Los Primeros Jesuitas Frente a los Renunciantes en la India (1549-1570): Descripciones y Ambivalencias

Based on 16th century Jesuit sources, this article explores how the missionaries of the Society of Jesus faced the phenomenon of asceticism and renunciation of the world in India There, the missionaries dealt with ancient traditions that had developed radical forms of renunciation of the world or asceticism This way of life among prac-titioners of a religion, which for the Jesuits in those days was little understood, awakened in them ambivalent and contradictory attitudes The article argues that the ascetic view of the Jesuits - that varied from trends of the mystical ideal to apostolic obedience and service - was disrupted by the "excessive" conduct of those practicing renunciation in India, for whom they felt both attraction and rejection.