body of iron and a spirit like that of St. Paul.
One of their consolations was that almost every year they were able to baptize
a great number of neophytes. This went on even when, in 1618, the persecution
spread almost to the whole of Japan.
Jesuits and Mendicants alike had their share in the triumphs and trials
of that time. As early as the summer of 1616, the Franciscans, Peter of the
Ascension and John of St. Martha; the Jesuit, John Baptist Machado y Tavora; the Dominican, Alonso Navarrete and the Augustinian
Hernando de S. Jose, suffered the Martyrs' death. Many Japanese Christians
shared a similar fate. From 1619 onwards, mass executions were resorted to. The
cruelties which accompanied these butcheries revolted even Captain Richard
Cocks, an Englishman, though in other respects the expulsion of the
missionaries gave him great joy. In 1619, at Meako (Kioto), Cocks was an eyewitness when fifty-five Christians
were burnt alive, among them children from five years of age. “These”, he writes, “died in the arms of
their mothers who were crying with a loud voice: “Jesus, receive their souls!” “ A great number”, Cocks goes on to say, “are awaiting death
in prison, for only a very few return to paganism”. The sufferings of these
prisoners were indescribable. The Jesuit, Carlo Spinola,
who has left us a sketch-plan and description of the prison of Omura, was of opinion that a prison of this kind was worse
than death.
None of the European Powers showed the slightest concern for the victims
of the persecution; the Pope alone strove repeatedly to encourage them by
various tokens of his goodwill, as well as by letters of sympathy and
consolation. He also appointed a new bishop; however, that prelate vainly
attempted to enter Japan through Macao. In the land of the Rising Sun,
according to the report of a Jesuit, in 1621, hell seemed to have been-let
loose. “Day and night the persecution rages, but the Martyrs”, the Jesuit
writes, “set an example which strengthens those even who had grown weak. If
Almighty God grants an abatement of the persecution, conversions will be
innumerable. Send us more missionaries, but let them be men of small stature,
so that our Christians may find it easier to hide them”.
In China also a persecution broke out during the pontificate of Paul V,
but it only interfered for a short time with the activities of the Jesuit
missionaries. The Jesuits owed their strong position to the prudence of Matteo
Ricci, who sought to obtain his end by adapting himself as perfectly as
possible to Chinese dress and manners, feeling and speech; by frequent intercourse with the learned class as well as by popular,
catechetical instructions. He was by no means discouraged by the fact that not
all his brethren agreed with this method of adaptation and that after
twenty-five years of toil, the number of Christians did not exceed two thousand
souls. Ricci was well aware that his task must of
necessity be limited to breaking the ground, to scattering the seed of
Christian teaching, whereas the time of the harvest would only come at a later
period. As a matter of fact, two thousand converts was a goodly number, not only when we allow for the natural difficulty of imparting
Christian doctrine to the Chinese mind, but in other respects also. The social
status of the neophytes was as distinguished as was their constancy in the
newly found faith; in the subsequent persecutions most of them stood firm. Full
of hope for the future, Ricci reported the above numbers in a letter to his General,
in 1609, and added : “Regard for us grows day by day,
especially at the two courts of Peking and Nanking”.
In addition to the government of the mission, Ricci had to cope with
other exacting tasks. Among these was the erection of a new church at Peking
and the ceremonious relations with Chinese officials and savants which took up
a vast amount of valuable time. Even so the indefatigable man still found
leisure for a detailed record, in writing, of his experiences. But even he
could not stand the strain indefinitely. He had inherited the spirit and the
virtues of Francis Xavier and, like him, he died prematurely, on May 11th,
1610. The year before his death he had erected, in Peking, the Sodality of the
Blessed Virgin. On one occasion, some time before he was taken ill, Ricci
remarked to his companions that when he pondered by what means he might best
spread the faith among the Chinese, he could not think of a more effective one
than his own death. The Jesuits remembered his words when the emperor Vanglie bestowed upon the dead missionary the extraordinary
distinction of presenting a place for his burial, a thing that was only done
for men who had rendered outstanding service to the State.
On his death-bed Ricci had told bis colleagues that he left them before
an open door that led to great merits, though not without great toil and
danger. These words characterized the future of a mission for the government of
which Ricci had laid down certain guiding principles and for which he had won
the rights of citizenship in the Empire of the Middle. The esteem which the
Jesuits enjoyed at the imperial court grew still further when, in 1610, they
foretold the date of an eclipse of the moon with greater accuracy than the
native astronomers. In the following year they consecrated their church at
Nanking. An inscription in the church recorded the fact of its erection by the
Society of Jesus. Ricci’s successor, Nicholas Longobardo,
was able to make three other Jesuit foundations. However, in consequence of
some indiscreet remarks in the sermons of the Piedmontese, Antonio Vagnoni, a reaction occurred and
hatred of the foreigners was aroused. In 1617, the young Chinese Church had
much to endure, especially in Peking and Nanking. Nevertheless a number of Jesuits and a few Chinese Brothers managed to remain at their posts
notwithstanding the difficult situation created by the edict of banishment of
February 4th, 1617. If the storm soon blew over, it was mainly owing to an
invasion of the Manchus which diverted the attention of the government into
other channels. In their report for 1620-1, the Jesuits state that they had
successfully evaded the danger that had threatened them and that their fears
had been excessive.
