The Jesuit clause (

Norwegian Norwegian, Norwayan, or Norsk may refer to: *Something of, from, or related to Norway, a country in northwestern Europe * Norwegians, both a nation and an ethnic group native to Norway * Demographics of Norway *The Norwegian language, including ...

: ) was a provision in the Constitution of Norway, paragraph 2, in force from 1814 to 1956, that denied

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

entry into the country. Until 1897, this provision was combined with a ban on

monastic orders Monasticism (from Ancient Greek , , from , , 'alone'), also referred to as monachism, or monkhood, is a religious way of life in which one renounces worldly pursuits to devote oneself fully to spiritual work. Monastic life plays an important rol ...

, and until 1851 a ban on

Jews Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

, the so-called

Jew clause The Jew clause ( no, Jødeparagrafen) is in the vernacular name of the second paragraph of the Constitution of Norway from 1814 to 1851 and from 1942 to 1945. The clause, in its original form, banned Jews from entering Norway, and also forbade ...

. The second paragraph of the Constitution originally reads: Historian Bernt T. Oftestad has often interpreted the ban as an expression of Norwegian anti-Catholicism. Catholicism was banned in Norway until 1845, when the Dissenter Act was passed and Catholic worship was allowed in Norway, although monks continued to be banned from entering the country. As early as 1624, Norway had prohibited Catholic priests from staying in the country, under threat of the death penalty. Restrictions on Catholic worship were gradually reduced from 1845, but the ban on Jesuits was not lifted until Norway ratified the 1950

European Convention on Human Rights The European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR; formally the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms) is an international convention to protect human rights and political freedoms in Europe. Drafted in 1950 by ...

in 1956. In both 1897 and 1925, proposals to lift the ban on Jesuits were discussed and voted on, but failed to gain a supermajority in 1897, and only gained the support of a minority in 1925. Thus, this provision became the last important express legal restriction on religious presence and practice in Norway.

Background

Jesuits

The Jesuit order was founded during the

Reformation The Reformation (alternatively named the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation) was a major movement within Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the Catholic Church and in ...

in Europe with the aim of reforming the

Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

from within. The order does not have

monasteries A monastery is a building or complex of buildings comprising the domestic quarters and workplaces of monastics, monks or nuns, whether living in communities or alone (hermits). A monastery generally includes a place reserved for prayer which ...

in the usual sense, although

monk A monk (, from el, μοναχός, ''monachos'', "single, solitary" via Latin ) is a person who practices religious asceticism by monastic living, either alone or with any number of other monks. A monk may be a person who decides to dedica ...

s who are in the same place must live together. The monks do not wear their own habit and are not bound to a place, unlike for example the Benedictine order, but are sent out by the order. The Jesuit order played a decisive role during the Counter-Reformation and in

Catholic missions Missionary work of the Catholic Church has often been undertaken outside the geographically defined parishes and dioceses by religious orders who have people and material resources to spare, and some of which specialized in missions. Eventually, p ...

. For a time, it was a powerful organization within the Catholic Church. The Jesuits have fostered both missions and the establishment of educational institutions, and established a number of universities in Europe. Their missionary activity and sometimes elitist and offensive style has led to strong backlash and criticism over time, as well as the emergence of both suspicion and a number of myths associated with the order and their activities. Within Catholic circles as well, such as

Jansenism Jansenism was an early modern theological movement within Catholicism, primarily active in the Kingdom of France, that emphasized original sin, human depravity, the necessity of divine grace, and predestination. It was declared a heresy by th ...

and philosopher Blaise Pascal, attacks have been made on the Jesuits.

Views on the Jesuits

During the 1956 parliamentary debate on the repeal of the clause, the order was accused of being behind the

Spanish Civil War The Spanish Civil War ( es, Guerra Civil Española)) or The Revolution ( es, La Revolución, link=no) among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War ( es, Cuarta Guerra Carlista, link=no) among Carlists, and The Rebellion ( es, La Rebelión, link ...

and of inspiring

Communists Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, a s ...

and Marxists by the then-president of the

Odelsting The Storting ( no, Stortinget ) (lit. the Great Thing) is the supreme legislature of Norway, established in 1814 by the Constitution of Norway. It is located in Oslo. The unicameral parliament has 169 members and is elected every four years bas ...

