Fordham: the early years : a commemoration of the Jesuits' arrival in 1846

574 Pages·1998·2.65 MB·English

by  Thomas C. Hennessy

The Early Years : A Commemoration of the
title:
Jesuits' Arrival in 1846
author:
publisher: Fordham University Press
isbn10 | asin: 0962288985
print isbn13: 9780962288982
ebook isbn13: 9780585125602
language: English
subject Jesuits--History.
publication date: 1998
lcc: BX3706F65 1998eb
ddc: 255.53
subject: Jesuits--History.
Page iii
Fordham The Early Years
A Commemoration of the Jesuits' Arrival in 1847
Edited by
Thomas C. Hennessy, S.J.
Foreword by
Joseph A. O'Hare, S.J.
Papers by
Cornelius Michael Buckley, S.J.
Francis X. Curran, S.J.
Allan S. Gilbert and Roger Wines
James Hennesey, S.J.
Thomas C. Hennessy, S.J.
James R. Kelly
John W. Padberg, S.J.
Thomas J. Shelley
SOMETHING MORE PUBLICATIONS
Page iv
COVER
Left to right from the top, the
university Church prior to the
1929 reconstruction; some
1859 Jesuit faculty, including
early arrivals Doucet, Tissot,
Daubresse, Legoüais and
Tellier; the University seal
dating from 1914; Weldon
McKeon's engraving of
Rodrigue's 1846 drawing of
the college; Fr. August
Thébaud; Archbishop John
Hughes; two of the 1869
graduating class, Mssrs. R.
Treacy and M. Curran stand
behind Fr. Costin, S.J.; the
Moat mansion with college
additions behind.
© Copyright 1998 by Jesuits of Fordham, Inc.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or
transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical,
including photocopy, recording, or information or retrieval system,
without permission in writing from the publisher.
This book is being distributed by the Fordham University Press
Library of Congress Catalogue Number 98-61574
ISBN 0-9622889-8-5
Layout, design and cover by George McCauley
Page v
This book is dedicated
to the Jesuits at Fordham
whom I have known since 1941,
as an expression of admiration
for their learning
and their educational and religious endeavors,
and in gratitude
for the gracious fraternal assistance
many have given the editor
to make this book a reality.
Page vii
Foreword
The uses of history are many. Stories of our past, particularly of
colorful characters like some of those recalled in these essays, can
tickle our curiosity and stretch our imaginations. When such stories
also nourish the institutional memory of a university, they can help
clarify and confirm its institutional identity. Finally, when history
recalls great deeds done by great-hearted pioneers, it can offer
inspiration and direction to those who might otherwise be intimidated
by the uncertainties of the present moment. This volume of essays,
which explores the circumstances of the first generation of Jesuits to
come to Rose Hill in 1846, contains generous measures of interest,
instruction and inspiration for any contemporary reader, whose own
life has been engaged at some point with the life of Fordham
University, which now spans 156 years.
Many lessons can be drawn from this genial evocation of Fordham's
origins, traced from a variety of complementary perspectives, For this
reader, three lessons, above all, stand out: the web of relationships that
inextricably link Fordham's beginnings to the early challenges
confronting the Catholic Church in the United States; the importance
of the geographical location of New York City as a defining influence
on the development of Fordham as a Jesuit enterprise; and the
similarities and differences between that first generation of Jesuits,
who came to the new world of North America from the old world of
Europe and their successors today, who stand on the threshold of a
new millennium.
As these essays demonstrate in compelling fashion, Fordham
University was born in response to the needs of an immigrant church
that sought to care for its people in a new land, one bright with
promise but dominated by a Protestant culture and clouded by anti-
Catholic discrimination. Fordham's founder, John Hughes, was a
national leader of this new Catholic population. His fierce advocacy
of Catholic interests in New York set off national echoes as well. The
establishment of St. John's College, along with other Catholic schools
and institutions, was only one of the ways in which this first
archbishop of New York secured a place for his people in their new
land, Another link sealing the origins of the university to those of the
church in New York was embodied in the first President of what was
to become Fordham University, John McCloskey, who later became
the first American Cardinal.
The historic decision of the French Jesuits accepting the invitation of
Archbishop Hughes to come to New York and assume responsibility
for his new college was not an easy one, nor was it one that the Jesuits