Even before the outbreak of the persecution of 1617, the Jesuits had
considered how, in the event of the Europeans being banished, the Chinese
missions could be maintained. They came to the conclusion that it could only be done if they looked for candidates for the priesthood in
the ranks of the educated Chinese and thus prepared the ground for the
formation of a native clergy. To realize this plan the
substitution of Chinese for Latin as the language of the liturgy seemed to them
imperative. It was a bold idea; for all that the concession of so extraordinary
a dispensation did not appear altogether out of the question when it was
remembered that in order to bring about the conversion
of the Slavs, the Popes had granted to them the privilege of using their own
language in the liturgy. The Jesuit, Nicolas Trigault,
a native of Douai, who had laboured in China since
1610, undertook, with the consent of his superiors, to see the affair through
in Rome. In the petition which he presented to Paul V, he begged the Pope to
allow the Bible and the Roman Missal, Ritual and Breviary to be translated into
Chinese, and to permit the Chinese to use their own language in the liturgy and
in the administration of the sacraments. Simultaneously with this petition Trigault handed to the Pope a History of the Jesuit
Missions in China. The book, written by Trigault and
dedicated to Paul V, brings the story up to the death of Ricci and is mainly
based upon the latter’s notes.
Paul V, who took a lively interest in the Jesuit missions in China, did
not meet the unusual request with a flat refusal but handed it to the
Congregation of the Inquisition for examination; and since, in the discussion,
no less a personage than Bellarmine spoke in favour of the concession, the
Congregation passed a favourable verdict, on March
26th, 1615. Basing himself on this resolution, by a decree of June 27th, 1615,
Paul V gave permission for the translation of the Bible and the use of Chinese
in the Breviary, at Mass, and in the administration of the Sacraments. The Pope
stipulated, however, that the language adopted should not be the ordinary
speech of the people but the language of the learned classes, which enjoyed the
highest respect throughout the empire and was less liable to change and, though
only the cultivated classes were fully acquainted with it, the masses would,
nevertheless, be able to understand the ordinary prayers in it. At the same
time, in consideration of the fact that, according to Chinese conceptions,
solemn functions may not be carried out with head uncovered, the Pope allowed
the missionaries to wear at Mass a headdress resembling the biretta worn by the
Chinese literati.
Armed with these weighty concessions and accompanied by new
missionaries, Trigault was back in China in 1619.
However, the only privilege of which the missionaries availed themselves was
that of saying Mass with head covered. To this day it has not been possible to
throw adequate light on the circumstances which prevented the carrying into
effect of the other concessions.
In India, the Jesuit, Roberto de Nobili, made an even more remarkable
attempt to introduce Christianity to the people of one of the richest countries
of the world, people tenaciously attached to their own peculiar usages, by the
greatest possible adaptation to the manners and ideas of the natives.
ROBERT DE NOBILI IN MADRAS.
Until then Christianity had been preached almost exclusively along the
coast and in the wake of the Portuguese. These strangers, who ate flesh meat,
drank wine and consorted with people of the lowest
castes, were considered as Pranguis, that is, as the
refuse of humanity, by the inhabitants of the interior who had not yet come in
contact with Europeans. This prejudice prevailed especially among the upper
classes, who rigidly upheld the caste system. Christianity itself was included
in this condemnation, all the more so as the
Portuguese missionaries strictly forbade their neophytes to observe the
differences of caste. When, in 1606, Roberto de Nobili arrived in Madura, he
realized that these circumstances accounted for the almost complete barrenness
of the fourteen years of missionary labour which the
Portuguese Jesuit Fernandez had endured. In Madura the situation was aggravated
by the fact that the neighbouring Paravanese fisherfolk, one of the most despised castes, were adherents of the Christian
religion. With the approval of the archbishop of Cranganor,
Fr. Roz, and that of his provincial, Laerzio, the
shrewd Italian decided to adopt an entirely new course of action. He parted
with Fr. Fernandez so that he might devote all his energies to the conversion
of the higher castes, and just as he severed every connection with Fr.
Fernandez, the apostle of the pariahs, so he avoided contact with the
Portuguese who were hateful to the natives. To become a Hindu to the Hindus and
to expound the Gospel to them in the language and according to the method of
presentment of the Brahmins, became the ideal for which de Nobili strove. To
this end he adopted the dress of the noble Brahmins, subjected himself to the
mode of life, one that was almost unbearable for a European, of the so-called Saniassi, a sect of Hindu ascetics whom the people held in
great esteem, and presented himself as a Guru (teacher) and a rajah (prince)
from the North. In a short time he assimilated three
native dialects as well as Sanskrit. He succeeded in penetrating very far into
the inner world of Hindu speculation. Once the mysterious hermit had attracted
general attention, he at last consented to discuss scientific problems with the
Brahmins. Starting from philosophical and mathematical truths, he gradually led
discussions on to the truths of religion. He showed that the dogmas of Christianity
were the necessary development of Hindu speculation, and all the time he
adjusted his demands, as nearly he could, to national prejudices. Of the native
customs and practices he only rejected those that were incompatible with
Christianity, such as the worship of idols and polygamy; on the other hand he suffered many things to stand, particularly the
differences of castes, as being purely civil institutions. Accordingly he allowed the neophytes to wear the insignia and ornaments of the higher
castes and he himself wore at times the Brahmin’s cord.
