ACQUAVIVA, CLAUDIO. - Fifth General of the Society of Jesus, b. at Atri on 4 Sept. 1543, from the family of the dukes of A. In 1567, at the age of 24, while he was a secret chamberlain of Pius V, renouncing a career begun with brilliant prospects, he became a Jesuit. His qualities attracted the attention of his superiors, who very soon proposed him for the government of the provinces of Naples and Rome, until in Feb. 1581, at only 38 years of age, he was raised to the generalate, which he held for 34 years, until his death, which occurred in 1615. So long a government marked an epoch in the history of the Order, which saw its members more than doubled (from 5,000 to over 13,000), its provinces rise from 20 to 32, and its colleges from 144 to 372. Resolutely confronting the problems that arose from the very expansion of the Society, A. completed the work of his predecessors, codifying rules for various offices, promulgating a series of "ordinances," and vigorously maintaining the genuine Ignatian spirit with frequent exhortations to the whole Order. Worthy of particular mention, for their fine and paternal psychology, are his Industriae pro Superioribus, ed curandos varios animi morbos, Florence 1600.
He promoted the use of the spiritual exercises, and to him is chiefly due the drafting of the Directorium, a guide for their directors (after private drafts, a provisional edition sent to the provinces for examination, 1591; definitive edition, Florence 1599). He gave great impetus to the missions among heretics and infidels, assigning groups of fathers to them. Along with missionary activity, A. also promoted and directed scientific and scholastic activity, concluding and promulgating (1599) the celebrated Ratio studiorum (provisional or trial editions in 1586 and 1591; definitive edition, Naples 1599). A. exercised a very effective influence on the luxuriant production of the great post-
Tridentine Jesuit theologians, as well as on the constitution of a spiritual literature proper to the Society. It was he too who gave the impulse (1598) to the preparation of the general history of the Society (the 1st volume, by Orlandini, appeared in 1614) and to the compilation of the celebrated annual letters (from the year 1583 onward). He also knew how to defend with great skill the writers of the Order engaged in various controversies; notable above all was his work in defense of the position taken by the authors of the Society in the questions of grace (discussions on the works of Molina and then of Lessius, Congregations de Auxiliis, 1602-1607).
But it is in the defense of the institute or of the Society against internal and external assaults that A. stands out greatly. Small but turbulent groups of discontented religious, chiefly Spaniards, attempted on several occasions to introduce into the Society changes in a decentralizing or nationalistic direction, for that purpose winning over the king of Spain and the Pontiff himself; but the fifth General Congregation, convoked by order of Clement VIII to judge A.'s conduct, could only acknowledge his wisdom (1593-94). Painful too had been the conflict with Sixtus V, who would have changed the name and some constitutions of the Society, had he not been forestalled by death (1590). Several times attempts were made to get rid of the general, by having him promoted to the archbishopric of Naples (1590), or sent to Spain (1596). These struggles brought to light in A. a great gift of prudence and an extraordinary serenity.
The generalate of A. is furthermore illustrated by the distinguished works of numerous Jesuits then living, and now raised to the honors of the altars; let us recall Luigi Gonzaga, Peter Canisius, Robert Bellarmine, Bernardino Realino, the coadjutor brother Alfonso Rodriguez, the five martyrs of the island of Salsette, among whom was a relative of A. (1583), the three Japanese Jesuit martyrs (1597), and the dense throng of victims of the English schism (1581 onward).
Bibliography10 works
Edmondo Lamalle