, image = Ihs-logo.svg , image_size = 175px , caption =

Christogram A Christogram ( la, Monogramma Christi) is a monogram or combination of letters that forms an abbreviation for the name of Jesus Christ, traditionally used as a Christian symbolism, religious symbol within the Christian Church. One of the oldes ...

Official seal of the Jesuits , abbreviation = SJ , nickname = Jesuits , formation = , founders = , founding_location = , type = Order of clerics regular of

pontifical right In Catholicism "of pontifical right" is the term given to ecclesiastical institutions (religious and secular institutes, societies of apostolic life) either created by the Holy See, or approved by it with the formal decree known by the Latin nam ...

(for men) , headquarters = Generalate:
Borgo S. Spirito 4, 00195 Roma-Prati, Italy , coords = , region_served = Worldwide , num_members = 14,839 members (includes 10,721 priests) as of 2020 , leader_title = Motto , leader_name = la, Ad Majorem Dei GloriamEnglish: ''For the Greater Glory of God'' , leader_title2 =

Superior General A superior general or general superior is the leader or head of a religious institute in the Catholic Church and some other Christian denominations. The superior general usually holds supreme executive authority in the religious community, while t ...

, leader_name2 = Fr. Arturo Sosa, SJ , leader_title3 = Patron saints , leader_name3 = , leader_title4 = Ministry , leader_name4 = Missionary, educational, literary works , main_organ = La Civiltà Cattolica , parent_organization = Catholic Church , website = The Society of Jesus ( la, Societas Iesu; abbreviation: SJ), also known as the Jesuits (; la, Iesuitæ), is a

religious order A religious order is a lineage of communities and organizations of people who live in some way set apart from society in accordance with their specific religious devotion, usually characterized by the principles of its founder's religious practi ...

of clerics regular of

for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rome. It was founded in 1540 by Ignatius of Loyola and six companions, with the approval of

Pope Paul III Pope Paul III ( la, Paulus III; it, Paolo III; 29 February 1468 – 10 November 1549), born Alessandro Farnese, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 13 October 1534 to his death in November 1549. He came to ...

. The society is engaged in evangelization and apostolic ministry in 112 nations. Jesuits work in education, research, and cultural pursuits. Jesuits also give retreats, minister in hospitals and parishes, sponsor direct social and humanitarian ministries, and promote ecumenical dialogue. The Society of Jesus is

consecrate Consecration is the solemn dedication to a special purpose or service. The word ''consecration'' literally means "association with the sacred". Persons, places, or things can be consecrated, and the term is used in various ways by different grou ...

d under the

patronage Patronage is the support, encouragement, privilege, or financial aid that an organization or individual bestows on another. In the history of art, arts patronage refers to the support that kings, popes, and the wealthy have provided to artists su ...

of Madonna della Strada, a title of the

Blessed Virgin Mary Mary; arc, ܡܪܝܡ, translit=Mariam; ar, مريم, translit=Maryam; grc, Μαρία, translit=María; la, Maria; cop, Ⲙⲁⲣⲓⲁ, translit=Maria was a first-century Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Joseph and the mother o ...

, and it is led by a

. The headquarters of the society, its General Curia, is in Rome. The historic curia of Ignatius is now part of the attached to the Church of the Gesù, the Jesuit mother church. Members of the Society of Jesus are expected to accept orders to go anywhere in the world, where they might be required to live in extreme conditions. This was so because Ignatius, its leading founder, was a nobleman who had a military background. Accordingly, the opening lines of the founding document declared that the society was founded for "whoever desires to serve as a soldier of God, to strive especially for the defense and propagation of the faith, and for the progress of souls in Christian life and doctrine". Jesuits are thus sometimes referred to colloquially as "God's soldiers", "God's marines", or "the Company". The society participated in the

Counter-Reformation The Counter-Reformation (), also called the Catholic Reformation () or the Catholic Revival, was the period of Catholic resurgence that was initiated in response to the Protestant Reformation. It began with the Council of Trent (1545–1563) a ...

and, later, in the implementation of the Second Vatican Council.

History

Foundation

Ignatius of Loyola, a Basque nobleman from the Pyrenees area of northern Spain, founded the society after discerning his spiritual vocation while recovering from a wound sustained in the

Battle of Pamplona Italian War of 1494–98 * ? 1494: Neapolitan occupation of Bari * 5–8 September 1494: Battle of Rapallo * 17 October 1494: skirmishes near Sant'Agata sul Santerno * 19–21 October 1494: * 26–29 October 1494: Siege of Fivizzano * 8 ...

. He composed the '' Spiritual Exercises'' to help others follow the teachings of Jesus Christ. In 1534, Ignatius and six other young men, including Francis Xavier and Peter Faber, gathered and professed promises of poverty, chastity, and later obedience, including a special vow of obedience to the pope in matters of mission direction and assignment. Ignatius's plan of the order's organization was approved by

in 1540 by a bull containing the "Formula of the Institute". On 15 August 1534, Ignatius of Loyola (born Íñigo López de Loyola), a Spaniard from the Basque city of Loyola, and six others mostly of Castilian origin, all students at the University of Paris, met in Montmartre outside Paris, in a crypt beneath the church of Saint Denis, now Saint Pierre de Montmartre, to pronounce promises of poverty, chastity, and obedience. Ignatius' six companions were:

Francisco Xavier Francisco is the Spanish and Portuguese form of the masculine given name ''Franciscus''. Nicknames In Spanish, people with the name Francisco are sometimes nicknamed "Paco". San Francisco de Asís was known as ''Pater Comunitatis'' (father of ...

from

Navarre Navarre (; es, Navarra ; eu, Nafarroa ), officially the Chartered Community of Navarre ( es, Comunidad Foral de Navarra, links=no ; eu, Nafarroako Foru Komunitatea, links=no ), is a foral autonomous community and province in northern Spain, ...

( modern Spain),

Alfonso Salmeron Alfonso (Alphonsus) Salmerón (8 September 1515 – 13 February 1585) was a Spanish biblical scholar, a Catholic priest, and one of the first Jesuits. Biography He was born in Toledo, Spain on 8 September 1515. He studied literature and philoso ...

, Diego Laínez, Nicolás Bobadilla from Castile ( modern Spain), Peter Faber from

Savoy Savoy (; frp, Savouè ; french: Savoie ) is a cultural-historical region in the Western Alps. Situated on the cultural boundary between Occitania and Piedmont, the area extends from Lake Geneva in the north to the Dauphiné in the south. Savo ...

, and Simão Rodrigues from Portugal. The meeting has been commemorated in the

Martyrium of Saint Denis, Montmartre The hill of Montmartre became a place of popular pilgrimage after a chapel was erected by the people of Paris, around 475, where Saint Denis, the first bishop of Paris, was martyred. In the ninth century, the chapel, which had become ruined, w ...

. They called themselves the , and also or "Friends in the Lord", because they felt "they were placed together by Christ." The name "company" had echoes of the military (reflecting perhaps Ignatius' background as Captain in the Spanish army) as well as of discipleship (the "companions" of Jesus). The Spanish "company" would be translated into Latin as like in , a partner or comrade. From this came "Society of Jesus" (SJ) by which they would be known more widely. Religious orders established in the medieval era were named after particular men:

Francis of Assisi Giovanni di Pietro di Bernardone, better known as Saint Francis of Assisi ( it, Francesco d'Assisi; – 3 October 1226), was a mystic Italian Catholic friar, founder of the Franciscans, and one of the most venerated figures in Christianit ...

(Franciscans); Domingo de Guzmán, later canonized as Saint Dominic (Dominicans); and

Augustine of Hippo Augustine of Hippo ( , ; la, Aurelius Augustinus Hipponensis; 13 November 354 – 28 August 430), also known as Saint Augustine, was a theologian and philosopher of Berber origin and the bishop of Hippo Regius in Numidia, Roman North Af ...

(Augustinians). Ignatius of Loyola and his followers appropriated the name of Jesus for their new order, provoking resentment by other orders who considered it presumptuous. The resentment was recorded by Jesuit José de Acosta of a conversation with the Archbishop of Santo Domingo. In the words of one historian: "The use of the name Jesus gave great offense. Both on the Continent and in England, it was denounced as blasphemous; petitions were sent to kings and to civil and ecclesiastical tribunals to have it changed; and even

Pope Sixtus V Pope Sixtus V ( it, Sisto V; 13 December 1521 – 27 August 1590), born Felice Piergentile, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 24 April 1585 to his death in August 1590. As a youth, he joined the Franciscan order ...

had signed a Brief to do away with it." But nothing came of all the opposition; there were already congregations named after the Trinity and as "God's daughters". In 1537, the seven travelled to Italy to seek papal approval for their

order Order, ORDER or Orders may refer to: * Categorization, the process in which ideas and objects are recognized, differentiated, and understood * Heterarchy, a system of organization wherein the elements have the potential to be ranked a number of d ...

. Pope Paul III gave them a commendation, and permitted them to be ordained priests. These initial steps led to the official founding in 1540. They were ordained in

Venice Venice ( ; it, Venezia ; vec, Venesia or ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400 ...

by the

bishop of Arbe The Diocese of Arbe or Diocese of Rab or Diocese of Arba (Latin: ''Dioecesis Arbensis'') was a Roman Catholic diocese located in the town of Arbe (modern day Rab) on the Croatian island of the same name located just off the Adriatic coast of northe ...

(24 June). They devoted themselves to preaching and charitable work in Italy. The

Italian War of 1535-1538 Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional ...

renewed between

Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor Charles V, french: Charles Quint, it, Carlo V, nl, Karel V, ca, Carles V, la, Carolus V (24 February 1500 – 21 September 1558) was Holy Roman Emperor and Archduke of Austria from 1519 to 1556, King of Spain (Crown of Castile, Castil ...

, Venice, the Pope, and the Ottoman Empire, had rendered any journey to Jerusalem impossible. Again in 1540, they presented the project to Paul III. After months of dispute, a congregation of cardinals reported favourably upon the Constitution presented, and Paul III confirmed the order through the bull ("To the Government of the Church Militant"), on 27 September 1540. This is the founding document of the Society of Jesus as an official Catholic religious order. Ignatius was chosen as the first

. Paul III's bull had limited the number of its members to sixty. This limitation was removed through the bull of Julius III in 1550. In 1543, Pierre Canisius entered the Company. Ignatius sent him to Messina, where he founded the first Jesuit college in Sicily. Ignatius laid out his original vision for the new order in the "Formula of the Institute of the Society of Jesus",Text of the Formula of the Institute (1540)
,

Boston College Boston College (BC) is a private Jesuit research university in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts. Founded in 1863, the university has more than 9,300 full-time undergraduates and nearly 5,000 graduate students. Although Boston College is classifie ...

, Institute for Advanced Jesuit Studies, accessed 31 May 2021 which is "the fundamental charter of the order, of which all subsequent official documents were elaborations and to which they had to conform". He ensured that his formula was contained in two papal bulls signed by Pope Paul III in 1540 and by Pope Julius III in 1550. The formula expressed the nature, spirituality, community life, and apostolate of the new religious order. Its famous opening statement echoed Ignatius' military background: Regimini militantis Ecclesiae

In fulfilling the mission of the "Formula of the Institute of the Society", the first Jesuits concentrated on a few key activities. First, they founded schools throughout Europe. Jesuit teachers were trained in both

classical studies Classics or classical studies is the study of classical antiquity. In the Western world, classics traditionally refers to the study of Classical Greek and Roman literature and their related original languages, Ancient Greek and Latin. Classics ...

and theology, and their schools reflected this. Second, they sent out missionaries across the globe to evangelize those peoples who had not yet heard the Gospel, founding missions in widely diverse regions such as modern-day Paraguay, Japan, Ontario, and Ethiopia. One of the original seven arrived in India already in 1541. Finally, though not initially formed for the purpose, they aimed to stop Protestantism from spreading and to preserve communion with Rome and the pope. The zeal of the Jesuits overcame the movement toward Protestantism in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth and southern Germany. Ignatius wrote the Jesuit ''Constitutions'', adopted in 1553, which created a centralised organization and stressed acceptance of any mission to which the pope might call them. His main principle became the unofficial Jesuit motto: ("For the greater glory of God"). This phrase is designed to reflect the idea that any work that is not evil can be meritorious for the spiritual life if it is performed with this intention, even things normally considered of little importance. The Society of Jesus is classified among institutes as a

mendicant A mendicant (from la, mendicans, "begging") is one who practices mendicancy, relying chiefly or exclusively on alms to survive. In principle, mendicant religious orders own little property, either individually or collectively, and in many inst ...

order of clerks regular, that is, a body of priests organized for apostolic work, following a religious rule, and relying on

alms Alms (, ) are money, food, or other material goods donated to people living in poverty. Providing alms is often considered an act of virtue or Charity (practice), charity. The act of providing alms is called almsgiving, and it is a widespread p ...

