Historical and political changes
Throughout its life, the Society of Jesus has seen and experienced many historical changes, political transitions, upheavals, wars in every territory where it has been present.
Generations of Jesuits in the Ancient Italian and European States have seen territorial invasions, civil and colonial wars, and national unifications.
The history of the Society of Jesus itself has been affected by historical events: with the Unification of Italy, for example, the religious were often removed from their residences and their real estate confiscated; only after a few years, often decades, did the Jesuits return to Italian cities, to other residences.
The Order itself experienced an important event that deeply affected its history: the suppression in 1773 and the official re-establishment in 1814.
Even during the most difficult historical moments, the Jesuits nevertheless carried on ministries and apostolates, albeit with difficulty, in other guises or under a false name, as happened at the end of the 18th century.
The life of fathers and brothers, as well as that of the laity, changed and adapted to historical and political changes, especially in purely bureaucratic matters, such as personal documents.
Today we would like to commemorate the anniversary of the referendum, which took place on 2 June 1946, for the choice between Republic or Monarchy, by using one of these documents.
Brother Guido Zanni’s file contains his two identity cards, the first obtained on 1 February 1934 as a subject of the Kingdom of Italy, the second issued on 1 April 1968 as a citizen of the Italian Republic.
There are many Jesuit files that preserve documents from two different orders, some were born and lived in the Old Italian States, such as the Papal States or the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies, and then witnessed the Unification of Italy, others born after the unification witnessed the birth of the Republic.
There are some Jesuits, particularly long-lived, who lived in no less than three different orders, such as Fr Lorenzo Rocci, who was born in 1864 in the Papal State, seven years before its fall, then lived in the Kingdom of Italy for its entire duration, then in the Republic of Italy, for its first years, until 1950 when the religious died.
We also conserve identity documents for Jesuits who lived in the Old Regime, each order in fact required individuals to be recognisableby means of personal identification documents, which were also necessary for travel across borders, such as passes.
For many fathers we keep the laissez-passer with the visas of the Old Italian States that they visited for apostolic reasons, the equivalent of our passport.
Maria Macchi
