Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Home
Evangelical
History and Religion
Jesuits in the Closet (And in the Classroom)

Jesuits in the Closet (And in the Classroom)

Last updated on: October 6, 2023 at 2:00 am by Lisa Clark Diller

0 Comments

Jesuits in the Closet (And in the Classroom) 2023-10-05T17:47:56-04:00 Lisa Clark Diller

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

The Jesuits just won’t go away. In my classroom today, when discussing Christian missions in China during the 17th century, students started asking about Jesuits and how or why they might be responsible for terrible events from the Inquisition through the US Civil War and then atrocities in Argentina. While I’m never surprised at conspiracies involving Jesuits, this was the most exhaustive conversation I’ve experienced in a long time. I was both bemused and impressed when a student pulled up “The Jesuits Oath” on his laptop, citing the Australian library as a source.

As someone who studies the Atlantic world in the 17th century, I understand how exciting concerns about Jesuits can be for Protestants, and particularly English-speaking Protestants. An order that was explicitly formed to respond to the Protestant Reformation, consisting of men who were not required to stay in communities, but who traveled widely and attempted to blend into the societies they emigrated to, could be extremely alarming. While Catholic plots were a regular concern for Protestant states, Jesuits especially captured the imagination of worried Protestants.

In fact, Jesuits were trying to convert Protestants and non-Christians in general to Roman Catholic Christianity. They did operate outside the law in England (where I’m most familiar with them) and like other Catholic clergy, they hid themselves and engaged in smuggling religious paraphernalia such as books and rosaries. There was a genuine attempt to change the religious calculus of the world toward loyalty to the Roman church. And in the 150 years after the Reformation, the wars of religion featured folks on all sides engaging in assassinations, espionage, and plotting of various kinds against states they wanted to gain control of. Protestants, fewer in number, and controlling weaker states, were on the defensive.

In the 16th and 17th century, the English monarchs regularly married Catholic spouses, who were often allowed to bring their priests and a few co-religionists with them to the palace. This caused worries about Roman clergy within the very corridors of power and the regular jockeying for power with the court now included threats of Catholic influence on the heirs to the throne. Catholicism was outlawed, but somewhere between 2 and 5% of British subjects appear to have remained committed to the older faith. Elite Catholic families, often aristocratic, practiced dissimulation in order to retain their lands and position. This resulted in a cloud of distrust around anyone who was suspected of Catholicism. Jesuits, as among the most active of the missionary orders, willing to take risks in places where their faith didn’t dominate, were known to be propping up this minority—and it wasn’t a stretch to see them serving as a fifth column ready to topple the government at any time.

The ground was fertile for conspiracy. In the 1670s, the “Popish Plot” serves as the iconic model for what could happen when economic and political fears crossed with language about religious threats. Conflicts over the power of the monarch and foreign policy created space for Titus Oates, a social outsider who had flirted with Catholicism, to make money by testifying before Parliament outlining increasingly unhinged conspiracies about Jesuits plotting to assassinate the king. The nation went wild: newspapers reported a Jesuit army of 200, 000 invading from the north, neighbors reported on each other, and over 200 people were hanged, drawn, and quartered for the crimes of giving and receiving communion in the Catholic fashion. The assumption was that if you were Catholic, you were under the thumb of the Jesuits and plotting against the government.

There was no such conspiracy. Violence against Catholics would continue for another 150 years from time to time, though after 1681 there wouldn’t be any state executions of this religious minority. Jesuits themselves, often opposing Catholic elites in South America and France, were exiled and extirpated. (The modern version of Jesuits

English-language political culture developed in the 18th century with the assumption that Catholics could not be truly in favor of rationality, liberty, or rights. In the 19th century, Pope Pius IX’s reign over the church further convinced Protestants that Catholics were against modernity, science, liberalism, and religious pluralism. The United States, faced with many immigrants from Catholic countries, became a hotbed of anti-Catholicism (often coinciding with general xenophobia) and conspiracies about oppressive and highly sexualized clergy. Titillating stories about convents with nuns servicing priests, resulting in babies that were killed after birth were very popular, along with legends about secret dungeons where Protestants were tortured (conflating the Spanish Inquisition with Catholicism in general).

It was one of these spates of anti-Catholicism that resulted in the so-called “Jesuit Oath” that my students found in the Library of Congress and the Australian National Library. And thus, an opportunity was formed for how historians read, especially how we approach primary sources. We ask–who wrote the document? When was it written? What was the context? What kind of document is it and where was it produced? It doesn’t take long in asking these questions of the “Jesuit Oath” to learn that it bears no relationship to actual Jesuits but was produced as part of anti-Catholic polemic in the 19th century. We can then be interested in the document, not as proof that Jesuits all actually swear to tear heretics apart limb from limb, but as a demonstration of what English-speaking Protestants in the US were worried about. In this way it is similar to the Protocols of the Elders of Zion, which would be really alarming if it represented something that actually occurred, but is instead a creation of anti-Jewish writers in the past.

