Into the Lion's Den

Into the Lion’s Den tells the story of the Jesuit mission to England and Wales, from its beginning in 1580 to the death of Elizabeth I in 1603. Often carried on in clandestine ministries, the mission “helped ensure the survival of a recusant Catholic community” in England and Wales while Catholicism all but disappeared in other parts of northern Europe,” writes author Robert E. Scully, S.J. This achievement came about “against great odds, as the witness of many fined, imprisoned, tortured, exiled, and executed Catholics would prove.” Scully pays attention to two previously overlooked aspects of the mission: the unique challenges and opportunities of ministry in Wales and the indispensable role of Elizabethan Catholic women in sustaining the Jesuits. He also explores how differences in outlook and strategy between the Jesuits and other Catholic clergy in some ways helped to build a “house divided.”