The wisdom of the method adopted by de Nobili was demonstrated by his
amazing success which stood in glaring contrast to the results attained by
other means. The young Christian community of Madura withstood several squalls
occasioned by the jealousy of the pagan priests, and de Nobili was already in a position to plan the establishment of missionary
stations in the neighbouring kingdoms when his
activity was paralysed for a whole ten years. The
peculiar path on which he had entered meant a breach with the procedure
hitherto favoured by the missionaries. Nor was it
devoid of risks. This explains how certain Fathers, scrupulous, as well as
slaves to national prejudices, came to question the lawfulness as well as the
usefulness of the new method of work. A dispute arose over the Malabar practices.
Misunderstood by his own brethren in religion and by his superiors, and
accused of mixing paganism and Christianity, de Nobili had to undergo an
exceedingly severe trial. Humbly trusting in divine Providence, he bore the
heavy trial as an exemplary religious, without so much as a momentary
hesitation in his obedience. The hardest trial of all was when, by means of the
grossest misrepresentations, his enemies succeeded in creating an impression in
Rome that he had renounced the faith! He owed it solely to the archbishops of
Goa and Cranganor, who were acquainted with the true state of affairs, that in 1615 the baselessness of these
accusations came to be recognized. Paul V entrusted the affair to the bishops
of Goa and Cranganor and to the Goanese Inquisition.
However, by then the archiepiscopal chair of Goa was no longer occupied by
Alexius de Menezes, who had been well disposed towards de Nobili, but by the
Hieronymite, Christopher da Sa, who was hostile to him. De Nobili’s opponents
once more got the upper hand. To fill the cup of his tribulation, calumnies
were spread against him by a Brahmin whom he had excommunicated. All these
things together induced his provincial to transfer him to Cranganor.
Whilst there the sorely tried priest wrote an exhaustive apologia which,
together with the relevant documents, was sent to Rome where the dispute was
pending. But before this an assembly convened at Goa, which at first had been opposed
to de Nobili, ended by coming to a decision favourable to him. The Holy See submitted the whole question to a searching examination;
its decision, given by Paul V’s successor, was in the main favourable to de Nobili. It granted to the Brahmins and to other neophytes permission to wear the insignia of their castes and contented itself with
laying down certain precautionary measures destined to eliminate pagan
superstitions.
Other matters connected with the dioceses of Goa and Cochin, which
formed the centre of the mission of East India, also
claimed the attention of Paul V. In view of the extent of the diocese of
Cochin, which was far too great under existing circumstances, and at the
request of Philip III, the Pope, in 1606, proceeded to a partition. Meliapur, the presumed resting place of the Apostle St.
Thomas, was made the episcopal see of a new diocese. To satisfy the grievances
of the so-called Christians of St. Thomas, Paul V revoked the decisions of
Clement VIII and detached the diocese of Angamale from the jurisdiction of the metropolitan of Goa and raised it to the dignity
of an archdiocese. In 1609 the episcopal see was transferred to Cranganor. Owing to the fact that that city had at one time been part of the diocese of Cochin, the bishop of that
place opposed the plan. When the controversy was submitted to the arbitration
of the Pope the latter insisted on the execution of a measure which had been
taken in his name by Alexius de Menezes, a man highly esteemed throughout
India. In 1612, with a view to a systematic evangelization of the country, and
in pursuance of the proposals of Philip III, Paul V cut off the Portuguese
possessions in East Africa from the province of Goa and, together with the
vicariate of Mozambique, united them in a separate ecclesiastical province.
The missionary countries assigned to the archdiocese of Goa included the
empire of the Great Mogul. Here the highly gifted Akbar had been succeeded, in
1605, by his son Djehangir. That capricious prince at
first showed but little goodwill towards the Jesuits; later
on, however, he restored his good graces to them; he even went so far as
to have the three sons of his brother, whom he had adopted, brought up by them
in the Christian religion. The solemn baptism of the princes (1610), to which
they came riding on white elephants, was an occasion of unprecedented splendour for the mission in the empire of the Great Mogul.
The conversion of the viceroy of Cambodia occurred also at this time. In 1616,
as is the way with Asiatic despots, Djehangir’s attitude underwent yet another change. As a consequence the situation of the mission became so difficult that the Jesuits thought of
giving it up. This step was, however, prevented by an order of their prudent
General. In 1612, they were in a position to found a
college at Agra and a new house of the Order at Patna.
