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{{Short description|Male religious congregation of the Catholic Church}}
{{About|the Society of Jesus, also known as Jesuit Order|philosophy concerning the teachings of Jesus|Jesuism|the band|Jesuit (band)|the pastry|Jésuite|the sandwich|Jesuita (sandwich)}}
{{Infobox organization
| name = Society of Jesus
| native_name = {{langx|la|Societas Jesu}}
|native_name_lang = la
| image = Ihs-logo.svg
| image_size = 175px
| caption = [[Christogram]]{{pb}}
| abbreviation = S.J. or SJ
| nickname = Jesuits
| formation = {{Start date and age|df=yes|1540|09|27}}<ref name="www.catholic-hierarchy.org">{{Cite web |url=http://www.catholic-hierarchy.org/diocese/dqsj0.html |title=Society of Jesus (Institute of Consecrated Life – Men) [Catholic-Hierarchy] |website=www.catholic-hierarchy.org |access-date=15 October 2018 |archive-date=23 January 2003 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20030123060115/http://www.catholic-hierarchy.org/diocese/dqsj0.html |url-status=live }}</ref>
| founders = {{ubl|[[Saint Ignatius of Loyola]]|Saint [[Francis Xavier]]|Saint [[Peter Faber]]|[[Nicholas Bobadilla]]|[[Diego Laínez]]|[[Simão Rodrigues]]|[[Alfonso Salmeron]]}}
| founding_location = {{ubl|[[Paris]], France|formalised in [[Rome]]}}
| type = Order of [[clerics regular]] of [[pontifical right]] (for men)<ref name="www.catholic-hierarchy.org"/>
| headquarters = Generalate''':'''<br />[[Borgo Santo Spirito|Borgo S. Spirito]] 4, 00195 [[Prati]], Rome, Italy
| coords = {{Coord|41|54|5|N|12|27|38|E|region:IT-RM_type:landmark|display=inline,title}}
| region_served = Worldwide
| num_members = 13,768 (2025)<ref name="www.catholic-hierarchy.org"/>
| leader_title = Motto
| leader_name = {{langx|la|[[Ad Maiorem Dei Gloriam]]}}{{pb}}English: ''For the Greater Glory of God''
| leader_title2 = [[Superior General of the Society of Jesus|Superior General]]
| leader_name2 = Fr. [[Arturo Sosa]], SJ
| leader_title3 = Patron saints
| leader_name3 = {{bulleted list|[[Saint Joseph]]|[[Blessed Virgin Mary]] (under the title [[Madonna della Strada]])}}
| leader_title4 = Ministry
| leader_name4 = Missionary, educational, literary works
| main_organ = La Civiltà Cattolica
| parent_organization = [[Catholic Church]]
| website = {{URL|https://www.jesuits.global/}}
}}
{{Jesuit}}

The '''Society of Jesus''' ({{langx|la|Societas Iesu}}; abbreviation: '''S.J.''' or '''SJ'''), also known as the '''Jesuit Order''' or the '''Jesuits''' ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|dʒ|ɛ|ʒ|u|ɪ|t|s|,_|ˈ|dʒ|ɛ|zj|u|-}} {{respell|JEZH|oo|its|,_|JEZ|ew|-}};<ref>{{cite Dictionary.com|Jesuit }}</ref> {{langx|la|Iesuitae|links=no}}),<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |title=Jesuit |url=https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/jesuit |encyclopedia=[[Cambridge Dictionary]] of English |publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]] |access-date=22 May 2021 |archive-date=3 May 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220503090818/https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/jesuit |url-status=live }}</ref> is a [[religious order (Catholic)|religious order]] of [[clerics regular]] of [[pontifical right]] 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]]. The Society of Jesus is the largest [[religious order]] in the [[Catholic Church]] and has played significant role in education, charity, humanitarian acts and global policies.  The Society of Jesus is engaged in evangelization and apostolic ministry in 112 countries. Jesuits work in education, research, and cultural pursuits. They also conduct retreats, minister in hospitals and parishes, sponsor direct social and humanitarian works, and promote [[Ecumenism|ecumenical dialogue]].

The Society of Jesus is consecrated under the [[patron saint|patronage]] of Madonna della Strada, a title of the [[Blessed Virgin Mary]], and it is led by a [[Superior General of the Society of Jesus|superior general]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.sjweb.info/35/index.cfm |title=News on the elections of the new Superior General |publisher=Sjweb.info |access-date=4 December 2011 |archive-date=25 April 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230425093504/http://www.sjweb.info/35/index.cfm |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=http://africa.reuters.com/wire/news/usnL19414053.html |author-first1=Stephen|author-last1=Brown|title=Spaniard becomes Jesuits' new 'black pope' |publisher=Reuters |date=9 February 2009 |access-date=4 December 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090103160950/http://africa.reuters.com/wire/news/usnL19414053.html |archive-date=3 January 2009 }}</ref> The headquarters of the society, its [[Curia|general curia]], is in Rome.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.jesuits.global/fr-general/officials/ |title=The General Curia |access-date=7 October 2022 |archive-date=6 October 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221006234255/https://www.jesuits.global/fr-general/officials/ |url-status=live }}</ref> The historic curia of Ignatius is now part of the {{lang|es|Collegio del Gesù}} attached to the [[Church of the Gesù]], the Jesuit [[mother church]]. 

Members of the Society of Jesus make profession of "perpetual poverty, chastity, and obedience" and "promise a special obedience to the sovereign pontiff in regard to the missions." A Jesuit is expected to be totally available and obedient to his superiors, accepting orders to go anywhere in the world, even if required to live in extreme conditions. Ignatius, its leading founder, was a nobleman who had a military background. The opening lines of the founding document of the Society of Jesus accordingly declare that it was founded for "whoever desires to serve as a soldier of God,{{efn|[[Spanish language|Spanish]]: "{{lang|es|todo el que quiera militar para Dios}}{{-"}}{{citation needed|date=August 2024}}}} to strive especially for the defense and propagation of the faith, and for the progress of souls in Christian life and doctrine".{{sfn|O'Malley|2006|p=xxxv}} Jesuits are thus sometimes referred to colloquially as "God's soldiers",<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=124357786 |title=Poverty and Chastity for Every Occasion |work=Weekend Edition Saturday |publisher=[[NPR|National Public Radio]] |date=5 March 2010 |access-date=15 May 2013 |archive-date=20 June 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130620095115/http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=124357786 |url-status=live }}</ref> "God's marines",<ref>{{cite magazine |date=23 March 2013 |title=The Jesuits: 'God's marines' |url=http://theweek.com/articles/466362/jesuits-gods-marines |magazine=The Week |location=New York |access-date=19 June 2017 |archive-date=11 June 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170611142630/http://theweek.com/articles/466362/jesuits-gods-marines |url-status=live }}</ref> or "the Company".<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ignatiushouse.org/spirituality/the-jesuits/ |title=About Our Jesuits |publisher=Ignatius House Retreat Center |location=Atlanta, Georgia |access-date=15 May 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130411070204/http://www.ignatiushouse.org/spirituality/the-jesuits/ |archive-date=11 April 2013 }}</ref> The Society of Jesus participated in the [[Counter-Reformation]] and, later, in the implementation of the [[Second Vatican Council]].

Jesuit [[missionaries]] established missions around the world from the 16th to the 18th century and had both successes and failures in [[Christianizing]] the native peoples. The Jesuits have always been controversial within the Catholic Church and have frequently clashed with secular governments and institutions. Beginning in 1759, the Catholic Church expelled Jesuits from most countries in Europe and from European colonies. [[Pope Clement XIV]] officially [[Suppression of the Society of Jesus|suppressed the order]] in 1773. In 1814, the Church lifted the suppression.

==History==
===Foundation===
[[File:Ignatius Loyola.jpg|thumb|upright=0.65|[[Ignatius of Loyola]], the founder of the Jesuits]]

[[Ignatius of Loyola]], a [[Basques|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]].

On 15 August 1534, Ignatius of Loyola (born Íñigo López de Loyola), a Spaniard from the [[Basque Country (autonomous community)|Basque]] city of [[Sanctuary of Loyola|Loyola]], and six others mostly of [[Castilian people|Castilian]] origin, all students at the [[University of Paris]],<ref>{{Cite web |archive-date=11 October 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141011060544/http://www.michaelservetusresearch.com/ENGLISH/jesuits.html |url-status=usurped |author=Francisco Javier Benjamín González Echeverría |title=Documents of the Jesuits and of Michael de Villanueva (Servetus) in the register of the University of Paris |website=Michael Servetus Research |url=https://michaelservetusresearch.com/ENGLISH/jesuits.html |access-date=16 January 2023 }}</ref> met in [[Montmartre]] outside Paris, in a crypt beneath the church of [[Saint Denis of Paris|Saint Denis]], now [[Saint Pierre de Montmartre]], to pronounce promises of poverty, chastity, and obedience.{{sfn|Campbell|1921|p=24}} Ignatius' six companions were: [[Francis Xavier|Francisco Xavier]] from [[Kingdom of Navarre|Navarre]] ([[Spain|modern Spain]]), [[Alfonso Salmeron]], [[Diego Laynez|Diego Laínez]], [[Nicholas Bobadilla|Nicolás Bobadilla]] from [[Crown of Castile|Castile]] ([[Spain|modern Spain]]), [[Peter Faber]] from [[Savoy]], and [[Simão Rodrigues]] from [[Portugal]].{{sfn|Coyle|1908|p=142}}

The meeting is commemorated in the [[Martyrium of Saint Denis, Montmartre]]. They called themselves the {{lang|es|Compañía de Jesús}}, and also {{lang|es|Amigos en El Señor}} 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 {{lang|la|societas}} like in {{lang|la|socius}}, a partner or comrade. From this came "Society of Jesus" (SJ) by which they would be known more widely.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.reformation.org/jesuits2.html |title=Chapter 2 |website=www.reformation.org |access-date=30 May 2017 |archive-date=2 January 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180102071515/http://www.reformation.org/jesuits2.html }}</ref>

Religious orders established in the medieval era were named after particular men: [[Francis of Assisi]] (Franciscans); [[Saint Dominic|Domingo de Guzmán]], later canonized as Saint Dominic (Dominicans); and [[Augustine of Hippo]] (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.{{sfn|Brading|1991|p=166}}

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]] 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".{{sfn|Campbell|1921|p=7}}

In 1537, the seven travelled to Italy to seek papal approval for their [[Order (religious)|order]]. 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]] by the [[bishop of Arbe]] on 24 June. They devoted themselves to preaching and charitable work in [[Italy]]. The [[Italian War of 1536–1538]] renewed between [[Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor]], 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 [[Cardinal (Catholicism)|cardinals]] reported favourably upon the Constitution presented, and Paul III confirmed the order through the bull {{lang|la|[[Regimini militantis ecclesiae]]}} ("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 [[Superior General of the Society of Jesus|Superior General]]. Paul III's bull had limited the number of its members to sixty. This limitation was removed through the bull {{lang|la|[[Exposcit debitum]]}} of Julius III in 1550.{{sfn|Höpfl|2004|p=426}}

In 1543, [[Peter 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",<ref name="text">[https://jesuitportal.bc.edu/research/documents/1540_formula/ Text of the Formula of the Institute (1540)] {{Webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220726061343/https://jesuitportal.bc.edu/research/documents/1540_formula/ |date=26 July 2022 }}, [[Boston College]], Institute for Advanced Jesuit Studies, accessed 31 May 2021</ref> which is "the fundamental charter of the order, of which all subsequent official documents were elaborations and to which they had to conform".{{sfn|O'Malley|1993|p=5}} He ensured that his formula was contained in two [[papal bull]]s signed by Pope Paul III in 1540 and by Pope Julius III in 1550.<ref name="text" /> The formula expressed the nature, spirituality, community life, and apostolate of the new religious order. Its famous opening statement echoed Ignatius' military background:

[[File:Regimini militantis Ecclesiae.jpg|thumb|A fresco depicting Ignatius receiving the papal bull from Pope Paul III was created after 1743 by [[Johann Christoph Handke]] in the Church of Our Lady Of the Snow in [[Olomouc]].]]

{{blockquote|1=Whoever desires to serve as a soldier of God beneath the banner of the Cross in our Society, which we desire to be designated by the Name of Jesus, and to serve the Lord alone and the Church, his spouse, under the Roman Pontiff, the Vicar of Christ on earth, should, after a solemn vow of perpetual chastity, poverty and obedience, keep what follows in mind. He is a member of a Society founded chiefly for this purpose: to strive especially for the defence and propagation of the faith and for the progress of souls in Christian life and doctrine, by means of public preaching, lectures and any other ministration whatsoever of the Word of God, and further by means of retreats, the education of children and unlettered persons in Christianity, and the spiritual consolation of Christ's faithful through hearing confessions and administering the other sacraments. Moreover, he should show himself ready to reconcile the estranged, compassionately assist and serve those who are in prisons or hospitals, and indeed, to perform any other works of charity, according to what will seem expedient for the glory of God and the common good.<ref name="stats"/>}}

[[File:Jesuits in the 'Ibadat-Khanah'.jpg|thumb|upright|Jesuits at [[Akbar]]'s court in India, {{c.|1605}}]]

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 [[Classics|classical studies]] and [[theology]], and their schools reflected this. These schools taught with a balance of Aristotelian methods with mathematics.<ref name="Principe">{{Cite book |last=Principe |first=Lawrence M. |url=http://oxfordmedicine.com/view/10.1093/actrade/9780199567416.001.0001/actrade-9780199567416 |title=The Scientific Revolution: A Very Short Introduction |year=2011 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-956741-6 |doi=10.1093/actrade/9780199567416.003.0002 |access-date=17 September 2023 }}</ref>

Second, they sent out missionaries across the globe to [[Evangelism|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.{{sfn|Campbell|1921|p=72}} 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.<ref>{{cite book |author=Jesuitas |title=Constitutiones Societatis Iesu: cum earum declarationibus |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5lL2SO1DjwYC |chapter=''SEXTA PARS – CAP. 1'' |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5lL2SO1DjwYC&q=%22+pe-+rinde+ac+fi+cadauer+eiíent%22&pg=PA196 |year=1583 |language=la }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |author=Ignatius of Loyola |translator-first=George E. |translator-last=Ganss |title=The constitutions of the society of Jesus |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=k_oPAQAAIAAJ |publisher=Institute of Jesuit Sources |year=1970 |page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=k_oPAQAAIAAJ&q=%22carried+and+directed+by+Divine+Providence+through+the+agency+of+the+superior+as+if+he+were+a+lifeless+body+which+allows+itself+to+be+carried+to+any+place+and+to+be+treated+in+any+manner+desired%22 249] |isbn=9780912422206 |quote=Carried and directed by [[Divine providence|Divine Providence]] through the agency of the superior as if he were a lifeless body which allows itself to be carried to any place and to be treated in any manner desired. }}</ref>{{sfn|Painter|1903|p=167}} His main principle became the unofficial Jesuit motto: {{lang|la|[[Ad Maiorem Dei Gloriam]]}} ("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.{{sfn|Höpfl|2004|p=426}}

The Society of Jesus is classified among institutes as an order of [[clerks regular]], that is, a body of priests organized for [[missionary|apostolic]] work, and following a [[religious order (Catholic)|religious]] rule.

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).{{sfn|Pollen|1912}} 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.{{sfn|Campbell|1921|p=7}}

While the order is limited to men, [[Joanna of Austria, Princess of Portugal]], favored the order and she is reputed to have been admitted surreptitiously under a male pseudonym.<ref name="Female">{{Cite web |url=http://www.gc36.org/female-jesuits/ |title=Female Jesuits |website=www.gc36.org |access-date=5 July 2016 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160710173125/http://www.gc36.org/female-jesuits/ |archive-date=10 July 2016 }}</ref>

===Early works===
[[File:Ratiostudiorum.jpg|thumb|upright|{{lang|la|[[Ratio Studiorum]]}}, 1598]]
{{More citations needed section|date=August 2020}}
The Jesuits were founded just before the [[Council of Trent]] (1545–1563) and ensuing [[Counter-Reformation]] 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 of Ignatius of Loyola|Spiritual Exercises]]. During a four-week period of silence, individuals undergo a series of directed [[meditation]]s 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. 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.<ref name="Principe"/> 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 arts|liberal education]], the Jesuit plan of studies incorporated the Classical teachings of [[Renaissance humanism]] into the [[Scholasticism|Scholastic]] structure of Catholic thought.<ref name="Principe"/> This method of teaching was important in the context of the Scientific Revolution, as these universities were open to teaching new scientific and mathematical methodology. Further, many important thinkers of the Scientific Revolution were educated by Jesuit universities.<ref name="Principe"/>

In addition to the teachings of [[faith]], the Jesuit {{lang|la|[[Ratio Studiorum]]}} (1599) would standardize the study of [[Latin]], [[Greek language|Greek]], classical literature, poetry, and philosophy as well as non-European languages, sciences, and the arts. Jesuit schools encouraged the study of [[vernacular literature]] and [[rhetoric]], 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]]. 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]] as well as in music. The theater was a form of expression especially prominent in Jesuit schools.{{sfn|Campbell|1921|p=857}}

Jesuit priests often acted as [[confession (religion)|confessors]] to kings during the [[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 the Hours|Liturgy of Hours]] in common) allowed them to be flexible and meet diverse needs arising at the time.{{sfn|Gonzalez|1985|p=144}}

===Expansion of the order===
{{confusing|section|date=December 2019}}
[[File:Jesuitpainting.jpg|thumb|upright=0.8|A jesuit [[missionary]], painting from 1779]]
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, Nagasaki|Nagasaki]] in 1580. This was removed in 1587 due to fears over their growing influence.<ref>{{Cite book |title=Handbook of Christianity in Japan |editor-last=Mullins |editor-first=Mark R. |date=2003 |publisher=Brill |isbn=9004131566 |location=Leiden |pages=9–10 |oclc=191931641 }}</ref> 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.<ref name="Dussel-1981">{{Cite book |title=The History of the Church in Latin America |last=Dussel |first=Enrique |publisher=NYU Press |year=1981 |location=New York |pages=60 }}</ref>

[[File:Franciscus de Xabier.jpg|thumb|upright|[[Francis Xavier]] led the first Christian mission to Japan]]
In 1541, [[Francis Xavier]], one of the original companions of [[Ignatius of Loyola|Loyola]], arrived in [[Goa]], [[Portuguese India]], to carry out evangelical service in the Indies. In a 1545 letter to John III of Portugal, he requested an [[Goa Inquisition|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.<ref name="Philadelphia : Hardy and Mahony">{{Cite web |url=https://archive.org/stream/americancatholic33philuoft#page/244/mode/2up/search/Jesuit |title=The American Catholic quarterly review |website=archive.org |page=244 |access-date=31 May 2017 |publisher=Philadelphia : Hardy and Mahony }}</ref>

In 1594, they founded the first Roman-style academic institution in the East, [[St. Paul Jesuit College (Macau)|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]]s such as [[Matteo Ricci]]. Jesuit efforts in Goa were interrupted by the [[Suppression of the Society of Jesus|expulsion of the Jesuits]] from Portuguese territories in 1759 by the powerful [[Sebastião José de Carvalho e Melo, 1st Marquis of Pombal|Marquis of Pombal]], the Secretary of State in Portugal.<ref name="Philadelphia : Hardy and Mahony"/>

In 1624, the Portuguese Jesuit [[António de Andrade]] founded [[Catholic Church in Tibet|a mission in Western Tibet]]. In 1661, two Jesuit missionaries, [[Johann Grueber]] and [[Albert Dorville]], reached [[Lhasa (prefecture-level city)|Lhasa]], in Tibet. The Italian Jesuit [[Ippolito Desideri]] established a new Jesuit mission in [[Lhasa]] and [[Ü-Tsang|Central Tibet]] (1716–21) and gained an exceptional mastery of [[Tibetic languages|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 [[Buddhism|Buddhist]] ideas and establish the truth of Catholic Christianity.