, C. J. Hambro: It was thought that the members of the order followed the Pope blindly and that the order followed a

moral theology Ethics involves systematizing, defending, and recommending concepts of right and wrong behavior.''Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy''"Ethics"/ref> A central aspect of ethics is "the good life", the life worth living or life that is simply sati ...

which justified both lying and deceit as long as the ends were good, and were for that reason given the motto "The end justifies the means". Similar ideas about the Jesuits were also common in Norway in the 20th century.

Before 1814

As the Jesuit schools and universities grew in reputation, it also became common for wealthy Norwegian official families to send their children there for the best education: in Rome, but also later in Belgium, Poland and elsewhere. For Norwegian students, the school in

Braniewo Braniewo () (german: Braunsberg in Ostpreußen, la, Brunsberga, Old Prussian: ''Brus'', lt, Prūsa), is a town in northern Poland, in Warmia, in the Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship, with a population of 16,907 as of June 2021. It is the capital ...

on the

Baltic Sea The Baltic Sea is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that is enclosed by Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Sweden and the North and Central European Plain. The sea stretches from 53°N to 66°N latitude and ...

was particularly attractive. The students went to Jesuit schools, and many received tuition free. They had to attend Catholic masses, confessions and Catholic Eucharist. Many of the students converted to Catholicism, the best known being Laurentius Nicolai. The schools also gained a good reputation, with good teaching staff and pedagogically recognized methods. The education was practical and results-oriented. The schools provided education in various disciplines, such as literature, music, drama and mathematics. Several of these began missionary work in the Nordic countries, starting in Poland and Belgium. There were also some Catholics in Norway who more or less hid their faith, among them who was bishop of Stavanger and

Christoffer Hjort Christoffer Hjort (1561–1616) was a Norwegian clergyman and crypto-Catholic. He served as a vicar in Aker and was the priest at the chapel of Akershus Castle, until he was expelled from the country for Catholicism in 1613. Personal life Hjort ...

who was headmaster at

Oslo Cathedral School Schola Osloensis, known in Norwegian as Oslo Katedralskole (''Oslo Cathedral School'') and more commonly as "Katta",Denmark–Norway under threat of the death penalty. But around the mid-1700s, the Catholic Church abandoned its missionary activities, and most active attempts to re-Catholicize Denmark-Norway ceased.

Work on the Constitution

Wilhelm_Frimann_Koren_Christie_malt_av_Jacob_Munch_-_Eidsvoll_1814_-_EM

The first drafts of the Constitution did not mention Jesuits, but the ban on Jews was there from the beginning. A draft from 16 April reads: Around 20 drafts of a new constitution were prepared, in 15 of which religious practice was regulated and only one had full freedom of religion. The tendency of the proposal was to allow non-

Lutheran Lutheranism is one of the largest branches of Protestantism, identifying primarily with the theology of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German monk and Protestant Reformers, reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practice of the Cathol ...

Christian denominations, but forbid their public practice. Eleven of the 15 proposals stated that the Evangelical Lutheran faith should be the public religion, seven stated that the king should profess this faith, one stated that the government should profess this faith, and one applied the requirement to all officials.

Pope Clement XIV Pope Clement XIV ( la, Clemens XIV; it, Clemente XIV; 31 October 1705 – 22 September 1774), born Giovanni Vincenzo Antonio Ganganelli, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 19 May 1769 to his death in Sep ...

disbanded the Jesuit order in 1773 and the order was not active while work on the Constitution was ongoing. On 4 May, a total of 20 paragraphs were adopted, but on the same day there was a new debate on paragraph 2, on

freedom of religion Freedom of religion or religious liberty is a principle that supports the freedom of an individual or community, in public or private, to manifest religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship, and observance. It also includes the freed ...