From the outset of his pontificate Paul V sought to consolidate the
relations which had been established in the reign of Clement VIII with the Shah
of Persia, Abbas the Great. By this means the Pope hoped to further the war
against the Turks as well as the Christian mission in Persia. That mission was
under the care of the Italian Discalced Carmelites. Fr. Giovanni Taddeo of St. Eliseus, who had received his commission from Clement VIII,
found himself in Poland at the time of the Pope’s death. Paul V ordered him to
proceed on his journey, but the war between Poland and Russia delayed him so
long that he only reached Ispahan at the end of 1607.
He then discharged the commission with which the Pope had charged him for the
Shah and exerted himself in various ways for the development of the mission.
Besides the Carmelites, members of other Orders, such as the Dominicans
and Augustinians, also repaired to a field of labour which held out so rich a promise. The Shah selected a Portuguese Augustinian
and a noble Persian as his envoys. Their mission was to congratulate the Pope
on his election and to discuss matters that concerned the Church. The embassy
was detained in Russia and only reached Rome on August 27th, 1605. They were
met at the Porta del Popolo by the Swiss Guard, to
the sound of drums, and papal representatives escorted the visitors to the
palazzo Borghese. On August 30th the Pope received them in public audience. To
their account of the successes of the Persians over the Turks and the request
for the Pope’s blessing, Paul V replied by declaring that he held the Shah in
affection and that he prayed God to enlighten him. Thereupon the Persian envoy
repaired to St. Peter’s. After a prayer at the tomb of the Prince of the
Apostles, he climbed into the cupola in order to contemplate from there the panorama of eternal Rome. Not only did Paul V bear
the cost of the envoy’s entertainment, he also had
1,300 scudi handed to him for his travelling expenses. Cardinal Borghese also
made various presents to the Shah’s representative who left Rome on September
12th, 1605. A papal letter to the Persian ruler, dated September 9th, 1605,
testified to Paul’s gratification at the embassy.
Shortly afterwards a second envoy of the Shah arrived in Rome, one who,
though he had set out much later, completed the journey more rapidly. He was an
Englishman, Sir Robert Sherley, and he discussed not only the dispatch of
missionaries, but likewise the Turkish war. On both questions he met with a
ready hearing. Enjoying as they did the Shah’s favour, the Carmelites were able
freely to preach the Gospel in Ispahan. Paul V
supported a mission which was developing so gratifyingly by the dispatch, in
1610, of fresh workers. In the following year he gave the Persian Christians a
bishop who was likewise to act as papal envoy to the Shah.
The protection which Abbas I extended to the Christian religion
throughout his empire raised high hopes in the Pope’s breast. In a letter of
June 25th, 1619, he expressed his joy that the most powerful ruler of Asia
should seek the friendship of the Holy See and extend his protection to the
Christian missionaries. “We pray God”, the Pope wrote, “to multiply your
Majesty’s victories over the Turks, and to cause the seed of the Christian
faith to spring up in your heart”.
CARMELITE MISSION IN PERSIA.
On June 16th, 1620, the Carmelites were urged to go on with their
missionary work. The reports from Persia which came in from the Franciscans
spoke of the sustained favour of Abbas I who had long discussions with the
Fathers, not only on the Turkish war, but likewise on such points of Catholic
teaching as were contested by the Protestants.
For the purpose of supporting and consolidating the apostolic work of the Discalced Carmelites,
Paul V, in 1608, founded a seminary in their Roman Convent near Santa Susanna.
To the seminary he added, in 1612, a special higher school for missionaries
which he put under the protection of St. Paul, the Apostle of the Gentiles. In
this school, and under the banner of St. Teresa, a picked body of soldiers of
Christ was to receive special training. They dedicated themselves to their task
by a special oath which they took in the hands of the General. The course of studies
included two capital branches, viz. languages and controversy or missionary
methods. In the whole Order no one surpassed the missionary fervour of Thomas of Jesus who did yeoman service in developing the school. In 1621 he
founded at Louvain yet another similar seminary for the training of the heralds
of the faith. The men who came out of the Carmelite schools were possessed of
the authentic missionary spirit. During the pontificate of Paul V they did an enormous amount of good not only in Persia but
in other countries as well. In 1597, Clement VIII had established a bishopric
at Sao Salvador, for the kingdoms of Congo and Angola. The first bishop was the
Franciscan Rangel who, assisted by the powerful support of the king of Congo, Alvarus II, laboured with great
success, but succumbed at an early date to the hardships he had had to undergo
as well as to the unaccustomed climate. One of the objects of an embassy which Alvarus II dispatched to Rome in 1604, was the nomination
of a new bishop. The king chose for his envoy a kinsman of his, one Antonio
Emmanuele, who spoke Portuguese and Spanish. The voyage from Brazil to Spain
proved an arduous undertaking. The envoy fell ill at Lisbon. From there he
journeyed to Madrid where he made a lengthy stay. He only reached Civitavecchia
at the beginning of 1608. In the course of the
journey, Antonio Nigrito, so his dark complexion
caused him to be surnamed, had lost all his companions by death. Arrangements
had been made for his solemn entry into the Eternal City on the feast of the
Epiphany, but in consequence of the unaccustomed climate he too was ailing and he had to be carried to Rome in a litter. The
Pope assigned him a lodging in the Vatican, and as his condition grew worse,
Paul V not only visited him repeatedly, but assisted him at
the moment of death which occurred on the vigil of the Epiphany. A
fresco in the Vatican Library records the scene. The funeral of the envoy, in
St. Mary Major, assumed the proportions of a solemn function, and in the same
church the Pope erected a monument to his memory which faithfully reproduces
the envoy’s features.
