Ignatius Loyola, the founder of the Jesuits, was born about the year 1491 in northern Spain. Love of military discipline, combat and competition brought him several victories until the battle between the Spanish and the French at Pampeluna in 1521, at which time he received a permanent knee injury. While recovering, he studied books of legends about the saints of the church, and he vowed to even greater achievements than they for the remainder of his life. Gradually he developed what he called "the Spiritual Exercises" for absorbing other minds into his feverish zeal to excel in service to the pope.
In 1528, at the age of 37, he went to the University of Paris, and the disciples that he made there he used as the nucleus for his new organization, which he named "the Society of Jesus," but which under its more familiar name, "the Jesuits," was soon to bring fear--and death--to millions.
Newman, the historian, describes its beginnings at the University of Paris:
"But however much he became absorbed in the drudgery of acquiring an education he never for a moment lost sight of his great purpose. Wherever he could find anyone disposed to subject himself to a course of training in the 'Spiritual Exercises' he rarely failed to master his will and to fill him with his own enthusiasm... On August 15, 1534 (the anniversary of the assumption [ascension to heaven] of the Virgin Mary), in the St. Mary's Church at Montmartre, they unitedly took upon themselves the most solemn vows...to go without questioning wherever the pope might send them." --A.H. Newman, Manual of Church History, volume 2, pages 366-367.
A Unique Approach
"In common with other monastic orders, the Jesuits are bound by vows... To these is added a vow 'to go without questioning or hesitation wherever the pope may command...' The fundamental idea of the Society is that of securing absolute domination over the spirits of men and of centralizing all power in one earthly head representing God on earth. Jesuitism is thus the most perfect embodiment of the papal idea. The society combines high enthusiasm with careful selection and thorough training of the individual members, and with perfect organization. In such a combination, whether the principles involved be right or wrong, there is almost irresistible power." --Newman, page 568.
"How striking--how appalling even, is the contrast that presents itself when Loyola's doctrine of corpse-like obedience is compared with the tone, the style, and the intention of God's dealing with men, as displayed in the Scriptures, from first to last! While contemplating this contrast, one is compelled to say these two styles must issue from different, or rather from antagonistic sources." --Loyola and Jesuitism in its Rudiments, Isaac Taylor, page 291.
"Every Jesuit is encouraged--he is bound--to report to his Superior whatever he may know, and whatever he may suspect, relative to the conduct, to the private habits, or to the secret dispositions of every other. Every Jesuit is a spy upon every other Jesuit; a net-work of perfidy embraces the entire community, and from its meshes not even those highest in authority stand for a moment clear." --Taylor, pages 340-341.
How the Training Begins
"When an individual had come so far under the influence of members of the society [the Society of Jesus, or the Jesuits] as to be willing to submit himself to a four weeks' course, he was isolated, and under the direction of an adept taken systematically through these wonderful exercises, the aim of which was to induce a state of complete subjection of the will and a habit of vivid contemplation and imaginative realization... We can hardly conceive of anything calculated for securing a complete mastery over a susceptible youth. The twenty-eight general divisions into daily tasks are each subdivided into five hourly meditations. Each of these begins with a preparatory prayer followed by two preludes... These 'Spiritual Exercises' have from the beginning been one of the most valuable instruments of the society in the accomplishment of its purposes.
"In case the 'Spiritual Exercises' have produced the desired effect...he is invited to become a Novice. He is now carefully excluded from all communication with his relatives and former friends. Every earthly tie is broken. He is to have no will of his own as to his future course, but is to put himself into the hands of the director as the interpreter of heaven toward him. He is to be as a corpse or as a staff. Absolute obedience is the thing most insisted upon. His conscience must not assert itself in opposition to the will of his superiors. Absolute destruction of individual will and conscience is aimed at and to a great extent accomplished. The director studies with the greatest care the condition of the Novice from day to day. He is allowed to read nothing but a little devotional matter. He may not converse with other Novices. His obedience is fully tested by the requirements of the most disagreeable and arduous services. The novitiate usually lasts about two years, and if the Novice is found to possess great energy and tact, and absolute obedience, he is accepted as a Scholar...
"He now undergoes a protracted course of training in the various branches of secular and theological learning... The Scholars were a body of picked men, thoroughly obedient to their superiors and devoted to their work. The utmost attention was paid to wholesome nourishment and physical culture; for the leaders realized from the beginning that to accomplish their purposes a sound and hardy physique was just as important as a well-trained and well-stored mind. If at the end of the course of study the Scholar was regarded as highly promising, he was made a Coadjutor." --Newman, page 371.
