The Jesuit Order has been around for almost 500 years (founded in 1534). This male monastic order was a product of the era of the counter-reformation. In fact, it was created for the rehabilitation of the Catholic Church. At the same time, historians are far from unambiguously characterizing his activities. Why? Let's take a look at some interesting facts.
Fact 1. First, let's talk about who the founder of the Jesuit order was. Ignatius Loyola was a Spanish aristocrat who devoted his youth to the war. Some consider Ignatius Loyola a saint, while others consider him an ordinary religious fanatic. He himself admitted that he was "daring in wooing women, he cheaply valued both his own and other people's lives." But having been seriously wounded during the defense of Pamplona in 1521, Iñigo de Loyola decided to drastically change his life. After studying in Spain and then in France, he became a priest. Even during his studies, Ignatius, together with 6 like-minded people, took vows of chastity, non-possession and missionary work. The officially indicated order was approved in 1540. It is quite possible that it wasLoyola contributed to the fact that the order was organized almost along military lines.
Fact 2. The Jesuit Order is in many ways a missionary organization. True, the preaching methods used by the Jesuits are far from the biblical examples. After all, they always tried to achieve success in the named case as soon as possible. For example, while preaching in China, the Jesuits primarily studied the customs of the locals. They presented Christianity as a kind of Chinese religion. So, the Jesuits behaved like admirers of Confucius. In particular, members of the order, according to a pagan rite, made sacrifices to Confucius and their ancestors, they substantiated Christianity with the sayings of the mentioned philosopher, hung out plaques in temples with the inscription “Worship the sky!”. The Jesuit order acted in the same way in India. While preaching to the Indians, they were mindful of the existence of castes. For example, the Jesuits rejected any close association with pariahs (“untouchables”). The latter even received communion at the end of a long stick. What the Jesuits preached was a bizarre mixture of Christian and pagan beliefs.
Fact 3. "The end justifies the means" is the famous motto followed by the Jesuit order. Indeed, in order to achieve their goals, the Jesuits used any means: deceit, bribery, forgery, slander, espionage, and even murder. When it came to the interests of the order, there could be no moral barriers for the Jesuit. Thus, many historians believe thatit was the Jesuits who staged the assassination of the French king Henry of Navarre. Members of the order openly justified the murder of a tyrant ruler. The Jesuits are also credited with organizing the so-called Gunpowder Plot that took place in England in 1605. The Swedish king Gustavus Adolphus called the members of this order the perpetrators of the disasters throughout Germany. Because of their active work, the Jesuits were expelled from Portugal, Spain, France and Naples. Therefore, it is not surprising that hypocrites, as well as cunning and crafty people, are now often called Jesuits.
