Włodzimierz Halka Ledóchowski, S.J. (fr: Vladimir, de: Vlodimir; 7 October 1866 – 13 December 1942) was a Polish Catholic priest who served as the 26th

Superior-General of the Society of Jesus The superior general of the Society of Jesus is the leader of the Society of Jesus, the Catholic religious order also known as the Jesuits. He is generally addressed as Father General. The position sometimes carries the nickname of the Black Po ...

from 11 February 1914 until his death in 1942. Prior to taking holy orders, he was briefly a page in the Habsburg Court.

Early life

He was one of nine children of Count Antoni Halka Ledóchowski and the

Swiss Swiss may refer to: * the adjectival form of Switzerland *Swiss people Places * Swiss, Missouri *Swiss, North Carolina * Swiss, West Virginia *Swiss, Wisconsin Other uses * Swiss-system tournament, in various games and sports * Swiss Internation ...

Countess Joséphine née Salis-Zizers. He was born in a manor house built by his father in Loosdorf, near St. Pölten,

Lower Austria Lower Austria (german: Niederösterreich; Austro-Bavarian: ''Niedaöstareich'', ''Niedaestareich'') is one of the nine states of Austria, located in the northeastern corner of the country. Since 1986, the capital of Lower Austria has been Sankt P ...

. His uncle was Cardinal

Mieczysław Halka-Ledóchowski Mieczysław Halka-Ledóchowski ( IPA: /mʲɛˈtʂɨswaf ˈxalka lɛduˈxɔfski/), (29 October 1822 – 22 July 1902) was born in Górki (near Sandomierz) in Russian controlled Congress PolandUrszula Ledóchowska and Blessed Teresa Ledóchowska. His brother, Ignacy Kazimierz Ledóchowski, was a General in the Polish Army. Ledóchowski studied first at the

Theresianum Theresianum (or Theresian Academy; german: Theresianische Akademie) is a private boarding and day school governed by the laws for public schools in Vienna, Austria. It was founded in 1746 by Empress Maria Theresa of Austria. History Early ...

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

and was for a time page to the Empress Elizabeth. He went on to study Law at the

Jagellonian University The Jagiellonian University ( Polish: ''Uniwersytet Jagielloński'', UJ) is a public research university in Kraków, Poland. Founded in 1364 by King Casimir III the Great, it is the oldest university in Poland and the 13th oldest university ...

Kraków Kraków (), or Cracow, is the second-largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula, Vistula River in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, the city dates back to the seventh century. Kraków was the official capital of Poland un ...

. He discerned a religious vocation and turned to studies for the priesthood. While attending the

Gregorian University The Pontifical Gregorian University ( it, Pontificia Università Gregoriana; also known as the Gregorian or Gregoriana,) is a higher education ecclesiastical school (pontifical university) located in Rome, Italy. The Gregorian originated as ...

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus ( legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

, he applied to join the

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

s and entered the

Society A society is a group of individuals involved in persistent social interaction, or a large social group sharing the same spatial or social territory, typically subject to the same political authority and dominant cultural expectations. Soc ...

in 1889. Five years later he was ordained priest. At first he took to writing, but was soon made Superior of the Jesuit house in

, then Rector of the College. He became the Polish Vice- Provincial in 1901 and Provincial of Southern Poland in 1902. From 1906 until February 1915 he was an assistant in the German province.

Superior-General of the Jesuits

After the death of

Franz Xavier Wernz Franz Xavier Wernz SJ (December 4, 1842 – August 19, 1914) was the twenty-fifth Superior General of the Society of Jesus (the Jesuit order). He was born in Rottweil, Württemberg (afterwards part of Germany). Life Wernz was the first of ...

in August 1914, 49-year-old Ledóchowski became a candidate for the leadership of his order. He was elected the 26th General of the Society on 11 February 1915 on the second ballot. Despite the serial upheavals of the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

, the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

, and the economic Depression of the 1930s, the Society increased in number during Ledóchowski's term of office. He called the 27th General Congregation to take place at the Germanico to acquaint the Society with the new code of

Canon law Canon law (from grc, κανών, , a 'straight measuring rod, ruler') is a set of ordinances and regulations made by ecclesiastical authority (church leadership) for the government of a Christian organization or church and its members. It is t ...

(published in 1917) and to bring the Jesuit Constitution into line with it. He called another Congregation (the 28th) – between 12 March and 9 May 1937 – for the purpose of appointing appoint a

vicar general A vicar general (previously, archdeacon) is the principal deputy of the bishop of a diocese for the exercise of administrative authority and possesses the title of local ordinary. As vicar of the bishop, the vicar general exercises the bishop ...

as with the effects of age he sought competent assistance. He established the Pontifical Oriental Institute and the Pontifical Russian College and the ''Institutum Biblicum'' of the

. He extracted a certain emancipation for the Society after the Concordat between the

Church Church may refer to: Religion * Church (building), a building for Christian religious activities * Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination * Church service, a formalized period of Christian communal worship * Chri ...

and the Italian Government was ratified. Property was returned to the Society, making it possible for the Jesuits to build a new Gregorian University building, transferring from the

Palazzo Gabrielli-Borromeo The Palazzo Gabrielli-Borromeo is a palazzo in Rome, Italy. It is located in Via del Seminario, between piazza di Sant'Ignazio and the Pantheon in the ancient Campus Martius and in the second sector of the present-day Colonna rione, not far from ...

on via del Seminario to Piazza Pilotta near the Quirinal Palace. He then had built the new

Curia Curia (Latin plural curiae) in ancient Rome referred to one of the original groupings of the citizenry, eventually numbering 30, and later every Roman citizen was presumed to belong to one. While they originally likely had wider powers, they came ...