, or donations, for support. The term ''Jesuit'' (of 15th-century origin, meaning "one who used too frequently or appropriated the name of Jesus") was first applied to the society in reproach (1544–1552). The term was never used by Ignatius of Loyola, but over time, members and friends of the society adopted the name with a positive meaning.

Early works

The Jesuits were founded just before the Council of Trent (1545–1563) and ensuing

that would introduce reforms within the Catholic Church, and so counter the Protestant Reformation throughout Catholic Europe. Ignatius and the early Jesuits did recognize, though, that the hierarchical church was in dire need of reform. Some of their greatest struggles were against corruption, venality, and spiritual lassitude within the Catholic Church. Ignatius insisted on a high level of academic preparation for the clergy in contrast to the relatively poor education of much of the clergy of his time. The Jesuit vow against "ambitioning prelacies" can be seen as an effort to counteract another problem evidenced in the preceding century. Ignatius and the Jesuits who followed him believed that the reform of the church had to begin with the conversion of an individual's heart. One of the main tools the Jesuits have used to bring about this conversion is the Ignatian retreat, called the Spiritual Exercises. During a four-week period of silence, individuals undergo a series of directed meditations on the purpose of life and contemplations on the life of Christ. They meet regularly with a spiritual director who guides their choice of exercises and helps them to develop a more discerning love for Christ. The retreat follows a "Purgative-Illuminative-Unitive" pattern in the tradition of the spirituality of John Cassian and the Desert Fathers. Ignatius' innovation was to make this style of contemplative mysticism available to all people in active life. Further, he used it as a means of rebuilding the spiritual life of the church. The Exercises became both the basis for the training of Jesuits and one of the essential ministries of the order: giving the exercises to others in what became known as "retreats". The Jesuits' contributions to the late Renaissance were significant in their roles both as a missionary order and as the first religious order to operate colleges and universities as a principal and distinct ministry. By the time of Ignatius' death in 1556, the Jesuits were already operating a network of 74 colleges on three continents. A precursor to

liberal education A liberal education is a system or course of education suitable for the cultivation of a free (Latin: ''liber'') human being. It is based on the medieval concept of the liberal arts or, more commonly now, the liberalism of the Age of Enlightenment ...

, the Jesuit plan of studies incorporated the Classical teachings of Renaissance humanism into the

Scholastic Scholastic may refer to: * a philosopher or theologian in the tradition of scholasticism * ''Scholastic'' (Notre Dame publication) * Scholastic Corporation, an American publishing company of educational materials * Scholastic Building, in New Y ...

structure of Catholic thought. In addition to the teachings of faith, the Jesuit (1599) would standardize the study of Latin, Greek, classical literature, poetry, and philosophy as well as non-European languages, sciences, and the arts. Furthermore, Jesuit schools encouraged the study of vernacular literature and

rhetoric Rhetoric () is the art of persuasion, which along with grammar and logic (or dialectic), is one of the three ancient arts of discourse. Rhetoric aims to study the techniques writers or speakers utilize to inform, persuade, or motivate parti ...

, and thereby became important centres for the training of lawyers and public officials. The Jesuit schools played an important part in winning back to Catholicism a number of European countries which had for a time been predominantly Protestant, notably Poland and

Lithuania Lithuania (; lt, Lietuva ), officially the Republic of Lithuania ( lt, Lietuvos Respublika, links=no ), is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea. Lithuania ...

. Today, Jesuit colleges and universities are located in over one hundred nations around the world. Under the notion that God can be encountered through created things and especially art, they encouraged the use of ceremony and decoration in Catholic ritual and devotion. Perhaps as a result of this appreciation for art, coupled with their spiritual practice of "finding God in all things", many early Jesuits distinguished themselves in the visual and

performing arts The performing arts are arts such as music, dance, and drama which are performed for an audience. They are different from the visual arts, which are the use of paint, canvas or various materials to create physical or static art objects. Perform ...

as well as in music. The theater was a form of expression especially prominent in Jesuit schools. Jesuit priests often acted as

confessors Confessor is a title used within Christianity in several ways. Confessor of the Faith Its oldest use is to indicate a saint who has suffered persecution and torture for the faith but not to the point of death.early modern period. They were an important force in the Counter-Reformation and in the Catholic missions, in part because their relatively loose structure (without the requirements of living and celebration of the Liturgy of Hours in common) allowed them to be flexible and meet diverse needs arising at the time.

Expansion of the order

After much training and experience in theology, Jesuits went across the globe in search of converts to Christianity. Despite their dedication, they had little success in Asia, except in the Philippines. For instance, early missions in Japan resulted in the government granting the Jesuits the feudal fiefdom of Nagasaki in 1580. This was removed in 1587 due to fears over their growing influence. Jesuits did, however, have much success in Latin America. Their ascendancy in societies in the Americas accelerated during the seventeenth century, wherein Jesuits created new missions in Peru, Colombia, and Bolivia; as early as 1603, there were 345 Jesuit priests in Mexico alone. Franciscus de Xabier

Francis Xavier, one of the original companions of Loyola, arrived in Goa (

Portuguese India The State of India ( pt, Estado da Índia), also referred as the Portuguese State of India (''Estado Português da Índia'', EPI) or simply Portuguese India (), was a state of the Portuguese Empire founded six years after the discovery of a se ...

) in 1541 to carry out evangelical service in the Indies. In a 1545 letter to John III of Portugal, he requested an Inquisition to be installed in Goa to combat heresies like crypto-Judaism and crypto-Islam. Under Portuguese royal patronage, Jesuits thrived in Goa and until 1759 successfully expanded their activities to education and healthcare. In 1594 they founded the first Roman-style academic institution in the East, St. Paul Jesuit College in Macau, China. Founded by Alessandro Valignano, it had a great influence on the learning of Eastern languages (Chinese and Japanese) and culture by missionary Jesuits, becoming home to the first western

sinologist Sinology, or Chinese studies, is an academic discipline that focuses on the study of China primarily through Chinese philosophy, language, literature, culture and history and often refers to Western scholarship. Its origin "may be traced to the ex ...

s such as

Matteo Ricci Matteo Ricci, SJ (; la, Mattheus Riccius; 6 October 1552 – 11 May 1610), was an Italians, Italian Society of Jesus, Jesuit Priesthood in the Catholic Church, priest and one of the founding figures of the Jesuit China missions. He create ...

. Jesuit efforts in Goa were interrupted by the expulsion of the Jesuits from Portuguese territories in 1759 by the powerful Marquis of Pombal, Secretary of State in Portugal. The Portuguese Jesuit António de Andrade founded a mission in Western Tibet in 1624. Two Jesuit missionaries,

Johann Grueber Johann Grueber (28 October 1623, Linz – 30 September 1680, Sárospatak, Hungary) was an Austrian Jesuit missionary and astronomer in China, and noted explorer. Life He joined the Society of Jesus in 1641 and went to China in 1656, where he was ...

and

Albert Dorville Albert Dorville, (also known as ''Albert Le Comte d’Orville'') (12 August 1621 in Brussels, Belgium – 8 April 1662 in Agra, India) was a Belgian Jesuit priest, missionary in China and cartographer. Biography The young Albert, son of nobl ...

, reached Lhasa, in Tibet, in 1661. The Italian Jesuit Ippolito Desideri established a new Jesuit mission in Lhasa and Central Tibet (1716–21) and gained an exceptional mastery of Tibetan language and culture, writing a long and very detailed account of the country and its religion as well as treatises in Tibetan that attempted to refute key Buddhist ideas and establish the truth of Catholic Christianity. Jesuit

missions Mission (from Latin ''missio'' "the act of sending out") may refer to: Organised activities Religion * Christian mission, an organized effort to spread Christianity *Mission (LDS Church), an administrative area of The Church of Jesus Christ of ...

in America became controversial in Europe, especially in Spain and Portugal where they were seen as interfering with the proper colonial enterprises of the royal governments. The Jesuits were often the only force standing between the Native Americans and slavery. Together throughout South America but especially in present-day Brazil and Paraguay, they formed Christian Native American city-states, called "

reductions Reductions ( es, reducciones, also called ; , pl. ) were settlements created by Spanish rulers and Roman Catholic missionaries in Spanish America and the Spanish East Indies (the Philippines). In Portuguese-speaking Latin America, such redu ...

". These were societies set up according to an idealized theocratic model. The efforts of Jesuits like Antonio Ruiz de Montoya to protect the natives from enslavement by Spanish and Portuguese colonizers would contribute to the call for the society's suppression. Jesuit priests such as Manuel da Nóbrega and José de Anchieta founded several towns in Brazil in the 16th century, including São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro, and were very influential in the pacification, religious conversion, and education of indigenous nations. They also built schools, organized people into villages, and created a writing system for the local languages of Brazil. José de Anchieta and Manuel da Nóbrega were the first Jesuits that Ignacio de Loyola sent to America. Bell of Nanban-ji

Jesuit scholars working in foreign missions were very dedicated in studying the local languages and strove to produce Latinized grammars and

dictionaries A dictionary is a listing of lexemes from the lexicon of one or more specific languages, often arranged alphabetically (or by radical and stroke for ideographic languages), which may include information on definitions, usage, etymologies, p ...

. This included: Japanese (see , also known as , "Vocabulary of the Japanese Language", a Japanese–Portuguese dictionary written 1603); Vietnamese (Portuguese missionaries created the Vietnamese alphabet,Jacques, Roland (2004).
Bồ Đào Nha và công trình sáng chế chữ quốc ngữ: Phải chăng cần viết lại lịch sử?
" Translated by Nguyễn Đăng Trúc. In ''Các nhà truyền giáo Bồ Đào Nha và thời kỳ đầu của Giáo hội Công giáo Việt Nam (Quyển 1)'' – ''Les missionnaires portugais et les débuts de l'Eglise catholique au Viêt-nam (Tome 1)'' (in Vietnamese & French). Reichstett, France: Định Hướng Tùng Thư. . which was later formalized by Avignon missionary Alexandre de Rhodes with his 1651 trilingual dictionary);

Tupi Tupi may refer to: * Tupi people of Brazil * Tupi or Tupian languages, spoken in South America ** Tupi language, an extinct Tupian language spoken by the Tupi people * Tupi oil field off the coast of Brazil * Tupi Paulista, a Brazilian municipalit ...

(the main language of Brazil); and the pioneering study of Sanskrit in the West by Jean François Pons in the 1740s. Jesuit missionaries were active among indigenous peoples in New France in North America, many of them compiling dictionaries or glossaries of the First Nations and Native American languages they had learned. For instance, before his death in 1708, Jacques Gravier, vicar general of the Illinois Mission in the Mississippi River valley, compiled a Kaskaskia Illinois–French

dictionary A dictionary is a listing of lexemes from the lexicon of one or more specific languages, often arranged alphabetically (or by radical and stroke for ideographic languages), which may include information on definitions, usage, etymologies ...

, considered the most extensive among works of the missionaries. Extensive documentation was left in the form of '' The Jesuit Relations'', published annually from 1632 until 1673.

Britain

Whereas Jesuits were active in the 16th century, due to the prosecution of Catholics in the Elizabethan times, an 'English' province was only established in 1623. Whereas the first pressing issue of early Jesuits, in what today is the UK, was to establish places for training priests, the Society's activities today are much broader than that. After an English College was opened in Rome (1579), a Jesuit seminary was opened at Valladolid (1589), then one in Seville (1592), which culminated in a place of study in Louvain (1614). This was the earliest foundation of what would later be called Heythrop College. Campion Hall founded in 1896, has been a presence within Oxford University since then. In terms of other longer-established manifestations of the Jesuits commitment to working in Britain, four Jesuit churches remain today in London alone, with four further places of workship in England, and two in Scotland. For a recent assessment of the Jesuits in Britain's work, see Melanie McDonagh's article.

