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"...The church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth."
I Timothy 3:15
The Jesuitical Oath for the Priesthood
Columbia Book Concern
From the book, Nineteenth Century Deeds of Romanism
"I ............, now in the presence of Almighty God, the blessed Virgin Mary, the blessed St. John the Baptist, the holy apostles, St. Peter and St. Paul, and all the saints, sacred host of heaven, and to you my Ghostly Father, the superior general of the society of Jesus, founded by St. Ignatius Loyola, in the pontification of Paul the Third, and continued to the present, do by the womb of the Virgin, the mother of God, and the rod of Jesus Christ, declare and swear that his holiness, the Pope is Christ's vice-regent, and is the true and only head of the Catholic or universal church throughout the earth; and that by virtue of the keys of binding and loosing given to his holiness, by my Saviour, Jesus Christ, he hath power to depose heretical kings, princes, states, commonwealths and governments, all being illegal without his sacred confirmation, and they may be destroyed. Therefore, to the utmost of my power, I will defend this doctrine and his holiness' right and custom against all usurpers of the heretical or Protestant authority whatsoever, especially the Lutheran Church of Germany, Holland, Denmark, Sweden and Norway, and the now pretended authority and Churches of England and Scotland, and the branches of the same now established in Ireland, and on the continent of America and elsewhere, and all adherents in regard, that they be usurped in their heretical opposing to the sacred mother church of Rome.
"I do now denounce and disown any allegiance as due to any king, prince, or state, named protestant or liberals, or obedience to any of their laws, magistrates, or officers.
"I do further declare that I will help, assist and advise all or any of his holiness' agents, in any place where I shall be, in Switzerland, Germany, Holland, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, England, Ireland, or America, or in any other kingdom or territory I shall come to, and do my uttermost to expurgate the heretical Protestant or liberal doctrines, and to destroy all their pretended powers, legal or otherwise.
"I do further promise and declare that, notwithstanding I am dispensed with to assume any religion heretical for the propagation of the mother church's interests, to keep secret and private all agents' councils from time to time, as they entrust me, and not divulge, directly or indirectly, by word, writing, or circumstances whatever, but to execute all that shall be proposed, given in charge, or discovered unto me by you; my Ghostly Father, or any of the sacred covenant.
"I do further promise and declare that I will have no opinion of my own or any mental reservation whatsoever, even as a corpse or cadaver (perinde ac cadaver), but will unhesitatingly obey each and every command that I may receive from my superiors in the militia of the pope and of Jesus Christ.
"That I will go into any part of the world whithersoever I may be sent, to the frozen regions of the North, to the burning sands of the desert of Africa, or the jungles of India, the centers of civilization in Europe, or to the wild haunts of barbarous savages of America, without murmuring or repining, and will be submissive in all things whatsoever communicated to me.
"I do furthermore promise and declare that I will, when opportunity presents, make and wage relentless war, secretly or openly, against all heretics, Protestants and liberals, as I am directed to do, to extirpate them from the face of the whole earth; and that I will spare neither age, sex, or condition, and that I will burn, waste, boil, flay, strangle, and bury alive these infamous heretics, rip up the stomachs and wombs of their women, and crush their infants' heads against the walls, in order to annihilate their execrable race. That when the same cannot be done openly, I will secretly use the poisonous cup, the strangling cord, the steel of the poniard, or the leaden bullet, regardless of the honor, rank, dignity, or authority of the person or persons, whatever may be their condition in life, either public or private, as I at any time may be directed so to do, by any agent of the Pope, or Superior of the Brotherhood of the Holy Father of the Society of Jesus.
"In confirmation of which I hereby dedicate my life, and soul, and all corporeal powers, and with dagger which I now receive I will subscribe my name, written in my blood, in testimony thereof; and should I prove false or weaken in my determination, may my brethren and fellow soldiers of the militia of the pope cut off my hands and feet and my throat from ear to ear, my belly opened and sulphur burned therein with all the punishment that can be inflicted upon me on earth, and my soul be tormented by demons in an eternal hell forever.
All of which I, do swear by the Blessed Trinity and Blessed Sacrament which I am now to receive, to perform, and on my part to keep this, my oath.
In testimony hereof, I take this most holy and blessed sacrament of the Eucharist, and witness the same further, with my name written with the point of this dagger, dipped in my own blood, and seal in the face of this holy sacrament.
[He receives the wafer from the Superior and writes his name with the point of his dagger, dipped in his own blood, taken from over the heart.]