Jesuits have been in Africa since the founding of their order, yet their history there remains poorly researched. Although scholars have begun to focus on specific regions such as Congo, Ethiopia, and Zimbabwe, a comprehensive picture of the entire Jesuit experience on the continent has hitherto been lacking. In a condensed yet accessible way, Jesuits in Africa fills that lacuna. Narrating the story century by century from the time of St. Ignatius of Loyola (c.1491–1556), founder of the Jesuits, to that of Pedro Arrupe (1907–91, in office 1965–83), twenty-eighth superior general of the Society, this book makes Jesuit history in Africa available to a general readership while offering scholars a broad view in which specialized topics can be conceived and deepened.

Protestants entering Africa in the nineteenth century sought to learn from earlier Jesuit presence in Ethiopia and southern Africa. The nineteenth century was itself a century of missionary scramble for Africa during which the Jesuits encountered their Protestant counterparts as both sought to evangelize the African native. Encounters between Jesuits and Protestants in Africa, edited by Robert Alexander Maryks and Festo Mkenda, S.J., presents critical reflections on the nature of those encounters in southern Africa and in Ethiopia, Madagascar, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and Fernando Po. Though largely marked by mutual suspicion and outright competition, the encounters also reveal personal appreciations and support across denominational boundaries and thus manifest salient lessons for ecumenical encounters even in our own time. This volume is the result of the second Boston College International Symposium on Jesuit Studies held at the Jesuit Historical Institute in Africa (Nairobi, Kenya) in 2016. Thanks to generous support of the Institute for Advanced Jesuit Studies at Boston College, it is available in Open Access.

Through its missionary, pedagogical, and scientific accomplishments, the Society of Jesus-known as the Jesuits-became one of the first institutions with a truly "global" reach, in practice and intention. The Oxford Handbook of the Jesuits offers a critical assessment of the Order, helping to chart new directions for research at a time when there is renewed interest in Jesuit studies. In particular, the Handbook examines their resilient dynamism and innovative spirit, grounded in Catholic theology and Christian spirituality, but also profoundly rooted in society and cultural institutions. It also explores Jesuit contributions to education, the arts, politics, and theology, among others. The volume is organized in seven major sections, totaling forty articles, on the Order's foundation and administration, the theological underpinnings of its activities, the Jesuit involvement with secular culture, missiology, the Order's contributions to the arts and sciences, the suppression the Order endured in the 18th century, and finally, the restoration. The volume also looks at the way the Jesuit Order is changing, including becoming more non-European and ethnically diverse, with its members increasingly interested in engaging society in addition to traditional pastoral duties.

Africa in Europe, in two volumes, meticulously documents Europe's African presence from antiquity to the present. It incorporates findings from areas of study as diverse as physical anthropology, linguistics, social history, social theory, international relations, migrational studies, and globalization. In contrast to most other works focusing on Eurafrican relationships that largely revolve around Atlantic and trans-Atlantic developments since the Age of Global Exploration, this work has a much broader perspective which takes account of human evolution, the history of religion, Judaic studies, Byzantine studies, the history of Islam, and Western intellectual history including social theory. While the issue of racism in its variant manifestations receives thorough treatment, African in Europe is also about human connections across fluid boundaries that are ancient as well as those that date to the Age of Exploration, the Age of Revolution, and continue until the present. Hence, it brings new clarity to our understanding of such processes as acculturation and assimilation while deepening our understanding of interrelationships among racism, violence, and social identities. This work is full of new insights, fresh interpretations, and highly nuanced analyses relevant to our thinking about territoriality, citizenship, migration, and frontiers in a world that is increasingly globalized. The author moves across boundaries of time and space in ways that result in an encyclopedic work that is an integrated and programmatic whole as well as one in which each chapter is a complete module of scholarship that is self-contained.

Pope Francis, the first Jesuit pope, has captured our attention by stepping away from the papal throne, unafraid to give impromptu interviews, decentralize church governance, or explore new horizons for the greater good of the people of God. His actions and words suggest that he is here not to dominate but to serve, less inclined to preach than to listen, and to bring us back to Jesus “that we may have life and have it more abundantly.” Award-winning journalist Robert Blair Kaiser argues that the pope’s Jesuit DNA is central to understanding how Pope Francis is shaping the church and the world. Inside the Jesuits takes readers inside the Jesuits’ head-and-heart take on faith. The author tells the story of his own Jesuit training before leaving to become a journalist and highlights how the key elements of the Jesuit formation have made Pope Francis the pope he is—like Jesus in his simplicity, launching bold administrative moves to update the Church, and daring to say and do things no other pope has said or done. He washes the feet of those in prison, including a Muslim woman. He says of homosexuals, "Who am I to judge?" To further illustrate the Jesuit DNA in action, Kaiser produces some fascinating profiles of other Jesuits and former Jesuits working the Jesuit motto, "for the greater glory of God"—which Kaiser gives a more worldly spin: "for the greater good of the people of God." Inside the Jesuits is a powerful exploration of how the Jesuit training—to be more like Jesus—has shaped Pope Francis, a self-confessed sinner who encourages us to love our supposedly-less-worthy selves and help make a better world.

In Europe, Africa is often called the forgotten continent. The collapse of states, violent conflicts and natural disasters shape the public perception of Africa in Europe, while the political perspectives tend to be grossly neglected. This book wants to challenge this image in the eyes of many people through a profound analysis of main aspects of African-European relations (e.g. economics, migration, HIV / AIDS). In particular, it will be discussed what can be done to improve the relations between both continents and to develop a constructive and genuine cooperation. The book is based on the presentations and discussions of a congress of the Jesuit Scribani Network.

In Jesuit Survival and Restoration leading scholars from around the world discuss the most dramatic event in the Society of Jesus's history. The order was suppressed by papal command in 1773 and for the next forty-one years ex-Jesuits endeavoured to keep the Ignatian spirit alive and worked towards the order's restoration. When this goal was achieved in 1814 the Society entered one of its most dynamic but troubled eras. The contributions in the volume trace this story in a global perspective, looking at developments in Europe, Asia, Africa, and the Americas.