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The following decree articulates some procedural decisions made by the delegates at the 31st General Congregation. It establishes the dates to end the congregation’s first session and to begin its second—the first time in the history of Society of Jesus that a congregation was divided into distinct sessions by its delegates. In all, the 31st […]

According to historian John Padberg, the topic of cooperation between Jesuit provinces was “deliberated at length” by the delegates at the 31st General Congregation (see Jesuit Life & Mission Today, pg. 37). The delegates conclude, in the following decree, that the Society of Jesus should promote “open and complete cooperation” among its members, echoing the

Consultors in the Society of Jesus are appointed to provide advice to Jesuit superiors. The delegates of the 31st General Congregation, responding to the requests of an apostolic letter (Ecclesiae sanctae, issued in 1966), sought to define the process of selecting consultors. In the following decree, the delegates outline the selection processes for consultors in

In the following decree, the delegates of the 31st General Congregation urge that provincials in the Society of Jesus receive greater responsibility and “broader faculties” in the governance of the Society of Jesus. Provincials, in return, were to “carefully listen to their subjects and direct them in the Lord, taking into consideration the internal knowledge

The Jesuit’s superior general may, from time to time, appoint a visitor to a province, a temporary assignment intended to assess and improve the effectiveness of ministries and individuals. A position not unique to the Society of Jesus but one that became increasingly common in the order by the mid-sixteenth century, a visitor was endowed

The delegates of the 31st General Congregation sought to improve the effectiveness of the governance of the Society of Jesus with the following decree explaining the roles of those chosen to assist the superior general. They issued this decree based on studies conducted by the Jesuits’ previous superior general. Among the roles explained here are

The delegates of the 31st General Congregation articulate, in the following decree, the duties of the vicar general following the death of the Jesuits’ superior general. The decree, according to historian John Padberg, intends to help with the preparation of a general congregation convened, in part, to elect the departed general’s successor. Padberg explains that

This brief decree was promulgated by the 31st General Congregation. It encourages trips by the superior general as means to “truly help the union of hearts in the Society.” The trips were also helpful for the general to better understand how the Society functioned. Therefore, the delegates of the congregation here endorse such journeys. It

On the issue of the governance of the Society of Jesus, the delegates at the 31st General Congregation use the following decree to reaffirm that the Jesuits’ superior general “is to be elected for life.” Still, the delegates allow for the general’s resignation “for a grave reason that would render him permanently incapable of the

The following decree of the 31st General Congregation states who would attend, ex officio, a province congregation and how others would be elected to attend the gatherings. Included in the election are “all the solemnly professed and formed spiritual and temporal coadjutors” in the province, meaning brothers were to be included. For more from the