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LITTLE KNOWN FACTS ABOUT PINE RIDGE |
JESUITS Red Cloud Indian School was founded by members of the Society of Jesus, and is associated with the Jesuits of the Wisconsin Province. The Society of Jesus, commonly known as the "Jesuits", was founded in 1540 by Saint Ignatius Loyola. Loyola wished that all Jesuits act in imitation of Christ at all times. They quickly became well known as educators and scholars, and were known to minister to the poor, the sick, and the imprisoned, as well as sending missionaries to Asia, Africa, and India. The Society of Jesus gained fame for several of its challenging ideas. Foremost, it followed the law of Cura Personalis, or care for the person, in all of its endeavors. This meant that even poor people, foreigners, and indigenous people were to be treated with the dignity due to any child of God. Jesuit education differed from other educational ideas at the time for its idea of teaching the whole person. That is, a Jesuit education was not meant to be merely an instruction of the intellect, but of heart, spirit, and mind together. These two traditions, care for the person and education of the whole person, are the cornerstones of all modern Jesuit education. The Society grew quickly, numbering in the thousands within twenty years of its founding. The society quickly became powerful and well known. They were a highly visible group, challenging the contemporary way of thinking by living among the poor and disenfranchised, sending missions to far-away places, and living among the people there. Their visibility and challenge of the authorities of the time, as well as their pride and some foolish decisions made by the Jesuit leaders of the 16th century earned them many enemies in the political and religious arenas. Because of pressure from these enemies, a papal brief was issued in 1773 suppressing the society. The Jesuits were disbanded, and several were imprisoned. Czarina Catherine of Russia, however, did not allow the brief to be enacted in her country, and so the society continued with the 200 Jesuits who remained in Russia. In 1814, some 41 years after the Jesuits were suppressed, Pope Pius VII reinstated the Society in response to an overwhelming need for educational and missionary services. The Society immediately took off, gathering new members, doubling its already existing missionary services to places like the Americas, and building schools around the world.
Then, and today, the Jesuits served in many capacities at Holy Rosary Mission and Red Cloud Indian School. They serve in the parishes, in the classrooms, in administration and development, and as support personnel of a variety of sorts. Red Cloud Indian School is proud to be a part of the almost 100 universities and over 400 high schools now sponsored by the Jesuits around the world. The original basis of St. Ignatius' Society of Jesus--imitation of Christ, Care for the Person, and education of the whole person, are still the cornerstones of modern Jesuit teaching today.
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In 1888, the Jesuits came to the Pine Ridge Reservation at the request of Chief Red Cloud, and set up Holy Rosary Mission and what would later become Red Cloud Indian School.