China

The Jesuits first entered China through the Portuguese settlement on Macau, where they settled on Green Island and founded St. Paul's College. The

Jesuit China missions The history of the missions of the Jesuits in China is part of the history of relations between China and the Western world. The missionary efforts and other work of the Society of Jesus, or Jesuits, between the 16th and 17th century played a si ...

of the 16th and 17th centuries introduced Western science and astronomy, then undergoing its own revolution, to China. The scientific revolution brought by the Jesuits coincided with a time when scientific innovation had declined in China: For over a century, Jesuits like Michele Ruggieri,

, Diego de Pantoja,

Philippe Couplet Philippe or Philip Couplet (1623–1693), known in China as Bai Yingli, was a Flemish Jesuit missionary to the Qing Empire. He worked with his fellow missionaries to compile the influential ''Confucius, Philosopher of the Chinese'', published in ...

Michal Boym Michal (; he, מיכל , gr, Μιχάλ) was, according to the first Book of Samuel, a princess of the United Kingdom of Israel; the younger daughter of King Saul, she was the first wife of David (), who later became king, first of Judah, ...

, and François Noël refined translations and disseminated Chinese knowledge, culture, history, and

philosophy Philosophy (from , ) is the systematized study of general and fundamental questions, such as those about existence, reason, knowledge, values, mind, and language. Such questions are often posed as problems to be studied or resolved. Some ...

to Europe. Their Latin works popularized the name " Confucius" and had considerable influence on the Deists and other

Enlightenment Enlightenment or enlighten may refer to: Age of Enlightenment * Age of Enlightenment, period in Western intellectual history from the late 17th to late 18th century, centered in France but also encompassing (alphabetically by country or culture): ...

thinkers, some of whom were intrigued by the Jesuits' attempts to reconcile Confucian morality with Catholicism. Upon the arrival of the Franciscans and other monastic orders, Jesuit accommodation of Chinese culture and rituals led to the long-running Chinese Rites controversy. Despite the personal testimony of the Kangxi Emperor and many Jesuit converts that

Chinese veneration of ancestors Chinese ancestor veneration, also called Chinese ancestor worship, is an aspect of the Chinese folk religion, Chinese traditional religion which revolves around the ritual celebration of the deification, deified ancestors and tutelary deities ...

and Confucius was a nonreligious token of respect, 's papal decree ruled that such behavior constituted impermissible forms of

idolatry Idolatry is the worship of a cult image or "idol" as though it were God. In Abrahamic religions (namely Judaism, Samaritanism, Christianity, the Baháʼí Faith, and Islam) idolatry connotes the worship of something or someone other than the A ...

and superstition in 1704; his legate

Tournon Tournon is the name or part of the name of several communes in France: * Tournon, Savoie, in the Savoie ''département'' * Tournon-d'Agenais, in the Lot-et-Garonne ''département'' * Tournon-Saint-Martin, in the Indre ''département'' * Tournon-Sai ...

and the Bishop of Fujian, tasked with presenting this finding to the Kangxi Emperor, displayed such extreme ignorance that the emperor mandated the expulsion of Christian missionaries unable to abide by the terms of Ricci's Chinese catechism.. Tournon's summary and automatic excommunication for any violators of Clement's decree—upheld by the 1715 bull —led to the swift collapse of all the missions in China; the last Jesuits were finally expelled after 1721.

Canada

During the French colonisation of New France in the 17th century, Jesuits played an active role in North America. When

Samuel de Champlain Samuel de Champlain (; Fichier OrigineFor a detailed analysis of his baptismal record, see RitchThe baptism act does not contain information about the age of Samuel, neither his birth date nor his place of birth. – 25 December 1635) was a Fre ...

established the foundations of the French colony at Québec, he was aware of native tribes who possessed their own languages, customs, and traditions. These natives that inhabited modern day Ontario, Québec, and the areas around Lake Simcoe and Georgian Bay were the Montagnais, the Algonquins, and the Huron. Champlain believed that these had souls to be saved, so in 1614 he initially obtained the Recollects, a reform branch of the Franciscans in France, to convert the native inhabitants. In 1624 the French Recollects realized the magnitude of their task and sent a delegate to France to invite the Society of Jesus to help with this mission. The invitation was accepted, and Jesuits Jean de Brébeuf, Ennemond Masse, and

Charles Lalemant Charles Lallemant (or Lalemant), (November 17, 1587 – November 18, 1674) was a French Jesuit. He was born in Paris in 1587 and later became the first Superior of the Jesuit Missions amongst the Huron in Canada. His letter to his brother, ...

arrived in Quebec in 1625. Lalemant is considered to have been the first author of one of the ''Jesuit Relations of New France'', which chronicled their evangelization during the 17th century. The Jesuits became involved in the Huron mission in 1626 and lived among the Huron peoples. Brébeuf learned the native language and created the first Huron language dictionary. Outside conflict forced the Jesuits to leave New France in 1629 when Quebec was

surrendered Surrender, in military terms, is the relinquishment of control over territory, combatants, fortifications, ships or armament to another power. A surrender may be accomplished peacefully or it may be the result of defeat in battle. A sovereign ...

to the English. But in 1632 Quebec was returned to the French under the Treaty of

Saint Germain-en-Laye Saint-Germain-en-Laye () is a commune in the Yvelines department in the Île-de-France in north-central France. It is located in the western suburbs of Paris, from the centre of Paris. Inhabitants are called ''Saint-Germanois'' or ''Saint-Ger ...

and the Jesuits returned to Huron territory, modern Huronia. In 1639, Jesuit

Jerome Lalemant Jerome (; la, Eusebius Sophronius Hieronymus; grc-gre, Εὐσέβιος Σωφρόνιος Ἱερώνυμος; – 30 September 420), also known as Jerome of Stridon, was a Christian priest, confessor, theologian, and historian; he is comm ...

decided that the missionaries among the Hurons needed a local residence and established Sainte-Marie, which expanded into a living replica of European society. It became the Jesuit headquarters and an important part of Canadian history. Throughout most of the 1640s the Jesuits had great success, establishing five chapels in Huronia and baptising over one thousand Huron natives. However, as the Jesuits began to expand westward they encountered more Iroquois natives, rivals of the Hurons. The Iroquois grew jealous of the Hurons' wealth and fur trade system, and began to attack Huron villages in 1648. They killed missionaries and burned villages, and the Hurons scattered. Both Jean de Brébeuf and Gabriel Lalemant were tortured and killed in the Iroquois raids; they have been canonized as martyrs in the Catholic Church. With the knowledge of the invading Iroquois, the Jesuit

Paul Ragueneau Paul Ragueneau (18 March 1608 – 3 September 1680) was a Catholic Jesuit missionary. Biography He was born in Paris and died in the same city. He is sometimes confused with his elder brother François, also a Jesuit. Father François Ragueneau ...

burned down Sainte-Marie instead of allowing the Iroquois the satisfaction of destroying it. By late June 1649, the French and some Christian Hurons built Sainte-Marie II on Christian Island (Isle de Saint-Joseph). However, facing starvation, lack of supplies, and constant threats of Iroquois attack, the small Sainte-Marie II was abandoned in June 1650; the remaining Hurons and Jesuits departed for Quebec and Ottawa. After a series of epidemics, beginning in 1634, some Huron began to mistrust the Jesuits and accused them of being sorcerers casting spells from their books. As a result of the Iroquois raids and outbreak of disease, many missionaries, traders, and soldiers died. Today, the Huron tribe, also known as the Wyandot, have a First Nations reserve in Quebec, Canada, and three major settlements in the United States. After the collapse of the Huron nation, the Jesuits were to undertake the task of converting the Iroquois, something they had attempted in 1642 with little success. In 1653 the Iroquois nation had a fallout with the Dutch. They then signed a peace treaty with the French and a mission was established. The Iroquois took the treaty lightly and soon turned on the French again. In 1658, the Jesuits were having very little success and were under constant threat of being tortured or killed, but continued their effort until 1687 when they abandoned their permanent posts in the Iroquois homeland. By 1700, Jesuits turned to maintaining Quebec, Montreal, and Ottawa without establishing new posts. During the Seven Years' War, Quebec was captured by the British in 1759 and New France came under British control. The British barred the immigration of more Jesuits to New France, and by 1763, there were only 21 Jesuits stationed in New France. By 1773 only 11 Jesuits remained. During the same year the British crown laid claim to New France and declared that the Society of Jesus in New France was dissolved. The dissolution of the Order left in place substantial estates and investments, amounting to an income of approximately £5,000 a year, and the Council for the Affairs of the Province of Quebec, later succeeded by the

Legislative Assembly of Quebec The Legislative Assembly of Quebec (French: ''Assemblée législative du Québec'') was the name of the lower house of Quebec's legislature from 1867 to December 31, 1968, when it was renamed the National Assembly of Quebec. At the same time, t ...

, assumed the task of allocating the funds to suitable recipients, chiefly schools. The Jesuit mission in Quebec was re-established in 1842. There were a number of Jesuit colleges founded in the decades following; one of these colleges evolved into present-day Laval University.

United States

In the United States, the order is best known for its missions to the Native Americans in the early 17th century, its network of colleges and universities, and (in Europe before 1773) its politically conservative role in the Catholic Counter Reformation. The Society of Jesus, in the United States, is organized into geographic provinces, each of which being headed by a provincial superior. Today, there are four Jesuit provinces operating in the United States: the USA East, USA

Central Central is an adjective usually referring to being in the center of some place or (mathematical) object. Central may also refer to: Directions and generalised locations * Central Africa, a region in the centre of Africa continent, also known as ...

and

Southern Southern may refer to: Businesses * China Southern Airlines, airline based in Guangzhou, China * Southern Airways, defunct US airline * Southern Air, air cargo transportation company based in Norwalk, Connecticut, US * Southern Airways Express, M ...

, USA

Midwest The Midwestern United States, also referred to as the Midwest or the American Midwest, is one of four Census Bureau Region, census regions of the United States Census Bureau (also known as "Region 2"). It occupies the northern central part of ...

, and USA West Provinces. At their height, there were ten provinces. Though there had been mergers in the past, a major reorganization of the provinces began in early 21st century, with the aim of consolidating into four provinces by 2020.

Ecuador

The Church of the Society of Jesus ( es, La Iglesia de la Compañía de Jesús, links=no), known colloquially as , is a Jesuit church in

Quito Quito (; qu, Kitu), formally San Francisco de Quito, is the capital and largest city of Ecuador, with an estimated population of 2.8 million in its urban area. It is also the capital of the province of Pichincha. Quito is located in a valley o ...

, Ecuador. It is among the best-known churches in Quito because of its large central nave, which is profusely decorated with

gold leaf Gold leaf is gold that has been hammered into thin sheets (usually around 0.1 µm thick) by goldbeating and is often used for gilding. Gold leaf is available in a wide variety of karats and shades. The most commonly used gold is 22-kara ...

gilded Gilding is a decorative technique for applying a very thin coating of gold over solid surfaces such as metal (most common), wood, porcelain, or stone. A gilded object is also described as "gilt". Where metal is gilded, the metal below was tradi ...

plaster and wood carvings. Inspired by two Roman Jesuit churches – the

Chiesa del Gesù Chiesa (Italian, 'church') may refer to: People with the surname *Andrea Chiesa (born 1966), Swiss Formula One racer *Anthony della Chiesa (1394–1459), Italian Dominican friar *Bruno della Chiesa (born 1962), European linguist *Carlo Alberto Dal ...

(1580) and the Chiesa di Sant'Ignazio di Loyola (1650) – is one of the most significant works of Spanish Baroque architecture in South America and Quito's most ornate church. Over the 160 years of its construction, the architects of incorporated elements of four architectural styles, although the

Baroque The Baroque (, ; ) is a style of architecture, music, dance, painting, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished in Europe from the early 17th century until the 1750s. In the territories of the Spanish and Portuguese empires including t ...

is the most prominent. Mudéjar (Moorish) influence is seen in the geometrical figures on the pillars; the Churrigueresque characterizes much of the ornate decoration, especially in the interior walls; finally the Neoclassical style adorns the Chapel of Saint Mariana de Jesús (in early years a winery).

