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In the 1740s, Feodosii Smorzhevskii, a Russian hieromonk in Beijing, reported to his superiors on the work of Jesuit missionaries in China. Both the Russian Orthodox and Catholic missionaries attempted to navigate the labyrinthine world of the Qing imperial court. In the selection below, the Russian hieromonk reveals—in vivid detail—the precarious position of Christians in […]

In November 1967, every Jesuit in the United States received the following letter from Pedro Arrupe, the Superior General of the Society of Jesus. Arrupe issued this letter after conversations with Whitney Young (a leader in the Civil Rights Movement in the United States) and after the country experienced nearly 160 race riots in what

The Jesuit International Congress of 1974 was held in Loyola, Spain, the birthplace of the order’s founder, Ignatius of Loyola. The gathering had a theme of “The Spiritual Exercises and the Constitutions as Instruments for Renewal in the Society.” Pedro Arrupe delivered remarks to the congress, a portion of which appears below (as it did

Pedro Arrupe wrote a letter to all members of the Society of Jesus on the issue of inculturation. With the letter, issued on the Solemnity of Pentecost in 1978 and appearing below, Arrupe wished for his fellow Jesuits to “be vitally aware of the capital importance of inculturation for our mission of defense and propagation

Pedro Arrupe delivered a stirring and personal address to the celebration hosted by the Eucharistic Youth Movement in September 1979. In the edited text below, Arrupe provides examples of his own experiences of the Eucharist—from witnessing a miracle at Lourdes to witnessing the aftermath of the atomic explosion in Hiroshima. “Our Lord, through contact with

The Ignatian Center for Spirituality in Rome closed a five-week conference on Ignatian Spirituality on February 18, 1978, with Pedro Arrupe delivering the following remarks. The Superior General of the Society of Jesus based his remarks on a phrase from the Jesuits’ Formula, approved by Pope Julius III in 1550.  For Arrupe, the phrase “To

In the decree below, the Jesuit delegates attending the 34th General Congregation of the Society of Jesus argue, given the worldwide religious diversity and division, that it is “imperative that we collaborate with others to achieve common goals.” The decree offers guidelines for how Jesuits can foster dialogue within the Catholic Church and between different

Nicolás delivered the following homily in Rome’s Church of the Gesù on January 20, 2008. The day before, the 217 members of General Congregation 35 had elected Nicolás, the former provincial of Japan and president of the Conference of Major Superiors of East Asia and Oceania, as their order’s new general. For more from the

General Congregation 32 signified a major transition in how the Jesuits understood the connection between their mission and the service of faith and promotion of social justice. That connection was articulated in the congregation’s fourth decree, “Our Mission Today.” “In short,” as the decree’s introduction observes, “our mission today is to preach Jesus Christ and