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Decree 21: “Interprovincial and Supraprovincial Cooperation,” General Congregation 34 (1995)

“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 […]

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Decree 19: “Parish Ministry,” General Congregation 34 (1995)

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

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Decree 17: “Jesuits and University Life,” General Congregation 34 (1995)

The 34th General Congregation issued the following decree on the Jesuits’ work at universities, where “teaching, research, and scholarly publication” had continued “almost since the foundation of the Society.” In the text below, the delegates acknowledge that “Jesuit higher education has undergone very rapid development” in recent years—such as with the decreasing number of Jesuits

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Decree 16: “The Intellectual Dimension of Jesuit Ministries,” General Congregation 34 (1995)

The delegates at the 34th General Congregation recognized the “distinctive importance” of the tradition within the Society of Jesus for “intellectual labor.” They note in the following decree that this contemporary work was of great importance since “present needs and challenges” require not only a Jesuit’s “ongoing acquisition of knowledge” but “the ongoing development of

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Decree 15: “Communication: A New Culture,” General Congregation 34 (1995)

At the close of the 20th century, the delegates gathered for the 34th General Congregation of the Society of Jesus asked their fellow Jesuits to note the technological changes underway and to “become critical consumers and, even more, critical practitioners of social communication.” In the decree below, the delegates argue that “the new communication environment

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Decree 14: “Jesuits and the Situation of Women in Church and Civil Society,” General Congregation 34 (1995)

The 34th General Congregation of the Society of Jesus took place, according to its delegates, as the Catholic Church “reacted strongly against” the “continuing discrimination and prejudice” against women. In the decree below, the Jesuits delegates argue for a need for the Society of Jesus to “join with interchurch and interreligious groups in order to

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Decree 13: “Cooperation with the Laity in Mission,” General Congregation 34 (1995)

The delegates of the 34th General Congregation of the Society of Jesus argued that Catholic Church of the 21st century was to be “unmistakably…the ‘Church of the Laity.’” To praise, foster, and guide further collaboration with the laity, the Jesuits at the congregation issued the following the decree. It considers what the Society can offer

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Decree 11: “On Having a Proper Attitude of Service in the Church,” General Congregation 34 (1995)

The “long and permanent tradition of service proper to the Society” is reaffirmed by the following decree from the 34th General Congregation of the Society of Jesus. The decree notes that Jesuit service can be “the dangerous commitment of witness and struggle against the forces of injustice and persecution, both social and religious, a witness

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Decree 9: “Poverty,” General Congregation 34 (1995)

“In order to ‘feel’ [sentir] the anxieties and aspirations of the dispossessed in an Ignatian way,” the following decree from the 34th General Congregation declares that Jesuits “need direct personal experience” of poverty.  The decree explains poverty’s “apostolic and prophetic dimension” (it serving as the “unequivocal condition of our credibility”), offers guidelines to “renew our

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Decree 8: “Chastity in the Society of Jesus,” General Congregation 34 (1995)

The following decree from the 34th General Congregation is a lengthy discussion of chastity within the context of the Society of Jesus: the call to chastity, its apostolic character, the meaning of the vow of chastity, and some normative principles and guidelines for a chaste lifestyle). The delegates, in approving this decree, did so as

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