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A history review always ends up throwing up a handful of proper names that have influenced its own course, that of St. Ignatius of Loyola is undoubtedly one of them. We owe the founding of the Society of Jesus to him, whose intellectual and formative mission has been strongly promoted since its approval in 1540. Hand in hand with the foundress of the Order of the Discalced Carmelites, St. Teresa of Jesus, was his role in the Counter-Reformation, which was a real challenge to the dominant status quo at the time and involved the preparation of the Church for modernity. St. Ignatius had to face all kinds of opposition and adversity: typical of those who undertake a revolution, adding to his exemplarity. Starting from his vital milestones as a guiding thread, the attentive reader will find new readings of the figure and work of Ignatius, collected during a series of conferences for the 500th anniversary of the saint's conversion, whose light continues to dissipate - four hundred years after his canonization by Pope Gregory XV and one hundred years since Pius XI declared him patron of the Spiritual Exercises - the shadows that continue to hover over the path that leads to clarity.
