{"id":27775,"date":"2013-06-04T08:40:36","date_gmt":"2013-06-04T12:40:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/communio.stblogs.org\/index.php\/2013\/06\/the-jesuits-by-the-numbers\/"},"modified":"2013-06-04T08:40:36","modified_gmt":"2013-06-04T12:40:36","slug":"the-jesuits-by-the-numbers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/communio.stblogs.org\/index.php\/2013\/06\/the-jesuits-by-the-numbers\/","title":{"rendered":"The Jesuits by the numbers"},"content":{"rendered":"

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\"Ignatius<\/a><\/div>\n

Statistics are not that interesting unless you’re bean counter. Even then the numbers don’t account for everything that’s happening in the Church and in a group. Admittedly, there needs to be room for the work of the Holy Spirit.<\/span><\/p>\n


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Having said all this, if you want to see how culture and theology are working together –or not– you need to look at the numbers. There is a claim that the largest order of men in the Church is the Society of Jesus, founded in 1540; if you bring together the various Franciscan groups of men they’d likely outnumber the Jesuits.<\/span><\/div>\n

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Several years ago Father Peter Hans Kolvenbach said that looking at the original charism of the Society the vocation to be a Jesuit was given to very few men. In the course of history, and for particular reasons, the Society exploded in numbers surpassing expectation and control. And yet, there has been a tremendous amount of good done through Ignatian spirituality, but there has been a demonstrable <\/span>chaos wreaked by the same. It looks as though the chaos is lessening but it will take another generation or two for a more authentic living of the charism of Saint Ignatius and the first Jesuits to be fully lived again.<\/div>\n

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To give you a sense of the scope of the Jesuits worldwide consider this information for today:<\/span><\/div>\n
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