“This task of direct evangelization by the preaching of Jesus Christ remains essential today and must be continued,” stated Decree 4 from the 32nd General Congregation of the Society of Jesus, “since never before have there been so many people who have never, heard the Word of Christ the Savior.” Four years after that gathering […]
“Fraternal Collaboration in Evangelization,” Pedro Arrupe (1979) Read More »
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 »
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 Macau Ricci Institute has launched a new, bi-annual publication — the Journal of the Macau Ricci Institute. Dedicated as a “Journal of Moral Leadership, Social Innovation and Comparative Spirituality,” the Journal of the Macau Ricci Institute is edited by Stephan Rothlin and co-edited by Dennis P. McCann and Mike J. Thompson. Thierry Meynard is the associate
November 2017: New Publication: Journal of the Macau Ricci Institute Read More »
Obedience was one of the seven topics in the “religious life” of the Society of Jesus that the delegates of the 31st General Congregation addressed with a decree. In the following document, the delegates note they are “conscious of the social change in our day which gives rise to a new awareness of the brotherhood
Decree 17: “Life of Obedience,” General Congregation 31 (1966) Read More »
An two-day international symposium on famed Jesuit missionary to Tibet Ippolito Desideri (1648-1773) begins on October 13 in Pistoia, Desideri’s birthplace. The interdisciplinary conference is entitled, “The humane, religious, and scientific value of the Pistoian missionary’s great enterprise, three hundred years later.” It takes place at the Biblioteca San Giorgio. The program is
October 2017: Conference on Desideri Held in Pistoia Read More »
In 1965, the Second Vatican Council issued Perfectae caritatis, a proclamation that mandated religious orders seek renewal through reflection and honoring “their founders’ spirit and special aims.” In 2008, the delegates at the 35th General Congregation of the Society of Jesus, in part, responded to that mandate with their second decree, “A Fire that Kindles
Decree 2: “A Fire that Kindles Other Fires,” General Congregation 35 (2008) Read More »
At the Mass opening the 33rd General Congregation, Pope John Paul II offered the following homily. The pontiff declares a special interest in the Jesuits’ gathering, as the “General Congregation is an event that is destined also to have some important repercussions in the life of the Church.” He remained at the Jesuits’ Curia (or
John Paul II’s Homily to the Members of the 33rd General Congregation (1983) Read More »
The delegates of the 31st General Congregation gathered, in part, to select the successor to Jean-Baptiste Janssens as the 28th superior general. In these remarks before the congregation, Pope Paul VI believes that the next general would “take every care to ensure that your harmony be not disrupted by discordant voices, but rather that you
First Address of Pope Paul VI to General Congregation 31 (1965) Read More »
Pope Pius XII wrote the following apostolic blessing to Jean-Baptiste Janssens, the superior general of the Society of Jesus, to mark the 400th anniversary of the death of Ignatius. The pope urges those in the Society to “carry forward with untiring earnestness, especially in the spiritual sphere, all your activities, your ministries and everything by
Magna cum iucunditate (1955) Read More »