Notice of this issue of the Congolese embassy was conveyed to Alvarus II by the bishop of Sao Salvador who, in 1609,
transferred his episcopal see to Loanda. His letters give a picture of the state of affairs with which he was faced. Before all else he
complains of the bad example of the Portuguese slave traders, but he also
criticizes King Alvarus II, who, he says, was indeed
well-meaning but inconstant.
Paul V did not lose sight of the Congolese realm. Under Gregory XIII,
four Spanish Carmelites had worked in that country, but they soon succumbed to
the climate. In 1608, Paul V urged the General of the Spanish Carmelites to
send a fresh batch of missionaries to that country. When two years later these
set out for their destination, the Pope recommended them to the king of Spain,
to the bishop of Sao Salvador and to the new ruler of the kingdom, Alvarus III, who had come into power in 1614. The new king
appointed as his Roman envoy the referendary Giovan Battista Vives, and prayed
that Capuchin Friars might be sent to him. On January 13th, 1621, Paul V was
able to inform the king that twelve members of that Order were coming, and that
more would follow.
Extraordinarily gratifying developments were reported from the mission
which the Jesuit, Pedro Paez, had founded in
Abyssinia, in 1603. Notwithstanding a war of succession, thanks to his tact and
perseverance, the distinguished Spaniard, who preached in the Abyssinian tongue,
succeeded in ushering in a new era of progress for the Christian faith in the
ancient land of Ethiopia. A decisive factor in this gratifying result was the
goodwill of the Negus, Seltan Segued, who had come
into power in 1607, and to whom Paez made himself
indispensable by his knowledge of medicine and architecture. To this day the
magnificent ruins of the castle of Gondar, which Paez built for the Negus, bear witness to the many-sidedness of the gifted Jesuit.
More important still was the fact that Paez was able
to act as intermediary in the difficult epistolary correspondence of the Negus
with the king of Spain and the Pope; for from Philip III Seltan Segued hoped for military assistance in his endless wars. He was
well aware that a papal intervention, in this sense, in Spain would
considerably further his plans and this was for him yet another incentive to
favour Christianity. Paul V entered into the Negus’
plans and repeatedly intervened on his behalf with Philip III. Nor did he
forget to send his congratulations to Abyssinia after the defeat by the Negus
of the savage Galla tribes.
JESUITS IN ABYSSINIA.
Prospects for Christianity rose still higher when the brother of the
Negus, who was greatly esteemed by reason of his bravery, embraced the Catholic
faith. Repeated disputations were held at court with the head of the Abyssinian
church and its monks, the chief subject of which was the question of the divine
and human nature of Christ. In these discussions the spokesmen of the monophysite heresy were no match for the vastly superior
knowledge of the Jesuits. Not only the learning of Fr. Paez and his companions, but their virtuous life also and the dignity of Catholic
worship, led to a great many conversions. Mission stations multiplied and the
missionaries were beginning to devote their attention to the conversion of the
pagan frontier tribes. Successes like these frequently raised counter currents
of such violence that at times the Negus himself became hesitant. But at last,
after nearly twenty years of toil, the indefatigable Paez saw his wishes fulfilled, for at the close of 1621, the Negus openly declared himself
for the Catholic faith and in May, 1622, Paez received him into the Church. With the prayer of the
old man Simeon on his lips, the apostle of Ethiopia died at Gorgora,
on May 20th, 1622, at the early age of fifty-seven. Paul V. did not live to
receive the news of the conversion of the Negus to which he had contributed by
means of several letters.
The condition of the Armenian Catholics had been in Paul V’s mind at the
time of his dealings with the Shah of Persia. Armenians visiting Rome were
always kindly received by the Pope. Missionaries labouring in the Persian empire got in touch with Melchisedech,
patriarch of Greater Armenia, and induced him to make overtures to the Holy
See. In 1610, the Patriarch dispatched an envoy to Rome in the person of Zacharias Vartabied. The latter presented to the Pope a letter
written in the Armenian tongue for the translation of which recourse was had to
the rector of the Armenian national church in Rome, which was dedicated to St.
