Part VIII

Part VIII: Fostering Unity in the Society #

CN PART VIII CHAPTER 1 #

[311] #

1Our members fulfill their mission in companionship with others, for they belong to a community of friends in the Lord who have desired to be received under the standard of Christ the King.12It is our community-life ideal that we should be not only fellow workers in the apostolate but truly brothers and friends in Christ.2

[312] #

Given the wide dispersion of our apostolic enterprises, the need for us to acquire highly specialized skills for highly specialized works, and in many places the need to make a distinction between our apostolic institutions and our religious communities, the preservation of unity of purpose and direction becomes a prime necessity.3

[313] #

1Within limits imposed by our profession of poverty, communication and union among members of the Society should be strengthened in the following ways, besides those other useful ways already begun: a. Gatherings of communities in the same city or region or in the whole province should be encouraged; b. Task forces and workshops for reflection should be established in the provinces for each area of the apostolate or, where it can easily and usefully be done, also among provinces; c. The superiors of each province and the provincials of each assistancy or major region should hold regular meetings.42. What especially helps toward fostering communion among all members of the Society is an attitude of mind and heart that esteems and welcomes each member as a brother and friend in the Lord, because “[w]hat helps most… toward this end must be, more than any exterior constitution, the interior law of love and charity which the Holy Spirit writes and engraves in our hearts.”5

CN PART VIII CHAPTER 2 #

[314] #

1Community in the Society of Jesus takes its origin from the will of the Father joining us into one; it is constituted by the active, personal, united striving of all members to fulfill the divine will and is ordered to a life that is apostolic in many ways.62Our community is the entire body of the Society itself, no matter how widely dispersed over the face of the earth. The particular local community to which one belongs at any given moment is, for him, simply a concrete if, here and now, a privileged expression of this worldwide brotherhood.7

[315] #

A local Jesuit community is an apostolic community, whose focus of concern is the service that Ours are bound, in virtue of their vocation, to give to people. It is a community ad dispersionem, since its members are ready to go wherever they are sent; but it is also a koinonia, a close sharing of life and goods, with the Eucharist at its center, and a community of discernment with superiors, to whom belong the final steps in making decisions about undertaking and accomplishing missions.8

[316] #

1When community life flourishes, the whole religious life is sound; and unity and availability, universality, full personal dedication, and gospel freedom are also strengthened for the assistance of souls in every way.92Community life itself is a manifold testimony for our contemporaries, especially since it fosters brotherly love and unity by which all will know that we are disciples of Christ.10

[317] #

1The more one is exposed to situations and structures alien to the faith, the more one must strengthen his own religious identity and his union with the whole body of the Society as represented by the local community to which he belongs.11Therefore, all our members, even those who must live apart because of the demands of their apostolate or for other justifiable reasons, should take an active part as far as possible in the life of some community.12

[318] #

Every community of the Society should have its own superior13who should maintain it in love and obedience.14

[319] #

The following are necessary for fostering community life in the Society of Jesus: exchange of information between superiors and subjects;15consultation by which experts share their insights and all members of the community actively engage in the process of coordinating and promoting the apostolate and other things that pertain to the good of the community;16delegation by superiors in favor of their subjects;17collaboration of various kinds transcending every sort of individualism; a certain daily order;18a feeling for the whole Society on the part of its members that transcends local and personal limits.19

[320] #

All should associate with one another easily, in sincerity, evangelical simplicity, and courtesy, as is appropriate for a family gathered together in the name of the Lord.20

[321] #

The standard of living with regard to food, clothing, and furniture should be common to all, so that, poor in fact and in spirit, differences may be avoided as far as possible. This does not prevent each one from having what is necessary for his work or for his health, with the permission of the superior.21

[322] #

Customs that are more suitable for monastic life are not to be introduced into our community life, nor those that are proper to seculars; much less should those that manifest a worldly spirit. Let our relationship with all other men and women be such as can rightly be expected from men consecrated to God and seeking the good of souls above all things, and such as includes a proper regard for genuine fellowship with all our members.22

