The Society of Jesus (Jesuit Fathers) is a male religious institute of pontifical right. Each member, priest or brother, is called to honor the three vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience.

The Jesuits in the world are about 16,000, in over 120 countries around the world, working in different apostolic sectors: from education to social, from pastoral care to spiritual accompaniment.

The Society of Jesus was founded by St. Ignatius of Loyola in the sixteenth century and since that time has had a special focus on schools (the “Colleges”). The first College was founded in Messina (the so-called “Primum ac Prototypum Collegium Societatis Jesu“) in 1548, when St. Ignatius was still alive.

The Society of Jesus, from its origins, was born as an international group, both because of the geographic origin of the first ten companions and because of their willingness to be sent anywhere in the world.

Still today, part of the long training to become a Jesuit is done abroad, just to acquire flexibility, open-mindedness and develop the sense of adaptation that allows them to live anywhere, with freedom.

The “coat of arms” of the Society of Jesus is a sun with the inscription IHS, Latin initials of Iesus Hominum Salvator. This monogram of Jesus was already widely used at the end of the Middle Ages, especially thanks to Bernardine of Siena. Ignatius and his early companions did so precisely to emphasize their special connection to the person of Jesus and their mission to “save souls.”

For the 2019-2029 decade, globally, the Society of Jesus has identified four priority areas of focus, called “Universal Apostolic Preferences.”

The Jesuit Education Foundation, as an apostolic entity of the Euro-Mediterranean Province of the Society of Jesus, is part of the wide network of apostolic and especially educational realities of the Jesuits throughout the world.

Getting into a school in the Jesuit Education network means becoming part of the vast and vibrant educational activity of the Society of Jesus globally, which has nearly 900 schools in 72 countries, with a total of about 900,000 students, more than 1,600 Jesuits active in the schools, and more than 50,000 faculty and staff.

To these must be added the more than 1,600 “Fe Y Alegria” projects that involve another 1,300,000 students in 22 countries around the world.

The network EDUCATE MAGIS connects virtually through an online platform teachers and educators of Jesuit and Ignatian schools around the world, carrying out projects, collecting materials, sharing news and promoting Ignatian identity and pedagogy.