Pope Clement XIV suppressed the Society of Jesus on July 21, 1773. In the preceding decades, the Jesuits had suffered expulsions from the Catholic empires of Portugal (1759), France (1764), and Spain (1767), where they had become handy scapegoats for kings or princes under civic pressure. In Portugal, for example, charges against the Society included […]
Dominus ac Redemptor (1773) Read More »
Gaspar Loarte published The Exercise of the Christian Life in 1557 (just a year after the death of Ignatius de Loyola) as the Spanish Jesuit served as the rector of a Jesuit college in Genoa. The slim volume provided prayers, meditations, and general advice to Christians who desired to live a more devout life. Exemplifying
On Remedies for the Second Sin of the Flesh, Gluttony (1557) Read More »
On February 1 and 2, the Institute of Jewish Studies at the University of Antwerp and the University Centre Saint-Ignatius Antwerp co-host a two-day conference on “Jews and Jesuits: Contacts Across the Ages.” The event celebrates the tenth year of Antwerp’s Chair for Jewish-Christian Relations. According to the program, the conference examines “the interactions and
February 2018: Antwerp Conference on Jews and Jesuits Read More »
The last decree issued by the 35th General Congregation concerned the “dynamism” begun by the previous congregation of Jesuit delegates in 1995. The decree below contains the delegates’ call for renewal by the members of the Society of Jesus of “our commitment to apostolic collaboration and to a profound sharing of labor of the life
Decree 6: “Collaboration at the Heart of Mission,” General Congregation 35 (2008) Read More »
The fifth of six decrees promulgated by the 35th General Congregation of the Society of Jesus concerned the order’s “governance structures and ways of proceeding.” The decree, appearing below, is a highly technical and internally focused document. Among its measures, the decree directs the new superior general “to undertake a comprehensive review of the central
The delegates at the 35th General Congregation of the Society of Jesus address the topic of Jesuit obedience in the following decree. They define “obedience” in the context of the vow the members of the Society of Jesus make to the pope as a vow “grounded in the desire to be sent effectively, to serve
On February 2, 2006, Peter-Hans Kolvenbach, having reached an agreement with Pope Benedict XVI to allow for his resignation as the Jesuits’ superior general, dispatched a letter to the Society of Jesus indicating that “it had become more and more clear that the Society has arrived at a situation…which required a General Congregation.” That gathering—the
Decree 1: “With Renewed Vigor and Zeal,” General Congregation 35 (2008) Read More »
In the degree below, the delegates of the 34th General Congregation grant certain powers and responsibilities to their order’s new superior general, Peter-Hans Kolvenbach, with those powers mainly concerning the issuance of the congregation’s decrees and recommendations. They also require Kolvenbach “to complete the work on the Complementary Norms and the Notes to the Constitutions
The 34th General Congregation issued the following decree on the Jesuits’ work at universities, where “teaching, research, and scholarly publication” had continued “almost since the foundation of the Society.” In the text below, the delegates acknowledge that “Jesuit higher education has undergone very rapid development” in recent years—such as with the decreasing number of Jesuits
Decree 17: “Jesuits and University Life,” General Congregation 34 (1995) Read More »
At the close of the 20th century, the delegates gathered for the 34th General Congregation of the Society of Jesus asked their fellow Jesuits to note the technological changes underway and to “become critical consumers and, even more, critical practitioners of social communication.” In the decree below, the delegates argue that “the new communication environment
Decree 15: “Communication: A New Culture,” General Congregation 34 (1995) Read More »