Mexico

The Jesuits in

New Spain New Spain, officially the Viceroyalty of New Spain ( es, Virreinato de Nueva España, ), or Kingdom of New Spain, was an integral territorial entity of the Spanish Empire, established by Habsburg Spain during the Spanish colonization of the Am ...

distinguished themselves in several ways. They had high standards for acceptance to the order and many years of training. They attracted the patronage of elite families whose sons they educated in rigorous newly founded Jesuit ("colleges"), including Colegio de San Pedro y San Pablo, Colegio de San Ildefonso, and the Colegio de San Francisco Javier, Tepozotlan. Those same elite families hoped that a son with a vocation to the priesthood would be accepted as a Jesuit. Jesuits were also zealous in evangelization of the indigenous, particularly on the northern frontiers. To support their and members of the Society of Jesus, the Jesuits acquired landed estates that were run with the best-practices for generating income in that era. A number of these haciendas were donated by wealthy elites. The donation of a hacienda to the Jesuits was the spark igniting a conflict between 17th-century bishop of Puebla Don Juan de Palafox and the Jesuit colegio in that city. Since the Jesuits resisted paying the tithe on their estates, this donation effectively took revenue out of the church hierarchy's pockets by removing it from the tithe rolls. Many of Jesuit haciendas were huge, with Palafox asserting that just two colleges owned 300,000 head of sheep, whose wool was transformed locally in Puebla to cloth; six sugar plantations worth a million pesos and generating an income of 100,000 pesos. The immense Jesuit hacienda of Santa Lucía produced , the fermented juice of the agave cactus whose main consumers were the lower classes and indigenous peoples in Spanish cities. Although most haciendas had a free work force of permanent or seasonal labourers, the Jesuit haciendas in Mexico had a significant number of black slaves. The Jesuits operated their properties as an integrated unit with the larger Jesuit order; thus revenues from haciendas funded their . Jesuits did significantly expand missions to the indigenous in the northern frontier area and a number were martyred, but the crown supported those missions. Mendicant orders that had real estate were less economically integrated, so that some individual houses were wealthy while others struggled economically. The Franciscans, who were founded as an order embracing poverty, did not accumulate real estate, unlike the Augustinians and Dominicans in Mexico. The Jesuits engaged in conflict with the episcopal hierarchy over the question of payment of tithes, the ten percent tax on agriculture levied on landed estates for support of the church hierarchy from bishops and cathedral chapters to parish priests. Since the Jesuits were the largest religious order holding real estate, surpassing the Dominicans and Augustinians who had accumulated significant property, this was no small matter. They argued that they were exempt, due to special pontifical privileges. In the mid-17th century, bishop of Puebla, Don Juan de Palafox took on the Jesuits over this matter and was so soundly defeated that he was recalled to Spain, where he became the bishop of the minor diocese of Osma. As elsewhere in the Spanish empire, the Jesuits were expelled from Mexico in 1767. Their haciendas were sold off and their colegios and missions in Baja California were taken over by other orders. Exiled Mexican-born Jesuit Francisco Javier Clavijero wrote an important history of Mexico while in Italy, a basis for creole patriotism. Andrés Cavo also wrote an important text on Mexican history that Carlos María de Bustamante published in the early nineteenth-century. An earlier Jesuit who wrote about the history of Mexico was Diego Luis de Motezuma (1619–99), a descendant of the Aztec monarchs of Tenochtitlan. Motezuma's was completed in 1696. He "aimed to show that Mexican emperors were a legitimate dynasty in the 17th-century in the European sense". The Jesuits were allowed to return to Mexico in 1840 when General Antonio López de Santa Anna was once more president of Mexico. Their re-introduction to Mexico was "to assist in the education of the poorer classes and much of their property was restored to them".

Northern Spanish America

The Jesuits arrived in the Viceroyalty of Peru by 1571; it was a key area of the Spanish empire, with not only dense indigenous populations but also huge deposits of silver at

Potosí Potosí, known as Villa Imperial de Potosí in the colonial period, is the capital city and a municipality of the Department of Potosí in Bolivia. It is one of the highest cities in the world at a nominal . For centuries, it was the location o ...

. A major figure in the first wave of Jesuits was José de Acosta (1540–1600), whose book (1590) introduced Europeans to Spain's American empire via fluid prose and keen observation and explanation, based on 15 years in Peru and some time in

(Mexico). Viceroy of Peru Don Francisco de Toledo urged the Jesuits to evangelize the indigenous peoples of Peru, wanting to put them in charge of parishes, but Acosta adhered to the Jesuit position that they were not subject to the jurisdiction of bishops and to catechize in indigenous parishes would bring them into conflict with the bishops. For that reason, the Jesuits in Peru focused on education of elite men rather than the indigenous populations. StPeterClaver

To minister to newly arrived African slaves, Alonso de Sandoval (1576–1651) worked at the port of

Cartagena de Indias Cartagena ( , also ), known since the colonial era as Cartagena de Indias (), is a city and one of the major ports on the northern coast of Colombia in the Caribbean Coast Region, bordering the Caribbean sea. Cartagena's past role as a link ...

. Sandoval wrote about this ministry in (1627), describing how he and his assistant

Pedro Claver Peter Claver, SJ ( es, Pedro Claver y Corberó; ca, Pere Claver i Corberó; 26 June 1580 – 8 September 1654) was a Spanish Jesuit priest and missionary born in Verdú (Catalonia, Spain) who, due to his life and work, became the patron s ...

, later canonized, met slave transport ships in the harbour, went below decks where 300–600 slaves were chained, and gave physical aid with water, while introducing the Africans to Christianity. In his treatise, he did not condemn slavery or the ill-treatment of slaves, but sought to instruct fellow Jesuits to this ministry and describe how he catechized the slaves. Rafael Ferrer was the first Jesuit of

to explore and found missions in the upper Amazon regions of South America from 1602 to 1610, which belonged to the Audiencia (high court) of Quito that was a part of the Viceroyalty of Peru until it was transferred to the newly created Viceroyalty of New Granada in 1717. In 1602, Ferrer began to explore the Aguarico, Napo, and Marañon rivers (Sucumbios region, in what is today Ecuador and Peru), and between 1604 and 1605 set up missions among the Cofane natives. He was martyred by an apostate native in 1610. In 1639, the Audiencia of Quito organized an expedition to renew its exploration of the Amazon river and the Quito Jesuit (Jesuita Quiteño)

Cristóbal de Acuña Cristóbal or Cristobal, the Spanish version of Christopher, is a masculine given name and a surname which may refer to: Given name *Cristóbal Balenciaga (1895–1972), Spanish fashion designer *Cristóbal Cobo (born 1976), Chilean academic *Cri ...

was a part of this expedition. The expedition disembarked from the Napo river 16 February 1639 and arrived in what is today Pará Brazil on the banks of the Amazon river on 12 December 1639. In 1641, Acuña published in Madrid a memoir of his expedition to the Amazon river entitled , which for academics became a fundamental reference on the Amazon region. In 1637, the Jesuits Gaspar Cugia and Lucas de la Cueva from Quito began establishing the

Mainas missions The Mainas (or Maynas) missions refers to a large number of small Spanish missions in the Americas, missions the Jesuits established in the western Amazon rainforest, Amazon region of South America from 1638 until 1767, when the Jesuits were Su ...

in territories on the banks of the Marañón River, around the Pongo de Manseriche region, close to the Spanish settlement of Borja. Between 1637 and 1652 there were 14 missions established along the Marañón River and its southern tributaries, the Huallaga and the Ucayali rivers. Jesuit Lucas de la Cueva and Raimundo de Santacruz opened up two new routes of communication with Quito, through the Pastaza and Napo rivers. Between 1637 and 1715, Samuel Fritz founded 38 missions along the length of the Amazon river, between the Napo and Negro rivers, that were called the Omagua Missions. These missions were continually attacked by the Brazilian

Bandeirantes The ''Bandeirantes'' (), literally "flag-carriers", were slavers, explorers, adventurers, and fortune hunters in early Colonial Brazil. They are largely responsible for Brazil's great expansion westward, far beyond the Tordesillas Line of 1494 ...

beginning in the year 1705. In 1768, the only Omagua mission that was left was San Joaquin de Omaguas, since it had been moved to a new location on the Napo river away from the Bandeirantes. In the immense territory of Maynas, the Jesuits of Quito made contact with a number of indigenous tribes which spoke 40 different languages, and founded a total of 173 Jesuit missions encompassing 150,000 inhabitants. Because of the constant epidemics (smallpox and measles) and warfare with other tribes and the

, the total number of Jesuit Missions were reduced to 40 by 1744. The Jesuit missions offered the indigenous people Christianity, iron tools, and a small degree of protection from the slavers and the colonists. In exchange, the indigenous had to submit to Jesuit discipline and adopt, at least superficially, a life style foreign to their experience. The population of the missions was only sustained by frequent expeditions into the jungle by Jesuits, soldiers, and Christian Indians to capture indigenous people and force them to return or to settle in the missions. At the time when the Jesuits were expelled from Spanish America in 1767, the Jesuits of Quito registered 36 missions run by 25 Jesuits of Quito in the Audiencia of Quito – 6 in the Napo and Aguarico Missions and 19 in the Pastaza and Iquitos Missions, with the population at 20,000 inhabitants.

Paraguay

The Guaraní people of eastern Paraguay and neighboring Brazil and Argentina were in crisis in the early 17th century. Recurrent epidemics of European diseases had reduced their population by up 50 percent and the forced labor of the encomiendas by the Spanish and mestizo colonists had made virtual slaves of many. Franciscan missionaries began establishing missions called

in the 1580s. The first Jesuits arrived in Asunción in 1588 and founded their first mission (or reduction) of

San Ignacio Guazú San Ignacio (), also known as San Ignacio Guazú, is a district and city of the Misiones Department of Paraguay, located from Asunción. It is Misiones' most-populous and fastest growing city, with an estimated 35,497 residents in 2021.< ...

in 1609. The objectives of the Jesuits were to make Christians of the Guaraní, impose European values and customs (which were regarded as essential to a Christian life), and isolate and protect the Guaraní from European colonists and slavers. " Jesuit ruins at trinidad

In addition to recurrent epidemics, the Guaraní were threatened by the slave-raiding

from Brazil, who captured natives and sold them as slaves to work in sugar plantations or as concubines and household servants. Having depleted native populations near São Paulo, they discovered the richly populated Jesuit missions. Initially, the missions had few defenses against the slavers and thousands of Guaraní were captured and enslaved. Beginning in 1631, the Jesuits moved their missions from the Guayrá province (present day Brazil and Paraguay), about southwest to the three borders region of Paraguay, Argentina, and Brazil. About 10,000 of 30,000 Guaraní in the missions chose to accompany the Jesuits. In 1641 and 1642, armed by the Jesuits, Guaraní armies defeated the Bandeirantes and ended the worst of the slave trade in their region. From this point on the Jesuit missions enjoyed growth and prosperity, punctuated by epidemics. At the peak of their importance in 1732, the Jesuits presided over 141,000 Guaraní (including a sprinkling of other peoples) who lived in about 30 missions. The opinions of historians differ with regard to the Jesuit missions. The missions are much-romanticized with the Guaraní portrayed as innocent children of nature and the Jesuits as their wise and benevolent guides to an earthly utopia. "Proponents...highlight that the Jesuits protected the Indians from exploitation and preserved the Guaraní language and other aspects of indigenous culture." "By means of religion," wrote the 18th century philosopher d'Alembert, "the Jesuits established a monarchical authority in Paraguay, founded solely on their powers of persuasion and on their lenient methods of government. Masters of the country, they rendered happy the people under their sway." Voltaire called the Jesuit missions "a triumph of humanity". To the contrary the detractors say that 'the Jesuits took away the Indians' freedom, forced them to radically change their lifestyle, physically abused them, and subjected them to disease." Moreover, the missions were inefficient and their economic success "depended on subsidies from the Jesuit order, special protection and privileges from the Crown, and the lack of competition" The Jesuits are portrayed as "exploiters" who "sought to create a kingdom independent of the Spanish and Portuguese Crowns." The Comunero Revolt (1721 to 1735) was a serious protest by Spanish and mestizo Paraguayans against the Jesuit missions. The residents of Paraguay violently protested the pro-Jesuit government of Paraguay, Jesuit control of Guaraní labor, and what they regarded as unfair competition for the market for products such as yerba mate. Although the revolt ultimately failed and the missions remained intact, the Jesuits were expelled from institutions they had created in Asunción. In 1756, the Guaraní protested the relocation of seven missions, fighting (and losing) a brief war with both the Spanish and Portuguese. The Jesuits were accused of inciting the Guaraní to rebel. In 1767,

Charles III of Spain it, Carlo Sebastiano di Borbone e Farnese , house = Bourbon-Anjou , father = Philip V of Spain , mother = Elisabeth Farnese , birth_date = 20 January 1716 , birth_place = Royal Alcazar of Madrid, Spain , death_d ...