Wilhelm Frimann Koren Christie Wilhelm Frimann Koren Christie (7 December 1778 – 10 October 1849) was a Norwegian attorney. He was a member of the National Assembly at Eidsvoll in 1814 and served as the Norwegian Constituent Assembly secretary. Background Born in Kristiansu ...

had promoted the draft, and thought that the exclusion of Jesuits and "monastic orders" should also be added to paragraph 2, something that had not been included in the drafts until then. Christie's proposal was divided into four parts: # Jews and Jesuits were to be excluded from the kingdom # Monastic orders should not be tolerated # The inhabitants of the country should profess the religion of the state # The inhabitants should be obliged to educate their children in the public religion A few priests argued against it and for religious tolerance. Then the question of the Jews was brought up again. Priest Peter Ulrik Magnus Hount tried in vain to argue that the provision to test the Jews was "Disgustingly intolerant. Jews are human beings. If other nations acted as we do, the Jews would have no place to live, and yet they should be allowed to live somewhere on God's green earth." Provost

Hans Christian Ulrik Midelfart Hans Christian Ulrik Midelfart (22 July 1772 – 1 December 1823) was a Norwegian Lutheran minister who served as a representative at the Norwegian Constitutional Assembly in 1814. Hans Christian Ulrik Midelfart was born at Byneset parish i ...

also spoke against the proposal which he called a manifestation of unchristian intolerance. Christie, however, said that Jesuits could pose a threat to the country and that other "sects" could also be harmful. It turned out as Christie wanted, and 94 of 110 representatives at the

Constituent Assembly A constituent assembly (also known as a constitutional convention, constitutional congress, or constitutional assembly) is a body assembled for the purpose of drafting or revising a constitution. Members of a constituent assembly may be elected b ...

Eidsvoll Eidsvoll (; sometimes written as ''Eidsvold'') is a municipality in Akershus in Viken county, Norway. It is part of the Romerike traditional region. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Sundet. General information ...

voted for the proposal, but it then had a provision that there should in principle be free exercise of religion, a point that fell out in the editorial committee, consisting of

Christian Adolph Diriks Christian Adolph Diriks (1 November 1775 – 16 December 1837) was a Norwegian lawyer and statesman. He served as a representative at the Norwegian Constitutional Assembly in 1814. Biography Christian Adolph Diriks was born in Copenhagen, Denma ...

, Lauritz Weidemann and

Georg Sverdrup Georg Sverdrup (born Jørgen Sverdrup; 25 April 1770 – 8 December 1850) was a Norwegian statesman, best known as one of the presidents of the Norwegian Constituent Assembly in Eidsvoll in 1814. He was a member of the Norwegian Parliament and ...

while Nicolai Wergeland stood for full religious freedom in this case. But the battle was not over religious tolerance, even in paragraph 15, which stipulated that the regent should "always" profess the Evangelical Lutheran religion. This wording was important because Charles III Johan had been a confessing Catholic until 1810. The () was thus given the opportunity to make a strict confession to the Lutheran religion in an attempt to exclude the Swedish heir to the throne as future Norwegian king.

Debate on repeal

In the debates on the repeal of the Jesuit clause, the counter-arguments went along two lines: one was that Jesuits being allowed entry could represent a threat to the country, and a constitutionally conservative line that the constitution should not be changed unless there was a need for change, and that this provision was in effect a dormant provision, since no Jesuits had been stopped at the border. Portrett_av_Viggo_Ullmann(2)_crop

The arguments for repeal were primarily based on principles of religious and spiritual freedom, and that the provisions were not worthy of a modern democracy. The weight of these different arguments was, however, somewhat different on the three occasions, the fear of the alleged harmful effect of the Jesuits on the country being greatest in the discussion of 1925.

