The Jesuits: Missions, Myths and Histories

Contemporary Review, August, 2004

The Jesuits: Missions, Myths and Histories. Jonathan Wright. HarperCollins. [pounds sterling]20.00. ix 334 pages. ISBN 0-00-257180-3. By the middle of the sixteenth century the Society of Jesus was 'the most vibrant, most provocative religious order the Catholic Church' had created. Its founder, Ignatius Loyola and its most famous missionary, Francis Xavier, were towering figures in the Church's 'counter-reformation'.

Famous for its devotion to the Papacy the order was either 'loved or loathed' and its work (and sacrifices) in post-Reformation England kept the Catholic Church alive. The order has 'maintained a turbulent, influential presence in world history' for almost 500 years as missionaries, botanists, parish priests, teachers, inventors, philosophers, musicians, scientists and explorers. They were attacked as plotters, assassins and worse, as men too clever by half and not just by Protestants. They were also venerated as martyrs. Their missionary efforts were prodigious by any standard. Their role is still vital to the Church: although numbers have fallen, in 2003, the Society still had 20,408 members and now they are often regarded in a new light, as dangerous radicals in theology and politics. In this well written account the author shows that whether feared or admired, the Society has 'always been a cultural weather vane, a way to understand the intellectual trends and fashions of a certain time and place'. (M.G.E.)