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The delegates at the 31st General Congregation of the Society of Jesus chose to address three pastoral institutions—and how they might change, “under the present circumstances of the Church”—namely pastoral services, residences, and parishes. The following decree urges Jesuits to renew and to “energetically” promote some pastoral works and also to cease those that “cannot […]

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

This brief decree from the 31st General Congregation is a companion to a previous decree on missionary service by Jesuits. The decree responds to requests by Jesuits that it be easier for missionaries to return to their original provinces from time to time. It notes that such returns would benefit the missionary as well as

The following decree is the attempt of the delegates of the 31st General Congregation to explain the nature and reaffirm the purpose of Jesuit missionary work within the context of the Second Vatican Council. It attributes to Ignatius and his companions the reason why Jesuits have the “task of announcing the Gospel that God in

The following decree of the 31st General Congregation of the Society of Jesus responds to several postulata (or petitions) received that contained different concerns on the nature of a Jesuit’s priestly work. Many postulata, according to historian John Padberg, expressed a “fear” that “the present-day Society be too much given over to apostolic works of

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

The last of the decrees of the 31st General Congregation of the Society of Jesus to deal with Jesuits’ religious life addressed the topic of “reading at table,” the practice of having texts read aloud as members silently ate meals. Often the reading was from the Jesuits’ Constitutions (or its summary, but it also came

This extended decree represents the thoughts on Jesuit community life by the delegates to the 31st General Congregation of the Society of Jesus. The decree declares that “the foundation and aim of community life in the Society of Jesus” is “a community of men who are called by Christ to live with Christ, to be

The 29th and 30th General Congregations established commissions to study the topic of poverty within the Society of Jesus. The delegates at the 31st congregation, in the following document , provide extended thoughts on the purpose of poverty, especially by issuing directive norms in order to “bring about this renewal in our way of poverty.”