Jesuits

This is one of the spiritual orders that exists within Roman Catholic Church. It was formed in 1534 by Ignatius of Loyola – a Spaniard of Baseque origin in union with six other students at the University of Paris.  The group called themselves the “Company of Jesus” or “Friends in the Lord”.

Origin Of The Group

The group “the company of Jesus” as initially called was later renamed as the “Society of Jesus” after having approval to operate as an order within Roman Catholic Church by Pope Paul III who equally permitted them to be ordained as priests.

The order was called the “Jesuits” in reproach by the opposers of the movement. Jesuit means a person who frequently use the name of Jesus.  This term was a deregotary name for the group from (1544-52) until the members and supporters adopted the name for the group.

The group is listed among the “Mendicant order of Clerks regular” which is made up of Priests that were composed for apostolic work in line of a religious rule that relies on donations and alms for their operation.

During approval of the group by Pope Paul III, it was adopted as for church militant in recognition of its disciplinary method of religious or mystical order. By the constitution of the order that was adopted in 1553, members are meant to demonstrate total obedience to the Pope and their religious superiors.

Purpose Of The Order

The initial intension of Ignatius of Loyola was to develope an order that will address internal reform of the Catholic Church to tackle the menace of corruption, spiritual lassitude and illiteracy among the priests in the church. The group was made up to promote an extreme high level of academic preparation for the ministry of priesthood.  It equally fought against flamboyancy and greed of money amongst the priesthood.

The group equally served as one of the orders that composed of the Counter-Reformation of the Roman Catholic Church. Although, the order commenced before the official declaration of the Counter-Reformation but its rigorous training of missioners and teachers on classical studies and theology helped the Catholic Church as it produced many capable elites that stood out against the protestant reformers on both scholarly or intellectual debates.

Jesuits were sent as missionaries to various parts of the world to inculcate the culture of Catholicism to natives that had not the glimpse of the movement and equally engaged the Protestants reformers at areas that Protestantism had overran the Catholics

For example, the Jesuits founded missions at Japan, Ontario and Ethiopia and equally stopped the Protestants control of Poland and Southern Germany.  The group was identified as the “Papal's elite troop” based on its implicit loyalty to the Pope.

Education As A Tool

The Jesuits used academism to outlive other notable orders that existed before or during its period. They were religious orders like the Beneditines, Cistercians, Camaldolese, Hermites of Monte Corona, Poor Hermites of Saint Francis of Assisi (Minim Friars), Capchins, Theatines, Somaschi Fathers, the Barnabites, the Ursulines, the Clerics Regular of the Mother of God of Lucca, the Camillinas, the Adorno Fathers, the Piarists, the Oratorians etc.

But Pope Paul III gave much regard for Jesuits because of its implicit loyalty to the Papacy, influential and intellectuality fashioned for Counter-Reformation and their contribution towards academic developments of priests and individuals.

The Jesuits order played prominent role during the late Renaissance as it served as a missionary order and as the first to establish colleges and universities as a distinct ministry. During 16th century, the order has established as well as 74 colleges that gave aid to liberal education and classical teachings of humanism into the scholastic method of Catholicism.

The academic brilliance of Jesuits helped the Roman Catholic Church to regain many empires from Protestantism.

The Jesuits Colleges influenced the study of vernacular literatures that helped to train out lawyers and civil officials.

The Jesuits at foreign missions laid emphasis on studying of the native languages and made out the Latinized grammars and dictionaries. These dictionaries includes the Japanese dictionaries, Japanese – Portuguese dictionaries, Vietnamese alphabets and Vietnamese – Portuguese – Latin dictionary, Tapi which is the central language in Brazil. Some of these alphabetic structures that were formed by Jesuits for various languages exists till date.

The order helped to establish cities as the Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro in Brazil and helped to fashion good relationship between the Native Americans and slaves.

Challenges And Summary

The Jesuits experienced some challenges especially from the angle of the Protestant Churches and their associate emperors.  For instance, the Jesuits order formed the Christian American city states called the “Reductions” which protected the natives from enslavement of the Spanish and Portuguese Colonizers. This political and theological move attracted the Portuguese to suppress or cage its operations.

Again, during the thirty years war, many emperors called for the prohibition of the Jesuits and their activities.

In summary, the Jesuits order was a Catholic intellectual watch dog that confronted the Protestant reformers in many intellectual debates and assaults.  The body was not established to reawaken the Lost values of primitive Yahosheanism that the early apostles stood for.  It was never a reformation towards the pagan doctrines of the Roman Catholic Church rather it stood in defence to all the central doctrines of the Catholicism.

Although the group played prominent role towards universal academism and added strong value towards spiritual exercise of its members and catholic priesthood at large but did not work to promote the tenets of Yahosheanism as required from a positive religious or spiritual order.

Millions of Catholic faithful came to life in Catholicism through the order but were misdirected for not following the real practices and dogmas laid by Yahoshea Meshiyach and his followers.