Mary of Egypt. In emphatic words, such as Orientals love, the letter condemned the errors of Eutyches and Nestorius, hymned the
primacy of the Roman Pontiff as the sun in the Church, and ended by expressing
a desire for reunion with Rome. In his reply, dated April 28th, 1612,
notwithstanding his joy at the step which the Patriarch had taken, Paul V. did
not conceal the fact that, if a real reunion was to be brought about, the
Armenians must give up two points which separated them from the Church and to
which they had hitherto clung with great obstinacy. It had transpired that the
Armenians did not mingle water with the wine at Mass and that to the hymn of
praise to the Blessed Trinity to the trisagium, that
is, they added the words: “crucified for us”. The Pope also pointed out that,
besides the first council, the three subsequent general councils were unknown
in Armenia; for this reason he was sending him a document on the subject
written during the pontificate of Clement VIII. He expressly demanded the
recognition of the Council of Chalcedon and the elimination of the heretical
clause of the trisagium. In return for the valuable
gift of which Zacharias Vartabied had been the
bearer, Paul V presented the Patriarch with a gold cross containing a fragment
of the true cross and some ecclesiastical vestments. In addition he recommended the Armenian Christians to the goodwill of the Shah of Persia.
In 1613 Zacharias Vartabied left Rome for
Constantinople and from there he forwarded the Pope’s letter to the Patriarch Melchisedech. Two years passed, but no reply came. On May
28th, 1615, Paul V, in a reasoned letter to the Patriarch, stated the
theological grounds which compelled him to insist on the suppression of the two
above-mentioned peculiarities. At the same time he
also wrote to Vartabied, praising him for his efforts
to bring about the reunion of the Armenian patriarchate. According to Bovius this did actually take place, but we have no documentary evidence for the statement. Elias, the
Patriarch of the Chaldean Nestorians of Babylon, whose residence was at Mossul, seemed also resolved to establish contact with Paul
V. At the beginning of September, 1610, there came to
Rome, as the Patriarch’s representative, the archdeacon and archimandrite of
the Chaldean monks, Adam. He submitted to the Pope a confession of faith
together with a covering letter in which the Patriarch prayed that if the
confession contained any error or deviation from the Roman Mother Church, the
Pope would correct it. “Teach us, and we shall obey”, he wrote. Adam submitted
yet another special document in which he endeavoured to show that the divergences between the Chaldean Christians and the Catholics
were only apparent ones. Paul V passed on this exposition, as well as the
confession of faith, for examination by his secretary, Pietro Strozzi, a learned theologian. In his answer the latter
discussed in detail the errors of the Nestorians and showed that, contrary to
Adam’s claim, the differences were more than mere verbal ones. Nevertheless,
given goodwill, Strozzi thought that an agreement
could be reached. Paul V. entrusted the further examination of the matter to
the commissary of the Roman Inquisition, the Dominican Andrea Giustiniani. The Congregation proceeded with such
thoroughness that Adam’s stay in Rome lasted three years. During that time all
the dogmas about which there was a divergence were subjected to exhaustive
discussions, especially those of the Primacy, the divine Motherhood, the two
natures, the two wills and activities in Christ, the procession of the Holy Ghost,
and the objections of Adam were examined and refuted. In the spring of 1614, a
happy issue seemed to have been reached. Paul V entrusted Adam with a letter to
the patriarch in which, after praising Adam, the Pope described the discussions
that had taken place between him and the Congregation. The Pontiff specified
the dogmatic demands of the Holy See and stressed the fact that the divergences
of the Chaldeans consisted not in words only but in facts. This letter was
translated into Syrian; so was Strozzi’s dissertation
which Adam took with him. He was also given presents for the Patriarch, viz. a
gold cross set with jewels and containing a particle of the true cross, a
translation of the Gospels in Arabic, a gold chalice, a tiara and liturgical vestments and, lastly, some medical books in Arabic. To make the
conclusion of reunion even more certain, two Jesuits were assigned as
companions to Adam. In March, 1616, the Chaldean
Patriarch convened his suffragans in a synod of which we have an account from
the pen of Tommaso Obicini, guardian of the
Franciscan Monastery of Aleppo.
Meanwhile the two Jesuits who had returned to Rome towards the end of
1616 brought with them very bad news concerning the unreliability of the
archimandrite Adam. There was good reason to fear that they had all been taken
in by the wily Oriental. Fresh deliberations took place in which Cardinal
Bellarmine also took part. In his memorandum he insisted on the necessity of
making sure that no Nestorian views lurked behind Catholic-sounding
expressions. Accordingly, on June 29th, 1617, Paul V demanded the acceptance of
a fresh profession of faith, the wording of which was as accurate as possible and which contained an explicit rejection of the
errors of Nestorius. How justified the Pope’s caution was is shown by the fact that Elias’ successor in the patriarchal chair openly
declared himself a Nestorian.
These embassies from the East were no doubt contributory causes of a
decree in which Paul V once again drew attention to an ordinance of Clement
VIII concerning the study of languages, especially that of Arabic, in the
educational establishments of Regulars. In May, 1613,
a polyglot meeting was held in San Lorenzo in Lucina at which, in the presence
of many Cardinals, pupils of the Regulars preached in various Oriental
languages. In the same year, with the encouragement of Paul V, the learned
French ambassador, Savary de Breves, published in Rome a translation in Arabic
of the psalms of David and the Roman Catechism.
With the brave mountain folk of Lebanon, the Maronites, Paul V was on
the best of terms for, as he wrote to them, they faithfully kept the Catholic
faith, as a rose among thorns. Again and again the
Pope sent gifts and spiritual favours to this people,
and made it possible for young Maronites to pursue their studies in Rome.
