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Did not Clement XIV. suppress the Jesuits because he was so shocked by their crimes, and die shortly afterwards from poison?

1 min readUpdated 12 October 2022
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No. The Jesuits were very active in stemming the tide of the Reformation, and many of the Protestant princes and rulers were so persecuting the Church because of this that Clement XIV., in a moment of weakness and against his own convictions, suppressed the Order “for the peace of the Church.” He did this under a great misapprehension, and under pressure. And the Order ‘was rightly reinstated by another Pope. It is true that Clement XIV. died shortly after his action in suppressing the Jesuits, but to say that he was poisoned is sheer romance and without a trace of historical foundation. The anxiety of the whole case certainly undermined his health, and the medical certificate states that he died from a condition of scurvy and hemorrhoids, aggravated by worry. In other words, natural factors only accounted for his death.

Radio Replies Volume 1 by Rev. Dr. Leslie Rumble MSC and Rev. Charles Mortimer Carty

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