[323] #

Since our communities are apostolic, they should be oriented to the service of others, particularly the poor, and to cooperation with those seeking God or working for greater justice in the world. For this reason, under the leadership of superiors, communities should periodically examine whether their way of living supports their apostolic mission sufficiently and encourages hospitality. They should also consider whether their style of life testifies to simplicity, justice, and poverty.23

[324] #

1To the extent possible, superiors should strive to build an Ignatian apostolic community in which many forms of open and friendly communication on a spiritual level are possible.242Taking into account the mission it has been given, every community should after mature deliberation under the direction of the superior establish a daily order for community life, to be approved by the provincial and periodically reviewed.253The daily order of the community should include, besides a brief prayer every day as mentioned in, occasionally a longer period for prayerful discussion;26when the will of God is seriously sought concerning the life and work of the community, elements of true spiritual discernment in common can be included.27

[325] #

1Each member should contribute to community life and give sufficient time and effort to the task. Only in this way can a certain atmosphere be created that makes communication possible and in which no one is neglected or looked down upon.282As far as apostolic work or other occupations for the greater glory of God permit it, all of us, esteeming the others in their hearts as better than themselves,29should be ready to help out in the common household chores.30

[326] #

1As the most effective means of strengthening the sense of being part of one mission and of increasing the high regard we have for one another,31fraternal union and communication are to be fostered more and more among all our members (priests, scholastics, and brothers) by all the means that a discerning love may dictate.322To achieve more effectively the integration and participation of brothers in the common vocation and mission of the Society, important changes have been introduced in our proper law.333Communities that include priests, brothers, and scholastics are to be encouraged. If everyone in them shares in all aspects of community life, including faith, domestic tasks, relaxation, prayer, apostolic discernment, the Eucharist, and the Spiritual Exercises, more and more we will truly become friends in the Lord. This sharing of life will help to build up communities of shared responsibility in our common following of Jesus and complementarity in the one mission. To make this sharing a reality among us, we need human and spiritual maturity and a better formation in interpersonal communication.344To this end it will also be conducive: a. To give brothers a share in consultations, b. To observe what is set down about participation of brothers in congregations and about assigning to them offices of direction,35c. In the future to use the term brother or Jesuit brother but not the term temporal coadjutor, in our official or ordinary texts.36

[327] #

1Keeping in mind apostolic poverty and our witness to those among whom we must live, our houses should be made suitable for apostolic work, study, prayer, relaxation of mind, and a friendly spirit, so that our members will feel at home in their own house and so more efficaciously carry on our apostolic mission.372In our houses a certain part should be reserved for our members,38in which enclosure adapted to our mission is to be observed.39This is to be fully observed in houses yet to be built; in houses that have already been constructed, it is to be carried out as far as possible.403Ours should be mindful that a quite generous hospitality toward our own men rightly figures among the primary and most effective causes of mutual union among ourselves; therefore our houses should never cease to be open and welcoming to Ours.41Our houses should also be open in genuine hospitality to others, especially to religious and to those who work with us, according to the customs in different places.42

[328] #

No one should spend a notable period of time outside the house without the permission of at least the local superior.43

[329] #

Solidarity among all communities in a province or region, which should also extend beyond their limits,44as well as fraternal charity require that communities be open to men of different ages, talent, and work.45

[330] #

Particular norms, adapted to local circumstances, that are to be observed in the houses of a province or region can be determined by individual provincials or by a regional group of provincials, with the approval of the general; if they are published, all the major superiors to whom they apply should maintain them with equal vigor.46

CN PART VIII CHAPTER 3 #

[331] #

What is prescribed in the Constitutions concerning congregations is to be understood and put into practice according to what is laid down in the respective formulas by a general congregation or by its authority (Formula of a General Congregation, of a Congregation to Elect a Temporary Vicar General, of a Congregation of Procurators, of a Province Congregation).

