Can anyone explain where this (sort of/somewhat) anti-Jesuit thinking comes from? Could it be that some (or most) of the universities they have founded have become quite liberal? I’m a new convert but I always thought the “black robes” were really cool! :ehh:
Are you talking about Jack T. Chick?
Based on my personal observation, some anti-Jesuit sentiments, both within and without the Church, can be traced to various causes. Wikipedia (yeah, I know, not a very good source, but
still 
) sums it up quite well:
The
Monita Secreta, also known as the “Secret Instructions of the Jesuits” was published (1612 and 1614) in Kraków, and is alternately alleged to have been written by either Claudio Acquaviva, the fifth general of the society, or by Jerome Zahorowski. The document appears to lay down the methods to be adopted for the acquisition of greater power and influence for the order and for the Roman Catholic Church. Scholars generally agree that the
Secreta were merely fabricated to give the Jesuits a sinister reputation and it has become widely considered a forgery.
Henry Garnet, one of the leading English Jesuits, was hanged for misprision of treason because of his involvement in the
Gunpowder Plot. The plan had been an attempt to kill King James I of England and VI of Scotland, his family, and most of the Protestant aristocracy in a single attack by blowing up the Houses of Parliament in 1605; another Jesuit, Oswald Tesimond, managed to escape arrest for involvement in the same plot.
Jesuits have also been accused of using
casuistry to obtain justifications for the unjustifiable (See:
formulary controversy; Blaise Pascals’
Lettres Provinciales). In English, according to the Concise Oxford Dictionary, “Jesuitical” has acquired a secondary meaning of “equivocating”. Modern Jesuits have also been criticized by many including Jack Chick, Avro Manhattan, Alberto Rivera, and the late former Jesuit priest, Malachi Martin.
Although in the first 30 years of the existence of the Society there were a large number of Jewish conversos in the order, a campaign by anti-conversos led to the
Decree de genere in 1593 which proclaimed Jewish (and Muslim) ancestry, no matter how distant, an insurmountable impediment for admission to the Society. This stayed in force until 1946.
Within the Catholic Church, there has existed a sometimes tense relationship between Jesuits and the Vatican due to questioning of official Church teaching and papal directives, such as those on abortion, birth control, women deacons, homosexuality, and liberation theology.
However, the last two Popes have appointed Jesuits to notable positions within the Church. For instance, John Paul II appointed Roberto Tucci, S.J., to the College of Cardinals, after serving for many years as the chief organizer of papal trips and public events. In all, John Paul II and Benedict XVI have appointed 10 Jesuit Cardinals. Benedict XVI has appointed several Jesuits to positions of prominence in his curia, such as Archbishop Luis Ladaria Ferrer, S.J. as Secretary of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, and Rev. Federico Lombardi, S.J., Vatican Press Secretary.
