The Feast Day of St Ignatius of Loyola

Statue of St Ignatius Loyola, Chiesa del Gesu

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July 31st is the Feast Day of St Ignatius of Loyola (1491-1556), the Spanish soldier-turned-priest, who, in 1539, founded the Society of Jesus, better known as the Jesuits.

​Iñigo López de Oñaz y Loyola, to give him his full name, died in Rome on July 31st 1556. He was canonised on March 12th, 1622 by Pope Gregory XV (r. 1621-23).

St Ignatius Loyola is interred  in the Chiesa del Gesù, the mother church of the Jesuits. 

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