Editing Jesuits (section)

==Controversies==
===Slavery===
Jesuit scholar Andrew Dial has calculated that the Jesuits owned more than 20,000 slaves worldwide in 1760, the great majority of them in the Americas.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Dial |first1=Andrew |title=Antoine Lavalette, Slave Murderer: A Forgotten Scandal of the French West Indies |journal=Journal of Jesuit Studies |date=2021 |volume=8 |page=40 |url=https://brill.com/view/journals/jjs/8/1/article-p37_37.xml?language=en |access-date=30 August 2023 }}</ref> The Jesuits in some places protected the indigenous people of the Americas from slavers, notably the [[Guaraní people|Guaraní]] in South America, but in other places they enslaved indigenous people after "just wars" in which indigenous people who resisted European colonization were defeated.

The Jesuits also participated in the [[Atlantic slave trade]], working thousands of [[Indigenous peoples of Africa|African]] slaves on their large plantations scattered throughout the Americas. [[Antoine Lavalette]], a slave-owning French Jesuit in [[Martinique]], accumulated large debts which he was unable to pay, which led to the banning of the Jesuits in France in 1764.

In the United States, tobacco plantations utilizing [[African-American]] slave labor in [[Maryland]] and other states supported Jesuit institutions such as [[Georgetown University]], from which were [[1838 Jesuit slave sale|infamously sold 272 slaves]] in 1838.

In the 16th century, Jesuits were also complicit in the Portuguese trade in enslaved [[East Asian people|East Asians]]. In other parts of Europe, slaves were probably employed in Jesuit schools and institutions.

The Jesuits justified their ownership of slaves and participation in the slave trade as a means of converting slaves to [[Catholicism]]. "Enslaved people...were a captive audience for evangelization."<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Rothman |first1=Adam |title=The Jesuits and Slavery |journal=Journal of Jesuit Studies |date=2021 |volume=8 |pages=1–9 |doi=10.1163/22141332-0801P001 |s2cid=230540515 |doi-access=free }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Whitehead |first1=Maurice |title=From Expulsion to Restoration: The Jesuits in Crisis, 1759–1814 |journal=Studies: An Irish Quarterly Review |date=Winter 2014–2015 |volume=103 |issue=412 |page=454 |jstor=24347842 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/24347842 |access-date=3 September 2023 |archive-date=3 September 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230903114850/https://www.jstor.org/stable/24347842 |url-status=live }}</ref>

===Power-seeking===
The ''[[Monita Secreta]]'' (Secret Instructions of the Jesuits), published in 1612 and in 1614 in [[Kraków]], is alleged to have been written by [[Claudio Acquaviva]], the fifth general of the society, but was probably written by former Jesuit Jerome Zahorowski. It purports to describe the methods to be adopted by Jesuits for the acquisition of greater power and influence for the society and for the Catholic Church. The ''[[Catholic Encyclopedia]]'' states the book is a forgery, fabricated to ascribe a sinister reputation to the Society of Jesus.{{sfn|Gerard|1911}}

{{Separation of church and state in the history of the Catholic Church|expanded = historical controversies}}

===Political intrigue===
The Jesuits were temporarily banished from France in 1594 after a man named [[Jean Châtel]] tried to assassinate the king of France, [[Henry IV of France|Henri IV]]. Under questioning, Châtel revealed that he had been educated by the Jesuits of the [[Lycée Louis-le-Grand|Collège de Clermont]]. The Jesuits were accused of inspiring Châtel's attack. Two of his former teachers were exiled and a third was hanged.<ref>{{Citation |author=Voltaire |author-link=Voltaire |title=Histoire du Parlement de Paris |year=1769 |chapter=XXXI |quote=Châtel fut écartelé, le jésuite Guignard fut pendu; et ce qui est bien étrange, Jouvency, dans son Histoire des Jésuites, le regarde comme un martyr et le compare à Jésus-Christ. Le régent de Châtel, nommé Guéret, et un autre jésuite, nommé Hay, ne furent condamnés qu'à un bannissement perpétuel. |chapter-url=http://www.voltaire-integral.com/Html/15/19PARFIN.html |access-date=30 November 2014 |archive-date=5 February 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120205191328/http://www.voltaire-integral.com/Html/15/19PARFIN.html }}</ref> The Collège de Clermont was closed, and the building was confiscated. The Jesuits were banned from France, although this ban was quickly lifted and the school eventually reopened.<ref>[[Voltaire]] (1769), "XXXI", ''Histoire du Parlement de Paris'', archived from the original on 5 February 2012,</ref>

