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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

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 Jesuits’ social apostolate was addressed by the 28th, 29th, and 30th general congregations. Yet, according to Jesuit historian John Padberg, the following decree, promulgated by the 31st General Congregation, sought to “repair certain defects in our legislation on social matters” (see the congregation’s historical preface in Jesuit Life & Mission Today (2009), pg. 29). The

According to historian John Padberg, the delegates of the 31st General Congregation issued the following decree in response to requests that “the spirit and work of ecumenism be promoted in the Society” (see the congregation’s historical preface in Jesuit Life & Mission Today (2009), pg. 26–27). The decree expresses the Jesuits’ “filial devotion” to the statements

Building off observations from a previous decree, the delegates of the 31st General Congregation use this following document to call for the establishment of a commission to develop “an overall review” of apostolic ministries in the Society of Jesus. The intention of the commission, according to the decree, is “to promote the better choice of

The delegates of the 31st General Congregation assessed the apostolic works of the Society of Jesus and acknowledged that “our labors” were not yielding the desired results. The decree below credits some poor results to a failure to “renew our apostolic or missionary spirit” and a “too great scattering of our forces.” The main reason