Essential Documents

The Portal’s Essential Document collection offers free access to English translations of some of the most important primary sources in Jesuit history. The selected documents include letters and addresses from the Fathers General–dating back to Ignatius of Loyola–selected decrees and addresses from the General Congregations, and bulls, remarks, and other statements that pontiffs have made to or about the Society of Jesus.

Additional documents will be added in installments. Contributors to this ever-growing collection include Jesuit Sources, the Maryland Province of the Society of Jesus, and the former Oregon Province of the Society of Jesus. To learn how you can contribute to the Essential Documents collection, please contact the Portal’s editors (jesuitportal@bc.edu).

Through the Portal’s homepage, you can search the full contents of the entire Essential Documents collection.

Through the chart below, you can browse the collection or filter results by title, author, series, or contributor. For example, below search “Decree” to only see the decrees issued by the general congregations. Or search “Poverty” (or “Chastity” or “Obedience”) to only see documents with that term in the title. You can also filter by date ranges (all documents, for example, from 1539 to 1773, or from 1814 to 2008).

Current subsections of the Essential Documents (the contents of which also appear below) include: Letters of Ignatius of Loyola and The Arrupe Collection.

Also available are all the decrees and statements made at General Congregation 31, General Congregation 32, General Congregation 33, General Congregation 34, and General Congregation 35.