Pope Francis was the primary pontiff elected from the Society of Jesus — also referred to as the Jesuits.
It’s one of the outstanding religious orders within the Catholic Church, with roughly 15,000 priests, brothers and novices from greater than 110 countries.
Their reach extends from prestigious universities in world capitals to humble migrant shelters in sweltering jungle hamlets, all in pursuit of the mission encapsulated of their motto — “ad majorem Dei gloriam” (“for the greater glory of God”).
“As if answering an implicit query about who a Jesuit is, Pope Francis … affirmed that ‘the Jesuit is a servant of the enjoyment of the Gospel’ in whatever mission he’s engaging,” the order’s superior general, the Rev. Arturo Sosa, wrote in his message to fellow Jesuits upon Francis’ death.
Here are some essential facts in regards to the Jesuits.
The history and global presence of the Jesuits
The order was founded within the sixteenth century by Spanish St. Ignatius of Loyola, whose “Spiritual Exercises” are still a classic of Catholic contemplative practices. From the start, he emphasized the missionary, international reach of the order.
Over the next centuries, the Jesuits have built a popularity in scholarship and education, founding schools and universities across the globe, including Georgetown University in Washington and the Pontifical Gregorian University, which serves mostly clergy, nuns and seminarians in Rome.
Far from the halls of academia, the Jesuits have also often led frontline efforts to assist those on the margins, ministering at many border flashpoints within the Americas and to refugees from conflict and humanitarian crises worldwide.
That ability to maneuver from socio-political elites to probably the most marginalized has been an indicator of the Jesuits from their founding, said the Rev. Bruce Morrill, a Jesuit priest and theology professor at Vanderbilt University in Tennessee.
“God is glorified where human beings are saved,” Morrill said, summarizing the thread between the Jesuits’ educational, spiritual, social justice and humanitarian missions.
The Jesuit ministry to refugees and migrants, a priority for Francis
Jesuit Refugee Service was founded in 1980 to answer the growing needs of those escaping the aftermath of the Vietnam War.
Since then, it has develop into one of the energetic organizations globally in helping refugees, asylum seekers and migrants around the globe, no matter their faith. Advocating for migrants was one in all Francis’ top priorities.
There are also Jesuit Migrant Network and Jesuit Migrant Service groups energetic in lots of countries, providing humanitarian, legal, psycho-social and pastoral care to those displaced by violence or hunger.
They also minister to the families migrants leave behind. Nearly two dozen migrants left from the realm around a small town in Guatemala’s largely Indigenous highlands, only to die en route in Mexico and the United States in recent mass tragedies. The parents and siblings of the dead said the Jesuits were the one constant support.
The Rev. Michael Gallagher, a Jesuit priest and attorney, ministered to 13,000 migrants last 12 months in El Paso, Texas, where his church used to operate a shelter just a few blocks north of the U.S.-Mexico border. It is now closed, because of the big drop in border crossings.
“We all felt greatly supported by his keeping saying that migrants are essential,” Gallagher said of Francis. “His continued concentrate on the humanity and human dignity of all people, especially those often demonized, is one in all his lasting contributions.”
Also in Texas, the Rev. Brian Strassburger, one other Jesuit priest, directs Del Camino Border Ministries within the Rio Grande Valley and has often visited nearby shelters in Mexico. He called Francis a “great pastor and pilgrim” who put “the defense of migrants at the middle of his papacy” from the start through his final Easter message.
“He consistently reminded us that we’re all migrants on a journey on this life, and our final destination is everlasting rest with the Lord,” Strassburger said.
Political struggles and controversies through the centuries
At one point in history the Jesuits were refugees of sorts themselves — Pope Clement XIV, bowing to pressure from European political interests in 1773, ordered the society to be disbanded. In 1814, a distinct pope restored the Jesuits, who got right back into their educational vocation.
Just two years ago, Nicaragua’s government confiscated the Jesuit-run University of Central America, which had been a hub of massive protests against President Daniel Ortega. His crackdown on religious freedom has been widely condemned.
During El Salvador’s civil war, the church tried to mediate peace between the federal government and people rising against it when, in 1989, soldiers killed six Jesuits on the campus of the Central American University within the country’s capital.
Many communities in Mexico are still grieving the 2022 murder of two elderly Jesuit priests within the distant Tarahumara mountains by a pacesetter of one in all Mexico’s crime gangs.
The Jesuits have also been targets of controversy, from abuses in former residential schools for Indigenous children in Canada and the United States affiliated with the order to a recent case involving a famous ex-Jesuit artist.
The order announced last month reparations to some 20 women who said they were sexually, psychologically and spiritually abused by the Rev. Marko Rupnik, who was expelled by the Jesuits in 2023.
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