Encyclopedia
The
Society of Jesus is a Christian religious order of the
Catholic Church in direct service to the
Pope. Its members, known as
Jesuits since the
Protestant Reformation, have been called "Soldiers of
Christ", first, and "Footsoldiers of the Pope", second, in part because the Society's founder,
Saint Ignatius of Loyola, was a
soldier before he became a
priest. Today, Jesuits number 20,170, , and comprise the second-largest religious order of men in the Catholic Church . Jesuit
priests and brothers are engaged in ministries in 112 nations on six continents. Their work is focused on
education and intellectual contributions, primarily at
colleges and
universities, as well as missionary work and ministry in
human rights and social justice.
The Society of Jesus is consecrated under the patronage of
Madonna Della Strada, a title of the
Blessed Virgin Mary, and is led by a
Superior General, presently
Peter Hans Kolvenbach. The General Curia of the Society is headquartered in
Rome. Its historic complex of buildings includes the
Church of the Gesu, the Jesuit Mother Church.
History
Foundation
On August 15, 1534,
Ignatius and six other students met in
Montmartre outside
Paris, probably either at
Saint Pierre de Montmarte or near the modern Chapel of St Denys, Rue Antoinette. This group bound themselves by a vow of poverty and chastity, to "enter upon hospital and missionary work in
Jerusalem, or to go without questioning wherever the pope might direct". These initial steps led to the founding of the Society of Jesus later in 1540.
In 1537 they travelled to
Italy to seek papal approval for their order.
Pope Paul III gave them a commendation, and permitted them to be ordained
priests. They were ordained at
Venice by the bishop of
Arbe . They devoted themselves to preaching and charitable work in Italy, as the renewed war between the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V, Venice, the pope and the
Ottoman Empire rendered any journey to Jerusalem inadvisable.
With Faber and Lainez and Adam Tomes and Richard Wilkins, Ignatius made his way to Rome in October 1538, to have the pope approve the constitution of the new order. A congregation of cardinals reported favorably upon the constitution presented, and Paul III confirmed the order through the
bull Regimini militantis , but limited the number of its members to sixty. This limitation was removed through the bull
Injunctum nobis . Ignatius was chosen as the first superior-general. He sent his companions as missionaries around Europe to create schools, colleges, and seminaries.
When developed, Jesuits concentrated on three activities. First, they founded schools throughout Europe. Jesuit teachers were rigorously trained in both classical studies and theology. The Jesuits' second mission was to convert non-Christians to Catholicism, so they developed and sent out missionaries. Their third goal was to stop Protestantism from spreading. The zeal of the Jesuits overcame the drift toward Protestantism in
Poland-
Lithuania and southern
Germany.
Ignatius wrote the Jesuit
Constitutions, adopted in 1554, which created a
monarchical organization and stressed absolute self-abnegation and obedience to Pope and superiors . His main principle became the unofficial Jesuit motto:
Ad Maiorem Dei Gloriam . This phrase is designed to reflect the idea that any work that is not evil can be meritorious for the spiritual life if it is performed with this intention, even things considered normally indifferent.
But his hyperbole relativizes propositional claims defined by the hierarchical Church. For him, the important things in life are not propositional definitions, but the spiritual movements within oneself.
Ignatius and the early Jesuits did recognize, though, that the hierarchical Church was in dire need of reform, and some of their greatest struggles were against the corruption, venality, and spiritual lassitude within the Catholic Church. As a result, in spite of their loyalty, Ignatius and his successors often tangled with the pope and the Roman Curia. Over the 450 years since its founding, the Society has both been called the papal "elite troops" and been forced into suppression.
St. Ignatius and the Jesuits who followed him believed that the reform of the Church had to begin with the conversion of an individual’s heart. One of the main tools the Jesuits have used to bring about this conversion has been the Ignatian retreat, called the Spiritual Exercises. During a four-week period of silence, individuals undergo a series of directed meditations on the life of Christ. During this period, they meet regularly with a spiritual director, who helps them understand whatever call or message God has offered in their meditations. The retreat follows a Purgative-Illuminative-Unitive pattern in the tradition of the mysticism of John Cassian and the
Desert Fathers. Ignatius' innovation was to make this style of contemplative mysticism available to all people in active life, and to use it as a means of rebuilding the spiritual life of the Church.
