St. Ignatius Loyola

Ignatius of Loyola was a born leader who developed a passionate commitment to Christ and to serving him in the poor. He was convinced that he would give God greater glory if he could have a team of men as committed as he was to serve Christ and the poor. After a couple of aborted attempts at collecting like-minded men, he managed to win over to his cause six young fellow-students, Francis Xavier among them, at the University of Paris in the 1530s. The new order grew out of this core-group. Three other students joined them.

This dynamic group of ten, under the leadership of Ignatius, became so dedicated to Christ and each other, and served the poor and the sick so effectively, that they felt the need to be more structured. First, they gave the group a name by which they could be identified; they called themselves ‘Company of Jesus’ and framed certain common norms. Eventually, they obtained the approval of Pope Paul III to form a religious order, which he did by a papal degree on 27 September 1540, calling it “Society of Jesus”. Ignatius was elected as its Superior General, with headquarters in Rome. He dedicated the last sixteen years of his life to governing, to finalizing the Constitutions, and devoting himself to an enormous amount of correspondence. Over 7000 of his letters have been preserved at the Historical Institute of the Jesuits in Rome. By the time his death in 1556, the Jesuits membered over 1000 members spread out in nine European Provinces, besides those working in overseas missions in Asia, Africa, and South America.