SOCIETY OF JESUS (JESUIT ORDER)
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History of the Jesuits |
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The Society of Jesus (Latin:Societas Iesu, S.J., SJ or SI) is a Christian male religious congregation of the Catholic Church. The members are calledJesuits. The society is engaged in evangelization and apostolic ministry in 112 nations on six continents. Jesuits work in education (founding schools, colleges, universities and seminaries), intellectual research, and cultural pursuits. Jesuits also give retreats, minister in hospitals and parishes and promote social justice and ecumenical dialogue.
Ignatius of Loyola founded the society after being wounded in battle and experiencing a religious conversion. He composed the Spiritual Exercisesto help others follow the teachings of Jesus Christ. In 1534, Ignatius and six other young men, including Francis Xavier and Peter Faber, gathered and professed vows of poverty, chastity, and later obedience, including a special vow of obedience to the Pope. Rule 13 of Ignatius's Rules for Thinking with the Church stated:
That we may be altogether of the same mind and in conformity ... if [the Holy See of the Universal Church (Roman Catholic Church)] shall have defined anything to be black which to our eyes appears to be white, we ought in like manner to pronounce it to be black.[2]
Ignatius's plan of the order's organization was approved byPope Paul III in 1540 by a bullcontaining the "Formula of the Institute," as described below.
Ignatius had a military background, and members were supposed to accept orders anywhere in the world, where they might be required to live in extreme conditions. Accordingly, the opening lines of the founding document declared that the Society was founded for "whoever desires to serve as a soldier of God[3](Spanish: "todo el que quiera militar para Dios"),[4] to strive especially for the defense and propagation of the faith and for the progress of souls in Christian life and doctrine."[5]Jesuits are thus sometimes referred to colloquially as "God's Soldiers"[6] or "God's Marines" or "the Pope's Secret Service".[7] The Society participated in the Counter-Reformation and, later, in the implementation of the Second Vatican Council in the Catholic Church.
The Society of Jesus isconsecrated under thepatronage of Madonna Della Strada, a title of the Blessed Virgin Mary, and it is led by aSuperior General, currentlyAdolfo Nicolás.[8][9]
The headquarters of the society, its General Curia, is in Rome.[10] The historic curia of St. Ignatius is now part of theCollegio del Gesù attached to the Church of the Gesù, the Jesuit Mother Church.
In 2013, Pope Francis became the first Jesuit Pope.
STATISTICS
| Region | Jesuits | Percentage |
|---|---|---|
| Africa | 1,509 | 2% |
| South Latin America | 1,221 | 4% |
| North Latin America | 1,226 | 12% |
| South Asia | 4,016 | 48% |
| Asia-Pacific | 1,639 | 3% |
| Central and East Europe | 1,641 | 5% |
| West Europe | 1,541 | 9% |
| North America | 2,467 | 22% |
The Jesuits today form the largest men's single religious order of priests and brothers in the Catholic Church,[12](although they are surpassed by the Franciscan family of first orders Order of Friars Minor (OFM), OFM Capuchins, and Conventuals). As of 1 January 2013, Jesuits numbered 17,287: 12,298 clerics regular (priests), 2,878 scholastics (students t