Anton Anderledy
Encyclopedia
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...
.
Religious and academic formation
Son of a director of the postal services, Anderledy entered the Jesuit novitiate at BrigBrig, Switzerland
Brig, officially Brig-Glis is a municipality in the district of Brig in the canton of Valais in Switzerland.The current municipality was formed in 1972 through the merger of Brig , Brigerbad and Glis.-History:...
in 1838. After the novitiate, he taught for 2 years (1842–44) the classics at the college of Fribourg
Fribourg
Fribourg is the capital of the Swiss canton of Fribourg and the district of Sarine. It is located on both sides of the river Saane/Sarine, on the Swiss plateau, and is an important economic, administrative and educational center on the cultural border between German and French Switzerland...
, where he excelled as a Latin
Latin
Latin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...
scholar. Philosophy
Philosophy
Philosophy is the study of general and fundamental problems, such as those connected with existence, knowledge, values, reason, mind, and language. Philosophy is distinguished from other ways of addressing such problems by its critical, generally systematic approach and its reliance on rational...
was done in Rome
Rome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
(1844–47) where he began also his theological studies. For reason of health, however he moved back to Fribourg. When the Jesuits were expelled from Switzerland (November 1847), Anderledy carried on his theological studies for a while in Chambéry
Chambéry
Chambéry is a city in the department of Savoie, located in the Rhône-Alpes region in southeastern France.It is the capital of the department and has been the historical capital of the Savoy region since the 13th century, when Amadeus V of Savoy made the city his seat of power.-Geography:Chambéry...
(Savoy
Savoy
Savoy is a region of France. It comprises roughly the territory of the Western Alps situated between Lake Geneva in the north and Monaco and the Mediterranean coast in the south....
) from where another expulsion order (March 1848) drove him with fifty others to the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. Still a student of Theology
Theology
Theology is the systematic and rational study of religion and its influences and of the nature of religious truths, or the learned profession acquired by completing specialized training in religious studies, usually at a university or school of divinity or seminary.-Definition:Augustine of Hippo...
he completed the course in St. Louis, Missouri
St. Louis, Missouri
St. Louis is an independent city on the eastern border of Missouri, United States. With a population of 319,294, it was the 58th-largest U.S. city at the 2010 U.S. Census. The Greater St...
, and was finally ordained priest
Priest
A priest is a person authorized to perform the sacred rites of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in particular, rites of sacrifice to, and propitiation of, a deity or deities...
(29 September 1848) there, by Archbishop Peter Richard Kenrick
Peter Richard Kenrick
Peter Richard Kenrick was the first Catholic archbishop west of the Mississippi River.-Early life and ordination:He was born and educated in Dublin, Ireland and ordained to the priesthood in 1832...
.
Missionary, Rector, Provincial
For two years (1848–50) Anderledy took care of the pastoral needs of the German migrants at Green Bay, WisconsinGreen Bay, Wisconsin
Green Bay is a city in and the county seat of Brown County in the U.S. state of Wisconsin, located at the head of Green Bay, a sub-basin of Lake Michigan, at the mouth of the Fox River. It has an elevation of above sea level and is located north of Milwaukee. As of the 2010 United States Census,...
, where he devoted himself with great energy to his flock. He was recalled to Europe in 1850, first in order to make his final year of formation (called 'Tertianship') in Drongen
Drongen
Drongen is a submunicipality of the city of Ghent .Drongen is divided into three parishes: Drongen, Luchteren and Baarle....
, Belgium
Belgium
Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...
and soon after (1851), in Germany, to be a member of the 'missionary band' led by Father Peter Roh
Peter Roh
Peter Roh was a Swiss Jesuit preacher.-Life:...
. With him he took part in more than 40 popular missions in different German towns. In 1853, he was chosen to be rector of Jesuit students in Cologne
Cologne
Cologne is Germany's fourth-largest city , and is the largest city both in the Germany Federal State of North Rhine-Westphalia and within the Rhine-Ruhr Metropolitan Area, one of the major European metropolitan areas with more than ten million inhabitants.Cologne is located on both sides of the...