THE MARONITES AND THE COPTS.
In 1606, by the hands of Capuchin missionaries, the Pope sent to the
Coptic Patriarch, whose residence was in Cairo, a chalice and sacred vestments. In 1614, a representative of the famous monastery of St.
Catherine, on Mount Sinai, did homage to the Pope in Rome. Thereupon Paul V
recommended the monastery to the king of Spain and, at a
later date, also to Henry IV, at a time when the monastery was hard
pressed by its wild neighbours. France took a
prominent part in the reopening, in 1609, of the Jesuit foundation in
Constantinople which had been destroyed by the plague during the pontificate of Sixtus V. After the death of Henry IV, Paul V prayed
the French government to hold a protecting hand over the missionaries in the
Turkish capital. The Jesuits of Constantinople devoted themselves not only to
the Christians of the Latin Rite, but to those also who followed the Greek
Rite. They also endeavoured, however difficult the
thing was, to bring spiritual comfort to the unhappy Christian prisoners
condemned to the galleys. At Constantinople, as everywhere, they opened a
school in which they taught partly in Latin, partly in Greek. In time the Fathers directed their eyes towards the East. They opened a
mission in Mingrelia and in Georgia where they won over one of the princes. At
the time when the Armenians were praying for Jesuit missionaries, the Patriarch
of Jerusalem also offered them a house in Jerusalem, on condition that they
united with the Franciscans. “Thus we have a hope of establishing ourselves all over the
East”, we read in a report of the year 1619. With the Turks alone were the Fathers unsuccessful. Only by a great miracle could that
people be converted, and if it pleased God to change the heart of the Sultan.
Paul V repeatedly acknowledged in laudatory Briefs the good services rendered
to the Catholics in Constantinople by the French embassy, and he supported the
Jesuit establishment in that city not only with spiritual favours,
but likewise with an annual contribution of 600 scudi.
With the support of Paul V Jesuit missionaries laboured in the island of Chios. In Bosnia and Serbia they
worked jointly with the Franciscans. The bishop of the Uniat Serbs, Simeon Vratanja, received his confirmation from Paul V. The Pope
also extended his solicitude to the Christians of Moldavia and Walachia.
Catholics were still very numerous in Albania. In 1611, the archbishop of
Antivari, Marino Bizzi, reported to Paul V that there
still were 350,000 Catholics among a population of 400,000. He praised their fervour but did not hide the dangers which there, as in
Serbia, became increasingly threatening as a result of Mohammedan propaganda. In several districts whole villages went over to Islam, in order to escape the poll-tax. Similar developments
occurred also in Bosnia, though there the Turks were still in a minority, and
notwithstanding the self-sacrificing efforts of Pietro Salinate,
bishop of Sofia. Pressure on the part of the civil power, and other
circumstances, particularly the lack of suitable priests, resulted in a general
retrogression of the Christian population.
CHRISTIANITY IN THE NEW WORLD.
It would be impossible to conceive a sharper contrast to the oppression
of Christianity in the Ottoman empire than the situation of the Church in the
colonies of the New World.
In 1611, Giovanni Botero estimated the number of Catholics in those
countries at ten millions. In Mexico, in Central and
Southern America, the Church was solidly established and enjoyed the support of
the State. Her wealth, which was due to the liberal donations of the
Hispano-Portuguese patrons and which made possible the
erection of numerous sumptuous baroque churches, was in many instances so great
that abuses began to creep in thus early. Among the missionaries who sailed for
the New World there were those who were not impelled by the loftiest motives.
With many of them a desire for adventure, liberty, or lucre, outweighed zeal
for the salvation of souls. Among the religious there were not a few who, on
the interesting voyage to the West Indies, stopped without necessity on the
way, or deviated from the direct route. In consequence, on July 8th, 1609, Paul
V issued an ordinance by which all regulars were commanded, under pain of
excommunication, to keep to the direct route to the destination assigned to
them by their Superiors. On December 7th, 1610, the Pope felt compelled to
proceed against certain bishops who had been named by the Spanish crown for West
Indian sees but who delayed their departure without adequate grounds though
they claimed their revenues whilst they were still in Spain. The existence of
grave abuses is hinted at by a decree of May 7th, 1607, which forbids the
clergy of the West Indies to indulge in any kind of trade. It was likewise a
wholesome measure of Paul V’s, when he decided to suppress all convents in
America which could not support at least eight religious.
