members of a Catholic monastic order, whose self-designation is Societas Jesu (Society of Jesus), founded in 1534 in Paris by Ignatius of Loyola, a member of the Spanish petty gentry, and established by Pope Paul III in 1540.

The order was created in a period during which the Reformation was achieving considerable success, and it became the chief weapon of the Counter-Reformation. Since it has as its goal the defense and propagation of Catholicism and the consolidation of the power of the papacy, the Jesuits have taken an active part in science, learning, and the education of youth and have engaged in widespread missionary work. The basic principles of the order’s structure are strict centralization, absolute submission of junior members to their elders, and the absolute authority of the order’s head—the superior general (the “black pope”), who is elected for life and who is himself subordinate directly to the pope.

The system of morality developed by the Jesuits is by themselves termed accommodative (accomodatlvd), since it provides for broad possibilities, depending upon the circumstances, for arbitrarily interpreting fundamental religious and moral requirements and for committing any transgression in the name of a “higher end”—“the greater glory of God.” Such a serviceable concept of morality is reflected in the motto that has been attributed to the Jesuits: “The end justifies the means.”

In order to achieve greater effectiveness in carrying out their work, the order permits many Jesuits to lead a secular mode of life, keeping secret their membership in the order. The extensive privileges granted by the papacy to the Jesuits (the right to wear secular clothing, freedom from many religious prescriptions and prohibitions, responsibility to the order’s administration alone, etc.) combined with compulsory spying on one another within the order and so forth facilitated the establishment of an extremely flexible and solid organization, which within a brief time extended its activity to numerous countries. During the 16th century the Jesuits not only consolidated their position in European states, but they also penetrated into India, Japan, China, and the Philippines. At the beginning of the 17th century the Jesuit State in Paraguay was established. The Jesuits’ missionary activities considerably assisted the colonial enslavement and plundering of the peoples of Asia, Africa, and South America. The Jesuits were opposed to the ideas of the Enlightenment. The order’s interference in the political life of European countries was so great that during the 18th century the governments of a number of states (Portugal, France, Spain) resorted to banishing the Jesuits. In 1773, Pope Clement XIV was compelled to formally abolish the order. During the era of the Restoration, when reactionary feudal regimes were revived, the Jesuit Order was officially restored by the papacy (1814); it was assigned the task of combating revolution.

During the 20th century the Jesuits have maintained their importance as the foremost detachment of militant clericalism; they are the allies of the most reactionary circles of imperialism in their struggle against socialism and communism. The order collaborated with Mussolini and Hitler. The Jesuits are active in the ideological struggle against the USSR and the socialist countries. They wage a fierce combat against Marxism, declaring it to be “outmoded” (G. Wetter et al.), or, in attempting to “accommodate” Marxism to Catholicism, they distort and emasculate its contents (I. Calvez, P. Bigo, et al.). At the same time, there is an increasing effort among the Jesuits to have the Catholic Church adapt itself more skillfully to the changing conditions of today’s world.

In 1971 the Jesuit Order numbered about 34,000 members, with the greatest number in the USA (approximately 8, 500). There are more than 1,300 newspapers and journals controlled by the Jesuits, along with many higher and secondary educational institutions. The order has capital investments in the industry of many countries, estimated at $5 billion (1958).

B. IA. RAMM

Jesuits in Russia. The first attempts by the Jesuits to penetrate Russia were made during the Livonian War of 1558–83. At first the Jesuits appeared in Lithuania (1569). In the 1570’s they founded educational institutions in Vilnius, Polotsk, and elsewhere. There arrived in Russia in 1581 the papal envoy, the Jesuit Antonio Possevino, who was acting in the role of intermediary between the two warring powers—the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and the Russian state. Possevino failed to obtain permission to build Catholic churches in Russia. Two decades later the Jesuits took an active part in organizing the Polish-Swedish intervention at the beginning of the 17th century. However, even First False Dmitrii, whom they had supported, once he acceded to the Russian throne did not allow the Jesuits into Russia.

In the early 18th century the Jesuits, among many other foreigners, managed to penetrate Russia. However, by a decree of Peter I of Apr. 18, 1719, they were banished from the Russian state. After the first partition of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth (1772) the Jesuits were again in Russia, since they had organizations in areas of Byelorussia and the Ukraine that became part of the Russian Empire. In return for their zealous service to the tsarist government, Catherine II retained the Jesuit organizations in the Russian Empire. Paul I even succeeded in 1801 in obtaining from the pope recognition of the Jesuits’ existence within the Russian Empire.

In the early 19th century Jesuit missions were established in Astrakhan’, Odessa, and other cities. However, the Jesuits’ revived activity in propagating Catholicism led in 1815 to their being forbidden to live in St. Petersburg and Moscow. On Mar. 13, 1820, Emperor Alexander I prohibited their activity in Russia, dissolved the Jesuit organizations, and confiscated their property.