Superior General of the Society of Jesus

Ignatius of Loyola, first Superior General

The formal title in Latin is Praepositus Generalis, which may fairly be rendered as "superior general" or even, "president general". The term is like that of military usage (and Ignatius of Loyola had a military background) which is derived from "general", as opposed to "particular". This usage is consistent with other Catholic religious orders, like the Dominicans' "master general", Franciscans' "minister general", Carthusians' "prior general", and with civil posts such as Postmaster General and Attorney General. The Jesuits are organized into provinces, each with a provincial superior, (usually referred to as the "Father Provincial" or just "Provincial"), with the head of the order being the "general superior", for the whole organization. As a major superior, the Superior General is styled "Very Reverend".

"Black Pope" is a designation given to the Superior General.[2] The name follows from his leadership of the largest Catholic, male religious order[3] and from the colour of the plain black cassock worn by members of the Society, including the Superior General. This may have originated from a past concern (most prominent around the 16th and 17th centuries) among Protestant European countries concerning the relative power of the Jesuits within the Roman Catholic Church, and partly because the Superior General, like the Pope, is elected for life.

Pedro Arrupe

The Superior General is invested with governing power over all the members of the Society, but customarily leads through Provincial superiors under him. Such power follows from the religious vows that bind members to community life, as in other religious orders.

Superiors General are elected by the General Congregation of the Society, summoned upon the resignation or death of an incumbent. Superiors General are elected for life and up to recently, as with the Popes, have served life terms. The exceptions being Father Pedro Arrupe (resigned for reasons of failing health) and both his successors, Father Peter Hans Kolvenbach and Father Adolfo Nicolás. On 2 October 2016, General Congregation 36 convened in Rome, convoked by Superior General Nicolás, and it elected Father Arturo Sosa as the thirty-first Superior General.

Until the 21st century, it was customary for Superior Generals to rule for life. Where they left office before death, the date of death is listed below the date they left office. (Pedro Arrupe resigned in 1983 after a paralyzing stroke.)

No.	Superior General	Portrait	Took office	Left office Deceased	Birthplace[lower-alpha 1]	Duration (in days)
1	Ignatius of Loyola		April 19, 1541	July 31, 1556	Azpeitia, Spain	5,582
2	Diego Laynez		July 2, 1558	January 19, 1565	Almazán, Spain	2,393
3	Francis Borgia		July 2, 1565	October 1, 1572	Gandia, Spain	2,648
4	Everard Mercurian		April 23, 1573	August 1, 1580	La Roche-en-Ardenne, Belgium	2,657
5	Claudio Acquaviva		February 19, 1581	January 31, 1615	Atri, Italy	12,399
6	Mutio Vitelleschi		November 15, 1615	February 9, 1645	Rome, Italy	10,679
7	Vincenzo Carafa		January 7, 1646	June 8, 1649	Naples, Italy	1,248
8	Francesco Piccolomini		December 21, 1649	June 17, 1651	Siena, Italy	543
9	Aloysius Gottifredi		January 21, 1652	March 12, 1652	Rome, Italy	51
10	Goschwin Nickel		March 17, 1652	July 31, 1664	Jülich, Germany	4,519
11	Giovanni Paolo Oliva		July 31, 1664	November 26, 1681	Genoa, Italy	6,327
12	Charles de Noyelle		July 5, 1682	December 12, 1686	Brussels, Belgium	1,621
13	Thyrsus González de Santalla		July 6, 1687	October 27, 1705	Arganza, Spain	6,688
14	Michelangelo Tamburini		January 31, 1706	February 28, 1730	Modena, Italy	8,521
15	Franz Retz		March 7, 1730	November 19, 1750	Prague, Bohemia	7,562
16	Ignacio Visconti		July 4, 1751	May 4, 1755	Milan, Italy	1,389
17	Aloysius Centurione		November 30, 1755	October 2, 1757	Genoa, Italy	672
18	Lorenzo Ricci		May 21, 1758	August 16, 1773 November 24, 1775 July 21, 1773 (suppressed)	Florence, Italy	5,566
—	Stanislaus Czerniewicz[lower-alpha 2]		October 17, 1782	October 21, 1785	Kaunas, Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth	1,100
—	Gabriel Lenkiewicz[lower-alpha 2]		October 8, 1785	October 21, 1798	Polotsk, Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth	4,761
—	Franciszek Kareu[lower-alpha 3]		February 12, 1799	August 11, 1802	Orsha, Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth	1,275
—	Gabriel Gruber[lower-alpha 4]		October 22, 1802	April 6, 1805	Vienna, Austria	897
19	Tadeusz Brzozowski[lower-alpha 5]		August 7, 1814	February 5, 1820	Königsberg, Prussia	2,008
20	Luigi Fortis		October 18, 1820	January 27, 1829	Verona, Italy	3,023
21	Jan Roothaan		July 9, 1829	May 8, 1853	Amsterdam, Netherlands	8,704
22	Peter Jan Beckx		August 2, 1853	March 4, 1887	Scherpenheuvel-Zichem, Belgium	12,267
23	Anton Anderledy		March 4, 1887	January 18, 1892	Berisal, Switzerland	1,781
24	Luis Martín		October 2, 1892	April 18, 1906	Melgar de Fernamental, Spain	4,945
25	Franz Xavier Wernz		September 8, 1906	August 20, 1914	Rottweil, Germany	2,903
26	Wlodimir Ledóchowski		February 11, 1915	December 13, 1942	Loosdorf, Austria	10,167
27	Jean-Baptiste Janssens		September 15, 1946	October 5, 1964	Mechelen, Belgium	6,595
28	Pedro Arrupe		May 22, 1965	September 3, 1983 February 5, 1991	Bilbao, Spain	6,678
29	Peter Hans Kolvenbach		September 13, 1983	January 14, 2008 November 26, 2016	Druten, Netherlands	8,889
30	Adolfo Nicolás		January 19, 2008	October 3, 2016 May 20, 2020	Villamuriel de Cerrato, Spain	3,169
31	Arturo Sosa		October 14, 2016	Incumbent	Caracas, Venezuela	1577

Saint Francis Borgia, depicted performing an exorcism, served as the third Superior General.

In 1773, the Jesuits were suppressed by Pope Clement XIV, through the Papal brief Dominus ac Redemptor on July 21, 1773, executed August 16. The leaders of the order, in the nations where the Papal suppression order was not enforced, were known as temporary Vicars General.

The temporary Vicars General were:

• Stanislaus Czerniewicz (October 17, 1782 – October 21, 1785)
• Gabriel Lenkiewicz (October 8, 1785 – October 21, 1798)
• Franciszek Kareu (February 12, 1799 – March 7, 1801)

On March 7, 1801, Pope Pius VII issued the brief Catholicae fidei, giving approval to the existence of the Society in Russia and allowing the Society there to elect a Superior General for Russia. This was the first step to the Society's eventual restoration.

The Superiors General in Russia were:

• Franciszek Kareu (March 7, 1801 – August 11, 1802)
• Gabriel Gruber (October 22, 1802 – April 6, 1805)
• Tadeusz Brzozowski (September 14, 1805 – August 7, 1814)

The order was restored on August 7, 1814, by Pope Pius VII, through the papal bull Sollicitudo omnium ecclesiarum.

• Admonitor (Jesuits)

• The Goa Jesuit Province of the Society of Jesus
• New York Jesuit Province History Page on the Suppression