The Jesuits and their
use of music in Goa
SHEET
H2
Who are the Jesuits?
The term ‘Jesuit’ refers to members of a Catholic religious
order known as the ‘Society of Jesus’. Founded in 1534 and
approved by Pope Paul III in September 1540, the Society of
Jesus was the largest and most influential of the religious
orders established during the time of the Catholic Reformation
(often also known as the ‘Counter Reformation’).
The Catholic Reformation
The Catholic Reformation is the term given to the
reform of the Catholic Church that took place during
the sixteenth century. It has often been seen as a
response to the Protestant Reformation (hence the
term ‘Counter Reformation’), led by Martin Luther,
which achieved much of its support through
highlighting many perceived iniquities of the
Catholic Church, but the Catholic Reformation
became more than simply a reaction to the
development of Protestantism. Many of the Catholic
Reformation’s initiatives came about as a result of
The symbol of the Society of Jesus
the Council of Trent. The Council was effective from
1545 to 1563, during which time a body of Cardinals
were commissioned by the Pope to find ways of
improving the education and training of priests and
to reform many of the questionable practices of the
sixteenth-century Catholic Church, such as the sale of
indulgences (which promised the purchaser a
reduced time in purgatory) and other kinds of
financial corruption.
St Ignatius Loyola: founder of the Jesuits
It was the vision of Saint Ignatius Loyola, a former
soldier and student of the University of Paris, to form
a community of individuals which would be
dedicated to the service of God and placed at the
disposal of the Pope. Initially, their desire was to
convert the Islamic rulers of Jerusalem to Christianity,
but when this proved difficult, they became equally
committed to the ‘rehabilitation’ of Protestant
‘heretics’ and the conversion of ‘heathens’ in foreign
lands. Their work was to involve preaching,
teaching, hearing confession, administering
sacraments, and serving the poor and disadvantaged.
Ignatius and his small band of companions set up
their headquarters in Rome. The society expanded at
an astonishing rate, bringing revival to wavering
provincial Catholic priests as well as promoting a
return to the faith abandoned by Protestants. Its
members travelled, not only all over Europe, but also
to distant parts of the known world, taking
Catholicism to lands such as South America, India and
China. Although it has not always received political
favour (between 1773 and 1814 the order was
suppressed in all countries except Russia), the society
has continued to grow. Today, the Society of Jesus is
one of the largest male religious orders in the Roman
Catholic Church.
The Jesuit way of life
The Jesuit order was vastly different from older
monastic traditions. Jesuits were not ‘monks’ in the
traditional sense. Instead, they were dedicated to an
active life of serving God, at all times remaining loyal
to the Catholic Church. Jesuits were advised against
lengthy fasts or vigils and were not required to carry
out the daily divine office (a routine of eight services
per day) observed by monks. Frequent attendance at
Mass was not compulsory, nor was the wearing of a
monastic habit. The Latin phrase, Laborare est orare
(to work is to pray) became a Jesuit ‘soundbite’.
Ignatius himself rarely attended Mass, and taught
that formal prayer was not a necessity, since one
should be able to find God in all things. Members of
the Society were living examples of the new fervour
stirred up by the Catholic Reformation. They were
fervent, faithful and well educated; an embodiment
of the reforms instituted by the Council of Trent.
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The Jesuits and their
use of music in Goa
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H2
Francis Xavier and the Jesuits in Goa
Francis Xavier was one of the co-founders of the
Jesuit order. He was born in 1506 into a noble family
in the Kingdom of Navarre in the Pyrenees (now
forming part of France and Spain). When he
responded to the call of King John III of Portugal for
missionaries to travel to Portugal’s eastern territories,
Francis Xavier was sent, with two other Jesuit
companions, to Goa.
After a sea voyage lasting more than a year, (which
included a seven-month stay in Mozambique) Xavier
and his colleagues arrived and began their
missionary work. The Jesuits were not the first
missionaries in Goa; Franciscan and Dominican friars
had arrived earlier in the 16th century (for more
information, see sheet H3), but the Jesuits were the
most effective. Once the mission in Goa was
established, Xavier travelled to other parts of India
and further east, to Indonesia, Malaysia and Japan.
He died in 1552 on the island of Shangchuan, while
waiting for a boat that would take him to China. His
body was taken back to Goa, and enshrined in a
Jesuit church, the Basilica of Bom Jesus.