(1759–88) expelled the Jesuits from the Americas. The expulsion was part of an effort in the Bourbon Reforms to assert more Spanish control over its American colonies. Edited by Michael Meyer and William Beezley. In total, 78 Jesuits departed from the missions leaving behind 89,000 Guaraní in 30 missions.

Colonial Brazil

Tomé de Sousa, first Governor General of Brazil, brought the first group of Jesuits to the colony. The Jesuits were officially supported by the King, who instructed Tomé de Sousa to give them all the support needed to Christianize the indigenous peoples. The first Jesuits, guided by Manuel da Nóbrega, Juan de Azpilcueta Navarro, Leonardo Nunes, and later José de Anchieta, established the first Jesuit missions in Salvador and in

São Paulo dos Campos de Piratininga São Paulo dos Campos de Piratininga (''Saint Paul of the Fields of Piratininga'' in Portuguese) was the village that developed as São Paulo, Brazil in the region known as Campos de Piratininga. It was founded as a religious mission and a Je ...

, the settlement that gave rise to the city of São Paulo. Nóbrega and Anchieta were instrumental in the defeat of the French colonists of France Antarctique by managing to pacify the Tamoio natives, who had previously fought the Portuguese. The Jesuits took part in the foundation of the city of Rio de Janeiro in 1565. The success of the Jesuits in converting the indigenous peoples is linked to their efforts to understand the native cultures, especially their languages. The first grammar of the

language was compiled by José de Anchieta and printed in Coimbra in 1595. The Jesuits often gathered the aborigines in communities (the Jesuit Reductions) where the natives worked for the community and were evangelised. The Jesuits had frequent disputes with other colonists who wanted to enslave the natives. The action of the Jesuits saved many natives from being enslaved by Europeans, but also disturbed their ancestral way of life and inadvertently helped spread infectious diseases against which the aborigines had no natural defenses. Slave labor and trade were essential for the economy of Brazil and other American colonies, and the Jesuits usually did not object to the enslavement of African peoples, but rather critiqued the conditions of slavery. In cases where individual Jesuit priests criticised the institution of African slavery, they were censored and sent back to Europe.

Suppression and restoration

The Suppression of the Jesuits in Portugal, France, the Two Sicilies, Parma, and the Spanish Empire by 1767 was deeply troubling to Pope Clement XIII, the society's defender. On 21 July 1773 his successor, Pope Clement XIV, issued the papal brief , decreeing: The suppression was carried out on political grounds in all countries except Prussia for a time, and Russia, where

Catherine the Great , en, Catherine Alexeievna Romanova, link=yes , house = , father = Christian August, Prince of Anhalt-Zerbst , mother = Joanna Elisabeth of Holstein-Gottorp , birth_date = , birth_name = Princess Sophie of Anhal ...

had forbidden its promulgation. Because millions of Catholics (including many Jesuits) lived in the Polish provinces recently part-annexed by the Kingdom of Prussia, the Society was able to maintain its continuity and carry on its work all through the stormy period of suppression. Subsequently,

Pope Pius VI Pope Pius VI ( it, Pio VI; born Count Giovanni Angelo Braschi, 25 December 171729 August 1799) was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 15 February 1775 to his death in August 1799. Pius VI condemned the French Revoluti ...

granted formal permission for the continuation of the society in Russia and Poland, with Stanisław Czerniewicz elected superior of the province in 1782. He was followed by Gabriel Lenkiewicz, Franciszek Kareu and Gabriel Gruber until 1805, all elected locally as Temporary Vicars General.

Pope Pius VII Pope Pius VII ( it, Pio VII; born Barnaba Niccolò Maria Luigi Chiaramonti; 14 August 1742 – 20 August 1823), was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 14 March 1800 to his death in August 1823. Chiaramonti was also a m ...

had resolved during his captivity in France to restore the Jesuits universally, and on his return to Rome he did so without much delay. On 7 August 1814, with the bull , he reversed the suppression of the society, and therewith another Polish Jesuit,

Tadeusz Brzozowski Tadeusz Brzozowski (October 21, 1749February 5, 1820) was a Polish scholar, teacher, administrator and a Jesuit priest. Having secured its continuity during the suppression of the Society until its restoration, he was elected twentieth Superior ...

, who had been elected as Superior in Russia in 1805, acquired universal jurisdiction. On his death in 1820 the Jesuits were expelled from Russia by tsar Alexander I. The period following the Restoration of the Jesuits in 1814 was marked by tremendous growth, as evidenced by the large number of Jesuit colleges and universities established during the 19th century. During this time in the United States, 22 of the society's 28 universities were founded or taken over by the Jesuits. It has been suggested that the experience of suppression had served to heighten

orthodoxy Orthodoxy (from Greek: ) is adherence to correct or accepted creeds, especially in religion. Orthodoxy within Christianity refers to acceptance of the doctrines defined by various creeds and ecumenical councils in Antiquity, but different Churc ...

among the Jesuits. While this claim is debatable, Jesuits were generally supportive of papal authority within the church, and some members became associated with the Ultramontanist movement and the declaration of Papal Infallibility in 1870.Hasler, A. B., (1981) ''How the Pope Became Infallible: Pius IX and the Politics of Persuasion'' (Doubleday; Garden City, NY), p. 58 In Switzerland, the constitution was modified and Jesuits were banished in 1848, following the defeat of the Sonderbund Catholic defence alliance. The ban was lifted on 20 May 1973, when 54.9 per cent of voters accepted a referendum modifying the Constitution.

Early 20th century

In the

Constitution of Norway nb, Kongeriket Norges Grunnlov nn, Kongeriket Noregs Grunnlov , jurisdiction =Kingdom of Norway , date_created =10 April - 16 May 1814 , date_ratified =16 May 1814 , system =Constitutional monarchy , b ...

from 1814, a relic from the earlier anti-Catholic laws of

Denmark–Norway Denmark–Norway (Danish and Norwegian: ) was an early modern multi-national and multi-lingual real unionFeldbæk 1998:11 consisting of the Kingdom of Denmark, the Kingdom of Norway (including the then Norwegian overseas possessions: the Faroe I ...

, Paragraph 2, known as the Jesuit clause, originally read: "The Evangelical-Lutheran religion remains the public religion of the State. Those inhabitants, who confess thereto, are bound to raise their children to the same. Jesuits and monastic orders are not permitted. Jews are still prohibited from entry to the Realm." Jews were first allowed into the realm in 1851 after the famous Norwegian poet Henrik Wergeland had campaigned for it. Monastic orders were permitted in 1897, but the ban on Jesuits was only lifted in 1956. Republican Spain in the 1930s passed laws banning the Jesuits on grounds that they were obedient to a power different from the state. Pope Pius XI wrote about this: "It was an expression of a soul deeply hostile to God and the Catholic religion, to have disbanded the Religious Orders that had taken a vow of obedience to an authority different from the legitimate authority of the State. In this way it was sought to do away with the Society of Jesus – which can well glory in being one of the soundest auxiliaries of the ''

Chair of Saint Peter The Chair of Saint Peter ( la, Cathedra Petri), also known as the Throne of Saint Peter, is a relic conserved in St. Peter's Basilica in Vatican City, the sovereign enclave of the Pope inside Rome, Italy. The relic is a wooden throne that tradi ...

'' – with the hope, perhaps, of then being able with less difficulty to overthrow in the near future, the Christian faith and morale in the heart of the Spanish nation, which gave to the Church of God the grand and glorious figure of Ignatius Loyola."

Post-Vatican II

The 20th century witnessed both growth and decline of the order. Following a trend within the Catholic priesthood at large, Jesuit numbers peaked in the 1950s and have declined steadily since. Meanwhile, the number of Jesuit institutions has grown considerably, due in large part to a post– Vatican II focus on the establishment of Jesuit secondary schools in inner-city areas and an increase in voluntary lay groups inspired in part by the ''Spiritual Exercises''. Among the notable Jesuits of the 20th century, John Courtney Murray was called one of the "architects of the Second Vatican Council" and drafted what eventually became the council's endorsement of religious freedom, . In Latin America, the Jesuits had significant influence in the development of liberation theology, a movement that was controversial in the Catholic community after the negative assessment of it by Pope John Paul II in 1984. Under Superior General Pedro Arrupe, social justice and the preferential option for the poor emerged as dominant themes of the work of the Jesuits. When Arrupe was paralyzed by a stroke in 1981, Pope John Paul II, not entirely pleased with the progressive turn of the Jesuits, took the unusual step of appointing the venerable and aged Paolo Dezza for an interim to oversee "the authentic renewal of the Church", instead of the progressive American priest

Vincent O'Keefe Father Vincent O'Keefe S.J. (1920 – July 22, 2012) was the Vicar General of the Society of Jesus and a President of Fordham University. Biography In 1981 the order's superior general, Pedro Arrupe, suffered a stroke. O'Keefe was appointed Vi ...

whom Arrupe had preferred. In 1983 John Paul gave leave for the Jesuits to appoint a successor to Arrupe. On 16 November 1989, six Jesuit priests ( Ignacio Ellacuría, Segundo Montes, Ignacio Martín-Baró, Joaquin López y López, Juan Ramon Moreno, and Amado López), Elba Ramos their housekeeper, and Celia Marisela Ramos her daughter, were murdered by the Salvadoran military on the campus of the

University of Central America José Simeón Cañas Central American University ( es, Universidad Centroamericana "José Simeón Cañas"), also known as UCA El Salvador, is a private university with nonprofit purposes in San Salvador, El Salvador, run by the Society of Jes ...

San Salvador San Salvador (; ) is the capital and the largest city of El Salvador and its eponymous department. It is the country's political, cultural, educational and financial center. The Metropolitan Area of San Salvador, which comprises the capital i ...

, El Salvador, because they had been labeled as subversives by the government. The assassinations galvanized the society's peace and justice movements, including annual protests at the

Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation The Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation (WHINSEC), formerly known as the School of the Americas, is a United States Department of Defense school located at Fort Benning in Columbus, Georgia, renamed in the 2001 National Defens ...

Fort Benning Fort Benning is a United States Army post near Columbus, Georgia, adjacent to the Alabama–Georgia border. Fort Benning supports more than 120,000 active-duty military, family members, reserve component soldiers, retirees and civilian employees ...

, Georgia, United States, where several of the assassins had been trained under US government sponsorship. On 21 February 2001, the Jesuit priest

Avery Dulles Avery Robert Dulles (; 1918–2008) was an American Jesuit priest, theologian, and cardinal of the Catholic Church. Dulles served on the faculty of Woodstock College from 1960 to 1974, of the Catholic University of America from 1974 to 1988, an ...

, an internationally known author, lecturer, and theologian, was created a cardinal of the Catholic Church by Pope John Paul II. The son of former Secretary of State John Foster Dulles, Avery Dulles was long known for his carefully reasoned argumentation and fidelity to the teaching office of the church. An author of 22 books and over 700 theological articles, Dulles died on 12 December 2008 at

Fordham University Fordham University () is a Private university, private Jesuit universities, Jesuit research university in New York City. Established in 1841 and named after the Fordham, Bronx, Fordham neighborhood of the The Bronx, Bronx in which its origina ...

, where he had taught for twenty years as the Laurence J. McGinley Professor of Religion and Society. He was, at his passing, one of ten Jesuit cardinals in the Catholic Church. In 2002,

president and Jesuit priest

William P. Leahy William P. Leahy (born 1948) is the 25th President of Boston College, a post he has held since 1996, making him the longest serving president in the school's history as of July 31, 2020. He was born in Omaha, Nebraska and raised in Imogene, Io ...

initiated the Church in the 21st Century program as a means of moving the church "from crisis to renewal". The initiative has provided the society with a platform for examining issues brought about by the worldwide Catholic sex abuse cases, including the priesthood, celibacy,

sexuality Human sexuality is the way people experience and express themselves sexually. This involves biological, psychological, physical, erotic, emotional, social, or spiritual feelings and behaviors. Because it is a broad term, which has varied ...

