The historical roots of the Society of Jesus are traced back to the birth of St. Ignatius Loyola in 1491.  In 1521, Ignatius was wounded at the Battle of Pamplona and after his recovery began writing and living The Spiritual Exercises, the foundation of Ignatian spirituality.

In 1540, Pope Paul III approved the Society of Jesus as a religious order and within eight years, the first educational institution run by Jesuits opened in Messina, Italy.  By the time of Ignatius’ death in 1556, there were 33 Jesuit colleges or secondary schools in existence.

     In 1789, Archbishop John Carroll founded Georgetown Academy, which later became Georgetown University and Georgetown Preparatory School.  In 1917, the Most Rev. Louis Walsh, then Bishop of Portland, appointed Rev. T.J. O’Mahoney as the first principal of Catholic Institute High School which opened on September 10 with 46 freshmen.  In 1924, the name of the high school was changed to Cheverus Classical High School in honor of Bishop John Cheverus, the first Bishop of Boston.  In 1952, Cheverus High School took up residence at 267 Ocean Avenue and has since expanded the campus to include a second academic building and modern day open-air  and in-house  sporting complex.

 

     The Jesuit Secondary Education Association was founded in 1970 and the Preamble gave renewed direction and vision to the Ignatian vision of secondary education in the United States.  By the nineties, there were 46 Jesuit secondary schools in the United States and Puerto Rico enrolling over 39,000 young men and women from diverse economic, ethnic, racial and religious backgrounds.