The Jesuits’ contributions to the late
Renaissance were significant in their roles both as a missionary order and as the first religious order to operate
colleges and
universities as a principal and distinct ministry. By the time of Ignatius' death in 1556, the Jesuits were already operating a network of 74 colleges on three continents. A precursor to
liberal education, the Jesuit plan of studies incorporated the Classical teachings of Renaissance humanism into the Scholastic structure of Catholic thought. In addition to teaching faith, the
Ratio Studiorum often designates the document that formally established the globally influential...
emphasized the study of
Latin, Greek, classical
literature,
poetry, and
philosophy as well as non-European languages,
sciences and the
arts. Furthermore, Jesuit schools encouraged the study of vernacular literature and
rhetoric, and thereby became important centers for the training of lawyers and public officials. The Jesuit schools played an important part in winning back to Catholicism a number of European countries which had for a time been predominantly Protestant, notably
Poland and
Lithuania. Today, Jesuit colleges and universities are located in over one hundred nations around the world.
Following the Catholic tradition that
God can be encountered through created things and especially art, they encouraged the use of ceremony and decoration in Catholic ritual and devotion. Perhaps as a result of this appreciation for art, coupled with their spiritual practice of "finding God in all things", many early Jesuits distinguished themselves in the visual and
performing arts as well as in
music.
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 an important force in the Counter-Reformation and in the Catholic missions, in part because their relatively loose structure allowed them to be flexible to meet the needs of the people at the time.
Expansion
Early missions in
Japan resulted in the government granting the Jesuits the feudal fiefdom of
Nagasaki in 1580. This was removed in 1587, however, due to fears over their growing influence.
Francis Xavier arrived in
Goa, in Western
India in 1541 to consider evangelical service in the Indies. He died after a decade of evangelism in Southern India. Under Portuguese royal patronage, the order thrived in Goa and until 1759 successfully expanded its activities to education and healthcare. On 17 December 1759,
Marquis of Pombal, Secretary of State in Portugal expelled the Jesuits from Portugal and Portuguese possessions overseas.
Two Jesuit missionaries, Gruber and D'Orville, reached
Lhasa in
Tibet in 1661.
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 force standing between the
Native Americans and slavery. Together throughout
South America but especially in present-day
Brazil and
Paraguay they formed Christian Native American city-states, called "reductions" . These were societies set up according to an idealized theocratic model. It is partly because the Jesuits protected the natives whom certain Spanish and Portuguese colonizers wanted to enslave that the Society of Jesus was suppressed.
Jesuit priests such as Manoel da Nóbrega and José de Anchieta founded several towns in Brazil in the
16th century, including
São Paulo and
Rio de Janeiro, and were very influential in the
pacification, religious conversion and
education of
Indian nationsJesuit missions in
China brought about the
Chinese Rites controversy in the early
18th century.
Jesuit scholars working in these foreign missions were very important in understanding their unknown languages and strived for producing Latinicized grammars and
dictionaries, the first organized efforts at linguistics. This was done, for instance, for
Japanese and Tupi-Guarani .
Suppression and restoration
The Suppression of the Jesuits in Portugal, France, the Two Sicilies, Parma and the Spanish Empire by 1767 was troubling to the Society's defender,
Pope Clement XIII. Following a decree signed by
Pope Clement XIV under secular pressure in July 1773, the Jesuits were suppressed in all countries except Russia, where
Catherine the Great had forbidden the
papal decree to be d. Because millions of Catholics lived in the Polish western provinces of the Russian Empire, the Society was able to maintain its legal existence and carry on its work all through the period of suppression.
The period following the Restoration of the Jesuits in 1814 was marked by tremendous growth, as evidenced by the large number of Jesuit colleges and universities established in the
19th century. In the
United States, 22 of the Society's 28 universities were founded or taken over by the Jesuits during this time. Some claim that the experience of suppression served to heighten orthodoxy among the Jesuits upon restoration. While this claim is debatable, Jesuits were generally supportive of Papal authority within the Church, and some members were associated with the Ultramontanist movement and the declaration of Papal Infallibility in 1870.
In
Switzerland, following the defeat of the Ultramontanist
Sonderbund by Calvinist cantons, the
constitution was modified and Jesuits were banished in 1848. The ban was lifted on 20 May 1973, when 54.9% of the population accepted a referendum modifying the Constitution.