The Work of the Coadjutors
Coadjutors were to be their top-flight agents, and as such would be selected for the most difficult assignments: (1) As Priests to the royalty, leaders, and wealthy of the nations. (2) As Teachers in schools and especially in the universities of the land. These would either be Catholic schools, government schools, or as secret agents in Protestant schools. (3) As Secret Agents working directly within governments, Protestant church organizations, or pagan religious organizations such as Hinduism. Their role would be that of minister, teacher or a highly trained professional, such as an accountant, lawyer, etc.
"The unscrupulous manner in which through the confessional and every method known to the expert detective they became possessed of state secrets and utilized them for their purposes is well known to students of political as well as to those of church history." --Newman, page 375.
"It is probable that more time was employed in molding their religious and moral characters into complete harmony with the ideals of the Society than in securing a mastery of the studies of the course." --Newman, page 374. The instilling of Catholic doctrine and the preparing of the mind for the deeper things of the Society was the primary objective.
The Jesuit training that the Coadjutor had received in submission of mind to mind, subtly revealed itself in the way he now worked with the minds entrusted to his care in the classroom:
"Originality and independence of mind, love of truth for its own sake, the power of reflecting, and of forming correct judgments, were not merely neglected,--they were suppressed in the Jesuit's system." --Essays on Educational Reformers, R.H. Quick, page 23, 1886 edition.
What he actually was doing was carefully conditioning them for the time when he would privately start some of them on the "Spiritual Exercises."
The Coadjutors as Priests
As priests, the Coadutors would seek to reach and mold the youth, the wealthy, and the leaders--these three. This work on the hearts of men they began during confession: "From the beginning they utilized the confessional to the utmost as a means of mastering the souls of men and women and gaining a knowledge of religious and political affairs... The sons and daughters of the rich and the noble, they sought by every means to bring under their influence, and they were soon the favorite confessors in the imperial court and in many of the royal courts of Europe. It was their constant aim to make their confessional system so attractive to the rich and the noble that they would seek it of their own accord. To this end their casuistical system of moral [immoral] theology was elaborated, whereby they were able to appease the consciences of their subjects in all kinds of wrong-doing. It was their policy to indulge their noble charges in all kinds of vice and crime and to instill into their minds an undying hatred of every form of opposition to the Catholic faith.
"Their determination to use political power for their own purposes caused them from the beginning to take the profoundest interest in politics. When they had once molded a ruler to their will and made him the subservient instrument of their policy, they were ever at his side dictating to him the measures to be employed for the eradication of heresy and the complete reformation of his realm according to the Jesuit ideal, and they were ever ready, with full papal authority, to conduct inquisitorial work.
"When Catholic or Protestant rulers opposed their schemes they made use of intrigue in the most unscrupulous manner for securing their overthrow and the installation of a new government more favorable to their aims." --Newman, pages 374-375.
It was for this reason that nation after nation eventually sought to expel the Jesuits from their borders.
We will include on the next tract a list of seventy-eight countries that the Jesuits were expelled from between the years 1555 and 1880. Location and date of each expulsion is provided, showing all too well the effects of this agency on the governments of Europe, Central America, South America, Africa and the Far East. A primary objective was to either implant Catholic teaching--or to change the government by assassination or whatever might be required to do the job. Unfortunately we have no records of churches having expelled Jesuits during this time. The children of the world are often wiser in their generation than the children of light.
The Coadjutors as Teachers
As teachers to the youth, as well as to those of more mature years, the Jesuits then, as today, knew how to concentrate their efforts. Speaking of the youth of Europe that studied under these Jesuit-trained teachers:
"The marked ability of the Jesuit teachers, their unsurpassed knowledge of human nature, their affability of manners, and their remarkable adaptability to the idiosyncrasies and circumstances of each individual, made them practically irresistible when once they came into close relations with susceptible youth." --Newman, page 383.
"Their system was simply a logical carrying out of principles that had for centuries been fully recognized in the Roman Catholic Church and had long before had a terrible fruitage; but many Catholics were shocked by the utter immorality of the Jesuit teaching and conduct. A more diabolical system it would be difficult to conceive." --Newman, page 376.