[[File:Oscar Pereira da Silva - Retrato de Anchieta, Acervo do Museu Paulista da USP.jpg|thumb|The [[Spaniards|Spanish]] missionary [[José de Anchieta]] was, together with [[Manuel da Nóbrega]], the first Jesuit that [[Ignatius of Loyola|Ignacio de Loyola]] sent to America.]]
Jesuit [[Mission (Christian)|missions]] in the Americas 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 [[Indigenous peoples of the Americas|Indigenous]] and [[slavery]]. Together throughout South America but especially in present-day [[Brazil]] and [[Paraguay]], they formed Indigenous Christian city-states, called "[[Jesuit reduction|reductions]]". These were societies set up according to an idealized [[theocracy|theocratic]] model.<ref name="Dussel-1981" />

The efforts of Jesuits like [[Antonio Ruiz de Montoya]] to protect the natives from enslavement by Spanish and Portuguese colonizers contributed 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 built schools, organized people into villages, and created a writing system for the local languages of Brazil.<ref name="Dussel-1981" /> José de Anchieta and Manuel da Nóbrega were the first Jesuits that Ignacio de Loyola sent to the Americas.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.vatican.va/content/francesco/es/homilies/2014/documents/papa-francesco_20140424_omelia-san-jose-de-anchieta.html |title=24 de abril de 2014: Santa Misa de acción de gracias por la canonización de San José de Anchieta &#124; Francisco |website=www.vatican.va |access-date=29 June 2021 |archive-date=29 June 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210629045957/https://www.vatican.va/content/francesco/es/homilies/2014/documents/papa-francesco_20140424_omelia-san-jose-de-anchieta.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

Jesuit scholars working in foreign missions were very dedicated in studying the local languages and strove to produce Latinized [[grammar]]s and [[dictionary|dictionaries]]. This included: Japanese (see {{transliteration|ja|[[Nippo jisho]]}}, also known as {{lang|es|Vocabvlario da Lingoa de Iapam}}, "Vocabulary of the Japanese Language", a Japanese–Portuguese dictionary written 1603); [[Vietnamese language|Vietnamese]] (Portuguese missionaries created the [[Vietnamese alphabet]],<ref>{{cite book |last1=Jacques |first1=Roland |title=Portuguese Pioneers of Vietnamese Linguistics Prior to 1650 – Pionniers Portugais de la Linguistique Vietnamienne Jusqu'en 1650 |date=2002 |publisher=Orchid Press |location=Bangkok, Thailand |isbn=974-8304-77-9 |language=en, fr }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Bồ Đào Nha và công trình sáng chế chữ quốc ngữ: Phải chăng cần viết lại lịch sử? |language=vi |archive-date=26 October 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171026091348/http://ttntt.free.fr/archive/Roland4.html |url=http://ttntt.free.fr/archive/Roland4.html |access-date=16 January 2023 |website=Centre Culturel Nguyen-Truong-To |last=Jacques |first=Roland |year=2004 |url-status=dead}}{{pb}}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)'' 2004 (in Vietnamese & French). Reichstett, France: Định Hướng Tùng Thư. {{ISBN|2-912554-26-8}}.</ref> which was later formalized by Avignon missionary [[Alexandre de Rhodes]] with his 1651 [[Dictionarium Annamiticum Lusitanum et Latinum|trilingual dictionary]]); [[Tupi language|Tupi]], 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 in Canada|First Nations]] and [[Native Americans in the United States|Native American]] languages they had learned. For instance, before his death in 1708, [[Jacques Gravier]], vicar general of the [[Illinois]] [[Mission (Christian)|Mission]] in the [[Mississippi River]] valley, compiled a [[Miami-Illinois language|Miami–Illinois]]–French [[dictionary]], considered the most extensive among works of the missionaries.{{sfn|Adelaar|2004}} Extensive documentation was left in the form of ''[[The Jesuit Relations]]'', published annually from 1632 until 1673.

<gallery>
File:Bell of Nanban-ji.JPG|A [[Shunkō-in|shunkō-in bell]] made in Portugal for the [[Nanban trade#Other Nanban influences|Nanbanji Church]], run by Jesuits in Japan, 1576–1587
</gallery>

====Britain====
Whereas Jesuits were active in [[Great Britain|Britain]] in the 1500s, due to the [[Anti-Catholicism in the United Kingdom|persecution of Catholics]] in the Elizabethan times, an English province was only established in 1623.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.jesuit.org.uk/history/timeline |title=Jesuits in Britain Timeline – Our history |website=jesuit.org.uk |access-date=22 August 2022 |archive-date=28 May 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220528013351/https://www.jesuit.org.uk/history/timeline |url-status=live }}</ref> The first pressing issue for early Jesuits in what today is the [[United Kingdom]], was to establish places for training priests. In 1579, an [[English College, Rome|English College was opened in Rome]]. In 1589, a [[English College, Valladolid|Jesuit seminary was opened at Valladolid]].

In 1592, an [[English College of St Gregory|English College was opened in Seville]]. In 1614, an English college opened in Louvain. This was the earliest foundation of what was later [[Heythrop College, University of London|Heythrop College]]. [[Campion Hall, Oxford|Campion Hall]], founded in 1896, has been a presence within [[Oxford University]] since then.

16th and 17th-century Jesuit institutions intended to train priests were hotbeds for the persecution of Catholics in Britain, where men suspected of being Catholic priests were routinely imprisoned, tortured, and executed. Jesuits were among those killed, including [[Edmund Campion|the namesake of Campion Hall]], as well as Brian Cansfield, [[Ralph Corbie|Ralph Corbington]], and many others. A number of them were canonized among the [[Forty Martyrs of England and Wales]].

In 2022, four Jesuit churches existed in [[London]], with three other places of worship in [[England]] and two in [[Scotland]].<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.jesuit.org.uk/our-work/parishes-outreach |title=Parishes & Outreach – Our work |website=jesuit.org.uk |access-date=22 August 2022 |archive-date=22 August 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220822141452/https://www.jesuit.org.uk/our-work/parishes-outreach |url-status=live }}</ref>

====China====
{{Main|Jesuit missions in China}}
[[File:Ricci Guangqi 2.jpg|thumb|[[Matteo Ricci]] (left) and [[Xu Guangqi]] in the 1607 Chinese publication of [[Euclid]]'s ''[[Euclid's Elements|Elements]]'']]
[[File:LifeAndWorksOfConfucius1687.jpg|thumb|upright=0.9|''Confucius, Philosopher of the Chinese, or, Chinese Knowledge Explained in Latin'', published by [[Philippe Couplet]], [[Prospero Intorcetta]], [[Christian Herdtrich]], and François de Rougemont at Paris in 1687]]
[[File:Paradigma XV Provinciarum et CLV Urbium Capitalium Sinensis Imperij.jpg|thumb|upright=0.9|A map of the 200-odd Jesuit churches and missions established across China {{c.|1687}}]]

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

The [[Jesuit missions in China|Jesuit China missions]] of the 16th and 17th centuries introduced Western science and astronomy,<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Elman |first=Benjamin |date=2007 |title=Global Science and Comparative History: Jesuits, Science, and Philology in China and Europe, 1550–1850 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/43150703 |journal=East Asian Science, Technology, and Medicine |volume=26 |issue=26 |pages=9–16 |doi=10.1163/26669323-02601003 |jstor=43150703 |issn=1562-918X |access-date=10 September 2023 |archive-date=8 November 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231108065520/https://www.jstor.org/stable/43150703 |url-status=live |url-access=subscription }}</ref> then undergoing [[Scientific Revolution|its own revolution]], to China. The [[Scientific Revolution|scientific revolution]] brought by the Jesuits coincided with a time when scientific innovation had declined in China:

<blockquote>[The Jesuits] made efforts to translate western mathematical and astronomical works into Chinese and aroused the interest of Chinese scholars in these sciences. They made very extensive astronomical observation and carried out the first modern cartographic work in China. They also learned to appreciate the scientific achievements of this ancient culture and made them known in Europe. Through their correspondence, European scientists first learned about the Chinese science and culture.{{sfn|Udías|2003}}</blockquote>

For over a century, Jesuits such as [[Michele Ruggieri]], [[Matteo Ricci]],{{sfn|Parker|1978|p=26}} [[Diego de Pantoja]], [[Philippe Couplet]], [[Michal Boym]], and [[François Noël (missionary)|François Noël]] refined translations and disseminated [[history of Chinese science|Chinese knowledge]], [[Chinese culture|culture]], [[history of China|history]], and [[Chinese philosophy|philosophy]] to Europe. Their [[Latin]] works popularized the name "[[Confucius]]" and had considerable influence on the [[Deists]] and other [[Age of Enlightenment|Enlightenment]] thinkers, some of whom were intrigued by the Jesuits' attempts to reconcile [[Confucianism|Confucian morality]] with [[Catholic Church|Catholicism]].{{sfnm |1a1=Hobson |1y=2004 |1pp=194–195 |2a1=Parker |2y=1978 |2p=26}}

Upon the arrival of the [[Franciscan Order|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]] and [[Confucianism|Confucius]] was a nonreligious token of respect, {{nowrap|[[Pope Clement XI]]}}'s [[papal decree]] {{lang|la|[[Cum Deus Optimus]]}} ruled that such behavior constituted impermissible forms of [[idolatry]] and superstition in 1704.<ref>{{citation |last=Rule |first=Paul |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Dw9gYo4Pk0MC |series=''Leuven Chinese Studies'', Vol. XIV |title=The History of the Relations between the Low Countries and China in the Qing Era |editor-last=Vande Walle |editor-first=Willy F. |editor-link=Willy Vande Walle |editor-first2=Noël |editor-last2=Golvers |display-editors=0 |publisher=Leuven University Press |location=Leuven |date=2003 |contribution=François Noël, SJ, and the Chinese Rites Controversy |pages=[https://books.google.com/books?id=Dw9gYo4Pk0MC&pg=PA152 152] |contribution-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Dw9gYo4Pk0MC&pg=PA137 |isbn=9789058673152}}.</ref>

His [[Papal legate|legate]] [[Charles-Thomas Maillard De Tournon|Tournon]] and Bishop Charles Maigrot 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.<ref>{{citation |last=Ricci |first=Matteo |author-link=Matteo Ricci |title=''《天主實義》 [''Tiānzhŭ Shíyì, The True Meaning of the Lord of Heaven'']'' |url=http://ctext.org/wiki.pl?if=gb&res=324860 |date=1603 |access-date=1 January 2018 |archive-date=26 December 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171226130613/http://ctext.org/wiki.pl?if=gb&res=324860 |url-status=live}}. {{in lang|zh }}</ref><ref name="heycharby">{{citation |last=Charbonnier |first=Jean-Pierre |title=Christians in China: AD 600 to 2000 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5yUzntxTZioC |publisher=Ignatius Press |location=San Francisco |editor-last=Couve de Murville |editor-first=Maurice Noël Léon |editor-link=Maurice Noël Léon Couve de Murville |date=2007 |pages=256–262 |isbn=9780898709162}}.</ref><ref>{{citation |last=Von Collani |first=Claudia |contribution=Biography of Charles Maigrot MEP |editor=Elart von Collani |display-editors=0 |location=Würzburg |publisher=Stochastikon |title=Stochastikon Encyclopedia |url=http://encyclopedia.stochastikon.com |date=2009 |access-date=19 April 2021 |archive-date=7 February 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200207051527/http://encyclopedia.stochastikon.com/}}.</ref><ref>{{citation |last=Seah |first=Audrey |editor-last=Clark |editor-first=Anthony E. |display-editors=0 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sOEzDwAAQBAJ |title=China's Christianity: From Missionary to Indigenous Church |publisher=Koninklijke Brill |location=Leiden |date=2017 |contribution=The 1670 Chinese Missal: A Struggle for Indigenization amidst the Chinese Rites Controversy |page=115 |series=Studies in Christian Mission |isbn=9789004345607}}.</ref> Tournon's [[Latae sententiae|summary and automatic]] [[excommunication]] for any violators of Clement's decree<ref>{{citation |last=Ott |first=Michael |title=Catholic Encyclopedia |contribution=[[:s:Catholic Encyclopedia (1913)/Charles-Thomas Maillard de Tournon|Charles-Thomas Maillard de Tournon]] |volume=[[:s:Catholic Encyclopedia (1913)/Volume 15|Vol. XV]] |date=1913 |location=New York |publisher=Encyclopedia Press |editor-first=Charles G. |editor-last=Herbermann |editor-first2=Edward A. |editor-last2=Pace |editor-first3=Condé B. |editor-last3=Fallen |editor-first4=John J. |editor-last4=Wynne |editor-first5=Thomas J. |editor-last5=Shahan |display-editors=0 |title-link=:s:Catholic Encyclopedia (1913)}}.</ref>{{snd}}upheld by the 1715 [[papal bull|bull]] {{lang|la|[[Ex Illa Die]]}}{{snd}}led to the swift collapse of all the missions in China.<ref name="heycharby" /> The last Jesuits were expelled after 1721.{{sfn|Mungello|1994}}

==== Ireland ====
{{see also|List of Jesuit schools in Ireland}}
The first Jesuit school in [[Ireland]] was established at [[Limerick]] by the [[apostolic visitor]] of the [[Holy See]], [[David Wolfe (Jesuit)|David Wolfe]]. Wolfe was sent to Ireland by [[Pope Pius IV]] with the concurrence of the third Jesuit superior general, [[Diego Laynez]].<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.limerickcity.ie/media/Media,4303,en.pdf |title=From Limerick City.ie |access-date=8 February 2023 |archive-date=20 February 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230220052938/http://www.limerickcity.ie/media/Media,4303,en.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref> He was charged with setting up grammar schools "as a remedy against the profound ignorance of the people".<ref>{{Cite ODNB |title=Entry for David Wolfe SJ by Thomas Morrissey SJ |year=2004 |url=http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/29832 |url-access=subscription |doi=10.1093/ref:odnb/29832 |last1=Morrissey |first1=Thomas J. }}</ref>

Wolfe's mission in Ireland initially concentrated on setting the sclerotic Irish Church on a sound footing, introducing the [[Council of Trent|Tridentine]] Reforms and finding suitable men to fill vacant sees. He established a house of religious women in Limerick known as the Menabochta ("poor women" ) and in 1565 preparations began for establishing a school at Limerick.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Entry for David Wolfe SJ by Judy Barry |url=https://dib.cambridge.org/viewReadPage.do?articleId=a9107&searchClicked=clicked&quickadvsearch=yes |url-access=subscription |publisher=Dictionary of Irish Biography |access-date=8 February 2023 |archive-date=28 July 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200728113859/https://dib.cambridge.org/viewReadPage.do?articleId=a9107&searchClicked=clicked&quickadvsearch=yes |url-status=live }}</ref>

At his instigation, [[Richard Creagh]], a priest of the Diocese of Limerick, was persuaded to accept the vacant [[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Armagh|Archdiocese of Armagh]], and was consecrated in Rome in 1564.

This early Limerick school, [[Crescent College]], operated in difficult circumstances. In April 1566, [[William Good (Jesuit)|William Good]] sent a detailed report to Rome of his activities via the Portuguese Jesuits. He informed the Jesuit superior general that he and Edmund Daniel had arrived at Limerick city two years beforehand and their situation there had been perilous. Both had arrived in the city in very bad health, but had recovered due to the kindness of the people.

They established contact with Wolfe, but were only able to meet with him at night, as the English authorities were attempting to arrest the legate. Wolfe charged them initially with teaching to the boys of Limerick, with an emphasis on religious instruction, and Good translated the catechism from Latin into English for this purpose. They remained in Limerick for eight months.<ref name="Tudor Limerick 1566. pp. 7-36"/>

In December 1565, they moved to [[Kilmallock]] under the protection of the Earl of Desmond, where they lived in more comfort than the primitive conditions they experienced in Limerick. They were unable to support themselves at Kilmallock and three months later they returned to Limerick in Easter 1566, and strangely set up their house in accommodation owned by the Lord Deputy of Ireland, which was conveyed to them by certain influential friends.<ref name="Tudor Limerick 1566. pp. 7-36">"Life in Tudor Limerick: William Good's 'Annual Letter' of 1566". By Thomas M. McCoog SJ & Victor Houliston. From ''Archivium Hibernicum'', 2016, Vol. 69 (2016), pp. 7–36</ref>

They recommenced teaching at Castle Lane, and imparting the sacraments, though their activities were restricted by the arrival of Royal Commissioners. Good reported that as he was an Englishman, English officials in the city cultivated him and he was invited to dine with them on a number of occasions, though he was warned to exercise prudence and avoid promoting the [[Primacy of Peter|Petrine primacy]] and the priority of the [[Mass in the Catholic Church|Mass]] amongst the [[Sacraments of the Catholic Church|sacraments]] with his students and congregation, and that his sermons should emphasize obedience to secular princes if he wished to avoid arrest.<ref name="Tudor Limerick 1566. pp. 7-36" />

The number of scholars in their care was very small. An early example of a school play in Ireland is sent in one of Good's reports, which was performed on the Feast of St. John in 1566. The school was conducted in one large aula, with the students were divided into distinct classes. Good gives a highly detailed report of the curriculum taught. The top class studied the first and second parts of [[Johannes Despauterius]]'s Commentarli grammatici, and read a few letters of Cicero or the dialogues of Frusius (André des Freux, SJ). The second class committed Donatus' texts in Latin to memory and read dialogues and works by Ēvaldus Gallus. Students in the third class learned Donatus by heart, translated into English rather than Latin. Young boys in the fourth class were taught to read. Progress was slow because there were too few teachers to conduct classes simultaneously.<ref name="Tudor Limerick 1566. pp. 7-36" />

In the spirit of Ignatius' [[Roman College]] founded 14 years before, no fee was requested from pupils. As a result, the two Jesuits lived in very poor conditions and were very overworked with teaching and administering the sacraments to the public. In late 1568, the Castle Lane School, in the presence of Daniel and Good, was attacked and looted by government agents sent by Sir [[Thomas Cusack (Irish judge)|Thomas Cusack]] during the pacification of Munster.<ref name="catholicE">
''Catholic Encyclopedia'' (1913), Vol. 11 Edmund O'Donnell by Charles McNeill</ref>

The political and religious climate had become more uncertain in the lead up to [[Pope Pius V]]'s formal excommunication of Queen [[Elizabeth I]], which resulted in a new wave of repression of Catholicism in England and Ireland. At the end of 1568, the Anglican Bishop of Meath, [[Hugh Brady (bishop)|Hugh Brady]], was sent to Limerick charged with a Royal Commission to seek out and expel the Jesuits. Daniel was immediately ordered to quit the city and went to Lisbon, where he resumed his studies with the Portuguese Jesuits.<ref name="catholicE" /> Good moved on to [[Clonmel]], before establishing himself at [[Youghal]] until 1577.<ref>{{Cite ODNB |title=Entry for William Good SJ by Thomas McCoog SJ |year=2004 |url=http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/10946?docPos=1 |url-access=subscription |doi=10.1093/ref:odnb/10946 }}</ref>

In 1571, after Wolfe had been captured and imprisoned at [[Dublin Castle]], Daniel persuaded the Portuguese Province to agree a surety for the ransom of Wolfe, who was quickly banished on release. In 1572, Daniel returned to Ireland, but was immediately captured. Incriminating documents were found on his person, which were taken as proof of his involvement with the rebellious cousin of the [[Earl of Desmond]], [[James FitzMaurice FitzGerald|James Fitzmaurice]] and a Spanish plot.<ref>{{Cite ODNB |title=Entry for Edmund Daniel SJ by Stephen Redmond |year=2004 |url=http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/69033?docPos=1 |url-access=subscription |doi=10.1093/ref:odnb/69033 }}</ref> He was removed from Limerick, and taken to Cork, "just as if he were a thief or noted evildoer". After being court-martialled by the Lord President of Munster, Sir [[John Perrot]], he was sentenced to be hanged, drawn, and quartered for treason, and refused pardon in return for swearing the [[Act of Supremacy]]. His execution was carried out on 25 October 1572. A report of it was sent by Fitzmaurice to the Jesuit Superior General in 1576, where he said that Daniel was "cruelly killed because of me".<ref>{{Cite web |title=Entry from Irish Jesuit Archives website by Vera Orschel (archivist & editor) entitled 4 / 2015 Irish Jesuit Documents in Rome: Part 17 (1 April 2015) 'Not giving the Jesuit martyr Edmund Daniel (O'Donnell) a bad name'. This document contains some scanned copies of Good's original correspondence |url=http://sjarchives.tumblr.com/ |publisher=SJArchives |access-date=8 February 2023 |archive-date=26 March 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230326033033/https://sjarchives.tumblr.com/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

With Daniel dead and Wolfe dismissed, the Irish Jesuit foundation suffered a severe setback. Good is recorded as resident at Rome in 1577. In 1586, the seizure of Earl of Desmond's estates resulted in a new permanent Protestant plantation in Munster, making the continuation of the Limerick school impossible for a time. It was not until the early 1600s that the Jesuit mission could again re-establish itself in the city, though the Jesuits kept a low profile existence in lodgings here and there. For instance, a mission led by Fr. Nicholas Leinagh re-established itself at Limerick in 1601,<ref>Vera Moynes, ''Irish Jesuit Annual Letters 1604–1674'' Vol. II, p. 551</ref> though the Jesuit presence in the city numbered no more than 1 or 2 at a time in the years immediately following.

