Jesuitism
Jesuitism
Noun applied rather loosely to the teachings and practices of the Jesuits, a religious order of men of the Roman Catholic Church engaged in missionary and educational work. Originally it was called the Company, but in the Bull of Pope Paul III approving it in 1540, the Society of Jesus. Besides the three usual vows the members take a fourth of special obedience to the Pope, who may send them on missions anywhere in the world. They depend on alms and gifts for support. The word is frequently used in the depreciative and opprobrious sense of craftiness, deceit, duplicity, and equivocation. — J.J.R.