The route taken by Francis Xavier on his journey to India
Relations between the Catholic and the Goan
communities were not always harmonious.
Disappointed by the fact that many converts had
reverted to their old religion, Francis Xavier
summoned the Inquisition to Goa. The Goa
Inquisition’s stated aim was to punish those who
Many other Jesuits arrived at the mission in Goa
showed signs of returning to their former faith, but
while Xavier journeyed across the East. They
it also endeavoured to suppress those who posed a
endeavoured to convert the Hindu and Muslim
political threat to the Portuguese administration. Its
population to Christianity. They established schools, judgements, including imprisonment and execution,
hospitals and churches in villages and in the city of
amounted to persecution and cruelty and a number
Goa itself. (The city of Goa was also the capital of the of Hindus fled Portuguese territory to escape
region with the same name). In an attempt to
capture.
communicate and identify with the communities
they aimed to convert, the Jesuits learned local
Despite its association with the ignominious practices
languages, participated in local customs and some
of the Inquisition, and a temporary expulsion in the
also dressed in local styles. They soon began to win
eighteenth century, the Jesuits maintain a presence
many Christian converts.
in Goa to this day.
The Bascilica of
Bom Jesus in
Goa, built by
the Jesuits in
1695
The tomb of
Francis Xavier
in the Bascilica
of Bom Jesus in
Goa
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The Jesuits and their
use of music in Goa
SHEET
H2
Music and the Jesuits in Goa
The Jesuits were not the only, nor the first
missionaries to introduce Western music to the
people of Goa. In 1500, for example, a group of
Franciscans arrived in Goa with a chamber organ, an
organist and a singer. Music, however, did play an
especially important role in the Jesuits’ missionary
efforts. Jesuits, like many sixteenth- and
seventeenth-century philosophers and theorists (and
Indian musicians) believed music could sway the
mind and move the emotions (see sheet C1 for more
information). For this reason, the Jesuits believed
that communicating their message through vocal
and instrumental music rather than solely by the
spoken word would win them more converts. At
first, the Jesuits used plainchant in their worship and
missionary outreach. Later they introduced
polyphony, which was believed to have a more
profound effect on the soul. Boys at the Jesuit
schools established in Goa were given instruction in
music as part of their education. The Jesuit college
of São Paulo, which trained Indian and Portuguese
students for further missionary work, taught music,
both for use in the lavish and elaborate services of its
church, and as a necessary tool for effective mission.
Music in the college church was not restricted to that
imported from the West. Reports of those who
visited the church tell not only of the abundance of
music but also of the inclusion of Indian instruments.
The college also organised dramatic presentations
and processions on important feast days, which,
reports suggest, involved cross-cultural celebration.
Later decrees from strict Catholic authorities to curb
this exuberance suggest that, in Goa at least, the
music was so great a unifying and motivating force
the church authorities were concerned it might
overshadow the religious message.
We do not know for certain how the sixteenth- and
seventeenth-century combinations of Western
plainchant and polyphony with Indian instruments
and musical styles would have sounded. Notated
music from the time is either lost for ever or is yet to
be discovered. Drawing on medieval plainchant,
Renaissance polyphony and the practises of
Hindustani vocal and instrumental music, the Mantra
project aims to explore the possibilities afforded by
fusing these musical styles.
Further reading and viewing
•
More detailed information about Goa and the Portuguese settlers can be found in Sheet H3.
•
The Jesuits’ own website, www.goajesuits.in, contains a comprehensive history of the Jesuit presence in
Goa.
•
Introductory articles about The Jesuits, Goa and the Goa Inquisition are available on Wikipedia.
•
A more scholarly history of the Jesuits can be found in J.J. Scarisbrick, The Jesuits and the Catholic
Reformation, The Historical Association, London, 1988
•
A case study of the use of music in the Jesuits’ missionary work in Goa, can be found in V. A. Coehlo,
‘Music in new Worlds’ from T Carter and J Butt (eds.) The Cambridge History of Seventeenth-Century
Music, CUP, 2005.
•
The Mission, (PG) a film starring Robert De Niro, Jeremy Irons, Ray McAnally, Cherie Lunghi. Music by
Ennio Morricone. Dir Roland Joffé. Eighteenth-century Spanish Jesuits try to protect a remote South
American Indian tribe in danger of falling under the rule of pro-slavery Portugal. A particularly
pertinent quote from the film: “With an orchestra, the Jesuits could have subdued the entire
continent.”
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