The Jesuit Philosophies

In the sixteenth century, Europe began to expand by sending explorers and missionaries out to discover new territory. In the Americas, it is was primarily the Spanish, the French, and some English. Both Spain and France had different motives for sending the explorers and missionaries to the New World. The missionaries were mostly Jesuits, and while they are the same order, the Spanish Jesuits operated differently that the French Jesuits. This reflection will look at some of the Jesuit philosophies and contrast how the Spanish and French carried out their mission. The Jesuit order was founded about 1540 by Ignatius of Loyola. As the order grew, the members had a restless energy. While they had the ears of the European monarchs, the Jesuits

Ferdinand and Isabella received authority over the New World from Pope Alexander VI in his encyclical Inter Caetera (Weber 19). Believing that they had exclusive rights over the New World, the Spanish crown was on a moral crusade to disseminate Spanish culture and Catholicism to indigenous people in all of the Americas (Weber 19). The Spaniards came to the New World seeking riches, gold and silver, claiming the land for the crown and souls for the Church (Fisher 12). Eternal Salvation was the goal of the Spanish explorers if they claimed the possessions of the New World for the crown and if they brought Christianity to the indigenous people (Fisher 14). Eventually tensions exploded between the Spaniards because each viewed their mission differently. Some viewed the mission as primarily religious; the conquistadors viewed the mission from a personal gain perspective, both political and economic (Fisher

French explorers came to the New World seeking gold as well. There was a bond between the Church and the Capetian kings (Jaenen vii), so evangelization was a goal for the French crown. Assimilation was the main strategy for both the French church and state (Melzer 169). The French wanted close contact with the Native Americans. The French said that they would form “a same people and same blood” (Melzer 169). The French view of the natives was quite different from the Spanish. The word “sauvage” was used to describe the Native Americans, which comes from the Latin salvaticus, which means “of the wood” or “wild” (Melzer 173). Father Paul LeJeune, a French Jesuit missionary, once quoted Cicero and said, “All nations were once vagabonds.” The thought is that the Native Americans are in a stage where all nations start; it is primitive and will evolve (Melzer 174). Because of this view, the French Jesuits were much more compassionate in their missionary endeavors. The Jesuits devoted their time learning the native languages and compiled vocabularies and grammar (Jaenen 23). John De Brébuef, the Jesuit superior of missions, encouraged the priests to live alongside the Native Americans. He wanted them to be fully immersed in the culture by eating and lodging in the manner of the tribe, learning the language and the tribal way of life (Leavelle