The Jesuits

  • Aug 15, 1534

    The Meeting at St. Denis

    The Meeting at St. Denis
    Ignatius of Loyola and six other students at the University of Paris met in a crypt beneath the church of Saint Denis. They eventually called themselves the Company of Jesus.
  • Aug 23, 1540

    Ignatius' Ordainment

    Ignatius' Ordainment
    In 1537, they traveled to Italy to seek papal approval for their order. Pope Paul III gave them a commendation, and permitted them to be ordained priests. Eventually they'd be called the Society of Jesus later in 1540.
  • Jul 16, 1541

    Francis Xavier

    Francis Xavier
    Francis Xavier, one of the original companions of Loyola, arrived in Goa, in Western India, in 1541 to consider evangelical service in the Indies
  • Mar 14, 1543

    Ignatius' Impact on Europe

    Ignatius was chosen as the first superior-general. He sent his companions as missionaries around Europe to create schools, colleges, and seminaries.
  • Sep 26, 1554

    Jesuit Constitutions

    Jesuit Constitutions
    Ignatius wrote the Jesuit Constitutions, adopted in 1554, which created a tightly centralized organization and stressed total abnegation and obedience to the Pope and their religious superiors
  • Jesuits Enter Canada

    Jesuits Enter Canada
    The Jesuits left for Canada to explore and shape significantg parts of the nation's history.
  • Stanislaus Czerniewicz

    Stanislaus Czerniewicz
    Stanislaus Czerniewicz was elected superior of the Society in 1782.
  • Jesuit's foundations

    Jesuit's foundations
    The Jesuits in 1814 was marked by tremendous growth, as evidenced by the large number of Jesuit colleges and universities established in the 19th century. In the United States, 22 of the Society's 28 universities were founded
  • Banishing of the Jesuits

    Banishing of the Jesuits
    In Switzerland, following the defeat of the Sonderbund of some Catholic cantons by the other cantons, the constitution was modified and Jesuits were banished in 1848
  • Jesuits Struggle in the Halocaust

    Jesuits Struggle in the Halocaust
    A plaque commemorating the 152 Jesuit priests who gave of their lives during the Holocaust was installed at Rockhurst University, a Jesuit university, in Kansas City, Missouri, United States, in April 2007, the first such plaque in the world