Regimini militantis Ecclesiae

Regimini militantis Ecclesiae (Latin for To the Government of the Church Militant) was the papal bull promulgated by Pope Paul III on September 27, 1540, which gave a first approval to the Society of Jesus, also known as the Jesuits, but limited the number of its members to sixty.

[1][2] The first group of Jesuits, then known simply as "reformed priests", proceeded to unanimously elect Ignatius as their Superior General, despite his opposition.

[3] The final approval, with the removal of the restriction on the membership number, because they were not régimic[clarification needed], came in the bull Exposcit debitum (en: The duty requires ...) of July 21, 1550, issued by Pope Julius III.

Perceiving the needs of their time they emphasized preaching and teaching children and unlettered persons in elementary Christian doctrine.

[2] The full, critically edited Latin text is to be found in the Monumenta Historica Societatis Iesu (MHSI), Constitutiones, vol.1, Rome, 1934, pp. 24-32.

Fresco of Approving of bylaw of Society of Jesus depicting Ignatius of Loyola receiving the papal bull Regimini militantis Ecclesiae from Pope Paul III . Fresco was made by Johann Christoph Handke in Church of Our Lady Of the Snow in Olomouc after 1743.