Decree 52: “Completing the Work on the Formulas of the Congregation,” General Congregation 31 (1966)

The following decree from the 31st General Congregation of the Society of Jesus provides the superior general with the responsibility and authority to respond to questions that would result from the congregation’s actions. It also allows him to make any additional necessary changes to the various formulas governing the Society of Jesus.

For more from the 31st General Congregation of the Society of Jesus, please consult this page.

 

 

 

With respect to the Formulas of congregations, the 31st General Congregation:

1° Orders and empowers Father General, with a deliberative vote of those fathers of the general curia who have a right to attend a general congregation by reason of their office:

a. to give an authoritative answer to questions that will of necessity arise concerning the next province congregations and congregations of procurators and of provincials by adapting the Formulas of these congregations and, where necessary, even changing them;

b. either to give provisional answers to juridical questions respecting the next general congregation and its Formula, or prepare the questions in such a way that the 32nd General Congregation can itself settle them at its outset.

2° Recommends also to the General that he communicate to the fathers of the 32nd General Congregation, in good time before the start of the congregation, the decisions so made and the questions to be settled.

 

 

Original Source (English translation):

Jesuit Life & Mission Today: The Decrees & Accompanying Documents of the 31st35th General Congregations of the Society of Jesus, ed. John W. Padberg. St. Louis, Mo.: Institute of Jesuit Sources, 2009, General Congregation 31, Decree 52, “Completing the Work on the Formulas of the Congregation,” pg. 222 [763–764].