Jesuits Decide On Their Mission

Loyola first planned to convert the Mohammedans of Palestine, but finding himself entirely unprepared for that work, and the road blocked by war, and finding, after his return to Paris, that the Protestant Reformation was turning the minds of men from the Roman church to the Bible, he resolved to undertake a propaganda of no less magnitude than the restoration of the Papacy to world dominion, and the destruction of all the enemies of the pope. The Jesuit T. J. Campbell says:FAFA 277.1

“As the establishment of the Society of Jesus coincided with the Protestant Reformation the efforts of the first Jesuits were naturally directed to combat that movement. Under the guidance of Canisius so much success attended their work in Germany and other northern nations, that, according to Macaulay, Protestantism was effectually checked. In England ... the Jesuits stopped at no danger.... and what they did there was repeated in other parts of the world.... The Jesuits were to be found under every disguise, in every country.FAFA 277.2

“Their history is marked by ceaseless activity in launching new schemes for the spread of the Catholic faith.FAFA 277.3

“They have been expelled over and over again from almost every Catholic country in Europe, always, however, coming back again to renew their work when the storm had subsided; and this fact has been adduced as a proof that there is something iniquitous in the very nature of the organization.” — The Encyclopedia Americana, sixteen-volume edition, Vol. IX, art. Jesuits.” 1904.FAFA 277.4

Loyola’s plan of operation was to have his emissaries enter new fields in a humble way as workers of charity, and then begin to educate the children and youth. After gaining the good will of the higher classes of society, they would, through their influence, secure positions as confessors to the royal families, and advisers of civil rulers. These Jesuit Fathers had been skillfully trained to take every advantage of such positions to influence civil rulers and direct them in the interest of the Roman church, and to instill in them, that it was their sacred duty to act as worthy sons of the Church by purging their country from heresy. And when war against “heretics” commenced, the Jesuits would not consent to any truce till Protestantism was completely wiped out.FAFA 277.5

At the time Loyola and his “knights” took the field, the Protestant Reformation had swept over the greater part of Europe, and one country after another was lost to the Papacy. But in a short time the Jesuits had turned the tide. The Netherlands, France, and Germany were swept by fire and sword till the very strongholds of Protestantism were threatened. The Protestant countries were finally forced to combine in the Thirty Years’ War to save themselves from being brought back by force under the papal yoke. (See “History of the Jesuits,” T. Griesinger, Book II, chap. 2)FAFA 278.1