THE RESTORATION OF THE SOCIETY OF JESUS
The letter-writer who brought consolation to the Jesuits Fr Tom McCoog SJ introduces the English Jesuit who experienced the Suppression first hand in Rome: Fr John Thorpe SJ.
In the mid-18th century, few religious orders could rival the Society of Jesus in size and influence. More than 22,000 Jesuits operated nearly 700 colleges and 200 seminaries in the 1750s.They had powerful friends and wealthy benefactors. But they also had equally powerful and wealthy enemies, particularly in Portugal, Spain, France and Austria. Jesuits became popularised as secretive, deceptive, manipulative and devious regicides. There was also great suspicion over their loyalty to the pope.Within 25 years, anti-Jesuit forces succeeded in persuading Pope Clement XIV to issue Dominus ac Redemptor, the papal brief suppressing the Society of Jesus, in order to secure peace in the Church. As the Jesuits were progressively expelled from large parts of Europe, John Thorpe watched from Rome. Born in Halifax,Yorkshire, on 21 October 1726, Thorpe had studied at the English Jesuit College in St Omer in the 1740s, before entering the Jesuit novitiate at Watten (Flanders) on 7 September 1747. He was sent to Rome to study theology in 1756 and was ordained there around 1759. To the best of our knowledge, he never returned to England but remained in Rome until his death on 12 April 1792. From 1765 until the Suppression of the Society in 1773, John Thorpe served as the English-language confessor at St Peter’s Basilica, a post which he himself admitted was not too demanding. So he had plenty of time for what must have been his favourite pastime: letter writing. Nearly a thousand letters are preserved in various archival collections. We know that Thorpe destroyed
numerous letters, so we can only imagine how many he actually wrote. Thorpe began his bi-monthly newsletters as Jesuit refugees flooded into Rome, and as the Bourbon monarchs pressured the pope for universal suppression.Thorpe relates stories ranging from the macabre to the tragic as ecclesiastical Rome crumbled under Spanish and French pressure. The Englishman also provided an eyewitness account of the Suppression’s implementation.
“Thorpe relates stories ranging from the macabre to the tragic as ecclesiastical Rome crumbled under pressure” Thorpe’s Jesuit community in Rome had just sat down to supper on 16 August 1773 when a loud peal of the bell signified the arrival of soldiers.They were informed of the pope’s decision to suppress the Society and were held under house arrest for eight days. Eventually, they were allowed to leave with a few possessions and a short cheaply-made soutane: the longer, traditional Jesuit cassock had to be left behind. But where would they go? Thorpe had invitations to take up positions in an English Catholic household or in a convent on the continent. However, he decided to remain in Rome, residing instead with friends and other ex-Jesuits. Over the ensuing years, Thorpe served as an agent for English Catholic families, especially the Arundells of Wardour, in their acquisition of antiquities and works of art. In the late 1770s, he and
Above: One of John Thorpe’s letters, dated 27 July 1785 Lord Henry Arundell, a former pupil, collaborated at Wardour on what the ex-Jesuit hoped would be “the most elegant Chapel in England”. Many items in Stonyhurst’s collection were acquired through John Thorpe during this period. As well as art, he collected and distributed news and information about ex-Jesuits throughout the world under the Suppression: everything from pasquinades (abusive or satirical lampoons, posted in public places) to official correspondence was copied and translated by him. Indeed, Thorpe played an important role in what was later christened by scholars as the “Ex-Jesuit International” whereby former Jesuits remained in contact to console and encourage each other and to work for the Restoration of the Society. Sadly, Thorpe did not live to see the Society of Jesus restored in 1814: he died in Rome 22 years before Pope Pius VII issued the bull Sollicitudo omnium Ecclesiarum. But others did, among them Robert Plowden, whose life and ministry in England during the Suppression will form the focus for the next article in this Jesuits and Friends series. l jesuitsandfriends.org.uk 13