In England, [[Henry Garnet]], one of the leading English Jesuits, was hanged for [[misprision of treason]] because of his knowledge of the 1605 [[Gunpowder Plot]]. The Plot was the attempted assassination of [[James VI and I]], his family, and most of the [[Protestantism|Protestant]] aristocracy in a single attack, by blowing up the [[Palace of Westminster|Houses of Parliament]]. Another Jesuit, [[Oswald Tesimond]], managed to escape arrest for his involvement in this plot.{{sfn|Fraser|2005|p=448}}

===Casuistic justification===
Jesuits have been accused of using [[casuistry]] to obtain justifications for unjustifiable actions (cf. [[formulary controversy]] and {{lang|fr|[[Lettres Provinciales]]}}, by [[Blaise Pascal]]).{{sfn|Nelson|1981|p=190}} Hence, the [[Concise Oxford Dictionary|Concise Oxford Dictionary of the English language]] lists "equivocating" as a secondary denotation of the word "Jesuit". Modern critics of the Society of Jesus include [[Avro Manhattan]], [[Alberto Rivera (activist)|Alberto Rivera]], and [[Malachi Martin]], the latter being the author of ''The Jesuits: The Society of Jesus and the Betrayal of the Roman Catholic Church'' (1987).<ref>see Malachi Martin (1987) ''The Jesuits: The Society of Jesus and the Betrayal of the Roman Catholic Church'', [[Simon & Schuster]], Linden Press, New York, 1987, {{ISBN|0-671-54505-1 }}</ref>

===Exclusion of those of Jewish or Muslim ancestry===
Although in the first 30 years of the existence of the Society of Jesus there were many Jesuits who were ''[[converso]]s'' (Catholic-convert Jews and Muslims and their descendants), an anti-''converso'' faction led to the ''Decree de genere'' (1593) which proclaimed that either Jewish or Muslim ancestry, no matter how distant, was an insurmountable impediment for admission to the Society of Jesus.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Rosa |first1=De La |last2=Coello |first2=Alexandre |url=http://cat.inist.fr/?aModele=afficheN&cpsidt=24437295 |title=El Estatuto de Limpieza de Sangre de la Compañía de Jesús (1593) y su influencia en el Perú Colonial |journal=Archivum Historicum Societatis Iesu |pages=45–93 |publisher=Institutum Societatis Iesu |year=1932 |issn=0037-8887 |access-date=7 December 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141026074808/http://cat.inist.fr/?aModele=afficheN&cpsidt=24437295 |archive-date=26 October 2014 }}</ref> This new rule was contrary to the original wishes of Ignatius who "said that he would take it as a special grace from our Lord to come from Jewish lineage".{{sfn|Reites|1981|p=17}} The 16th-century ''Decree de genere'' was repealed in 1946.{{efn| Jesuit scholar John Padberg states that the restriction on Jewish/Muslim converts was limited only to the degree of parentage. Fourteen years later this was extended back to the fifth degree. Over time the restriction relating to Muslim ancestry was dropped.{{sfn|Padberg|1994|p=204}} In 1923, the 27th Jesuit General Congregation specified that "The impediment of origin extends to all who are descended from the Jewish race, unless it is clear that their father, grandfather, and great grandfather have belonged to the Catholic Church." In 1946, the 29th General Congregation dropped the requirement but still called for "cautions to be exercised before admitting a candidate about whom there is some doubt as to the character of his hereditary background". Robert Aleksander Maryks interprets the 1593 ''"Decree de genere"'' as preventing, despite [[St Ignatius of Loyola|Ignatius']] desires, any Jewish or Muslim ''conversos'' and, by extension, any person with Jewish or Muslim ancestry, ''no matter how distant'', from admission to the Society of Jesus.{{sfn|Maryks|2010|p=xxviii}}}}
Bylaws requiring "[[Limpieza de sangre|blood purity]]" became common across Early Modern Spain and Portugal.

