ABSTRACT
The Jesuit attitude towards the Indians was paternalistic, that of a father towards a backward boy who is never expected to grow up. By 1610 the Jesuit establishment in Asuncion consisted of a church, a college, four Jesuits, and three lay brothers. The Jesuit Order was essentially a missionary order which placed emphasis not on peace or even on the sanctification of its own members, but on work of every kind for the salvation of souls. Appointment of the provincial and his length of tenure were the prerogatives of the Jesuit General in Rome, who was the head of the Society and who was elected for life by the General Congregation of the order. The major Indian threat to the Jesuit missions came from the Guaycurús and the Abipones, who concentrated their attacks on the north and east of the mission area, and from the Charruas, another nomadic tribe, who harassed the missions of the east and south.
