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Franz Retz (sometimes Francis Retz) (13 September 1673 - 19 November 1750) was a Bohemian Jesuit, elected fifteenth Superior General of the Society of Jesus, which he governed from 7 March 1730 to 19 November 1750. [1]
After joining the Jesuits at the young age of 16 (in 1689) and doing his noviciate, he studied at the Faculty of Philosophy (1692–94) and Faculty of Theology (1700–03) of University of Olomouc. He obtained the doctorate in philosophy (Olomouc, 1703) and theology (Prague, 1709) and seemed destined to teach the same subjects.
He had hardly begun to do so when he was called to Rome (1711) to fill certain administrative post. Provincial of Bohemia (today's Czech Republic) (1718–20) and Rector of the large High School of Prague (1720–23) he was called to Rome in 1725 by the then Superior General Michelangelo Tamburini as his Assistant for the Central European affairs. At the death of Tamburini (1730) Retz, as Vicar General of the Society, called the General Congregation. [1]
The sixteenth General Congregation elected him Superior General. The vote was nearly unanimous (68 of 70). His able administration contributed much to the welfare of the Society; he obtained the canonization of St. John Francis Regis (1738) and used the example of the saint to promote missionary work in the rural areas.
Father Retz's generalate was perhaps the quietest in the history of the order. There were difficulties in Poland but the overseas missions developed as never before. The Society kept growing steadily. At the time of his death, it was made of thirty-nine provinces, twenty-four houses of professed fathers, 669 colleges, sixty-one novitiates, 335 residences, 273 mission stations, 176 seminaries, and 22,589 members of whom 11,293 were priests.
The Society of Jesus, whose members are known as the Jesuits, is a religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rome. It was founded in 1540 by Ignatius of Loyola and six companions, with the approval of Pope Paul III. The society is engaged in evangelization and apostolic ministry in 112 nations. Jesuits work in education, research, and cultural pursuits. Jesuits also conduct retreats, minister in hospitals and parishes, sponsor direct social and humanitarian ministries, and promote ecumenical dialogue.
Michael O'Connor, S.J. was an Irish-born prelate of the Roman Catholic Church in the United States and a member of the Society of Jesus. He served twice as bishop of the Diocese of Pittsburgh in Pennsylvania. O'Connor served briefly as bishop of the Diocese of Erie for several months in 1853.
Jan Philipp Roothaan was a Dutch Jesuit, elected twenty-first Superior-General of the Society of Jesus.
Anton Maria Anderledy was a Swiss Jesuit, elected the twenty-third Superior General of the Society of Jesus.
Luis Martín García was a Spanish Jesuit, elected the twenty-fourth Superior General of the Society of Jesus.
Palacký University Olomouc is the oldest university in Moravia and the second-oldest in the Czech Republic. It was established in 1573 as a public university led by the Jesuit order in Olomouc, which was at that time the capital of Moravia and the seat of the episcopacy. At first it taught only theology, but soon the fields of philosophy, law and medicine were added.
Peter Hans Kolvenbach was a Dutch Jesuit priest and professor who was the 29th superior general of the Society of Jesus, the largest male Catholic religious order.
Jean-Baptiste Janssens was a Belgian Jesuit priest who was the 27th Superior General of the Society of Jesus. He was born in Mechelen, Belgium.
The General Congregation is an assembly of the Jesuit representatives from all parts of the world, and serves as the highest authority in the Society of Jesus. A General Congregation (GC) is always summoned on the death or resignation of the administrative head of the order, called the Superior General or Father General, to choose his successor, and it may be called at other times if circumstances warrant. A smaller congregation of worldwide representatives meets every three years to discuss internal business and to decide the need for a general congregation.
Luigi Fortis was an Italian Jesuit elected the twentieth Superior-General of the Society of Jesus.
Tadeusz Brzozowski was a Polish scholar, teacher, administrator and a Jesuit priest. Having secured its continuity during the suppression of the Society until its restoration, he was elected twentieth Superior General of the Society of Jesus and was its first world-wide general.
Stanislaw Czerniewicz was a Lithuanian-Polish Jesuit priest. He was Rector of the Jesuit College in Polotsk when the Society of Jesus was suppressed in 1773; in 1782, he was elected vicar general for the Jesuits in Russia in 1782 and de facto Superior General of the Society of Jesus.
Alessandro Luigi Centurione was the seventeenth Superior General of the Society of Jesus.
Ignazio Visconti was an Italian Jesuit, elected sixteenth Superior General of the Society of Jesus which he governed from 4 July 1751 to 4 May 1755.
Michelangelo Tamburini was an Italian Jesuit, who was elected fourteenth Superior General of the Society of Jesus from January 31, 1706 to February 28, 1730.
Charles de Noyelle was a Belgian Jesuit priest, elected the twelfth Superior General of the Society of Jesus.
Peter Jan Beckx, SJ born in Zichem (Belgium) and died in Rome, was a Belgian Jesuit priest, elected the twenty-second Superior-General of the Society of Jesus in 1853.
Matthieu Petit-Didier was a French Benedictine theologian and ecclesiastical historian.
Adolfo Nicolás Pachón was a Spanish Jesuit priest of the Catholic Church. He was the 30th Superior General of the Society of Jesus from 2008 to 2016. Before being elected Superior General, he worked primarily in Japan; he taught at Sophia University in Tokyo for twenty years and then headed educational institutions in Manila from 1978 to 1984 and in Tokyo from 1991 to 1993. He led the Jesuits in Japan from 1993 to 1996 and, after four years of pastoral work in Tokyo, led the Jesuits in Asia from 2004 to 2008.
Karel Slavíček,, was a Jesuit missionary and scientist, the first Czech sinologist and author of the first precise map of Beijing.
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