Jesuit

Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam, "For the greater glory of God". These words define the philosophy of the Society of Jesus, or as they are more colloquially known, the Jesuits; a religious order of the Roman Catholic Church, founded by the Spanish priest Ignatius Loyola. Who were they? What was their mission? Let's find out!

Jesuit meaning

The term Jesuit is a shorter name for the members of the Society of Jesus. The founder of the order was Ignatius de Loyola, who, today is venerated as a Saint of the Catholic church.

The Society of Jesus was formally approved in 1540 by Pope Paul III after he decreed the Papal Bull named Regimini Militantis Ecclesiae.

Fig. 1 - Emblem of the Society of Jesus from the 17^th century

Jesuit founder

The founder of the Society of Jesus was Ignatius de Loyola. Loyola was born into a wealthy Spanish Loyola family from the Basque region. Initially, he had practically no interest in church matters as he aimed to become a knight.

Fig. 2 - Portrait of Ignatius de Loyola

In 1521, Loyola was present during the Battle of Pamplona where he was severely wounded in the legs. Loyola had had his right leg shattered by a ricocheting cannonball. Gravely wounded, he was taken back to his family home, where he could do nought but lay in convalescence for months.

During his recovery, Loyola was given religious texts like the Bible and the Lives of Christ and the Saints. The religious texts made a great impression on the wounded Loyola. Due to his broken leg, he was left with an everlasting limp. Though he could no longer be a knight in a traditional sense, he could be one in service to God.

In 1522, Loyola began his pilgrimage. He set off to Montserrat where he would hand up his sword near the statue of the Virgin Mary and where he would live for a year as a beggar, praying seven times a day. In a year (1523), Loyola left Spain to see the Holy Land, “kiss the land where our Lord walked”, and fully commit to a life of asceticism and penance.

Loyola would dedicate the next decade to studying the teachings of the saints and the Church.

The Jesuits were a vital part of the Counter-Reformation as they achieved the Catholic Church's two main aims during the Protestant Reformation: missionary work and education in Catholic beliefs. Thanks to the work of Ignatius de Loyola and the Society of Jesus, Catholicism was able to counter the Protestant advances throughout Europe, and notably in the New World across the Atlantic.

The Society of Jesus was very much a Renaissance order, serving the purpose of stabilising Catholicism amid the surge of Protestantism. As Enlightenment ideals spread at the close of the 17^th century, countries began to move to a more secular, political absolute form of government - which the Jesuits opposed, favouring Catholic hegemony and the authority of the Pope instead. As such, Jesuits were expelled from many European countries, such as Portugal, Spain, France, Austria, and Hungary at the end of the 18^th century.

The Society of Jesus has continued to be suppressed and restored since due to their strict adherence to the Papacy and belief in hegemonic Catholic societies in contrast to new political ideologies. Today, there are over 12,000 Jesuit priests, and the Society of Jesus is the largest Catholic group, still operating in 112 countries, notably in North America, where there are 28 Jesuit-founded universities.