In 1540, Ignatius of Loyola, together with nine companions, founded the Society of Jesus –a religious order whose members are recognized worldwide as “Jesuits”- expressing, in this way, his wish to serve God and the Church “under the Roman Pontiff”, in order to be sent to those places where, according to his view, could offer a bigger service to others.
The new order was founded for “the defense and propagation of the faith and the benefit of the souls in the Christian life and doctrine. To bring peace to those who dissented, assist and serve prisoners and ill people through charity work, and provide any service to the Church, which would contribute to the Glory of God and to the Universal wellbeing”.
Some years later, the Jesuits had spread throughout Europe, India, Japan, Brazil, Ethiopia, among others, working at Schools and Hospitals, Prisons and Missions, as theologians and scientists, developing the apostolates demanded by the Church, assisting the Church wherever it was necessary and for any needed purpose.
The Superior General of the Society of Jesus is the Father Adolfo Nicolás s.j., elected in the 35th General Congregation of the Society of Jesus in January 2008. Among the challenges that Father Nicolás proposed the Jesuits at the beginning of the 21st century, two ideas become especially relevant: keeping the process of going to the borders of our world, any kind of borders, and being like fires that pass on a flame which should light the world with passion and gospel…
As the world changes, the context of our mission changes as well, and the new borders send us signals that demand our reply (CG35, d.2, n24).
The society in numbers
Today, 18.000 Jesuits -present in 127 countries and distributed in 85 provinces- continue Saint Ignatius’s work in all the places where the Church sends them.
50 Jesuits in Uruguay and 150 in Argentina, make up the Provincia Argentino-Uruguaya.
With a long tradition in education, the Society has 207 universities, 472 Secondary schools, 165 Primary schools and 78 Professional o Technological centres. 125.000 secular people and 4.000 Jesuits, work in those institutions, either as educators or administrators. In addition, there are 2.800 centres which belong to the Educational Networks (Redes Educativas). The total number of students is around two and a half million.
The objective of the Ignatian education is the training of students who live a faith that accepts the obligation of working for others in the world. This idea was captured in the famous phrase by Father Arrupe s.j. (Superior General of the Society of Jesus, 1965 – 1983): “Men and women for others”. The phrase implies an essential characteristic of the Jesuit education: the formation of men and women who devote their lives to serve others, especially those who are more needy.
