Search Results for: van der Ven

The delegates at the 31st General Congregation were asked by their fellow Jesuits to articulate how they ought to teach at colleges and universities, according to Jesuit historian John Padberg, “in the light of the characteristics of our vocation and in the light of the theological doctrine on the character and office of the priest […]

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

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

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.”

Obedience was one of the seven topics in the “religious life” of the Society of Jesus that the delegates of the 31st General Congregation addressed with a decree. In the following document, the delegates note they are “conscious of the social change in our day which gives rise to a new awareness of the brotherhood

For the Jesuit delegates at the 31st General Congregation, consecrated chastity was a “gift” from God, “a sign of charity and likewise a stimulus to it.” Those delegates, nevertheless, also issued the following decree to acknowledge how contemporary attitudes and contexts have caused “new problems” on the topic. The decree urges the new superior general