Catholic Reformation and the Jesuits: A Historical Analysis

Catholic Reformation and Counter-Reformation

Counter-Reformation

This is also called the Catholic Reformation, promoted by the Catholic Church in response to the doctrine of Luther and the Catholic reformers. The Council of Trent laid the doctrinal foundations of Catholicism.

Reformation

The renovation of the church did not only appear with Luther. It had already begun within the church, but it would not be fully realized until the Council of Trent. One of the most important factors of the Reformation was:

Cisneros and the Spanish Reformation

The situation in Spain in the late fifteenth century was very different from the rest of Europe. The Reconquista struggle had created a warm and almost fanatic atmosphere, fighting Muslims and Jews. The union of the Catholic kings and the discovery of America led to a historic stage, and Spain was the major driving force for the reform of the sixteenth century.

Saint Ignatius of Loyola and the Jesuits

Saint Ignatius of Loyola

Born into a noble family in 1491, in the castle of Loyola in Azpeitia, he was wounded in battle at age 30 and lived a deep conversion. During his convalescence, he began to read the life of Jesus and the lives of saints, including Saint Francis and Saint Dominic.

He decided to devote himself to the Lord, but the monastic life did not appeal to him, so he chose an apostolic community. He made a pilgrimage to Jerusalem and lived an austere and very spiritual life.

In 1528, he began studying at the University of Paris. He died on July 31, 1556. He always retained a military spirit, tenacious and combative, with organizational and strategic talent. He was always very smart, a great psychologist, in love with Christ, and in the service of the Gospel of Christ.

The Society of Jesus

When Saint Ignatius died, the company already had many members. The Jesuits were a major factor in the Reformation. They abandoned monastic structures to engage in the apostolate. Members had to be willing to go anywhere where needed. The superior general is vested with great powers of government, and the Jesuits are under obedience to superiors and the Pope.

The field of his apostolic work took three missionary fronts: teaching, theological studies, and scientific instruments. Loyola left two highly effective instruments: the Spiritual Exercises (which contributed to the reform of many Christians) and the Constitutions, organized around its General and the Pope.