What is the difference between dominican and jesuit

The question can be argued and has multiple answers, but the church is richer by not choosing sides and allowing the multiplicity to stand. Perhaps then we would find a solution that included the best insights from both sides. I would suggest instead that we move forward by embracing the diversity of views rather than reinforcing the belief that every question has but one solution.

More importantly, when one looks at the history of this controversy, one can see with Matava how much creative energy has been wasted by each side anathematizing the other.

The arguments have had some good effects, getting each side to clarify its position, but so much more could have been accomplished. Each side dug in, spending most of its energy criticizing the position of the other rather than trying to see its good points, and each side refused to look critically at its own position in light of the other.

This is the difference of moving away from a dialogue or a disputatio into an argument. One wants to win an argument. One wants to learn in a disputatio. We should move to the disputatio and let each side try to deeply understand the other view and the values at stake driving it.

If Matava is right, such a sympathetic reading could spark new creativity that could overcome the difference. If I am right, such a sympathetic reading could let us see in what situations we might prefer to employ one view over the other, reinforcing the idea that we are richer for having multiple theologies that we can bring to bear in different situations.

In either case, we can clearly see the negative effects of the conflictual relationship between the Jesuits and the Dominicans in this controversy. Progress will only come if we learn to respect one another and come together as colleagues—colleagues who differ, to be sure, but each deserving equal respect. The Exercises , together with the book that explains how to give them, the Official Directory which was compiled forty-three years after his death , are the most important documents defining the unique spirituality of the Jesuits.

In opposing the Exercises , Cano and Pedroche implicitly condemn Ignatius himself and thus the entire Society of Jesus that he founded.

In this way, the acrimony of this debate surpasses that of the de auxiliis controversy. Ignatius originally developed them in the s while still a layman in Spain as Spain experienced a series of lay-led religious revivals, most notably the Erasmians and the Illuminists. Unlike the Erasmians, the Illuminists drew inspiration from monastic traditions of contemplation, asserting that the incipient union with God that contemplation affords was accessible to all.

The Erasmians and the Illuminists both ran afoul of the Inquisition. Cano and Pedroche argued that the Exercises should also be condemned for teaching the same ideas. The Exercises were developed by Ignatius to renew the faith of lay people. Cano argued that it was not right to encourage lay people to pursue contemplation since their proper call was to an active life of doing good works. For Cano, the hours spent in contemplation could get in the way of their accomplishing good works.

The Exercises , like the Illuminists, also value the experience of spiritual joy, against a traditional piety centered on sorrow for sins and sanctioned rituals and devotions, which the Illuminists characterized as tedious. Instead of worrying about ritual requirements and attending to sacraments, Ignatius noted that retreatants should feel consolation and desolation as they make their way through the Exercises.

Against this, Pedroche argued that consolation and joy in prayer were often given to beginners, as one would give a child a toy, to encourage those less advanced and less dedicated. They should not, therefore, be used as a gauge for faithfulness. True devotion is found not in those who experience joy in prayer but in those who dedicate themselves to carrying out the commandments, especially when they are difficult.

Cano added that it was unclear where any particular spiritual consolation came from, so it could be given as a trick of the devil to lead people down the wrong path. Thus, we should tell lay people that the road to holiness is difficult and takes much work, lest they turn to prayer out of laziness and for undeserved consolation.

The Exercises are meant to help retreatants find divine guidance from the Holy Spirit about the direction of their lives by helping them to recognize the Holy Spirit acting within them. By encouraging a selfless love of God, people acquire a sensitivity to the promptings of grace within themselves. Cano countered that expecting God to speak to oneself directly was to tempt God.

Such a path is rife for self-delusion and exploitation by the devil. In one sense, the criticisms of Cano and Pedroche had little effect.

The Exercises continued to flourish even in the towns where Cano and Pedroche preached and were even granted papal approbation. But other conservative voices across Europe joined Cano and Pedroche in their suspicion of the Jesuits, and Ignatius was keenly aware of this rising tide of opposition and moved to protect his order. There is circumstantial evidence that Ignatius might have edited the Exercises in order to remove references to the Holy Spirit that might have been construed as illuminist.

A high-water mark for opposition to suspicious ideas came in when Pope Paul iv —; r. But by , Ignatius, Cano, and Paul iv were all dead, and the agenda they had set began to work itself out in the way the Jesuits argued about how to define and use correctly the terminology of the Exercises that Ignatius had bequeathed so as not to run afoul of the church.

When Ignatius died, he had left only a minimal directory, so the Jesuits set to work to create a better one. The directories written between and show a large variety of interpretations of his work, including divergent views in exactly the three areas that Cano and Pedroche criticized. Moreover, the discussions among the Jesuits adopted the terms and categories that Cano and Pedroche set.

