Sunday, September 9, 2007

Wlodimir (Vladimir) Ledochowski: "One of the two or three greatest heads of the Jesuit Order"

According to Dr. Nicholas Murray Butler, from a premature New York Times obituary:

According to his premature (reportedly erroneously reported) New York Times obituary of December 10, 1942:
Dr. Nicholas Murray Butler, who met Father Ledochowski in 1930, wrote later that "everyone in Rome I was told that Father Ledochowski would rank as one of the two or three greatest heads of the Jesuit Order," an estimate which would group him with such men as Ignatius Loyola, [April 19, 1541 to July 31, 1556] the first [Jesuit] general, Francisco Borgia, [July 2, 1565 to October 1, 1572] the third, and [Claudius] Aquaviva, [Feb 19, 1581 to Jan 31, 1615] the fifth.
Apparantly "greatest" as in most successful at achieving the aims of the Jesuit Order vows- these aims being the spread of Roman Catholicism including via the murder of others and the theft of their properties, with the ends justifying the means.

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