The Society of Jesus’ four Universal Apostolic Preferences guide our mission. To show the way to God through the Spiritual Exercises and discernment. To walk with the poor, the outcasts of the world, in a mission of reconciliation and justice.

We are the Society of Jesus, a Roman Catholic order of priests and brothers founded half a millennium ago by the soldier-turned-mystic Ignatius Loyola. But most people call us “the Jesuits.” In the vision of our founder, we seek to “find God in all things.”

The mission of the Society of Jesus is the work of reconciliation: humanity with God, with themselves, with each other and with creation.

And when we speak of “our” ministries, we speak not only of those with the “S.J.” after their names, the vowed members of the Society of Jesus. Growing numbers of lay people are also taking part in our works, helping to steer our institutions, as partners in mission.

Although most people encounter Jesuits locally in schools and other ministries, the Society of Jesus is in fact a missionary order — the largest such order in the Catholic Church. Fr. Arturo Sosa, S.J., Superior General of the Jesuits, has said that, “You can find Jesuits, true Jesuits, in every region, in every color, in every activity.

Internationally, perhaps the best-known social justice outreach of the Society of Jesus is the Jesuit Refugee Service (JRS). JRS works in 59 countries across six continents to accompany, serve and advocate for those who have been forcibly displaced from their homes.

Headquartered in Washington, D.C., the Jesuit Conference of Canada and the United States provides liaison staffing among the five provinces, various national associations and the Society’s international headquarters in Rome.

But have you heard of the Constitutions of the Society of Jesus? Unless you’re a Jesuit, you probably haven’t. It’s a series of documents often dismissed as too legalistic, necessary but not relevant to daily life.

The Society of Jesus Catholic religious order* of men founded in 1540 by Ignatius of Loyola* and a small group of his multinational “friends in the Lord,” fellow students from the University of Paris.

The Society of Jesus in the United States, Canada and Haiti welcomed 28 new Jesuit novices this August at novitiates in California, Minnesota, New York, Colorado and Haiti. They have taken the initial step on their journey toward Jesuit priesthood or brotherhood, known as “Jesuit formation,” which can take a total of eight to 12 years.