Conspiracies are notoriously difficult to prove wrong. But we can start with the fact that just because something was written in the past doesn’t make it accurate. Historians don’t simply say “oh that’s a lie”—we look at the context of a document to find out what purpose it was serving and what ideas and practices it represents. The Jesuit Oath reveals a great deal about the United States in the 19th century. It tells us about what worries Protestants had, about the values of some people in the society that produced it, it can take us into research about political campaigns and the history of immigration, and the limits of religious pluralism. Debunking conspiracies doesn’t mean serving as cheerleaders for Jesuits—or for Christians of any kind. Humans have behaved badly, including Jesuits. People have actually tortured each other and attempted to overthrow governments or spied for foreign powers. We can tell the truth about the past without (to use Rodney Stark’s phrase) “bearing false witness.”

There may not be secret Jesuits everywhere, but in my classroom even the fictional ones can teach us about how to evaluate evidence, and to ask questions before we pass along exciting and incendiary YouTube videos, social media posts, or other elements that pass for “information.” While there’s a thrill that comes with thinking about secret knowledge, it can be equally satisfying to recognize when we are thinking clearly and observing fallacies. And then we can spend some energy on problems that are actually solvable.

History and Religion

Roman Catholic church

Previous Post

October 5, 2023

The Myth of Jesus's Jewish Executioners

Next Post

October 9, 2023 American Evangelicals’ Categorical Problem

Recent Comments

0 | Leave a Comment

"I have an identical twin, and Thomas was always the disciple I connected with most. ..."

Terry

In the Footsteps of Thomas: A ..."

"I've never thought of Constantine as a villain. Do Christians generally? Maybe the ones who ..."

stevewe

Defending Constantine

"The TV sitcom BEWITCHED was an old favorite of mine"

philipjenkins

How Scotland Gave Us Our Modern ..."

"From now on whenever I see a clipper ship, see a certain brand of Scottish ..."

Terry

How Scotland Gave Us Our Modern ..."

