The Jesuits

Society of Jesus - Superiors General

1st	St. Ignatius Loyola April 19, 1541 to July 31, 1556 Feastday: July 31
2nd	Diego Laynez July 2, 1558 to Jan 19, 1565 1st General Congregation
3rd	St. Francis Borgia July 2, 1565 to October 1, 1572 Feastday: October 10 2nd General Congregation
4th	Everard Mercurian April 23, 1573 to August 1, 1580 3rd General Congregation
5th	Claudio Aquaviva Feb 19, 1581 to Jan 31, 1615 4th General Congregation 5th General Congregation - 1593 to 1594 6th General Congregation - 1608
6th	Muzio Vitelleschi Nov 15, 1615 to Feb 9, 1645 7th General Congregation
7th	Vincenzo Carafa Jan 7, 1646 to June 8, 1649 8th General Congregation
8th	Francesco Piccolomini Dec 21, 1649 to June 17, 1651 9th General Congregation
9th	Luigi Gottifredi January 21, 1652 to March 12, 1652 10th General Congregation
10th	Goswin Nickel March 17, 1652 to July 31, 1664 10th General Congregation
11th	Giovanni Paolo Oliva July 31, 1664 to November 6, 1681 11th General Congregation
12th	Charles de Noyelle July 5, 1682 to Dec 12, 1686 12th General Congregation
13th	Tirso Gonzalez July 6, 1687 to October 27, 1705 13th General Congregation 14th General Congregation - 1696
14th	Michelangelo Tamburini January 31, 1706 to February 28, 1730 15th General Congregation
15th	Frantisek Retz March 7, 1730 to November 19, 1750 16th General Congregation
16th	Ignazio Visconti July 4, 1751 to May 4, 1755 17th General Congregation
17th	Luigi Centurione November 30, 1755 to October 2, 1757 18th General Congregation
18th	Lorenzo Ricci May 21, 1758 to November 24, 1775 19th General Congregation
	On July 21, 1773, the Pope issued a Brief of Suppression...
19th	Tadeusz Brzozowski August 7, 1814 to February 5, 1820
20th	Luigi Fortis October 18, 1820 to January 27, 1829 20th General Congregation
21st	Jan Roothaan July 9, 1829 to May 8, 1853 21st General Congregation
22nd	Pieter Jean Beckx August 2, 1853 to March 4, 1887 22nd General Congregation
23rd	Anton Maria Anderledy March 5, 1887 to January 18, 1892 23rd General Congregation
24th	Luis Martin October 2, 1892 to April 18, 1906 24th General Congregation
25th	Franz Xavier Wernz September 8, 1906 to August 19, 1914 25th General Congregation
26th	Wlodimir Ledochowski February 11, 1915 to December 13, 1942 26th General Congregation 27th General Congregation - 1923 28th General Congregation - 1938
	On December 13, 1942, Fr Superior died while Europe was in the thick of World War II...
27th	Jean-Baptiste Janssens September 15, 1946 to October 5, 1964 29th General Congregation 30th General Congregation - 1957
28th	Pedro Arrupe May 22, 1965 to September 3, 1983 31st General Congregation - 1965 & 1966 32nd General Congregation - 1974 In 1981, Fr. Arrupe suffered a stroke which paralyzed him and later rendered him mute... 33rd General Congregation - 1983
29th	Peter Hans Kolvenbach September 3, 1983 to January 19, 2008 33rd General Congregation 34th General Congregation - 1995 Feb. 2, 2006 - Fr. Kolvenbach called for the 35th General Congregation to elect his successor... 35th General Congregation - 2008
30th	Adolfo Nicolás January 19, 2008 to present 35th General Congregation

Society of Jesus: Superiors General of the Society of Jesus | Presidents of the U.S. Jesuit Conference | Provincial Superiors of the California Province | Jesuit Pastors & Associate Pastors of Blessed Sacrament Church.

Notes:

1) On July 21, 1773, Pope Clement XIV issued a Brief of Suppression, Dominus Ac Redemptor, against the Society of Jesus. (A detailed account about this Brief is available at the Catholic Encyclopedia website.)

Czarina Katerina (Catherine the Great) of the Russian Empire refused to promulgate the Brief of Suppression and allowed the Jesuits to continue their work in her empire. The King of Prussia also declined to promulgate the Brief in his country. During that time, the Jesuits held general congregations to elect Vicar Generals to lead the Society in Russia.

Stanislaus Czerniewicz, Vicar General of Russia, Oct 17, 1782 - July 7, 1785
Gabriel Lenkiewicz, Vicar General of Russia, Sept 27, 1785 - Nov 10, 1798
Franciszek Kareu, Vicar General of Russia, Feb 1, 1799 - March 7, 1801

On March 7, 1801, Pope Pius VII issued the Brief, Catholicae Fidei, giving approval to the existence of the Society of Jesus in Russia and allowing the Society there to elect a Superior General for Russia.

Franciszek Kareu, Superior General of Russia, March 7, 1801 - July 30, 1802
Gabriel Gruber, Superior General of Russia, Oct 10 , 1802 - March 26, 1805
Tadeusz Brzozowski, Superior General of Russia, Sept 2, 1805 - Aug 7, 1814

On August 7, 1814, Pope Pius VII restored the order of the Society of Jesus through a Papal Bull, Solicitudo Omnium Ecclesiarum. From Superior General of Russia,Tadeusz Brzozowski, was tasked by his companions to become the 19th Superior General of the Society of Jesus.

Continue the chronology

2) On December 13, 1942, Fr Superior Ledochowski died while Europe was in the thick of World War II. The Vicar General, Norbert de Boyne, was unable to call a General Congregation until the war ended in Aug 1945. Fr. de Boyne, in effect, was in charge of the governance of the Society for three years. He was finally able to convene the 29th General Congregation from Sept 6 to Oct 23, 1946.

Continue with the new Superior General

3) In 1981, Fr. Arrupe had a stroke which paralyzed him and later rendered him mute. The Superior General was a llifetime position and there was no law in the Constitution of the Society to cover this event. Pope John Paul II intervened and appointed Fr. Paolo Dezza as Papal Delegate/Vicar General and Fr. Giuseppe Pittau as the Delegate's Coadjutor. Both were tasked to prepare for the next General Congregation of the Society to discuss the resignation of Fr. Arrupe and the election of a new Superior General. Fr. Dezza summoned the 33rd General Congregation on September 1, 1983.

Continue with the new Superior General

4) February 2, 2006, Fr. Kolvenbach called for a General Congregation (the 35th in Jesuit history) to elect his successor and to discuss matters regarding the Society of Jesus to begin on January 7, 2008, the year he turns 80. Each of the 91 Jesuit provinces in the world had held their own provincial congregations by March 1st, 2007, to prepare for the Rome gathering.

- About the 35th General Congregation of the Society of Jesus
- January 14, 2008 - The General Congregation accepted the resignation of Fr. Peter Hans Kolvenbach as Superior General.
- January 19, 2008 - The General Congregation elected Fr. Adolfo Nicolás as the Society's 30th Superior General.

Continue with the new Superior General

This chronology was compiled with the generous assistance of Dan Peterson, S.J., Archivist, California Province in 09/20/05.

Blessed Sacrament Parish

The Jesuits

Society of Jesus - Superiors General

News & Articles

Roman Catholic Church

Quick Links

Site Features