Jesuit education

Conclusion.

We have examined the educational system of the Jesuits in its various aspects, its history and its principles, its theory and practice, its aims and means. There are few of its principles which have not been censured by some of its opponents. But we have also seen that there is hardly one principle in it which has not been heartily recommended by most distinguished educators, Protestants as well as Catholics. We have seen that on many lines there is, at present, a decided return to what the Jesuits defended and practised all along.⁠[1086] Can it then be said in justice that the Jesuit system is antiquated and that little can be hoped for it, and from its principles, in the improvement of education at present? Or can it be said with a modern writer that “the regulations of the Jesuit system of studies, viewed in the light of modern requirements, need not shun any comparison, and the pedagogical wisdom contained therein, is in no way antiquated”?⁠[1087] Another writer declared a few years ago, with reference to modern school systems: “Those now living may desire that in the new much of the old may be preserved which has proved of benefit.”⁠[1088] May it not be said that much, very much, of the Jesuit system should be preserved, and that many of its principles and regulations could, with best advantage, be followed in the education of the present day? We leave it to the impartial reader to pass judgment. It is true that in our times Jesuit education is not viewed with favor by the many. To some it is too religious, too “clerical;” to others it appears old-fashioned. For this reason it is not popular; popular favor is never bestowed on what seems old. It is the novelty that attracts, and the bolder the innovations, the more captivating for the large majority of the people. This is as true now as it was 2600 years ago when old Homer sang:

And yet the novel songs are not always the best.—As to the Jesuits, they know full well that there are not many who will take the trouble to investigate thoroughly their educational system, in order to pass a fair and independent judgment on its merit, but that there are many who will content themselves with repeating the verdict passed on this system by others who were either ignorant of its true character, or were misled in their estimates by prejudice. Hence the Jesuits do not expect that the misrepresentations of their system will ever cease; their experience of three hundred years has taught them not to entertain such sanguine hopes. On the other hand, this same experience has taught them another valuable lesson, namely, not to be disheartened by the antipathy and opposition of those who do not know them, but to continue their efforts to realize, to the best of their ability, in the education of Catholic youth that which they have chosen as their motto: The greater glory of God, and the welfare of their fellow-men.