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 The 34th General Congregation of the Society of Jesus opened on January 5, 1995, with a Mass at the Church of the Holy Spirit, located across from the Jesuits’ Curia in Rome. At noon that same day, the delegates proceeded to the Vatican’s Sala Clementina for an audience with Pope John Paul II. To the

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

Arrupe suffered a debilitating stroke in August 1981, during his sixteenth year as superior general of the Society of Jesus. Rejecting Arrupe’s preferred replacement, Pope John Paul II appointed Paolo Dezza as the Jesuits’ interim superior until a general congregation could gather to elect Arrupe’s replacement. Greeting the delegates, Arrupe was confined to a wheelchair

General Congregation 32 signified a major transition in how the Jesuits understood the connection between their mission and the service of faith and promotion of social justice. That connection was articulated in the congregation’s fourth decree, “Our Mission Today.” “In short,” as the decree’s introduction observes, “our mission today is to preach Jesus Christ and

At the time of the Second Vatican Council (1962–1965), Jesuits, as with other Catholics, engaged in new labors and in new contexts. The Council’s decree Perfectae Caritatis encouraged those in a religious order to first know their institute’s “original spirit” so that they might make “the best adjustments…in accordance with the needs of our new

Before the delegates to the 31st General Congregation set out “for the four corners of the world,” Pope Paul VI welcomed the Jesuits to the Sistine Chapel. His remarks urge the delegates “to renew in [their] hearts in an almost palpable and solemn way the sense of the apostolic mandate that characterizes and strengthens your

Pope Pius XII delivered the following remarks at an event to celebrate the 400th anniversary of the founding of the Society of Jesus. The ceremony took place in Rome in the Hall of Benediction on April 27, 1941, the day Greece surrendered to the Nazis. Pius spoke following remarks by Wlodimir (Włodzimierz) Ledóchowski, the superior

In July 1940, to commemorate the 400th anniversary of the foundation of the Society of Jesus, Pope Pius XII issued the following apostolic letter to Wlodimir (Włodzimierz) Ledóchowski. Pius notes to the superior general how the Catholic Church “is deeply indebted to your religious society for its glorious record of service.” The letter chronicles some

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

Valentín Marín, a young Spanish Jesuit working in Sicily, was known as an excellent preacher despite having a disagreeable voice. His superior greatly praised him for his learning and his holiness. But Marín was constantly beset by scruples. Ignatius, who took a personal interest in the young man’s troubles, had earlier instructed his provincial and