Ignatius of Loyola Beatified

Ignatius of Loyola (1491-1556)

Ignatius Loyola was a prime mover in the Catholic counter-reformation, the Vatican's formal strategic reaction to the Lutheran-originated reformation of the church. Loyola was the main founder and first superior general of his religious order, the Society of Jesus, also called the Jesuits.

Ignatius was beatified by Pope Paul V on July 27, 1609, and canonized (made a Saint) by Pope Gregory XV on March 13, 1622. These dates are on the Gregorian Calendar and would have been ten days out of sync with England’s calendar at the time.

Loyola is revered by many as a pious man of god. Perhaps there are just as many who despised him as a fanatical gatekeeper of ideology and dogma, a cold persecutor of religious dissenters, philosophers, Latina wise women, and anyone who may have bumped into things that go bump in the night. Loyola, himself harassed by the Spanish Inquisition, created in the Jesuits a vast intelligence operation that served as a model for modern intelligence services. In fact, many of the famous operatives in 20th-century military intelligence were directly influenced by Jesuit education.

In England, the fear of Jesuit plots drove Elizabeth I bonkers, and James I was also a frequent Jesuit target. (Note previous post.)

RSB