Search Results for: Point

On February 2, 2006, Peter-Hans Kolvenbach wrote to the members of the Society of Jesus in his position as their father general. He explained that a new general congregation should be convoked in order that his resignation could be accepted and his successor elected. When the 35th General Congregation of the Society of Jesus accepted

The 34th General Congregation of the Society of Jesus took place in Rome between January 5 and March 22, 1995. The 202 delegates appointed to participate in the gathering did not elect a new father general. Instead, Peter-Hans Kolvenbach convoked the assembly at a time, according to The New York Times, Jesuits were “enjoying a

The 33rd General Congregation of the Society of Jesus (September 1–October 25, 1983) was the first in Jesuit history to accept the resignation of a superior general. Pedro Arrupe had been elected superior general 18 years earlier by the delegates at the 31st General Congregation. On August 7, 1981, Arrupe suffered a debilitating stroke following

One September 8, 1973, after much deliberation and preparation, Superior General Pedro Arrupe issued a letter that announced the 32nd General Congregation of the Society of Jesus would begin in December 1974. The appointed delegates gathered in Rome not to elect Arrupe’s successor but rather to because of what historian John Padberg has described as

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

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

The following decree, from the 34th General Congregation of the Society of Jesus, establishes rules for future general congregations and for the selection of a vicar general as well as rules for province congregations and for the congregations of procurators and provincials. Acting at the request of the superior general, the decree importantly modifies the

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