Jesuits in Rijeka (1627 – 1773). School, pastoral and educational activity

Sa？etak The harbour city of Rijeka in the northwestern Adriatic has since ancient times been an important place of commercial activity, of encounter of people and cultures, and of military stations. But at a time when Europe was making great progress, Rijeka did not yet grant school education for its population. Placed, by coincidence, at the meeting point of the dioceses of Senj and Pula, Rijeka was not an episcopal see, and that was probably one of the reasons for its cultural stagnation. To solve this problem, the city authorities invited the Jesuits to open a gymnasium, because they were acquainted with their successful work in Trieste, Gorizia, Venice and elsewhere. It was fortunate that the Croatian Jesuit Lovro Grizogono “accidentally” became the advisor for the realization of their project. The bishop of the Diocese of Senj-Modru？ Ivan Agati？, who originated from the Rijeka, strongly advocated this idea, as well as fr. Bartol Viller, the provincial of the Austrian Jesuit Province and personal confessor of Ferdinand II of Habsburg. The arrival of the Jesuits and the opening of a college with a gymnasium were achieved due to an initial financial contribution from the Emperor, and a small contribution from the city. The gymasium was opened in autumn of 1627 wit 150 students. In 1632 moral theology began to be taught, and in 1725 a two-year study of philosophy was introduced. The Emperor bestowed upon the college with the gymnasium and the theology course all the rights and privileges enjoyed by similar Jesuit institutes in the Habsburg Monarchy. In addition to school work, the Jesuits had also developed pastoral activities. The church of St. Roch, put temporarily at their disposal, quickly became the confessional of the whole city, and they continued this pastoral work in their new and beautiful church of St. Vitus, where the precious Holy Crucifix is permanently kept. The education of school youth, as well as of citizens, took place through religious societies, especially Marian congregations, which promoted sacramental life. Members of these congregations also performed educational theatre plays. With Popular Missions, the Jesuits extended their pastoral work to the nearby dioceses of Senj-Modru？, Pula, Pi？an, and Osor. Particularly effective were the so-called Segnerian Missions, which included penitential practices. All of this work was of great spiritual and social benefit to the people who had been subjected to Ottoman persecution since 1463, and in the first half of the 17th century were morally harmed by the thirty-year war waging in