Jesuits

Jesuits. The Society of Jesus, founded by St Ignatius Loyola (q.v.), was approved by Paul III in 1540. Beyond securing the spiritual benefit of its members, its aim was to labour ‘for the propagation of the faith’ and the promotion of Christian piety, especially through the ‘Spiritual Exercises’. Its most characteristic institutions were the humanist schools opened throughout the world from 1548. It was not founded to oppose the Reformation, but by 1550 it began to be intensively engaged with the situation in Germany and then with similar situations elsewhere.

Peculiar to Jesuits is a special vow to travel for ministry wherever the Pope may order. They were quickly established in India, Japan, and Brazil. Other features pointing to their missionary and ministerial character include the vow not to accept any position in the hierarchy except under constraint by the Pope, the absence of any distinctive habit, and freedom from any obligation to recite the Office in choir.

The Society grew rapidly and by the early 17th cent. seemed secure in Europe and the mission field. In 1623 a province was formed in England, where St Edmund Campion and R. Parsons had been sent in 1580. In the later 17th cent., however, the Jesuits met with serious opposition within the RC Church. The Jansenists attacked them for their lax casuistry, and they came under fire over the question of accommodation in the Chinese Rites controversy. A combination of their opponents led to their expulsion from France in 1764; in 1759 they were banished from Portugal and in 1767 5,000 Jesuits were deported from Spain and its Empire. In 1773 Clement XIV suppressed the Society. In Austria and Germany, however, Jesuits were allowed to teach, and they were protected by Frederick II of Prussia and the Emp. Catherine of Russia. They also survived in England, and the mission in Maryland, USA (founded in 1634) continued almost unaffected. Elsewhere they gradually reestablished themselves and in 1814 the Society was formally restored by Pius VII. They now operate in most countries of the world. They are responsible for numerous institutions in Rome (including the Vatican Radio Station), schools and academic centres in many parts of the world, and the supply of priests in hundreds of parishes.