Jan 24 William Ireland, S.J. b. 1636 d. 1679 bl. 1929

Thommy and John

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January 24
William Ireland, S.J. b. 1636 d. 1679 bl. 1929


William Ireland, S.J. - the trifecta of reasons to stop and consider him and us: William, Ireland, and a Jesuit. Just short of a grand slam - a biggie. Not unlike when I go through the sports pages - so many connections now: two high schools, then the list of colleges that catch my attention because of some personal connections: ND, BC, UA, GC, UNCG, MD, and less directly, Stonybrook, Oregon, Tulane, Vanderbilt, UT, Ohio State…. Fate, chaos? What did bring me into touch with these institutions? And what has been their effect on me? Us? Not to mention the places and people brought to me by them?

You know the intro to this story by name and date - born in England, Lincolnshire, and studied in France to become a priest. And no details in the usual places about his life in between. How did family and parish and town connect with his graces and discernment to give him the wherewithal to go into exile, to leave the cocoon of family and familiarity, to pursue his vocation? How did he call upon his talents and resources, the gifts from God, to discern and follow his vocation wherever it took him? I assume that he was not opposed in his going off like this - although I also assume that his choices elicited fear and the desire to cling and protect from his family: desires sublimated to the will of God. How have you traveled your discernment journey?

In 1655, William Ireland joined the Jesuits; with whom he took final vows in 1673. That’s a long time, 18 years; although the usual training, even today, is closer to 13 years. For me it would have been two years in the novitiate, two years in the juniorate, completion of my bachelor’s degree [another year or two], three years in training at a Jesuit site, most likely teaching in high school, three years of theology, ordination, another year of formation before final vows. Formation is taken very seriously by our religious orders - to become a better Catholic, to become a better priest, to become, e.g., a Jesuit. Be patient with your formation - and be discerning about where you do it, with whom you do it, under whose direction you do it….

William Ireland began his priesthood as a confessor to the Poor Clares. There are many ways to serve - one way is to serve the servants. Not unlike consulting with teachers - even one teacher affects the class of 30 in front of her right now and then 30 the next year and for twenty more years; not to mention her influence on her colleagues at school….

William Ireland was sent to the English mission in 1677. It’s recorded as ‘sent’. I left the novitiate because I could not see myself living the vow of obedience. More specifically, I did not see myself in the hands of my Jesuit superiors who would determine where I served. Even though whatever service I asked to do was approved, the process of asking always, with the real possibility of being told no, was more than I could see myself doing. And always being at the hands of my superiors who could say, Bill, go here - well, that would be it. I couldn’t do it. And, in hindsight, I’m still learning how to be obedient; a vow for every vocation.

How much of William Ireland’s return to England was his discerning his vocation and how much was it the initiative of his superiors to serve the people of God in England - well, the sources I have don’t tell us. I’m betting, given the Jesuits’ practice of recording the whys of their decisions, it’d be in the archives…. Surely, some of both….

On September 28, 1678, William Ireland was swept up by the authorities embroiled in the Popish Plot of Titus Oates, a renegade Anglican minister. William Ireland, falsely accused of participating in the Plot, was thrown into Newgate Prison where he suffered for three months before being taken to Tyburn for execution [hanged, drawn, and quartered to be exact].

Titus Oates falsely accused of participating in the plot to assassinate the King. That William Ireland could prove he was in Wales at the time was irrelevant - the authorities were pursuing convictions; and a papist priest was treasonous anyway. So what did it matter that Titus Oates had been bribed to give false witness?

King Charles II postponed the execution because he said he did not believe that the Jesuits were involved in the Plot. However, enough ire was aroused in the people [think Pontius Pilot?], he allowed the executions to occur.

At his execution, William Ireland proclaimed his innocence: "I beg God Almighty to shower down a thousand blessings upon this whole kingdom." It is possible to be loyal to God and Church as well as a patriot and love family members who are anti-Catholic. It’s a matter of keeping your priorities straight - like William Ireland did.

