The Society of Jesus, also known as the Jesuits, is a religious order of the Catholic Church headquartered in Rome. It was founded in 1540 by Ignatius of Loyola and six companions, with the approval of Pope Paul III. The society is engaged in evangelization and apostolic ministry in 112 nations. Jesuits work in education, research, and cultural pursuits. Jesuits also give retreats, minister in hospitals and parishes, sponsor direct social ministries, and promote ecumenical dialogue.
Guarani are a group of culturally-related people indigenous peoples of South America. They are distinguished from the related Tupi by their use of the Guarani language. The traditional range of the Guarani people is in present-day Paraguay between the Paraná River and lower Paraguay River, the Misiones Province of Argentina, southern Brazil once as far east as Rio de Janeiro, and parts of Uruguay and Bolivia.
Chiquitania is a region of tropical savannas in the Santa Cruz Department in eastern Bolivia.
The Jesuit missions among the Guarani were a type of settlement for the Guaraní people in an area straddling the borders of present-day Paraguay, Brazil, and Argentina. The reductions were established by the Jesuit Order of the Catholic Church early in the 17th century and wound up in the late 18th century after the expulsion of the Jesuit order from the Americas. The reductions have been called an experiment in "socialist theocracy" or a rare example of "benign colonialism". Detractors have said that 'the Jesuits took away the Indians' freedom, forced them to radically change their lifestyle, physically abused them, and subjected them to disease."
Domenico Zipoli was an Italian Baroque composer who worked and died in Córdoba, in the Viceroyalty of Peru, Spanish Empire,. He became a Jesuit in order to work in the Reductions of Paraguay where he taught music among the Guaraní people. He is remembered as the most accomplished musician among Jesuit missionaries.
Roque González de Santa Cruz was a Jesuit priest who was the first missionary among the Guarani people in Paraguay. He is honored as a martyr and saint by the Catholic Church.
The Mbayá or Mbyá are an ethnic group, commonly called "Indians", which formerly ranged on both sides of the Paraguay River, on the north and northwestern Paraguay frontier, eastern Bolivia, and in the adjacent province of Mato Grosso do Sul, Brazil. They have also been called Caduveo. In the 16th century the Mbayá were called Guaycuru, a name later used generically for all the nomadic and semi-nomadic Indians of the Gran Chaco. The Kadiwéu people of Brazil are the surviving branch of the Mbayá.
San Ignacio de Velasco, is the capital of the José Miguel de Velasco Province and the San Ignacio de Velasco Municipality in the Santa Cruz Department of Bolivia.
The Jesuit Missions of Chiquitos are located in Santa Cruz department in eastern Bolivia. Six of these former missions collectively were designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1990. Distinguished by a unique fusion of European and Amerindian cultural influences, the missions were founded as reductions or reducciones de indios by Jesuits in the 17th and 18th centuries to convert local tribes to Christianity.
Ñuflo de Chávez is one of the fifteen provinces of the Bolivian Santa Cruz Department and is situated in the northern central parts of the department. The name of the province honors the conquistador Ñuflo de Chaves (1518–1556) who founded the city of Santa Cruz de la Sierra. Its capital is Concepción. The province was created by law of September 16, 1915, during the presidency of Ismael Montes. Originally it was part of the Chiquitos Province.
San José de Chiquitos or simply San José is the capital of Chiquitos Province in the Santa Cruz Department, Bolivia. It is known as part of the Jesuit Missions of the Chiquitos, which is declared in 1990 a World Heritage Site, as a former Jesuit Reduction.
San Miguel de Velasco or simply San Miguel is a town in the Santa Cruz Department, Bolivia. It is the capital of San Miguel Municipality, the second municipal section of José Miguel de Velasco Province. It is known as part of the Jesuit Missions of the Chiquitos, which was declared a World Heritage Site in 1990, as a former Jesuit Reduction. The wood and adobe church has an elaborate interior.
Jan Mikołaj Smogulecki (1610–1656), of the Grzymała coat of arms, was a Polish nobleman, politician, missionary, scholar and Jesuit credited with introducing logarithms to China.
Jan Josef Ignác Brentner, was a Bohemian composer of the Baroque era.
Martin Schmid, also known as Esmid was a Swiss Jesuit, missionary, musician and architect, who worked mainly in the Chiquitos Province of what is now Bolivia.
The Chiquitano or Chiquitos are an indigenous people of Bolivia, with a small number also living in Brazil. The Chiquitano primarily live in the Chiquitania tropical savanna of Santa Cruz Department, Bolivia, with a small number also living in Beni Department and in Mato Grosso, Brazil. In the 2012 census, self-identified Chiquitanos made up 1.45% of the total Bolivian population or 145,653 people, the largest number of any lowland ethnic group. A relatively small proportion of Bolivian Chiquitanos speak the Chiquitano language. Many reported to the census that they neither speak the language nor learned it as children. The Chiquitano ethnicity emerged among socially and linguistically diverse populations required to speak a common language by the Jesuit Missions of Chiquitos.
Marcelo Araúz Lavadenz, is a Bolivian festival director, culture promoter, choir leader and music educator.
Bishop Radoslaw Zmitrowicz, O.M.I. is a Polish-born Ukrainian Roman Catholic prelate, who serves as an Auxiliary bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Kamyanets-Podilskyi and the Titular Bishop of Gypsaria since 21 October 2006.
Juan de Castillo was a Jesuit priest and missionary, and a martyr-saint of the Catholic Church. A Spaniard, he was one of the first to labor at the Jesuit reductions in Paraguay.
Itatín was a 17th century region, corresponding to the western half of the 21st century Brazilian state of Mato Grosso do Sul. The indigenous people inhabiting the region gave their name to Itatín. The Itatínes were related to the Guaraní who lived to their south in Paraguay. In 1631, the Jesuit Order of the Roman Catholic church began founding missions in Itatín but the missions failed in 1648 because of slave raids by the Bandeirantes of Brazil and revolts against the Jesuits. Considered part of colonial Paraguay, Itatín was ceded to Brazil in 1750 by the Treaty of Madrid. The name has fallen out of use.
