Are these the two letters most hated by traditional Catholics?
Are these the two letters most hated by traditional Catholics?
Whether it is scandals about the evil men do in the dark or outright perversion of dogma and doctrine, they are often the perpetrators.
Scandal and controversy in the modern Catholic Church seem to have become, not always but often, synonymous with two little letters – SJ.
If you spend a little time in any sphere of Catholic media discussing the latest dilemma plaguing the Church, this abbreviation, or the name of the order it stands for, will most likely pop up.
Whether it is scandals about the evil men do in the dark or outright perversion of dogma and doctrine, the Society of Jesus, aka the Jesuits, are often the perpetrators. This order’s dark mischief and the impunity with which they commit it have caused some observers to refer to them as the “Jesuit Church” because their systematic and orchestrated involvement in the current chaos and destruction that faces the Church indicates that they are indeed hell-bent (pun intended) on creating “another” or “parallel” church.
The scandals, controversies, and anti-Catholic campaigns this order has been involved in are too many to mention within the scope of this article but under the pontificate of Pope Francis, the first Jesuit pope in the history of the Church, it seems that the dark modernist aims for which the Society of Jesus has strived for since the turn of the 20th century, have reached fruition under his papal reign. Was it not for the promise of Matthew 16:18, one could be excused for thinking the Catholic Church is dead, long live the Jesuit Church!
The Jesuit’s involvement in multiple sex scandals across the globe, the order’s theological flexibility and Modernism, the way they have set up intellectualism to compromise and oppose traditional Catholic doctrine, its flagrant relativism by emphasizing “context”, “human experience” and “the pastoral approach” over established teachings and objective truth, their support of Liberation Theology and flirtation with Marxism, their enthusiastic support and twisted implementation of the Second Vatican Council’s “pastoral reforms” (they were not dogmatic by Pope Paul VI’s own admission), disobedience to conservative popes in the past, lust for religious syncretism under the guise of ecumenism and interfaith dialogue and the secular liberalism in educational institutions run by them; are just a handful of the reasons why the modern incarnation of this order has become the enemy of all that falls under the banner of orthodoxy and traditionalism and therefore of the Catholic Church.
In my parish, of which the diocesan priest is highly influenced by all things Jesuit, we are also bombarded every week by this new religion. At weekend Masses, without fail, next to the weekly bulletin you will find another pile of pamphlets. These come from the Jesuit Institute South Africa. They are sprinkled with heterodoxy, Eastern philosophy, New Age practices, pop-psychology, and feminist-, climate change-, and LGBTQ propaganda, but you will struggle to find anything remotely Catholic in them. It was also a visiting priest affiliated with this very institute who recently denied the reality of hell during his homily at our parish a few weeks ago.
In my more belligerent moments, I have gone as far as to argue, based on all the above evidence, that the Society of Jesus should be declared a Protestant sect. But that is just me.
It would of course be unfair to accuse all Jesuits of these crimes against the Church. Still, it is clear this has become the overall guiding spirit of the Jesuit Order – a far cry from the noble ideals of their soldier-mystic founder, Ignatius of Loyola, who contributed so much to the Church with his Ignatian Spirituality and the order's great heroic missions of the past.
A few days ago, 19 October, we celebrated the North American Martyrs. One of these Saints stood out and was a stark reminder of the difference between the men of yore who proudly sported the letters SJ, and those who do so now.
Jean de Brébeuf (1593–1649) was a French Jesuit missionary renowned for his evangelizing work among the Huron (Wendat) people in what is now Canada. Born in Condé-sur-Vire, France, he entered the Jesuit order in 1617 when he was 24 (an age where modern young men dye their hair blue and worry about how many followers they have on Instagram) and was ordained as a priest in 1622. In 1625, Brébeuf was sent to New France (modern-day Quebec) as part of the Jesuits’ mission to spread Christianity among the Indigenous peoples of North America.
