Organizations
Jesuits (Society of Jesus)
Also Known As Society of Jesus
Religious Order
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Origin 1540
The Society of Jesus (Societas Iesu), founded by Ignatius of Loyola (1491-1556) with companions from the University of Paris and approved by Paul III in the bull Regimini militantis Ecclesiae in 1540. The Jesuits broke with monastic form entirely: no choral office, no distinctive habit, a long and selective formation, a special fourth vow of obedience to the pope regarding mission, and a centralised command under a Superior General. Shaped by the Spiritual Exercises of Ignatius, they became the foremost order of the Counter-Reformation in education, scholarship and global mission from Brazil to Japan. Suppressed by papal decree in 1773 and restored in 1814, they remain the largest male religious order.
Facts
Accountability
Settlement TotalThe Society of Jesus, Oregon Province, the order's Pacific Northwest and Alaska province, agreed a 166.1 million dollar Chapter 11 bankruptcy settlement in 2011 with more than 450 people who brought sexual abuse claims over conduct at Jesuit run schools in Alaska and the Northwest, most of it from the 1950s through the 1980s, per Skagit Valley Herald reporting on the reorganization plan filed in US Bankruptcy Court, Portland, Oregon. This is one province's own settlement, not a figure for the worldwide Society of Jesus or for any other of its provinces, which are separately constituted and settle their own claims independently. Bankruptcy FilingsOne documented filing: the Society of Jesus, Oregon Province's Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization, filed in US Bankruptcy Court, Portland, Oregon, resolving the sexual abuse claims recorded in the settlement total above. Scoped to the Oregon Province alone; not a count for the worldwide Society of Jesus or any other province, which are separately constituted and file, if at all, on their own. Response Policy AdoptedJesuit US policies for investigating and reporting abuse allegations are accredited by Praesidium Inc. In 2018 the Superior General established the worldwide Promotion of a Consistent Culture of Protection (PCCP) project, directing every province toward robust safeguarding policies, regular training, and transparent complaint procedures. 4 A worldwide and US national policy program, distinct from the Oregon Province settlement recorded as a separate fact; this atlas has not verified each individual province's own local implementation. Status
Status TodayLiving tradition, practised today 1 Current StatusThe Society of Jesus remains active today as the largest male religious order in the Catholic Church, governed under a centralized Superior General, having been suppressed by papal decree in 1773 and restored in 1814. 2 Finances
Institutional Wealth or FinancesThe Society of Jesus, Oregon Province, the order's Pacific Northwest and Alaska province, agreed a 166.1 million dollar bankruptcy settlement in 2011 with more than 450 people who brought sexual abuse claims over conduct at Jesuit run schools in Alaska and the Northwest, most of it from the 1950s through the 1980s. Safeco Insurance Co paid 118 million dollars, the province itself contributed 43.1 million dollars, and 6.5 million dollars was reserved for future claims. This is one province's own settlement, not a figure for the worldwide Society of Jesus or for any other of its provinces, which are separately constituted and settle their own claims independently. 3 Basis of the Wealth FigureCourt-Documented Inventory 3 Financial Disclosure RegimeUS federal Chapter 11 bankruptcy court settlement disclosure, covering the Oregon Province alone. The worldwide Society of Jesus and its other, separately constituted provinces are not subject to this or any comparable court disclosure and settle their own claims independently. 3 Wealth Figure As Of Year Origins
Origin Period FounderIgnatius of Loyola (1491 to 1556), together with companions he gathered at the University of Paris. 2 FoundedIgnatius and his companions were approved as a religious order by Pope Paul III in the bull Regimini militantis Ecclesiae in 1540, formally constituting the Society of Jesus around the Spiritual Exercises Ignatius had already written. 1 Organisation
Category of StructureMatches the Community value already carried by the other Catholic religious orders on file. Membership EligibilityAn order of men; no corresponding order of women was founded Reach of Its AuthorityOne order, school or lineage, wherever it is found 1 A superior general, with a centralised government unusual among the orders History
Historical NoteSuppressed by papal decree in 1773 and restored in 1814; the Jesuits remain the largest male religious order today. 2 Learn More
The Order That Broke with Monastic Form on Purpose
The Society of Jesus was designed as a deliberate departure from everything monastic, and that design is what made it the foremost order of the Counter-Reformation.
No choir, no habit, long formation
Approved in 1540, the Jesuits abandoned the choral office, the distinctive habit and the enclosure that defined the older orders. In their place they put a long and selective formation, a centralised command under a Superior General, and a special fourth vow of obedience to the pope regarding mission, so that the order could be deployed rapidly and globally rather than rooted to a house. Shaped by the Spiritual Exercises of Ignatius of Loyola, the members were preachers, teachers and missionaries first.
Suppression and restoration
The order became the leading force of the Counter-Reformation in education, scholarship and mission from Brazil to Japan, and it made enemies in proportion. It was suppressed outright by papal decree in 1773, under pressure from the Catholic monarchies, and restored in 1814, a near-total dissolution and revival that no other major order has undergone. It remains the largest male religious order, and the tension between its central obedience and its intellectual independence has run through its whole history.
Suppressed by Rome, Kept Alive by an Orthodox Empress
The mobility and international reach the Jesuits' design made possible produced both the order's greatest successes and, eventually, its temporary destruction. Missionaries trained in the Society's system reached remarkably far within decades of the 1540 approval, including Matteo Ricci's mission to the Ming court in China and the large scale mission settlements, the reductions, established among Guarani communities in Paraguay, both frequently cited as demonstrations of how far the order's mobile, unenclosed structure let it operate compared with older monastic forms. That same reach, wealth and political influence eventually provoked a backlash from Bourbon monarchies in Portugal, France and Spain, who pressured Rome until Pope Clement XIV suppressed the Society outright in 1773, dissolving it as a legal institution across most of Catholic Europe.
The order survived this suppression only because of an unlikely protector: Catherine the Great of Russia, ruling a mostly Orthodox empire with no obligation to enforce a papal brief, declined to promulgate the suppression within her territory, allowing Jesuit communities in the Russian Empire to continue operating without interruption until Pope Pius VII formally restored the Society worldwide in 1814, over four decades after its dissolution elsewhere.
Cross-Tradition Connections
Associated With
The targeted religious order. This is an Associated With edge to the order that was expelled, not a perpetrator-tradition edge; the perpetrator was the Spanish crown.
The targeted order; its members were expelled from Portugal and its overseas dominions and its property seized.
Belongs to Tradition
Instance Of
Clerks regular, without choir office or enclosure.
Objects and Practices of This Tradition
The Exercises are the formation the Society of Jesus is built on.
Sources
1. The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church, 3rd revised edition
F. L. Cross and E. A. Livingstone (eds.), Oxford University Press, 2005on the Society of Jesus, its constitutions and suppressionView the Source 1. The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church, 3rd revised edition
F. L. Cross and E. A. Livingstone (eds.), Oxford University Press, 2005JesuitsView the Source 2. Encyclopedia of Religion
Mircea Eliade (ed.); Lindsay Jones (ed., 2nd ed.), Macmillan Reference, 2005on the Jesuits and the break with monastic formView the Source 3. NW Jesuits: Bankruptcy Plan After Abuse Settlement (Skagit Valley Herald, 2011)
4. The Society of Jesus, Protecting Children (Jesuits.org)
The Society of Jesus, Jesuit Conference of Canada and the United StatesView the Source Reader Challenges (0 open reader challenges)
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