In 1604, the Lord President of Munster, Sir [[Henry Brouncker (died 1607)|Henry Brouncker]] - at Limerick, ordered all Jesuits from the city and Province, and offered £7 to anyone willing to betray a Jesuit priest to the authorities, and £5 for a seminarian.<ref>Vera Moynes, ''Irish Jesuit Annual Letters 1604–1674'' Vol. I, p. 32.</ref> Jesuit houses and schools throughout the province, in the years after, were subject to periodic crackdown and the occasional destruction of schools, imprisonment of teachers and the levying of heavy money penalties on parents are recorded in publications of the time. In 1615–17, the Royal Visitation Books, written up by [[Thomas Jones (bishop)|Thomas Jones]], the [[Archbishop of Dublin (Church of Ireland)|Anglican Archbishop of Dublin]], records the suppression of Jesuit schools at [[Waterford]], Limerick and [[Galway]].<ref>T. Corcoron, "Early Jesuit Educators", in ''Studies: An Irish Quarterly Review'', Vol. 29, No. 116 (Dec. 1940), pp. 545–560</ref>

In spite of this occasional persecution, the Jesuits were able to exert a degree of discreet influence within the province and in Limerick. For instance in 1606, largely through their efforts, a Catholic named Christopher Holywood was elected Mayor of the city.<ref>Vera Moynes, ''Irish Jesuit Annual Letters 1604–167''4 Vol. I, p. 88</ref> In 1602, the resident Jesuit had raised a sum of "200 cruzados" for the purpose of founding a hospital in Limerick, though the project was disrupted by a severe outbreak of plague and repression by the Lord President.<ref>Vera Moynes, ''Irish Jesuit Annual Letters 1604–1674'' Vol. I, p. 40</ref>

The principal activities of the order within Limerick at this time were devoted to preaching, administration of the sacraments and teaching. The school opened and closed intermittently in or around the area of Castle Lane, near Lahiffy's lane. During demolition work stones marked I.H.S., 1642 and 1609 were, in the 19th century, found inserted in a wall behind a tan yard near St Mary's Chapel which, according to Lenihan, were thought to mark the site of an early Jesuit school and oratory. This building, at other times, had also functioned as a dance house and candle factory.<ref>Maurice Lenihan ''Limerick; Its History and Antiquities'' p. 671 {{ISBN? }}</ref>

For much of the 1600s, the Limerick Jesuit foundation established a more permanent and stable presence and the Jesuit Annals record a 'flourishing' school at Limerick in the 1640s.<ref>John Canon Begley, ''The Diocese of Limerick in the 16th and 17th Centuries'' p. 440 {{ISBN? }}</ref> During the Confederacy the Jesuits had been able to go about their business unhindered and were invited to preach publicly from the pulpit of St. Mary's Cathedral on 4 occasions. Cardinal [[Giovanni Battista Rinuccini|Giovanni Rinuccini]] wrote to the Jesuit general in Rome, praising the work of the Rector of the Limerick College, Fr. William O'Hurley, who was aided by Fr. Thomas Burke.<ref>Lenihan p. 666</ref>

A few years later, during the Protectorate era, only 18 of the Jesuits resident in Ireland managed to avoid capture by the authorities. Lenihan records that the Limerick Crescent College in 1656 moved to a hut in the middle of a bog, which was difficult for the authorities to find. This foundation was headed up by Fr. Nicholas Punch, who was aided by Frs. Maurice Patrick, Piers Creagh and James Forde. The school attracted a large number of students from around the locality.<ref>Lenihan p. 667</ref>

At the Restoration of [[Charles II of England|Charles II]], the school moved back to Castle Lane, and remained largely undisturbed for the next 40 years, until the surrender of the city to Williamite forces in 1692. In 1671, Dr. James Douley was appointed Vicar Apostolic of Limerick. During his visitation to the diocese, he reported to the Holy See that the Jesuits had a house and "taught schools with great fruit, instructing the youth in the articles of faith and good morals."<ref>Begley p. 479</ref> Douley also noted that this and other Catholic schools operating in the Diocese were also attended by local Protestants.<ref>Begley p. 480</ref>

The Jesuit presence in Ireland, in the so-called Penal era after the Battle of the Boyne, ebbed and flowed. In 1700 they were only 6 or 7, recovering to 25 in 1750. Small Jesuit houses and schools existed at Athlone, Carrick-on-Suir, Cashel, Clonmel, Kilkenny, Waterford, New Ross, Wexford, and Drogheda, as well as Dublin and Galway. At Limerick there appears to have been a long hiatus following the defeat of the Jacobite forces. Fr. Thomas O'Gorman was the first Jesuit to return to Limerick after the siege, arriving in 1728. He took up residence in Jail Lane, near the Castle in the Englishtown. There he opened a school to "impart the rudiments of the classics to the better class youth of the city."<ref>Begley ''The Diocese of Limerick from 1691 to the Present Time'' p. 307 {{ISBN? }}</ref>

O'Gorman left in 1737 and was succeeded by Fr. John McGrath.<ref>Begley p. 307</ref> Next came Fr. James McMahon, who was a nephew of the Primate of Armagh, [[Hugh MacMahon]]. McMahon lived at Limerick for thirteen years until his death in 1751. In 1746, Fr Joseph Morony was sent from Bordeaux to join McMahon and the others.<ref>Lenihan p. 671</ref> Morony remained at the Jail Lane site teaching at  a "high class school" until 1773, when he was ordered to close the school and oratory following the [[Suppression of the Society of Jesus|papal suppression of the Society of Jesus]],<ref>Begley p. 308</ref> 208 years after its foundation by Wolfe. Morony then went to live in Dublin and worked as a secular priest.

Despite the efforts of the Castle authorities and English government, the Limerick school managed to survive the [[Reformation|Protestant Reformation]], the [[Cromwellian conquest of Ireland|Cromwellian invasion]] and [[Williamite War in Ireland|Williamite Wars]], and subsequent [[Penal laws (Ireland)|Penal Laws]]. It was forced to close, not for religious or confessional reasons, but due to the political difficulties of the Jesuit Order elsewhere.

Following the restoration of the Society of Jesus in 1814, the Jesuits gradually re-established a number of their schools throughout the country, starting with foundations at Kildare and Dublin. In 1859, they returned to Limerick at the invitation of the Bishop of Limerick, [[John Ryan (bishop)|John Ryan]], and re-established a school in Galway the same year.

====Canada====
{{see also|Jesuit missions in North America}}
[[File:Jesuit map NF.jpg|thumb|upright=0.9|The Bressani map of 1657 depicting the martyrdom of [[Jean de Brébeuf]]]]

During the French colonisation of [[New France]] in the 17th century, Jesuits played an active role in North America. [[Samuel de Champlain]] established the foundations of the French colony at Québec in 1608. The native tribes that inhabited modern day Ontario, Québec, and the areas around Lake Simcoe and Georgian Bay were the Montagnais, the Algonquins, and the [[Wyandot people|Huron]].{{sfn|Devine|1925|p=1}} Champlain believed that these had souls to be saved, so in 1614 he obtained the [[Recollects]], a reform branch of the Franciscans in France, to convert the native inhabitants.{{sfn|Devine|1925|p=3}}

In 1624, the French Recollects realized the magnitude of their task{{sfn|Paquin|1932|p=29}} 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]], [[Énemond Massé]], and [[Charles Lalemant]] arrived in Quebec in 1625.{{sfn|Devine|1925|p=5}} Lalemant is considered to have been the first author of one of the [[The Jesuit Relations|''Jesuit Relations of New France'']], which chronicled their evangelization during the 17th century.

The Jesuits became involved in the [[Jesuit Missions amongst the Huron|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 [[Surrender of Quebec|surrendered]] to the [[Kingdom of England|English]]. In 1632, Quebec was returned to the French under the [[Treaty of Saint-Germain-en-Laye (1632)|Treaty of Saint Germain-en-Laye]] and the Jesuits returned to the [[Huronia (region)|Huron territory]].{{sfn|Delaney|Nicholls|1989|p=1}} After a series of epidemics of European-introduced diseases beginning in 1634, some Huron began to mistrust the Jesuits and accused them of being sorcerers casting spells from their books.{{sfn|Carpenter|2004|p=61}}

In 1639, Jesuit [[Jerome Lalemant]] decided that the missionaries among the Hurons needed a local residence and established [[Sainte-Marie among the Hurons|Sainte-Marie]] near present-day [[Midland, Ontario]], which was meant to be a replica of European society.{{sfn|Delaney|Nicholls|1989|p=2}} It became the Jesuit headquarters and an important part of Canadian history. Throughout most of the 1640s the Jesuits had modest success, establishing five chapels in Huronia and baptising more than one thousand Huron out of a population, which may have exceeded 20,000 before the epidemics of the 1630s.{{sfn|Kennedy|1950|p=42}} However, the [[Iroquois]] of [[New York (state)|New York]], rivals of the Hurons, grew jealous of the Hurons' wealth and control of the fur trade system and attacked Huron villages in 1648. They killed missionaries and burned villages, and the Hurons scattered. Both de Brébeuf and Gabriel Lalemant were tortured and killed in the Iroquois raids. For this, they have been canonized as martyrs in the Catholic Church.{{sfn|Delaney|Nicholls|1989|p=3}}

The Jesuit [[Paul Ragueneau]] burned down [[Sainte Marie among the Iroquois|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). Facing starvation, lack of supplies, and constant threats of Iroquois attack, the small Sainte-Marie II was abandoned in June 1650. The remaining Christian Hurons and Jesuits departed for Quebec and [[Ottawa]].{{sfn|Delaney|Nicholls|1989|p=3}} As a result of the Iroquois raids and outbreak of disease, many missionaries, traders, and soldiers died.{{sfn|Kennedy|1950|p=43}} Today, the Huron tribe, also known as the [[Wyandot people|Wyandot]], have a First Nations reserve in Quebec, Canada, and three major settlements in the United States.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.civilization.ca/cmc/exhibitions/tresors/ethno/etb0170e.shtml |title=First Nations Culture Areas Index |work=the Canadian Museum of Civilization |access-date=10 June 2016 |archive-date=11 August 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110811033229/http://www.civilization.ca/cmc/exhibitions/tresors/ethno/etb0170e.shtml |url-status=live }}</ref>

After the collapse of the [[Wyandot people|Huron nation]], the Jesuits undertook 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 soon turned on the French again. In 1658, the Jesuits were having little success and were under constant threat of being tortured or killed.{{sfn|Kennedy|1950|p=43}} They continued their effort until 1687, when they abandoned their permanent posts in the Iroquois homeland.{{sfn|Kennedy|1950|p=46}}

In 1700, Jesuits turned to maintaining Quebec, [[Montreal]], and Ottawa without establishing new posts.{{sfn|Kennedy|1950|p=49}} During the [[Seven Years' War]], Quebec was [[Conquest of New France (1758–1760)|captured by the British]] in 1759 and New France came under British control. The British barred the immigration of more Jesuits to New France. In 1763, only 21 Jesuits were stationed in New France. In 1773, only 11 Jesuits remained. In 1773, the British crown declared that the Society of Jesus in New France was dissolved.{{sfn|Kennedy|1950|p=53}}

The dissolution of the order left in place substantial estates and investments, amounting to an income of approximately £5,000 a year. The [[Council for the Affairs of the Province of Quebec]], later succeeded by the [[Legislative Assembly of Quebec]], assumed the task of allocating the funds to suitable recipients, chiefly schools.<ref>{{Cite book |chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/provincialstatu01canagoog/page/1483/mode/1up |pages=1483–1484 |chapter=Cap. 44 |title=The provincial statutes of Canada: anno undecimo et duodecimo Victoriae Reginae |date=1847 |place=Montreal |publisher=Stewart Derbishire & George Desbarats }}</ref>

In 1842, the Jesuit mission in Quebec was re-established. A number of Jesuit colleges were founded in the decades following. One of these colleges evolved into present-day [[Université Laval|Laval University]].<ref>{{Cite encyclopedia |title=Jesuits |encyclopedia=The Canadian Encyclopedia |url=https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/jesuits |access-date=16 January 2023 |author1-first=Peter |author2-first=Michel |author3-first=Celine |author1-last=Meehan |author2-last=Thériault |author3-last=Cooper |date=26 April 2019 |archive-date=8 June 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190608221014/https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/jesuits |url-status=live }}</ref>

====United States====
{{Main|Jesuits in the United States}}

In the United States, the order is best known for its [[Jesuit missions in North America|missions to the Native Americans]] in the early 17th century, its [[Association of Jesuit Colleges and Universities|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 [[Eastern United States|East]], USA [[Central United States|Central]] and [[Southern United States|Southern]], USA [[Midwestern United States|Midwest]], and USA [[Western United States|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.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Langlois |first=Ed |date=27 December 2012 |title=West Coast Jesuits forming new province - gradually |url=https://catholicsentinel.org/MobileContent/News/Local/Article/West-Coast-Jesuits-forming-new-province-gradually/2/35/20136 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191113043515/https://catholicsentinel.org/MobileContent/News/Local/Article/West-Coast-Jesuits-forming-new-province-gradually/2/35/20136 |archive-date=13 November 2019 |access-date=13 November 2019 |website=[[Catholic Sentinel]] }}</ref>

====Ecuador====
The [[Church of la Compañía de Jesús, Quito|Church of the Society of Jesus]] ({{langx|es|La Iglesia de la Compañía de Jesús|links=no}}), known colloquially as {{lang|es|la Compañía}}, is a Jesuit church in [[Quito|Quito, Ecuador]]. It is among the best-known churches in Quito because of its large central [[nave]], which is profusely decorated with [[gold leaf]], [[Gilding|gilded]] plaster and wood carvings. Inspired by two [[Rome|Roman]] Jesuit churches – the [[Church of the Gesu|Chiesa del Gesù]] (1580) and the [[Sant'Ignazio|Chiesa di Sant'Ignazio di Loyola]] (1650) – {{lang|es|la Compañía}} 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 {{lang|es|la Compañía}} incorporated elements of four architectural styles. [[Baroque]] is the most prominent. [[Mudéjar]] ([[Moorish architecture|Moorish]]) influence is seen in the geometrical figures on the pillars. [[Churrigueresque]] characterizes much of the ornate decoration, especially in the interior walls. The [[Neoclassical style]] adorns the Chapel of Saint Mariana de Jesús, which was a winery in its early years.

====Mexico====
[[File:Misión de Nuestra Señora de Loreto. Siglo XVIII.jpg|thumb|The Misión de Nuestra Señora de Loreto Conchó in the 18th century, the first permanent Jesuit mission in Baja California, established by [[Juan María de Salvatierra]] in 1697]]
[[File:Francisco Xavier Clavijero.jpg|thumb|Mexican-born Jesuit [[Francisco Javier Clavijero|Francisco Clavijero]] (1731–1787) wrote an important history of Mexico.]]
The Jesuits in [[New Spain]] 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 {{lang|es|colegios}} ("colleges"), including [[San Pedro y San Pablo College (Museum of Light)|Colegio de San Pedro y San Pablo]], [[San Ildefonso College|Colegio de San Ildefonso]], and the [[Museo Nacional del Virreinato|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 {{lang|es|colegios}} 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 [[Juan de Palafox y Mendoza|Don Juan de Palafox]] of [[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Puebla de los Ángeles|Puebla]] 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.{{sfn|Brading|1991|p=242}}

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.{{sfn|Brading|1991|p=242}} The immense Jesuit hacienda of Santa Lucía produced [[pulque]], the alcoholic drink made from fermented [[agave]] sap 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 enslaved people of African descent.{{sfn|Konrad|1980}}

The Jesuits operated their properties as an integrated unit with the larger Jesuit order; thus revenues from haciendas funded their {{lang|es|colegios}}. Jesuits did significantly expand missions to the Indigenous in the northern frontier area and a number were martyred, but the crown supported those missions.{{sfn|Brading|1991|p=242}} [[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 [[Dominican Order|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.{{sfn|Brading|1991|p=242}} They argued that they were exempt, due to special pontifical privileges.{{sfn|Cline|1997|p=250}} Bishop 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 [[Roman Catholic Diocese of Osma-Soria|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 [[Spanish missions in Baja California|missions in Baja California]] were taken over by other orders.{{sfn|Van Handel|1991}} Exiled Mexican-born Jesuit [[Francisco Javier Clavijero]] wrote an important history of Mexico while in Italy, a basis for [[Criollo people|creole]] patriotism. [[Andrés Cavo]] also wrote an important text on Mexican history that [[Carlos María de Bustamante]] published in the early 19th century.<ref>Carlos María de Bustamante, ''Los tres siglos de México durante el gobierno español, hasta la entrada del ejército trigarante. Obra escrita en Roma por el P. Andrés Cavo, de la Compañía de Jesús; publicada con notas y suplemento''. 4 vols. Mexico 1836–38.</ref> An earlier Jesuit who wrote about the history of Mexico was Diego Luis de Motezuma (1619–99), a descendant of the [[Aztecs|Aztec]] monarchs of [[Tenochtitlan]]. Motezuma's {{lang|es|Corona mexicana, o Historia de los nueve Motezumas}} was completed in 1696. He "aimed to show that Mexican emperors were a legitimate dynasty in the 17th-century in the European sense".{{sfn|Warren| 1973|p=84}}<ref>Diego Luis de Motezuma, ''Corona mexicana, o historia de los Motezumas, por el Padre Diego Luis de Motezuma de la Compañía de Jesús''. Madrid 1914.</ref>

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".{{sfn|Mecham|1966|pp=358–359}}

<gallery>
File:AltarDomChaptlTep.JPG|The main altar of the Jesuit colegio in Tepozotlan, now the [[Museo Nacional del Virreinato]]
</gallery>

====Northern Spanish America====
{{More citations needed section|date=August 2020}}
[[File:Acosta2.jpg|thumb|upright|Acosta's {{lang|es|Historia natural y moral de las Indias}} (1590) text on the Americas]]

In 1571, the Jesuits arrived in the [[Viceroyalty of Peru]]. It was a key area of the [[Spanish Empire]], with a large indigenous populations and huge deposits of silver at [[Potosí]]. A major figure in the first wave of Jesuits was [[José de Acosta]] (1540–1600), whose 1590 book {{lang|es|Historia natural y moral de las Indias}} 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 [[New Spain]] (Mexico).{{sfn|Brading|1991|p=185}}

The Viceroy of Peru [[Francisco de Toledo|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.{{sfn|Brading|1991|p=185}}

[[File:StPeterClaver.jpg|thumb|[[Peter Claver]] ministering to African slaves at [[Cartagena de Indias|Cartagena]]]]
To minister to newly arrived African slaves, [[Alonso de Sandoval]] (1576–1651) worked at the port of [[Cartagena de Indias]]. Sandoval wrote about this ministry in {{lang|es|De instauranda Aethiopum salute}} (1627),{{sfn|Sandoval|2008}} describing how he and his assistant [[Peter Claver]], 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.{{sfn|Brading|1991|pp=167–169}}

[[Rafael Ferrer (Jesuit)|Rafael Ferrer]] was the first Jesuit of [[Quito]] to explore and found missions in the upper [[Amazon River|Amazon]] regions of [[South America]] from 1602 to 1610, which belonged to the [[Audiencia Real|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 in the Sucumbios region, in what is today Ecuador and Peru. Between 1604 and 1605, he set up missions among the Cofane natives. In 1610, he was martyred by an apostate native.

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]] was a part of this expedition. In February 1639, the expedition disembarked from the Napo river. In December 1639, they arrived in what is today [[Pará]], Brazil, on the banks of the Amazon river. In 1641, Acuña published in Madrid a memoir of his expedition to the Amazon river entitled {{lang|es|Nuevo Descubrimiento del gran rio de las Amazonas}}, 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]] in territories on the banks of the [[Marañón River]], around the [[Pongo de Manseriche]] region, close to the Spanish settlement of [[Borja, Peru|Borja]]. Between 1637 and 1652 there were 14 missions established along the [[Marañón River]] and its southern tributaries, the [[Huallaga River|Huallaga]] and the [[Ucayali River|Ucayali]] rivers. Jesuit de la Cueva and Raimundo de Santacruz opened up two new routes of communication with Quito, through the [[Pastaza River|Pastaza]] and [[Napo River|Napo]] rivers.

