This paper will examine the role of the Jesuits in American Catholic history. In a nation that is predominantly Protestant, the basis of much of the Jesuit activity has been in serving the immigrant Catholic communities from Ireland, Germany and Latin America. As will be seen, the Society of Jesus in the United States has reflected the metamorphic tendencies of the Jesuit order in general. However, in the late twentieth century American Jesuits began a process of disengagement or "dialogue" with the global Church and papal authority in general. The final outcome of this "dialogue" remains to be seen. 5.5 pgs. 14 f/c. 6b.
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