The interests of the pastoral ministry were served by an ordinance
affecting the secular clergy of Mexico, as well as by the numerous alterations
which Paul V effected in the organization of the American hierarchy. To
Truxillo, Arequipa, Guamanga, Santa Cruz de la
Sierra, Durango and Pernambuco he gave their own
bishops, whilst La Plata became an archbishopric. Among the American bishops
appointed by Paul V there were many men of outstanding virtue and zeal for
souls. Among them must be mentioned Bartolomeo Lobo Guerrero, who having
succeeded, in 1609, the saintly Turibius in the
archiepiscopal see of Lima, battled indefatigably against pagan superstitions
and, in 1613, held a diocesan synod; Domingo de Valderrama, a Dominican who
founded a seminary after the Tridentine pattern in his residence of La Paz;
Alonso de Peralta, bishop of La Plata, who died in the odour of sanctity; Alonso de la Mota, since 1607 bishop of
Pueblo de los Angeles, whom the natives also held in the highest esteem and the
bishop of Merida, Gonzalo de Salazar, of the Order of St. Augustine, famous for
the holiness of his life. The archbishop of Mexico, Juan Perez de la Serra,
received several laudatory letters from Paul V. Among the missionaries engaged
in evangelizing the New World, the Pope supported in a particular manner those
of the Dominican Franciscan and Jesuit Orders. In 1612 these were joined by the
Capuchins. In that year the first four members of that Order left Paris for
Brazil; in 1614 more Fathers set out for America, and in 1618, the ruler of
Congo also made a request for some Capuchin Fathers. The American missionaries
by no means confined their labours to the territories
which were already Christian; they were indefatigable in their efforts to carry
the banner of the Gospel further afield. Boldly they penetrated
into unknown regions in order to bring to the savage natives the
blessings of Christian civilization. In their eagerness they shrank from no
privation, not even from the Martyrs’ death, which as a matter of fact a number of them underwent.
In Canada, in 1611, the French Jesuits Biard and Masse inaugurated a mission among the savage Indian tribe of the Hurons,
but it was soon destroyed by English Protestants. In 1615 French Recollects
took up the work once more. Among them Father le Caron particularly
distinguished himself by his zeal for souls as well as by his linguistic
studies. Since 1619, French Franciscans were devoting themselves to the arduous
task of evangelizing the Abnakis of Nova Scotia. The
foundation of the Jesuit Colonies in Paraguay, the peculiarities of which have
been the object of such lengthy discussions, likewise falls into the
pontificate of Paul V. The system hitherto followed of mobile missionaries, had
not proved successful in those parts. For this reason, when Aquaviva erected
the new Province of Paraguay, the far-seeing General of the Society urged the
foundation of strong and stable missionary centres after the model of similar essays in Brazil.
The permanent settlement, freedom and isolation of the Indians who had
up till then es aped enslavement was the essential idea of the new system, and
as such it was in direct opposition to the system of commendas,
hitherto followed by the Spaniards, with its consequent oppression of the
natives. Philip III’s guarantee of support made it possible to break the
resistance of the selfish colonists. The king ceded to the Jesuits the strip of
territory east of the Paraguay, as far as the Uruguay.
Here they founded the first of their famous Reductions, that is, agricultural
colonies of convert Indians, exclusively and independently administered by the
missionaries, who were themselves immediately subject to the crown. For some time this original creation had to contend with numerous
obstacles, of which the greatest were the predatory irruptions of the slave
hunters, the so-called Mameluks. In course of time,
however, the Reductions developed into an institution of worldwide renown.
As in their struggle for the freedom of the Indians, so did the Jesuits
win imperishable renown by their efforts for the mitigation of the cruel lot of
the negro slaves. Two resplendent patterns of Christian self-sacrifice on
behalf of these unfortunates shed lustre on the reign
of Paul V; namely Alonso de Sandoval and Peter Claver. Burning with heroic charity, these two Spaniards,
the latter of whom was sprung from an ancient noble family of Catalonia, had
devoted themselves since 1615, with admirable constancy, at Cartagena in New
Granada (the Colombia of to-day) to the service of the unhappy negroes who were
annually sold in thousands in the great slave market of that town for work in
the mines and in the plantations. As soon as a ship arrived, they would hasten
to the harbour, accompanied by an interpreter, in order to provide the blacks who, as a rule, were in a
most pitiable condition, with food and raiment. The sick were their special care, but they also assisted those that were whole, comforted
them and endeavoured to win them over to
Christianity. Claver, who had dedicated himself to
the service of the negroes by a special vow, in many respects even surpassed
his master Sandoval who had exercised his apostolate of charity at Cartagena
since 1607. Claver’s love and tenderness towards the
poor slaves knew no bounds. He personally cleansed and bandaged the dreadful
sores with which many of them were covered, procured medicaments and stood by their sick bed with words of comfort on his lips. Whilst, like an
angel of compassion, he did all he could to induce the negroes to lead a moral
and Christian life, he likewise did his utmost to induce their hard-hearted
masters to exercise greater mildness in the treatment of their slaves. Claver stuck to his wearisome task at Cartagena for a
period of forty years, all the time waging an unending war against cruelty and
selfishness on the one hand, and ignorance and degradation on the other. When,
in 1654, he succumbed to his exertions, the number of those he had baptized
with his own hand was computed as exceeding three hundred thousand. What was
done by this one man, who was truly justified in styling himself “the perpetual
slave of the negroes”, to mitigate the worst of all social evils, is written in
letters of gold in the history of mankind.
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HISTORY OF THE POPES FROM THE CLOSE OF THE MIDDLE AGES |
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