Simão Rodrigues de Azevedo, SJ (1510 – 15 June 1579), also known in English as Simon Rodericks, was a Portuguese Catholic

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 deity, deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in parti ...

and one of the co-founders of the

Society of Jesus The Society of Jesus (; abbreviation: S.J. or SJ), also known as the Jesuit Order or the Jesuits ( ; ), is a religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rome. It was founded in 1540 ...

. A Portuguese nobleman, Rodrigues was one of the six very first companions of

Ignatius of Loyola Ignatius of Loyola ( ; ; ; ; born Íñigo López de Oñaz y Loyola; – 31 July 1556), venerated as Saint Ignatius of Loyola, was a Basque Spaniard Catholic priest and theologian, who, with six companions, founded the religious order of the S ...

at the

University of Paris The University of Paris (), known Metonymy, metonymically as the Sorbonne (), was the leading university in Paris, France, from 1150 to 1970, except for 1793–1806 during the French Revolution. Emerging around 1150 as a corporation associated wit ...

who took vows of poverty and chastity at the chapel of Montmartre, on the 15 August 1534. The group of 'Friends in the Lord' will ultimately form the nucleus of the

,cfr Etienne N. Degrez, ''Ten friends in the Lord'', in ''Ignis'', vol. XIII, 1984, pp.30-40. approved in 1540 (in '' Regimini militantis ecclesiae''). After some years working under the direction of Ignatius in

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, he was sent to

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. Featuring Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point in continental Europe, Portugal borders Spain to its north and east, with which it share ...

, where his strong personality immediately attracted many young men to the Society and he became very influential at the royal court. Unfortunately, as the Provincial of the Portuguese Jesuits he allowed certain spiritual devotions to develop into extreme ascetical practices, and thus cause public scandal (night-time public calls to penance, with self-flagellation, in the streets of

Coimbra Coimbra (, also , , or ), officially the City of Coimbra (), is a city and a concelho, municipality in Portugal. The population of the municipality at the 2021 census was 140,796, in an area of . The fourth-largest agglomerated urban area in Po ...

). Several letters of Ignatius, calling to restrain and obedience, fell on deaf ears. The province was in two minds as many Jesuits admired and respected him. Complaints were made and Rodrigues was recalled. Dragging his feet he finally reached Rome where, at his own request, he was tried (1544). His three Jesuit judges found him guilty of 'excesses and lack of obedience'. All penances were lifted by Ignatius except that he was not allowed to return to Portugal. He was assigned to other duties in Italy and, later,

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

. Rodrigues was recalcitrant and for several years sought to overthrow the decision against him, but his appeals to friends he had made in high places were unsuccessful. Eventually, he gave up these attempts and returned to obedience. As an old man, he was allowed to go back to his native country, where, before dying, he wrote a history of the early years of the Society.

Bibliography

* ''A brief and exact account: the recollections of Simao Rodrigues on the origin and progress of the Society of Jesus'' (Introd. And commentary by Joseph F. Conwell), Saint-Louis (USA), Institute of Jesuit sources, 2004, 104pp.

References

External links

# https://web.archive.org/web/19971010040103/http://companhia-jesus.pt/intro/galeria.htm ( Portuguese site). (Retrieved 6 June 2007)
''St. Ignatius Writes to His Brethren: Selected Letters and Instructions of St. Ignatius of Loyola''
"On Being a Reconciler". Joseph N. Tylenda, S.J., Editor. {{DEFAULTSORT:Rodrigues, Simao 1510 births 1579 deaths People from Vouzela 16th-century Portuguese Jesuits Portuguese Roman Catholic missionaries University of Paris alumni Jesuit missionaries Roman Catholic missionaries in Portugal