The
20th century witnessed both aspects of growth and decline. Following a trend within the Catholic priesthood at large, Jesuit numbers peaked in the
1950s and have declined steadily since. Meanwhile the number of Jesuit institutions has grown considerably, due in large part to a later 20th century focus on establishing of Jesuit secondary schools in inner-city areas and an increase in lay association with the order. Among the notable Jesuits of the 20th century,
John Courtney Murray, SJ, was called one of the "architects of the Second Vatican Council" and drafted what eventually became the council's endorsement of religious freedom, in apparent contradiction of Pope Eugene IV's Domini Cantate.
Jesuits today
The Jesuits today form the second-largest religious order of priests in the Catholic Church, with over 20,000 members serving in 112 nations on six continents. The current
Superior General of the Jesuits is
Peter Hans Kolvenbach. The Society is characterized by its ministries in the fields of missionary work,
human rights, social justice and, most notably,
higher education. It operates colleges and universities in various countries around the world and is particularly active in the
Philippines and
India. In the United States alone, it maintains over 50 colleges, universities and high schools. A typical conception of the mission of a Jesuit school will often contain such concepts as proposing Christ as the model of human life, the pursuit of excellence in teaching and learning and life-long spiritual and intellectual growth. In Latin America, Jesuits have had significant influence in the development of liberation theology, a movement which has been highly controversial in the Catholic theological community and condemned by
Pope John Paul II on several fundamental aspects.
Under Superior General Pedro Arrupe, social justice and the preferential option for the poor emerged as dominant themes of the work of the Jesuits. Nearly a decade after the
assassination of Bishop
Oscar Romero, on November 16, 1989, six Jesuit priests —
Ignacio Ellacuria,
Segundo Montes,
Ignacio Martin-Baro, Joaquin Lopez y Lopez, Juan Ramon Moreno, and Amado Lopez — their housekeeper, Elba Ramos, and her daughter, Celia Marisela Ramos, were murdered by the
Salvadoran military on the campus of the University of Central America in
San Salvador, El Salvador. Due to their unwavering defense of the poor, they had been labeled as subversives by the Salvadorian government. The assassinations galvanized the Society's peace and justice movements, including annual protests at the
Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation at
Fort Benning, Georgia, where the assassins were trained under US government sponsorship.
In 2002,
Boston College president William P. Leahy, SJ, initiated the Church in the 21st Century program as a means of moving the Church "from crisis to renewal." The initiative has provided the Society with a platform for examining issues brought about by the worldwide Roman Catholic sex abuse cases, including the priesthood, celibacy, sexuality, women's roles, and the role of the laity.
On January 6, 2005, Fr.
Peter Hans Kolvenbach, on the occasion of the Jubilee Year, wrote that the Jesuits "should truly profit from the jubilee year to examine our way of life and taking the means to live more profoundly the charisms received from our Founders."
In April 2005, Thomas J. Reese, SJ, editor of the American Jesuit weekly magazine
America, resigned at the request of the Society. The move was widely published in the media as the result of pressure from the Vatican, following years of criticism by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith on articles touching subjects such as
HIV/AIDS,
religious pluralism,
homosexuality and the right of life for the unborn. Reese is currently on a year-long sabbatical at
Santa Clara University.
On February 2, 2006, Fr.
Peter Hans Kolvenbach, informed members of the Society of Jesus, that with the consent of
Pope Benedict XVI, he intends to step down as Superior General in 2008, the year he will turn 80. The 35th General Congregation of the Society of Jesus that will elect a new superior general, and decide other important policy for the Jesuit order in the years to come, will convene on 5 January 2008, in Rome.
While the Jesuit superior general is elected for life, the order's constitutions allow him to step down.
On April 22, 2006, Feast of Our Lady, Mother of the Society of Jesus, Benedict greeted thousands of Jesuits on pilgrimage to Rome, and took the opportunity to thank God "for having granted to your Company the gift of men of extraordinary sanctity and of exceptional apostolic zeal such as St Ignatius of Loyola, St Francis Xavier and Bl Peter Faber." He said "St Ignatius of Loyola was above all a man of God, who gave the first place of his life to God, to his greater glory and his greater service. He was a man of profound prayer, which found its center and its culmination in the daily Eucharistic Celebration."
In May 2006, Benedict XVI also wrote a letter to Fr.
Peter Hans Kolvenbach on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of Pope Pius XII's encyclical "Haurietis Aquas," on devotion to the Sacred Heart, because the Jesuits have always been "extremely active in the promotion of this essential devotion."
