Tadeusz Brzozowski
Encyclopedia
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
Jesuit, elected 19th Superior General of the Society of Jesus
Superior General of the Society of Jesus
The Superior General of the Society of Jesus is the official title of the leader of the Society of Jesus—the Roman Catholic religious order, also known as the Jesuits. He is generally addressed as Father General. The position carries the nickname of Black Pope, after his simple black priest's...
.
Birth
Brzozowski was born in KönigsbergKönigsberg
Königsberg was the capital of East Prussia from the Late Middle Ages until 1945 as well as the northernmost and easternmost German city with 286,666 inhabitants . Due to the multicultural society in and around the city, there are several local names for it...
, East Prussia
East Prussia
East Prussia is the main part of the region of Prussia along the southeastern Baltic Coast from the 13th century to the end of World War II in May 1945. From 1772–1829 and 1878–1945, the Province of East Prussia was part of the German state of Prussia. The capital city was Königsberg.East Prussia...
, (Kaliningrad
Kaliningrad
Kaliningrad is a seaport and the administrative center of Kaliningrad Oblast, the Russian exclave between Poland and Lithuania on the Baltic Sea...
, Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
) on October 21, 1749, of parents of Polish
Poles
thumb|right|180px|The state flag of [[Poland]] as used by Polish government and diplomatic authoritiesThe Polish people, or Poles , are a nation indigenous to Poland. They are united by the Polish language, which belongs to the historical Lechitic subgroup of West Slavic languages of Central Europe...
descent.
Career
Brzozowski entered the Jesuit order in 1765, and studied Rhetoric, Greek, French and classical literature in Slutsk (Belarus)(1767-70) followed by Philosophy and Mathematics in Nesviz (1770-73).Suppression of the Society
After the Suppression of the Society of Jesus (1773) he continued his Theological studies in VilniusVilnius
Vilnius is the capital of Lithuania, and its largest city, with a population of 560,190 as of 2010. It is the seat of the Vilnius city municipality and of the Vilnius district municipality. It is also the capital of Vilnius County...
, Vilna Governorate
Vilna Governorate
The Vilna Governorate or Government of Vilna was a governorate of the Russian Empire created after the Third Partition of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth in 1795...
, Russian Empire
Russian Empire
The Russian Empire was a state that existed from 1721 until the Russian Revolution of 1917. It was the successor to the Tsardom of Russia and the predecessor of the Soviet Union...
(Vilnius
Vilnius
Vilnius is the capital of Lithuania, and its largest city, with a population of 560,190 as of 2010. It is the seat of the Vilnius city municipality and of the Vilnius district municipality. It is also the capital of Vilnius County...
, Lithuania
Lithuania
Lithuania , officially the Republic of Lithuania is a country in Northern Europe, the biggest of the three Baltic states. It is situated along the southeastern shore of the Baltic Sea, whereby to the west lie Sweden and Denmark...
), where he was ordained priest in 1775.
Return to the Jesuits in Russia
In 1782 he left for Polatsk, in the Russian EmpireRussian Empire
The Russian Empire was a state that existed from 1721 until the Russian Revolution of 1917. It was the successor to the Tsardom of Russia and the predecessor of the Soviet Union...
, (Polotsk, Belarus
Belarus
Belarus , officially the Republic of Belarus, is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe, bordered clockwise by Russia to the northeast, Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, and Lithuania and Latvia to the northwest. Its capital is Minsk; other major cities include Brest, Grodno , Gomel ,...
) in order to be readmitted among the Jesuits. A gifted linguist (knowing Latin, French, German, Russian) he translated theological works in his native Polish. He was also a successful and well known preacher. In 1797 he was named Secretary of the Society and worked closely with Gabriel Lenkiewicz
Gabriel Lenkiewicz
Gabriel Lenkiewicz was temporary Vicar General of the Society of Jesus from 1785 until 1798, at a time when, being suppressed in all Catholic countries, the Society of Jesus was still surviving in Russia.-Early Years and Formation:Of aristocratic Polish-Lithuanian family Lenkiewicz...
, Franciszek Kareu
Franciszek Kareu
Franciszek Kareu was Temporary Vicar General of the Society of Jesus in Russia from 1799 to 1801...
and Gabriel Gruber
Gabriel Gruber
Gabriel Gruber was the second Superior General of the Society of Jesus in Russia.-Early years and education:...
