Michael WALSH, From Ignatius to Francis: The Jesuits in History. Collegeville, Minnesota: The Liturgical Press Academic, 2022. 344 pages. $29.95 pb. ISBN – 978-0814684917      Reviewed by Anthony M. STEVENS-ARROYO, Professor Emeritus, Brooklyn College, 1607 Academy Drive, East Stroudsburg, PA 18301

  This book fully delivers on its stated purpose to contextualize the history of the Society of Jesus over its nearly 500-year existence. As succinctly phrased in the introduction, the book is not written to describe again what Jesuits did but rather what Jesuits thought. The author successfully shows that the Renaissance humanism which made the Jesuits unique when they were founded is source of both an enduring vision of human freedom and respect for diverse cultures as vessels of that freedom.

The closest the book comes to a grand thesis is the author’s suggestion (pp. 229-30) that at its founding, the Society was innovative in organizing its mission around fresh theological interpretations and continued in this tradition for the next two hundred years. After the end of the infamous Suppression (1773-1814), however, the Jesuits reappeared as a mostly conservative force in Catholicism as exemplified in their 19th century launch of the publication, La Civilità Cattolica (pp. 247ff). The final chapter suggests, however, that with the election in 1965 of Pedro Arrupe as Superior General, they have returned to challenging the structures of both church and society. As proof, Walsh notes Jesuits today question education focused solely on social elites and are turning instead to programs for the poor and marginalized. (By way of a “spoiler alert,” Pope Francis is presented as a conservative Jesuit Jorge Bergoglio when in Argentina (pp. 289-90), who has become convinced of the new direction as Supreme Pontiff.)

Walsh is an engaging writer whose narrative style moves briskly. He manifests skill in using footnotes to caution the reader when there are rival interpretations of the facts (p. 134, ftn.7) and mostly escapes the stale style of religious historiography that moves ad seriatim from one superior to the next. He is even-handed. While praising the praiseworthy in Jesuit history, he does not shy from critique and occasional condemnation of persons and policies.

Let me caution that although Walsh writes with admirable clarity, his book demands sophistication about theology and world events. For instance, in Chapter 7 the author discusses the “Black Legend” of Jesuits who advocated regicide against monarchs like Elizabeth I of England. He connects this political stance to theological disputes about Jesuit Probabilism and its confrontation with Jansenism. From such turmoil, Gallicanism acquired an anti-Jesuit character along with its questioning of papal strictures that went against French interests. Walsh weaves these disparate strands into a cohesive narrative, but it demands a reader’s familiarity with complex historical ideas.

Walsh traces how internal spiritual ideals repeatedly impacted the Society’s influence on church and society. For instance, although St. Ignatius faced opposition from established religious orders, the decision to locate the fledgling society at the Church of the Gesù in Rome delivered outsized influence at the Council of Trent. Similarly, the linguistic training in Jesuit classic humanism allowed Matteo Ricci to enter the court of the Chinese emperor as a sage. Thus, the Society came to the vanguard of missionary work in Asia. In the Americas, respect for indigenous culture placed the Jesuits’ Paraguayan missions defiantly outside royal controls as dramatized in the modern film, The Mission.  A simple request by Jesuit John Carroll of Maryland for canonical guidance after the Suppression led to his being named as the first Catholic Bishop for the United States. For Walsh, all these events are connected to the Society’s humanist vision and its valuing of education. He argues that these characteristics explain why Jesuits over the centuries have often been trusted as the Catholic experts in theology, contemporary science, and political theory.

This slender volume is a welcome summary of the voluminous literature on the Society and suggests that the Jesuit history of ideas offers an avenue for understanding the direction of Catholicism under Pope Francis.