JESUITISM. Doctrine, system, and religious, political, and social principles of the Jesuits or attributed to them; practice of casuistry or sophistry as a way of life.

The Society of Jesus, a religious order founded by Ignatius de Loyola in 1534 as an instrument of the Counter Reformation, was suppressed by Pope Clement XIV in 1773 (but kept alive through the favor of the emperors of Russia and China in their territories). In 1814 it was reestablished by Pious VII, and it gained impetus in the Holy Alliance.

The Jesuits have played a very important role in public education, and also in clandestine political activity, intermingling on many occasions the missionary work of the Church with secret diplomatic missions as well as tasks for the secret police of Catholic states. In the nineteenth and twentieth centuries they have sought to present themselves before public opinion in Catholic countries as leaders in the struggle against modernism within Catholicism and against Masonry without. To conduct secret missions they have at times used plain clothing and pretended to be partisans of their enemies to infiltrate their ranks. This moral "flexibility" and their propensity for political careerism have provided grounds for the accusations of hypocrisy and duplicity that are made against the Jesuits. The literary character Tartuffe in Moliere’s comedy is the archetype of the hypocritically disguised perversity and corruption that is regarded as the personification of J.

The thesis, quite dubious from a moral perspective, that a noble end justifies the use of base and sordid means, is commonly attributed to the Jesuits. However, this image of the Society of Jesus is one-sided, and thus unjust, and is due largely to tendentious propaganda by their adversaries, exploiting certain procedures, customs, and traditions of the Order that could violate conventionally accepted norms of social communication and ordinary conscience.

The names of the well-known Brazilian Christian humanist Antonio de Viera and philosopher and scientist Teilhard de Chardin, who were both subjected to repression by the ecclesiastical hierarchy, attest to the high moral character of some members of this Order, in contrast to the generalized perception.

JUSTICE. (OFr., from L. justitia, justice, from justus, lawful, rightful, just, from jus, law, right). 1) Ethical value that regulates the spiritual and social life of the human being; the social virtue par excellence. It is the foundation of law, reason, and equity. J. expresses the equality of persons before moral law.

J. designates one of the four cardinal virtues that gives to each what is rightfully each person’s due; also, the set of all virtues that constitute goodness in whoever possesses them.

Since Aristotle, these distinctions have been made: commutative j., which regulates the equality or proportion that should exist between things when they are given or exchanged; distributive j., which establishes the proportion governing the distribution of rewards and punishments; legal j., which obliges the subject to obey the dispositions of superiors; and ordinary j. or common law, standing in opposition to special rights and privileges.

The content of j. varies in different cultures and various historical periods. The interpretation of j. made by different social, ethnic, and religious groups within a single society will also be different. Many values regarded as just by the barbarians (Celts, Germans, and Slavs) were declared unjust by the Roman and Byzantine empires. Certain values of ancient Rome were condemned as pagan by the Romans after they adopted Christianity.

N.H. considers any act just that allows human beings to realize their abilities in an integral way and to form their own personality, without harm to others. At the same time, it considers unjust any action that annuls or restricts freedom of choice and other essential human rights. Any act that one wishes to apply to others but not to oneself is unjust.

2) A system formed historically by the juridical norms and institutions of a state or community of states. In this sense, the j. system defends the law. Every legal activity is under the protection of the j. system. These juridical norms have an obligatory character and must be observed by all citizens under penalty of punishment for their infraction.

In modern democracies, all citizens have equal political and social rights, but human beings vary in regard to age, gender, health, physical and intellectual vigor, etc. Therefore, any reasonably just society tries to compensate for these differences in defining social obligations, exempting certain groups from some obligations (children, the disabled, the sick) and establishing retirement and benefit systems (for the sick, the elderly, the handicapped) and systems of unemployment insurance, training, and retraining for those who have lost or never had access to job opportunities. N.H. places special emphasis on these problems, opposing privileges based on money, race, class, gender, religion, etc., favoring the recognition of individual differences, and regarding compensation for deprivation or difficulties as socially just.

Given that j. as a system of state institutions involves frequent recourse to the use of violent methods, N.H. holds particular attitudes with regard to the various methods and decisions of these institutions. Thus, for example, humanists condemn capital punishment and demand its abolition. In social and ethnic conflicts humanists express solidarity with the victims of oppression of any kind and act on behalf of freedom of conscience.

3) Judicial power; court, ministry, or department that administers justice.

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We invite everyone to participate with us in putting into practice the moral principle that says: "Treat others as you would like to be treated."
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