Part IV: Formation of Our Members after the Novitiate #

CN PART IV CHAPTER 1 #

[59] #

¹Since the formation of all our members is directed toward the apostolic objective of the Society, namely, that they may be able¹with the help of God to benefit both their own souls and those of their neighbors,²this objective is considered the principle which regulates the entire formation of our members.³²The choice made by General Congregation 32 concerning the mission of the Society in today’s world as the service of faith, of which the promotion of justice is an absolute requirement,⁴must give new vigor to our formation, so that it may respond to the requirements of evangelization in a world that is often infected by atheism and injustices,⁵and may equip our members for entering into dialogue with people and meeting the cultural problems of our times.⁶

[60] #

We should conceive and plan for the total formation of our members as a process of progressive integration of the spiritual and community life, of the apostolate, and of studies, in such a way that the richness of the spiritual life should be the source of the apostolate, and the apostolate in turn the motive for study and for a deeper spiritual life.⁷

[61] #

¹The provincial is responsible for all aspects of the formation of those who belong to his province. He is responsible for both the persons and the institutions of the Society charged with formation. However, it is appropriate that there be a delegate who should have immediate care for the various aspects of formation of each young man in the province (or in the larger region, where circumstances so dictate).²There should be provincial and interprovincial commissions to advise superiors in the direction of formation in accord with local conditions.³These commissions should be made up of those who are in charge of formation, and also of some who are working in various apostolic ministries and some who are in formation. They should evaluate the status of formation in the province or region on a regular basis.⁸

[62] #

In institutions where those in formation are taught by our own members, these professors should remember that the mission that they have received from the provincial extends also to the formation of these men. Therefore, a team of professors should be chosen which has the aptitude for carrying on scholarly work, for teaching, and for cooperating in the integral formation of our members. With regard to this point, professors should be conscious of their responsibility toward the Society, even though the provincial has entrusted a special responsibility for formation to certain members.⁹

[63] #

Where the faculty or institution is directed by the Society but the academic direction is separate from the religious direction [of the community], superiors should promote mutual cooperation in order to achieve the integral formation of our members.¹⁰

CN PART IV CHAPTER 2 #

[64] #

¹During the time of studies the formation of our members should be such that they learn to place great value on their own vocation and, motivated by the internal law of love, will more and more embrace our way of proceeding, just as they were taught in the novitiate.¹¹²The vocation, tested and strengthened during the novitiate, should continue its growth throughout the whole time of formation. Accordingly, it is necessary to provide an appropriate transition and continuity between the novitiate and subsequent formation, and between various stages of the latter.¹²³Special care should be given to those who are in formation, especially for two years after their first vows.¹³

[65] #

The process of apostolic formation must favor the personal assimilation of Christian experience, an experience that is spiritual, personal, vital, rooted in faith, nourished by daily prayer and the Eucharist; an experience that makes us capable of cooperating with God for the spiritual growth of believers and of communicating the gift of faith to nonbelievers.¹⁴

[66] #

¹There should be an organic unity in the entire formation, so that from the beginning of the novitiate and throughout the entire course of studies, spiritual formation, the work of study, and apostolic activity should be closely integrated. All who have charge of the training of our members, either in government or in teaching, should diligently and harmoniously work together for this integration.¹⁵²In a special way spiritual directors should help towards this. Wise and competent spiritual directors are to be prepared and chosen, who can offer fraternal help in the Lord to our members during their time of formation, helping them achieve a true discernment of spirits.¹⁶³Those in formation should frequently go to a spiritual director; the superior should approve the spiritual director whom each one chooses from among those designated for this office.

[67] #

¹Our members during the entire time of their formation should be carefully helped to grow in prayer and a sense of spiritual responsibility towards a mature interior life, in which they will know how to apply the rule of discerning love that St. Ignatius prescribed for members after the period of their formation.¹⁷²To foster this growth, the Society retains the practice of an hour and a half as the time for prayer, Mass, and thanksgiving. Each one should be guided by his spiritual director as he seeks that form of prayer in which he can best advance in the Lord. The judgment of superiors is normative for each.¹⁸³Each one should determine with his superior what time he gives to prayer and preparation for it.