These differences were resolved in with the publication of the Official Directory , which set the canonical boundaries on interpretations of the Exercises and defined a specifically Jesuit spiritual discourse.

For instance, while the received wisdom is that consolation without preceding cause was an unimportant limit case that almost never occurred, it is now seen as an integral part of the theology of the Exercises. Was the significance of this concept buried because of Dominican criticism? This shows the danger of how a contentious relationship between the Dominicans and the Jesuits could negatively impact the effectiveness of ministries. Cano was not successful in suppressing the Exercises or its revitalization of the prayer life of lay people.

I am glad that this is so. I would hope that I would be happy if the cobbler did not fix my shoe in time because he was caught up in ecstatic prayer; and I believe that God can speak directly to people in such a way that all spiritual wisdom should not have to be mediated through designated human experts; and the consolation that comes in prayer is sometimes the only thing that gives people the strength to go on another day on the right path, so I would not oppose it as does Cano.

Cano points out how prayer could be problematic if distorted, but surely the best solution is not to simply leave prayer to the experts. So, the argument continues, though mostly underground and so not so overtly contentious. Does it have any effect other than a self-congratulatory reconfirming of beliefs of those on both sides? Is anyone listening? Both employed images and stories about Mary, the mother of Jesus, but in very different ways.

The rise of the Ottoman Empire and its encroachment into Europe in that period provoked a reaction from the church to deal with them by either conversion or conquer. The Dominicans also had the rosary, a popular devotional prayer invoking the help of Mary which by legend had been given to St. Dominic c. Starting with Roche, Dominicans formed groups of lay people in cities across Europe with huge success, centered around praying the rosary, communal prayer, personal piety, and corporal life.

For instance, in just seven years after its founding, the rosary confraternity in Cologne numbered , Pope Pius v —72; r. Dominic using the rosary to defeat the Albigensians. It was rumored that the commander of the fleet kept a statue of Mary on his ship for protection, and the Dominican chaplains of the fleet had been encouraging the soldiers to pray the rosary.

The Dominicans embraced Our Lady of Victory. They sponsored an annual procession through the streets of Antwerp, and on its centenary the rosary confraternity commissioned four paintings of the Battle of Lepanto for the Dominican church there.

In a nod to Our Lady of Victory being effective against all of the foes of the church, the painting of the battle depicts enemy ships flying not only the flags of the Ottoman Empire, but Protestant banners as well. Jesuits did this by leveraging the reverence for Mary that is shared by Christians and Muslims. One of the chapters is named after her, and she is venerated by many in Islam as the virginal mother of the prophet Jesus. The Jesuits befriended the Mughal emperors Akbar — and Jahangir — who were quite interested in Christianity and adorned their palaces with images of Jesus and Mary.

While the number of Muslim conversions to Christianity due to the invocation or intercession of Mary is unknown, there is one famous example. The Muslim prince Baldassarre Loyola Mandes —67 converted to Christianity and became a Jesuit, attributing his conversion to frequent apparitions of Virgin Mary through all phases of his life: convincing him to become a Christian, choose the Jesuits, stay the course he had chosen, and eventually to work to convert more Muslims to Christianity, which he did, of course, with recourse to Our Lady of Beauty.

While there was overlap in the use of these two images of Mary in dealing with Muslims in the early modern period, it is clear that the Dominicans played a central role in shaping the use of Our Lady of Victory while the Jesuits were largely responsible for pioneering the use of Our Lady of Beauty.

And while neither of these images seem to have been very successful in converting or conquering Muslims, they are both very much alive in the Catholic imagination today. There are websites that encourage Catholics to pray the rosary to defeat Muslims, especially terrorist organizations such as Al Qaeda and isis. Catholics engaged in dialogue with Muslims still have recourse to Our Lady of Beauty, though as a bridge to foster communication rather than as a lure to conversion.

One could wonder if the Dominicans coalesced around the combative icon of Our Lady of Victory because of their corporate commitment to the rosary and their connection to Pope Pius v , or because they had largely curtailed their work in Muslim countries.

After all, it was the Jesuits working in Muslim countries that were actively discouraged from using antagonistic images such as Our Lady of Victory and so developed the softer, attractive approach of Our Lady of Beauty.

But Jesuits did make use of Our Lady of the Rosary in German-speaking lands against Lutherans and in Brazil against heretics, and they connected Mary to military action against Muslims after the Ottoman siege of Vienna. As for the relation between Dominicans and Jesuits, in this case, there was not a lot of it. The two groups seemed to be like ships passing in the night, there on the same sea but unaware of and unconcerned for what the other was doing.

There is much more sharing within each group than between them. One wonders if more could have been accomplished with greater collaboration. Our final paper in this issue is about what can happen when Jesuits and Dominicans work well together.

