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Decree 3: “Challenges to Our Mission Today,” General Congregation 35 (2008)

The third of six decrees promulgated by the delegates at the 35th General Congregation of the Society of Jesus articulated some of the main challenges facing the Jesuits and their works. The decree, appearing below, reaffirms the Society’s mission in the face of challenges, places that mission the new context of the dawn of the […]

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Decree 1: “With Renewed Vigor and Zeal,” General Congregation 35 (2008)

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

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Decree 26: “Conclusion: Characteristics of Our Way of Proceeding,” General Congregation 34 (1995)

The final decree promulgated by the 34th General Congregation articulates the delegates’ views on the combination of “certain attitudes, values, and patterns of behavior” that forms the “Jesuit way of proceeding.” Among that way’s components, according to this decree, are a “deep personal love for Christ,” being a “contemplative in action,” being part of the

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Decree 25: “Powers Granted and Mandates Entrusted by the General Congregation to the Father General,” General Congregation 34 (1995)

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

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Decree 21: “Interprovincial and Supraprovincial Cooperation,” General Congregation 34 (1995)

“Today, more than ever,” the following decree from the 34th General Congregation states, “the needs of the world constitute an urgent call to put our Ignatian universalism into practice.” The decree recognizes that the “needs that call for common action are many; the difficult search for world unity requires the presence, witness, and involvement of

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Decree 20: “Ecology,” General Congregation 34 (1995)

The following is a recommendation made by the delegates of the 34th General Congregation of the Society of Jesus to their newly elected superior general. The decree, based on “many postulates” submitted on the topic, notes that Jesuits can “encourage both international awareness and local action” in the debate between ecology and development. It recommends

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Decree 19: “Parish Ministry,” General Congregation 34 (1995)

The following decree describes a Jesuit parish’s goals and characteristics (among them a parish “energized by Ignatian spirituality, especially through the Spiritual Exercises, and by individual and communal discernment”). The delegates of the 34th General Congregation also state that a parish provides “a favorable context to live with the poor and to be in solidarity

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Decree 18: “Secondary, Primary, and Nonformal Education,” General Congregation 34 (1995)

In the following decree, the delegates of the 34th General Congregation note that since the 32nd and 33rd congregations of 1975 and 1983, respectively, Jesuit secondary education had experienced “significant apostolic renewal,” increased Jesuit-lay collaboration, and an improvement in educational quality. The recommendations and words of caution in this following decree seek to encourage further

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Decree 17: “Jesuits and University Life,” General Congregation 34 (1995)

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

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Decree 15: “Communication: A New Culture,” General Congregation 34 (1995)

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

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