Society of Jesus

The Society of Jesus (Societas Iesu/Jesu (S.J.) in Latin) is a Christian religious order of the Roman Catholic Church in direct service to the Pope. Its members, known as Jesuits since the Protestant Reformation, have been called "Footsoldiers of the Pope" in part because the Society's founder, Saint Ignatius of Loyola, was a Basque nobleman and soldier before his conversion. Today, Jesuits number over 20,000 and comprise the largest religious order in the Catholic Church. Jesuit priests and brothers are engaged in ministries in 112 nations on six continents. Their work is focused on education and intellectual contributions, primarily at colleges and universities.

Expansion

Early missions in Japan resulted in the government granting the Jesuits the feudal fiefdom of Nagasaki in 1580. This was removed in 1587, however, due to fears over their growing influence.

Related Topics:
Japan - Nagasaki - 1580 - 1587

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Francis Xavier arrived in Goa, in Western India in 1541 to consider evangelical service in the Indies. He passed away after a decade of evangelism in Southern India. Under Portuguese royal patronage, the order thrived in Goa and until 1759 successfully expanded its activities to education and healthcare. On 17 December 1760, Marquis of Pombal, Secretary of State in Portugal expelled the Jesuits from India.

Related Topics:
Francis Xavier - Goa - India - 17 December - 1760 - Marquis of Pombal - Secretary of State

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Two Jesuit missionaries, Gruber and D'Orville, reached Lhasa in Tibet in 1661.

Related Topics:
Lhasa - Tibet

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Jesuit missions in Latin America were very 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 Indians and slavery. Together throughout South America but especially in present-day Brazil and Paraguay they formed Christian-Indian city-states, called reductions (Spanish Reducciones). These were societies set up according to an idealized theocratic model. It is partly because the Jesuits protected the Indians whom certain Spanish and Portuguese colonizers wanted to enslave that the Society of Jesus was suppressed.

Related Topics:
Mission - Latin America - Spain - Portugal - South America - Brazil - Paraguay - Reducciones - Theocratic

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Jesuit priests such as Manoel 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 Indian nations

Related Topics:
Manoel da Nóbrega - José de Anchieta - 16th century - São Paulo - Rio de Janeiro - Pacification - Religious conversion - Education - Indian nations

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Jesuit mission in China brought about the Chinese Rites controversy in the early 18th century.

Related Topics:
China - Chinese Rites controversy - 18th century

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Jesuit scholars working in these foreign missions to the "heathens" were very important in understanding their unknown languages and strived for producing Latinicized grammars and dictionaries, the first organized efforts at linguistics. This was done, for instance, for Japanese (see Japanese-Portuguese Dictionary of 1603) and Tupi-Guarani (a language group of South American aborigines).

Related Topics:
Heathen - Grammar - Dictionaries - Linguistics - Japanese - Japanese-Portuguese Dictionary of 1603 - Tupi-Guarani

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