[68] #

The methodical reading of Holy Scripture should proceed by a gradual initiation, leading to a deeper knowledge of the Mystery of Christ. Likewise, throughout the whole course of training they should learn to take an active part in the Liturgy and come to understand it more deeply.¹⁹

[69] #

¹Those who are in charge of formation should take care that our members, especially in the period immediately after the novitiate, become familiar with the sources of the spirituality of the Church and the Society, with its history and traditions, and that they study them with a view toward their own progress and the progress of others.²⁰²It is important that we strengthen in our formation the mystical dimension of Christian faith and of our spirituality, so that we can encounter the spiritual traditions of others. A closer acquaintance with the beliefs and practices of other religions must be given through special courses and actual involvement in a pluralistic religious milieu.²¹

[70] #

Those in charge of formation should take care that our members in formation are progressively formed to a sense of the Church, in the spirit of the rules of St. Ignatius,²²and to a mature love for the Church, according to the requirements of our vocation.²³

[71] #

Today’s conditions demand that a member of the Society during the whole course of formation should practice spiritual discernment about the concrete choices which, stage by stage, the service of Christ and the Church require of him.²⁴

[72] #

¹Provision should be made in each stage of the training for personal maturity, especially of the emotions (the advice of trained psychologists should be used when it is necessary).²⁵In this way, the balanced development of the spiritual, intellectual, and affective life will be secured, and the true maturity of the whole person will be achieved.²⁶²Our members in formation should be given frequent occasions for exercising responsibility in leading the spiritual and intellectual life more actively and spontaneously, in doing some work in the house, and in vigorously carrying on various apostolic experiments as well.²⁷

[73] #

Great care should be taken to direct each one according to his own gifts, both natural and supernatural. At the same time a sense of solidarity and collaboration should be fostered and every trace of egoism removed.²⁸

[74] #

Throughout their entire formation the scholastics should keep in view the priestly character of our vocation, so that study, prayer, and all other activities may be imbued with a desire of serving God and the Church with priestly love for people. Especially before they come to theology and during the time of theology, they should be provided with opportunity to secure a deeper understanding of their priestly calling.²⁹

[75] #

For greater devotion and to refresh the memory of the obligation to God they are under, . . . twice each year³⁰those who have not yet taken final vows should renew their first vows,³¹after a suitable preparation by means of the annual Exercises or the customary triduum or, if more briefly, by intensified time for recollection and prayer.

CN PART IV CHAPTER 3 #

[76] #

In houses of formation the community that the young constitute among themselves and with other members of the Society should foster participation in the life of the Society as an apostolic body. In it there is real communication and a sharing of life, even on the spiritual level, as well as cooperation and mutual responsibility in studies and also in apostolic works.³²

[77] #

¹In arranging the community life of our houses of formation, the community life proposed as proper to those living in the apostolate must be kept in view as the model for which our younger members are to be prepared. But the pedagogical nature of the years of formation, the nature of the studies or activities in these houses, and the number of members make some suitable adaptations of community life necessary.²In these houses there should be more room for common participation in some forms of prayer, especially for active and varied participation in a community celebration of the Eucharist, and for some short common prayer every day.³Each one’s sense of community, as a necessary prerequisite for the apostolic life of the Society, should be seriously tested and formed during these years.⁴Attention must be paid to education for dialogue among themselves and with superiors, for cooperation and obedience, and for fraternal correction, all of which tend to form men who are capable of making the best possible choices, with the help of supernatural illumination and sufficient advice from others.³³

[78] #

The number of members in houses of formation should be such that mutual relations may be spiritual and fraternal, the discipline familial, and the government truly paternal.³⁴

[79] #

If, indeed, our members in formation live at times in apostolic communities, care must be taken that the communities are such as can willingly assume the responsibility of formation, along with those who have special charge of formation in the province. The provincial is to designate someone to be responsible for helping them to pursue serious studies and to carry on their apostolic work while still maintaining close ties with their companions.³⁵

[80] #

In due proportion and under direction, relationships between younger members of different nations should be fostered, either for the sake of higher studies or for learning modern languages, or for apostolic experiments. This will greatly increase future understanding and unity in the Society.³⁶

