Origins
The Society of Jesus was founded by Ignatius of Loyola, a Basque nobleman whose military career ended when a cannonball shattered his leg at the siege of Pamplona in 1521. During his recovery, Ignatius experienced a spiritual conversion that led him to dedicate his life to God’s service. After years of pilgrimage, study, and developing his Spiritual Exercises—a systematic program of prayer and meditation—Ignatius gathered a small group of like-minded companions at the University of Paris. In 1534, Ignatius and six others took vows of poverty and chastity in a chapel on Montmartre, intending to undertake a pilgrimage to Jerusalem and work for souls in the Holy Land.
When war made travel to Jerusalem impossible, the group offered their services to Pope Paul III. The Pope recognized the potential of these educated, zealous men during a period when the Church faced Protestant challenges and needed internal reform. On September 27, 1540, the papal bull Regimini militantis Ecclesiae formally established the Society of Jesus. Unlike traditional monastic orders tied to specific monasteries, the Jesuits were organized as a mobile, flexible force available for missions wherever the Pope directed—a design reflecting both Ignatius’s military background and the Church’s need for adaptable instruments in a changing world.
The Society grew rapidly, attracting talented men drawn by its combination of intellectual rigor, spiritual discipline, and active engagement with the world. By Ignatius’s death in 1556, the order had grown from the original ten members to over a thousand, with missions established in India, Japan, Brazil, and throughout Europe. The Jesuits became the Catholic Church’s primary instrument for both overseas missions and the Counter-Reformation effort to reclaim territories and populations lost to Protestantism.
Structure & Function
The Jesuits are organized under a Superior General—traditionally called the “Black Pope” for his influence and the order’s black cassocks—who serves for life and exercises near-absolute authority over the Society. This centralized command structure, unusual among religious orders, enabled rapid decision-making and coordinated action across the globe. Below the General, the order is divided into provinces, each led by a provincial superior. Individual Jesuits take vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience, plus a special fourth vow of obedience to the Pope regarding missions.
Jesuit formation is exceptionally long and rigorous—typically 12-14 years. Candidates begin as novices, practicing the Spiritual Exercises and testing their vocation. They then pursue philosophical and theological studies, often teaching at Jesuit schools during their formation. Final vows come only after years of proven service. This extended formation produces priests of unusual intellectual capability and spiritual depth, equipped to engage with the most sophisticated challenges of their eras.
Education became the Jesuits’ signature activity. Beginning with the Roman College (1551, now the Gregorian University), the Society established a worldwide network of schools and universities. The Ratio Studiorum (1599) standardized curriculum across Jesuit institutions, combining classical humanistic education with Catholic formation. Jesuit schools educated both Catholic elites and, in mission territories, indigenous populations. At their suppression in 1773, Jesuits ran over 800 educational institutions, more than any other organization. This educational apostolate—from primary schools to universities—continues to define the order.
Historical Significance
The Jesuits have been among the most consequential institutions in modern history. Their missions spread Catholicism to the Americas, Asia, and Africa, often as the first sustained European contact with indigenous civilizations. Matteo Ricci in China, Roberto de Nobili in India, and the Jesuit Reductions in Paraguay represent dramatically different approaches to cultural encounter—some emphasizing adaptation to local customs, others creating new Christian communities. The ethnographic, linguistic, and scientific knowledge Jesuits accumulated made them important contributors to European understanding of the wider world.
The Society’s intellectual engagement shaped Catholic responses to modernity. Jesuits developed casuistry—the application of general moral principles to particular cases—to address novel ethical situations created by commerce, colonialism, and political change. Their educational institutions trained generations of Catholic (and many non-Catholic) leaders. Jesuit scientists like Athanasius Kircher, Christoph Clavius, and modern figures like Georges Lemaître (who proposed the Big Bang theory) demonstrate the order’s commitment to engaging scientific inquiry. The Society’s willingness to grapple with intellectual challenges has sometimes created tensions with Church authorities but has also kept Catholicism relevant to educated elites.
The order’s power and influence inevitably generated opposition. Anti-Jesuit sentiment crystallized in the eighteenth century, when the Jesuits were expelled from Portugal (1759), France (1764), and Spain (1767), before Pope Clement XIV suppressed the entire Society in 1773 under pressure from Bourbon monarchies. The order survived in Russia (where Catherine the Great refused to promulgate the suppression) and was restored by Pope Pius VII in 1814. This pattern—effectiveness generating opposition, suppression followed by restoration—characterizes Jesuit history. The election of Pope Francis, the first Jesuit pope, in 2013 marked a new chapter in the Society’s influence.
Key Developments
- 1521: Ignatius wounded at Pamplona; begins spiritual journey
- 1534: First companions take vows at Montmartre
- 1540: Pope Paul III approves Society of Jesus
- 1542: Francis Xavier arrives in India
- 1549: Jesuits arrive in Brazil; begin South American missions
- 1551: Roman College (Gregorian University) founded
- 1556: Death of Ignatius; over 1,000 Jesuits worldwide
- 1582: Matteo Ricci arrives in China
- 1599: Ratio Studiorum standardizes Jesuit education
- 1609: Jesuit Reductions begin in Paraguay
- 1759: Portugal expels Jesuits
- 1773: Pope Clement XIV suppresses Society
- 1814: Society of Jesus restored by Pius VII
- 1965: Pedro Arrupe elected General; post-Vatican II renewal
- 2013: Jorge Bergoglio elected Pope Francis (first Jesuit pope)