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category abolitionism Abortion Abraham Joshua Heschel Abraham Kuyper Abraham Lincoln Academia Activism Adam Renberg Advent Adventist africa African American Religion Agnes Howard Albert Camus American History American Religious History American Revolution American West Anabaptists Ancient History Andrea Turpin Andrei Tarkovsky Anglicanism Annales Ansley Lillian Quiros anti-Catholicism Antisemitism Anxious Bench apologetics Apparitions Arash Azizi Archaeology archives art Artificial Intelligence Asia Asian Americans Augustine Authors Bad Bunny Baptism Baptists Barack Obama Battle of Hastings Benjamin Franklin Bernard-Henri Levy Beth Allison Barr Beth Moore Bethany Mannon Bible Bill Cunningham Billy Graham Black Music Bob Dylan Body Boenhoffer Books Breastfeeding Bruce Springsteen C.S. Lewis Calvinism Cancel Culture Capitalism Carmelites Catholicism Cedric Robinson Cesar Chavez Charismaticism charity Charles Dickens Charles Lindbergh Che Guevara Chicago Children Chinese Christianity Chris Gehrz Christ Christian death Christian Higher Education Christian life Christian Nation Christian Nationalism Christianity Today Christmas Church life Church Practice cinema Civil Religion Civil Rights Movement Civil War civility Classics Climate Change Cold War Colonial Mexico colonialism Comer Communism community complementarianism Conference on Faith and History Congregationalism Conspiracies Conspiracy Conversion Narratives Coronavirus Costa Rica Council of Nicaea Covid-19 Creation Critical Race Theory Crusades Culture culture wars Daniel K. Williams David Barton David Swartz Death Ways death with dignity DEI democracy Democratic Party Devotion Digital Age Diplomacy discipleship diversity Donald Trump Drama Dua Lipa Early Church early modern Early modern Catholicism Easter Eastern Christianity economic exploitation Education elections Elie Wiesel Elizabeth II Elizabeth Taylor emotions Empire Engineering England enslavement Entertainment Episcopal Church Erica Ramirez eschatology Eurocentrism Evangelicalism Evangelicals Exegesis Family Feminism Film Flannery O'Connor folk music Food Foreign Policy founding fathers Franciscans Franciscus Junius fundamentalism Funerals G.K. Chesterton Gender Genocide genre geography George W. Bush George Washington George Whitefield Global Christianity Global church Grief Guadalupe guest post Guest Post gun control gun violence Gustavo Gutierrez Hamid Dabashi Harold John Ockenga Harvest Hate Hawaiian Christianity Healing health care Heather Cox Richardson Hell Heresy Hermeneutics Higher Education Hinduism Hippocratic oath Historical Fiction Historical Methodology Historical Profession Historical Profession Historical Theology Historical Thinking historiography Holidays Holocaust horror movies Human rights Humanitarian Work humanities Hummingbirds Hungary hymns Imago Dei Immigration Injustice Interviews Iran Islam Islamophobia Israel Ivan's Childhood Jacob Randolph James Bratt Janine Giordano Drake Japanese history Japanese Literature Jean Paul Sartre Jesse Miranda Jesus Jesus Christ Jimmy Carter Joan Baez Joan Didion Joanne Freeman João B. Chaves Joao Chaves Joey Cochran John Calvin John Fea John Tillotson John Turner Johnny Cash Jonathan Edwards Jonathan Tran Joseph Smith Josh Howerton Journalism Jr. Judaism Jürgen Moltmann Just War Justice Justin Brierley Karl Barth Katelyn Beaty koi ponds Kris Kristofferson Kristin Kobes Du Mez Latin American Religious History Latino Americans Lectio Divina Leisure Lent Leonard Cohen liberal arts liberalism Liberation Theology Linda Ronstadt Lisa Clark Diller Literature Lou Reed Lynchings Lynneth Miller Renberg Mainline Protestantism Malcolm Foley Marilyn Monroe Maritime history Mark Noll Marriage Martin Luther Martin Luther King Martyrdom Marxism Mary Masih Alinejad mass shootings material culture medieval Christianity Medieval Ethiopia Melissa Borja memory Mennonites Mental Health Mental Illness Methodism Mexican Americans Mexicans Mike Madrid Miles Mullin Min Jin Lee Miscarriage Missionaries Mister Rogers Mitt Romney modernity Monasticism Mormonism Motherhood Mothers of the Church Moving Music Musicals Nadya Williams Nahua Christianity Native Americans Natsume Sōseki New Contributor New England New Year New York Nico Non-Violent Protest Orthodoxy pacifism Paleo Evangelicals Palestinians Parenting Patti Smith Paul Kingsnorth Pedro Calderón de la Barca Pentecostalism Philip Jenkins Phillis Wheatley physician-assisted suicide pilgrimage Pilgrims Piracy pluralism Plutocracy Poetry Politics Pope Francis Pope Leo XIV post-modernism prayer preaching Presbyterians prosperity gospel Protest Public Executions Public history Publishing Puritans purity culture Quakers race Race Massacres Racial Capitalism racial reconciliation racialization Racism Raha Bahloulipour Re-Enchantment reading Reformation Refugees religion and the university religion and war Religious Freedom Religious Nones Religious Pluralism Religious Symbols religious violence Republican Party Revival Rita Coolidge Ritual Roger Williams Roman Catholic church Royalty Russell Moore same-sex marriage Sarah Irving-Stonebraker Scandinavia Science Science and Technology Scopes trial Scriptural Interpretation secularism Selena Quintanilla seminary Seventh-Day Adventists sexual morality Sexuality Sikhs Silence slaveholders theology Slavery Slavoj Zizek social justice Social Media Southern Baptist Convention Southern Religion Spain Spiritual Autobiography Spiritual but not religious Spiritual Discipline Sports Stanley Hauerwas Suffering Summer Camps Sunday Night Odds and Ends Supernatural Supreme Court Syriac Christianity Tal Howard Taylor Swift Teaching Technology Television Thanksgiving The Beatles The Mission theater TheoBros Theology Thomas Dixon Thomas Jefferson Thomas Kidd Thomas Merton Tim Gloege Tim Walz Tom Holland Tourism tradition Tragedy Translation Transnationalism Travel Trump Ukraine Uncategorized Unitarians United Methodist Church US History Vanessa Chan Velvet Underground Verónica A. Gutiérrez Veronica Gutierrez Vikings Violence Virgin Mary Virtue Virtue ethics Visions Voting War WCTU Wendell Berry Westminster Assembly White Evangelicalism Wildfires Winnie the Pooh Witches women Women in Ministry Women's and Gender Studies Work Worship writing Yasunari Kawabata Zena Hitz

Select a Month November 2026 October 2026 September 2026 August 2026 July 2026 June 2026 May 2026 April 2026 March 2026 February 2026 January 2026 December 2025 November 2025 October 2025 September 2025 August 2025 July 2025 June 2025 May 2025 April 2025 March 2025 February 2025 January 2025 December 2024 November 2024 October 2024 September 2024 August 2024 July 2024 June 2024 May 2024 April 2024 March 2024 February 2024 January 2024 December 2023 November 2023 October 2023 September 2023 August 2023 July 2023 June 2023 May 2023 April 2023 March 2023 February 2023 January 2023 December 2022 November 2022 October 2022 September 2022 August 2022 July 2022 June 2022 May 2022 April 2022 March 2022 February 2022 January 2022 December 2021 November 2021 October 2021 September 2021 August 2021 July 2021 June 2021 May 2021 April 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

Who was the first woman mentioned in the Bible after Eve?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Leah Rebekah Rachel Sarah