Gabriel Gruber - Superior General

Superior General

Living at Saint Petersburg, and being a close confidant of Paul I, Gruber often discussed with him the affairs of the Society, on behalf of Franciszek Kareu, Vicar General of the Jesuits in Russia. In 1797 he became officially the Assistant of Kareu and ultimately, after the death of the later, Gruber was elected Superior General of the Society of Jesus in Russia, at the Regional (Polatsk) Congregation IV (1802). That was just a few months after Pius VII had issued the brief Catholicae fidei (1801), giving approval to the existence of the Russian Jesuits and making the Temporary Vicar (Franciszek Kareu) 'Superior General for Russia'. Gruber expanded pioneering activities by opening several missions among the Germans in the Volga region (Saratov, 1803), Odessa (1804) and Astrakhan (1805) where schools and agricultural activities were developed. However, politically, problems were growing with Paul I as well as with the local bishop of Polatsk.