, women's roles, and the role of the

laity In religious organizations, the laity () consists of all members who are not part of the clergy, usually including any non-ordained members of religious orders, e.g. a nun or a lay brother. In both religious and wider secular usage, a layperson ...

In April 2005, Thomas J. Reese, editor of the American Jesuit weekly magazine ''

America The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

'', resigned at the request of the society. The move was widely published in the media as the result of pressure from the Vatican, following years of criticism by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith on articles touching subjects such as HIV/AIDS, religious pluralism, homosexuality, and the right of life for the unborn. Following his resignation, Reese spent a year-long

sabbatical A sabbatical (from the Hebrew: (i.e., Sabbath); in Latin ; Greek: ) is a rest or break from work. The concept of the sabbatical is based on the Biblical practice of ''shmita'' (sabbatical year), which is related to agriculture. According to ...

Santa Clara University Santa Clara University is a private Jesuit university in Santa Clara, California. Established in 1851, Santa Clara University is the oldest operating institution of higher learning in California. The university's campus surrounds the historic Mis ...

before being named a fellow at the

Woodstock Theological Center The Woodstock Theological Center was an independent, nonprofit Catholic theological research institute in Washington, D.C. Founded in 1973, the center took its name from Woodstock College, a former Jesuit seminary located in Maryland. The center ...

in Washington, D.C., and later Senior Analyst for the '' National Catholic Reporter''. President Barack Obama appointed him to the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom in 2014 and again in 2016. On 2 February 2006, Peter Hans Kolvenbach informed members of the Society of Jesus that, with the consent of Pope Benedict XVI, he intended to step down as Superior General in 2008, the year he would turn 80. On 22 April 2006, Feast of Our Lady, Mother of the Society of Jesus, Pope Benedict XVI greeted thousands of Jesuits on pilgrimage to Rome, and took the opportunity to thank God "for having granted to your Company the gift of men of extraordinary sanctity and of exceptional apostolic zeal such as St Ignatius of Loyola, St Francis Xavier, and Bl Peter Faber". He said "St Ignatius of Loyola was above all a man of God, who gave the first place of his life to God, to his greater glory and his greater service. He was a man of profound prayer, which found its center and its culmination in the daily Eucharistic Celebration." In May 2006, Benedict XVI also wrote a letter to Superior General Peter Hans Kolvenbach on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of Pope Pius XII's encyclical , on devotion to the

Sacred Heart The Most Sacred Heart of Jesus ( la, Cor Jesu Sacratissimum) is one of the most widely practised and well-known Catholic devotions, wherein the heart of Jesus is viewed as a symbol of "God's boundless and passionate love for mankind". This devo ...

, because the Jesuits have always been "extremely active in the promotion of this essential devotion". In his 3 November 2006 visit to the Pontifical Gregorian University, Benedict XVI cited the university as "one of the greatest services that the Society of Jesus carries out for the universal Church". The 35th General Congregation of the Society of Jesus convened on 5 January 2008 and elected Adolfo Nicolás as the new Superior General on 19 January 2008. In a letter to the Fathers of the Congregation, Benedict XVI wrote: Pope Francis at Vargihna

In 2013, Jesuit Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio became Pope Francis. Before he became pope, he was appointed bishop when he was in "virtual estrangement from the Jesuits" since he was seen as "an enemy of liberation theology" and viewed by others as "still far too orthodox". He was criticised for colluding with the

Argentine junta The National Reorganization Process (Spanish: ''Proceso de Reorganización Nacional'', often simply ''el Proceso'', "the Process") was the military dictatorship that ruled Argentina from 1976 to 1983, in which it was supported by the United S ...

, while biographers characterised him as working to save the lives of other Jesuits. As a Jesuit pope, he has been stressing discernment over following rules, changing the culture of the clergy to steer away from clericalism and to move toward an ethic of service, i.e to have the "smell of sheep," staying close to the people. After his papal election, the Superior General of the Jesuits Adolfo Nicolás praised Pope Francis as a "brother among brothers". On 2 October 2016, General Congregation 36 convened in Rome, convoked by Superior General Adolfo Nicolás, who had announced his intention to resign at age 80. On 14 October, the 36th General Congregation of the Society of Jesus elected Arturo Sosa, a Venezuelan, as its thirty-first Superior General. The General Congregation of Jesuits who elected Arturo Sosa in 2016 asked him to bring to completion the process of discerning Jesuit priorities for the time ahead. Sosa devised a plan that enlisted all Jesuits and their lay collaborators in the process of discernment over a 16-month period. Then in February 2019 he presented the results of the discernment, a list of four priorities for Jesuit ministries for the next ten years. Pope Francis gave his approval to these priorities, saying that they were in harmony with the church's present priorities and with the programmatic letter of his pontificate, .

Ignatian spirituality

The spirituality practiced by the Jesuits, called Ignatian spirituality, ultimately based on the Catholic faith and the gospels, is drawn from the ''Constitutions'', ''The Letters'', and ''Autobiography'', and most specially from Ignatius' '' Spiritual Exercises'', whose purpose is "to conquer oneself and to regulate one's life in such a way that no decision is made under the influence of any inordinate attachment". The ''Exercises'' culminate in a contemplation whereby one develops a facility to "find God in all things".

Formation

The formation (training) of Jesuits seeks to prepare men spiritually, academically, and practically for the ministries they will be called to offer the church and world. Ignatius was strongly influenced by the Renaissance, and he wanted Jesuits to be able to offer whatever ministries were most needed at any given moment and, especially, to be ready to respond to missions (assignments) from the pope. Formation for priesthood normally takes between eight and fourteen years, depending on the man's background and previous education, and final vows are taken several years after that, making Jesuit formation among the longest of any of the religious orders.

Governance of the society

The society is headed by a

with the formal title ''Praepositus Generalis'', Latin for "provost-general", more commonly called Father General. He is elected by the General Congregation for life or until he resigns; he is confirmed by the pope and has absolute authority in running the Society. The current Superior General of the Jesuits is the Venezuelan Arturo Sosa who was elected on 14 October 2016. The Father General is assisted by "assistants", four of whom are "assistants for provident care" and serve as general advisors and a sort of inner council, and several other regional assistants, each of whom heads an "assistancy", which is either a geographic area (for instance the North American Assistancy) or an area of ministry (for instance higher education). The assistants normally reside with Father General in Rome and along with others form an advisory council to the General. A vicar general and secretary of the society run day-to-day administration. The General is also required to have an

admonitor In the Society of Jesus, an Admonitor is an advisor to the Superior General of the Society of Jesus, Superior General whose responsibility it is to warn (or admonish) the General honestly and confidentially about "what in him he thinks would be f ...

, a confidential advisor whose task is to warn the General honestly and confidentially when he might be acting imprudently or contrary to the church's magisterium. The central staff of the General is known as the Curia. The society is divided into geographic areas called provinces, each of which is headed by a Provincial Superior, formally called Father Provincial, chosen by the Superior General. He has authority over all Jesuits and ministries in his area, and is assisted by a ''socius'' who acts as a sort of secretary and chief of staff. With the approval of the Superior General, the Provincial Superior appoints a novice master and a master of tertians to oversee formation, and rectors of local communities of Jesuits. For better cooperation and apostolic efficacy in each continent, the Jesuit provinces are grouped into six Jesuit Conferences worldwide. Each Jesuit community within a province is normally headed by a rector who is assisted by a "minister", from the Latin word for "servant", a priest who helps oversee the community's day-to-day needs. The General Congregation is a meeting of all of the assistants, provincials, and additional representatives who are elected by the professed Jesuits of each province. It meets irregularly and rarely, normally to elect a new superior general and/or to take up some major policy issues for the Order. The Superior General meets more regularly with smaller councils composed of just the provincials.

Statistics

, the Jesuits formed the largest single

of priests and brothers in the Catholic Church. The Jesuits have experienced a decline in numbers in recent decades. As of 2020, the society had 14,839 members (10,721 priests and 4110 other Jesuits which includes brothers and scholastics). This represents a 59% percent decline since the Second Vatican Council (1965), when the society had a total membership of 36,038, of which 20,301 were priests. This decline is most pronounced in Europe and the Americas, with relatively modest membership gains occurring in Asia and Africa. According to Patrick Reilly of the '' National Catholic Register'', there seems to be no "

Pope Francis effect Pope Francis ( la, Franciscus; it, Francesco; es, link=, Francisco; born Jorge Mario Bergoglio, 17 December 1936) is the head of the Catholic Church. He has been the bishop of Rome and sovereign of the Vatican City State since 13 March 2013. ...

" in counteracting the fall of vocations among the Jesuits. Twenty-eight novices took first vows in the Jesuits in the United States and Haiti in 2019. In September 2019, the superior general of the Jesuits, Arturo Sosa, estimated that by 2034 the number would decrease to about 10,000 Jesuits, with a much younger average age than in 2019, and with a shift away from Europe and into Latin America, Africa, and India. The society is divided into 83 provinces along with six independent regions and ten dependent regions. On 1 January 2007, members served in 112 nations on six continents with the largest number in India and the US. Their average age was 57.3 years: 63.4 years for priests, 29.9 years for scholastics, and 65.5 years for brothers. The current

of the Jesuits is Arturo Sosa. The society is characterized by its ministries in the fields of missionary work, human rights, social justice and, most notably, higher education. It operates colleges and universities in various countries around the world and is particularly active in the Philippines and India. In the United States the Jesuits have historical ties to 27 colleges and universities and 61 high schools. The degree to which the Jesuits are involved in the administration of each institution varies. As of September 2018, 15 of the 27 Jesuit universities in the US had non-Jesuit lay presidents. According to a 2014 article in '' The Atlantic'', "the number of Jesuit priests who are active in everyday operations at the schools isn't nearly as high as it once was". Worldwide it runs 322 secondary schools and 172 colleges and universities. A typical conception of the mission of a Jesuit school will often contain such concepts as proposing Christ as the model of human life, the pursuit of excellence in teaching and learning, lifelong spiritual and intellectual growth, and training men and women for others.

Habit and dress

Jesuits do not have an official habit. The society's ''Constitutions'' gives the following instructions: "The clothing too should have three characteristics: first, it should be proper; second, conformed to the usage of the country of residence; and third, not contradictory to the poverty we profess." (Const. 577) Historically, a Jesuit-style

cassock The cassock or soutane is a Christian clerical clothing coat used by the clergy and male religious of the Oriental Orthodox Churches, Eastern Orthodox Church and the Catholic Church, in addition to some clergy in certain Protestant denomi ...

which the Jesuits call Soutane became "standard issue": it is similar to a robe which is wrapped around the body and was tied with a cincture, rather than the customary buttoned front. A tuftless

biretta The biretta ( la, biretum, birretum) is a square cap with three or four peaks or horns, sometimes surmounted by a tuft. Traditionally the three-peaked biretta is worn by Catholic clergy and some Anglican and Lutheran clergy. A four-peaked bire ...

(only diocesan clergy wore tufts) and a ferraiolo (cape) completed the look. Today, most Jesuits in the United States wear the

clerical collar A clerical collar, clergy collar, or, informally, dog collar, is an item of Christian clerical clothing. The clerical collar is almost always white and was originally made of cotton or linen but is now frequently made of plastic. There are vario ...

and black clothing of ordinary priests.

Controversies

Power-seeking

The '' Monita Secreta'' (Secret Instructions of the Jesuits), published in 1612 and in 1614 in Kraków, is alleged to have been written by Claudio Acquaviva, the fifth general of the society, but was probably written by former Jesuit Jerome Zahorowski. It purports to describe the methods to be adopted by Jesuits for the acquisition of greater power and influence for the society and for the Catholic Church. The '' Catholic Encyclopedia'' states the book is a forgery, fabricated to ascribe a sinister reputation to the Society of Jesus.