working at St. Mary's College in Kentucky welcomed with uniform
enthusiasm. Their relationship with Hughes would have its share of
rebuffs and mutual misunder-
Page viii
standing. But it was a decision that was thoroughly Ignatian in both
principle and in process, as the careful analysis of reasons for the
move by Father Jean Baptiste Hus, S.J., documents. The driving
principle behind the decision was the search for the greater good to be
achieved by the commitment of limited Jesuit resources. The
conclusion that the geographic location of New York City guaranteed
city's future importance led to the choice of the city for the expanded
opportunities for Jesuit apostolic activity it promised. Today, when
New York City is hailed by Pope John Paul II as the "capital of the
world," the wisdom of that original act of Ignatian discernment, made
by French Jesuits in a new and bewildering land, is emphatically
confirmed.
Finally, the differences between 1846 and 1998 are many and obvious.
As we approach a new millennium, it is impossible to predict, much
less control, the future that awaits us. We live in a world of ever-
accelerating change, and the uncertainties that confront us can be
unnerving. But that first generation of Fordham Jesuits, to whose story
this book of essays is dedicated, surely faced uncertainties in 1846 at
least as intimidating as our own today. The Society of Jesus had only
recently been restored, after its suppression in the late 18 th century.
There were theological controversies that divided Jesuits in France, as
well as the competing interests of bishops who sought to establish
their young church on a new and unsettled frontier. Inspired by the
Ignatian call to serve the kingdom of God as it is born among us,
those first Fordham Jesuits were pioneers and pilgrims with great
hearts and generous spirits. They embarked on their journey with the
magnanimity of the Spiritual Exercises, free of any illusions of
security but full of hope concerning the future to which God called
them. The record of what such a spirit allowed them to accomplish is
the greatest of their many gifts to their contemporary successors at
Fordham and all those who have chosen to continue that journey with
us.
The Fordham University community extends around the world and
through many generations, past, present and to come. All of us owe a
profound debt of gratitude to the Rev. Thomas C. Hennessy, S.J.,
whose inspiration it was to recover this important chapter of the
Fordham story and who enlisted in the completion of the project such
distinguished contributors, editors and publishers. While this book
was undoubtedly a work of love for Father Hennessy, it also stands as
a tribute to the Jesuits of 1846 and a gift to all of us who have
followed in their path.
JOSEPH A. O'HARE, S.J.
PRESIDENT, FORDHAM UNIVERSITY
OCT. 8, 1998
Page ix
Introduction
Most editors offer a brief explanation regarding the special nature of
the publication that moved them to seek the cooperation of others in
the project and express thanks to people who have been particularly
helpful on the road to publication. We follow that pattern here.
In 1996 Fordham University commemorated the 150th year of the
arrival of the Jesuits at Rose Hill and their assumption of the
administration of St. John's College. At the time of the
commemoration, those who wished to read about each of the 1846
Jesuit pioneers were disappointed at the limited amount of published
material about their lives. Numerous other questions arose, such as:
the reasons behind the Jesuits' departing from France; details about
their college in Kentucky; the conditions of their lives in Rose Hill;
the pre-Jesuit history of St. John's College; reasons for the bishop's
calls for help; and, the Jesuits' relations with Archbishop John
Hughes. The purpose of this book is to provide answers to such
questions, and ultimately to be a source of assistance to later
historians who undertake to tell the full Fordham story. To help the
reader who has a limited acquaintance with Jesuits, a glossary of
Jesuit terminology is provided at the end of the book.
The series of papers begins with James Hennesey's overview of the
origins of Fordham that spans Paris, Kentucky and New York and
provides highlights of the lives of some of the Fordham pioneer
Jesuits (Chapter I). John Padberg reveals the historical background
behind the move of many Jesuits out of France when a new regime
forced them from their classrooms there (Chapter II). Some of those
French emigrants settled in Kentucky, and C. Michael Buckley
recounts their early successes and later waning fortunes there from
1831 to 1846 (Chapter III).