The Jesuits receive papal approval. In Rome, Pope Paul III delivers the papal bull “Regiminis militanti” to the Society of Jesus, a Roman Catholic missionary organization. The order was founded in 1534 by Ignatius of Loyola, a Spanish soldier who became a priest. In the 17th century, Jesuit missionaries, who played such a major role in the 16th-century Counter-Reformation, began to spread beyond Europe. The highly educated “black sai,” as they were known in their native America, often preceded European nations in infiltrating foreign territories and societies. However, the order’s members faced many risks, and foreign authorities hostile to their mission of conversion persecuted thousands of them. In other countries, such as India and China, the Jesuits were honored as men of wisdom and knowledge. The Jesuits have always traveled extensively: from the Portuguese colonies in India to Japan and even China (the lyric from Franco Battiato’s song: “Euclidean Jesuits dressed like monks to enter the court of the emperors of the Ming dynasty”). Jorge Maria Bergoglio, now Pope Francis, was immediately hailed as “the first Jesuit Pope” and also, by those familiar with the history of the Church, as a true “Black Pope.” The Jesuits\u2014or more precisely, the Society of Jesus\u2014are one of the most important orders in the Church and one of those with the richest history. In the past, they have explored new worlds, fought wars and organized conspiracies; they have been suppressed and then refounded; they have been the guardians of the most intransigent popes and the vanguard of progressivism.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The Jesuits receive papal approval. In Rome, Pope Paul III delivers the papal bull “Regiminis…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[41],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-618390","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-s-en"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n