For some reason a college newspaper called The Heights published an article about Ignatius of Loyola titled "St. Ignatius continues to inspire community". My guess is they are celebrating something regarding this character so important in the history of the Catholic Church. Here you have what they say about his bakground:
As the founder of the Society of Jesus and the inspiration for both Boston College and Jesuit universities worldwide, Saint Ignatius of Loyola has impelled millions of people to become "men and women for others."Born in a Basque province of Spain in the late 15th century, the religious innovator entered the army in 1517 and was forced to end his career when he was 30 years old after being severely wounded.While recovering, he studied texts on the life of Jesus, experienced visions from the Virgin Mary, and wrote a book to solidify his beliefs. Regarded as the manual of the Jesuits, Loyola's Spiritual Exercises calls for a series of meditations and contemplations to guide people in the right spiritual direction and develop a deeper relationship with God.
The same mistake is made again and again all over the world, for I heard something similar from some Jesuit big wig in Monterrey who said something quite similar to what Phil Dumontet wrote.
They insist on calling him a Spaniard. They also mention that as a soldier, he was wounded.
Ironically enough, he was wounded while fighting against the Navarrese King, yes. He was fighting against the independence of the Basque Kingdom of Navarre, what Dumontet incorrectly calls a Basque province of Spain.
Spain did not include Navarre at the time, it hardly even existed. A long war to take over the mountainous kingdom had been unleashed in 1492 . Ignatius of Loyola was wounded in 1517. The Spaniards insist that Navarre joined the rest of Spain voluntarily. I would say that anyone that fights for almost 30 to avoid being overruned by another political entity is doing anything possible to avoid losing its independence and sovereignty.
Ignatius fought on the side of Spain.
But that does not make an Spaniard out of him. He may have betrayed his people, but he is still a Basque. His statue and the legend on the base was the center of a big controversy in Iruñea (Pamplona) for a long time.
Nevertheless, Ignatius was a Basque, a Basque Navarrese or a Navarrese Basque, whichever way you want to see it.
Is time people starts to respect his identity and his ethnicity.
.... ... .
I think you are the one who is mistaken. By most accounts,St. Ignatius or Inigo de Loyola thought of himself a Spaniard, which I think accounts for something. You can take a look at this biography at Loyola University in Chicago:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.luc.edu/jesuit/ignatius.bio.html
As you can see from this first paragraph he was not so averse to Castilians as you may imply:
At the age of sixteen years he was sent to serve as a page to Juan Velazquez, the treasurer of the kingdom of Castile.
Eventually he found himself at the age of 30 in May of 1521 as an officer defending the fortress of the town of Pamplona against the French, who claimed the territory as their own against Spain. The Spaniards were terribly outnumbered and the commander of the Spanish forces wanted to surrender, but Ignatius convinced him to fight on for the honor of Spain, if not for victory.