Giovanni Paolo Oliva

Who was Giovanni Paolo Oliva?

Very Rev. Giovanni Paolo Oliva, S.J. was an Italian Jesuit priest, elected 11th Superior General of the Society of Jesus.

Oliva was born at Genoa in 1600, and in 1616, he entered the Society of Jesus. A famous pulpit orator, he was Apostolic Preacher of the Palace under Popes Innocent X, Alexander VII, Clement IX, and Clement X. In 1661, during the critical period of the Superior General Goschwin Nickel, the General Congregation XI elected him vicar-general with the right of succession. His chief aim was to remove all causes of dissension and of personal friction between his institute and other religious orders, towards which he showed himself most reverent and yielding. He extended and increased the missions, creating new ones outside of Europe, especially in Japan.

His book of forty-odd sermons for Lent, and his work of six folio volumes, In Selecta Scripturæ Loca Ethicæ Commentationes, demonstrate his scholarship and piety. Remembering what had happened to Cardinal Palavicino, Oliva printed one thousand of his letters, in order that they might not be printed by others and be misconstrued. He died at Rome, at Sant'Andrea al Quirinale in 1681.