1897

At the request of Norwegian Catholics, a final amendment to the Constitution was delivered in 1892 to repeal the Jesuit clause, and they called on

Viggo Ullmann Johan Christian Viggo Ullmann (21 December 1848 – 30 August 1910) was a Norwegian educator and politician with Venstre, the Norwegian social-liberal party. He was the son of the author Vilhelmine Ullmann, brother of the feminist Ragna Niels ...

of the

Liberal Party The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. __TOC__ Active liberal parties This is a li ...

to promote it. The proposal came up for debate on 10 May 1897, along with two other proposals. Ullmann's proposal struck down the ban on Jesuits and monastic orders, but the Jesuit ban was added when the proposal was supported by Ullmann's party colleagues Thomas Georg Münster and

Hans Jacob Horst Hans Jacob Horst (7 November 1848 – 17 March 1931) was a Norwegian politician for the Liberal Party. He graduated with a master's degree in liberal arts in 1874, becoming a teacher and later principal. He became active in the Liberal Union and th ...

. Another proposal was promoted by Hans Andersen from the

Conservative Party The Conservative Party is a name used by many political parties around the world. These political parties are generally right-wing though their exact ideologies can range from center-right to far-right. Political parties called The Conservative P ...

, where the Jesuit and monastic order ban was removed and full religious practice was allowed "within the boundaries of law and virtuousness". A third proposal was promoted by Liberals

Ole Olsen Five Ole Olsen Five (21 May 1846 – 26 April 1930) was a Norwegian teacher and politician for the Liberal Party (Norway), Liberal Party. He was born in Stod, Norway, Stod as a son of teacher, sexton and farmer Ole Larsen Sunde and Olava Andersdatter ...

and which would retain the ban on Jesuits and monastic orders, and add a ban on Freemasons. The debate was dominated by the practical meaning of these prohibitions. At that time, it was only the Jesuit ban that had criminal law, where a Jesuit who was discovered in Norway could be sentenced to lifelong

forced labor Forced labour, or unfree labour, is any work relation, especially in modern or early modern history, in which people are employed against their will with the threat of destitution, detention, violence including death, or other forms of ex ...

. This was therefore interpreted to mean that there was actually no prohibition on other members of monastic orders staying in Norway, but only a prohibition on establishing orders in the country. It was further discussed whether there was a need for the amendment according to the requirements in paragraph 112. As there had been no unfortunate experiences with the Jesuit ban, it was argued that there was no reason to remove it. It was also pointed out in the debate that other countries had had similar bans on Jesuits, but had removed them. The result of the debate was that the ban on monastic orders was removed as there was still no possibility of sanction or leverage, while the Jesuit ban was maintained. However, the proposal to remove the Jesuit ban received a majority, 63 in favor and 43 against, but not the supermajority of 2/3.

1925

The government promoted proposals to the Storting (Parliament) to remove the Jesuit provision in a proposition dated 23 November 1923, reported in the Storting meeting of 29 November. At that time there was a more positive attitude to the bill, but by the time it came up for consideration in 1925 the mood had changed, particularly within Christian circles in the country. The Faculty of Theology at

MF Norwegian School of Theology MF Norwegian School of Theology, Religion and Society ( no, MF vitenskapelig høyskole for teologi, religion og samfunn), formerly the Free Faculty of Theology ( no, Det teologiske menighetsfakultet) and MF Norwegian School of Theology, is an accr ...

, the country's bishops and the Association of Priests of the Church of Norway spoke out against lifting the Jesuit ban. There was also debate among the general public, with

Marta Steinsvik Marta Steinsvik (23 March 1877 – 27 July 1950) was a Norwegian author and translator. She was a champion of women's rights, a proponent of antisemitism and anti-Catholicism, and promoter of the use of Nynorsk. She was the first female to graduat ...

and ' in particular opposing the lifting of the ban, while church historian and composer and author

Gerhard Schjelderup Gerhard Rosenkrone Schjelderup (November 17, 1859 – July 29, 1933) was a Norwegian composer, known especially for his operas. Biography Schjelderup was born in Kristiansand. Norway. One of five children, each with an artistic bent, his tal ...

wanted the Jesuit ban removed. Steinsvik traveled the country with the lecture "In the Mother Church's Embrace" and through a series of articles in ''

Aftenposten ( in the masthead; ; Norwegian for "The Evening Post") is Norway's largest printed newspaper by circulation. It is based in Oslo. It sold 211,769 copies in 2015 (172,029 printed copies according to University of Bergen) and estimated 1.2 milli ...

