Antonio Escobar y Mendoza

Escobar y Mendoza, Antonio, b. at Valladolid in 1589; d. there July 4, 1669. In his sixteenth year he entered the Society of Jesus. Talent and untiring labor won him distinction for scholarship among the leaders of ecclesiastical science in his age. His writings are recognized as classical and challenge criticism as far as their orthodoxy is concerned. For this reason Pascal's efforts (fifth and sixth Provincial Letters) to fasten the charge of laxism on Escobar's "Manual of Cases of Conscience", together with his unscrupulous insinuations of adroit hypocrisy on Escobar's part, are too base and cowardly to merit serious consideration. At the same time, it is only fair to add that Escobar's writings are not entirely beyond the pale of criticism. Unprejudiced critics find him inexact in quotations, subtle in discussion, obscure and loose in reasoning. Besides the "Manual", Escobar's chief works are: "Summula casuum conscienti" (Pamplona, 1626); "Examen et praxis confessariorum" (Lyons, 1647); "Theologia Moralis" (Lyons, 1650; Venice, 1652); "Universae Theologicae Moralis receptae sententiae" (Lyons, 1663); "De Triplici Statu Ecclesiastico" (Lyons, 1663); "De Justitia et de legibus" (Lyons, 1663).

Escobar was also a preacher of note. For fifty consecutive years he delivered a series of Lenten sermons with signal success.

By James David O'Neill.