The suppression of the Jesuits in the Portuguese Empire (1759), France (1764), the Two Sicilies, Malta, Parma and the Spanish Empire (1767) is a highly controversial subject.

It has been argued that it was a result of a series of localized political moves rather than a theological controversy.

Monarchies attempting to centralize and secularize political power view the Jesuits as being too international, too strongly allied to the papacy, and too autonomous from the monarchs in whose territory they operate.

Pope Clement XIV suppresses the Society of Jesus by the brief Dominus ac Redemptor (21 July 1773).

The Jesuits take refuge in non-Catholic nations, particularly in Prussia and Russia, where the order is either ignored or formally rejected.

The Jesuits will be allowed to return to many places starting in the late nineteenth century.