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The Society of Jesus, commonly known as the Jesuits, was founded in 1534 by a group of University of Paris graduate students led by Iñigo Lopez de Loyola, known more commonly by the Latin version of his name, Ignatius of Loyola. The Society's organization was approved in 1540 by Pope Paul III.

The Jesuits were founded as part of the Catholic Reformation, a reactionary movement to the Protestant Reformation, whose heresy was sweeping Catholic Europe. They preached total obedience to scripture and Church doctrine, Ignatius of Loyola himself declaring:

"I will believe that the white that I see is black if the hierarchical Church so defines it."

One of the main tools of the Jesuits was the Ignatian retreat. In this, people would come together under a priest for a week or longer, remaining silent while attending conferences and undergoing exercises to make themselves a better person. For example, there were conferences and meditations on our imminent deaths, etc.

They also preached that the ceremony and decoration of organized Catholicism (which the Lutherans so despised) should be lavishly financed and executed.

The Jesuits were able to obtain significant influence in the Early Modern Period because Jesuit priests often acted as confessors to the Kings of the time. They were the leading force in the Counter-Reformation, in part because of their relatively loose structure (without the requirements of living in community, saying the holy office, etc.) allowed them to be flexible to the needs of the people at the time.

The Society of Jesus is very active in missionary work and in education, operating over 50 high schools and colleges in the United States alone.

Their motto is "Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam," a Latin phrase, often abbreviated AMDG, which means "for the greater glory of God." This phrase is designed to reflect the idea that any work that is not evil can be meritorious for heaven if it is performed with this intention, even things considered normally indifferent like filling up a gas tank in a car.

Among many distinguished early Jesuits was St. Francis Xavier, missionary to Asia who converted more people to Catholicism than anyone since St. Paul.

In China arose the Chinese Rites controversy.

Jesuit missions in Latin America were very controversial in Europe, especially in Spain and Portugal, where they were seen as interfering with the proper colonial enterprises of the royal governments. The Jesuits were often the only thing that saved the Indians from slavery. Together throughout South America but especially in Paraguay they formed Christian-Indian city-states, called reductions (Spanish Reducciones). These were societies set up in the ideal Catholic way. It is partly for this reason of protection of the Indians whom certain Spanish wanted to enslave, that they were suppressed.

Following a decree signed by Pope Clement XIV in July 1773, the Jesuits were suppressed in all countries (other than Russia, where the Russian Orthodox government refused to recognize papal authority) in the 18th century, then revived in the 19th century.

The Jesuits have frequently been described by Catholic and Protestant enemies as engaged in various conspiracies.

Other famous Jesuits include:

• Giulio Alenio
• Peter Faber
• Jean Joseph Marie Amiot
• Juan Andres
• Jakob Balde
• Abbé Augustin Barruél
• Andrew Bobola
• Ruđer Josip Bošković
• John Carroll
• Giuseppe Castiglione
• Frederick C. Copleston
• Francois d'Aguillon
• Alfred Delp
• Alexandre de Rhodes
• Jacques Dupuis
• Luis Frois
• Athanasius Kircher
• Gerard Manley Hopkins
• Eusebio Francisco Kino
• Oswald von Nell-Breuning
• Pierre Teilhard de Chardin
• Father Leonard Feeney
• Anthony de Mello
• Jeremiah Delgado

See also: Bollandist, Acta Sanctorum