[[File:The Marañon or Amazon River with the Mission of the Society of Jesus WDL1137.png|thumb|upright=1.05|[[Samuel Fritz]]'s 1707 map showing the Amazon and the [[Orinoco]]]]

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. Beginning in 1705, these missions were continually attacked by the Brazilian [[Bandeirantes]]. 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 173 Jesuit missions, encompassing 150,000 inhabitants. Because of the constant epidemics of smallpox and measles and warfare with other tribes and the [[Bandeirantes]], the 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.<ref name="Cambridge University Press">{{cite book |last1=Taylor |first1=Anne Christine |title=The Cambridge History of the Native Peoples of the Americas |chapter=The Western Margins of Amazonia from the Early Sixteenth to the Early Nineteenth Century |date=1999 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |location=Cambridge |isbn=978-0521630757 |pages=225–226 |doi=10.1017/CHOL9780521630764.005 |chapter-url=https://doi.org/10.1017/CHOL9780521630764.005 }}</ref>

In exchange, the Indigenous had to submit to Jesuit discipline and adopt, at least superficially, a lifestyle foreign to their experience. The population of the missions was 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.<ref name="Cambridge University Press"/> At the time when the Jesuits were expelled from Spanish America in 1767, the Jesuits registered 36 missions run by 25 Jesuits in the Audiencia of Quito – 6 in the Napo and Aguarico Missions and 19 in the Pastaza and Iquitos Missions, with a population at 20,000 inhabitants.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Cipolletti |first1=Maria Susana |last2=Magnin |first2=Juan |title='Nostalgia del monte'. Indigenas del Oriente peruano segun un manuscripto del jesuita Juan Magnin (Borja 1743) |journal=Anthropos |date=2008 |volume=103 |issue=2 |pages=509 |doi=10.5771/0257-9774-2008-2-507 |jstor=40467427 |issn=0257-9774 |doi-access=free }}</ref>

====Paraguay====
{{main|Jesuit missions among the Guaraní}}
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 [[reductions]] in the 1580s.<ref name="Hebblethwaite 2010 103">{{cite book |last=Hebblethwaite |first=Margaret |title=Paraguay |date=2010 |publisher=Bradt Travel Guides |page=103 }}</ref> The first Jesuits arrived in Asunción in 1588 and founded their first mission (or reduction) of [[San Ignacio, Paraguay|San Ignacio Guazú]] 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.<ref name="Hebblethwaite 2010 103"/><ref name="Sarreal">{{cite book |last1=Sarreal |first1=Julia J.S. |title=The Guarani and their Missions |date=2014 |publisher=Stanford University Press |location=Stanford |isbn=9780804791229 |pages=6–7, 20–28 }}</ref>
[[File:Jesuit ruins at trinidad.jpg|thumb|upright=1.05|Ruins of [[La Santisima Trinidad de Parana]] mission in Paraguay, founded by Jesuits in 1706]]

In addition to recurrent epidemics, the Guaraní were threatened by the slave-raiding [[Bandeirantes]] 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 {{cvt|500|km|mile}} 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.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Ganson |first1=Barbara |title=The Guarani Under Spanish Rule in the Rio de la Plata |date=2003 |publisher=Stanford University Press |location=Stanford |isbn=0804736022 |pages=44–53 }}</ref>

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."{{Sfn|Sarreal|2014|pages=6–7}} "By means of religion," wrote the 18th century philosopher [[Jean le Rond d'Alembert|Jean 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".<ref>{{cite book |last1=Durant |first1=Will |last2=Durant |first2=Ariel |title=The Age of Reason Begins |series=The Story of Civilization |pages=[https://archive.org/details/ageofreasonbegin07dura_0/page/250 250] |publisher=Simon & Schuster |year=1961 |isbn=978-0671013202 |url=https://archive.org/details/ageofreasonbegin07dura_0 |url-access=registration |quote=Paraguay founded solely on their powers. |access-date=22 April 2006}} the preceding paragraph is based on pp. 249–250</ref>

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"{{sfn|Sarreal|2014|pages=6–7}} The Jesuits are portrayed as "exploiters" who "sought to create a kingdom independent of the Spanish and Portuguese Crowns."<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Wilde |first1=Guillermo |title=Imagining Guarinis and Jesuits |journal=ReVista |date=2015 |volume=XIV |issue=3 |pages=4–5 |url=https://revista.drclas.harvard.edu/emagining-guaranis-and-jesuits/ |access-date=24 March 2022}} {{dead link|date=March 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>

The [[Revolt of the Comuneros (Paraguay)|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]].<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Saeger |first1=James Schofield |title=Origins of the Rebellion of Paraguay |journal=The Hispanic American Historical Review |date=1972 |volume=52 |issue=2 |pages=227–229 |doi=10.1215/00182168-52.2.215 |url=http://www.jstor.com/stable/2512428 |access-date=30 March 2022 |doi-access=free }}</ref> 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.{{sfn|Ganson|2003|pages=107–111}} In 1767, [[Charles III of Spain]] (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.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Guedea |first1=Virginia |title=The Oxford History of Mexico |date=2000 |publisher=Oxford University Press |location=Oxford |page=278 |isbn=9780199731985}} Edited by Michael Meyer and William Beezley.</ref> In total, 78 Jesuits departed from the missions leaving behind 89,000 Guaraní in 30 missions.{{sfn|Sarreal|2014|page=115}}

====Philippines====
The Jesuits were among the original five Catholic religious orders, alongside the [[Augustinians]], [[Franciscans]], [[Dominican Order|Dominicans]] and [[Augustinian Recollects]], who evangelized the Philippines in support of Spanish colonization.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Ooi |first1=Keat Gin |title=Southeast Asia: A Historical Encyclopedia, from Angkor Wat to East Timor |date=2004 |publisher=ABC-CLIO |isbn=978-1-57607-770-2 |page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=QKgraWbb7yoC&pg=PA524 524] |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QKgraWbb7yoC&pg=PA524 |access-date=23 April 2022 |language=en }}</ref> The Jesuits worked particularly hard in converting the [[Muslims]] of [[Mindanao]] and [[Luzon]] from [[Islam]] to Christianity, in which case, they were successful among the cities of [[Zamboanga City|Zamboanga]] and [[Manila]].<ref>{{Cite journal |url=https://brill.com/view/journals/jjs/9/2/article-p207_207.xml |title=Missionaries and Commanders: The Jesuits in Mindanao, 1718–68 |first=Eberhard |last=Crailsheim |date=18 January 2022 |journal=Journal of Jesuit Studies |volume=9 |issue=2 |pages=207–228 |via=brill.com |doi=10.1163/22141332-09020003 |hdl=10261/273146 |hdl-access=free |access-date=5 January 2024 |archive-date=5 January 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240105044713/https://brill.com/view/journals/jjs/9/2/article-p207_207.xml |url-status=live }}</ref> [[Zamboanga City|Zamboanga]] in particular was run like the Jesuit reductions in Paraguay and housed a large population of Peruvian and Latin American immigrants whereas [[Manila]] eventually became the capital of the Spanish colony.<ref>Image–Object–Performance: Mediality and Communication in Cultural Contact Zones of Colonial Latin America and the Philippines, ed. Astrid Windus and Eberhard Crailsheim (Munster: Waxmann Verlag, 2013)</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Moro Pirates' attacks worsen, 1634 |url=http://www.zamboanga.com/html/history_1634_moro_attacks.htm |access-date=15 April 2024 |website=www.zamboanga.com |archive-date=8 May 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210508103044/https://www.zamboanga.com/html/history_1634_moro_attacks.htm |url-status=live }}</ref> [[File:Brief 'Dominus ac Redemptor'.jpg|thumb|150px|The papal brief, [[Dominus ac Redemptor]], of [[Pope Clement XIV]] suppressing Jesuits and closing the [[Universidad de San Ignacio]] at Manila.]] In addition to missionary work, the Jesuits compiled artifacts and chronicled the precolonial history and culture of the Philippines. Jesuit chronicler [[Pedro Chirino]] chronicled the history of the [[Kedatuan of Madja-as]] in [[Panay]] and its war against Rajah Makatunao of [[Sarawak]] as well as the histories of other [[History of the Philippines (900–1565)|Visayan kingdoms]].<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://kahimyang.info/kauswagan/articles/1619/today-in-philippine-history-september-16-1635-father-pedro-chirino-died-in-manila |title=Today in Philippine history: 16 September 1635, Father Pedro Chirino died in Manila |access-date=30 August 2017 |website=The Kahimyang Project |archive-date=31 August 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170831043158/http://kahimyang.info/kauswagan/articles/1619/today-in-philippine-history-september-16-1635-father-pedro-chirino-died-in-manila |url-status=live }}</ref> Meanwhile, another Jesuit, [[Francisco Combés]], chronicled the history of the Venice of the Visayas, the [[Kedatuan of Dapitan]], its temporary conquest by the [[Sultanate of Ternate]], its re-establishment in Mindanao and its alliance against the Sultanates of Ternate and Lanao as vassals under Christian Spain.

The Jesuits also established the first missions in [[Hinduism|Hindu]]-dominated [[Butuan (historical polity)|Butuan]], to convert it to Christianity.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Mission |first=Jesuit Bukidnon |title=Jesuit Bukidnon Mission |url=https://jesuitbukidnonmission.org/jesuit-mission-trails |access-date=5 October 2023 |website=Jesuit Bukidnon Mission |language=en-PH |archive-date=21 February 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240221024434/https://jesuitbukidnonmission.org/jesuit-mission-trails |url-status=live }}</ref> The Jesuits also founded many towns, farms, haciendas, educational institutes, libraries, and an [[Manila Observatory|observatory]] in the Philippines.<ref>2007 Institutional Brochure, Ateneo de Manila University. Published by the Office of International Programs, Ateneo de Manila University.</ref> The Jesuits were instrumental in the sciences of medicine, botany, zoology, astronomy and seismology. They trained the Philippines' second saint, [[Pedro Calungsod]], who was martyred in [[Guam]] alongside the Jesuit priest [[Diego Luis de San Vitores]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://pedrocalungsod.org/index.php/life/76 |title=A Catechetical Primer on the Life, Martyrdom and Glorification of Blessed Pedro Calungsod – Part 1 |author=Carlomagno Bacaltos |access-date=31 October 2014 |archive-date=21 October 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141021011528/http://pedrocalungsod.org/index.php/life/76 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

The eventual temporary suppression of the Jesuits due their role in anti-colonial and anti-slavery revolts among the Paraguay reductions,<ref name="Sarreal" /> alongside cooperation with the [[Augustinian Recollects|Recollects]], allowed their vacated parishes to be put under control by the local nationalistic diocesan clergy; the martyrdom of three of them, the diocesan priests known as [[Gomburza]],<ref>{{cite web |last1=Escalante |first1=Rene |author1-link=Rene R. Escalante PHD |title=Watch: Gomburza an NHCP Documentary |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iUlf9KtbqC8&feature=youtu.be |website=youtube.com |publisher=[[National Historical Commission of the Philippines]] |language=en |format=video |date=12 May 2020 |access-date=5 January 2024 |archive-date=27 February 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240227102344/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iUlf9KtbqC8&feature=youtu.be |url-status=live }}</ref> inspired [[José Rizal]] (also Jesuit-educated upon the restoration of the order), who became the Philippines' national hero. He successfully started the [[Philippine Revolution]] against Spain.

The Jesuits largely discredited the [[Freemasonry|Freemasons]], who claimed responsibility for the [[American Revolution|American]] and [[French Revolution of 1848|French Revolutions]], by reverting Jose Rizal from Freemasonry back to Catholicism.<ref>Garcia, Ricardo P. (1964). "''The Great Debate: The Rizal Retraction'' – Preface". R.P. Garcia Publishing Co., Quezon City.</ref> They argued that since the Philippine Revolution was inspired by the allegedly Masonic ideals behind the French and American revolutions, the French and American Freemasons themselves betrayed their own founding ideals when the American Freemasons annexed the Philippines and killed Filipinos in the [[Philippine-American War]] and the French Freemasons assented to the [[Treaty of Paris (1898)]],<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yYfSbFGFWlUC&pg=PA477 |title=The Encyclopedia of the Spanish–American and Philippine–American Wars: A Political, Social, and Military History |author=[[Spencer C. Tucker]] |year=2009 |page=477 |publisher=Abc-Clio |isbn=978-1851099528 }}</ref><ref>Bullock, Steven C. Revolutionary brotherhood: Freemasonry and the transformation of the American social order, 1730–1840 (UNC Press Books, 2011)</ref><ref>{{cite book |title=Histoire des Francs-Maçons en France: De 1815 à nos jours |volume=2 |publisher=Privately published |year=2000 |orig-date=1981 |isbn=2-7089-6839-4 |editor=Daniel Ligou |page=200 }}</ref> this is compounded by the fact that American Freemason lodges dismissed the Philippine Revolutionary Freemason lodges as "irregular" and illegitimate.<ref>[https://www.grandlodge.ph/about] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250224145004/https://grandlodge.ph/about|date=24 February 2025}}"The Filipino Lodges felt that the American Lodges had not acted with true Masonic spirit in not inviting to the Convention Lodges working under the Grand Oriente Español. The reason such an invitation was not extended was because most members of Lodges holding Charters from California agreed that it would be considered irregular by many of the Grand Lodges of the United States, which would neither take the time nor show interest enough to investigate the reasons for such action. They would simply have refused to grant recognition to the new Grand Lodge for allowing irregular Lodges to participate in its deliberations."</ref> For the remainder of this period, Philippine Freemasonry was subservient to the Grand Lodge of California.<ref name="1901-18">{{Cite web |url=http://www.philippinemasonry.org/1901---1918.html |title=History of Masonry in the Philippines. Chronology, 1901-1918 - Philippine Center for Masonic Studies |access-date=28 September 2016 }}</ref>

In 1953, after being expelled from [[China]] by the [[Chinese Communist Party|Communists]], the Jesuits relocated their organization's nexus in Asia from China to the Philippines and brought along a sizeable [[Chinese Filipino|Chinese diaspora]].<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.adi.edu.ph/index.php/about/history |title=Ateneo de Iloilo Website |website=www.adi.edu.ph |access-date=8 August 2017 |archive-date=5 January 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240105044703/https://www.adi.edu.ph/index.php/about/history |url-status=live }}</ref> The Jesuits play a pivotal role in the nation-building of [[the Philippines]] with its various [[List of Jesuit educational institutions in the Philippines|Ateneos]] and educational institutes training the country's intellectual elites.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.philstar.com/headlines/2022/10/12/2216141/ateneo-overtakes-top-philippine-university-global-ranking |title=Ateneo overtakes UP as top Philippine university in global ranking |date=12 October 2022 |website=The Philippine Star |access-date=12 October 2022 |archive-date=30 October 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231030120739/https://www.philstar.com/headlines/2022/10/12/2216141/ateneo-overtakes-top-philippine-university-global-ranking |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.manilatimes.net/2022/10/13/news/ateneo-overtakes-up-in-world-university-rankings/1861981 |title=Ateneo overtakes UP in World University Rankings |date=12 October 2022 |website=The Manila Times |access-date=12 October 2022 |archive-date=27 January 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240127202453/https://www.manilatimes.net/2022/10/13/news/ateneo-overtakes-up-in-world-university-rankings/1861981 |url-status=live }}</ref>

====Colonial Brazil====
[[File:Nobrega2.jpg|thumb|left|[[Manuel da Nóbrega]] on a commemorative Portuguese stamp of the 400th anniversary of the foundation of [[São Paulo]], Brazil]]
[[File:Brazil 18thc JesuitFather.jpg|thumb|upright=0.8|A Jesuit in 18th century, Brazil]]

[[Tomé de Sousa]], first [[Governorate General of Brazil|Governor General of Brazil]], brought the first group of Jesuits to the colony. The Jesuits were officially supported by the [[List of Portuguese monarchs|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 [[Joseph of Anchieta|José de Anchieta]], established the first Jesuit missions in [[Salvador, Bahia|Salvador]] and in [[São Paulo dos Campos de Piratininga]], 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 [[Tupi people|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 [[Tupian languages|Tupi]] language was compiled by José de Anchieta and printed in [[Coimbra]] in 1595. The Jesuits often gathered the natives in communities (the [[Reductions|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 natives had no natural defenses. Slave labor and trade were essential for the economy of Brazil and other American colonies, and the Jesuits usually did object to the enslavement of African peoples, criticized the conditions of slavery.{{sfn|Campbell|1921|pp=87ff}} In cases where individual Jesuit priests criticized the institution of African slavery, they were censored and sent back to Europe.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Chamberlin |first1=William |date=4 June 2018 |title=Silencing Genocide: The Jesuit Ministry in Colonial Cartagena de Indias and its Legacy |url=https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/0021934718778718 |journal=Journal of Black Studies |volume=49 |issue=7 |pages=672–693 |doi=10.1177/0021934718778718 |s2cid=149464521 |access-date=23 April 2022 |archive-date=23 April 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220423190057/https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/0021934718778718 |url-status=live |url-access=subscription }}</ref>

===Suppression and restoration===
{{Main|Suppression of the Society of Jesus}}
The suppression of the Jesuits alienated the colonial empires from the natives they governed in the Americas and Asia, as the Jesuits were active protectors of native rights against the colonial empires. With the suppression of the Order, the profitable Jesuit reductions which gave wealth and protection to natives were sequestered by royal authorities and the natives enslaved. Faced with this suppression; the natives, mestizos, and creoles were galvanized into starting the [[Latin American Wars of Independence]].<ref>[[David Brading|D.A. Brading]], ''The First America: The Spanish Monarchy, Creole Patriots, and the Liberal State, 1492–1867''. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press 1991, pp. 453–458.</ref> The suppression of the Jesuits in Portugal, France, the [[Two Sicilies]], [[Duchy of Parma|Parma]], and the [[Spanish Empire]] by 1767 was deeply troubling to [[Pope Clement XIII]], the society's defender.<ref>{{Cite book |title=Jesuit Survival and Restoration, A Global History (1773–1900) |editor1=Maryks, Robert |editor2=Wright, Jonathan |publisher=Brill |date=2015 |isbn=9789004283879 }}</ref> On 21 July 1773 his successor, Pope [[Clement XIV]], issued the [[papal brief]] {{lang|la|[[Dominus ac Redemptor]]}}, decreeing:

{{blockquote|Having further considered that the said Company of Jesus can no longer produce those abundant fruits, ... in the present case, we are determining upon the fate of a society classed among the mendicant orders, both by its institute and by its privileges; after a mature deliberation, we do, out of our certain knowledge, and the fulness of our apostolical power, suppress and abolish the said company: we deprive it of all activity whatever. ...And to this end a member of the regular clergy, recommendable for his prudence and sound morals, shall be chosen to preside over and govern the said houses; so that the name of the Company shall be, and is, for ever extinguished and suppressed.|source={{lang|la|Dominus ac Redemptor}}<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.reformation.org/jesuit-suppression-bull.html |title=Dominus ac Redemptor Noster |website=www.reformation.org |access-date=31 May 2017 |archive-date=3 March 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303181607/http://www.reformation.org/jesuit-suppression-bull.html }}</ref>}}

The suppression was carried out on political grounds in all countries except [[Prussia]] for a time, and [[Russia]], where [[Catherine the Great]] had forbidden its promulgation. Because millions of Catholics (including many Jesuits) lived in [[First Partition of Poland|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]] granted formal permission for the continuation of the society in Russia and Poland, with [[Stanislaus Czerniewicz|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]] 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 {{lang|la|[[Sollicitudo omnium ecclesiarum]]}}, he reversed the suppression of the society, and therewith another Polish Jesuit, [[Tadeusz Brzozowski]], 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 of Russia|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]] 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.<ref>Hasler, A.B., (1981) ''How the Pope Became Infallible: Pius IX and the Politics of Persuasion'' (Doubleday; Garden City, NY), p. 58</ref>

In [[Switzerland]], the [[Swiss Federal Constitution|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.<ref>{{cite web |website=Chancellerie fédérale ChF |title=Votation No 236 Tableau récapitulatif: Arrêté fédéral abrogeant les articles de la constitution fédérale sur les jésuites et les couvents (art. 51 et 52) |date=20 May 1973 |url=http://www.admin.ch/ch/f/pore/va/19730520/det236.html |language=fr |access-date=23 October 2007 |archive-date=17 November 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151117105738/http://www.admin.ch/ch/f/pore/va/19730520/det236.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

=== Early 20th century ===
In the [[Constitution of Norway]] from 1814, a relic from the earlier anti-Catholic laws of [[Denmark–Norway]], 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 this permission. Monastic orders were permitted in 1897, but the ban on Jesuits was only lifted in 1956.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://jesuits.eu/custom/who_we_are/the_jesuits/chronology.pdf |title=Chronology of Jesuit History |website=Jesuits in Europe |access-date=8 February 2019 |archive-date=9 February 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190209123738/https://jesuits.eu/custom/who_we_are/the_jesuits/chronology.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref>

[[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]]'' – 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."<ref>Pius XI, dilectissima Nobis, 1933</ref>

===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 of Ignatius of Loyola|''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, {{lang|la|[[Dignitatis humanae]]}}.

