JESUITS

JESUITS, or SOCIETY OF JESUS, the religious order founded by Ignatius Loyola in 1534, and approved of by bull of Paul III. in 1540, for the conversion of heretics and the propagation of the Roman Catholic faith, and reputed, however self-denying at times, to be unscrupulous in the means they employ to achieve their ends, which is, broadly speaking, re-establishing over Christendom the tyranny of the Church; they established themselves in the several countries of Europe, but their policy was found dangerous to political liberty as well as religious, and they are now everywhere nearly stamped out; there are nevertheless still several communities of them in the south of Europe, and even colleges in England, Ireland, and the United States, as well as missions under them in heathen parts.