Wednesday, October 21, 2009

Society of Jesus

The Society of Jesus is a Catholic religious order ofclerks regular whose members are called Jesuits.

Jesuits are the largest male religious order in the Catholic Church, with 18,815 members—13,305 priests, 2,295 scholastic students, 1,758 brothers and 827 novices—as of January 2008, although the Franciscan family of first orders OFMs, Capuchins, and Conventuals has more total members. The average age of the Jesuits in 2008 was 63.01 for priests, 30.01 for scholastics, 65.06 for Brothers, and an overall average of 57.53 years.[1]

Jesuit priests and brothers are engaged in ministries in 112 nations on six continents. They are best known in the fields of education (schools, colleges, universities, seminaries, theological faculties), intellectual research, and cultural pursuits. They are also known in missionary work,social justice and human rights activities, interreligious dialogue, and other 'frontier' ministry.

The Society of Jesus is consecrated under the patronage of Madonna Della Strada, a title of theBlessed Virgin Mary, and it is led by a Superior General, currently Adolfo Nicolás.[2][3] The headquarters of the Society, its General Curia, is in Rome. The historic curia of St Ignatius is now part of the Collegio del Gesù attached to the Church of the Gesù, the Jesuit Mother Church.

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