ACQUAVIVA, CLAUDIO. — Fifth Superior General of the Society of Jesus, born at Atri on 4 September 1543, of the family of the dukes A. In 1567, at the age of 24, while he was a secret chamberlain of Pius V, renouncing a career begun under brilliant auspices, he became a Jesuit. His gifts attracted the attention of his superiors, who soon proposed him for the government of the provinces of Naples and Rome, until in February 1581, at only 38 years of age, he was chosen as Superior General, a position he held for 34 years, until his death in 1615. Such a long government marked an epoch in the history of the Order, which saw its members more than double in number (from 5,000 to over 13,000), its provinces increase from 20 to 32, and its colleges from 144 to 372. Resolutely confronting the problems arising from the Society’s very expansion, A. completed the work of his predecessors by codifying regulations for various offices, promulgating a series of “ordinances,” and vigorously preserving the genuine Ignatian spirit through frequent exhortations to the entire Order. Particularly worthy of mention, for their subtle and paternal psychology, are his Industriae pro Superioribus, and ad curandos varios animi morbos, Florence 1600.
He promoted the use of the spiritual exercises, and it was principally owing to him that the Directorium, a guide for their directors, was composed (after private trials, a provisional edition sent to the provinces for examination in 1591; definitive edition, Florence 1599). He gave great impetus to the missions among heretics and infidels, assigning groups of fathers to them. Alongside missionary activity, A. also promoted and directed scientific and scholastic activity, completing and promulgating (1599) the celebrated Ratio studiorum (provisional or trial editions in 1586 and 1591; definitive edition, Naples 1599). A. exercised a highly effective influence on the flourishing production of the great post-Tridentine Jesuit theologians, as well as on the formation of a spiritual literature proper to the Society. It was also he who gave the impetus (1598) to the preparation of the general history of the Society (the first volume, by Orlandini, appeared in 1614) and to the compilation of the celebrated annual letters (from the year 1583 onward). He then knew how to defend with great skill the writers of the Order involved in various controversies; noteworthy above all was his work in defense of the position taken by authors of the Society in questions concerning grace (discussions on the works of Molina and later of Lessius, Congregations de Auxiliis, 1602–1607).
But it is in the defense of the institute, or of the Society, against internal and external attacks that A. truly stands out. Small but turbulent groups of dissatisfied religious, principally Spaniards, repeatedly attempted to introduce decentralizing or nationalist changes into the Society, for this purpose circumventing the king of Spain and the Supreme Pontiff himself; but the fifth General Congregation, convened by order of Clement VIII to judge A.’s conduct, could only recognize his wisdom (1593–94). Painful, too, had been the conflict with Sixtus V, who would have changed the name and certain constitutions of the Society had he not been forestalled by death (1590). Several attempts were made to get rid of the Superior General, by having him promoted to the archbishopric of Naples (1590), or sent to Spain (1596). These struggles revealed in A. a great gift of prudence and extraordinary serenity.
A.’s generalate is further celebrated by the distinguished works of numerous Jesuits then living and later raised to the honors of the altars; let us recall Luigi Gonzaga, Pietro Canisio, Roberto Bellarmino, Bernardino Realino, the coadjutor brother Alfonso Rodriguez, the five martyrs of the island of Salsette, among them a relative of A. (1583), the three Japanese Jesuit martyrs (1597), and the numerous victims of the English schism (1581 and following years).