What makes jesuits different from catholics

They not only sent missionaries but also trained them to present the Gospel in a manner suited to the cultures of various peoples. Francis Xavier is the most famous, but he was by no means alone. Matteo Ricci and Robert de Nobili are only two of dozens of outstanding missionaries who preached the Gospel in an inculturated form, inspired by the principles of St.

Proclamation in an accommodated style is not less needed today than in the past. The fields are white for the harvest, but the laborers are few. Who can better fill the urgent demand for priests to proclaim the Gospel and administer the sacraments in continents like Africa, where conversions to Christianity are so numerous and so rapid?

Jesuits in the young churches, if they are well trained, can take up the task left to them by foreign missionaries. The age of Ignatius was no stranger to the clash of civilizations. The Muslim world and the Christian world were engaged in incessant warfare. Jews were being mistreated and persecuted in many countries.

Jesuit missionaries encountered fierce opposition from religious leaders in practically every country they evangelized. In the course of time, they became leaders in interreligious dialogue. Missionaries learned to respect the good things in native cultures while sifting out the chaff. That is still a task of great urgency today. Jesuits have in their tradition rich resources for learning how and how not to deal with non-Christian religions.

Bloody conflict and useless provocation must be avoided, while, on the other hand, Christians must frankly oppose elements in every religion and every culture that promote superstition or injustice. The 16th century saw the division of Western Christianity between the Protestant nations of northern Europe and the Catholic nations of the south.

The Jesuits, few though they were in number, accomplished great things by their energy and heroism. Peter Faber did extraordinary work to stem the tide of heresy in Germany and the Low Countries. He inspired Peter Canisius and a host of others to go forward in his footsteps. One wonders what the Jesuits of those days would have done if they were alive today to see the defection of so many Latino Catholics from the church in the United States and in Central and South America.

The need is evident; the principles are clear; but there are all too few talented candidates to take up the task. Centralization of the church was imperative in the days of St. He himself clearly perceived the need for the papacy as the headquarters of the universal church. He saw that Catholicism must be universal and that nationalism and ethnocentrism could have no place in it. He founded a Society made up of Spaniards, Portuguese, Frenchmen, Germans, Italians, Englishmen and many others who worked together in an undivided apostolate under the direction of a single general superior.

One of the great blessings of the Society of Jesus, today as in the past, is its worldwide horizon. A great weakness of the church in the Europe of St. Many priests were barely literate, and the laity in some countries did not know the basic elements of the Creed.

Rather than complain and denounce, Ignatius preferred to build. Popular education, he perceived, was on the rise. Taking advantage of the new desire for learning, Ignatius quickly set about founding schools, colleges and seminaries. The educational efforts of the Jesuits in the past count among their greatest services to the church. These educational institutions, I believe, are still among the major blessings that the Society of Jesus offers to the church and to the culture at large.

Jesuits in the past have entered deeply into the intellectual apostolate. Many were leaders in practical sciences such as political theory. Nothing suggests that this type of research has lost its relevance. The church needs loyal and devoted scholars who will carry this type of reflection further, in view of new and developing situations.

Here again the Society has much to contribute if sufficient numbers will hear the call. In the 16th century, the Society of Jesus was at the vanguard of the church in dealing with the problems posed by the Protestant Reformation, by the new science and by access to new continents that had been beyond the awareness of Europeans in the past. Today the church is confronted with mounting secularism, with new advances in technology, and growing globalization and an attending clash of cultures.

If anyone should ask whether these developments render the Ignatian charisms obsolete, I would reply with an emphatic no. The Society can be abreast of the times if it adheres to its original purpose and ideals.

Not to mention enemies for whom Jesuit is a term of opprobrium, friends of the Society sometimes identify the term with independence of thought and corporate pride, both of which St. Ignatius deplored. Others reduce the Jesuit trademark to a matter of educational techniques, such as the personal care of students, concern for the whole person, rigor in thought and eloquence in expression.

These qualities are estimable and have a basis in the teaching of St. But they omit any consideration of the fact that the Society of Jesus is an order of vowed religious in the Catholic Church.

They are bound by special allegiance to the pope, the bishop of Rome. And above all, it needs to be mentioned that the Society of Jesus is primarily about a person: Jesus, the redeemer of the world. If the Society were to lose its special devotion to the Lord which, I firmly trust, will never happen it would indeed be obsolete. It would be like salt that had lost its savor. One such order, the Society of Jesus, or the Jesuits, is currently in the spotlight due to the election of one of its members to the Catholic papacy.

While recovering from injuries sustained in battle, the Spanish soldier Ignatius of Loyola decided to devote his life to being a soldier of God. In , Loyola and his friends sought approval from the Pope to go on a pilgrimage to the Holy Land. Soon, the Vatican allowed the Jesuits to expand their ministry to the rest of Europe and the colonies.

The young religious order played a huge role in spreading Catholic education throughout Europe. This nickname refers to the black cassock that members of the Society frequently wear. As European countries started colonizing the rest of the world, Jesuit missionaries went with them. In the Americas, they established a foothold on the Atlantic coast as well as the Midwest. They established a worldwide network of schools, colleges and universities well-known for classical studies and theology.

Today, Jesuit educational institutions are highly regarded throughout the world. Members of the order engage in scientific and academic pursuits outside of their work as priests. The Jesuits are an apostolic religious community called the Society of Jesus.

They are grounded in love for Christ and animated by the spiritual vision of their founder, St. Ignatius of Loyola, to help others and seek God in all things. A Jesuit education forms well-rounded students with a passion for knowledge and personal growth. This is one of the main philosophies of Jesuit teaching: cura personalis, or the care for the whole person. Its actually XP. They are the Greek letters for Ch and r, which are the first two letters in Christ.

In other words, Jesuits must be ready to accept whatever mission the Pope requires, a vow that is reflective of our broader dedication to the universal Church, and to the greater good of all people from all faiths and cultures. Our collaboration with the laity flows from our personal relationships with Christ.

We see ourselves as companions of Jesus, and we invite others to join with us, as friends in the Lord. Together we build up the body of Christ. Skip to content. About Us.