Jesuits pledge $100 million for descendants of people the Catholic order once enslaved Maryland Jesuits in 1838 sold 272 people to plantation owners in Louisiana to pay Georgetown University's debts. By Marisa IatiThe Washington Post Share Photographs of descendants of enslaved people who were sold by Georgetown University and the Maryland Jesuits to southern Louisiana in 1838. Claire Vail/American Ancestors/New England Historic Genealogical Society via AP WASHINGTON — One of the Catholic Church’s most well-known religious orders has pledged $100 million for the descendants of hundreds of enslaved people they once profited from – a significant move toward atoning for its slavery as the United States continues to reckon with its past.