Gaspar Loarte published The Exercise of the Christian Life in 1557 (just a year after the death of Ignatius de Loyola) as the Spanish Jesuit served as the rector of a Jesuit college in Genoa. The slim volume provided prayers, meditations, and general advice to Christians who desired to live a more devout life. Exemplifying […]
On Remedies for the Second Sin of the Flesh, Gluttony (1557) Read More »
On February 1 and 2, the Institute of Jewish Studies at the University of Antwerp and the University Centre Saint-Ignatius Antwerp co-host a two-day conference on “Jews and Jesuits: Contacts Across the Ages.” The event celebrates the tenth year of Antwerp’s Chair for Jewish-Christian Relations. According to the program, the conference examines “the interactions and
February 2018: Antwerp Conference on Jews and Jesuits Read More »
An important conference on the lettere indipetae was held at Torino on 5-6 December. The conference was entitled: “Le lettere indipetae come fonte per la storia della Compagnia di Gesù. Nuove prospettive di ricerca.” The conference centered on the petitions Jesuits submitted to request missionary assignments abroad. Presenters represented institutions in Italy, Australia, the United
December 2017: Conference on lettere indipetae in Torino Read More »
Francisco Malta Romeiras, Senior Research Fellow at the Institute for Advanced Jesuit Studies, participates at text-based workshop on November 14 at Harvard University. The presentation is part of the two-day event “Pre-Modern Sciences & Religion,” a workshop hosted by Harvard Divinity School’s Science, Religion, and Culture program. Other participants are Nicholas Boylston, Harvard University Vincenzo
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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
Decree 3: “Challenges to Our Mission Today,” General Congregation 35 (2008) Read More »
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
Decree 1: “With Renewed Vigor and Zeal,” General Congregation 35 (2008) Read More »
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
Decree 23: “Congregations and Governance,” General Congregation 34 (1995) Read More »
