Niccolò Paccanari (1773 – c. 1811) was an Italian Catholic priest and the founder of the Society of the Faith of Jesus.

Early life

Paccanari was born in 1773 in Borgo Valsugana, Trentino. ^[1] In his youth, he had little formal education; he became a soldier and was engaged in business.

Religious life

In 1795, he became gravely ill and spent 14 months in prayer and recuperation with a confraternity at the Oratory of San Francesco Saverio del Caravita in Rome. ^[2] At the end of this period, Paccanari established a religious congregation called the Society of the Faith of Jesus on 15 August 1797, ^[2] whose purpose was to continue as the successor of the Society of Jesus, which had been suppressed by the pope. ^[3] His four confrères elected him as the first superior of the new congregation. ^[2] In 1798, Paccanari founded a novitiate for the congregation in Spoleto, Umbria. ^[1]

Paccanari was jailed three times in Castel Sant'Angelo during the short-lived Roman Republic. In 1800, he was ordained a priest. ^[1] As the congregation grew to more than 100 individuals across Europe, the members became dissatisfied with Paccanari, who they accused of being ambitious and materialistic. ^[2]

Prison life

As internal strife grew, Paccanari was investigated by the Roman Inquisition, ^[1] which found him guilty and sentenced him to 10 years in prison in August 1808. ^[2] However, Paccanari was released from prison in 1809 by the French occupiers of Rome. The following year, he again spent time in prison for another offense. ^[2]

Death

It is not certain when or how Paccanari died. In 1811, a decapitated body was found in the Tiber River in Rome, which was identified as his. ^{[4] [1]}

References

Citations

Sources

• Dudon, Paul (November 1952). "The Resurrection of the Society of Jesus" (PDF). Woodstock Letters. 81 (4): 311–360. Archived (PDF) from the original on 3 September 2021. Retrieved 3 September 2021 – via Jesuit Archives.
• "Paccanari, Niccolò". Enciclopedia Italiana di Scienze, Lettere ed Arti (in Italian). Treccani. Archived from the original on 24 August 2021. Retrieved 4 September 2021.

Further reading

• Fontana Castelli, Eva (2007). La "Compagnia di Gesù sotto altro nome": Niccolò Paccanari e la Compagnia della fede di Gesù (1797–1814) [The "Society of Jesus Under Another Name": Niccolò Paccanari and the Society of the Faith of Jesus (1797–1814)]. Bibliotheca Instituti Historici Societatis Iesu (in Italian). Vol. 62. Rome: Institutum Historicum Societatis Iesu. ISBN  9788870413625.