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This week in Christian history: Spain dissolves Jesuit order; Richard Harvey Cain dies

By Michael Gryboski, Editor Twitter

Spain dissolves their Jesuit chapters – Jan. 23, 1932

Niceto Alcalá-Zamora (1877-1949), president of the Second Republic of Spain whose government issued a decree in 1932 officially dissolving the Jesuit order.
Niceto Alcalá-Zamora (1877-1949), president of the Second Republic of Spain whose government issued a decree in 1932 officially dissolving the Jesuit order. | Wikimedia Commons

This week marks the anniversary of Spain's decree officially dissolving the Society of Jesus (the Jesuits) due to anticlerical sentiment.

Founded by former Spanish soldier turned Catholic priest Saint Ignatius of Loyola in the 16th century, the Jesuit order had a longstanding presence in Spain.

Announced by Premier Manuel Azana of Spain’s Second Republic, the measure ordered the Jesuits to hand over their church properties to other Catholic leaders, while their educational institutions would be given over to the state.

"The Company of Jesus is hereby dissolved throughout Spanish territory," read the decree, as quoted by The New York Times. "The State henceforth does not recognize any religious or legal rights for it as an order.”

“Members of the dissolved order shall not in the future be allowed to live in brotherhood, either in a public or a private manner, nor shall they be permitted to associate themselves for the purpose of continuing the activities of the order.”

In May of 1938, during the Spanish Civil War, dictator Francisco Franco’s government issued a decree allowing for the Jesuits to return.

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