Generalis in the rione of Borgo, on property acquired from the

Holy See The Holy See ( lat, Sancta Sedes, ; it, Santa Sede ), also called the See of Rome, Petrine See or Apostolic See, is the jurisdiction of the Pope in his role as the bishop of Rome. It includes the apostolic episcopal see of the Diocese of R ...

on Borgo Santo Spirito, close to

Saint Peter's Square Saint Peter's Square ( la, Forum Sancti Petri, it, Piazza San Pietro ,) is a large plaza located directly in front of St. Peter's Basilica in Vatican City, the papal enclave inside Rome, directly west of the neighborhood ( rione) of Borgo. ...

. The ''Concordat'' is credited with giving new life to the Society of Jesus, whose real-estate increased along with its influence and reputation.

Nazi era

Divided opinions

According to David Kertzer's 2014 book, '' The Pope and Mussolini: The Secret History of Pius XI and the Rise of Fascism in Europe'', during the rise of Fascism in Italy under

Mussolini Benito Amilcare Andrea Mussolini (; 29 July 188328 April 1945) was an Italian politician and journalist who founded and led the National Fascist Party. He was Prime Minister of Italy from the March on Rome in 1922 until Fall of the Fascist re ...

, Ledóchowski had exhibited strong anti-Semitic and pro-Fascist sympathies. Kertzer writes that Ledóchowski worked to promote anti-Semitism in the Vatican and to align the Vatican with Italy's and Germany's racist and expansionist ambitions. "The Jesuit leader edochowskimade no secret of his enthusiasm for the Fascist regime. From the time when Mussolini came to power, he edochowskihad done what he could to stamp out Church opposition to the Duce". Kertzer further states that: "... early 1936, the Italian ambassador told Ledochowski that Mussolini wanted ''

America The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

'' he US Jesuit magazineanti-Fascist editor fired and a pro-Fascist editor put in his place...Ledochowski accommodated him readily... Soon a new editor was in place, suitably enthusiastic about the Fascist cause". Furthermore, "Pignatti he Italian ambassadorremarked that Italy's enemies were the Church's enemies. Ledochowski agreed. The attacks on Mussolini for waging war in Ethiopia, he edochowskireplied were simply a 'pretext from which international Judaism is profiting in order to advance its attack on western civilization'". Kertzer writes that there is evidence that in 1937/8 Ledóchowski personally intervened to water down an encyclical against racism that was being prepared for the Pope by a fellow Jesuit, the American John LaFarge Jr. Later discoveries of versions of the text for the planned encyclical and a series of interviews with living participants in the drafting of the document in the 1960s & 70s seems to confirm Ledóchowski's reluctance to see anything too critical of the then German/Nazi government published. Kertzer says: "Ledochowski viewed the Jews as enemies of the Church and of European civilization, and he would do all he could to prevent the Pope from slowing the anti-Semitic wave that was sweeping Europe". Kertzer documents many other instances in which Ledóchowski, and the Jesuit order which he headed, led and manipulated the Vatican and the Church into supporting Mussolini and the infamous racist laws against the Jews.

Support for Allied resistance

According to Jesuit historian Vincent A. Lapomarda, there was "no doubt" about Ledóchowski's concern to thwart

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...

in Europe once they had invaded Poland, :"Even if he had at one time entertained, as alleged by one historian, the conception of a union of a Catholic bloc in Europe against the Communists in the East and the Protestants in the West, events had dramatically altered that vision." Ledóchowski accurately surmised

Hitler Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Nazi Germany, Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his death in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the le ...

's perfidious nature, and predicted the Hitler-Stalin Pact, and used the Jesuit-run Vatican Radio service to broadcast condemnations of Nazi crimes in Poland, which led to German government protests, and assisted underground resistance movements in occupied Europe. The Nazi persecution of the Catholic Church in Poland was particularly severe, and Lapomarda writes that Ledóchowski helped "stiffen the general attitude of the Jesuits against the Nazis", and helped Vatican Radio, run by the Jesuit Filippo Soccorsi, and spoke out against Nazi oppression - particularly with regard to Poland - and against Vichy-French anti-Semitism.Vincent A. Lapomarda; '' The Jesuits and the Third Reich''; 2nd Edn, Lewiston, New York:

Edwin Mellen Press The Edwin Mellen Press or Mellen Press is an international independent company and academic publishing house with editorial offices in Lewiston, New York, and Lampeter, Wales. It was founded, in 1972, by the religious studies scholar Profess ...

; 2005; pp. 266-267

Death

Włodzimierz Ledóchowski died in Rome on 13 December 1942, aged 76. After his funeral in the Church of the Gesù, his remains were interred in the Society's mausoleum at

Campo Verano The Campo Verano (Italian: ''Cimitero del Verano'') is a cemetery in Rome, Italy, founded in the early 19th century. The monumental cemetery is currently divided into sections: the Jewish cemetery, the Catholic cemetery, and the monument to t ...

, on the eastern edge of Rome.

Appraisal

Nicholas Murray Butler, who met Ledóchowski in 1930, later wrote lthat "in Rome I was told that Father Ledóchowski would rank as one of the two or three greatest heads of the Jesuit Order".

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ledochowski, Wlodimir 1866 births 1942 deaths People from Melk District Superiors General of the Society of Jesus 20th-century Austrian Jesuits Austrian people of Polish descent 19th-century Austrian Jesuits Pontifical Oriental Institute Włodzimierz