, the successive Vicars General of the Society in Russia. On their behalf he was keeping correspondence with the many ex-jesuits who wanted to rejoin the Order. At the Regional Congregation of 1802 he was made Assistant of the newly elected Superior General of the Jesuits in Russia, Gabriel Gruber
Gabriel Gruber
Gabriel Gruber was the second Superior General of the Society of Jesus in Russia.-Early years and education:...
.
Superior General
At the death of Gruber, in 1805, the Regional (Polish) Congregation IV met at Polatsk, at this point part of the Grand Duchy of LithuaniaGrand Duchy of Lithuania
The Grand Duchy of Lithuania was a European state from the 12th /13th century until 1569 and then as a constituent part of Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth until 1791 when Constitution of May 3, 1791 abolished it in favor of unitary state. It was founded by the Lithuanians, one of the polytheistic...
(Polotsk, Belarus
Belarus
Belarus , officially the Republic of Belarus, is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe, bordered clockwise by Russia to the northeast, Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, and Lithuania and Latvia to the northwest. Its capital is Minsk; other major cities include Brest, Grodno , Gomel ,...
) and elected Tadeusz Brzozowski as Superior General of the Society in Russia. The new elected General immediately sent a message to Pope Pius VI
Pope Pius VI
Pope Pius VI , born Count Giovanni Angelo Braschi, was Pope from 1775 to 1799.-Early years:Braschi was born in Cesena...
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 Polatsk, 23 among them being priests. The total number of Jesuits was 333, mostly engaged in educational activities (7 high schools in Russia only) but moving also into pastoral work in Latvia
Latvia
Latvia , officially the Republic of Latvia , is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by Estonia , to the south by Lithuania , to the east by the Russian Federation , to the southeast by Belarus and shares maritime borders to the west with Sweden...
and Lithuania.
It seemed clear that the suppression would eventually be undone. in 1812 Polatsk was upgraded by Tsar Alexander I into a university academy, allowing thus affiliation of all the Jesuit schools and protecting them from undue local interference.
In October 1806, the ex-jesuits of Maryland were fully incorporated into the Society and Brzozowski allowed an American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
novitiate
Novitiate
Novitiate, alt. noviciate, is the period of training and preparation that a novice monastic or member of a religious order undergoes prior to taking vows in order to discern whether they are called to the religious life....
with ten novices to be opened at Georgetown
Georgetown University
Georgetown University is a private, Jesuit, research university whose main campus is in the Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, D.C. Founded in 1789, it is the oldest Catholic university in the United States...
. Later that year, Bishop
Bishop
A bishop is an ordained or consecrated member of the Christian clergy who is generally entrusted with a position of authority and oversight. Within the Catholic Church, Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox Churches, in the Assyrian Church of the East, in the Independent Catholic Churches, and in the...
Joseph-Octave Plessis
Joseph-Octave Plessis
Joseph-Octave Plessis was a Canadian Roman Catholic clergyman from Quebec. He was the first archbishop of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Quebec after the diocese was elevated to the status of an archdiocese....
of Québec
Quebec
Quebec or is a province in east-central Canada. It is the only Canadian province with a predominantly French-speaking population and the only one whose sole official language is French at the provincial level....
wrote to Pius VII and to Brzozowski, begging that Jesuits be sent from Great Britain
Great Britain
Great Britain or Britain is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island, as well as the largest of the British Isles...
not only for Halifax
City of Halifax
Halifax is a city in Canada, which was the capital of the province of Nova Scotia and shire town of Halifax County. It was the largest city in Atlantic Canada until it was amalgamated into Halifax Regional Municipality in 1996...
but to work among the aboriginal people
Aboriginal peoples in Quebec
Aboriginal peoples in Quebec total 11 distinct nations. The 10 Amerindian nations and the Inuit nations number 71,415 people and account for approximately 1% of the total population of Quebec, Canada.-Inuit:...
in Upper Canada
Upper Canada
The Province of Upper Canada was a political division in British Canada established in 1791 by the British Empire to govern the central third of the lands in British North America and to accommodate Loyalist refugees from the United States of America after the American Revolution...
as well. Brzozowski sent four men—two from Russia and two from England—but the war in Europe and the dangers of travel made their mission impossible.
On the other hand there were growing internal tensions as the foreign Jesuits, not conversant with the political situation of the empire, were criticizing Brzozowski for certain decisions taken that, they felt, were too liberal (such as allowing the Orthodox faith to be taught in Jesuit schools).
