Wlodimir Ledochowski
Encyclopedia
Wlodimir Ledóchowski, S.J. (October 7, 1866 - December 13, 1942) was the 26th Superior-General of the Society of Jesus.
He was born on the family estate, Sitzenthal, in Loosdorf
, near St. Pölten (Lower Austria
), the son of Count Antoni Halka Ledóchowski. His uncle was Mieczysław Halka Ledóchowski, and his sisters included Saint Ursula Ledóchowska, and Blessed Maria Teresia Ledóchowska. His brother, Ignacy Kazimierz Ledóchowski, was a General in the Polish Army.
He studied at the Theresianum
in Vienna and for a time was page to the Empress. He studied Law at the University of Kraków and then began studies for the secular priesthood. While attending the Gregorian University
, he decided to become a Jesuit and entered the Society in 1889. Five years later he was ordained a Jesuit priest. At first he took to writing, but was soon made Superior of the Jesuit residence in Kraków
, then, Rector
of the College. He became the Polish
Vice-Provincial
in 1901 and Provincial
of Galicia in 1902. From 1906 until February 1915 he was the German
Assistant.
After the death of Franz Xavier Wernz
, the 49-year-old Ledóchowski was elected the 26th General of the Society on February 11, 1915 on the second ballot.
Despite the upheaval of the First World War, the Second World War and the economic Depression of the 1930s
, the Society increased during Ledóchowski's term. He called the 27th General Congregation to take place at the Germanico to acquaint the Society with the new code of Canon Law
(published in 1917) and to bring the Jesuit Constitutions into line with it. He called another Congregation (the 28th)— between March 12 and May 9, 1937 — in order for the delegates to appoint a Vicar General
as he was now feeling the effects of age and needed competent assistance.
He established the Pontifical Oriental Institute
and the Pontifical Russian College
as well as the Institutum Biblicum of the Gregorian University
. He saw a certain emancipation of the Society after the Concordat
between the Church
and the Italian
Government was ratified. Property was returned to the Society making it possible for the Jesuits to build a new Gregorian University
building transferring from the Palazzo
Borgomeo on via del Seminario to Piazza Pilotta within a few paces of the Quirinal Palace
. He then built the new Curia
Generalis in the rione
of Borgo
, on property acquired from the Vatican
on Borgo Santo Spirito, about a hundred meters from St. Peter's Square
. The Concordat is credited with giving new life to the Society of Jesus, whose property increased with its influence and reputation.
According to a slightly premature obituary in The New York Times
, dated December 10, 1942 (three days before he actually died):
Malachi Martin
's The Jesuits: The Society of Jesus and the Betrayal of the Roman Catholic Church (p. 221) referred to Ledóchowski as follows:
his remains were interred in the Society's mausoleum at Campo Verano on the eastern edge of Rome.
He was born on the family estate, Sitzenthal, in Loosdorf
Loosdorf
Loosdorf is a little town in the district of Melk in the Austrian state of Lower Austria. One of its historical buildings is the Hohe Schule , the first school in Central Europe with a written curriculum, founded in 1574 by the Austrian nobleman Hans Wilhelm von Losenstein , the lord of the nearby...
, near St. Pölten (Lower Austria
Lower Austria
Lower Austria is the northeasternmost state of the nine states in Austria. The capital of Lower Austria since 1986 is Sankt Pölten, the most recently designated capital town in Austria. The capital of Lower Austria had formerly been Vienna, even though Vienna is not officially part of Lower Austria...
), the son of Count Antoni Halka Ledóchowski. His uncle was Mieczysław Halka Ledóchowski, and his sisters included Saint Ursula Ledóchowska, and Blessed Maria Teresia Ledóchowska. His brother, Ignacy Kazimierz Ledóchowski, was a General in the Polish Army.
He studied at the Theresianum
Theresianum
This article is about the Theresian Academy in Vienna. For other uses of Theresianum, see Theresianum .Theresianum is a private boarding school governed by the laws for public schools in Vienna, which was founded by Maria Theresa of Austria in 1746.-History:-1...
in Vienna and for a time was page to the Empress. He studied Law at the University of Kraków and then began studies for the secular priesthood. While attending the Gregorian University
Pontifical Gregorian University
The Pontifical Gregorian University is a pontifical university located in Rome, Italy.Heir of the Roman College founded by Saint Ignatius of Loyola over 460 years ago, the Gregorian University was the first university founded by the Jesuits...
, he decided to become a Jesuit and entered the Society in 1889. Five years later he was ordained a Jesuit priest. At first he took to writing, but was soon made Superior of the Jesuit residence in Kraków
Kraków
Kraków also Krakow, or Cracow , is the second largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in the Lesser Poland region, the city dates back to the 7th century. Kraków has traditionally been one of the leading centres of Polish academic, cultural, and artistic life...
