Originally posted by Mizar
You have asked about the jesuits...
THey too are a relgious order priest. Jesuits specalize in Higher Education. I forget the founder of the order but I know it was named after him.
Jesuits are a wide and common branch of preist. They often set up high standard highschools and colleges. They are devoted to giving a higher
education.
The offical name of the Jesuits is "The Society of Jesus" (Jesuit = Jesus-ite). They were founded in 1504 by St. Ignatius of Loyola (as in a
University in the Big Easy). Thier original goal was to combat the Protestant Reformation. The Jesuits swear an oath to obey the Pope directly. Unlike
most religious orders, Jesuits have no "stability" (i.e. promise that they will stay in a particular place unless something extraordinary happens).
They go where ordered when ordered.
The superior of the Jesuit Order is sometimes called "the black pope." This is a term used in an insulting fashion to imply (with some
justification, historically) that the Jesuits are more loyal to their religious Order than to that other Pope.
In modern times, the Jesuits have emerged as the intellectuals of the Church and are often seen in the forefront of various reform causes.
For more information:
US Jesuit Conference
St. Ignatius's
Spiritual Excersises is considered to be a classic on spiritual formation and pragmatic mystical practice. It's a bit dated
in language in most translations, but still worth a look if you have any interest in such matters. It forms the basis of Jesuit spirituality and
deeply informs the Jesuit approach to theology (which has been said to be "all head and hands and no heart" by its critics).
Many Jesuits died in missionary efforts in Africa and the New World. It was a Jesuit, for example, who wrote the most commonly read account of the
genocide committed by the Spanish in the New World. He was horrified and clearly thought what was being done would damn the souls of those
involved.
A joke:
A Jesuit and a Dominican are arguing about which religious order is the greatest, naturally each prefers his own. So, they decide to write to God to
ask His opinion. They seal the letter, address it to God in Heaven, and mail it (with a Vatican stamp?). A few days latter, they are thrilled when
they open the mail box and find a golden tablet addressed to them. They break the seal on the tablet and read:
My dear Children:
How could you doubt that I love you both equally?
Yours truly,
God, S.J.
(Jesuits sign their names with the postnomial "S.J." to indicate they are members of the Society of Jesus.).
One more joke...
Jesuits were founded to combat the Protestant Refromation. Domenicans were founded to combat the Albegensian Heresy. Today, you see Protestants
everywhere, but when was the last time you met an Albegensian?
(Obscure, but funny.)
Alright. All done.
For the record, I'm not a Jesuit.