The Jesuits Society Issues - Essay Example

Ignatius was born at the castle of Loyola which is found in the province of Guipuzcoa in 1491. Ignatius had the intention of becoming a soldier but his carrier was cut short by a cannonball that shattered his leg in 1521 and he, therefore, opted to be a soldier of Christ.

After spending much time reading religious books, Ignatius traveled to monasteries and schools praying and studying in preparation for consecrated life to Christ. After his graduate studies at the University of Paris together with his six friends, they vowed to continue with their extended prayer and meditation. The Jesuit society was founded in 1534 on a day known as Assumption day. At the time of the formation of this society, Ignatius was 40 years. After the communion, Ignatius and his companions vowed to go on a mission to the Holy Land. The aim was to convert non-members of the group. The constitution of the society was constituted and approved by Paul the 3rd in Rome in the year 1540. The Jesuits vow to serve the Pope and to provide the Pope with unconditional obedience, teaching, confession and to offer voluntary work and services.

France is known as the cradle land of the Jesuits but the society in Italy received its Programme and constitution. The society, therefore, took its roots first in Italy and then spread abroad. The history of Italian civilization dating to the 16th and 17th centuries shows the results of an increased number of colleges and Jesuit academies. In Spain, the order’s penetration was slower. The higher clergy and the Dominicans were opposing the action of this group and therefore that contributed to its slow growth. However, the order came to defeat the resistance and eventually found its way in.

The Jesuits aim to form not an intellectual Christian elite but to elite the Christians. Thus, it would be so disturbing for these believers to learn about Candide’s philosophy since to him, God never existed. He was against the fact that God is perfect and he went ahead and proclaimed that if God was perfect as the Jesuits insisted the world should also be perfect. The fact that the world is not perfect formed the basis for Candide to believe that God never existed. The Jesuit society also had a conquering spirit and an ultimate desire to attract nonmembers and to hold them with their influence. Candide’s philosophy was against hypocrisy and immorality among religious leaders, he expresses his view against Christianity by pointing out how religious leaders persecuted those who were against their theology and corruption. For example, in this book we encounter a pope’s daughter; a man of God who was supposed to be celibate and not sire any children but, on the other hand, he secretly keeps an affair with a mistress.

In Candide, the author uses various kinds of satire against optimism which the Jesuit society valued most. Voltaire, the author of the Candide, is satirical about those Christian believers who were caught in wrongdoings. Voltaire’s main aim in writing this book was to destroy optimism. This can be very disturbing to the Jesuit society since they preached optimism and good morals. In this case, believers needed to have hope of eternal life and positive feeling about the future when all was not well. For instance, he used satirical remarks after hearing the old woman’s story. He says it was such a pity for a person as wise as Pangloss who was hanged, they could have spared him instead so that he could preach against evil done to this immoral society. Though we know so well that Voltaire was against Christianity and those people who pretended to be holy but had some evil doings.