SJ Panels — The Society Today

The Society of Jesus and its founder

Saint Ignatius of Loyola (1491–1556) was a Spanish knight transformed into a mystic pilgrim, who became one of the most influential figures of the Catholic Reformation. After being gravely wounded at the battle of Pamplona (1521), the spiritual reading he did while convalescing radically changed his life. He wrote the celebrated "Spiritual Exercises", a foundational guide to meditation and spiritual discernment. In 1534 he laid the foundations of the Society of Jesus, officially recognised in 1540. The Jesuits became known for their rigorous discipline, the promotion of education and vast missionary activity. Canonised in 1622, Ignatius of Loyola is the patron of spiritual retreats and is celebrated on 31 July.

The Euro-Mediterranean Province (EUM)

Administratively, the Jesuits of Romania are part of the Euro-Mediterranean Province (EUM) of the Society of Jesus, based in Rome, which also comprises Italy, Malta and Albania. In 2026 the province numbered around 370 members in 26 communities. Eleven Jesuits work in Romania, in the communities of Cluj and Bucharest, while another 4 members are in Italy on various missions and stages of formation.

The leadership of the Society of Jesus and the EUM Province

Jesuit saints and blesseds

To date there are 210 Jesuit saints and blesseds, of whom 155 are blesseds and 55 are saints. Of these, 180 are martyrs — people who witnessed to their faith and love for Christ to the point of shedding their blood. Among the best known are St. Ignatius of Loyola, St. Francis Xavier, St. Aloysius Gonzaga and St. Claude la Colombière.

The Society of Jesus, founded in 1540

The Society of Jesus was founded in 1540 to serve the Lord and the Church alone, in obedience to the Supreme Pontiff: for the defence and spread of the faith and for the good of souls in Christian life and teaching, through every kind of service of the Word, through the Spiritual Exercises, through the spiritual consolation of the faithful, through the work of reconciliation and through works of charity — receiving no reward — keeping God before their eyes above all things in everything. Today, nearly 14,000 Jesuits from more than 110 countries live as servants of Christ's mission, renewed by the Holy Father, in the Church and for the world: in the service of faith and the promotion of the justice of the Kingdom, in the inculturation of the faith and in dialogue with people of other cultures and religious traditions. All for the greater glory of God.

The four universal apostolic preferences