The Coadjutors as Secret Agents
"The Jesuit missionary or worker in any sphere may adapt his dress, manner of life, and occupation to the exigencies of the occasion. He may disguise himself and figure as a Protestant or a Brahmin, if by so doing he can gain an entrance otherwise difficult for Catholic teaching. The story is familiar of a Jesuit who mastered the Sanskrit language and the Vedas, assumed the dress and the mode of life of a Brahmin priest, and finally wrote and palmed off as ancient a Veda in which Roman Catholic Christianity under a thin disguise was taught." --Newman, page 373.
"In England and other Protestant countries where the Jesuits were outlawed, there can be little doubt but that they frequently conformed outwardly to the established form of religion and secretly and insidiously carried on their proselytizing work." --Newman, pages 373-374.
It is as secret agents sent out into the political systems, into the public schools and universities, and into Protestant church organizations, that they achieve their highest success, and in the fullest sense, fulfill the purpose of their extensive training. Working their way into these organizations, they rise to leading responsibilities within, due to their fantastic self-discipline and thorough training. From such a vantage point they suggest, counter, compromise, and finally change the political or religious orientation of the entire organization into a new current. And, equally important, from this vantage ground they are able to aid in the hiring of other Jesuits into the organization, and clear the way that they may eventually rise to key positions of power and influence. And, at this point, they begin to work together for a more rapid growth of Catholic belief among the work force and among those sponsoring the organization. For now, as one would more outspokenly present new concepts, the others are able, through their voices on significant committees, to effectually quash opposition to the new ideas and the new ways of doing things. Gradually a quiet acceptance of compromise becomes the order of the day. But this steady erosion of basic principles is accompanied by a developing opposition to the very ones who would seek to maintain these neglected principles. Denounced as overly strict, they would be silenced, or separated from the organization.
A continual expression and promotion of strong loyalty to the organization and to its leaders enables them to quickly gain confidence and move upward. Then they quietly work to undermine the basic principles upon which it is based, by introducing doubts concerning Scriptural inspiration, principles and those who defend them. This is accompanied by a careful turning of the direction of thinking toward new ideas and concepts that are more in harmony with those of Rome.
And remember, they have had centuries to carry on their work of infiltration and sabotage. The church of Rome can afford to work slowly--for it works sure. The day is coming when all the world will wonder after the beast--and the Jesuits will be part of the reason.
From among the ranks of the Coadjutors, is selected those who will become the Professed. These become the true leaders of the world-wide structure known as the Jesuits.
It is significant that only a few in the Jesuit order understand exactly what is being done by its members throughout the world field. "What is still more remarkable, the secrets of the society are not revealed to all the professed members. It is only a small number of this class, whom old age has enriched with thorough experience, and whom long trial has declared to be worthy of such an important trust, that are instructed in the mysteries of the order." --Mosheim, Ecclesiastical History, volume 2, page 54.
Can They be Identified?
This is a matter you ought to understand--but one you will never be clear about. There is no way to clearly identify a Jesuit infiltrater. We can know how they operate and the kind of teachings they will try to introduce, but we cannot point to someone and say, "This man is a Jesuit." The Great Controversy has sounded the warning, and we must be on our guard against Jesuitical activities, but it is not for us to label men as Jesuit agents or to declare that "the church is full of them." It is not given to us to be accusers of our brethren. We can and should recognize Jesuit teachings when we see them, but it is quite another matter to say that the one introducing them among us is a Jesuit.
Jesuit activities are being steadily carried on, whether or not we are on guard against them. When the Church of Rome controls the state, then the Jesuits are able to work openly in the government and in the schools. But when Rome has not been granted this authority, then their agents must work with greater stealth. But they will work. They have never stopped, and they never intend to until every church, organization and government reflects Catholic policy.
An interesting publication is the Monita Secreta (Secret Instructions) that H. Zaorowski, a former Jesuit, published in 1612, as a true and authentic account of the inner workings of the Society. Although quickly denied by the Jesuits themselves, it nonetheless provides a view of the worldly wisdom and unscrupulous tactics, that we shall now see verified from other sources. Consider the following:
The Jesuit Ethical System
"Their ethical system...gave them perfect freedom as to the use of means for the accomplishment of their aims." --Newman, page 376.
Here are some of the sixty-five propositions (beliefs) of the Jesuit Order, as written in an old Jesuit compendium. The following is a translation from the Latin into English:
"13. Keeping the required moderation, you can, without mortal sin, feel grieved about the life of a person; rejoice at his natural death, wish it, hope for it, with an inefficacious desire, not through hate for that person but in view of a material advantage resulting to yourself.