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.<ref>{{cite news |last=Novak |first=Michael |author-link=Michael Novak |date=21 October 1984 |title=The Case Against Liberation Theology |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1984/10/21/magazine/the-case-against-liberation-theology.html |work=The New York Times Magazine |access-date=31 May 2017 |language=en-US |archive-date=20 June 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170620230247/http://www.nytimes.com/1984/10/21/magazine/the-case-against-liberation-theology.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

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",<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.vatican.va/content/john-paul-ii/en/homilies/1999/documents/hf_jp-ii_hom_20121999_card-dezza.html |date=20 December 1999 |title=Eulogy for His Eminence Cardinal Paolo Dezza |author=John Paul II |website=The Holy See |access-date=31 May 2017 |archive-date=1 February 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200201113639/http://www.vatican.va/content/john-paul-ii/en/homilies/1999/documents/hf_jp-ii_hom_20121999_card-dezza.html |url-status=live }}</ref> instead of the progressive American priest [[Vincent O'Keefe]] whom Arrupe had preferred.<ref>{{Cite magazine |url=https://content.time.com/time/subscriber/article/0,33009,922654,00.html |title=Religion: John Paul Takes On the Jesuits |date=9 November 1981 |magazine=Time |access-date=31 May 2017 |language=en-US |issn=0040-781X |archive-date=20 July 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170720193630/http://content.time.com/time/subscriber/article/0,33009,922654,00.html |url-status=live }}</ref> In 1983, John Paul gave leave for the Jesuits to appoint [[Peter Hans Kolvenbach]] as 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 [[El Salvador|Salvadoran]] military on the campus of the [[Central American University (San Salvador)|University of Central America]] in [[San Salvador]], El Salvador, because they had been labeled as subversives by the government.{{sfn|Müller|Tausch|Zulehner| Wickens|2000}} The assassinations galvanized the society's peace and justice movements, including annual protests at the [[Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation]] at [[Fort Moore|Fort Benning]], Georgia, United States, where several of the assassins had been trained under US government sponsorship.<ref>{{Cite news |first=Tony |last=Krickl |date=3 February 2007 |title=CGU Student Josh Harris to Spend Two Months in Federal Prison for Protesting |journal=Claremont Courier |url=http://www.claremont-courier.com/pages/Topstory020307.1.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070205085909/http://www.claremont-courier.com/pages/Topstory020307.1.html |archive-date=5 February 2007 |access-date=19 September 2015 }}</ref>

In February 2001, the Jesuit priest [[Avery Dulles]], 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 in December 2008 at [[Fordham University]], 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, [[Boston College]] president and Jesuit priest [[William P. Leahy]] 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, [[Human sexuality|sexuality]], women's roles, and the role of the [[laity]].<ref>{{cite news |first=Scot |last=Lehigh |title=BC is leading the way on church reform |work=The Boston Globe |date=19 June 2002 |url=http://www.boston.com/globe/spotlight/abuse/stories2/061902_lehigh.htm |access-date=16 June 2017 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180926015446/http://archive.boston.com/globe/spotlight/abuse/stories2/061902_lehigh.htm |archive-date=26 September 2018 }}</ref>

[[File:Visita do Papa PUG 2.jpg|thumb|upright=1.15|The visit of [[Pope Benedict XVI]] to the Jesuit-run [[Pontifical Gregorian University]]]]
In April 2005, [[Thomas J. Reese]], editor of the American Jesuit weekly magazine ''[[America (Jesuit magazine)|America]]'', 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 [[AIDS|HIV/AIDS]], [[religious pluralism]], [[Catholic Church and homosexuality|homosexuality]], and the right of life for the unborn. Following his resignation, Reese spent a year-long [[sabbatical]] at [[Santa Clara University]] before being named a [[fellow]] at the [[Woodstock Theological 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.<ref>{{Cite news |url=http://www.uscirf.gov/about-uscirf/rev-thomas-j-reese-sj-chair |title=Rev. Thomas J. Reese, S.J., Chair |work=United States Commission on International Religious Freedom |access-date=1 June 2017 |language=en |archive-date=2 June 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170602134818/http://www.uscirf.gov/about-uscirf/rev-thomas-j-reese-sj-chair }}</ref>

In 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, during the Feast of Our Lady, Mother of the Society of Jesus, [[Pope Benedict XVI]] greeted thousands of Jesuits on [[Christian pilgrimage|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 Blessed [[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."<ref>{{cite web |author=Benedict XVI |author-link=Benedict XVI |title=Address of his Holiness Benedict XVI to the Fathers and Brothers of the Society of Jesus |date=22 April 2006 |url=https://www.vatican.va/holy_father/benedict_xvi/speeches/2006/april/documents/hf_ben-xvi_spe_20060422_gesuiti_en.html |website=The Holy See |access-date=23 October 2007 |archive-date=30 September 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070930125248/http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/benedict_xvi/speeches/2006/april/documents/hf_ben-xvi_spe_20060422_gesuiti_en.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

In May 2006, Benedict XVI wrote a letter to Kolvenbach on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of Pope Pius XII's encyclical {{lang|la|[[Haurietis aquas]]}}, on devotion to the [[Sacred Heart]], because the Jesuits have always been "extremely active in the promotion of this essential devotion".<ref>{{cite web |author=Benedict XVI |author-link=Benedict XVI |title=Letter to the Superior General of the Society of Jesus on the 50th anniversary of the Encyclical Haurietis Aquas |date=15 May 2006 |url=https://www.vatican.va/holy_father/benedict_xvi/letters/2006/documents/hf_ben-xvi_let_20060515_50-haurietis-aquas_en.html |website=The Holy See |access-date=23 October 2007 |archive-date=30 September 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070930124809/http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/benedict_xvi/letters/2006/documents/hf_ben-xvi_let_20060515_50-haurietis-aquas_en.html |url-status=live }}</ref> 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".<ref>{{cite web |author=Benedict XVI |author-link=Benedict XVI |title=Visit of the Holy Father to the Pontifical Gregorian University |website=The Holy See |date=3 November 2006 |url=https://www.vatican.va/holy_father/benedict_xvi/speeches/2006/november/documents/hf_ben-xvi_spe_20061103_gregoriana_en.html |access-date=23 October 2007 |archive-date=30 September 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070930123629/http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/benedict_xvi/speeches/2006/november/documents/hf_ben-xvi_spe_20061103_gregoriana_en.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

In January 2008, the 35th [[General Congregation]] of the Society of Jesus convened and elected [[Adolfo Nicolás]] as the new superior general on 19 January 2008. In a letter to the order, Benedict XVI wrote:<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://w2.vatican.va/content/benedict-xvi/en/speeches/2008/february/documents/hf_ben-xvi_spe_20080221_gesuiti.html |title=To the Fathers of the General Congregation of the Society of Jesus |date=21 February 2008 |author=Benedict XVI |website=The Holy See |access-date=31 May 2017 |archive-date=14 May 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160514113447/https://w2.vatican.va/content/benedict-xvi/en/speeches/2008/february/documents/hf_ben-xvi_spe_20080221_gesuiti.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

{{blockquote|As my Predecessors have said to you on various occasions, the Church needs you, relies on you and continues to turn to you with trust, particularly to reach those physical and spiritual places which others do not reach or have difficulty in reaching. Paul VI's words remain engraved on your hearts: "Wherever in the Church, even in the most difficult and extreme fields, at the crossroads of ideologies, in the social trenches, there has been and there is confrontation between the burning exigencies of man and the perennial message of the Gospel, here also there have been, and there are, Jesuits".|source=''Address to the 32nd General Congregation of the Jesuits'', 3 December 1974; ORE, 12 December, n. 2, p. 4.}}

[[File:Pope Francis at Vargihna.jpg|thumb|Pope Francis, the first Jesuit pope]]

In 2013, the Jesuit cardinal Jorge Bergoglio became [[Pope Francis]]. Before he became pope, he had been appointed a 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 [[National Reorganization Process|Argentine junta]], while biographers characterised him as working to save the lives of other Jesuits.<ref name="ncronline.org">{{Cite news |url=https://www.ncronline.org/news/vatican/understand-pope-francis-look-jesuits |first1=David |last1=Gibson |title=To understand Pope Francis, look to the Jesuits |date=12 March 2014 |work=National Catholic Reporter |access-date=30 May 2017 |language=en |archive-date=28 August 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160828172510/https://www.ncronline.org/news/vatican/understand-pope-francis-look-jesuits |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite magazine |url=http://www.newyorker.com/news/daily-comment/pope-francis-and-the-dirty-war |first1=Jon Lee |last1=Anderson |title=Pope Francis and the Dirty War |date=14 March 2013 |magazine=The New Yorker |access-date=1 June 2017 |archive-date=19 December 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181219055314/https://www.newyorker.com/news/daily-comment/pope-francis-and-the-dirty-war |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |url=https://cruxnow.com/global-church/2016/10/25/vatican-argentine-church-open-dirty-war-archives-2/ |title=Vatican, Argentine church to open 'dirty war' archives |date=25 October 2016 |work=Crux |access-date=1 June 2017 |language=en-US |agency=Associated Press |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170630211729/https://cruxnow.com/global-church/2016/10/25/vatican-argentine-church-open-dirty-war-archives-2/ |archive-date=30 June 2017 }}</ref> As a Jesuit pope, he has stressed 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.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.jesuits.org/stories/five-years-later-changes-under-pope-francis-are-revealing-his-jesuit-dna/ |title=Five Years Later Changes under Pope Francis are Revealing his Jesuit DNA |first=William |last=Bole |date=5 March 2018 |website=jesuits.org |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230811001454/https://www.jesuits.org/stories/five-years-later-changes-under-pope-francis-are-revealing-his-jesuit-dna/ |archive-date=11 August 2023 }}</ref> After his papal election, Superior General [[Adolfo Nicolás]] praised Pope Francis as a "brother among brothers".<ref name="ncronline.org" />

In October 2016, the 36th General Congregation convened in Rome, convoked by Nicolás, who had announced his intention to resign at age 80.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://jesuits.org/gc?dtn=dtn-20160711030307 |title=General Congregation 36 |website=jesuits.org |access-date=30 May 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171031030221/http://jesuits.org/gc?dtn=dtn-20160711030307 |archive-date=31 October 2017 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.thetablet.co.uk/news/6206/0/dominican-master-urges-jesuits-to-adopt-audacity-and-humility-in-electing-superior-general |title=Dominican Master urges Jesuits to adopt 'audacity and humility' in electing Superior General |last=Curti |first=Elena |website=www.thetablet.co.uk |access-date=30 May 2017 |archive-date=23 August 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170823045241/http://www.thetablet.co.uk/news/6206/0/dominican-master-urges-jesuits-to-adopt-audacity-and-humility-in-electing-superior-general |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |url=http://gc36.org/first-session-aula-father-nicolas-resignation/ |title=The first session in the aula and Father Nicolás' resignation – General Congregation 36 |date=3 October 2016 |work=General Congregation 36 |access-date=30 May 2017 |language=en-US |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170710025607/http://gc36.org/first-session-aula-father-nicolas-resignation/ |archive-date=10 July 2017 }}</ref> On 14 October, the 36th General Congregation of the Society of Jesus elected [[Arturo Sosa]], a [[Venezuelans|Venezuelan]], as its thirty-first superior general.<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://cruxnow.com/vatican/2016/10/14/jesuits-elect-first-latin-american-general/ |title=Jesuits elect first Latin-American general |date=14 October 2016 |work=Crux |access-date=30 May 2017 |language=en-US |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170630200030/https://cruxnow.com/vatican/2016/10/14/jesuits-elect-first-latin-american-general/ |archive-date=30 June 2017 }}</ref>

In 2016, the General Congregation that elected Arturo Sosa, asked him to complete 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. In February 2019, he presented the results of the discernment, a list of four priorities for Jesuit ministries for the next ten years.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.americamagazine.org/faith/2019/03/28/how-jesuits-four-new-universal-apostolic-priorities-support-social-enterprise |title=How the Jesuits' four new universal apostolic priorities support social enterprise |date=28 March 2019 |website=America Magazine |language=en |access-date=1 October 2019 |archive-date=2 January 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200102221039/https://www.americamagazine.org/faith/2019/03/28/how-jesuits-four-new-universal-apostolic-priorities-support-social-enterprise |url-status=live }}</ref>

{{blockquote|
# To show the way to God through discernment and the [[Spiritual Exercises of Ignatius of Loyola]];
# To walk with the poor, the outcasts of the world, those whose dignity has been violated, in a mission of reconciliation and justice;
# To accompany young people in the creation of a hope-filled future;
# To collaborate in the care of our Common Home.}}

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, {{lang|la|[[Evangelii gaudium]]}}.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.americamagazine.org/faith/2019/02/19/pope-francis-approves-four-priorities-jesuits-next-decade |title=Pope Francis approves four priorities for the Jesuits' next decade |date=19 February 2019 |website=America Magazine |language=en |access-date=20 February 2019 |archive-date=19 February 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190219161654/https://www.americamagazine.org/faith/2019/02/19/pope-francis-approves-four-priorities-jesuits-next-decade |url-status=live }}</ref>

==Ignatian spirituality==
{{Main|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 of Ignatius of Loyola|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 [[Christian contemplation#Acquired contemplation|contemplation]] whereby one develops a facility to "find God in all things".

==Formation==
{{Main|Jesuit 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. 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 [[Superior General of the Society of Jesus|Superior General]], 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 Superior General of the Jesuits is the Venezuelan [[Arturo Sosa]], who was elected in October 2016.<ref name="Curia">{{Cite web |url=http://www.sjweb.info/curiafrgen/curia_home.cfm |title=Father General's House |website=www.sjweb.info |access-date=30 May 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170519065411/http://www.sjweb.info/curiafrgen/curia_home.cfm |archive-date=19 May 2017 }}</ref>

The Father General is assisted by "assistants". Four are "assistants for provident care" and serve as general advisors and a sort of inner council. Regional assistants head an "assistancy", which is either a geographic area, for instance the North American Assistancy, or an area of ministry, such as higher education. The assistants normally reside with the 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 required to have an [[admonitor]], 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.<ref name="Curia" />

The society is divided into geographic areas called provinces. Each 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.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.sjweb.info/resources/usa.cfm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080516082921/http://sjweb.info/resources/usa.cfm |archive-date=16 May 2008 |title=USA Assistancy |website=SJWeb.info |access-date=30 May 2017 }}</ref> For better cooperation and apostolic efficacy on each continent, the Jesuit provinces are grouped into six [[Jesuit Conference]]s worldwide.

Each Jesuit community within a province is normally headed by a rector. He is assisted by a "minister", from the Latin word for "servant", a priest who helps oversee the community's day-to-day needs.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.scu.edu/jst/about/society-of-jesus/the-jesuit-community-at-jst/ |title=The Jesuit Community at JST – Jesuit School of Theology – Santa Clara University |website=www.scu.edu |access-date=1 October 2019 |archive-date=1 October 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191001172255/https://www.scu.edu/jst/about/society-of-jesus/the-jesuit-community-at-jst/ }}</ref>

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 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.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://jesuits.org/gc |title=General Congregation: purpose, delegates, ... |website=jesuits.org |access-date=1 October 2019 |archive-date=1 October 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191001172300/http://jesuits.org/gc }}</ref>

==Statistics==
{|class="wikitable sortable" style="float:right; margin:10px"
|+Jesuits in the World – January 2022<ref name="stats2">{{cite web |date=23 March 2022 |title=The Society of Jesus in Numbers, 2022 Edition |url=https://www.jesuits.global/2022/03/23/the-society-of-jesus-in-numbers-2022-edition/ |publisher=Jesuits |access-date=4 June 2023 |archive-date=4 June 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230604171507/https://www.jesuits.global/2022/03/23/the-society-of-jesus-in-numbers-2022-edition/ |url-status=live }}</ref>
!|Region!!Jesuits!! Percentage
|-
|Africa||style="text-align: center;" |1,712||style="text-align: center;" |12%
|-
|Latin America<ref>Including Mexico and the Caribbean.</ref>||style="text-align: center;" |1,859||style="text-align: center;" |13%
|-
|South Asia||style="text-align: center;" |3,955||style="text-align: center;" |27%
|-
|Asia-Pacific||style="text-align: center;" |1,481||style="text-align: center;" |10%
|-
|Europe||style="text-align: center;" |3,386||style="text-align: center;" |23%
|-
|North America<ref>Canada and the United States only; not including Mexico and the Caribbean.</ref>||style="text-align: center;" |2,046||style="text-align: center;" |14%
|-
|Total||style="text-align: center;" |14,439
|}

{{As of|2012}}, the Jesuits formed the largest single [[religious order (Catholic)|religious order]] of priests and brothers in the Catholic Church.<ref>{{cite news |last=Lapitan |first=Giselle |date=22 May 2012 |title=The changing face of the Jesuits |publisher=Province Express |url=http://www.express.org.au/article.aspx?aeid=31517 |access-date=27 June 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160328015137/http://www.express.org.au/article.aspx?aeid=31517 |archive-date=28 March 2016 }}</ref> The Jesuits have experienced a decline in numbers in recent decades. In 2022, the society had 14,439 members - 10,432 priests, 837 brothers, 2,587 scholastics, and 583 novices.<ref name="stats2" /> This represents a 59% percent decline since the Second Vatican Council of 1965, when the society had a total membership of 36,038, of which 20,301 were priests.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Becker |first=Joseph M. |at=p. 104, table A-7 |title=The Statistics and a Tentative Analysis |journal=Studies in the Spirituality of Jesuits |date=January–March 1977 |volume=IX |issue=1/2 |url=https://ejournals.bc.edu/index.php/jesuit/article/download/3725/3302#.pdf |access-date=23 November 2020 |archive-date=16 May 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210516181335/https://ejournals.bc.edu/index.php/jesuit/article/download/3725/3302#.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref> This decline is most pronounced in Europe and the Americas, with relatively modest membership gains occurring in Asia and Africa.<ref>{{cite web |last=Gray |first=Mark M. |date=9 January 2015 |title=Nineteen Sixty-four: By the Numbers: Jesuit Demography |url=http://nineteensixty-four.blogspot.com/2015/01/by-numbers-jesuit-demography.html |access-date=14 April 2017 |website=nineteensixty-four.blogspot.com |publisher=[[Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate|CARA]] |archive-date=15 April 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170415201210/http://nineteensixty-four.blogspot.com/2015/01/by-numbers-jesuit-demography.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=Raper |first=Mark |date=23 May 2012 |title=Changing to best serve the universal mission |publisher=Jesuit Asia Pacific Conference |url=http://sjapc.net/content/changing-best-serve-universal-mission |access-date=27 June 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140226155549/http://sjapc.net/content/changing-best-serve-universal-mission |archive-date=26 February 2014 }}</ref>

In 2016, according to Patrick Reilly of the ''[[National Catholic Register]]'', there seems to be no "[[Pope Francis effect]]" in counteracting the fall of vocations among the Jesuits.<ref>{{cite news |last=Reilly |first=Patrick |date=28 July 2016 |title=American Jesuits Are in a Free Fall, and the Crisis is Getting Worse |newspaper=[[National Catholic Register]] |url=http://www.ncregister.com/blog/reilly/american-jesuits-are-in-a-free-fall-and-the-crisis-is-getting-worse |access-date=16 June 2017 }}</ref> In 2019, twenty-eight novices took first vows in the Jesuits in the United States and Haiti.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Twenty-Eight Jesuit Novices Profess First Vows |url=https://jesuits.org/story?TN=PROJECT-20180823111428051547 |access-date=29 September 2019 |website=jesuits.org |archive-date=3 January 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200103233435/https://jesuits.org/story?TN=PROJECT-20180823111428051547 |url-status=live }}</ref> 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.<ref>{{Cite magazine |date=16 September 2019 |title=Father Sosa: Attacks against Pope Francis are aimed at influencing the next conclave |url=https://www.americamagazine.org/faith/2019/09/16/father-sosa-attacks-against-pope-francis-are-aimed-influencing-next-conclave |first=Gerard |last=O'Connell |access-date=25 September 2019 |website=[[America Magazine]] |language=en |archive-date=20 September 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190920051743/https://www.americamagazine.org/faith/2019/09/16/father-sosa-attacks-against-pope-francis-are-aimed-influencing-next-conclave |url-status=live }}</ref> In 2008, their average age was 57.3 years: 63.4 years for priests, 29.9 years for scholastics, and 65.5 years for brothers.<ref name="stats">{{Cite news |last=Puca |first=Pasquale |date=30 January 2008 |title=St. Ignatius of Loyola and the Development of the Society of Jesus |url=https://www.ewtn.com/catholicism/library/st-ignatius-of-loyola-and-the-development-of-the-society-of-jesus-5550 |journal=L'Osservatore Romano Weekly Edition in English |publisher=The Cathedral Foundation |page=12 |access-date=23 February 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220505174225/https://www.ewtn.com/catholicism/library/st-ignatius-of-loyola-and-the-development-of-the-society-of-jesus-5550 |archive-date=5 May 2022 }}</ref>