Ignatian spirituality
As all Catholic spirituality, the spirituality practised by the Jesuits, called Ignatian spirituality, is based on the Catholic faith and the gospels. Aside from the "Constitutions," "The Letters," and "Autobiography," Ignatian spirituality draws most specially from St. Ignatius' "Spiritual Exercises," whose purpose is "to conquer oneself and to regulate one's life in such a way that no
decision is made under the influence of any inordinate attachment."
In the words of Father General Peter-Hans Kolvenbach SJ, the Exercises try to "unite two apparently incompatible realities:
exercises and
spiritual." It invites to "unlimited generosity" in contemplating God, yet going down to the level of many details.
Ignatian spirituality can be described as an active attentiveness to God joined with a prompt responsiveness to God, who is ever active in people's lives. Though it includes many forms of prayer, discernment, and apostolic service, it is the interior dispositions of attentiveness and responsiveness that are ultimately crucial. The result is that Ignatian spirituality has a remarkable 'nowness,' both in its attentiveness to God and in its desire to respond to what God is asking of the person now.
The Ignatian ideal has the following characteristics:
;God's greater glory
- "Man is created to praise, reverence, and serve God Our Lord," according to St. Ignatius, "and by this means to save his soul." This is the "First Principle and Foundation" of the Exercises.
;Union with Jesus
- Ignatius emphasized an ardent love for the Savior. In his Exercises, he devoted the last weeks to the contemplation of Jesus: from infancy and public ministry, to his passion and lastly his risen life. The Spiritual Exercises, in 104, sum this up in a prayer: "Lord, grant that I may see thee more clearly, love thee more dearly, follow thee more nearly."
;Self-awareness
- Ignatius recommends the twice daily examen. This is a guided method of prayerfully reviewing the events of a day to awaken an inner sensitivity to ones own actions, desires, and spiritual state through each moment reviewed. The goals are to see where God is challenging the person to change and growth, where God is calling the person to deeper reflection , and where sinful or imperfect attitudes or blind spots are. The general examen, often at the end of the day, is, as the name implies, a general review. The particular examen, often in the middle of the day, focuses on a particular fault identified by the person to be worked on over some days or weeks.
;Spiritual direction
- Meditation and contemplation, and for instance the aforementioned examen, are best guided, Ignatius says, by an experienced person. Jesuits, and those following Ignatian spirituality, meet with their spiritual director on a regular basis weekly or monthly) to discuss the fruits of their prayer life and be offered guidance. Ignatius sees the director as someone who can reign in impulsiveness or excesses, goad the complacent, and keep people honest with themselves. If the director is a priest, spiritual direction may, or may not, be connected with the Sacrament of Penance -- Ignatius counseled frequent use of sacrament and while some directors see them as integrally linked, others hold them to be two separate relationships.
;Effective love
- The founder of the Society of Jesus put effective love above affective love . He usually ended his most important letters with "I implore God to grant us all the grace to know His holy will and to accomplish it perfectly." True and perfect love demands sacrifice, the abandonment of tastes and personal preferences, and the perfect renunciation of self. This can be taken together with the prayer for generosity, which asks for teaching to be generous, to serve God as God deserves without counting any cost or seeking any reward except knowing that one is doing God's will.
;Detachment
- Where Francis of Assisi's concept of poverty emphasized the spiritual benefits if simplicity and dependency, Ignatius emphasized detachment, "indifference." For Ignatius, whether one was rich or poor, healthy or sick, in an assignment one enjoyed or one didn't, was comfortable in a culture or not, etc., should be a matter of spiritual indifference - a modern phrasing might put it as serene acceptance. Hence, a Jesuit , placed in a comfortable, wealthy neighborhood should continue to live the Gospel life without anxiety or possessiveness, and if plucked instantly from that situation to be placed in a poor area and subjected to hardships should simply cheerfully accept that as well, without a sense of loss or being deprived.
;Prayers, efforts at self-conquest and reflection
- Ignatius's Spiritual Exercises is a fruit of months of prayer and it is through prayer that one gets to understand Ignatian Spirituality. Jesuits stress the need to take time to reflect and to pray because prayer is at the foundation of Jesus's life. Prayer, in Ignatian spirituality, does not dispense from "helping oneself," a phrase frequently used by Ignatius. Thus, he also speaks of mortification and of amendment.
;Devotion to the Sacred Heart, the Eucharist and our Lady
- The Society of Jesus has a relationship with the Order of the Visitation in a commitment to spread the devotion to the Sacred Heart . The Jesuits particularly promoted this devotion to emphasize the compassion and overwhelming love of Christ for people, and to counteract the rigorism and spiritual pessimism of the Jansenists.