Brébeuf was particularly notable for his deep commitment to understanding and integrating with the Huron culture. He spent years learning their language and customs, and he wrote the first detailed grammar of the Huron language, which became a valuable tool for future missionaries. His linguistic skills and cultural sensitivity helped him to forge close relationships with the Huron, and he became highly respected among them. He is also credited with composing the "Huron Carol," considered Canada's oldest Christmas hymn.
Despite the challenges of living in the harsh climate of New France, Brébeuf remained dedicated to his mission. He endured disease, famine, and the ever-present threat of attack from rival Iroquois tribes, who were enemies of the Huron. During his time among the Huron, he baptized many, though conversion efforts were slow due to cultural differences and the resistance of traditional Huron beliefs.
In 1649, during the Beaver Wars, a series of conflicts between the Huron and the Iroquois, Brébeuf’s mission was attacked by the Iroquois on 15 March. Brébeuf and several other Jesuits were captured. According to the Jesuits Global website, “After some preliminary torture, the Jesuits and the Huron captives were forced to run naked through the snow to a nearby village where others waited. The captives had to run the gauntlet and then the two Jesuits were led to two posts where they were to be killed. First the captors heated a string of hatchet blades and then placed the red-hot iron on Brébeuf's shoulders. He did not yell for mercy, so his tormentors covered him with resinous bark which they set aflame. He continued encouraging his fellow Christians to remain strong. Then the Jesuit's captors cut off his nose and forced a hot iron down his throat to silence him; they poured boiling water over his head in a mockery of baptism and then successively scalped him, cut off his feet, and then tore out his heart”. He died on 16 March 1649.
Truly, Brébeuf encapsulates the best of Catholicism, of Loyola’s Jesuits, and is a testament to real masculinity. A Catholic who demonstrably loved the Truth, Jesus Christ, and who was willing to pay the price of his convictions
His death on 16 March 1649 was the fulfilment of the desire expressed in his prayer For the Martyr’s Crown. May not only the hierarchy and clergy but also the laity once again pray Brébeuf’s prayer:
Jesus, my Lord and Savior, what can I give You in return for all the favors You have first conferred upon me?
I will take from Your hand the cup of Your sufferings and call on Your name.
I vow before Your eternal Father and the Holy Spirit, before Your most holy Mother and her most chaste spouse, before the angels, apostles, and martyrs, before my blessed fathers, St. Ignatius and St. Francis Xavier — in truth, I vow to You, Jesus my Savior, that as far as I have the strength, I will never fail to accept the grace of martyrdom, if ever, in Your infinite mercy, You should offer it to me, Your most unworthy servant.
I bind myself in this way, so that for the rest of my life I will have neither permission nor freedom to refuse opportunities of dying and shedding my blood for You, unless, at a particular juncture, I should think it more prudent for Your glory to act otherwise.
And since You have always given me the desire to die for You, I now offer You that desire, O my God, with the hope that You will be pleased to fulfill it. Let me die only for You, if You will grant me this grace, since You willingly died for me.
Let me so live that You may grant me the gift of such a happy death. In this way, my God and Savior, I will take from Your hand the cup of Your sufferings and call on Your name: Jesus, Jesus, Jesus!
One could only wonder what went wrong in this once glorious order, as the only thing your average Jesuit today might find worthy “to die for”, is a glass of champagne and some foie gras.
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The church I go to is run by ICKSP but was originally built and run by the Jesuits in the 19th century. It's a beautiful church and will be again once the restorations are complete. The Jesuits are long gone, leaving only a new altar in the middle of the post Vatican 2 extended sanctuary, made partly out of pieces of the communion rail. Happily they left the original altars where they were. When I look at this I wonder where and why it went wrong for them. Predictions suggest they will cease to exist by 2050 and possibly before. It's probably a good thing.
It is the followers of Strickland, Burke and Lefebvre who are trying to set up a “parallel Church”!