ÉTUDES. – This is the principal periodical published in France by the Fathers of the Society of Jesus. It was founded in 1856 by Frs. Ivan Gagarin, Giovanni Martinov, Carlo Daniel, and Giuseppe Tullhan. At first it bore the title Etudes de théologie, de philosophie et d'histoire and was merely a collection of writings without a fixed periodicity; it became a monthly in 1864. The decrees against religious Congregations and the expulsions dispersed the editors in 1880; but the periodical resumed publication in 1887 and continued without further interruption until the German occupation of 1940. It began publication again in 1945, meeting with ever-growing success in France and abroad.
From 1910 onward, however, the establishment of the new specialized periodical Recherches de science religieuse made it possible to reserve the more technical articles for that publication and to orient the E. toward a larger readership, by accepting articles on art, literature, and current affairs, with particular attention to social, economic, pedagogical, and other problems. The collaboration of non-Jesuit priests has always been permitted; efforts are now also being made to secure that of lay specialists for articles on science, art, and literature. Between the two wars, Fr. Yves de la Brière’s “monthly bulletins” “on the religious history of the present times,” Fr. Pierre Lhande’s inquiry into the social and religious conditions of the districts around Paris, and Fr. Paul Donceur’s essays on the liturgy were highly appreciated. Whenever a social or economic problem arises that attracts attention, or a medical or pedagogical experiment, an artistic or literary event, or an apostolic initiative, the periodical turns to a competent specialist to inform public opinion and make it possible to formulate a judgment on the matter. Almost all the editors also exercise a direct apostolate in higher theological teaching and spiritual direction. In this way the E. extend their beneficial influence to various intellectual circles (clergy, seminaries, university professors, industrialists). The periodical’s address is: 15, rue Monsieur, Paris, VII.