Alessandro Luigi Centurione (29 August 1686 – 2 October 1757) was the seventeenth

Superior General of the Society of Jesus The superior general of the Society of Jesus is the leader of the Society of Jesus, the Catholic religious order also known as the Jesuits. He is generally addressed as Father General. The position sometimes carries the nickname of the Black Po ...

Early years

Coming from an illustrious family of

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, Centurione undertook his schooling in the Jesuit boarding school of

Parma Parma (; egl, Pärma, ) is a city in the northern Italian region of Emilia-Romagna known for its architecture, Giuseppe Verdi, music, art, prosciutto (ham), Parmigiano-Reggiano, cheese and surrounding countryside. With a population of 198,292 ...

before joining the

Society of Jesus , image = Ihs-logo.svg , image_size = 175px , caption = ChristogramOfficial seal of the Jesuits , abbreviation = SJ , nickname = Jesuits , formation = , founders ...

in 1703. At the end of the usual spiritual and philo-theological Jesuit training, he was ordained

priest A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in particu ...

in 1717. He seemed to be set on a teaching career (

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Philosophy Philosophy (from , ) is the systematized study of general and fundamental questions, such as those about existence, reason, knowledge, values, mind, and language. Such questions are often posed as problems to be studied or resolved. Some ...

and

Theology Theology is the systematic study of the nature of the divine and, more broadly, of religious belief. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of analyzing the ...

) when he was appointed Provincial of

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(1750). It was in such capacity that he took part at the General Congregation that elected

Ignacio Visconti Ignazio Visconti (31 July 1682 - 4 May 1755) was an Italian Jesuit, elected sixteenth Superior General of the Society of Jesus which he governed from 4 July 1751 to 4 May 1755. Formation and early career Visconti was born in Milan, Italy. A stu ...

Superior General in 1751. Visconti kept him in

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as Assistant for the Italian affairs and left a note to make him the Vicar General after his death.

Superior General

Elected Superior General by the 18th General Congregation (30 November 1755) – just a few days after the devastating

Lisbon earthquake The 1755 Lisbon earthquake, also known as the Great Lisbon earthquake, impacted Portugal, the Iberian Peninsula, and Northwest Africa on the morning of Saturday, 1 November, Feast of All Saints, at around 09:40 local time. In combination with ...

– he soon felt the effects of Pombal's international campaign against the Jesuits. Pombal's hostility towards the Society was compounded by the pamphlet of the Jesuit

Gabriele Malagrida Gabriel Malagrida (18 September or 6 December 1689 – 21 September 1761) was an Italian Jesuit missionary in the Portuguese colony of Brazil and influential figure in the political life of the Lisbon Royal Court who described the devastating 175 ...

calling the devastating Lisbon earthquake 'God's punishment on Pombal's godlessness'. Malagrida was severely punished and harsh measures were taken against the Jesuits in

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. A first demand reached the dying pope Benedict XIV that the Society of Jesus be suppressed. In the face of growing accusations of

laxism In Catholic moral theology, probabilism provides a way of answering the question about what to do when one does not know what to do. Probabilism proposes that one can follow an authoritative opinion regarding whether an act may be performed moral ...

in the Society's approach to moral questions, Centurione wrote a letter (1756) to all Jesuit Superiors insisting on the strengthening of Moral Theology training in Jesuit houses of formation. Earlier, as decreed by the General Congregation that elected him, Centurione had written a letter on the 'True spirit of the Society'. Clearly, there were troubled times ahead and Centurione felt that the spiritual life of his men had to be fortified in order to better face the coming storm. The troubles caused by father

Antoine de La Valette Antoine Lavalette ( Martrin, 26 October 1708 – Toulouse, 13 December 1767), was a French Jesuit clergyman, Superior of the Martinique missions, whose bankruptcy led to the downfall of his order. He became a member of the Society of Jesus in Toulo ...

's risky commercial activities and the inept handling of his bankruptcy by the French Jesuits further complicated matters for Centurione and increased the group of those who felt that the Society was beyond reform. The short term of his generalate did not allow him to do much. Yet, his affability and strength of character, not giving in to threat nor allowing himself or others to go for retaliatory moves, somehow – unknowingly – prepared his Jesuit companions to adopt the right attitude for what would happen in 1773, the suppression of the Society of Jesus.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Centurione, Aloysius 1686 births 1757 deaths Clergy from Genoa 18th-century Italian Jesuits Superiors General of the Society of Jesus