declared that not just the Constitutions, their Declarations, the various 'rules' but all the legislation of the previous congregations and letters of Generals of the old Society remained in effect. The new Pope Leo XII granted Father Fortis this confirmation early in his papacy. There were around 1200 Jesuits, in 6 provinces, at that time. Superior General The new Superior General dedicated his short term of office to restoring the texture of Jesuit life as he had known it in the old Society. Fortis' letters to the whole Society describe in detail the customs which should regulate the life of the novitiates and scholasticates. One can still find little booklets from his time containing extracts from the letters of the Generals of the old Society with lists of the occasions on which they should be read aloud during meals. The principal achievement of Father Fortis and his generation of Jesuits lay in establishing beyond question the historical continuity of the restored Society with the Society founded by Ignatius that had existed until 1773. Fortis reestablished also several provinces, including in the new world (Mexico), and three missions (Ireland, Maryland and Missouri) were depending directly on the General. Requests were coming from many places for the Jesuits to start anew the work they had been doing in the past, especially in the educational field. This prompted Fortis to initiate a revision of the Ratio Studiorum to adapt it to the thoroughly new socio-religious atmosphere of the 19th century. In a sign of the new trust of the papacy towards the Society is the fact that Pope Leo XII returned to Jesuit management the Roman College, as well as the church of St. Ignatius, in Rome (1824). Death After being Superior General for eight years and three months he died in Rome on January 27, 1829. He was buried in the crypt of the Gesú. By then the Society had already 2100 members in 9 provinces. References BERETTA, G., De Vita Al. Fortis, Verona, 1833. ROSA, E., I Gesuiti, Roma, 1957. External links Luigi Fortis in the Historical Archives of the Pontifical Gregorian University Superiors General of the Society of Jesus 19th-century Italian Jesuits 18th-century Italian Jesuits University of Bologna alumni Academic staff of the University of Ferrara 1748 births 1829 deaths