===Theological debates===
Within the Catholic Church, there has existed a sometimes tense relationship between Jesuits and the [[Holy See]], due to questioning of official church teaching and papal directives, such as those on [[abortion]],{{irrelevant citation|date=June 2023|reason=Does not seem to reference Jesuits or the Holy See at all.}}<ref>{{cite magazine |last=Kavanaugh |first=John F. |url=http://www.americamagazine.org/content/article.cfm?article_id=11284 |title=Abortion Absolutists |magazine=America |date=15 December 2008 |access-date=2 August 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110703115852/https://www.americamagazine.org/content/article.cfm?article_id=11284 |archive-date=3 July 2011 }}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine |last=O'Brien |first=Dennis |author-link=G. Dennis O'Brien |url=http://www.americamagazine.org/content/article.cfm?article_id=4214 |title=No to Abortion: Posture, Not Policy |magazine=America |date=30 May 2005 |access-date=2 August 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110612112341/http://www.americamagazine.org/content/article.cfm?article_id=4214 |archive-date=12 June 2011 }}</ref> [[birth control]],<ref>{{cite magazine |first=Norbert J. |last=Rigali |url=http://www.americamagazine.org/content/article.cfm?article_id=2282 |title=Words and Contraception |magazine=[[America (Jesuit magazine)|America]] |date=23 September 2000 |access-date=2 August 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110612112437/http://www.americamagazine.org/content/article.cfm?article_id=2282 |archive-date=12 June 2011 }}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine |last=McCormick |first=Richard A. |author-link=Richard A. McCormick |url=http://www.americamagazine.org/content/article.cfm?article_id=10960 |title='Humanae Vitae' 25 Years Later |magazine=America |date=17 July 1993 |access-date=2 August 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110715024855/http://www.americamagazine.org/content/article.cfm?article_id=10960 |archive-date=15 July 2011 }}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine |last=Dulles |first=Avery |author-link=Avery Dulles |url=http://www.americamagazine.org/content/article.cfm?article_id=10722 |title=Karl Rahner on 'Humanae Vitae' |magazine=America |date=28 September 1968 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110511113702/http://www.americamagazine.org/content/article.cfm?article_id=10722 |archive-date=11 May 2011 |access-date=2 August 2011 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=Reese |first=Thomas J. |author-link=Thomas J. Reese |date=31 March 2009 |title=Pope, Condoms and AIDS |url=http://newsweek.washingtonpost.com/onfaith/georgetown/2009/03/pope_condoms_and_aids.html |department=On Faith |newspaper=The Washington Post |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090403074809/http://newsweek.washingtonpost.com/onfaith/georgetown/2009/03/pope_condoms_and_aids.html |archive-date=3 April 2009 |access-date=2 August 2011 }}</ref> [[Catholic Church doctrine on the ordination of women#Deaconesses and female deacons|women deacons]],<ref>{{cite news |last=Zagano |first=Phyllis |url=http://www.americamagazine.org/content/article.cfm?article_id=2778 |title=Catholic Women Deacons |work=America |date=17 February 2003 |access-date=2 August 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110728021608/http://www.americamagazine.org/content/article.cfm?article_id=2778 |archive-date=28 July 2011 }}</ref> homosexuality, and [[liberation theology]].<ref>{{cite news |first=James |last=Martin |url=http://www.americamagazine.org/blog/entry.cfm?blog_id=2&id=BF67420F-1321-AEAA-D33BE2D27DC3AB28 |title=Jesuit General: Liberation Theology 'Courageous' |work=America |date=21 November 2008 |access-date=2 August 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110811104038/http://americamagazine.org/blog/entry.cfm?blog_id=2&id=BF67420F-1321-AEAA-D33BE2D27DC3AB28 |archive-date=11 August 2011 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=Martin |first=James |url=http://www.americamagazine.org/blog/entry.cfm?blog_id=2&entry_id=3224 |title=Glenn Beck and Liberation Theology |work=America |date=29 August 2010 |access-date=2 August 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110920151007/http://www.americamagazine.org/blog/entry.cfm?blog_id=2&entry_id=3224 |archive-date=20 September 2011 }}</ref> At the same time, Jesuits have been appointed to prominent doctrinal and theological positions in the church; under Pope Benedict XVI, Archbishop [[Luis Ladaria Ferrer]] was Secretary and later, under Pope Francis, Prefect of the [[Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith]].<ref>{{cite web |last=Thavis |first=John |url=http://www.catholicnews.com/data/stories/cns/0605114.htm |archive-url=http://arquivo.pt/wayback/20091005071039/http://www.catholicnews.com/data/stories/cns/0605114.htm |archive-date=5 October 2009 |title='Sala Stampa' style change: From toreador to low-key mathematician |publisher=[[Catholic News Service]] |date=8 September 2006 |access-date=12 June 2009 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.romereports.com/2017/07/01/pope-francis-names-luis-ladaria-as-new-prefect-of-congregation-for-the-doctrine-of-the-faith |title=Pope Francis names Luis Ladaria as new prefect of Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith |website=www.romereports.com |date=July 2017 |language=en |access-date=11 April 2020 |archive-date=4 July 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170704131629/http://www.romereports.com/2017/07/01/pope-francis-names-luis-ladaria-as-new-prefect-of-congregation-for-the-doctrine-of-the-faith |url-status=live }}</ref>