For Matters of Greater Moment: The First Thirty Jesuit General Congregations: A Brief History and a Translation of the Decrees ed. by John W. Padberg, S.J., Martin D. O'Keefe, S.J., and John L. McCarthy, S.J. (review)

484 BOOK REVIEWS bibliography is included and there are extensive notes, although the tendency to cite secondary rather than primary sources for theological documents is frustrating . The Immaculate Conception has been, and continues to be, widely misunderstood . Among Protestants it is often confused with the Virgin Birth;for many Catholics it expresses the perfection and purity of theVirgin but the concept of her exemption from original sin is scarcely grasped. Stratton's book provides numerous fascinating examples of how visual artists have expressed this abstract belief in concrete terms, but, unfortunately, it does little to illuminate the doctrine itself. Diane E. Peters Wilfrid Laurier University, Waterloo, Ontario For Matters of Greater Moment: The First Thirty Jesuit General Congregations :A BriefHistory and a Translation ofthe Decrees. Edited byJohn W. Padberg, SJ., Martin D. O'Keefe, SJ., and John L. McCarthy, SJ. [Jesuit Primary Sources in English Translations, Series I, Number 12.] (St. Louis: Institute ofJesuit Sources. 1994. Pp. xx,788. $47.95.) The general congregation is the ultimate governing body of the Society of Jesus. Unlike the general chapters of other religious orders that met on a regular basis, the general congregations met only after the death of the general, when they elected a successor, and on rare occasions for extraordinary reasons. Scholars of the Society will welcome this edition of the decrees ofits first thirty general congregations, that is, from 1558 to 1957. Included in the edition are the decrees of the five "Polish" congregations that met during the Society's suppression between 1773 and 1814. Unfortunately, the volume does not include decrees from the three recent general congregations, but, as Padberg notes in his introduction, these are already available in English. In addition to the decrees , the volume contains Padberg's valuable brief history of the congregations , lists of delegates, congregations, and generals, portraits of all the generals, and indices of persons and topics. The first congregation met in 1558, two years after the death of Ignatius Loyola . Loyola had intended the congregation to examine his Constitutions and to modify any parts that had not worked in practice. However, the congregation refused to change the "substantials." Thus began a conservative tendency that was to last four hundred years, or, as stated by Padberg, "constancy overwhelmed innovation as the basic characteristic of general congregations" (p. 62). Much of the impetus for change came from forces outside the Society, especially the papacy, whose requests and demands often met a grudging acceptance or a subtle rejection. The work of the congregations too often focused on their own procedural matters,which account for a large number ofthe decrees. Typical was the general congregation that met in 1758 amid the gathering BOOK REVIEWS 485 storm that would result in the suppression of the Society fifteen years later.Yet this congregation passed only twelve decrees, six of which dealt with its own procedures. Other matters that were central concerns of the congregations included the Society's government, missions, schools, and spiritual formation. On occasion the decrees illustrate an almost obsessive concern to regulate the minutiae of daily life; examples of this are the decrees on beards, birettas, and blessings at table. The topical index permits scholars to examine themes over several centuries such as the role ofThomas Aquinas in the curriculum ofJesuit schools and the admission of those withJewish ancestry into the Society. In his introduction Padberg justifies the publication of the decrees by stating that scholars from different disciplines will find them helpful,"because an easy command of the Latin language and especially of its nuances is no longer widespread " f. xii). Nonetheless, Padberg's use of "ours" to refer to Jesuits, references to "our schools," and tendency to sermonize suggest that he is directing his comments not at the international community of scholars but at Jesuits. Is this an indication thatJesuits no longer have "an easy command ofthe Latin language ?" A. Lynn Martin The University ofAdelaide Katholiken, Kirche und Staat als Problem der Historie:AusgewählteAufsätze 1963-1992. By Heinz Hurten. Edited by Hubert Gruber. (Paderborn: Ferdinand Schöningh. 1994. Pp. viii, 342.) This selection of Professor Hürten's articles, compiled by friends and colleagues into a commemorative volume for his...