Search Results for: Point

On May 22, 1965, the delegates at the 31st General Congregation of the Society of Jesus elected Pedro Arrupe as the Jesuits’ 28th superior general. Like the order’s first general, Arrupe was a native of the Basque region of Spain, born in Bilbao on November 14, 1907. He attended medical school in Madrid at the […]

The issue of priestly vocations within the Society of Jesus, according to the following letter sent to all the Jesuit major superiors, is a troubling matter “much too serious to ignore or set aside.” Arrupe sent his letter on July 11, 1973, a time when worldwide membership in the Society of Jesus had dropped from

In the following letter sent to every Jesuit in the world on November 1, 1976, Pedro Arrupe writes about “our most important concern at present” in the Society of Jesus, namely: “How can we securely strengthen our spiritual life and our apostolate, welding them into a perfectly integrated whole so that what we do really

Pedro Arrupe issued the following position paper at a meeting of the Union of Religious Superiors General in Rome in February 1974. Arrupe believes that it is “clear that religious life must be an evangelizing force,” one that adapts in order to help the Catholic Church adapt as well. The “effectiveness” of an evangelizer, then,

Pedro Arrupe delivered the following remarks at a meeting of all the brothers in Jesuit houses in Rome. His topic is “the problem of the Brothers,” a topic also addressed previously by the Jesuits’ 31st and 32nd general congregations. The problem that Arrupe sees is how to “understand a little more deeply the value of

The Jesuits of the Province of Turin met in Genoa in December 1973, in order to make preparations for upcoming 32nd General Congregation of the Society of Jesus. At this meeting, Pedro Arrupe first delivered the following remarks on “the simplicity of life,” which he considers “the measure of our spirit of poverty, the practical

Superior General of the Society of Jesus Pedro Arrupe issued the following letter to every Jesuit in the world in October 1977. Arrupe’s topic is apostolic availability, an issue at “the heart of our identity, the mark that should characterize us as followers of Jesus, namely “‘to be available.’” He provides questions, based on decrees

“Do not expect a doctrinal treatise on the priesthood,” Pedro Arrupe declares to the more than 700 Italian priests gathered for a day of recollection on June 18, 1975. “We have at our disposal rich and abundant doctrine in the perennial sources of Theology, Vatican II, the 1971 Synod and the Magisterium of Paul VI,

Montreal hosted the Third Inter-American Congress of Religious in November 1977. Pedro Arrupe, as the President of the Union of Superiors General, was invited to address the assembly. In light of the congress’s theme— “The Future of Religious Life that We are Building Together for Tomorrow”—Arrupe’s remarks, appearing below, seek to answer the question, “What

Some 2,500 men and women representing religious congregations met in Madrid on April 12, 1977, in part, to hear the following remarks by Pedro Arrupe. In these remarks, the Jesuits’ Superior General uses the “crisis” facing religious life as an opportunity rather than a negative. “Religious life is a privileged place today,” Arrupe argues, simply