"14. It is allowed to wish, with an absolute desire, for the death of your father, not as an evil for him, but as an advantage to the wisher; for instance, if a large inheritance is to result from that death.
"15. It is permitted to a son, who has killed his father while in a state of drunkenness, to rejoice at his death, when a considerable inheritance results from his murder.
"37. Servants may steal secretly from their masters what they deem a compensation for extra work not sufficiently rewarded by their wages.
"38. One is not obliged, under the penalty of mortal sin, to restore what has been stolen in successive small thefts, whatever may be the amount of the total sum thus stolen.
"59. Masturbation is not prohibited by natural right.
"60. Connection with a married woman, when the husband consents, is not adultery...
"61. The servant who, by bending his shoulder, knowingly helps his master reach a window in order to violate a young girl, and frequently assists him by bringing him a ladder, opening a door, and furnishing him co-operation in a similar manner, does not commit a mortal sin if he so acts through fear of a grave damage; as, for instance, to suffer ill treatment from his master, to be considered as a fool and discharged." --Doctrine of the Jesuits, Gury, translated by M. Paul Bert, pages 416-421.
"It is not without a feeling of horror that the mind endeavors distinctly to bring before it an idea of that breaking down of the individual will and mind which Loyola exacts from his fellow men. One stands aghast at the thought of such an abnegation of the moral and intellectual faculties, when effected upon a large scale. What, it may be asked, would a society most resemble, the members of which should actually be brought down to the level of Jesuit obedience?" --Taylor, page 292.
"These doctrines, the consequence of which would destroy natural law, that rule of morality which God Himself has implanted in the hearts of men, and, consequently would break all the ties of civil society, in authorizing theft, lying, perjury, the most criminal impurity, and generally all passions and all crimes, by the teaching of secret compensation, of equivocation, of mental restrictions, of probabilism, and philosophical sin; destroy all feelings of humanity among men, in authorizing homicide, and parricide [murder of one's parents], annihilate royal authority, etc." --Gury, page 421.
"Such a perusal of the 'Constitutions and Declarations' is not simply wearisome--but it generates a feeling quite peculiar, and which is positively painful. A melancholy sentiment and a depression of the animal spirits is produced, resembling that which comes on when treading the corridors and wards of an infirmary, or of an asylum, or of a prison." --Taylor, page 301.
Five Underlying Beliefs
(1) Obedience to your superior: Here are the words of Ignatius, himself: "Recognize in the superior, whoever he may be, the Lord Jesus, and in him to offer, with the highest religious devotion, reverence, and obedience to the divine majesty." "The third and highest grade of obedience is the absolute immolation of the intellect" so that one "not only wills the same, but also thinks the same as his superior, and subjects his own judgment to his. True obedience requires that whatever the superior commands or thinks should seem to the inferior right and true." --Newman, page 377.
"This doctrine of obedience, so far as it applies to the understanding and common sense of the individual, is summarily expressed in the rule, lately cited, which enjoins that, when the Church has pronounced black to be white, we are so to think and speak, notwithstanding the evidence of our senses to the contrary." --Taylor, page 151.
(2) "The end justifies the means:" The final outcome makes right every action needed to achieve it. If it helps the Society, the Church of Rome, or the individual Jesuit serving it--it is permissible, though it may involve theft, bribery, embezzlement, rape, treason, adultery, or murder.
(3) The teaching of Probabilism: "An opinion is rendered probable [probably correct], if it has in its favor one or two theologians of repute, although there are a hundred more reputable authorities in opposition to it. The advocates of probabilism insisted that it was safe to act upon a probable opinion of this kind in opposition to the more or most probable opinions. The probabilists ransacked Catholic theological literature to find passages, which they did not hesitate to garble, that favored the laxest moral conduct, and they used these freely" in carrying on their work effectively. --Newman, page 378-379.
(4) "The scheme of evading responsibility for sinful and criminal conduct by the method of 'directing the intention' was equally destructive of good morals. In accordance with this, one may commit murder without burdening his conscience, if in the act his intention is directed to the vindication of his honor or the deliverance of the community from a nuisance, or some more important end. One may commit adultery, if in the act the intention be directed...to the promotion of one's health and comfort or some other worthy end. One may commit robbery, if the intention be directed not to the wrong done to the subject, but to the laudable object of making suitable provision for one's needs, etc." --Newman, page 379.