- St. Ignatius counseled souls to receive the Eucharist more often, and from the order's earliest days the Jesuits were promoters of "frequent communion". It should be noted that it was the custom for many Catholics before this time to receive communion perhaps once or twice a year, out of what Catholic theologians considered an exaggerated respect for the sacrament; Ignatius and others advocated communion at least monthly, emphasizing communion not as reward but as spiritual food; by the time of Pope St. Pius X, "frequent communion" had come to mean weekly and even daily reception of the Eucharist.
- Ignatius made his initial commitment to a new way of life by leaving his soldier's weapons on an altar before an image of the Christ child seated on the lap of Our Lady of Monsterrat. The Jesuits were long promoters of the Sodality of Our Lady, their primary organization for their students until the 1960s, which they used to encourage frequent attendance at Mass, reception of communion, daily recitation of the Rosary, and attendance at retreats in the Ignatian tradition of the Spiritual Exercises.
;Zeal for souls
- The purpose of the Order, says the Summary of the Constitutions, is "not only to apply one's self to one's own salvation and to perfection with the help of divine grace but to employ all one's strength, for the salvation and perfection of one's neighbor."
;Finding God in All Things
- The vision that Ignatius places at the beginning of the Exercises keeps sight of both the Creator and the creature, the One and the other swept along in the same movement of love. In it, God offers himself to humankind in an absolute way through the Son, and humankind responds in an absolute way by a total self-donation. There is no longer sacred or profane, natural or supernatural, mortification or prayer - because it is one and the same Spirit who brings it about that the Christian will "love God in all things - and all things in God."
;Examination of Consciousness
- The Examination of Consciousness is a simple prayer directed toward developing a spiritual sensitivity to the special ways God approaches, invites, and calls. Ignatius recommends that the examen be done at least twice, and suggests five points of prayer:
- Recalling that one is in the holy presence of God
- Thanking God for all the blessings one has received
- Examining how one has lived his day
- Asking God for forgiveness
- Resolution and offering a prayer of hopeful recommitment
- It is important, however, that the person feels free to structure the Examination in a way that is most helpful to him. There is no right way to do it; nor is there a need to go through all of the five points each time. A person might, for instance, find himself spending the entire time on only one or two points. The basic rule is: Go wherever God draws you. And this touches upon an important point: the Examination of Consciousness is primarily a time of prayer; it is a "being with God."
;Discernment
- Discernment is rooted in the understanding that God is ever at work in one's life, "inviting, directing, guiding and drawing" one "into the fullness of life." Its central action is reflection on the ordinary events of one's life. It presupposes an ability to reflect on the ordinary events of one's life, a habit of personal prayer, self-knowledge, knowledge of one's deepest desires and openness to God's direction and guidance. Discernment is a prayerful 'pondering' or 'mulling over' the choices a person wishes to consider. In his discernment, the person's focus should be on a quiet attentiveness to God and sensing rather than thinking. His goal is to understand the choices in his heart: to see them, as it were, as God might see them. In one sense, there is no limit to how long he might wish to continue in this. Discernment is a repetitive process, yet as the person continues, some choices should of their own accord fall by the wayside while others should gain clarity and focus. It is a process that should move inexorably toward a decision.
Jesuit formation
The training of Jesuits seeks to prepare men spiritually, academically and practically for the ministries they will be called to offer the Church and world. St. Ignatius was strongly influenced by the
Renaissance and wanted Jesuits to be able to offer whatever ministries were most needed at any given moment, and especially, to be ready to respond to missions from the
Pope. Formation for Priesthood normally takes between 10 and 12 years depending on the man's background and previous education.
- Candidacy is an informal precursor to becoming a Jesuit, wherein a man interested in joining the Jesuits explores his calling with a spiritual director. The candidate attends vocation events, including retreats and discussions with other candidates and Jesuits. Candidacy can last any length of time, with the norm being about a year. During this time, the candidate may or may not live in a Jesuit community.
- Novitiate is the first stage of formation. The Novice begins to live the three vows of poverty, chastity, obedience , completes the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius, learns about the history and practice of the order and enters into a series of “experiments.” These experiments are usually short ministerial assignments where the novice tests his aptitude for various ministries, such as, teaching, working with the marginalized or giving retreats. The novitiate lasts 2 years. Jesuit novices place the letters "n.S.J." after their names.