, then, Rector
Rector
The word rector has a number of different meanings; it is widely used to refer to an academic, religious or political administrator...
of the College. He became the Polish
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...
Vice-Provincial
Provincial superior
A Provincial Superior is a major superior of a religious order acting under the order's Superior General and exercising a general supervision over all the members of that order in a territorial division of the order called a province--similar to but not to be confused with an ecclesiastical...
in 1901 and Provincial
Provincial superior
A Provincial Superior is a major superior of a religious order acting under the order's Superior General and exercising a general supervision over all the members of that order in a territorial division of the order called a province--similar to but not to be confused with an ecclesiastical...
of Galicia in 1902. From 1906 until February 1915 he was the German
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
Assistant.
After the death of Franz Xavier Wernz
Franz Xavier Wernz
Franz Xavier Wernz, S.J. was the twenty-fifth Superior General of the Society of Jesus. He was born in Rottweil, Württemberg ....
, the 49-year-old Ledóchowski was elected the 26th General of the Society on February 11, 1915 on the second ballot.
Despite the upheaval of the First World War, the Second World War and the economic Depression of the 1930s
Great Depression
The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...
, the Society increased during Ledóchowski's term. He called the 27th General Congregation to take place at the Germanico to acquaint the Society with the new code of Canon Law
Canon law
Canon law is the body of laws & regulations made or adopted by ecclesiastical authority, for the government of the Christian organization and its members. It is the internal ecclesiastical law governing the Catholic Church , the Eastern and Oriental Orthodox churches, and the Anglican Communion of...
(published in 1917) and to bring the Jesuit Constitutions into line with it. He called another Congregation (the 28th)— between March 12 and May 9, 1937 — in order for the delegates to appoint a Vicar General
Vicar general
A vicar general is the principal deputy of the bishop of a diocese for the exercise of administrative authority. As vicar of the bishop, the vicar general exercises the bishop's ordinary executive power over the entire diocese and, thus, is the highest official in a diocese or other particular...
as he was now feeling the effects of age and needed competent assistance.
He established the Pontifical Oriental Institute
Pontifical Oriental Institute
The Pontifical Oriental Institute is the premier center for the study of Eastern Christianity in Rome, Italy....
and the Pontifical Russian College
Collegium Russicum
The Collegium Russicum is a Catholic college in Rome dedicated to studies of the culture and spirituality of Russia....
as well as the Institutum Biblicum of the Gregorian University
Pontifical Gregorian University
The Pontifical Gregorian University is a pontifical university located in Rome, Italy.Heir of the Roman College founded by Saint Ignatius of Loyola over 460 years ago, the Gregorian University was the first university founded by the Jesuits...
. He saw a certain emancipation of the Society after the Concordat
Lateran treaties
The Lateran Treaty is one of the Lateran Pacts of 1929 or Lateran Accords, three agreements made in 1929 between the Kingdom of Italy and the Holy See, ratified June 7, 1929, ending the "Roman Question"...
between the Church
Roman Catholic Church
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the world's largest Christian church, with over a billion members. Led by the Pope, it defines its mission as spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ, administering the sacraments and exercising charity...
and the Italian
Italy
Italy , 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...
Government was ratified. Property was returned to the Society making it possible for the Jesuits to build a new Gregorian University
Pontifical Gregorian University
The Pontifical Gregorian University is a pontifical university located in Rome, Italy.Heir of the Roman College founded by Saint Ignatius of Loyola over 460 years ago, the Gregorian University was the first university founded by the Jesuits...
building transferring from the Palazzo
Palazzo
Palazzo, an Italian word meaning a large building , may refer to:-Buildings:*Palazzo, an Italian type of building**Palazzo style architecture, imitative of Italian palazzi...
Borgomeo on via del Seminario to Piazza Pilotta within a few paces of the Quirinal Palace
Quirinal Palace
The Quirinal Palace is a historical building in Rome, Italy, the current official residence of the President of the Italian Republic. It is located on the Quirinal Hill, the tallest of the seven hills of Rome...
. He then built the new Curia
Curia
A curia in early Roman times was a subdivision of the people, i.e. more or less a tribe, and with a metonymy it came to mean also the meeting place where the tribe discussed its affairs...
Generalis in the rione
Rione
Rione is the name given to a ward in several Italian cities, the best-known of which is Rome. Unlike a quartiere, a rione is usually an official administrative subdivision...
of Borgo
Borgo (rione of Rome)
Borgo , is the 14th historic district of Rome, Italy. It lies on the west bank of the Tiber, and has a trapezoidal shape. Its coat of arms shows a lion , lying in front of three mounts and a star...
