-
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.
-
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.
-
Francis Xavier, one of the original companions of Loyola, arrived in Goa, in Western India, in 1541 to consider evangelical service in the Indies
-
Ignatius was chosen as the first superior-general. He sent his companions as missionaries around Europe to create schools, colleges, and seminaries.
-
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
-
The Jesuits left for Canada to explore and shape significantg parts of the nation's history.
-
Stanislaus Czerniewicz was elected superior of the Society in 1782.
-
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
-
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
-
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