CN PART IV CHAPTER 4 #

[81] #

¹Since the purpose of studies in the Society is apostolic, through their studies our members should acquire that breadth and excellence in learning that are required to achieve this end.³⁷²The Society confirms its proper option for a profound academic formation of its future priests theological as well as philosophical, humane, and scientific, persuaded that, presupposing the testimony of one’s own life, there is no more apt way to exercise our mission.³⁸³Inasmuch as brothers participate in the apostolic activity of the Society according to the gifts received from God, they should receive appropriate theological instruction and adequate formation in what concerns their work.³⁹⁴For this reason, our members in formation should be reminded that their special mission and apostolate during the time of study is to study.⁴⁰

[82] #

Our studies should foster and stimulate those very qualities that today are often choked off by our contemporary style of living and thinking: a spirit of reflection and an awareness of deeper, transcendent values.⁴¹

[83] #

¹Studies in the Society, both ordinary and special, are governed by the common laws of the Church, by the norms found in this chapter, and by the General Norms of Studies promulgated by the superior general, which are to be continually revised and adapted to new needs.⁴²²In the different provinces or regions embracing several provinces, the provincial or group of provincials must draw up and regularly revise a Provincial or Regional Order of Studies, which, with the approval of the general, will adapt and fill out the General Norms, considering the special circumstances of each place.⁴³³In these Orders of Studies provision is to be made for the formation in studies of the brothers, according to the norm of.

[84] #

In provinces where scholastics study in faculties or institutions which do not belong to the Society, superiors should see to it that the formation proper to the Society is provided with all necessary means, for example, by rounding out the curriculum with special courses.⁴⁴

[85] #

Although the curriculum of studies for the scholastics may be arranged in a number of ways, such unity ought to be observed in the regional programs as to make it possible for them, without extreme difficulty, to take part of their training in another province or region.⁴⁵

[86] #

Before they begin philosophy and theology, scholastics should have completed that training in letters and sciences which in each nation is required before higher studies are begun. This training, if it has not been completed before entrance into the Society, is to be completed in the novitiate and, if necessary, later. Where it is possible, they should acquire knowledge of Latin and Greek, or at least sufficient preparation and knowledge that they can understand and use with ease the sources of so many sacred sciences and the documents of the Church.⁴⁶

[87] #

Scholastics are to devote at least two years to the study of philosophy. But when these studies are combined with other subjects or with the study of theology, they must be pursued in such a way that the equivalent of two years is devoted to them.⁴⁷

[88] #

In faculties or institutions where the curriculum in philosophy and theology allows for several variations, the superior of the scholastics or the prefect of studies, according to the determination of the provincial, is responsible for arranging the curriculum of each scholastic according to his ability and his future apostolic work.⁴⁸

[89] #

All who are preparing for the priesthood in the Society must devote to theological studies at least the four-year period prescribed by the Church.⁴⁹But where the regular course of theology is completed in three years, a fourth year is to be added, which should be dedicated either to preparation for a degree in theology or, in an appropriate program, to the integration of theological studies into one’s formation, especially one’s pastoral formation.⁵⁰

[90] #

Members of the Society should not be allowed to hear confessions unless they have been found qualified for this ministry by a special examination on their pastoral competence and moral theology. Those who are already priests when they are admitted may be exempted from this examination if their qualifications are already clearly established in some other way.⁵¹

[91] #

Those who, prior to their entrance into the Society, have completed some of their philosophy or theology courses should be examined on their progress in them unless their attainments are evident from some other source; and then they should complete these studies insofar as necessary.⁵²

[92] #

Provincials should see to it that in general all scholastics acquire the licentiate in either theology or philosophy and that those who manifest greater interest and talent should continue further studies in order to acquire higher degrees.⁵³

[93] #

¹To determine whether those who have not acquired a higher academic degree, at least a licentiate, have attained the level of learning in sacred sciences required for profession of four vows, they must undergo a comprehensive examination in theology before three examiners approved by the appropriate major superior.⁵⁴²Particulars of this examination in regard to its length, program, method of giving grades, and so on, are to be determined in the Provincial or Regional Order of Studies to be approved by the general.⁵⁵

[94] #

Special studies, understood in view of their apostolic character, should be earnestly fostered by superiors. Those who undertake such studies, especially in secular universities, should be assisted to understand and personally to assimilate the interrelationship between these studies and their philosophy and theology. They should have special spiritual assistance and should be integrated into the life of a community of the Society.⁵⁶