Political intrigue

The Jesuits were temporarily banished from France in 1594 after a man named Jean Châtel tried to assassinate the king of France, Henri IV. Under questioning, Châtel revealed that he had been educated by the Jesuits of the Collège de Clermont. The Jesuits were accused of inspiring Châtel's attack. Two of his former teachers were exiled and a third was hanged. The Collège de Clermont was closed, and the building was confiscated. The Jesuits were banned from France, although this ban was quickly lifted. In England, Henry Garnet, one of the leading English Jesuits, was hanged for misprision of treason because of his knowledge of the Gunpowder Plot (1605). The Plot was the attempted assassination of James VI and I, his family, and most of the Protestant aristocracy in a single attack, by exploding the Houses of Parliament. Another Jesuit,

Oswald Tesimond Oswald Tesimond (1563 – 23 August 1636) was an English Jesuit born in either Northumberland or York* who, while not a direct conspirator, had some knowledge of the Gunpowder Plot beforehand. Life He was educated in York, in the Royal School ...

, managed to escape arrest for his involvement in this plot.

Casuistic justification

Jesuits have been accused of using casuistry to obtain justifications for unjustifiable actions (cf. formulary controversy and '' Lettres Provinciales'', by

Blaise Pascal Blaise Pascal ( , , ; ; 19 June 1623 – 19 August 1662) was a French mathematician, physicist, inventor, philosopher, and Catholic Church, Catholic writer. He was a child prodigy who was educated by his father, a tax collector in Rouen. Pa ...

). Hence, the Concise Oxford Dictionary of the English language lists "equivocating" as a secondary denotation of the word "Jesuit". Modern critics of the Society of Jesus include Avro Manhattan, Alberto Rivera, and

Malachi Martin Malachi Brendan Martin (23 July 1921 – 27 July 1999), also known under the pseudonym of Michael Serafian, was an Irish-born American Traditionalist Catholic priest, biblical archaeologist, exorcist, palaeographer, professor, and prolific wr ...

, the latter being the author of ''The Jesuits: The Society of Jesus and the Betrayal of the Roman Catholic Church'' (1987).

Exclusion of those of Jewish or Muslim ancestry

Although in the first 30 years of the existence of the Society of Jesus there were many Jesuits who were ''

converso A ''converso'' (; ; feminine form ''conversa''), "convert", () was a Jew who converted to Catholicism in Spain or Portugal, particularly during the 14th and 15th centuries, or one of his or her descendants. To safeguard the Old Christian po ...

s'' (Catholic-convert Jews), an anti-''converso'' faction led to the ''Decree de genere'' (1593) which proclaimed that either Jewish or Muslim ancestry, no matter how distant, was an insurmountable impediment for admission to the Society of Jesus. This new rule was contrary to the original wishes of Ignatius who "said that he would take it as a special grace from our Lord to come from Jewish lineage". The 16th-century ''Decree de genere'' was repealed in 1946.

Theological debates

Within the Catholic Church, there has existed a sometimes tense relationship between Jesuits and the Holy See, due to questioning of official church teaching and papal directives, such as those on abortion,

birth control Birth control, also known as contraception, anticonception, and fertility control, is the use of methods or devices to prevent unwanted pregnancy. Birth control has been used since ancient times, but effective and safe methods of birth contr ...

, women deacons, homosexuality, and liberation theology. At the same time, Jesuits have been appointed to prominent doctrinal and theological positions in the church; under Pope Benedict XVI, Archbishop Luis Ladaria Ferrer was Secretary of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith who is now, under Pope Francis, the Prefect of this Congregation.

Religious persecution

In the quest to evangelize, Jesuits persecuted people of other religions, including Hindus, Muslims and other Christians. The

Goan Inquisition The Goa Inquisition ( pt, Inquisição de Goa) was an extension of the Portuguese Inquisition in Portuguese India. Its objective was to enforce Catholic Orthodoxy and allegiance to the Apostolic See of Rome (Pontifex). The inquisition primaril ...

was one among various persecutions that Jesuits were involved in. Voltaire wrote about the Goan Inquisition:

Nazi persecution

The Catholic Church faced persecution in Nazi Germany. Hitler was anticlerical and had particular disdain for the Jesuits. According to John Pollard, the Jesuits' "ethos represented the most intransigent opposition to the philosophy of Nazism", and so the Nazis considered them as one of their most dangerous enemies. A Jesuit college in the city of

Innsbruck Innsbruck (; bar, Innschbruck, label=Bavarian language, Austro-Bavarian ) is the capital of Tyrol (state), Tyrol and the List of cities and towns in Austria, fifth-largest city in Austria. On the Inn (river), River Inn, at its junction with the ...

served as a center for anti-Nazi resistance and was closed down by the Nazis in 1938. Jesuits were a target for Gestapo persecution, and many Jesuit priests were deported to death camps. Jesuits made up the largest contingent of clergy imprisoned in the Priest Barracks of Dachau Concentration Camp. Vincent Lapomarda lists some 30 Jesuits as having died at Dachau. Of the total of 152 Jesuits murdered by the Nazis across Europe, 43 died in the death camps and an additional 27 died from captivity or its results. The Superior General of Jesuits at the outbreak of war was Wlodzimierz Ledóchowski, a Pole. The Nazi persecution of the Catholic Church in Poland was particularly severe. Lapomarda wrote that Ledóchowski helped "stiffen the general attitude of the Jesuits against the Nazis" and that he permitted Vatican Radio to carry on its campaign against the Nazis in Poland. Vatican Radio was run by the Jesuit Filippo Soccorsi and spoke out against Nazi oppression, particularly with regard to Poland and to Vichy-French anti-Semitism. Alfred Delp Mannheim

Several Jesuits were prominent in the small

German Resistance German resistance can refer to: * Freikorps, German nationalist paramilitary groups resisting German communist uprisings and the Weimar Republic government * German resistance to Nazism * Landsturm, German resistance groups fighting against France d ...

. Among the central membership of the Kreisau Circle of the Resistance were the Jesuit priests

Augustin Rösch Augustin Rösch (11 May 1893 – 7 November 1961) was a German Jesuit, Provincial, and significant figure in Catholic resistance to Nazism. Active in the Kreisau Circle German Resistance group, he was arrested in connection with the 1944 July Plot ...

Alfred Delp Alfred Delp (, 15 September 1907 – 2 February 1945) was a German Jesuit priest and philosopher of the German Resistance. A member of the inner Kreisau Circle resistance group, he is considered a significant figure in Catholic resistan ...

, and

Lothar König Lothar König (1906-1946) was a German Jesuit priest and member of the Kreisau Circle of the German Resistance during the Nazi period. Though multi-denominational, the Kreisau group's opposition to the Hitler regime had a strongly Christian orient ...

. The Bavarian Jesuit Provincial,

Augustin Rosch Augustin may refer to: * Augustin (name), male name, variant of Augustine * Augustin (typography), English or 14-point type * Augustin, Brașov, a commune in Brașov County, Romania * Dacian fortress of Augustin, ruined Dacian fortified town in ...

, ended the war on death row for his role in the

July Plot On 20 July 1944, Claus von Stauffenberg and other conspirators attempted to assassinate Adolf Hitler, Führer of Nazi Germany, inside his Wolf's Lair field headquarters near Rastenburg, East Prussia, now Kętrzyn, in present-day Poland. The ...

to overthrow Hitler. Another non-military German Resistance group, dubbed the "Frau Solf Tea Party" by the Gestapo, included the Jesuit priest

Friedrich Erxleben Father Friedrich Erxleben, SJ (27 January 1883, Koblenz – 9 February 1955, Linz am Rhein) was a Jesuit priest and member of the "Solf Circle" German Resistance group. The purpose of the Solf Circle was to seek out humanitarian ways of counte ...

. The German Jesuit Robert Leiber acted as intermediary between Pius XII and the German Resistance.

Peter Hoffmann Peter Hoffmann may refer to: * Peter Hoffmann (historian) (born 1930), German Canadian professor of history * Peter Hoffmann (racecar driver) (born 1939), German racer * Peter Hoffmann (canoeist) (born 1941), German former sprint canoer * Peter Ho ...

; ''The History of the German Resistance 1933–1945''; 3rd Edn (First English Edn); McDonald & Jane's; London; 1977; p. 160 Among the Jesuit victims of the Nazis, Germany's Rupert Mayer has been beatified. Mayer was a Bavarian Jesuit who clashed with the Nazis as early as 1923. Continuing his critique following Hitler's rise to power, Mayer was imprisoned in 1939 and sent to Sachsenhausen

death camp Nazi Germany used six extermination camps (german: Vernichtungslager), also called death camps (), or killing centers (), in Central Europe during World War II to systematically murder over 2.7 million peoplemostly Jewsin the Holocaust. The v ...

. As his health declined, the Nazis feared the creation of a martyr and sent him to the Abbey of Ettal in 1940. There he continued to give sermons and lectures against the evils of the Nazi régime, until his death in 1945.

Rescue efforts during the Holocaust

In his history of the heroes of the Holocaust, the Jewish historian Martin Gilbert notes that in every country under German occupation, priests played a major part in rescuing Jews, and that the Jesuits were one of the Catholic Orders that hid Jewish children in monasteries and schools to protect them from the Nazis.Martin Gilbert; ''The Righteous: the Unsung Heroes of the Holocaust''; Holt Paperback; New York; 2004; Preface Fourteen Jesuit priests have been formally recognized by Yad Vashem, the Holocaust Martyrs' and Heroes' Remembrance Authority in Jerusalem, for risking their lives to save Jews during the Holocaust of World War II: Roger Braun (1910–1981) of France, Pierre Chaillet (1900–1972) of France, Jean-Baptist De Coster (1896–1968) of Belgium, Jean Fleury (1905–1982) of France, Emile Gessler (1891–1958) of Belgium, Jean-Baptiste Janssens (1889–1964) of Belgium, Alphonse Lambrette (1884–1970) of Belgium, Emile Planckaert (1906–2006) of France, Jacob Raile (1894–1949) of Hungary, Henri Revol (1904–1992) of France, Adam Sztark (1907–1942) of Poland, Henri Van Oostayen (1906–1945) of Belgium, Ioannes Marangas (1901–1989) of Greece, and Raffaele de Chantuz Cubbe (1904–1983) of Italy. Several other Jesuits are known to have rescued or given refuge to Jews during that period. A plaque commemorating the 152 Jesuit priests who gave their lives during the Holocaust was installed in April 2007 at the Jesuits' Rockhurst University in

Kansas City, Missouri Kansas City (abbreviated KC or KCMO) is the largest city in Missouri by population and area. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 508,090 in 2020, making it the 36th most-populous city in the United States. It is the central ...

, United States.

In science

Between the sixteenth and eighteenth centuries, the teaching of science in Jesuit schools, as laid down in the
Ratio atque Institutio Studiorum Societatis Iesu
' ("The Official Plan of studies for the Society of Jesus") of 1599, was almost entirely based on the works of Aristotle. The Jesuits, nevertheless, have made numerous significant contributions to the development of science. For example, the Jesuits have dedicated significant study to fields from cosmology to seismology, the latter of which has been described as "the Jesuit science". The Jesuits have been described as "the single most important contributor to experimental physics in the seventeenth century". According to Jonathan Wright in his book ''God's Soldiers'', by the eighteenth century the Jesuits had "contributed to the development of pendulum clocks, pantographs, barometers, reflecting telescopes and microscopes – to scientific fields as various as

magnetism Magnetism is the class of physical attributes that are mediated by a magnetic field, which refers to the capacity to induce attractive and repulsive phenomena in other entities. Electric currents and the magnetic moments of elementary particles ...

, optics, and electricity. They observed, in some cases before anyone else, the colored bands on Jupiter's surface, the Andromeda nebula, and

Saturn Saturn is the sixth planet from the Sun and the second-largest in the Solar System, after Jupiter. It is a gas giant with an average radius of about nine and a half times that of Earth. It has only one-eighth the average density of Earth; h ...

's rings. They theorized about the circulation of the blood (independently of Harvey), the theoretical possibility of flight, the way the moon affected the tides, and the wave-like nature of light." The

of the 16th and 17th centuries introduced Western science and astronomy. One modern historian writes that in late Ming courts, the Jesuits were "regarded as impressive especially for their knowledge of astronomy, calendar-making, mathematics, hydraulics, and geography". The Society of Jesus introduced, according to Thomas Woods, "a substantial body of scientific knowledge and a vast array of mental tools for understanding the physical universe, including the Euclidean geometry that made planetary motion comprehensible".

Notable members

Notable Jesuits include

missionaries A missionary is a member of a religious group which is sent into an area in order to promote its faith or provide services to people, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care, and economic development.Thomas Hale 'On Being a Mi ...