. He accompanied them to Paderborn
Paderborn
Paderborn is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, capital of the Paderborn district. The name of the city derives from the river Pader, which originates in more than 200 springs near Paderborn Cathedral, where St. Liborius is buried.-History:...
and remained in charge of their studies until 1859, when he was appointed Provincial of the German Province. During Anderledy's term of office, which lasted six years, he purchased the splendid medieval abbey
Abbey
An abbey is a Catholic monastery or convent, under the authority of an Abbot or an Abbess, who serves as the spiritual father or mother of the community.The term can also refer to an establishment which has long ceased to function as an abbey,...
of Maria Laach
Maria Laach Abbey
Maria Laach Abbey is a Benedictine abbey situated on the southwestern shore of the Laacher See , near Andernach, in the Eifel region of the Rhineland-Palatinate in Germany. It is a member of the Beuronese Congregation within the Benedictine Confederation...
, near Bonn
Bonn
Bonn is the 19th largest city in Germany. Located in the Cologne/Bonn Region, about 25 kilometres south of Cologne on the river Rhine in the State of North Rhine-Westphalia, it was the capital of West Germany from 1949 to 1990 and the official seat of government of united Germany from 1990 to 1999....
, where he established the province-house of higher studies. In 1865, he was himself sent to Maria-Laach as professor of moral theology
Moral theology
Moral theology is a systematic theological treatment of Christian ethics. It is usually taught on Divinity faculties as a part of the basic curriculum.- External links :*...
. From there he launched the well-known Theological journal Stimmen aus Maria-Laach. In 1870, Anderledy was called to Rome
Rome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
as Assistant to the Jesuit Superior-General, for the German-speaking provinces.
General Congregation XXIII
Superior General Pieter Beckx, 88 years old and infirm, had called a General Congregation in order that a Vicar General (with rights of succession) be given him. Due to the great uncertainty of the political situation in Italy, General Congregation XXIII did not meet in Rome but at FiesoleFiesole
Fiesole is a town and comune of the province of Florence in the Italian region of Tuscany, on a famously scenic height above Florence, 8 km NE of that city...
(Firenze
Florence
Florence is the capital city of the Italian region of Tuscany and of the province of Florence. It is the most populous city in Tuscany, with approximately 370,000 inhabitants, expanding to over 1.5 million in the metropolitan area....
) in 1883. The electors chose with near unanimity Anton Anderledy as Vicar-General (and Successor to be) of Pieter Beckx. The same Congregation passed also a decree that condemned 'Liberalism in the Church' and strengthened Theological and scientific formation in the Society. It did express also strong support for the Gregorian University.
Vicar General, General
In January 1884 Anderledy assumed all the duties of the Superior-General as Beckx went into retirement in Rome. On Beckx's death in 1887, Anderledy became in title the Superior-General of the Society of Jesus.- The few circular letters he wrote to the Society are largely on religious and spiritual themes: the canonization of Edmund CampionEdmund CampionSaint Edmund Campion, S.J. was an English Roman Catholic martyr and Jesuit priest. While conducting an underground ministry in officially Protestant England, Campion was arrested by priest hunters. Convicted of high treason by a kangaroo court, he was hanged, drawn and quartered at Tyburn...
(and others), promotion of the devotion to the Sacred-Heart, and again canonizations of Alphonsus RodriguezAlphonsus RodriguezSaint Alphonsus Rodríguez was a Spanish Jesuit lay brother, now venerated as a saint. He was a native of Segovia. He is sometimes confused with Fr...
, John BerchmansJohn BerchmansSaint John Berchmans was a Jesuit seminarian and is a saint in the Roman Catholic Church. He is the patron saint of altar servers.-Early life:...
and Aloysius GonzagaAloysius Gonzaga- Early life :Aloysius Gonzaga was born at his family's castle in Castiglione delle Stiviere, between Brescia and Mantova in northern Italy in what was then part of the Papal States. He was a member of the illustrious House of Gonzaga...