One of the men executed with William Ireland said from the gallows: "We are innocent, we lose our lives wrongfully, we pray God to forgive them that are the causes of it." Pray every day for God to forgive those who wrong you; pray for the grace to forgive them yourselves. Big things and small. Eventually you will have forgiveness fill your heart; then imbue your actions.

p.s.
The Popish Plot: two cents worth. The catholic encyclopedia online gives a lengthy description of the “Plot”. I suggest you take the time to not only look at that entry but any of the other sources - look, ponder, weigh what it means to you vis a vis the allegations against a person of importance or the Church in which he believes….

Titus Oates, b. 1649, son of a minister of the English Church, the established church, the official church. Titus Oats went through several schools - usually being expelled along the way. He then tried orders, winding up as his father’s curate at Hastings: with a reputation for dishonesty and already a habit of false accusations for personal gain.

At Hastings, father and son conspired against the schoolmaster with such trumped up charges that they were ejected; Titus Oats went to prison for perjury. After escaping, he received an appointment as a naval chaplain; only a year later, he was expelled from the Navy.

In 1677, Titus Oats was accepted into the Catholic Church as a repentant prodigal son. The Jesuits gave him a trial at their seminary at Valladolid in Spain, from which he was expelled five months later. He got a second chance back in London’s Omer’s seminary; from which he was expelled eight months later, June 23, 1678.

After being expelled, Titus Oates met Israel Tonge and concocted the “Popish Plot.”
Tonge was a learned man filled with beliefs about Roman conspiracies against the Reformation and the Crown. At Stafford's trial Oates declared that he was only a sham Catholic. This leads to the likelihood that Tonge persuaded Oates to get involved with the Catholics and Jesuits only to learn their operations. It was Tonge who helped Oates get his accusations before the King’s court.

Oates’ accusations raised the ire of the Court and Parliament, especially the Whig party under Saftesbury. Simply put, the Pope, through the Jesuits and papal legates, with the support of Spain and France, plotted to kill the King and claim England and the isles for the papacy. Parliament declared “there hath been and still is a damnable and hellish Plot, contrived and carried out by popish recusants, for the assassinating and murdering of the King and for subverting the government and rooting out and destroying the Protestant Religion.” When a person is accused - especially when accused to the people already believing the accusation - it is not uncommon that facts are irrelevant. Avoiding accusations - both making and receiving - is the best position. Believing the best and never the worst is also a fundamental premise of our faith.

By bringing to light the particulars of the plot Protestant firmly believed, Titus Oates became a most popular man in the country. Parliament wined and dined him and granted him an income.

When the magistrate who received all of Oates’ accusations qua disposition died, the Whig Party put the blame of his ‘murder’ on the Catholics. That the magistrate was pro-Catholic and nothing detrimental to Catholics was stolen could not attenuate the accusations. Again, facts almost never out weigh beliefs. That’s one reason why faith must be well grounded and a conscience properly formed.

The magistrate’s death turned the Whigs loose to sharpen the penal laws; fill the goals with papists; London was a city of siege; every word of Oates was believed regardless of his lie and contradictions; the chief justice gave full weight to perjurous witnesses.

Sixteen innocent men were executed because of the “Plot”. Eight other priests were executed in the persecution of Catholics that flowed from the “Plot”. John Grove, Thomas Pickering, John Gavan, S.J. [Grandma’s family is Gavin. Likely the same lineage.], William Harcourt, S.J., Anthony Turner, S.J., Thomas Whitebread, S.J., John Fenwick, S.J., Thomas Thwing, William Howard, Oliver Plunket, Archbishop of Armagh, William Plessington, John Lloyd, John Wall, John Kemble, Charles Baker, S.J.

Simply put: Since Oates was discredited, no historian of any consequence has professed to believe it. After two hundred and fifty plus years, nothing establishes one single article of Oates’ disposition.

It took a couple of years, but Oates’ propensity for perjury in pursuit of his own purpose wound him up with him - in 1682 he was committed to prison for life for calling the Duke of York a traitor; he was whipped, degraded, and pilloried. As one commentator said: “he has deserved more punishment than the laws of the land can inflict.” But, when William of Ornage was crowned, Oates left prison and received a royal pardon and pension. Queen Mary with drew both in 1693; Oates had scandalously attached her father James II. After Queen Mary’s death, Oates got a lifetime grant from the treasury.

Titus Oates died July 12, 1705.




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