, educators, scientists, artists, philosophers, and a pope. Among many distinguished early Jesuits was Francis Xavier, a missionary to Asia who converted more people to Catholicism than anyone before, and Robert Bellarmine, a

Doctor of the Church Doctor of the Church (Latin: ''doctor'' "teacher"), also referred to as Doctor of the Universal Church (Latin: ''Doctor Ecclesiae Universalis''), is a title given by the Catholic Church to saints recognized as having made a significant contribu ...

. José de Anchieta and Manuel da Nóbrega, founders of the city of São Paulo, Brazil, were Jesuit priests. Another famous Jesuit was Jean de Brébeuf, a French missionary who was martyred during the 17th century in what was once New France (now Ontario) in Canada. In Spanish America, José de Acosta wrote a major work on early Peru and

with important material on indigenous peoples. In South America, Peter Claver was notable for his mission to African slaves, building on the work of Alonso de Sandoval. Francisco Javier Clavijero was expelled from

during the Suppression of the Society of Jesus in 1767 and wrote an important history of Mexico during his exile in Italy. Eusebio Kino is renowned in the southwestern United States and northern Mexico (an area then called the Pimería Alta). He founded numerous missions and served as the peace-bringer between the tribes and the government of New Spain. Antonio Ruiz de Montoya was an important missionary in the Jesuit reductions of Paraguay.

Baltasar Gracián Baltasar Gracián y Morales, S.J. (; 8 January 16016 December 1658), better known as Baltasar Gracián, was a Spanish Jesuit and baroque prose writer and philosopher. He was born in Belmonte, near Calatayud (Aragón). His writings were lauded ...

was a 17th-century Spanish Jesuit and baroque prose writer and philosopher. He was born in Belmonte, near Calatayud (

Aragon Aragon ( , ; Spanish and an, Aragón ; ca, Aragó ) is an autonomous community in Spain, coextensive with the medieval Kingdom of Aragon. In northeastern Spain, the Aragonese autonomous community comprises three provinces (from north to sou ...

). His writings, particularly ''El Criticón'' (1651–7) and ''

Oráculo Manual y Arte de Prudencia ''The Art of Worldly Wisdom'' ( es, Oráculo Manual y Arte de Prudencia) is a book written in 1647 by Baltasar Gracián y Morales, better known as Baltasar Gracian. It is a collection of 300 maxims, each with a commentary, on various topics givi ...

'' ("The Art of Prudence", 1647) were lauded by Schopenhauer and Nietzsche. In Scotland, John Ogilvie, a Jesuit, is the nation's only post-Reformation saint.

Gerard Manley Hopkins Gerard Manley Hopkins (28 July 1844 – 8 June 1889) was an English poet and Jesuit priest, whose posthumous fame placed him among leading Victorian poets. His prosody – notably his concept of sprung rhythm – established him as an innovato ...

was one of the first English poets to use sprung verse. Anthony de Mello was a Jesuit priest and psychotherapist who became widely known for his books which introduced Westerners to the East Indian traditions of spirituality. Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio of Argentina was elected Pope Francis on 13 March 2013 and is the first Jesuit to be elected pope. The Feast of All Jesuit Saints and Blesseds is celebrated on 5 November.

Gallery: Jesuit churches

File:Church of the Gesù, Rome.jpg, The Church of the Gesù in Rome, is the mother church of the Jesuits. File:Iglesia de La Compañía, Quito, Ecuador, 2015-07-22, DD 128-130 HDR.JPG, ''Iglesia de La Compañía'',

, Ecuador, interior with gold leaf File:StPierreParis.jpg, Church of Saint-Pierre de Montmartre, Paris, France File:Church of the Society of Jesus (Cusco, Peru) 2013-03-31 002.JPG, Jesuit church, Cuzco, Peru File:Colegio de Belen. Havana, Cuba.jpg,

Colegio de Belén, Havana The Colegio de Belén located between 45th and 66th streets – situated next door to the Tropicana nightclub – in Marianao, Havana, was designed in 1925 by the architect Leonardo Morales y Pedroso and his brother the engineer Luis Morales ...

, "The Palace of Education" File:Ateneo de Naga University Church facade 02.jpg, Christ the King Church in the Ateneo de Naga University campus, Naga City, Philippines File:Fordham University 08.JPG, Fordham University Church at Rose Hill, Bronx, New York, USA File:St John, Creighton.jpg, St. John's Church in Creighton University campus, Omaha, Nebraska, USA File:New Orleans (LA, USA) Holy Name of Jesus Church.jpg, Holy Name of Jesus Church in the Loyola University New Orleans campus, New Orleans Louisiana USA File:Gesu Church Milwaukee.jpg, The Church of the Gesu in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA, is the school church of Marquette University. File:XavierRockhurstcut.png, St. Francis Xavier Church, a Jesuit parish church across the street from the Rockhurst University campus, Kansas City, Missouri, USA File:St. Francis Xavier College Church - St. Louis 01.jpg, St. Francis Xavier College Church in the Saint Louis University campus, St. Louis, Missouri, USA File:Mission Santa Clara.jpg, The Santa Clara University's Mission Church is at the heart of Santa Clara University's historic campus Santa Clara, California, USA. File:Saint Ignatius Church (San Francisco).jpg, St. Ignatius Church, a Jesuit parish church in the University of San Francisco campus, San Francisco, California, USA File:Phila ChurchoftheGesu02.jpg, the Church of the Gesu, Philadelphia is the school church of

St. Joseph's Preparatory School St. Joseph's Preparatory School, known as "St. Joseph's Prep" or simply "The Prep", is an urban, private, Catholic, college preparatory school run by the Jesuits in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. It was founded in 1851. Curriculm Th ...

, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA. File:Eglise du Gèsu de Frascati.JPG, The Church of the Gesu in Frascati,

province of Rome The Province of Rome ( it, Provincia di Roma) was one of the five provinces that formed part of the region of Lazio in Italy. It was established in 1870 and disestablished in 2014. It was essentially coterminous with the Rome metropolitan area. T ...

, Italy File:Gesu Montreal 01.jpg, The Église du Gesù in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, church and cultural venue File:Jakarta Indonesia Jakarta-Cathedral-01.jpg, Jakarta Cathedral, Indonesia

Institutions

Educational institutions

Although the work of the Jesuits today embraces a wide variety of apostolates, ministries, and civil occupations, they are probably most well known for their educational work. Since the inception of the order, Jesuits have been teachers. Besides serving on the faculty of Catholic and secular schools, the Jesuits are the Catholic religious order with the second highest number of schools which they run: 168 tertiary institutions in 40 countries and 324 secondary schools in 55 countries. (The Brothers of the Christian Schools have over 560 Lasallian educational institutions.) They also run elementary schools at which they are less likely to teach. Many of the schools are List of schools named after Francis Xavier, named after Francis Xavier and other prominent Jesuits. After the Second Vatican Council, Jesuit schools had become a very controversial place of instruction as they abandoned teaching traditional Catholic education with things such as the mastery of Latin and the Baltimore Catechism. Jesuit schools replaced classic theological instruction from people like Thomas Aquinas and Bonaventure to people like Karl Rahner and Pierre Teilhard de Chardin which was a very controversial move at the time. Jesuit educational institutions aim to promote the values of Eloquentia Perfecta. This is a Jesuit tradition that focuses on cultivating a person as a whole, as one learns to speak and write for the common good. File:AltaGracia.jpg, Jesuit Block and Estancias of Córdoba, Argentina File:Université de Namur - rue de Bruxelles - 02.jpg, Université de Namur, Belgium File:Biblioteca Unisinos.jpg, University of the Sinos Valley, Brazil File:Saint Marys HFX.jpg, Saint Mary's University (Halifax), St. Mary's University, Halifax, Canada File:Extremo Suroccidental ce la Javeriana cut.png, Pontifical Xavierian University, Pontifical Xaverian University, Bogota, Colombia File:PUCEEcuador.png, Pontifical Catholic University of Ecuador, Pontifical Catholic University, Ecuador File:Alte Anatomie Ingolstadt.JPG, University of Ingolstadt, Germany File:Xaviers college.jpg, St. Xavier's College, Mumbai, St. Xavier's College, Mumbai, India File:Building4sxc.JPG, St. Xavier's College, Kolkata, St. Xavier's College, Kolkata, India File:Facciata small.jpg, Pontifical Gregorian University, Rome, Italy File:Sophia University, Yotsuya Campus, Tokyo, Japan.jpg, Sophia University, Tokyo, Japan File:Elisabeth University of Music Hiroshima-shi 01.jpg, Elisabeth University of Music, Hiroshima, Japan. File:USJ Campus.jpg, Saint Joseph University, St. Joseph University, Beirut, Lebanon File:Universidad del Pacifico plaza.jpg, Universidad del Pacífico (Peru), University of Pacific, Peru File:WTNaga BAHALANA A2a.JPG, Ateneo de Naga University, Philippines File:SogangCut.png, Sogang University, Seoul, South Korea File:Deustuko Unibersitatea cut.jpg, University of Deusto, Bilbao, Spain File:Universidad Pontificia de Comillas.jpg, Comillas Pontifical University, Spain File:Keating Hall, Fordham University Rose Hill.jpg,

, New York City, United States File:Bellarmine Hall at Fairfield University, CT.jpg, Fairfield University, Bellarmine Hall, Fairfield, Connecticut, United States File:Sankt Georgen2.jpg, Sankt Georgen Graduate School of Philosophy and Theology, Frankfurt, Germany File:Georgetown University -23.JPG, Georgetown University, Washington DC, United States

Social and development institutions

Jesuits have become increasingly involved in works directed primarily toward social and economic development for the poor and marginalized. Included in this would be research, training, advocacy, and action for human development, as well as direct services. Most Jesuit schools have an office that fosters social awareness and social service in the classroom and through extracurricular programs, usually detailed on their websites. The Jesuits also run over 500 notable or stand-alone social or economic development centres in 56 countries around the world.

Publications

Jesuits are also known for their involvement in publications. ''La Civiltà Cattolica'', a periodical produced in Rome by the Jesuits, has often been used as a semi-official platform for popes and Vatican officials to float ideas for discussion or hint at future statements or positions. In the United States, ''The Way'' is an international journal of contemporary Christian spirituality published by the British Jesuits. ''

'' magazine has long had a prominent place in Catholic intellectual circles Most Jesuit colleges and universities have their own presses which produce a variety of books, book series, textbooks, and academic publications. Ignatius Press, founded by a Jesuit, is an independent publisher of Catholic books, most of which are of the popular academic or lay-intellectual variety. Manresa is a review of Ignatian spirituality published in Madrid, Spain. In Australia, the Jesuits produce a number of magazines, including ''Eureka Street (magazine), Eureka Street'', ''Madonna'', ''Australian Catholics'', and ''Province Express''. In Germany, the Jesuits publish ''Geist und Leben.'' In Sweden the Catholic cultural magazine ''Signum'', edited by the Newman Institute, covers a broad spectrum of issues concerning faith, culture, research, and society. The printed version of ''Signum'' is published eight times per year.

Notes

References

Citations

Sources

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External links

* *

Catholic Church documents

* [https://www.vatican.va/holy_father/benedict_xvi/speeches/2006/november/documents/hf_ben-xvi_spe_20061103_gregoriana_en.html Benedict XVI's Visit to the Pontifical Gregorian University, 3 November 2006]

Jesuit documents

The Jesuit Ratio Studiorum of 1599

Letter of the Jesuit Social Justice Secretariat to the leaders of the G8, July 2005

History

Foundation

Early works

Expansion of the order

Britain

China

Canada

United States

Ecuador

Mexico

Northern Spanish America

Paraguay

Colonial Brazil

Suppression and restoration

Early 20th century

Post-Vatican II

Ignatian spirituality

Formation

Governance of the society

Statistics

Habit and dress

Controversies

Power-seeking

Political intrigue

Casuistic justification

Exclusion of those of Jewish or Muslim ancestry

Theological debates

Religious persecution

Nazi persecution

Rescue efforts during the Holocaust

In science

Notable members

Gallery: Jesuit churches

Institutions

Educational institutions

Social and development institutions

Publications

See also

Notes

References

Citations

Sources

Further reading

Surveys

Specialized studies

United States

Primary sources

In German

External links

Catholic Church documents

Jesuit documents

Other links