The Monita Secreta: A Controversial Chronicle

In the shadowy annals of history, whispers often linger longer than facts. One such whisper is the "Monita Secreta," also known as the "Secret Instructions of the Jesuits." This alleged code of clandestine directives was purportedly issued by Claudio Acquaviva, the fifth general of the Society of Jesus, to its leaders with a single purpose: to expand the Jesuit Order’s power and influence globally. However, many scholars argue that this document is nothing more than an elaborate anti-Jesuit forgery.

Unveiling the Instructions

According to the Monita Secreta, the Jesuits were instructed to use any means necessary to amass wealth for their order. The text suggests that promising young men should be lured into joining the Jesuits, bringing their estates with them. Rich widows were to be convinced to remain unmarried, while efforts were to be made to elevate Jesuits to positions of ecclesiastical power. Simultaneously, they were to discredit members of other religious orders, all while maintaining an outward appearance of selfless virtue. Those who left the order were to be maligned relentlessly.

The Murky Origins

The suspected author of the Monita Secreta is Jerome Zahorowski, a disgruntled former Jesuit from Poland who was expelled from the society in 1613 for disciplinary reasons. The document first emerged in print in Kraków in 1615, claiming to be a translation from Spanish, though it was printed a year earlier in Kraków. The narrative surrounding its discovery is as varied as it is mysterious, with tales linking it to Duke Christian of Brunswick, who, at the time of the document's alleged discovery, was merely a teenager. Other stories place its origins in locales such as Paderborn, Prague, Liège, Antwerp, Glatz, and even aboard a captured East Indiaman.

Interest in the Monita Secreta was periodically revived, even as late as 1783, with claims of new discoveries. An undated edition from the early nineteenth century purported to originate from the Propaganda Press, allegedly authenticated by various Jesuit authorities. However, this edition was attributed to a general named "Felix Aconiti," a figure unknown in Jesuit history. The censor approving this publication was named "Pasquinelli," and the titles within the text included a host of crimes and immoralities often attributed to the Jesuits by their fiercest adversaries.

The Authenticity Debate

The authenticity of the Monita Secreta has been hotly contested. Voices challenging its legitimacy include Bishop Lipski of Cracow (1616), historian Bernhard Duhr, Fra Paolo Sarpi, historian of the Council of Trent, Antoine Arnauld, the Jansenists Henri de Saint-Ignace and Blaise Pascal, von Lang, Johann Joseph Ignaz von Döllinger, Friedrich (author of "Janus"), Huber, Reusch, and Protestant historian Johann Karl Ludwig Gieseler. During debates on Catholic Emancipation in the British House of Commons, several speakers acknowledged the document's fraudulent nature. The British Museum and French bibliographer M. Barbier also classified it as apocryphal.

Despite these assertions, Anglican Bishop of London Henry Compton, a staunch opponent of Roman Catholicism, published an English translation of the Secret Instructions in 1669. Meanwhile, Richard Frederick Littledale, a critic of Roman Catholicism, argued in his 1881 Encyclopædia Britannica article that although the Monita Secreta was a caricature and libel, it was "substantially true," claiming it reflected the actual practices of the Jesuits.

In contrast, John Gerard, writing in the Catholic Encyclopedia, refuted these claims, arguing that the official Jesuit rules and constitutions directly contradicted the supposed instructions. He emphasized that genuine private instructions often fell into hostile hands and frequently contradicted the Monita. James Bernauer even drew parallels between the Monita Secreta and the discredited "Protocols of the Elders of Zion," noting the libelous nature of both texts.

Sources

• Healy, Roisin (1969), "The Jesuit Specter in Imperial Germany", Brill Press, p. 182, ISBN 0-391-04194-0
• Pavone, Sabina (2005), "The Wily Jesuits and the Monita Secreta", Institute of Jesuit Sources, p. 10, ISBN 1880810603
• Gerard, John. "Monita Secreta." The Catholic Encyclopedia Vol. 10. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1911. 10 June 2016
• Gerard, John (1911). "Monita Secreta". Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 10.
• Bernauer, James. "From European Anti-Jesuitism to German Anti-Jewishness: A Tale of Two Texts" presented at the Jagiellonian University, Kraków, Poland (March 5, 2009)
• Macaulay, Thomas Babington (1878). "The History of England from the Accession of James II". Vol. II. Philadelphia: J. B. Lippincott & Co. p. 76.

For further reading, visit the Wikipedia page: Monita Secreta.