(5) Equally objectionable is the doctrine of 'mental reservation' or restriction, whereby one may without burdening his conscience, tell a downright falsehood, provided the word or clause that would make the statement true is in the mind. Thus, one accused of having committed a certain act last week in a certain place may swear that he was not there, reserving the statement 'this morning.' He may promise to do something, reserving in his mind a condition of which the person concerned knows nothing. Thus using mental reservation, "one may safely use ambiguous language and by tones or gestures promote the understanding of it in a false sense." --Newman, page 379.
"Why is it, then--need we ask?--why is it that the Jesuit Institute [their training school] prepares its agents for their work by first scooping clean out of their bosoms every atom of individual conscience? Why does it enjoin upon them a 'blind obedience'? Surely there is no mystery here! The Society does so because the work it undertakes, as universal curator of souls, could not be carried forward by men within whose bosoms there remained any power of resistance, or an individual sense of the incontrovertibility of right and wrong, or who, in a word, had a conscience of their own." --Taylor, pge 356.
The Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome
Large numbers of Jesuit schools and colleges have been founded throughout the world, but among the most important of these, we are told by Kenneth Scott Latourette, was a group of colleges in Rome itself for the careful training of their own men. He then lists the various foreign language colleges that are included in this educational complex. But among them, of special importance is the Gregorian University (which they call the Grogoriana). It was to become their central training agency. "All these were largely under the direction of the Jesuits. For them a central teaching institution, the Roman College, later [known as] the Gregorian University, was founded, and in it Bellarmine and other distinguished Jesuits lectured." --K.S. Latourette, History of Christianity, page 872. This school appears to be one of the key training centers for this vast underground intelligence operation. Graduates of institutions such as this one are carefully worked into highly placed administrative and teaching posts in governments, churches, and their universities.
Protestantism is overlooking the past in its concern for status and a more favorable relationship with the massive power of the Roman Church. And, unfortunately, this may continue, for men strategically placed over the years by central intelligence in Rome are gradually swinging the current of popular feeling in these institutions into a new direction. A Jesuit principle is that it can afford to work slowly, for it has time to wait.
There are many Protestants today who need to get down their history books and carefully study the past that they may better understand the dangers existing in the present. The powerful Protestant Reformation of the fifteenth century was stopped, reversed, and nearly blotted out in nation after nation of Europe because of the penetration and intrigue of Jesuits in the schools, governments and royal courts of Europe--agents subtly at work flattering men that they could continue in their sins if they would compromise their personal principles and the principles of their organizations, as a suitable substitute for making their peace with God.
The Jesuit Method
One of the most impassioned of their concerns was the blotting out of Protestantism from Europe and elsewhere. For four hundred years the Jesuits have worked determinedly to make daughters for Babylon, yet but few realize their basic infiltration tactic:
As a dark thread running through the artfully, instilled ideas of these Jesuit agents--the conditioning wedge that enables them to succeed in their espionage to compromise and enlist the support of those they associate with--is the Roman Catholic teaching that man cannot, in the strength of Christ, obey the law of God and put away sin. The smooth words are spoken: "Sin really isn't such a problem. Go ahead and live your few years. There is no way you can fight sin successfully. 'You shall not surely die,' for Heaven has provided another way--through the Church--to save you in your sins. Here, I will show it to you..."
This insidious teaching, carefully implanted, is the basis of Jesuitical power to infiltrate an organization, captivate the imagination, and corrupt and mold another new convert--for having once cast aside the restrictions of the moral law--the Ten Commandments--and having chosen the bondage of sin, and thinking its chains to be hopeless of removal--he is suggestible, and prepared to pacify his conscience by compromising the principles of his organization and those in it, for he has already compromised his own. This is the Jesuit Method--used with outstanding success--all through history, the method being used today.
Don't Forget the Past
"More than any other agency it [the Jesuit order] stayed the progress of the Reformation." --Painter, quoted in E.A. Sutherland, Studies in Christian Education, page 9.
Innumerable examples of their implacable opposition to non-Catholic belief can be shown, from the history of nation after nation of Europe after 1550. Never forget that every Jesuit has been thoroughly trained for only one purpose, to which he has dedicated the remainder of his mortal life--to eradicate non-Catholic teaching. And when he is given the power, he will blot out those holding those teachings, as well.
(The above article was excerpted from a tract published by Pilgrim's Rest. Address: Missions International, Inc., P.O. Box 300, Altamont, TN 37301, U.S.A.)
To read the Jesuit Extreme Oath of Induction, click here or here.
