RELIGIOUS ENCYCLOPEDIA
Jesuits
dling in politics has not always been to their credit. But when all has been said against them the Jesuits still retain their preeminence. They were the authors of the Counter-Reformation which prevented the collapse of the Roman Catholic Church in lands in which Protestantism had gotten a hold. They gave their church its theology and raised its standard of education and of clerical morality. They cleansed it of much of its foulness, put new breath into its foreign missions, and everywhere displayed a zeal, patience and piety which revived the whole church. And these services in the past are continued into the present, and every year the Roman Catholic Church is still heavier in their debt.]
The number of Jesuits throughout the world is small. In 1902 there were but 15,231 of all grades. The Official Catholic Directory for 1909, pp. 746-747, gives these figures for the United States:
Fathers.
Scholastics.
Lay Brothers.
New York Maryland Province
Missouri Province
New Mexico and Colorado Mission
New Orleans Province. .
California and Rocky Mountain Mission ....
1,023
III. Female Orders in Imitation of Jesuits: The
Society of Jesus has no recognized affiliated societies of women. Before his first pilgrimage to Jerusalem Ignatius formed the acquaintance in Barcelona of Isabella de Rosella, a gifted and wealthy woman, and greatly interested her in his plans and purposes. When he returned in 1524 she ministered to his needs for a considerable time. In 1543, after the society had secured papal approval and when he was occupied with world-wide schemes for the mastery of the nations, she visited him in Rome, with two other like-minded ladies, and begged to be taken under his spiritual guidance. He was unwilling to assume this additional burden; but the persistent women secured from the pope an order (1545) that Ignatius should accede to their wishes. With great reluctance he yielded; but soon found that these women, with the Small sisterhood that they had gathered, gave him more trouble than the administration of the affairs of the entire society, and at his earnest request the pope relieved him of the obligation (1547). It was no easy task to secure the consent of Isabella and her companions to be released from the obligations that they had been so eager to assume; but he was inexorable and Isabella had to be content to be a " mother " rather than " daughter " of the great leader. The English Ladies (q.v.) founded by Mary Ward, an English woman, at St. Omer in Flanders in 1609, sought affiliation with the Jesuits, but failed to secure permanent recognition as Jesuitesses. A similar sorority, founded in 1607 by Johanna, marchioness of Montserrat, came into close relations with the Jesuits without becoming identified with the society. The same may be said of the sisters of the
Sacred Heart and of the Faith of Jesus. It is the policy of the Jesuits to influence and control many of the sisterhoods without assuming any responsibility for them and without entrusting to them the secrets of the society. A. H. Newman.
Bibliography: A rather full list of works, including sources, is given in Hauck-Herzog, RE, viii. 742 sqq.; and a monograph devoted to the subject is A. Carayon, Bibliographie historique de la Compagnie de Jesus, Paris, 1864. Without consulting the earlier and now often inaccessible editions of the documents which created and protected the society, it is possible to obtain a view of all that is essential in the late edition of the documents, 3 vols., Rome, 1869 sqq., which contains the Constitutions, the Examen generale, the pertinent papal bulls, briefs, and privileges, the decrees and canons of the General Constitution, the plan of study, the " Spiritual Exercises," and the Directorium. A late edition of the M onita privata is by C. Souvestre, Paris 1880,
On the general history of the order the great work of De Backer (see vol. i., p. xxiii. of this work) and of Crdtineau-Joly are of first importance; and the literature under Ignatius of Loyola contains much of importance. Consult further for the general history: Maynard, The Studies and Teaching of the Society of Jesus at the Time of its Suppression, 1760-1763, Baltimore, 1855; C. Paroissen, Principles of the Jesuits, London, 1860; J. M. S. Daurignac, Hist, of the Society of Jesus, 2 vols., Cincinnati, 1865; F. Nippold, Der J esuitenorden von seiner WiederhersteUung bis zurGegenwart, Mannheim, 1867; S. Rose, Ignatius Loyola and the Early Jesuits, London, 1871; J. Stephen, Founders of Jesuitism, in Essays in Ecclesiastical Biography, London, 1875; W. C. Cartwright, The Jesuits; their Constitution and Teachings, London, 1876; P. Bert, La Morale des Jesuites, Paris, 1880; T. Griesinger, The Jesuits; a complete History of their Proceedings, London, 1883; T. Carlyle, Jesuitism, in Works, II. 259-485, Boston, 1885; T. Hughes', Loyola and the Educational System of the Jesuits, London, 1892; G. B. Nicolini, Hist, of the Jesuits; their Origin, Progress, Doctrines and Designs, London, 1893; E. Piaget, Essai sur V organisation de la compagnie de Jesus, Paris, 1893; F. H. Reusch, Beitrage zur Geschichte des Jesuitenordens, Munich, 1894; R. W. Thompson, The Footprints of the Jesuits, New York, 1894; E. Gothein, Ignatius von Loyola und die Gegenreformation, Halle, 1895; M. F. Cusaek, The Black Pope; a Hist, of the Jesuits, London, 1896; H. Miiller, Les Origines de la Compagnie de Jesus; Ignace et Lainez, Paris, 1898; A. Hamy, Galerie illustree de la Compagnie de Jesus, Paris, 1900; J. Michelet and E. Quinet, Etude sur les Jesuites, latest ed. Paris, 1900; J. Hochstetter, M onita Secreta; Die geheimen Instrukti'onen der Jesuiten, Stuttgart, 1901; Kaiser Franz Joseph I. und die Jesuiten, Barmen, 1901; L. Wittwe, Friedrich der Grosse und die Jesuiten, Halle, 1901; R. Schwickerath, Jesuit Education, its History and Principles, St. Louis, 1903- J. Bezy, Un predicateur apostolique au 16. siecle, Frey de Neuville, 1693-1774, Paris, 1904; B. Pascal, The Provincial Letters, often reprinted, e.g., New York, 1904; P. Suan, St. Francois de Borgia, 1510-1572, Paris, 1905; A. Brou, Les Jesuites de la legende. Part I. Les Origines jusqu'a Pascal, Paris, 1906.
For the Jesuits in England consult: H. Foley, Records of the English Province of the Society of Jesus, 8 vols. London, 1877-83; A. Kobler, Die Martyrer und Bekenner der Gesellschaft Jesu in England 1580-1681, Innsbruck, 1886; E. L. Taunton, Hist, of the Jesuits in England, 1680- 1773, London, 1901; W. Walsh, The Jesuits in Great Britain, London, 1903. For their history in France: A. Carayon, Documents inedits concernants la Compagnie de Jesus, 23 vols., Poitiers, 1863 sqq.; J. Prat, La Compagnie de Jesus en France, 4 vols., Paris, 1877; E. Piaget, Hist, de Vetablissement des Jesuites en France 1540-1560, Leyden, 1895; M. Chosset, Les Jesuites et lews muvres a Avignon, 1553-1768, Avignon, 1896; E. Souillier, Les Jesuites a Marseille aux 16. et 18. siecles, Avignon, 1899; J. Pra, Les Jesuites a Grenoble, 1587-1763, Lyons, 1901; J. Delfour, Les Jesuites a Poitiers, 1604-1762, Paris, 1902. For Germany: S. Sugenheim, Geschichte der Jesuiten in Deutschland 1640-1773, 2 vols., Frankfort, 1847; J. Hansen, Rheinische Akten zur Geschichte des Jesuitenordens, 1642- 1682, Cologne, 1896; B. Duhr, Die Jesuiten an den deutschen Fiirstenhofen des 16. Jahrhunderts, Freiburg,
Jesus Christ