Congregation of Jesus
| Congregatio Jesu | |
 |
|
| Abbreviation | C.J. |
|---|---|
| Formation | 27 September 1609 |
| Type | Catholic religious order |
| Headquarters | General Motherhouse |
| Location |
|
| Sister Jane Livesey, C.J. | |
|
Key people
|
The Venerable Mary Ward, foundress |
|
Parent organization
|
Roman Catholic Church |
|
Staff
|
2,000 |
| Website | Congregatio Jesu |
The Congregation of Jesus is one of two congregations of Religious Sisters founded during the 17th-century through the work of the Venerable Mary Ward, who was dedicated to female education. The other congregation is the Sisters of Loreto, a name they shared until recently, which is also spread widely around the world. In England their primary house is The Bar Convent in York, the oldest such community in the country. Members of the congregation add the postnominal initials of C.J. or CJ after their names.
Mary Ward was a member of a Roman Catholic family during the period of persecution of Catholics in Tudor England. Originally attempting a life of contemplation in the Spanish Netherlands, she became convinced that she was called to serve in a more active way, especially in her native country. She saw education as the best way for women to further their own gifts and was joined in this vision by a small band of other English women. Under her leadership, they established a religious community in Saint-Omer in 1609 which soon opened a school to educate the daughters of English Catholic families.
The community was founded in the spirit of the Society of Jesus, envisioning a life in which the Sisters would not confined to a cloister and would be free to meet the various needs of the people they served as needed. This, however, quickly met criticism and opposition from Church authorities. The Council of Trent had forbidden new religious congregations and confined religious women to enclosure. Ward's response was, "There is no such difference between men and women... as we have seen by example of many saints who have done great things." She founded houses and schools in Liège, Cologne, Rome, Naples, Munich, Vienna, Pressburg and other places, often at the request of the local rulers and bishops, but papal approval eluded her. In 1631 Mary Ward’s Institute was suppressed by Pope Urban VIII.
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