. - He expressed strong support to Pope Leo XIIIPope Leo XIIIPope Leo XIII , born Vincenzo Gioacchino Raffaele Luigi Pecci to an Italian comital family, was the 256th Pope of the Roman Catholic Church, reigning from 1878 to 1903...
, first by backing strongly (in a letter of 1884) the Pope's condemnation of freemasonryFreemasonryFreemasonry is a fraternal organisation that arose from obscure origins in the late 16th to early 17th century. Freemasonry now exists in various forms all over the world, with a membership estimated at around six million, including approximately 150,000 under the jurisdictions of the Grand Lodge...
in Humanum GenusHumanum GenusHumanum Genus was a papal encyclical promulgated on April 20, 1884, by Pope Leo XIII. Coming in the ascent of the industrial age and Marxism, it posited that the late 19th Century was a dangerous era for Christians, and condemned Freemasonry as well as a number of beliefs and practices allegedly...
, and later by condemning vicious anti-papal writings that were circulating in France. - During this time, the Jesuits were banned in many of the nations of EuropeEuropeEurope is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
; indirectly this promoted apostolic work overseas. The Canadian mission was upgraded and made independent from EnglandEnglandEngland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
. New missions were started in MoldaviaMoldaviaMoldavia is a geographic and historical region and former principality in Eastern Europe, corresponding to the territory between the Eastern Carpathians and the Dniester river...
(1885), PunePunePune , is the eighth largest metropolis in India, the second largest in the state of Maharashtra after Mumbai, and the largest city in the Western Ghats. Once the centre of power of the Maratha Empire, it is situated 560 metres above sea level on the Deccan plateau at the confluence of the Mula ...
(IndiaIndiaIndia , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
, 1886), El Minya (EgyptEgyptEgypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
, 1887). Several Theologates and Universities were founded too: EnghienEnghienEnghien is a Walloon municipality located in the Belgian province of Hainaut. On January 1, 2006 Enghien had a total population of 11,980. The total area is 40.59 km² which gives a population density of 295 inhabitants per km²....
(French Jesuits in exile in BelgiumBelgiumBelgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...
, 1887), Los Gatos (CaliforniaCaliforniaCalifornia is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
), KurseongKurseongKurseong is a hill station situated in Darjeeling district of West Bengal, India.Located at an altitude of 1458 metres , Kurseong is just 30 km from Darjeeling...
(IndiaIndiaIndia , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
, 1888), Tananarive (Malagasy, 1888), etc. - He edited and published a new edition of Reuter's Neo-Confessarius, which he annotated.
Appreciation
- Anderledy's term is characterized by its brevity, coming as it does after his immediate predecessors' long terms of office. He had to run the Society also from a situation of exile: his headquarter (Curia Generalizia) was at FiesoleFiesoleFiesole is a town and comune of the province of Florence in the Italian region of Tuscany, on a famously scenic height above Florence, 8 km NE of that city...
(FirenzeFlorenceFlorence is the capital city of the Italian region of Tuscany and of the province of Florence. It is the most populous city in Tuscany, with approximately 370,000 inhabitants, expanding to over 1.5 million in the metropolitan area....
) and not Rome. This caused much inconveniences to his governmentGovernmentGovernment refers to the legislators, administrators, and arbitrators in the administrative bureaucracy who control a state at a given time, and to the system of government by which they are organized...
. - In his handling of the Jesuits he was known for great firmness of character. He showed also a modern interest in scientific studies in Jesuit schools.
- In spite of very difficult circumstances - at one point all Jesuit schools of FranceFranceThe French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
and ItalyItalyItaly , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
were confiscated and their staff sent into exile - the number of members of the Society continued to increase: from 11481 when he was elected, to 13275 in 1892.