'' in 1925, strongly advocated against the Catholic Church and the repeal of the Jesuit clause. The debate in Parliament showed that it wanted to respect the wishes of the Church in the matter. This time the Jesuit ban was discussed alone, unlike in 1897. It was argued this time that the provision was now a "dead paragraph", as the previous penal provisions had been removed. But unlike in 1897, the proposal was voted down this time, with 99 voting against and just 33 voting in favor.

1956

The Jesuit clause created difficulties for Norway in international cooperation. The matter came up again in Parliament in connection with Norway's ratification of the European Convention on Human Rights of 4 November 1950. Also, the

UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) is an international document adopted by the United Nations General Assembly that enshrines the rights and freedoms of all human beings. Drafted by a UN committee chaired by Eleanor Roosevelt, i ...

from 1948 was withdrawn. The government therefore promoted through proposition number 202, 1952, a proposal for a constitutional amendment, which was referred to the Parliament on 10 January 1953.

Ole Hallesby Ole Kristian Hallesby (5 August 1879 – 22 November 1961) was a conservative, Norwegian Lutheran theologian, author and educator. Biography Ole Kristian Hallesby was born in Aremark, in Østfold, Norway. Hallesby grew up as the sixth of eight s ...

and other professors at the Faculty of Theology did not want the Jesuits in the country because they would be morally destructive, among other things, due to the Jesuits' teachings defending lies. also strongly opposed the repeal of the clause. During the parliamentary debate on 1 November 1956, the President of the Odelsting C. J. Hambro was deeply concerned about the future of Norway if the Jesuits were allowed to enter the country: "I look with the utmost fear for the future of our people at any move against the state church". From the podium he also made an attack on professor of church history , who in November 1955 had been asked by the head of the Standing Committee on Scrutiny and Constitutional Affairs, Erling Wikborg, to make a statement on the Jesuit Order, Hambro questioning Molland's authority in the matter. Hambro stood together with Lars Elisæus Vatnaland ( Farmers' Party) and Erling Wikborg (

Christian Democratic Party __NOTOC__ Christian democratic parties are political parties that seek to apply Christian principles to public policy. The underlying Christian democracy movement emerged in 19th-century Europe, largely under the influence of Catholic social tea ...

) as opponents of the lifting of the Jesuit clause. Hambro believed that the Jesuits had been a contributor to the rise of

fascism Fascism is a far-right, authoritarian, ultra-nationalist political ideology and movement,: "extreme militaristic nationalism, contempt for electoral democracy and political and cultural liberalism, a belief in natural social hierarchy an ...

and

Nazism Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) i ...

in the interwar period, and also an inspiration for

communists Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, a s ...

and Marxists. Kjell Bondevik also spoke out against the repeal and warned against letting the order into the country. Opposition was strong in some Christian circles, with theologian Olav Valen-Sendstad as a key spokesman, who among other things wrote the publication ('Open letter to the Norwegian Parliament 1954: will the parliament give Jesuit fascism its moral recognition?') When the matter came to a vote in Parliament, the repeal received a large majority, 111 votes to 31. All 14 Christian Democratic Party representatives voted against, and Hambro was in the minority, along with five of the 27 representatives from the Conservatives.

Later sections on religious freedom

In 1964, paragraph 2 was amended again, this time by adding the right to free exercise of religion. The paragraph reads: On 21 May 2012, the paragraph was amended again by removing the reference to the state's public religion, and the amended paragraph § 2 reads: The provision on freedom of religion was moved to § 16: