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The Society of Jesus, commonly known as the Jesuits, was founded in 1534 by a group of University of Paris
graduate students led by Iñigo Lopez de Loyola (Ignatius of
Loyola).
Foundation
On August 15, 1534, Ignatius and six
other students (Peter Faber,
Francis Xavier, Alfonso Salmeron, Jacob Laines, and Nicholas Bobedilla -
Spaniards, and Simon
Rodrigues - a Portuguese) met in St. Mary's Church, Montmartre, bound
themselves by a vow, and founded the Society of Jesus - to "enter upon hospital and missionary work in Jerusalem, or to go without questioning
wherever the pope might direct".
In 1537 they travelled to Italy to seek papal
approval for their order. Pope Paul III gave them a commendation, and permitted them to be ordained priests. They were ordained at Venice by the bishop of Arbe (June
24). They devoted themselves to preaching and charitable work in Italy, as the renewed war between the emperor, Venice, the
pope and the Seljuk Turks rendered any journey to Jerusalem
inadvisable.
With Faber and Lainez, Ignatius made his way to Rome in October, 1538, to have the pope
approve the constitution of the new order. A congregation of cardinals reported favorably upon the constitution presented, and Paul III confirmed the order
through the bull Regimini militantis
(September 27, 1540), but limited the
number of its members to sixty. This limitation was removed through the bull Injunctum nobis (March 14, 1543). Ignatius was chosen as the first
superior-general. He sent his companions as missionaries around Europe to create schools, colleges, and seminaries.
Ignatius wrote the Jesuit Constitutions, adopted in 1554, which created a monarchical
organization and stressed absolute self-abnegation and obedience to Pope and superiors (perinde ac cadaver,
"[well-disciplined] like a corpse" as Ignatius put it). His main principle became the Jesuit motto: Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam ("all things for the greater glory
of God").
Early works
The Jesuits were founded as part of the Catholic
Reformation, a reactionary movement to the Protestant
Reformation, whose teachings were sweeping Catholic Europe. They preached total obedience to scripture and Church doctrine, Ignatius of Loyola himself declaring:
- "I will believe that the white that I see is black if the hierarchical Church so defines it."
One of the main tools of the Jesuits was the Ignatian retreat. In this, people would come together under a priest for a week
or longer, remaining silent while attending conferences and undergoing exercises to make themselves better people. For example,
there were conferences and meditations on our imminent deaths, etc.
They also preached that the ceremony and decoration of organized Catholicism (which the Lutherans so despised) should be lavishly financed and executed.
The Jesuits were able to obtain significant influence in the Early Modern Period because Jesuit priests often acted as confessors to the Kings of the time. They were the leading force in
the Counter-Reformation, in part because of their relatively loose structure (without the requirements of living in community,
saying the holy office, etc.)
allowed them to be flexible to the needs of the people at the time.
Expansion
Early missions in Japan resulted in the government granting the Jesuits the feudal
fiefdom of Nagasaki in 1580, although due to
fears over their growing influence this was removed in 1587.
Two Jesuit missionaries, Gruber and D'Orville, reached Lhasa in Tibet in 1661.
Jesuit missions in Latin
America were very 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 thing that saved the Indians from slavery. Together throughout South America but especially in Paraguay they formed Christian-Indian city-states, called reductions (Spanish Reducciones). These were societies set
up in the ideal Catholic way. It is partly for this reason of protection of the
Indians whom certain Spanish and Portuguese wanted to enslave, that they were suppressed.
Chinese mission
In China arose the Chinese Rites controversy in the early 18th
century.
Period of troubles
The suppression of the Jesuits in Portugal, France, the Two Sicilies, Parma and Spain by 1767 were troubling to the Society's
defender, Pope Clement XIII. Following a decree signed by
Pope Clement XIV in July 1773, the Jesuits were suppressed in all countries (other than Russia, where the Russian Orthodox government refused to recognize papal
authority) in the 18th century, then revived in the 19th century.
In several languages, "Jesuit" acquired a nuance of "hypocritical".
Jesuits today
The Society of Jesus is very active in missionary work and in education,
operating over 50 high schools and colleges in the United States alone.
Some Latin American Jesuits have taken leftist views of Catholicism, developing Theology of Liberation against the Vatican orientations. Whether taking such political positions is
acceptable for Jesuits has been the theme of many debates within the Catholic Church.
Their motto is "Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam," a Latin
phrase, often abbreviated AMDG, which means "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 heaven if it is performed with this intention, even things considered normally
indifferent like filling up a gas tank in a car.
Controversies
The Jesuits have frequently been described by Catholic and Protestant enemies as engaged in various conspiracies.
Famous Jesuits
Among many distinguished early Jesuits was St. Francis Xavier,
missionary to Asia who converted more people to Catholicism than anyone since St. Paul.
Other famous Jesuits include:
Jesuit institutions
Jesuits have founded and/or managed a number of institutions, notably universities. These include:
- Ateneo de Manila University, Philippines
- Ateneo
de Naga University, Philippines
- Boston College, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
- Canisius College, Buffalo, New York, USA
- College of the Holy Cross, Worcester, Massachusetts, USA
- Creighton
University, Omaha, Nebraska, USA
- Fairfield University, Fairfield, Connecticut, USA
- Fordham University, The Bronx, New York, USA
- Georgetown University, Georgetown, Washington, DC, USA
- Gonzaga University, Spokane, Washington, USA
- Jesuit High School, New Orleans, Louisiana, USA - one of many Jesuit High Schools
- John Carroll University, University Heights, Ohio, USA
- Kolleg St.
Blasien, St. Blasien, Germany - Catholic boarding school
- Le Moyne College,
Syracuse, New York, USA
- Loyola College in Maryland, Baltimore, Maryland, USA
- Loyola Marymount University, Los Angeles, California, USA
- Loyola University Chicago, Chicago, Illinois, USA
- Loyola University New Orleans,
New Orleans, Louisiana, USA
- McQuaid Jesuit High School, Rochester, New York, USA
- Marquette
University, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA
- Pontifical Gregorian University,
Rome, Italy
- Regis University,
Denver, Colorado, USA
- Regis High School,
New York, NY, USA
- Rockhurst University, Kansas City, Missouri, USA
- Saint Louis University, St. Louis, Missouri, USA
- Saint Joseph's University, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
- Saint Peter's College, Jersey City, New Jersey, USA
- Santa Clara University, Santa Clara, California, USA - grew out of a Jesuit college
in Mission Santa Clara de Asis
- Seattle University, Seattle, Washington, USA
- Spring Hill
College, Mobile, Alabama, USA
- Stonyhurst College, Blackburn, Lancashire UK
- Universidad de
Deusto, Bilbao, Spain
- University of Ingolstadt, Ingolstadt, Germany - closed in 1800
- University of Detroit Mercy, Detroit, Michigan, USA
- University of San Francisco, San Francisco, California, USA
- University of Scranton, Scranton, Pennsylvania, USA
- the predecessor grammar school of the University of
Tartu, Tartu, Estonia
- Wheeling Jesuit University, Wheeling, West Virginia, USA
- Xavier University, Cincinnati, Ohio, USA
- Xavier University (Cagayan
de Oro), Philippines
Jesuit buildings include
See also: Bollandist, Acta Sanctorum, Laying on of
hands
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