Αποστολή Ιησουϊτών στη Μακεδονία το 17ο και 18ο αιώνα. Μέρος β'

Abstract

After having mentioned the First part of his article on the Mission of the Jesuits in Macedonia, published in the 27th volume of «Makedonika», the author presents the Second Pait which begins in 1726 with the arrival of Father J. B. Souciet in Thessaloniki and ends with the interdiction of the Compagnie de Jésus (Societas Jesu) by Pope Clement XIV in 1773. Father J. B. Souciet is known to us from his description of the city of Thessaloniki as well as from his archaeological interests. We find proof of those in his correspondence with his brother Etienne, editor of the magazine «Mémoires de Trévoux».

Also Father Souciet wrote the chronicle of the foundation and early development of the Seat of the Jesuits in Thessaloniki pursuing the notes of the first Jesuit who settled in town, Father François Braconnier.

The successors of Father Souciet, J. B. Cresset, J. B. Charon, M. A. Charroi, A. Desprez, French, J. L. Alby, J. Délenda, N. Délenda, Greek and the Armenian Melchior Hermès, devoted themselves to the pastoral duties, the teaching of the young and the services for the prisoners and slaves for who they also founded «Le Bassin des Esclaves».

In 1740 is founded the church of Saint Louis at tne site where actually the Catholic church stands, 19 Frangon Street. Three years later the Catholic-community, which consisted of no more than 200 persons, mainly French, Italians and a few Greek families from Syros, Tinos and Smyrne, was organised in a parish.

The French consuls, in their correspondence with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Marine and the Chamber of Commerce of Marseille, give us information on the activities of the Jesuits in Macedonia.

The last Jesuit priest in Thessaloniki was Father R. F. Guérin du Rocher. After six years of mission work in Northern Greece (1767-1773) he returned to Paris, where he died as a martyr in the period of the «Terreur». He wrote a study on the Greek Orthodox Church dedicated to the Archbishop of Paris.

Father Dapei from Chios remained in Thessaloniki, after the abolition of the Jesuits in 1773. His companion was Father Edouard Desperamo, a compatriot of his. They left Thessaloniki, the former for Constaninople, the last for Russia, after the Pères Lazaristes de Saint Vincent de Paul (1783) had taken charge of the Mission. The same Pères Lazaristes serve the Catholic community of Macedonia to this day.

At the end of the article, there are published some documents related to the Mission of the Jesuits in Macedonia: Their nomination as chaplains of the French consuls by Louis XIV (1706), a letter by Father F. Braconnier (1709), the document of the foundation of the parish. The originals are con­ served in the archives of the House of the Pères Lazaristes in Thessaloniki.