- Franz Retz
Franz Retz (sometimes "Francis Retz") (
13 September 1673 ,Prague -19 November 1750 ,Rome ) was an CzechJesuit , elected fifteenthSuperior General of the Society of Jesus , which he governed from7 March 1730 to19 November 1750 .Formation
After joining the Jesuits at the young age of 16 (in 1689) and doing his noviciate, he followed the usual course of studies in philosophy (1692-94) and
theology (1700-03) atOlomouc . He obtained the doctorate in philosophy (Olomouc, 1703) and theology (Prague, 1709) and seemed destined to teach the same subjects.In Rome
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 GeneralMichelangelo 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.uperior General
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 missionnary 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 oversee 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.External links
* [http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Catholic_Encyclopedia_%281913%29/Jesuit_Generals_Prior_to_the_Suppression_of_the_Society_%281541-1773%29?oldid=343911 Catholic Encyclopedia (1913) - article "Jesuit Generals Prior to the Suppression of the Society (1541-1773)"] " by John Hungerford Pollen, a publication now in the
public domain ."
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