Leo Lyon Zagami – Jesuits were once regarded as a dangerous religious order whose unrelenting pursuit of power was second to none. This was before the publication of the infamous The Protocols of the Elders of Zion put all the blame on the Jews. The earliest recorded Jesuit conspiracy theory was found in the Monita secreta, an early 17th-century document that alleged that the Jesuits were trying to gain wealth in illicit ways.
The Protestant Reformation, but especially the English Reformation, brought new suspicions against the Jesuits, who were accused of infiltrating political realms and non-Catholic churches. Even the official website of the Jesuits in Britain (www.jesuit.org.uk) admits their criminal behavior:
“Because they have always worked at the margins and intersections individual Jesuits, whilst maintaining their vows of poverty, chastity and obedience, were (and are) given a great deal of freedom as to the means of achieving their mission. On some occasions this has led to individuals going too far and working against the local laws.”