FN is right in referring to a reference of mine to the links of the early founders of the Society of Jesus to the declining feudal aristocracy. The very foundation could be viewed as their effort at finding a socio-economic solution (gainful self-employment?) to their plight. This analysis could be applied with some differences and degrees to the membership of the Society of Jesus till its suppression in the mid-18th century.
But one major factor in obtaining the beatification / canonization of its members by the Society of Jesus depended on its socio-political clout. It is not a surprise that while Portugal got its first Jesuit canonized only in the mid 20th century (St. Britto martyred in India), Spain could get 3 of its saints canonized on the same day and year: Ignatius of Loyola, Francis Xavier and Theresa of Avila! Incidentally, Portugal was under Spanish rule at the time and the canonization of Francis Xavier had a part to play in the Spanish efforts to neutralise the Portuguese resistance. There have been some research efforts at analysing these factors in the recent times. The festschrift *Metahistory* that was dedicated to me last year, contains an interesting article by Jorge Guimarães, a Portuguese scholar, analysind the politics behind the hagiographies of St. Francis Xavier at the time of his canonization. Dr. Ines Zupanov, teaching and researching at Sorbonne, also produced some interesting publications on this issue. Message: 8 Date: Thu, 31 Jul 2008 06:11:06 +0530 From: " Frederick Noronha [??????? ???????] " <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: Re: [Goanet] St Stanislaus To: "Goa's premiere mailing list, estb. 1994!" <goanet@lists.goanet.org> Message-ID: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8 Actually, I was rather puzzled on reading http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stanislaus_Kostka and wondered what exactly the 17-year-old did to deserve sainthood. Is the Wikipedia page inadequate in reflecting his life? Or, did he get sainthood because of his family connections and links to influential rulers of Poland? I think it was Dr Teo de Souza (or someone else I read) who made the point about the Jesuits being formed by largely by members of a class with links to feudalism, that was under pressure at that particular point in history. I've studied in a Jesuit school myself (Britto's) and do appreciate some aspects of this religious order, their commitment to academics, discipline etc. But this doesn't necessarily imply one should have a closed mind towards debate. FN
