“Disputes and Divergences inside and outside of the Society of Jesus (16th-20th century)” @ Frankfurt am Main, Germany, June 17-20, 2025 (CFP)”

Since its inception, the activities of the Society of Jesus reached the whole globe through the collective effort of its members. Indeed, the successes obtained by various Jesuit missions in every continent of the planet were often the result of the concerted dedication of its priests and brothers. However, from time to time, internal relations were marked by deep disagreements between missionaries, strong emotions born out of political disputes, philosophical differences, economic conflicts, and personal feuds. Conflicting perspectives on shared issues, lack of resources, personal agendas, and political differences regularly pitted Jesuit against Jesuit, priest against priest, brother against brother, and even provinces against provinces. Beyond internal issues, the clashes over control of missionary spaces between the order and mendicants in Asia, Africa, Europe, and the Americas exemplified how large-scale conflict could determine the success or the failure of the missions. Furthermore, recent studies on anti-Jesuit literature have shed light on the political quarrels between members of the Society of Jesus and various administrators and scholars, both secular and religious, and their struggle with unsupportive monarchs and other elites. In order to further explore the nearly five centuries of disputes, differences, and resolution of conflicts between Jesuits themselves, as well as between Jesuits and other historical actors, this conference plans to gather scholars from all over the world to present and debate in person their approach to Jesuitical conflicts. The aim is to deepen our understanding of how members of the Society of Jesus dealt with, overcame, or succumbed to local and widespread adversities, whether internal or external, thus illustrating how the religious order was far from a monolithic institution.

Keynote speakers include:

Liam Matthew Brockey (Michigan State University), Yasmin Haskell (Monash University, Melbourne), Aliocha Maldavsky (Université Paris Nanterre), and Robert Aleksander Maryks (Uniwersytet im. Adama Mickiewicza w Poznaniu).

Topics include (but are not restricted to):

• Anti-Jesuit literature and Jesuit responses;
• Disputes with other missionary orders;
• Persecutions against or by Jesuits;
• Disputes with secular authorities;
• Troubles with the Papacy, congregations, or dicasteries;
• Personal and institutional struggles for economic resources;
• Historical framing of past conflicts involving Jesuits;
• Family feuds and their ties to missionary work;
• Conflict resolution;
• Disputes with Jews, Muslims, or other non-Christians;
• Interventions by the Jesuit curia in local disputes;
• Different interpretations and philosophical controversies;
• Jesuits during periods of war;
• Physical violence and strong emotions in Jesuit literature.