At this point, the novice pronounces his First Vows and becomes either a Scholastic or a Jesuit brother . The scholastics
For scholastics, the usual course of studies is as follows:
- First Studies is the period when the scholastic begins his academic training. Depending on his prior education it will last 2-4 years, guaranteeing a grounding in Philosophy
...
and the attainment of at least a first university level degree. It may also introduce the study of theology or some other specialized area.
- Regency is the next stage, wherein the scholastic lives and works in a typical Jesuit community . He is engaged full-time in ministry , which is traditionally teaching in a secondary school, but it may be any ministry Jesuits are engaged in. Regency lasts for 2-3 years.
- Theology is the stage immediately preceding ordination. By universal canon law, every candidate for priestly ordination must complete four years of theology studies, though part of this requirement may have been met in first studies. This will include the attainment of a first degree in theology, and usually a second degree in a specialized area related to theology.
- Ordination follows, and the new Priest may receive a ministerial assignment or be sent back for further studies in any academic field.
- The ordained Jesuit priest will either be chosen for profession as a "spiritual coadjutor," taking the usual perpetual vows of poverty, chastity and obedience, or for profession as a "professed of the four vows."
- Those who are destined by his superiors for profession for the four vows under take Tertianship, so named because it is something like a third year of novitiate, which follows within a few years of ordination. After his first experience of ministry as a priest, the Jesuit completes the final stage of formal formation by revisiting the essentials of Jesuit life which he learned as a novice: once again, he studies the history and Constitutions of the Jesuits, he makes the Spiritual Exercises and participates in experiments.
- Final Vows for the fully professed follow upon tertianship, wherein the Jesuit pronounces perpetual solemn vows of poverty, chastity, obedience, and the Fourth vow, unique to Jesuits, of special obedience to the pope in matters regarding mission, promising to undertake any mission laid out in the Formula of the Institute the pope may choose.
- Only the professed of the four vows are eligible for posts like novice master, provincial superior or assistant to the general of the society.
- The professed of the four vows take, in addition to these solemn perpetual vows five additional simple vows: not to consent to any mitigation of the Society's observance of poverty; not to "ambition" or seek any prelacies outside the Society; not to ambition any offices within the Society; a commitment to report any jesuit who does so ambition; and, if a Jesuit does become a bishop, to permit the general to continue to provide advice to that bishop, though the vow of obedience to Jesuit superiors is not operative over matters the man undertakes as bishop. Under these vows, no Jesuit may "campaign" or even offer his name for appointment or election to any office, and if chosen for one must remind the appointing authority of these vows — if the Pope commands that the Jesuit accept ordination as a bishop anyway, the Jesuit must keep an open ear to the Jesuit general as an influence.
The formation of Jesuit brothers has a much less structured form. Prior to the Second Vatican Council, Jesuit brothers worked almost exclusively within Jesuit communities as cooks, tailors, farmers, secretaries, librarians and maintenance support. Following the Second Vatican Council, which recognized the mission of all the Christian faithful, not just those who are ordained, to share in the ministries of the Church, Jesuit brothers began to engage in ministries outside of their communities. Today, the formation of a Jesuit brother may take many forms, depending on his aptitude for ministry. He may pursue a highly academic formation which mirrors that of the scholastics, or he may pursue more practical training in areas such as pastoral counseling or spiritual direction, or he may continue in the traditional “supporting” roles in which so many Jesuit brothers have attained notable levels of holiness.
It is notable that the Jesuits do not have an official habit. St. Ignatius' intention was that they should adopt the dress of the diocesan clergy in whatever country or region they found themselves. Over time, a "Jesuit-style cassock" became sort of standard issue, one that wrapped around the body and tied, with a cincture, rather than having the customary buttons down the front. The Jesuit biretta was untufted , and a simple cape completed the full, formal version of their garb, but this too was part of diocesan priests' wear. As such, though their garb appeared to be distinctive, and became identifiable over time, it was actually the average garb of a priest of Ignatius' day. Today, most Jesuits wear simple Roman collar "tab" shirts.
Regardless of the practical details, Jesuit formation is meant to form men who are open and ready to serve whatever is the Church’s current need. Today, all Jesuits are expected to learn
English, and those who speak English as a first language are expected to learn
Spanish.
Controversies
The Jesuits have frequently been described by Catholic and Protestant enemies as engaged in various conspiracies. The
Monita secreta, published 1614 in
Kraków 