Restoration of the Society
Brzozoswki worked tirelessly to obtain the universal restoration of the Society, personally and through his delegate in Rome, FrPriesthood (Catholic Church)
The ministerial orders of the Catholic Church include the orders of bishops, deacons and presbyters, which in Latin is sacerdos. The ordained priesthood and common priesthood are different in function and essence....
Luigi Fortis
Luigi Fortis
Luigi Fortis was an Italian Jesuit elected 20th Superior-General of the Society of Jesus.- Early life and formation :...
SJ
Society of Jesus
The Society of Jesus is a Catholic male religious order that follows the teachings of the Catholic Church. The members are called Jesuits, and are also known colloquially as "God's Army" and as "The Company," these being references to founder Ignatius of Loyola's military background and a...
. This is one of the first things Pope Pius VII
Pope Pius VII
Pope Pius VII , born Barnaba Niccolò Maria Luigi Chiaramonti, was a monk, theologian and bishop, who reigned as Pope from 14 March 1800 to 20 August 1823.-Early life:...
did after returning from Napoleonic exile to Rome. On August 7, 1814, almost exactly forty-one years to the day since Clement XIV suppressed the Society, Pius VII celebrated mass in the Church of the Gesú
Church of the Gesu
The Church of the Gesù is the mother church of the Society of Jesus, a Roman Catholic religious order also known as the Jesuits. Officially named , its facade is "the first truly baroque façade", introducing the baroque style into architecture ,. The church served as model for innumerable Jesuit...
, and formally promulgated the bull
Papal bull
A Papal bull is a particular type of letters patent or charter issued by a Pope of the Catholic Church. It is named after the bulla that was appended to the end in order to authenticate it....
of restoration, Sollicitudo omnium ecclesiarum. The newly reconstituted Jesuits deemed a general congregation unnecessary: Brzozowski retained the title and became Superior General of the Society of Jesus
Superior General of the Society of Jesus
The Superior General of the Society of Jesus is the official title of the leader of the Society of Jesus—the Roman Catholic religious order, also known as the Jesuits. He is generally addressed as Father General. The position carries the nickname of Black Pope, after his simple black priest's...
in the full sense. As a result of Czar Alexander I of Russia
Alexander I of Russia
Alexander I of Russia , served as Emperor of Russia from 23 March 1801 to 1 December 1825 and the first Russian King of Poland from 1815 to 1825. He was also the first Russian Grand Duke of Finland and Lithuania....
prohibiting Brzozowski from leaving Russia, he appointed Fr
Priesthood (Catholic Church)
The ministerial orders of the Catholic Church include the orders of bishops, deacons and presbyters, which in Latin is sacerdos. The ordained priesthood and common priesthood are different in function and essence....
Luigi Fortis
Luigi Fortis
Luigi Fortis was an Italian Jesuit elected 20th Superior-General of the Society of Jesus.- Early life and formation :...
SJ
Society of Jesus
The Society of Jesus is a Catholic male religious order that follows the teachings of the Catholic Church. The members are called Jesuits, and are also known colloquially as "God's Army" and as "The Company," these being references to founder Ignatius of Loyola's military background and a...
, as his representative in Rome from 1814 to 1819, when Brzozowski died. Brzozowski was the link which bound the two parts of the Society together.
Political complications
The restoration came at a time when Russia was experiencing a strong nationalist movement, calling, among other things for a strengthening of the Orthodox Church. The Jesuits were seen as an obstacle to that. Alarmed at the new growth of the Jesuits, Alexander published an edict on December 20, 1815 expelling them from St. PetersburgSaint Petersburg
Saint Petersburg is a city and a federal subject of Russia located on the Neva River at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea...
and taking over their High School on the ground that the Jesuits were using it to convert Russian nobles to Catholicism. Brzozowski was detained and forbidden to return to Rome, despite his ailing health and his protests. Sensing that the days of the Society in Russia were numbered Brzozowski sent several Jesuits to a number of countries in Western Europe to speed up the reestablishment of the order.
Death
Brzozowski died on February 5, 1820 and was buried in PolatskPolatsk
Polotsk , is a historical city in Belarus, situated on the Dvina river. It is the center of Polotsk district in Vitsebsk Voblast. Its population is more than 80,000 people...
, Belarus. However, to make sure that the Congregation that would elect his successor would meet in Rome he had nominated an Italian, Luigi Petrucci, as his Vicar General.
The 13 March 1820, the Jesuits were expelled from Russia.