The [[Superior General of the Society of Jesus|Superior General]] 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 countries around the world and is particularly active in the [[Philippines]] and [[India]]. In the United States, the Jesuits have historical ties to [[Association of Jesuit Colleges and Universities|27 colleges and universities]] and [[Jesuit Secondary Education Association|61 high schools]]. The degree to which the Jesuits are involved in the administration of each institution varies. In September 2018, 15 of the 27 Jesuit universities in the US had non-Jesuit lay presidents.<ref>{{Cite web |date=7 September 2018 |title=Jesuit universities slowly losing Jesuit presidents |url=https://www.loyolamaroon.com/10018640/showcase/jesuit-universities-slowly-losing-jesuit-presidents/ |access-date=15 October 2018 |archive-date=16 October 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181016125844/https://www.loyolamaroon.com/10018640/showcase/jesuit-universities-slowly-losing-jesuit-presidents/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

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".<ref>{{cite news |last=Jones |first=Autumn |date=30 December 2014 |title=The New Brand of Jesuit Universities |newspaper=[[The Atlantic]] |url=https://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2014/12/the-new-brand-of-jesuit-universities/384103/ |access-date=22 March 2018 |archive-date=12 February 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180212083144/https://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2014/12/the-new-brand-of-jesuit-universities/384103/ |url-status=live }}</ref> Worldwide it runs 322 secondary schools and 172 colleges and&nbsp;[[University|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,<ref>{{cite web |title=St. Aloysius College mission statement |url=http://www.staloysius.nsw.edu.au/about-us/mission-and-history/mission-statement |access-date=21 March 2018 |work=StAloysius.NSW.edu.au |archive-date=15 March 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180315044152/https://www.staloysius.nsw.edu.au/about-us/mission-and-history/mission-statement |url-status=dead }}</ref> and training men and women for others.<ref>{{Cite magazine |date=10 November 2009 |title=Time Magazine on 'Men for Others' |language=en |magazine=[[America Magazine]] |url=http://www.americamagazine.org/content/all-things/time-magazine-men-others |access-date=30 May 2017 |first=James |last=Martin |archive-date=12 February 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180212084551/https://www.americamagazine.org/content/all-things/time-magazine-men-others |url-status=live }}</ref>

==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)

The traditional Jesuit-style [[cassock]], called a "soutane" is similar to a robe which is wrapped around the body and was tied with a [[cincture]], rather than the customary buttoned front cassock worn by diocesan priests.<ref>Edwards, Nina (2011). ''On The Button''. I.B. Tauris. p. 178. {{ISBN|9781848855847}}.</ref> A tuftless [[biretta]] (only diocesan clergy wore tufts) and a [[ferraiolo]] (cape) completed the look.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Habit and dress::Society of Jesus - ::concepts |url=http://concepts.org/index.php?title=Society_of_Jesus&section=Habit+and+dress |access-date=12 February 2021 |website=concepts.org |archive-date=21 June 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210621203337/http://concepts.org/index.php?title=Society_of_Jesus&section=Habit+and+dress |url-status=dead }}</ref>

Today, most Jesuits in the United States wear the [[clerical collar]] and black clothing of diocesan priests<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.jesuit.org/about/faqs/ |title=The Society of Jesus in the United States: Frequently Asked Questions |publisher=Jesuit.org |date=19 January 2008 |access-date=18 March 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130325181613/http://www.jesuit.org/about/faqs/ |archive-date=25 March 2013 }}</ref> while most Jesuits in Europe are dressed in civilian clothes.

==Controversies==
===Slavery===
Jesuit scholar Andrew Dial has calculated that the Jesuits owned more than 20,000 slaves worldwide in 1760, the great majority of them in the Americas.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Dial |first1=Andrew |title=Antoine Lavalette, Slave Murderer: A Forgotten Scandal of the French West Indies |journal=Journal of Jesuit Studies |date=2021 |volume=8 |page=40 |url=https://brill.com/view/journals/jjs/8/1/article-p37_37.xml?language=en |access-date=30 August 2023 }}</ref> The Jesuits in some places protected the indigenous people of the Americas from slavers, notably the [[Guaraní people|Guaraní]] in South America, but in other places they enslaved indigenous people after "just wars" in which indigenous people who resisted European colonization were defeated.

The Jesuits also participated in the [[Atlantic slave trade]], working thousands of [[Indigenous peoples of Africa|African]] slaves on their large plantations scattered throughout the Americas. [[Antoine Lavalette]], a slave-owning French Jesuit in [[Martinique]], accumulated large debts which he was unable to pay, which led to the banning of the Jesuits in France in 1764.

In the United States, tobacco plantations utilizing [[African-American]] slave labor in [[Maryland]] and other states supported Jesuit institutions such as [[Georgetown University]], from which were [[1838 Jesuit slave sale|infamously sold 272 slaves]] in 1838.

In the 16th century, Jesuits were also complicit in the Portuguese trade in enslaved [[East Asian people|East Asians]]. In other parts of Europe, slaves were probably employed in Jesuit schools and institutions.

The Jesuits justified their ownership of slaves and participation in the slave trade as a means of converting slaves to [[Catholicism]]. "Enslaved people...were a captive audience for evangelization."<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Rothman |first1=Adam |title=The Jesuits and Slavery |journal=Journal of Jesuit Studies |date=2021 |volume=8 |pages=1–9 |doi=10.1163/22141332-0801P001 |s2cid=230540515 |doi-access=free }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Whitehead |first1=Maurice |title=From Expulsion to Restoration: The Jesuits in Crisis, 1759–1814 |journal=Studies: An Irish Quarterly Review |date=Winter 2014–2015 |volume=103 |issue=412 |page=454 |jstor=24347842 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/24347842 |access-date=3 September 2023 |archive-date=3 September 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230903114850/https://www.jstor.org/stable/24347842 |url-status=live }}</ref>

===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.{{sfn|Gerard|1911}}

{{Separation of church and state in the history of the Catholic Church|expanded = historical controversies}}

===Political intrigue===
The Jesuits were temporarily banished from France in 1594 after a man named [[Jean Châtel]] tried to assassinate the king of France, [[Henry IV of France|Henri IV]]. Under questioning, Châtel revealed that he had been educated by the Jesuits of the [[Lycée Louis-le-Grand|Collège de Clermont]]. The Jesuits were accused of inspiring Châtel's attack. Two of his former teachers were exiled and a third was hanged.<ref>{{Citation |author=Voltaire |author-link=Voltaire |title=Histoire du Parlement de Paris |year=1769 |chapter=XXXI |quote=Châtel fut écartelé, le jésuite Guignard fut pendu; et ce qui est bien étrange, Jouvency, dans son Histoire des Jésuites, le regarde comme un martyr et le compare à Jésus-Christ. Le régent de Châtel, nommé Guéret, et un autre jésuite, nommé Hay, ne furent condamnés qu'à un bannissement perpétuel. |chapter-url=http://www.voltaire-integral.com/Html/15/19PARFIN.html |access-date=30 November 2014 |archive-date=5 February 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120205191328/http://www.voltaire-integral.com/Html/15/19PARFIN.html }}</ref> The Collège de Clermont was closed, and the building was confiscated. The Jesuits were banned from France, although this ban was quickly lifted and the school eventually reopened.<ref>[[Voltaire]] (1769), "XXXI", ''Histoire du Parlement de Paris'', archived from the original on 5 February 2012,</ref>

In England, [[Henry Garnet]], one of the leading English Jesuits, was hanged for [[misprision of treason]] because of his knowledge of the 1605 [[Gunpowder Plot]]. The Plot was the attempted assassination of [[James VI and I]], his family, and most of the [[Protestantism|Protestant]] aristocracy in a single attack, by blowing up the [[Palace of Westminster|Houses of Parliament]]. Another Jesuit, [[Oswald Tesimond]], managed to escape arrest for his involvement in this plot.{{sfn|Fraser|2005|p=448}}

===Casuistic justification===
Jesuits have been accused of using [[casuistry]] to obtain justifications for unjustifiable actions (cf. [[formulary controversy]] and {{lang|fr|[[Lettres Provinciales]]}}, by [[Blaise Pascal]]).{{sfn|Nelson|1981|p=190}} Hence, the [[Concise Oxford Dictionary|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 (activist)|Alberto Rivera]], and [[Malachi Martin]], the latter being the author of ''The Jesuits: The Society of Jesus and the Betrayal of the Roman Catholic Church'' (1987).<ref>see Malachi Martin (1987) ''The Jesuits: The Society of Jesus and the Betrayal of the Roman Catholic Church'', [[Simon & Schuster]], Linden Press, New York, 1987, {{ISBN|0-671-54505-1 }}</ref>

===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]]s'' (Catholic-convert Jews and Muslims and their descendants), 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.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Rosa |first1=De La |last2=Coello |first2=Alexandre |url=http://cat.inist.fr/?aModele=afficheN&cpsidt=24437295 |title=El Estatuto de Limpieza de Sangre de la Compañía de Jesús (1593) y su influencia en el Perú Colonial |journal=Archivum Historicum Societatis Iesu |pages=45–93 |publisher=Institutum Societatis Iesu |year=1932 |issn=0037-8887 |access-date=7 December 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141026074808/http://cat.inist.fr/?aModele=afficheN&cpsidt=24437295 |archive-date=26 October 2014 }}</ref> 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".{{sfn|Reites|1981|p=17}} The 16th-century ''Decree de genere'' was repealed in 1946.{{efn| Jesuit scholar John Padberg states that the restriction on Jewish/Muslim converts was limited only to the degree of parentage. Fourteen years later this was extended back to the fifth degree. Over time the restriction relating to Muslim ancestry was dropped.{{sfn|Padberg|1994|p=204}} In 1923, the 27th Jesuit General Congregation specified that "The impediment of origin extends to all who are descended from the Jewish race, unless it is clear that their father, grandfather, and great grandfather have belonged to the Catholic Church." In 1946, the 29th General Congregation dropped the requirement but still called for "cautions to be exercised before admitting a candidate about whom there is some doubt as to the character of his hereditary background". Robert Aleksander Maryks interprets the 1593 ''"Decree de genere"'' as preventing, despite [[St Ignatius of Loyola|Ignatius']] desires, any Jewish or Muslim ''conversos'' and, by extension, any person with Jewish or Muslim ancestry, ''no matter how distant'', from admission to the Society of Jesus.{{sfn|Maryks|2010|p=xxviii}}}}
Bylaws requiring "[[Limpieza de sangre|blood purity]]" became common across Early Modern Spain and Portugal.

===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]],{{irrelevant citation|date=June 2023|reason=Does not seem to reference Jesuits or the Holy See at all.}}<ref>{{cite magazine |last=Kavanaugh |first=John F. |url=http://www.americamagazine.org/content/article.cfm?article_id=11284 |title=Abortion Absolutists |magazine=America |date=15 December 2008 |access-date=2 August 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110703115852/https://www.americamagazine.org/content/article.cfm?article_id=11284 |archive-date=3 July 2011 }}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine |last=O'Brien |first=Dennis |author-link=G. Dennis O'Brien |url=http://www.americamagazine.org/content/article.cfm?article_id=4214 |title=No to Abortion: Posture, Not Policy |magazine=America |date=30 May 2005 |access-date=2 August 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110612112341/http://www.americamagazine.org/content/article.cfm?article_id=4214 |archive-date=12 June 2011 }}</ref> [[birth control]],<ref>{{cite magazine |first=Norbert J. |last=Rigali |url=http://www.americamagazine.org/content/article.cfm?article_id=2282 |title=Words and Contraception |magazine=[[America (Jesuit magazine)|America]] |date=23 September 2000 |access-date=2 August 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110612112437/http://www.americamagazine.org/content/article.cfm?article_id=2282 |archive-date=12 June 2011 }}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine |last=McCormick |first=Richard A. |author-link=Richard A. McCormick |url=http://www.americamagazine.org/content/article.cfm?article_id=10960 |title='Humanae Vitae' 25 Years Later |magazine=America |date=17 July 1993 |access-date=2 August 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110715024855/http://www.americamagazine.org/content/article.cfm?article_id=10960 |archive-date=15 July 2011 }}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine |last=Dulles |first=Avery |author-link=Avery Dulles |url=http://www.americamagazine.org/content/article.cfm?article_id=10722 |title=Karl Rahner on 'Humanae Vitae' |magazine=America |date=28 September 1968 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110511113702/http://www.americamagazine.org/content/article.cfm?article_id=10722 |archive-date=11 May 2011 |access-date=2 August 2011 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=Reese |first=Thomas J. |author-link=Thomas J. Reese |date=31 March 2009 |title=Pope, Condoms and AIDS |url=http://newsweek.washingtonpost.com/onfaith/georgetown/2009/03/pope_condoms_and_aids.html |department=On Faith |newspaper=The Washington Post |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090403074809/http://newsweek.washingtonpost.com/onfaith/georgetown/2009/03/pope_condoms_and_aids.html |archive-date=3 April 2009 |access-date=2 August 2011 }}</ref> [[Catholic Church doctrine on the ordination of women#Deaconesses and female deacons|women deacons]],<ref>{{cite news |last=Zagano |first=Phyllis |url=http://www.americamagazine.org/content/article.cfm?article_id=2778 |title=Catholic Women Deacons |work=America |date=17 February 2003 |access-date=2 August 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110728021608/http://www.americamagazine.org/content/article.cfm?article_id=2778 |archive-date=28 July 2011 }}</ref> homosexuality, and [[liberation theology]].<ref>{{cite news |first=James |last=Martin |url=http://www.americamagazine.org/blog/entry.cfm?blog_id=2&id=BF67420F-1321-AEAA-D33BE2D27DC3AB28 |title=Jesuit General: Liberation Theology 'Courageous' |work=America |date=21 November 2008 |access-date=2 August 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110811104038/http://americamagazine.org/blog/entry.cfm?blog_id=2&id=BF67420F-1321-AEAA-D33BE2D27DC3AB28 |archive-date=11 August 2011 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=Martin |first=James |url=http://www.americamagazine.org/blog/entry.cfm?blog_id=2&entry_id=3224 |title=Glenn Beck and Liberation Theology |work=America |date=29 August 2010 |access-date=2 August 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110920151007/http://www.americamagazine.org/blog/entry.cfm?blog_id=2&entry_id=3224 |archive-date=20 September 2011 }}</ref> 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 and later, under Pope Francis, Prefect of the [[Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith]].<ref>{{cite web |last=Thavis |first=John |url=http://www.catholicnews.com/data/stories/cns/0605114.htm |archive-url=http://arquivo.pt/wayback/20091005071039/http://www.catholicnews.com/data/stories/cns/0605114.htm |archive-date=5 October 2009 |title='Sala Stampa' style change: From toreador to low-key mathematician |publisher=[[Catholic News Service]] |date=8 September 2006 |access-date=12 June 2009 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.romereports.com/2017/07/01/pope-francis-names-luis-ladaria-as-new-prefect-of-congregation-for-the-doctrine-of-the-faith |title=Pope Francis names Luis Ladaria as new prefect of Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith |website=www.romereports.com |date=July 2017 |language=en |access-date=11 April 2020 |archive-date=4 July 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170704131629/http://www.romereports.com/2017/07/01/pope-francis-names-luis-ladaria-as-new-prefect-of-congregation-for-the-doctrine-of-the-faith |url-status=live }}</ref>

==Nazi persecution==
{{Main|Jesuits and Nazi Germany}}

The Catholic Church faced [[Nazi persecution of the Catholic Church|persecution in Nazi Germany]]. [[Adolf Hitler]], though baptized and confirmed in the Catholic faith and raised in a Catholic household, 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",{{sfn|Pollard|2006|p=357}} and so the Nazis considered them as one of their most dangerous enemies. A Jesuit college in the city of [[Innsbruck]] served as a center for anti-Nazi resistance and was closed down by the Nazis in 1938.{{sfn|Pollard|2006|p=356}}

Jesuits were a target for [[Gestapo]] persecution, and many Jesuit priests were deported to death camps.{{sfn|Pollard|2006|p=356–357}} Jesuits made up the largest contingent of clergy imprisoned in the [[Priest Barracks of Dachau Concentration Camp]].{{sfn|Lapomarda|2005|pp= 140–141}} Vincent Lapomarda lists some 30 Jesuits as having died at Dachau.{{sfn|Lapomarda|2005|loc=appx. A}} Of the 152 Jesuits murdered by the Nazis across Europe, 43 died in the death camps and an additional 27 died from captivity or its results.{{sfn|Lapomarda|2005|loc=p. 33, appx. A}}

The Superior General of Jesuits at the outbreak of war was [[Wlodzimierz Ledóchowski|Włodzimierz 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 antisemitism.{{sfn|Lapomarda|2005|pp=266–267}}

[[File:Alfred Delp Mannheim.jpg|thumb|upright|Jesuit [[Alfred Delp]], member of the [[Kreisau Circle]] that operated within Nazi Germany was executed in February 1945<ref>Anton Gill; An Honourable Defeat; A History of the German Resistance to Hitler; Heinemann; London; 1994; p. 264.</ref>]]

Several Jesuits were prominent in the small [[German resistance to Nazism|German Resistance]].{{sfn|Lapomarda|2005|p=33}} Among the central membership of the [[Kreisau Circle]] of the Resistance were the Jesuit priests [[Augustin Rösch]], [[Alfred Delp]], and [[Lothar König]].<ref>Peter Hoffmann; ''The History of the German Resistance 1933–1945''; 3rd ed. (1st English ed.); McDonald & Jane's; London; 1977; p. 33.</ref> The Bavarian Jesuit Provincial, [[Augustin Rösch]], ended the war on death row for his role in the [[July Plot]] to overthrow Hitler. Another non-military German Resistance group, dubbed the [[Solf Circle|"Frau Solf Tea Party"]] by the Gestapo, included the Jesuit priest [[Friedrich Erxleben]].{{sfn|Shirer|1960|pp=1025–1026}} The German Jesuit [[Robert Leiber]] acted as intermediary between [[Pius XII and the German Resistance]].<ref>[[:de:Peter Hoffmann (Historiker, 1930)|Peter Hoffmann]]; ''The History of the German Resistance 1933–1945''; 3rd ed. (1st English ed.); McDonald & Jane's; London; 1977; p. 160</ref>{{sfn|Shirer|1960|pp=648–649}}

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 concentration camp|Sachsenhausen]] [[Extermination camp|death camp]]. 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.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.zenit.org/en/articles/pontiff-praises-a-bavarian-foe-of-nazism |title=Pontiff Praises a Bavarian Foe of Nazism |publisher=[[Zenit News Agency]] |access-date=6 November 2013 |archive-date=14 October 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131014173707/http://www.zenit.org/en/articles/pontiff-praises-a-bavarian-foe-of-nazism |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.catholicculture.org/culture/library/view.cfm?recnum=472 |title=Library: The Gentile Holocaust |publisher=Catholic Culture |access-date=6 November 2013 |archive-date=24 October 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131024133813/http://www.catholicculture.org/culture/library/view.cfm?recnum=472 |url-status=live }}</ref>

===Rescue efforts during the Holocaust===
{{Further|Rescue of Jews by Catholics 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.<ref>Martin Gilbert. ''The Righteous – The Unsung Heroes of the Holocaust''; Doubleday; 2002; {{ISBN|0-385-60100-X}}; p. 299</ref><ref>Martin Gilbert; ''The Righteous: the Unsung Heroes of the Holocaust''; Holt Paperback; New York; 2004; Preface</ref>

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,<ref>[http://db.yadvashem.org/righteous/righteousName.html?language=en&itemId=4042776 Braun Roger (1910–1981)] {{Webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221204170420/https://righteous.yadvashem.org/index.html?language=en&itemId=4042776 |date=4 December 2022 }}, Yad Vashem</ref> [[Pierre Chaillet]] (1900–1972) of France,<ref>{{Cite web |title=Chaillet Pierre |work=The Righteous Among the Nations Database |url=https://righteous.yadvashem.org/ |access-date=16 January 2023 |publisher=Yad Vashem |archive-date=17 May 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210517215831/https://righteous.yadvashem.org/ |url-status=live }}</ref> [[Jean-Baptist De Coster (Jesuit)|Jean-Baptist De Coster]] (1896–1968) of Belgium,<ref>[http://db.yadvashem.org/righteous/family.html?language=en&itemId=4042720 De Coster, Father Jean-Baptiste] {{Webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200531083547/https://righteous.yadvashem.org/index.html?language=en&itemId=4042720 |date=31 May 2020 }}, Yad Vashem</ref> Jean Fleury (1905–1982) of France,<ref>[http://db. yadvashem.org/righteous/family.html?language=en&itemId=4042826 Fleury Jean (1905–1982)] {{Webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151208203654/http://db.yadvashem.org/righteous/family.html?language=en&itemId=4042826 |date=8 December 2015 }}, Yad Vashem</ref> 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.<ref>Vincent A. Lapomarda, ''The Jesuits and the Third Reich'' ([[Lewiston, New York]]: [[Edwin Mellen Press]], 1989).</ref>

Several other Jesuits are known to have rescued or given refuge to Jews during that period.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.holycross.edu/departments/library/website/hiatt/righteous.htm |title=Hiatt Holocaust Collection |publisher=Holycross. edu |access-date=4 December 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100528010951/http://www.holycross.edu/departments/library/website/hiatt/righteous.htm |archive-date=28 May 2010 }}</ref> 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]], United States.

