More famous for their promulgated decrees, the General Congregations also feature important addresses, homilies, and statements–remarks that help guide the work of the Jesuit delegates assembled at the congregations but also the subsequent work at the Jesuit apostolates around the globe. Below is a selection of those addresses from the most recent General Congregations. For […]
Addresses at General Congregations Read More »
One month after they elected Alfonso Nicolás to succeed Peter-Hans Kolvenbach as the Jesuits’ superior general, the delegates of the 35th General Congregation gathered, at the pontiff’s invitation, in the Vatican’s Sala Clementina. There, Pope Benedict XVI addressed the men with words of gratitude. He states, “I very much hope, therefore, that the entire Society
Address of Pope Benedict XVI to General Congregation 35 (2008) Read More »
Mutio Vitelleschi, born to a noble family in Rome in 1563, entered the Society of the Jesus only after securing permission from Pope Gregory XIII. The Jesuits elected Vitelleschi their sixth superior general in 1615. His generalate saw worldwide expansion in missions and in membership to some 15,000 men but also an increase in the
On the Centenary of the Society (1639) Read More »
Ignatius offers this letter, combining firmness with humility, as a response to Nicolás Bobadilla’s outspoken protests against Ignatius’s regulations concerning letter writing. Ignatius confesses to a blunder (addressing a letter to Bobadilla in a king’s palace rather than the court) and asks for correction in such circumstances. “For this is my desire in this life,”
Ignatius on Fraternal Connection (1543) Read More »
Subsequent to their initial deliberations during Lent in 1539, the eleven men determined their religious order would include a vow of obedience. They offered their shared intentions to enter that organization by signing the following vow of obedience, if, the vow notes, the group “will be confirmed by the pope.” Papal approval for the Society
The First Jesuits’ Vow of Obedience (1539) Read More »
The Society of Jesus—much like “all well-organized communities or congregations”—appoints a person “whose proper duty,” according to the Constitutions of the Society of Jesus, “is to attend to the universal good.” For the Jesuits in particular, the superior general’s “duty is the good government, preservation, and growth of the whole body of the Society.” (Rather
An extensive account, Diego Laínez (1512-1565) and His Generalate, has been published by Institutum Historicum Societatis Iesu (IHSI). Paul Oberholzer S.J. edits the multi-volume examination of the “Jesuit with Jewish Roots, Close Confidant of Ignatius of Loyola, [and] Preeminent Theologian of the Council of Trent.” Adolfo Nicolas, the sitting superior general, offers some introductory remarks. In
July 2015: New Collection on Laínez Published by IHSI Read More »
