Search Results for: van der Ven

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

On February 2, 2006, Peter-Hans Kolvenbach, having reached an agreement with Pope Benedict XVI to allow for his resignation as the Jesuits’ superior general, dispatched a letter to the Society of Jesus indicating that “it had become more and more clear that the Society has arrived at a situation…which required a General Congregation.” That gathering—the

The final decree promulgated by the 34th General Congregation articulates the delegates’ views on the combination of “certain attitudes, values, and patterns of behavior” that forms the “Jesuit way of proceeding.” Among that way’s components, according to this decree, are a “deep personal love for Christ,” being a “contemplative in action,” being part 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

“Today, more than ever,” the following decree from the 34th General Congregation states, “the needs of the world constitute an urgent call to put our Ignatian universalism into practice.” The decree recognizes that the “needs that call for common action are many; the difficult search for world unity requires the presence, witness, and involvement of

The following decree describes a Jesuit parish’s goals and characteristics (among them a parish “energized by Ignatian spirituality, especially through the Spiritual Exercises, and by individual and communal discernment”). The delegates of the 34th General Congregation also state that a parish provides “a favorable context to live with the poor and to be in solidarity