On This Day in History: September 27

The Jesuits begin

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In 1980 there was a TV miniseries based on James Clavell’s novel of the same name titled Shōgun. The main character was an English sailor, and when he meets a Jesuit priest in Japan, he gets rather pissy. Being only 12 at the time, I didn’t understand why the sailor would hate the priest so much. Later, I learned it’s because Jesuits were dicks.

--On This Day in History, Shit Went Down: September 27, 1540--

Jesuits are members of the Society of Jesus, and Jesus might think they were dicks too. The order was founded by Spanish Basque Catholic priest Ignatius of Loyola and six others. Ignatius’s birth name was Iñigo, and like The Princess Bride character of the same name, he was known for poking holes in people with his sword. However, he was anything but honorable about it.

He was a punk, a womanizer, and often engaged in duels over the slightest insult. A military man, he fought in many battles without injury until a cannonball ricochet shattered his leg, ending his career. During his recovery, he turned to Jesus, and later began the Society of Jesus, which Pope Paul III confirmed on September 27, 1540.

The society’s role is to travel the world and convert people to Catholicism because those heathens are just too fucking stupid and need to be evangelized toward the one true faith. The papal bull that began the order proclaimed them “Government of the Church Militant;” the priests were considered “soldiers of God” in “defense and propagation of the faith” and Ignatius was named Superior General.

In addition to evangelizing Catholicism throughout the world, the order was known for power-seeking within the church, and was linked to assassination attempts of both French and English kings. It also excluded Jews and Muslims who had converted to Catholicism from joining the order. The Goa Inquisition, which was Portuguese Catholics persecuting the shit out of Hindus, Jews, Buddhists, and even other Catholics in India, was initiated by Francis Xavier, a co-founder of the Jesuits. That inquisition lasted almost three centuries. Jesuits also basically gave us the term “the ends justify the means” by believing that it was just peachy to use dirty tactics to win a “righteous” battle.

But there was good with the bad. Jesuit schools were dedicated to the study of science, making significant contributions. Jesuits were also very opposed to Nazis and were viciously targeted by Hitler. The order was active in the rescue of Jews from the Holocaust, often hiding them in monasteries and schools despite the peril associated with doing so.

It remains a powerful and expansive order, active in over a hundred countries worldwide.

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