[95] #

A solid education should be fostered in literature, in the arts, in sciences, also in social sciences, the better to understand reality and to undertake the analysis of it;⁵⁷and also in history and in various aspects of the culture of the region where the apostolate will be carried on, as well as in modern means of social communication.⁵⁸

[96] #

¹Throughout the entire course of studies, scholastics should practice those means of expression that are suited to the people of our age. Skilled in the arts of writing and speaking, they can become better preachers of the Gospel of Christ. Suitable opportunities should be provided for access to the audiovisual media and for instruction on how they can be used successfully in the apostolate.⁵⁹²To secure this during both early and ongoing formation, we must provide well-organized communication curricula for all. These will show how to subject to critical evaluation the ways of self-expression that this new culture has, how to judge its aesthetic dimension, and how to use the communications media in group effort.⁶⁰

[97] #

In order to facilitate communication with other cultures and throughout the universal Society, all our members in formation, scholastics and brothers, are to learn one or other modern language besides their own. All should be familiar with English; those whose mother tongue is English should learn another modern language, chosen from among those that are more commonly used.⁶¹

[98] #

¹The studies of brothers should be in accord with the needs of the province and the Society as well as their future apostolic work.⁶²In the years immediately following the novitiate, a theological program should be offered to all as either the only discipline or at least the principal one. Nor, among other disciplines offered them, should instruction concerning behavior patterns, emotional attitudes, and thought processes of contemporary social life⁶³be omitted. They should also pursue cultural and technical studies during the time of formation. This training of the brothers in studies should also be confirmed with suitable degrees.⁶⁴²The better to achieve this, brothers in formation should, if possible, live in communities of scholastics⁶⁵or in other communities in which they are helped in pursuing their studies; they should not be burdened with other occupations, so that they will have time to devote to studies.

CN PART IV CHAPTER 5 #

[99] #

¹The purpose of our studies is to train Jesuits to proclaim and transmit the truth revealed in Christ and entrusted to the Church.⁶⁶Our teaching, therefore, should faithfully adhere to what was once given to the holy men of the faith, and should be such that, accommodating itself to changing ways of speaking and thinking, and adapting itself to the diverse cultures of the whole world, it can continually revivify that faith in human hearts.⁶⁷²Our formation must be such that a Jesuit can be one with the people to whom he is sent, capable of communicating with them. He must be able to share their convictions and values, their history, their experience and aspirations; at the same time he must be open to the convictions and values of other peoples, traditions, and cultures.⁶⁸

[100] #

Jesuits ought to put their trust in the strength of divine truth and in that inner unction of the Holy Spirit which leads the Church of Christ to all truth. Therefore they should strive to join to their studies a close familiarity with God; following this secure way, they will be safe from timidity as well as from thoughtless innovation. Let them in all matters see that their knowledge is well grounded, according to the norms which the Holy See has given to the Church and to the Society.⁶⁹

[101] #

Professors should bear in mind that they do not teach in their own name, but in the Church, in accordance with the mission received from the Church, and that they teach joined together in charity in the Society of Jesus. Hence, they should let themselves be guided by the mind and will of the Church, show proper respect for the teaching authority of the Church, and have regard for the building up of the faith in their students and in all the faithful. At the same time they should keep in mind those who are separated from us.⁷⁰

[102] #

Both professors and scholastics should faithfully adhere to and diligently study the written word of God along with sacred tradition. Let them also have high regard for the teaching of the holy fathers and other doctors, specifically St. Thomas, and for those authors of the Society who are highly regarded in the Church.⁷¹

[103] #

¹Professors should clearly distinguish between matters of faith to be held by all and teachings approved by the consent of theologians. Probable, new, and personal explanations are to be proposed modestly.⁷²²For more secure and profitable progress in doctrine, it will be very helpful if the professors freely and sincerely communicate to their colleagues their new ideas, even before they are published. Thus, if necessary, they can be corrected by them and can perhaps also be of benefit to them.⁷³

[104] #

If any of our professors in his teaching departs from doctrine in accord with the magisterium of the Church, superiors ought to speak with him in order to understand well both him and his thinking; and, if occasion warrants, they should admonish him. If he does not change, superiors should not hesitate even to remove him from his teaching position, if it eventually proves necessary, observing as far as possible the statutes of the institution or faculty.⁷⁴

