What was the role of the jesuits?
The Jesuits were the most intellectual branch of the Catholic Church. They made a point of studying and teaching science, logic, mathematics, literature and languages as an extension of Christian culture. For this reason they were excellent missionaries. They took the time to learn Chinese, Hindi, Japanese, and the aboriginal languages of the New World so that they could preach to people in a language that was comprehensible to them. They also translated the Bible into many foreign languages, and trained native priests. An excellent movie to see about the Jesuits in Canada during the colonial period is called “Black Robe.” For the famous Jesuit experiment in Paraguay, see “The Mission” with Robert de Niro and Jeremy Irons.
