Ignatius Founds the Jesuits

August 15, 1534

In a chapel on Montmartre, the Basque soldier-turned-mystic Ignatius of Loyola and six companions took vows of poverty and chastity and swore to go wherever the pope sent them. The Society of Jesus would become the Catholic Reformation's commando force, from Rio to Beijing. The Society's combination of military obedience and intellectual rigor made it the Catholic Reformation's most effective instrument worldwide.