[105] #

During their course of studies, scholastics should be taught, under the direction of their professors, to read critically and use prudently the works of those authors who have greater influence on present-day cultures. Thus they should learn how to retain what is good and to correct what is unacceptable.⁷⁵

CN PART IV CHAPTER 6 #

[106] #

¹The whole process of formation through its various stages from novitiate to tertianship should favor integration into the apostolic body of the Society, so that it prepares our young men to fulfill the missions and perform the ministries which the Society may wish to assign to them.⁷⁶²Therefore, our style of life and its attendant circumstances, both personal and communitarian, ought to favor apostolic formation, so that young Jesuits can know and understand what the people among whom they live are seeking, what they suffer, and what they lack;⁷⁷in a particular way they should foster solidarity with the poor, so that they learn from them how they can aid them.⁷⁸³A certain experience of living with the poor will sometimes be necessary for our young men, to help them both to overcome limitations that may perchance spring from their own social background and to strengthen their love for the poor. However, this should take place under such conditions that it will be genuine, free of illusions, and productive of a true conversion. For this purpose, contact with the poor should be extended rather than occasional, and must be accompanied by careful reflection and integrated into training in sociocultural analysis.⁷⁹

[107] #

A formation that is bound up with the activities of the province or region is also especially helpful for this. Therefore, the major superior himself or others designated by him should see that our young men are directed in this in progressive stages and by means of a variety of experiences, according to the talents of each and with a view to the apostolic works of the province or region as well as of the whole Society.⁸⁰

[108] #

¹Apostolic formation of all our members ought to be carried on in a progressive fashion under the direction of a competent coordinator, who should direct our men in formation in their apostolic activities, bring them to examine the activities critically, and help them to carry them out. This apostolic formation should be an integrated part of the curriculum of studies.⁸¹²Apostolic activities, which are to be undertaken as a mission from superiors, should be so arranged that they lead to a deeper level of spiritual and intellectual reflection.⁸²³Scholastics should be trained for different priestly ministries.⁸³Brothers, on the other hand, should be prepared to perform the works proper to their vocation, so that they fully participate in the apostolic mission of the Society in their distinctive way.⁴All should grow accustomed to directing others in the Spiritual Exercises under the supervision of an experienced director.⁸⁴

[109] #

¹Regency, whose purpose is to contribute to a fuller religious and apostolic maturity,⁸⁵will be made after philosophy according to the ordinary practice in the Society; but, according to the judgment of the provincial, it may be deferred up to the time immediately preceding priestly ordination, or some other appropriate experiment may be substituted for it.⁸⁶²Without a serious reason, a provincial should not send scholastics to regency before the completion of philosophy or of two years of philosophical-theological studies; nor should he keep any one in regency for more than two or three years.⁸⁷³During the time of teaching or experiments, care is to be taken that the scholastics spiritual life not only does not thereby suffer damage but, on the contrary, that it derives therefrom a proper growth.⁸⁸Accordingly, consideration should be given to the community where they live during regency, and their superior should have special concern for their formation.⁸⁹⁴But if they experience greater difficulties in prayer and work at this time, they should learn to overcome them with magnanimity and patience in the Lord.⁹⁰

[110] #

In the whole course of formation, especially during philosophical and theological studies, a deep and authentic involvement with the local culture should be fostered, according to regional differences, by sharing the life and experiences of those peoples among whom we work and by trying to understand their cultures from within.⁹¹Yet care should also be taken to promote unity of minds and hearts in the Society, based on genuine Ignatian spirituality;⁹²and a truly universal spirit, proper to our vocation, is to be reinforced by various experiences, such as by participating in international meetings of those in formation, or by receiving part of one’s training in a culture other than one’s own.⁹³

[111] #

Besides enjoying the kind of communication among young men of different provinces and regions that leads to a true sense of the universality of the Society,⁹⁴our members in formation should have suitable contacts, arranged with prudence, with young people of their own age clerics, religious, laity both of their own and other nations, so that, ridding themselves of nationalism and every other form of particularism, they will acquire the universality of mind and the openness toward different forms of cultures, diverse civilizations, and differing mentalities that our apostolic vocation demands.⁹⁵

[112] #

Those who teach our men ought to manifest by their labor and living example this integration of the intellectual, spiritual, and apostolic life⁹⁶and help them identify problems and assume responsibilities flowing from our mission today.⁹⁷