The period after the Second World War —45 was one of growth and change for the church and the world. Catholics called for change in response to a changing world, and theologians responded in the areas of ecumenism, biblical study, pastoral and liturgical renewal. New ideas provoked disciplinary actions issued by the Vatican against some theologians, but this only encouraged them to work harder for renewal in the church, and at the Second Vatican Council, many of these new ideas were incorporated into official Catholic teaching.

The council was composed of bishops from around the world, representatives of other Christian churches, and periti , theological experts on various subjects. Two periti in particular stood out: Yves Congar —95 , who was the most influential theologian leading up the council, and Karl Rahner —84 , who became the most influential theologian moving forward. These two theologians worked together and became friends at the council.

Congar saw Rahner as a great ally and spoke of Rahner with admiration in his diary of the council, writing at one point that Rahner had probably spoken too much, yet he was magnificent, courageous, and profound. Congar studied the history of the structures and the teachings of the church and was a pioneer in ecumenism. His ideas had direct bearing on sections of the final texts of the council in the documents on the church, revelation, ecumenism and other religions, priesthood, religious liberty, and foreign missions.

Karl Rahner was a fundamental theologian attentive to the thought-forms of Thomas Aquinas c. Rahner showed the conciliar theologians how to be faithful to the Catholic tradition and in touch with the modern world. Rather than contributing ideas one could pin down, Rahner showed the council fathers how to rethink the tradition in a way that could make use of the best insights from the modern world to create a deeper view that could speak to the concerns of the modern world.

Congar and his confreres had worked with those who were socially impoverished and alienated from the church in an attempt to build a theology that could speak across this divide, creating a bridge to bring these people back in touch with the church and more integrated into society.

Congar believed that a renewed anthropology based on people being made in the image of God could serve as this basis and provide a foundation for Christian ethics. You are commenting using your Twitter account. You are commenting using your Facebook account. Notify me of new comments via email. Notify me of new posts via email. Create a free website or blog at WordPress. The Black Cordelias Send five bob and ask all your friends to do the same.

The Difference Between Dominicans and Jesuits Two men considering a religious vocation were having a conversation. Share this: Twitter Facebook. Like this: Like Loading Eric says:. August 28, at pm. Elise B. September 1, at pm. Sister Mary says:. September 4, at pm. September 5, at am.

The Franciscans are, of course, inspired by their founder, St. Francis of Assisi. Perhaps the greatest portrait of Francis was written by G. Chesterton, now published in the second volume of his collected works , alongside his much-praised biographical interpretation of St.

Thomas Aquinas. According to Chesterton, St. Francis was a joyful beggar and St Thomas was a joyful scholar, both discovering the secret of the Cross. Life from death. In sum, they are the kickass order. Whether they are resisting Portuguese slave-traders or fighting the Devil himself, you can count on the Jesuits to get it done. They are originally famed for their opposition to Protestantism and impressive missionary endeavors, all in the service of the bishop of Rome — to whom they vow a fourth vow.

Since the current pope is a Jesuit and Russia is on the move, you know that the end is nigh! If you are a fundamentalist Protestant, then the Jesuits should be among the least of your worries. I am, by the way, a big fan of Ratzinger.

His book, Eschatology , is among my favorite books in my library. Even though the Dominicans are known for their education, the Jesuits have likewise positioned themselves as premier educators in the Catholic Church.

This is especially obvious in America where several Catholic universities have some connection, whether strong or not, with the Jesuits. In Rome, the two most prestigious universities that grant pontifical degrees are the Gregorian Jesuit and the Angelicum Dominican.

The Benedictines saved Western civilization. Do you know how to read and write? Thank the Benedictines. That is perhaps an exaggeration. But it is nonetheless true — the patrimony of Greek and Roman culture was preserved and sustained by the Benedictines after the fall of the Roman Empire in the 5th and 6th centuries anno Domini. Unlike the religious orders that emerge in the 13th century Dominicans and Franciscans or the 16th century Jesuits and Oratorians , the much earlier Benedictines are a monastic order.

As you would expect, the Benedictines are still active in education. Here in North Carolina, the only Catholic college is Belmont Abbey College , which has a fine reputation for its orthodoxy and academics. From what I have heard, the Benedictine monks are very present in the administration and everyday life of the college.

In the twentieth century, Benedictine oblates have included Dorothy Day, the great social worker, and Walker Percy, the great Southern novelist. The most important figures in Carmelite spirituality are St. John of the Cross, St. The Congregation of Holy Cross C. Fighting Irish! The Vincentians — the Society of St.

Vincent de Paul — are known for their service to the poor. The Shrine to St. The Oratorians — the Oratory of Saint Philip Neri — are unique as communities of priests and lay-members.

Perhaps the most famous Oratorian is Venerable John Henry Newman, founder of the Birmingham Oratory and the most important Catholic theologian in the 19th century. Image: St. Good little guide. And here I was thinking you were an educated guy!