all i know is "society of jesus" but what does that mean?

it A CULT!

Founded by St. Ignatius Loyola, one of the most impressive men to ever live. No exaggeration. Look him up.

The Jesuits were a deeply impressive and hugely influential religious group, devoted to orthodoxy, until the 60s. I pray they make a strong revival.

Pretty good private school football team I believe.

Boston College is Jesuit, correct?

Yes it is, as is Notre Dame.
Jesuits run a lot of Catholic Universities, though not all of them.

Providence College is run by Dominicans for example.

Jesuits are widely regarded for their excellent academics as well.

Here's a overview from a good Catholic site, www.newadvent.com

http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/14081a.htm

3 Monks were transported back in time and became the three wisemen.

The first was a Dominican who vowed to pray for baby Jesus.

The Benedictine was second and vowed to write great Bibles by hand, with fancy manuscript.

The third was Jesuit and he silently pulled Joseph aside while Mary and Jesus were being attended to by his two friend. The Jesuit took Joseph by the hand and asked him, "Have you thought about his education?"

Notre Dame is not a Jesuit university.

I'm a graduate of Dallas Jesuit. If you have any more questions I'll be happy to answer them.

Could you help define what it means to have a Jesuit education? I've read the phrase but never known what it means.

Characteristics of Jesuit Education
http://www.iol.ie/~jescuria/coje.htm

Jesuit Universities in the U.S.

Boston College
Canisius College
Creighton University
Fairfield University
Fordham University
Georgetown University
Gonzaga University
Holy Cross
John Carroll University
Le Moyne College
Loyola College in Maryland
Loyola Marymount University
Loyola University Chicago
Loyola University New Orleans
Marquette University- Uncle was head of the ME department at Marquette for many years until he retired seven or eight years ago. Many of my cousins also obtained degrees from Marquette.
Regis University
Rockhurst University
Saint Joseph's University
Saint Louis University
Saint Peter's College
Santa Clara University
Seattle University
Spring Hill College
University of Detroit Mercy
University of San Francisco
University of Scranton
Wheeling Jesuit University
Xavier University

I've been very impressed with the Jesuit priest I've met. All were quite orthodox and as such I'm always confused when I read stories how far off the reservation many in the order seem to be. St. Mary's was blessed to have Jesuit as an associate pastor when I was at A&M in the '80's. Father Martin Kitten is now the vocations director for the Jesuits for this region of the U.S. and has convinced a half dozen or so Ags to join the order.

Perhaps it's because those telling the stories are, themselves, just as far off of the reservation with regard to the teachings of the Catholic Church.

Although contemporary American conservatives can embrace much that is within Catholic moral doctrine, e.g., opposition to abortion, the church as a whole does indeed pursue certain social avenues that don't please the "America is always right" and "capitalism is sacrosanct" crowd.

For example, Jesuits solidly back the Pope when he speaks out against capital punishment and in favor of Third World debt relief. Jesuits also stood solidly behind the John Paul II when he condemned the invasion of Iraq.

It's not so much that the Jesuits aren't in tune with Pontiff; instead, it's some of our cafeteria Catholics who need a bit of introspection.

For example, a few years ago I had a conversation with a retired military officer who became a Jesuit after his wife died and his children grew into adulthood (an unusually late vocation for an order that requires an formation period of ten years or more). He had just come back from picketing, along with members of other Catholic religious orders, what used to be referred to as the School of the Americas at Ft. Benning.

This army school has become notorious for training military officers who served right-wing dictators in Latin America. Some of our political conservatives may not like that, insomuch as anything that smacks of anti-Socialism is just fine with them. While John Paul II put the brakes on left-wing Liberation Theology in Latin America early in his pontificate, he also made it clear that the church still stands for social justice.

As I see it, Jesuits are just as stalwart these days as before.

BTW, I had the privilege of meeting Father Marvin at a yearly "busy students'" retreat at St. Mary's a few years ago. He's a prince of a guy, isn't he?

[This message has been edited by DualAG (edited 1/27/2006 10:43a).]