==In science==
{{See also|List of Jesuit scientists}}[[File:Jesuites en chine.jpg|thumb|[[Jesuit China missions|Jesuit]] scholars in [[China]]. Top: [[Matteo Ricci]], [[Adam Schall von Bell|Adam Schall]] and [[Ferdinand Verbiest]] (1623–88). Bottom: [[Xu Guangqi|Paul Siu (Xu Guangqi)]], as ''Colao'' or Prime Minister of State, and his granddaughter Candide Hiu.]]

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,<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Jesuit Ratio Studiorum of 1599 |url=http://www.bc.edu/sites/libraries/ratio/ratio1599.pdf |access-date=16 January 2023 |archive-date=27 December 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171227101629/http://www.bc.edu/sites/libraries/ratio/ratio1599.pdf |url-status=dead |translator=Allan P. Farrell |publisher=Conference of Major Supporters of Jesuits |year=1970 |orig-year=1599 }}</ref> was almost entirely based on the works of [[Aristotle]].

The Jesuits, nevertheless, have made numerous significant contributions to the development of science.<ref name="Principe"/> 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".{{sfn|Hough|2007|p=68}} The Jesuits have been described as "the single most important contributor to experimental physics in the seventeenth century".{{sfn|Ashworth|1986|p=154}}

According to [[Jonathan Wright (historian)|Jonathan Wright]] in his book ''God's Soldiers'', by the eighteenth century the Jesuits had "contributed to the development of [[pendulum clock]]s, [[pantograph]]s, [[barometer]]s, [[reflecting telescope]]s and [[microscope]]s – to scientific fields as various as [[magnetism]], [[optics]], and [[electricity]]. They observed, in some cases before anyone else, the colored bands on [[Jupiter]]'s surface, the [[Andromeda Galaxy|Andromeda nebula]], and [[Saturn]]'s rings. They theorized about the circulation of the blood (independently of [[William Harvey|Harvey]]), the theoretical possibility of flight, the way the moon affected the tides, and the wave-like nature of light."{{sfn|Wright|2004|p=200}}

The [[Jesuit China missions]] 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".{{sfn|Ebrey|2010|p=212}} 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".{{sfn|Woods|2005|p=101}}

==Notable members==
{{Main|List of Jesuits}}
{{See also|List of Jesuit theologians|3=List of Jesuit scientists}}
Jesuits include [[missionaries]], 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]]. [[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 [[New France]], the part that became Ontario, in Canada.

In Spanish America, [[José de Acosta]] wrote a major work on early [[Peru]] and [[New Spain]] 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 [[New Spain]] 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, 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 reduction]]s of Paraguay.

[[Baltasar Gracián]] was a 17th-century Spanish Jesuit and baroque prose writer and philosopher. He was born in [[Belmonte de Gracián|Belmonte]], near [[Calatayud]] ([[Aragon]]). His writings, particularly ''El Criticón'' (1651–57) and ''[[Oráculo Manual y Arte de Prudencia]]'' ("The Art of Prudence", 1647) were lauded by [[Arthur Schopenhauer|Schopenhauer]] and [[Friedrich Nietzsche|Nietzsche]].

In Scotland, [[John Ogilvie (saint)|John Ogilvie]], a Jesuit, is the nation's only post-Reformation saint.

[[Gerard Manley Hopkins]] was one of the first English poets to use [[Sprung rhythm|sprung verse]]. [[Anthony de Mello (Jesuit priest)|Anthony de Mello]] was a Jesuit priest and psychotherapist who became recognized for his books which introduced Westerners to the [[South Asia|East]] [[India]]n traditions of spirituality.

[[Dorothy Lawson (recusant)|Dorothy Lawson]] was a [[Recusancy|recusant]] and patroness of the Society of Jesus,<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Lux-Sterritt |first=Laurence |date=2011 |title='Virgo Becomes Virago': Women in the Accounts of Seventeenth-Century English Catholic Missionaries |url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/british-catholic-history/article/abs/virgo-becomes-virago-women-in-the-accounts-of-seventeenthcentury-english-catholic-missionaries/07AA3FFA140E63445AA358D86DEA99F3 |journal=British Catholic History |language=en |volume=30 |issue=4 |pages=537–553 |doi=10.1017/S0034193200013170 |issn=0034-1932 |archive-date=2 December 2024 |access-date=28 March 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241202201908/https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/british-catholic-history/article/abs/virgo-becomes-virago-women-in-the-accounts-of-seventeenthcentury-english-catholic-missionaries/07AA3FFA140E63445AA358D86DEA99F3 |url-status=live }}</ref> who met yearly at her home to discuss the mission in England after the English Reformation.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Palmes |first=William |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qVQBAAAAQAAJ&q=dorothy+lawson |title=The Life of Mrs. Dorothy Lawson: Of St. Antony's Near Newcastle-on-Tyne |date=1855 |publisher=C. Dolman |language=en }}</ref>

Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio of Argentina was [[2013 papal conclave|elected by conclave]] as [[Pope Francis]] on 13 March 2013, the first Jesuit to be elected pope. He served until his death in April 2025.{{sfn|Ivereigh|2014|pp=1–2}}

The Feast of All Jesuit Saints and Blesseds is celebrated on 5 November.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://tertianship.eu/2015/11/november-5-feast-of-all-jesuit-saints-and-blessed/ |title=November 5: Feast of all Jesuit Saints and Blessed |website=tertianship.eu |language=en-US |access-date=30 May 2017 |archive-date=3 July 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170703051443/http://tertianship.eu/2015/11/november-5-feast-of-all-jesuit-saints-and-blessed/ |url-status=dead }}</ref>

==Gallery of Jesuit churches==
{{See also|List of Jesuit sites}}

<gallery>
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|''[[Church of La Compañía, Quito|Iglesia de La Compañía]]'', [[Quito]], [[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|[[Church of the Society of Jesus (Cusco, Peru)|Jesuit church]], Cuzco, Peru
File:Colegio de Belen. Havana, Cuba.jpg|[[Colegio de Belén, Havana]], "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, US
File:Madonna_Della_Strada_Chapel_6.JPG|[[Loyola University Chicago]] Art Deco Chapel at Lakeshore Campus, Chicago, Illinois, US
File:St John, Creighton.jpg|St. John's Church in Creighton University campus, Omaha, Nebraska, US
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 US
File:Gesu Church Milwaukee.jpg|The Church of the Gesu in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, US, 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, US
File:St. Francis Xavier College Church - St. Louis 01.jpg|St. Francis Xavier College Church in the Saint Louis University campus, St. Louis, Missouri, US
File:Mission Santa Clara.jpg|The [[Mission Santa Clara de Asís|Santa Clara University's Mission Church]] is at the heart of Santa Clara University's historic campus Santa Clara, California, US.
File:Saint Ignatius Church (San Francisco).jpg|[[Saint Ignatius Church (San Francisco)|St. Ignatius Church]], parish church of the [[University of San Francisco]], [[San Francisco, California]], US
File:Phila ChurchoftheGesu02.jpg|the Church of the Gesu, Philadelphia is the school church of [[St. Joseph's Preparatory School]], Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, US.
File:Eglise du Gèsu de Frascati.JPG|The Church of the Gesu in Frascati, [[province of Rome]], Italy
File:Gesu Montreal 01.jpg|The [[Église du Gesù (Montreal)|Église du Gesù]] in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, church and cultural venue
File:Jakarta Indonesia Jakarta-Cathedral-01.jpg|[[Jakarta Cathedral]], [[Indonesia]]
File:Sacred Heart RC Church, Wimbledon, London, UK - Diliff.jpg|[[Sacred Heart Church, Wimbledon]], London
</gallery>

==Institutions==
===Educational institutions===
{{See also|List of Jesuit 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, on all continents. 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 [[List of Jesuit educational institutions|second highest number of schools]] which they run: 168 [[tertiary education|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.<ref>{{Cite web |title=How Vatican II Helped the Jesuits Do Their Job |url=http://www.conversationsmagazine.org/student-stories-1/how-vatican-ii-helped-the-jesuits |access-date=7 February 2021 |website=Conversations |language=en-US |archive-date=14 February 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210214041303/http://www.conversationsmagazine.org/student-stories-1/how-vatican-ii-helped-the-jesuits |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Howell |first=Patrick |date=1 September 2012 |title=The 'New' Jesuits: The Response to the Society of Jesus to Vatican II, 1962–2012: Some Alacrity, Some Resistance |url=https://epublications.marquette.edu/conversations/vol42/iss1/4 |journal=Conversations on Jesuit Higher Education |volume=42 |issue=1 |access-date=7 February 2021 |archive-date=16 February 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210216184301/https://epublications.marquette.edu/conversations/vol42/iss1/4/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

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.

===Social and development institutions===
Jesuits have become increasingly involved in works directed primarily toward social and economic development for the poor and marginalized.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://onlineministries.creighton.edu/CollaborativeMinistry/our-mission-today.html |title=4th Decree |website=onlineministries.creighton.edu |access-date=30 May 2017 |archive-date=29 May 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170529064459/http://onlineministries.creighton.edu/CollaborativeMinistry/our-mission-today.html |url-status=live }}</ref> 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==
[[File:Basilica of St. Ignatius in Loyola.jpg|thumb|The [[Sanctuary of Loyola]] in [[Azpeitia]], [[Basque Country (autonomous community)|Basque Country]], [[Spain]], the main Jesuit shrine in the birthplace of [[Ignatius of Loyola]]]]
Jesuits are also known for their involvement in publications. Most Jesuit colleges and universities have their own presses which produce a variety of books, book series, textbooks, and academic publications.

''[[La Civiltà Cattolica]]'', a periodical produced in Rome by the Jesuits, has often been used as a semi-official platform for popes and officials of the Roman Curia to float ideas for discussion or hint at future statements or positions, though authorship is limited to Jesuits.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.laciviltacattolica.it/ |title=La Civiltà Cattolica |website=La Civiltà Cattolica |access-date=1 October 2019 |archive-date=29 September 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190929115337/https://www.laciviltacattolica.it/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

''The Way'' is an international journal of contemporary Christian spirituality published by the British Jesuits.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.theway.org.uk/ |title=The Way |website=www.theway.org.uk |access-date=1 October 2019 |archive-date=1 October 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191001185443/https://www.theway.org.uk/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

In the United States of America, ''[[America (Jesuit magazine)|America]]'' magazine has long had a prominent place in Catholic intellectual circles.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.americamagazine.org/about-america-media |title=About America Media |website=America Magazine |language=en |access-date=1 October 2019 |archive-date=9 August 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190809133210/https://www.americamagazine.org/about-america-media |url-status=live }}</ref> [[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.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.ignatius.com/About.aspx#history |title=About Us |website=www.ignatius.com |access-date=1 October 2019 |archive-date=17 July 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190717041011/https://www.ignatius.com/About.aspx#history |url-status=live }}</ref>

Manresa is a review of Ignatian spirituality published in Madrid, Spain.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://manresarev.com/ |title=Revista Manresa |website=manresarev.com |access-date=1 October 2019 |archive-date=1 October 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191001185445/http://manresarev.com/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

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 the journal {{lang|de|[[Geist und Leben]]}} and the related publication ''Weltweit''<ref>{{cite web |url=https://jesuitenweltweit.de/medien/magazin |title=Weltweit |access-date=23 March 2024 |archive-date=23 March 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240323164856/https://jesuitenweltweit.de/medien/magazin |url-status=live }}</ref> that describes their international work, the [[Jesuitenmission]].

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.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://signum.se/ |title=Signum |website=Signum |access-date=29 June 2021 |archive-date=29 June 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210629051503/https://signum.se/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

Jesuit publishing is not limited to journals and books; they also produce digital content and podcasts to engage modern audiences. Many Jesuit provinces operate media ministries aimed at evangelization, education, and social dialogue. For instance, Jesuit Communications in India runs online platforms and short film projects that address contemporary moral and spiritual issues.{{cn|date=May 2025}}

Jesuits in Canada and the U.S. have embraced video storytelling and podcasting, such as the popular "Jesuitical" podcast by America Media. These platforms reflect the Society's ongoing commitment to intellectual engagement and cultural dialogue in an increasingly digital and interconnected world.{{cn|date=May 2025}}

==See also==
{{Portal|Catholicism}}
{{div col}}
* [[Ad maiorem Dei gloriam]]
* [[Apostleship of Prayer]]
* [[Blas Valera]]
* [[Bollandist]]
* [[Canadian Indian residential school system]]
* [[Church of the Mission of France]]
* [[Jesuit conspiracy theories]]
* [[Jesuit Ivy]]
* [[Jesuit missions among the Guaraní]]
* [[Jesuit Missions of Chiquitos]]
* [[Jesuit Refugee Service]]
* [[List of Jesuit sites]]
* [[List of saints of the Society of Jesus]]
* [[Misiones Province]]
* [[Monumenta Historica Societatis Iesu]]
* [[Igreja de São Roque]]
* [[Sexual abuse scandal in the Society of Jesus]]
* [[Thomas Weld (of Lulworth)]]
{{div col end}}

