Autos-da-fe were public investigations that accompanied the Inquisition. The public events involved rituals, street processions, and public penance to root out so-called heretics. The Jesuits often served as confessors for those who were found guilty to be burned at the stake.

The Protestant Reformation and the rise of the Protestant faith challenged the authority of the Catholic church. Under criticism that the church had become too worldly and was not sufficiently committed to spiritual matters, both the Catholic and Protestant faiths underwent a period of renewal in the 16th and early 17th centuries. The Jesuits were one of the religious orders founded as part of the Counter-Reformation as religious orders sought to realign the church with spirituality. Pope Paul III (who served from 1534 to 1549) convened the Council of Trent in 1545 to address the criticisms facing the church. Education and missionary work were considered an important method of outreach in the Counter-Reformation.

The Jesuits, members of the Society of Jesus, are a religious order of the Catholic church founded by Saint Ignatius of Loyola in 1540. Jesuits are committed to evangelizing work, often in remote locations, as exemplified by Ricci’s missionary work in 16th-century India and China. Jesuits were expected to accept postings around the world, often in extreme conditions.