The Society of Jesus, founded by Ignatius of Loyola, a young Spanish nobleman, the first Superior General of the Jesuits. Was approved by Pope Paul III in A.D. 1540 as a new religious order. Jesuits attempted to live energetically in the world without being of it. The Society of Jesus became the greatest single force in Catholicism's militant campaign to recapture the spiritual domains seized by Protestantism. Became the instrument of the Catholic Church in her "Reformation", or "Counter-Reformation" in the early 1500's. They were to be chivalrous soldiers of Jesus, their mission to convert the heathen and reconvert Protestant Europe. Eventually they became lenient in their priestly roles and made many allowances for sinful human nature, so called "cheap grace."

[tags]BlogRodent, church-history, ChurchRodent, history, Ignatius, Jesuits, Jesus, Pope-Paul-III, Protestantism, Reformation[/tags]

(1534-1549)

The first pope to make a serious attempt at reforming the disorder in the Catholic Church. His reform started in the College of Cardinals, he appointed to the college a number of champions of reform, including leaders from the Oratory of Love: adoleto, Pole, and Caraffa. Also appointed a reform commission to study the conditions in the Church of Rome which issued a report in 1537. Called for a general council of the Church at Trent, Italy in 1545-53 decades after Luther's theses appeared. Instituted the Roman Inquisition and the Index of prohibited books. Approved the Society of Jesus (Jesuits) as an official order, spiritual soldiers in his service.

[tags]BlogRodent, church-history, Church-of-Rome, ChurchRodent, history, Inquisition, Jesuits, Jesus, Pope-Paul-III[/tags]