==Notes==
{{Notelist}}

== References ==
=== Citations ===
{{Reflist}}

=== Sources ===
{{Refbegin|indent=yes|colwidth=35em}}
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* {{cite book |last=Ashworth |first=William B. |year=1986 |chapter=Catholicism and Early Modern Science |editor1-last=Lindberg |editor1-first=David C. |editor1-link=David C. Lindberg |editor2-last=Numbers |editor2-first=Ronald L. |editor2-link=Ronald Numbers |title=God and Nature: Historical Essays on the Encounter between Christianity and Science |location=Berkeley |publisher=University of California Press |isbn=978-0-520-05538-4}}
* {{cite book |last=Bailey |first=Gauvin Alexander |author-link=Gauvin Alexander Bailey |year=1999 |title=Art on the Jesuit Missions in Asia and Latin America, 1542–1773 |location=Toronto |publisher=University of Toronto Press |isbn=0-8020-4688-6}}
* {{cite book |last=Bailey |first=Gauvin Alexander |author-link=Gauvin Alexander Bailey |year=2003 |title=Between Renaissance and Baroque: Jesuit Art in Rome, 1565–1610 |location=Toronto |publisher=University of Toronto Press |isbn=0-8020-3721-6}}
* {{cite book |last=Brading |first=D. A. |author-link=David Brading |year=1991 |title=The First America: Spanish Monarchs, Creole Patriots, and the Liberal State, 1492–1867 |location=Cambridge |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-0-521-39130-6}}
* {{cite book |last=Campbell |first=Thomas J. |year=1921 |title=The Jesuits, 1534–1921: A History of the Society of Jesus from Its Foundation to the Present Time |url=https://archive.org/details/jesuits15341921h00camp |location=New York |publisher=The Encyclopedia Press |isbn=978-0878210183 |access-date=19 June 2017}}
* {{cite book |last=Carpenter |first=Roger M. |year=2004 |title=The Renewed, The Destroyed, and the Remade: The Three Thought Worlds of the Iroquois and the Huron, 1609–1650 |location=East Lansing |publisher=Michigan State University Press |isbn=978-0-87013-728-0}}
* {{cite encyclopedia |last=Cline |first=Sarah L. |year=1997 |title=Church and State: Habsburg New Spain |editor-last=Werner |editor-first=Michael S. |encyclopedia=Encyclopedia of Mexico: History, Society & Culture |volume=1 |location=Chicago |publisher=Fitzroy Dearborn Publishers |isbn=978-1-884964-31-2}}
* {{cite book |last=Coyle |first=Henry |year=1908 |title=Our church, her Children and Institutions |volume=2 |location=Boston |publisher=Angel Guardian Press}}
* {{cite book |last=Curran |first=Robert Emmett |year=1993 |title=The Bicentennial History of Georgetown University |location=Washington, D.C. |publisher=Georgetown University Press |isbn=978-0-87840-485-8}}
* {{cite book |last1=Delaney |first1=Paul J. |last2=Nicholls |first2=Andrew D. |year=1989 |title=After The Fire: Sainte-Marie Among the Hurons Since 1649 |location=Elmvale, Ontario |publisher=East Georgian Bay Company}}
* {{cite book |last=Devine |first=E. J. |year=1925 |title=The Jesuit Martyrs of Canada |url=https://archive.org/details/jesuitmartyrsofc0000devi |url-access=registration |location=Toronto |publisher=The Canadian Messenger}}
* {{cite book |last1=Durant |first1=Will |author1-link=Will Durant |last2=Durant |first2=Ariel |author2-link=Ariel Durant |year=1961 |title=The Age of Reason Begins: A History of European Civilization in the Period of Shakespeare, Bacon, Montaigne, Rembrandt, Galileo, and Descartes, 1558–1648 |series=The Story of Civilization |volume=7 |location=New York |publisher=Simon & Schuster |isbn=978-0-671-01320-2 |url=https://archive.org/details/ageofreasonbegin07dura_0}}
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* {{cite Catholic Encyclopedia |noicon=yes |last=Gerard |first=John |wstitle=Monita Secreta |volume=10}}
* {{cite book |last=Gonzalez |first=Justo L. |author-link=Justo L. González |year=1985 |title=The Story of Christianity: The Early Church to the Present Day}}
* {{cite book |last=Hobson |first=John M. |author-link=John M. Hobson |year=2004 |title=The Eastern Origins of Western Civilisation |location=Cambridge |publisher=Cambridge University Press}}
* {{cite book |last=Höpfl |first=Harro |year=2004 |title=Jesuit Political Thought: The Society of Jesus and the State, c. 1540–1630 |location=Cambridge |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-0-521-83779-8}}
* {{cite book |last=Hough |first=Susan Elizabeth |author-link=Susan Hough |year=2007 |title=Richter's Scale: Measure of an Earthquake, Measure of a Man |location=Princeton, New Jersey |publisher=Princeton University Press |isbn=978-0-691-12807-8 |url=https://archive.org/details/richtersscalemea00houg}}
* {{cite book |last=Ivereigh |first=Austen |author-link=Austen Ivereigh |year=2014 |title=The Great Reformer: Francis and the Making of a Radical Pope |location=New York |publisher=Henry Holt and Co. |isbn=978-1-62779-157-1}}
* {{cite book |last=Kennedy |first=J. H. |year=1950 |title=Jesuit and Savage in New France |location=New Haven, CN |publisher=Yale University Press}}
* {{cite book |last=Konrad |first=Herman W. |year=1980 |title=A Jesuit Hacienda in Colonial Mexico: Santa Lucía, 1576–1767 |location=Stanford, CA |publisher=Stanford University Press |isbn=978-0-8047-1050-3}}
* {{cite book |last=Lapomarda |first=Vincent A. |year=2005 |title=The Jesuits and the Third Reich |edition=2nd |location=[[Lewiston, New York]] |publisher=[[Edwin Mellen Press]] |isbn=978-0-7734-6265-6}}
* {{cite book |last=Mahoney |first=Kathleen A. |year=2003 |title=Catholic Higher Education in Protestant America: The Jesuits and Harvard in the Age of the University |location=Baltimore, Maryland |publisher=Johns Hopkins University Press |isbn=978-0-8018-7340-9}}
* {{cite book |last=Maryks |first=Robert Aleksander |year=2010 |title=The Jesuit Order As a Synagogue of Jews: Jesuits of Jewish Ancestry and Purity-of-Blood Laws in the Early Society of Jesus |location=Leiden, Netherlands |publisher=Brill |series=Studies in Medieval and Reformation Traditions |volume=146 |isbn=978-90-04-17981-3}}
* {{cite book |last=Mecham |first=J. Lloyd |year=1966 |title=Church and State in Latin America: A History of Politico-Ecclesiastical Relations |edition=2nd |location=Chapel Hill |publisher=University of North Carolina Press}}
* {{cite book |year=2000 |editor1-last=Müller |editor1-first=Andreas |editor2-last=Tausch |editor2-first=Arno |editor2-link=Arno Tausch |editor3-last=Zulehner |editor3-first=Paul M. |editor4-last=Wickens |editor4-first=Henry |title=Global Capitalism, Liberation Theology, and the Social Sciences: An Analysis of the Contradictions of Modernity at the Turn of the Millennium |location=Hauppauge, New York |publisher=Nova Science Publishers |isbn=978-1-56072-679-1}}
* {{cite book |year=1994 |editor-last=Mungello |editor-first=David E. |editor-link=David E. Mungello |title=The Chinese Rites Controversy: Its History and Meaning |series=Monumenta Serica Monograph Series |volume=33 |location=Nettetal, Germany |publisher=Steyler Verlag |isbn=978-3-8050-0348-3}}
* {{cite book |last=Nelson |first=Robert J. |year=1981 |title=Pascal: Adversary and Advocate |url=https://archive.org/details/pascaladversarya00nels |url-access=registration |location=Cambridge, Massachusetts}}
* {{cite book |last=O'Malley |first=John W. |year=1993 |title=The First Jesuits |url=https://archive.org/details/firstjesuits00omal |url-access=registration |location=Cambridge, Massachusetts |publisher=Harvard University Press |isbn=978-06-7430-313-3}}
* {{cite book |last=O'Malley |first=John W. |author-mask={{long dash}} |year=2006 |chapter=Introduction |editor1-last=O'Malley |editor1-first=John W. |editor2-last=Bailey |editor2-first=Gauvin Alexander |editor2-link=Gauvin Alexander Bailey |editor3-last=Harris |editor3-first=Steven J. |editor4-last=Kennedy |editor4-first=T. Frank |title=The Jesuits II: Cultures, Sciences, and the Arts, 1540–1773 |publisher=University of Toronto Press |isbn=978-0-8020-3861-6}}
* {{cite book |last=Padberg |first=John W. |year=1994 |title=For Matters of Greater Moment:The First Thirty Jesuit General Congregations |location=St. Louis, Missouri |publisher=Institute of Jesuit Sources |isbn=978-1-880810-06-4}}
* {{cite book |last=Painter |first=F. V. N. |year=1903 |title=A History of Education |series=International Education Series |volume=2 |location=New York |publisher=D. Appleton and Co.}}
* {{cite book |last=Paquin |first=Julien |year=1932 |title=The Tragedy of Old Huron |location=Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario |publisher=The Martyrs' Shrine}}
* {{cite book |last=Parker |first=John |year=1978 |title=Windows into China: The Jesuits and their Books, 1580–1730 |url=https://archive.org/details/windowsintochina00park |series=Maury A. Bromsen Lecture in Humanistic Bibliography |volume=5 |location=Boston |publisher=Trustees of the Public Library of the City of Boston |isbn=978-0-89073-050-8 |access-date=18 June 2017}}
* {{cite book |last=Perrin |first=Pat |year=1970 |title=Crime and Punishment: The Colonial Period to the New Frontier |publisher=Discovery Enterprises}}
* {{cite encyclopedia |last=Pollard |first=John |author-link=John F. Pollard |year=2006 |title=Jesuits, The |editor-last=Blamires |editor-first=Cyprian P. |encyclopedia=World Fascism: A Historical Encyclopedia |volume=1 |location=Santa Barbara, California |publisher=ABC-CLIO |pages=356–357 |isbn=978-1-57607-940-9}}
* {{Cite CE1913
|noicon=yes
|last=Pollen
|first=John Hungerford
|author-link=John Hungerford Pollen (Jesuit)
|title=The Society of Jesus
|wstitle=Society of Jesus
|volume=14
}}
* {{cite journal |last=Reites |first=James W. |year=1981 |title=St. Ignatius of Loyola and the Jews |url=https://ejournals.bc.edu/ojs/index.php/jesuit/article/viewFile/3714/3292 |journal=Studies in the Spirituality of Jesuits |volume=13 |issue=4 |location=St. Louis, Missouri |publisher=American Assistancy Seminar on Jesuit Spirituality |issn=2328-5575 |access-date=18 June 2017 |archive-date=6 May 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170506205107/https://ejournals.bc.edu/ojs/index.php/jesuit/article/viewFile/3714/3292 |url-status=live}}
* {{cite book |last=Sacks |first=Richard S. |year=1990 |chapter=Historical Setting |editor1-last=Hanratty |editor1-first=Dennis M. |editor2-last=Meditz |editor2-first=Sandra |title=Paraguay: A Country Study |chapter-url=http://memory.loc.gov/master/frd/frdcstdy/pa/paraguaycountrys00hanr_0/paraguaycountrys00hanr_0.pdf |edition=2nd |series=Area Handbook Series |location=Washington, D.C. |publisher=U.S. Government Printing Office |pages=1–49 |access-date=18 June 2017 |archive-date=26 September 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200926022751/http://memory.loc.gov/master/frd/frdcstdy/pa/paraguaycountrys00hanr_0/paraguaycountrys00hanr_0.pdf |url-status=live}}
* {{cite book |last=Sandoval |first=Alonso de |editor-last=Von Germeten |editor-first=Nicole |year=2008 |title=Treatise on Slavery: Selections from De Instauranda Aethiopum Salute |translator-last=von Germeten |translator-first=Nicole |location=Indianapolis, Indiana |publisher=Hackett Publishing Co. |isbn=978-0-87220-929-9}}
* {{cite book |last=Shirer |first=William L. |author-link=William L. Shirer |year=1960 |title=The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich |location=London |publisher=Secker & Warburg}}
* {{cite book |last=Udías |first=Agustín |year=2003 |title=Searching the Heavens and the Earth: The History of Jesuit Observatories |series=Astrophysics and Space Science Library |location=Berlin |publisher=Springer |isbn=978-1-4020-1189-4}}
* {{cite book |last=Vacalebre |first=Natale |year=2016 |title=Come Le Armadure e L'Armi. Per una storia delle antiche biblioteche della Compagnia di Gesù. Con il caso di Perugia |series=Biblioteca di bibliografia – Documents and Studies in Book and Library History, vol. 205 |location=Florence |publisher=Olschki |isbn=978-8822-26480-0}}
* {{cite book |last=Warren |first=J. Benedict |year=1973 |chapter=An Introductory Survey of Secular Writings in the European Tradition on Colonial Middle America, 1503–1818 |editor-last=Cline |editor-first=Howard F. |title=Handbook of Middle American Indians |volume=13: Guide to Ethnohistorical Sources, Part Two |location=Austin |publisher=University of Texas Press |publication-date=2015 |pages=42–137 |isbn=978-1-4773-0683-3}}
* {{cite thesis |last=Van Handel |first=Robert Michael |year=1991 |title=The Jesuit and Franciscan Missions in Baja California |type=MA thesis |publisher=University of California, Santa Barbara}}
* {{cite book |last=Woods |first=Thomas E. |author-link=Thomas Woods |year=2005 |title=How The Catholic Church Built Western Civilization |location=Washington, D.C. |publisher=Regnery Publishing |publication-date=2012 |isbn=978-1-59698-328-1}}
* {{cite book |last=Wright |first=Jonathan |author-link=Jonathan Wright (historian) |year=2004 |title=God's Soldiers: Adventure, Politics, Intrigue, and Power: A History of the Jesuits |url=https://archive.org/details/godssoldiers00jona |url-access=registration |location=New York |publisher=Doubleday Religious Publishing Group |publication-date=2005 |isbn=978-0-385-50080-7}}
{{Refend}}

==Further reading==

===Surveys===
[[File:Luis de Guzmán (1601) Historia de las misiones jesuitas en India, China y Japón.png|thumb|History of the Jesuit missions in India, China and Japan (Luis de Guzmán, 1601).]]

* Bangert, William V. ''A History of the Society of Jesus'' (2nd ed. 1958) 552 pp.
* Barthel, Manfred. ''Jesuits: History & Legend of the Society of Jesus'' (1984) 347 pp. [https://archive.org/details/jesuitshistoryl00bart_0 online free]
* Chapple, Christopher. ''Jesuit Tradition in Education & Missions: A 450-Year Perspective'' (1993), 290 pp.
* Mitchell, David. ''Jesuits: A History'' (1981) 320 pp.
* Molina, J. Michelle. ''To Overcome Oneself: The Jesuit Ethic and Spirit of Global Expansion, 1520–1767'' (2013) [https://www.questia.com/library/120088652/to-overcome-oneself-the-jesuit-ethic-and-spirit online] {{Webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180518054920/https://www.questia.com/library/120088652/to-overcome-oneself-the-jesuit-ethic-and-spirit |date=18 May 2018 }}
* O'Malley, John W. ''The Jesuits: A History from Ignatius to the Present'' (2014), 138 pp
* Worcester, Thomas. ed. ''The Cambridge Companion to the Jesuits'' (2008), to 1773
* Wright, Jonathan. ''God's Soldiers: Adventure, Politics, Intrigue & Power: A History of the Jesuits'' (2004) 368 pp [https://archive.org/details/godssoldiers00jona online free]

===Specialized studies===
* Alden, Dauril. ''Making of an Enterprise: The Society of Jesus in Portugal, Its Empire & Beyond, 1540–1750'' (1996).
* Brockey, Liam Matthew. ''Journey to the East: The Jesuit Mission to China, 1579–1724'' (2007).
* {{cite book |author=Brodrick James |author-link=James Patrick Broderick |date=1940 |title=The Origin of the Jesuits |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=d9dXAAAAYAAJ |publisher=Originally Published Longmans Green |isbn=9780829409307}}, Special Edition Published 1997 by Loyola University Press, US. {{ISBN|0829409300}}.
* [[James Patrick Broderick|Brodrick, James]]. ''Saint Francis Xavier (1506–1552)'' (1952).
* [[James Patrick Broderick|Brodrick, James]]. ''Saint Ignatius Loyola: The Pilgrim Years 1491–1538'' (1998).
* Burson, Jeffrey D. and Jonathan Wright, eds. ''The Jesuit Suppression in Global Context: Causes, Events, and Consequences'' (Cambridge UP, 2015).
* Bygott, Ursula M. L. ''With Pen & Tongue: The Jesuits in Australia, 1865–1939'' (1980).
* Comerford, Kathleen M. ''Jesuit Libraries''. Brill, 2023. {{ISBN?}}
* Dalmases, Cándido de. ''Ignatius of Loyola, Founder of the Jesuits: His Life & Work'' (1985). {{ISBN?}}
* Caraman, Philip. ''Ignatius Loyola: A Biography of the Founder of the Jesuits'' (1990).
* Edwards, Francis. ''Jesuits in England from 1580 to the Present Day'' (1985).
* Grendler, Paul F. "Jesuit Schools and Universities in Europe 1548–1773." ''Brill Research Perspectives in Jesuit Studies'' 1.1 (2019): 1–118. [https://brill.com/view/journals/rpjs/1/1/article-p1_1.xml?rskey=D1rwLZ&result=1 online] {{Webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220123220429/https://brill.com/view/journals/rpjs/1/1/article-p1_1.xml?rskey=D1rwLZ&result=1 |date=23 January 2022 }}
* Healy, Róisin. ''Jesuit Specter in Imperial Germany'' (2003). {{ISBN?}}
* Höpfl, Harro. ''Jesuit Political Thought: The Society of Jesus & the State, c. 1540–1640'' (2004).
* Hsia, Ronnie Po-chia. "Jesuit Foreign Missions. A Historiographical Essay." ''Journal of Jesuit Studies'' (2014) 1#1, pp.&nbsp;47–65.
* Kaiser, Robert Blair. ''Inside the Jesuits: How Pope Francis is Changing the Church and the World'' (Rowman & Littlefield, 2014)
* Klaiber, Jeffrey. ''The Jesuits in Latin America: 1549–2000:: 450 Years of Inculturation, Defense of Human Rights, and Prophetic Witness''. St Louis, MO: Institute of Jesuit Sources 2009.
* Lapomarda, Vincent A., ''The Catholic Bishops of Europe and the Nazi Persecutions of Catholics and Jews'', [[Lewiston, New York]]: [[Edwin Mellen Press]] (2012)
* McCoog, Thomas M., ed. ''Mercurian Project: Forming Jesuit Culture: 1573–1580'' (2004) (30 advanced essays by scholars).
* Martin, A. Lynn. ''Jesuit Mind. The Mentality of an Elite in Early Modern France'' (1988).
* O'Malley, John. "The Society of Jesus." in R. Po-chia Hsia, ed., ''A Companion to the Reformation World'' (2004), pp.&nbsp;223–236.
* O'Malley, John W. ed. ''Saints or Devils Incarnate? Studies in Jesuit History'' (2013).
* {{cite book |last=Parkman |first=Francis |title=The Jesuits in North America in the Seventeenth Century |year=1867 |page=637 |url=http://www.freecatholicebooks.com/books/jesuitsusa17century.pdf |access-date=25 April 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120509005647/http://www.freecatholicebooks.com/books/jesuitsusa17century.pdf |archive-date=9 May 2012}}
* Pomplun, Trent. ''Jesuit on the Roof of the World: Ippolito Desideri's Mission to Tibet''. Oxford University Press (2010).
* Roberts, Ian D. ''Harvest of Hope: Jesuit Collegiate Education in England, 1794–1914'' (1996).
* Ronan, Charles E. and Bonnie B. C. Oh, eds. ''East Meets West: The Jesuits in China, 1582–1773'' (1988).
* Ross, Andrew C. ''Vision Betrayed: The Jesuits in Japan & China, 1542–1742'' (1994).
* Santich, Jan Joseph. ''Missio Moscovitica: The Role of the Jesuits in the Westernization of Russia, 1582–1689'' (1995).
* Schmiedl, Joachim (2011). [http://ieg-ego.eu/en/threads/european-networks/christian-networks/joachim-schmiedl-religious-orders-as-transnational-networks-of-the-catholic-church?set_language=en&-C= ''Religious Orders as Transnational Networks of the Catholic Church''] {{Webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210924070429/http://ieg-ego.eu/en/threads/european-networks/christian-networks/joachim-schmiedl-religious-orders-as-transnational-networks-of-the-catholic-church?set_language=en&-C= |date=24 September 2021 }}, [http://www.ieg-ego.eu/ EGO – European History Online] {{Webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130208042444/http://www.ieg-ego.eu/ |date=8 February 2013 }}, Mainz: [http://www.ieg-mainz.de/likecms/index.php Institute of European History] {{Webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160219021834/http://www.ieg-mainz.de/likecms/index.php |date=19 February 2016 }}, retrieved: 25 March 2021 ([https://d-nb.info/1036227030/34 pdf] {{Webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220117200025/https://d-nb.info/1036227030/34 |date=17 January 2022 }}).
* Wright, Jonathan. "From Immolation to Restoration: The Jesuits, 1773–1814." ''Theological Studies'' (2014) 75#4 pp.&nbsp;729–745.
* Zhang, Qiong. ''Making the New World their own: Chinese encounters with Jesuit science in the age of discovery'' (Brill, 2015).

===United States===
* Cushner, Nicholas P. ''Soldiers of God: The Jesuits in Colonial America, 1565–1767'' (2002) 402 pp.
* Garraghan, Gilbert J. ''The Jesuits Of The Middle United States'' (3 vol 1938) covers Midwest from 1800 to 1919 [https://archive.org/details/jesuitsofthemidd008652mbp vol 1 online]; [https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.152935 vol 2]; [https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.157379 vol 3]
* McDonough, Peter. ''Men astutely trained : a history of the Jesuits in the American century'' (1994), covers 1900 to 1960s; [https://archive.org/details/menastutelytrain00pete online free]
* Schroth, Raymond A. ''The American Jesuits: A History'' (2009)

===Primary sources===
* Desideri, Ippolito. "Mission to Tibet: The Extraordinary Eighteenth-Century Account of Father Ippolito Desideri." Translated by Michael J. Sweet. Edited by Leonard Zwilling. Boston: Wisdom Publications, 2010.
* Donnelly, John Patrick, ed. ''Jesuit Writings of the Early Modern Period: 1540–1640'' (2006)

===In German===
* Klaus Schatz. ''Geschichte der deutschen Jesuiten: Bd. 1: 1814–1872'' Münster: Aschendorff Verlag, 2013. XXX, 274 S. {{ISBN|978-3-402-12964-7}}. [https://web.archive.org/web/20150922205608/http://www.h-net.org/reviews/showrev.php?id=44415 online review]
* Schatz. ''Geschichte der deutschen Jesuiten: Bd. 2: 1872–1917''
* Schatz. ''Geschichte der deutschen Jesuiten: Bd. 3: 1917–1945''
* Schatz. ''Geschichte der deutschen Jesuiten: Bd. 4: 1945–1983''
* Schatz. ''Geschichte der deutschen Jesuiten: Bd. 5: Quellen, Glossar, Biogramme, Gesamtregister''

==External links==
{{Library resources box}}
* {{commons category-inline}}
* {{ws|"[[s:Portal:Catholicism#Society of Jesus|Society of Jesus]]" section of [[Wikisource]]'s [[s:Portal:Catholicism|Catholicism portal]]}}

===Catholic Church documents===
* [https://www.vatican.va/holy_father/benedict_xvi/speeches/2006/april/documents/hf_ben-xvi_spe_20060422_gesuiti_en.html Benedict XVI's Address to the Members of the Society of Jesus, 22 April 2006] {{Webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130822234112/http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/benedict_xvi/speeches/2006/april/documents/hf_ben-xvi_spe_20060422_gesuiti_en.html |date=22 August 2013 }}
* [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] {{Webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121021230922/http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/benedict_xvi/speeches/2006/november/documents/hf_ben-xvi_spe_20061103_gregoriana_en.html |date=21 October 2012 }}

===Jesuit documents===
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20130520071532/http://www.bc.edu/sites/libraries/ratio/ratio1599.pdf The Jesuit Ratio Studiorum of 1599]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20030626192007/http://duels.doshisha.ac.jp:88/denshika/jesuit/139/imgidx139.html The Jesuit Mission Press in Japan, 1591–1610]
* [http://www.bc.edu/bc_org/rvp/pubaf/05/letter-G8.pdf Letter of the Jesuit Social Justice Secretariat to the leaders of the G8, July 2005] {{Webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170630124944/http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache%3AB3qbVWs1lWUJ%3Awww.bc.edu%2Fbc_org%2Frvp%2Fpubaf%2F05%2Fletter-G8.pdf&hl=en |date=30 June 2017 }}
* [http://www.sacred-texts.com/chr/seil/index.htm The Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius of Loyola] {{Webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101202052324/http://www.sacred-texts.com/chr/seil/index.htm |date=2 December 2010 }}

===Other links===
* [https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b007731w The Jesuits] {{Webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180322022618/http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b007731w |date=22 March 2018 }}, BBC Radio 4 discussion with Nigel Aston, Simon Ditchfield & Olwen Hutton (''In Our Time'', 18 January 2007)
* {{cite web |url=http://www.sjweb.info/ |title=The Jesuit Curia in Rome |access-date=2 April 2012 |archive-date=26 February 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110226195923/http://sjweb.info/ |url-status=live}}
* {{cite web |url=http://www.sjweb.info/arsi/index.cfm?LangTop=1&Publang=1 |title=Archivum Romanum Societatis Iesu – Jesuit Archive in Rome |access-date=2 July 2013 |archive-date=2 July 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130702195735/http://www.sjweb.info/arsi/index.cfm?LangTop=1&Publang=1 |url-status=live}}
* [http://www.odis.be/lnk/en/AE_8783 Archives of Jezuïeten – Belgische (1832–1935) En Vlaamse (1935–) Provincie. 16de Eeuw–2012] in [https://www.odis.eu ODIS – Online Database for Intermediary Structures] {{Webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160428134547/https://www.odis.eu/ |date=28 April 2016 }}
* [https://www.bc.edu/content/bc-web/centers/iajs/digital-projects/journal-of-jesuit-studies.html Journal of Jesuit Studies.] {{Webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210904163121/https://www.bc.edu/content/bc-web/centers/iajs/digital-projects/journal-of-jesuit-studies.html |date=4 September 2021 }} Institute for Advanced Jesuit Studies. Boston College.

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