A Jewish Jesuit in the Eastern Mediterranean Book contents
- A Jewish Jesuit in the Eastern Mediterranean
- A Jewish Jesuit in the Eastern Mediterranean
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Acknowledgments
- Introduction
- 1 Becoming a Jewish Jesuit: Eliano’s Early Years
- 2 Jesuit Missionary or Jewish Renegade? Eliano’s Confrontation with His Jewish Past
- 3 Jesuit Anti-Judaism and the Fear of Eliano’s Jewishness on the First Mission to the Maronites of Lebanon
- 4 Textual Transmission, Pastoral Ministry, and the Re-Fashioning of Eliano’s Intellectual Training
- 5 Revisiting Eliano’s Jewishness on His Return to Egypt
- 6 The Coptic Mission, Mediterranean Geopolitics, and the Mediation of Eliano’s Jewish and Catholic Identities
- 7 Eliano’s Reconciliation with His Jewishness in His Later Years
- Epilogue
- Bibliography
- Index
5 - Revisiting Eliano’s Jewishness on His Return to Egypt
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 27 September 2019
- A Jewish Jesuit in the Eastern Mediterranean
- A Jewish Jesuit in the Eastern Mediterranean
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Acknowledgments
- Introduction
- 1 Becoming a Jewish Jesuit: Eliano’s Early Years
- 2 Jesuit Missionary or Jewish Renegade? Eliano’s Confrontation with His Jewish Past
- 3 Jesuit Anti-Judaism and the Fear of Eliano’s Jewishness on the First Mission to the Maronites of Lebanon
- 4 Textual Transmission, Pastoral Ministry, and the Re-Fashioning of Eliano’s Intellectual Training
- 5 Revisiting Eliano’s Jewishness on His Return to Egypt
- 6 The Coptic Mission, Mediterranean Geopolitics, and the Mediation of Eliano’s Jewish and Catholic Identities
- 7 Eliano’s Reconciliation with His Jewishness in His Later Years
- Epilogue
- Bibliography
- Index
Summary
In 1582, after his time with the Maronites, Eliano was sent directly to Egypt in order to attempt once again to convert the Copts to Catholicism. With the financial backing of King Henry III of France and the help of Paolo Mariani, the French consul in Alexandria and a close associate of Coptic Patriarch John XIV, Eliano hoped that he could convince the Copts to conduct a synod that would mark an important first step toward full Coptic conversion. This chapter follows Eliano’s efforts to transfer the work he was conducting in Lebanon to Egypt. Eliano emphasized his textual skills and his ability to navigate the cultural landscape of Egypt. The chapter ends with Eliano finally convincing the Copts to hold a synod to debate ways to reconcile Catholic and Coptic theology and Christology. This chapter illustrates how, because of fears that Eliano’s Jewish past could still be his undoing, he became preoccupied with proving his sincerity by converting the Copts. However, his ability to do so hinged on his Jewish past as the font of his missionary toolkit.
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- A Jewish Jesuit in the Eastern MediterraneanEarly Modern Conversion, Mission, and the Construction of Identity, pp. 150 - 172Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2019