, on property acquired from the Vatican
Vatican City
Vatican City , or Vatican City State, in Italian officially Stato della Città del Vaticano , which translates literally as State of the City of the Vatican, is a landlocked sovereign city-state whose territory consists of a walled enclave within the city of Rome, Italy. It has an area of...
on Borgo Santo Spirito, about a hundred meters from St. Peter's Square
Saint Peter's Square
Saint Peter's Square is located directly in front of St. Peter's Basilica in Vatican City, the papal enclave within Rome .-History of St...
. The Concordat is credited with giving new life to the Society of Jesus, whose property increased with its influence and reputation.
According to a slightly premature obituary in The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
, dated December 10, 1942 (three days before he actually died):
-
- Dr Nicholas Murray Butler, who met Father Ledóchowski in 1930, wrote later that "... in Rome I was told that Father Ledóchowski would rank as one of the two or three greatest heads of the Jesuit Order", an estimate which would group him with such men as Ignatius Loyola, the first [Jesuit] general, Francisco Borgia, the third, and [Claudius] Aquaviva, the fifth.
Malachi Martin
Malachi Martin
Malachi Brendan Martin Ph.D. was a Catholic priest, theologian, writer on the Catholic Church, and professor at the Vatican's Pontifical Biblical Institute. He held three doctorates and was the sole author of sixteen books covering religious and geopolitical topics, which were published in eight...
's The Jesuits: The Society of Jesus and the Betrayal of the Roman Catholic Church (p. 221) referred to Ledóchowski as follows:
-
- It was during the twenty-seven year Generalate of Father Wlodzimierz ... that the traditional character of the Society received the firmest stamp and clearest definition since the Generalate of Claudio Acquaviva in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. One might even say that Ledóchowski insisted on fidelity to the structure of Jesuit obedience, was an almost merciless disciplinarian,and maintained a stream of instructions flowing out to the whole Society about every detail of Jesuit life and Ignatian ideals. He know exactly what Jesuits should be according to the Society’s Constitutions and traditions; and under strong hands of two quite authoritarian Popes, Pius XI and Pius XII, he reestablished the close ties that had once linked papacy and Jesuit Generalate. Ledóchowski, in fact, gave renewed meaning to that old Roman nickname of the Jesuit Father General, "the Black Pope". Just as Pius XII can be described as the last of the great Roman Popes, so Ledóchowski can be called the last of the great Roman Generals of the Jesuits. There seemed, indeed, during those years of Ledóchowski, Pope Pius XI, and Pius XII, no real limit to what both Jesuitism and overall Roman Catholicism could achieve. Even – especially, we should say – in the afterglow of Ledóchowski's long reign and into the Generalate of his successor, Belgian Jean-Baptiste JanssensJean-Baptiste JanssensJean-Baptiste Janssens was the twenty-seventh Superior General of the Society of Jesus. He was born in Mechelen, Belgium.-Early Life and schooling:...
, the magic power of momentum seemed to continue.
- It was during the twenty-seven year Generalate of Father Wlodzimierz ... that the traditional character of the Society received the firmest stamp and clearest definition since the Generalate of Claudio Acquaviva in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. One might even say that Ledóchowski insisted on fidelity to the structure of Jesuit obedience, was an almost merciless disciplinarian,and maintained a stream of instructions flowing out to the whole Society about every detail of Jesuit life and Ignatian ideals. He know exactly what Jesuits should be according to the Society’s Constitutions and traditions; and under strong hands of two quite authoritarian Popes, Pius XI and Pius XII, he reestablished the close ties that had once linked papacy and Jesuit Generalate. Ledóchowski, in fact, gave renewed meaning to that old Roman nickname of the Jesuit Father General, "the Black Pope". Just as Pius XII can be described as the last of the great Roman Popes, so Ledóchowski can be called the last of the great Roman Generals of the Jesuits. There seemed, indeed, during those years of Ledóchowski, Pope Pius XI, and Pius XII, no real limit to what both Jesuitism and overall Roman Catholicism could achieve. Even – especially, we should say – in the afterglow of Ledóchowski's long reign and into the Generalate of his successor, Belgian Jean-Baptiste Janssens
Death
Wlodimir Ledóchowski died in Rome on December 13, 1942, aged 76. After his funeral in the Church of the GesùChurch 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...
his remains were interred in the Society's mausoleum at Campo Verano on the eastern edge of Rome.
See also
- Ledóchowski Ledóchowski family overview
- Ursula Ledóchowska The canonized sister of Wladimir Ledóchowski
- Maria Teresia Ledóchowska The beatified sister of Wladimir Ledóchowski
- Igor Ledóchowski A present day nephew of Wladimir Ledóchowski
- Michel d'HerbignyMichel d'HerbignyMichel-Joseph Bourguignon d'Herbigny was a French Jesuit scholar and Roman Catholic bishop. He was president of the Pontifical Oriental Institute in Rome, and of the Pontifical Commission for Russia...