The Irish standard., 1906-05-26


toned. and from his decisions ther.
is no appeal. His commands must be
obeyed instantly and no questions
asked He has absolute control over
all the property of the order. which is
val,led at hundreds of millions oI dol
!arS. But he is elected by the lnen-
prevails all the way down. A Jesuit
nriest is always under imperative Or
jers. which he obeys like soldier,
trusting to the wisdom of his superior:
but he elects that superior, and takes
care that his dictator shall be 4 man
in whom he can have confidence. The
Jesuits are the ablest. the shrewdes:
and the most highly educated OF ali
the reli. iouS orders. 1, is impossible
10 pass the examinations and under-
go the mental tests required for adj
mission to the society. No one ever
saw an ignorant or unsophisticated
Jesuit. Their social accomplishments
are also of very high grade. They
are trained in diplomacy and in the
exercise of tact and a thorough knowl-
edge of human nature.
The congregation which will elect a
new general for the Society Of Jesus
will consist of three delegates from
each OF The twenty-five provinces into
which the world is divided, making
total of seventy-five members. The
provincial OF each province will be
one of the delegates and the other
two will be elected by ballot at meet
ing of the fifty oldest fathers in each
province. All the elections are by Sc
cret ballot. Every decision Of import
ance in the Jesuit society is by ballot
When Il congregation is in session
majority OF its members may take
such action as they think proper but
when it disperses the provincial re-
sumes his autocratic power. Any
member of the society is permitted t,
send a memorial on any subject t.
one of these congregations and if the
members of that body consider it of
sufficient important they can acs upon
it themselves or pass it up /. the
higher tribunal with recommended
tions II that way the humblest men,
no rf f1.c ,I,,-a t},n
right Of appeal.
When the internationl congrega-
ton meets any provincial may nom-
mate candidate for general of the
order. and the nominee receiving q
majority of the votes is elected to
serve for the remainder of his life
Five assistants will also be elected
one for each of the five assistancies
into which the world is divided. These
the next convocatiOn. Ii one of them
should die or a vacancy occur among
their number an appointment is made
by the. general. In that way Father
Meyer obtained his position. There is
one assistancy for the English speak
ing Jesuits; another for the Germans,
u third Ger the French a fourth for the
Spanish and q fifth in Charge Of mis-
sionary work.
There are no civilian Jesuits. That
is Il popular .lallucnation. In ancient
times it is probable that priests may
have discarded their robes now and
then ami entered civil. political and
even military life, but such Il thing has
not occurred for generations. The
name of every member of the order
is printed in a register, with hi, res
idence and the duty in which he is ell
gagged. There are 1854 members o.
the Society of Jesus, of whom 7.1S3
are priests in full orders: 4,4OG are
STUDENT; and novitiates and 1925 are
lay brothers who are employed as
clerks farmers mechanics, servants
and in ether inferior capacities. The
largest number in any one nation is
in Frarne. a total of 3.OSS, notwith-
standing the fact that they have been
dispersed and under the law cannot
live in communities and cannot en-
gage in business affairs of any kind.
The French law says that not more.
than three persons bound by religious
vows can live under the same roof.
Spain has 1884 Jesuits, and the third
largest number is in Germany. from
which country they have also been ex-
PEELED. The laws of Germany do not
permit Jesuit to live within the
boundaries of that empire, yet more
than $500 are there engaged in parish
and educational work. Their presence
is not a secret. The register, which is
accessible to everybody. shows who
and where they are, and what each
is doing. The law is dead letter,
and it would be repealed but for the
jealOusies between the liberals and the
party of the center in the German
reichstag. Both are in favor of the
repeal. but neither can accomplish 1t
alone, and is not willing to permit the
other to share the credit.
There are 1,713 Jesuits in the United
States. of whom 749 are priests and
59S are students. The remainder are
clerks, farmers, mechanics, gardeners,
porters and servants about the COL