[332] #

1With due observance of the prescriptions concerning the proximate preparation for a general congregation as contained in its formula (nos. 10-14), the superior general together with his general counselors should take care of all long-term questions and problems that refer to a future general congregation.472It is the duty of the superior general and the general counselors to see to it that these questions and problems, whether noted by themselves or indicated by province congregations preceding congregations of procurators, are put in suitable order and with the assistance of experts carefully studied and prepared for a future general congregation. When the time has been fixed for a general congregation, these questions and problems, together with the studies made about them, should be sent to all the provincials for communication in a suitable way to the province congregation.3There should be a sufficiently long interval between all the province congregations and the start of the general congregation.48

  1. GC 32, d. 2, no. 15; see GC 34, d. 7, no. 4. ↩︎

  2. GC 32, d. 11, no. 14. ↩︎

  3. GC 32, d. 11, no. 27; see GC 32, d. 11, no. 4. ↩︎

  4. GC 32, d. 11, no. 53. ↩︎

  5. GC 34, d. 7, no. 22; Pream., no. 1 C_1-134 ↩︎

  6. GC 31, d. 19, no. 2. ↩︎

  7. GC 32, d. 2, no. 16. ↩︎

  8. See GC 32, d. 2, nos. 17-19. ↩︎

  9. See GC 34, d. 8, nos. 21-22. ↩︎

  10. GC 31, d. 19, no. 4. ↩︎

  11. GC 33, d. 1, no. 33. ↩︎

  12. See GC 32, d. 11, no. 44. ↩︎

  13. GC 32, d. 11, no. 45. ↩︎

  14. See GC 32, d. 11, no. 29. ↩︎

  15. See P. VIII, c. 1, no. 9 C_8-673. ↩︎

  16. See P. VII, c. 2, no. 1 C_7-618. ↩︎

  17. See P. VIII, c. 1, no. 6, G C_8-667. ↩︎

  18. See GC 32, d. 11, no. 47; GC 31, d. 19, no. 7, g. ↩︎

  19. See GC 31, d. 19, no. 5. ↩︎

  20. GC 31, d. 19, no. 7, c.; see Vat. Coun. II, Perfectae caritatis, no. 15. ↩︎

  21. See GC 31, d. 19, no. 7, d. ↩︎

  22. GC 31, d. 19, no. 7, e. ↩︎

  23. GC 32, d. 11, no. 48. ↩︎

  24. GC 32, d. 11, no. 50. ↩︎

  25. GC 32, d. 11, no. 47; GC 31, d. 19, no. 5, f; GC 31, d. 19, no. 7, g. ↩︎

  26. See GC 32, d. 11, no. 37. ↩︎

  27. GC 32, d. 11, no. 23; see above, CN_6-151. ↩︎

  28. See GC 32, d. 11, no. 49. ↩︎

  29. See P. III, c. 1, no. 4 C_3-250. ↩︎

  30. GC 31, d. 19, no. 7, c. ↩︎

  31. See GC 33, d. 1, no. 18. ↩︎

  32. See GC 31, d. 7, no. 5. ↩︎

  33. See GC 34, d. 7, no. 21. ↩︎

  34. GC 34, d. 7, no. 11. ↩︎

  35. See GC 31, d. 7, nos. 5-6; see GC 31, d. 7, no. 3. ↩︎

  36. GC 34, d. 7, no. 12. ↩︎

  37. GC 31, d. 19, no. 7, f; see GC 32, d. 11, no. 52. ↩︎

  38. See GC 34, d. 8, no. 23. ↩︎

  39. See Canon 667, §1; Canon 541. ↩︎

  40. See CollDecr d. 171 ( GC 24, d. 220, no. 3). ↩︎

  41. CollDecr d. 213, §1 ( GC 7, d. 18); see GC 31, d. 19, no. 6, a. ↩︎

  42. GC 31, d. 19, no. 7, e; see GC 34, d. 8, no. 23. ↩︎

  43. See CollDecr d. 73 (see GC 16, d. 25; GC 18, d. 7); Canon 615, §1; Canon 478. ↩︎

  44. See GC 31, d. 19, no. 6. ↩︎

  45. GC 32, d. 11, no. 51. ↩︎

  46. See GC 31, d. 19, no. 7, h; GC 32, d. 11, no. 54, b. ↩︎

  47. See GC 31, d. 38, no. 1. ↩︎

  48. GC 31, d. 38, no. 3, GC 31, d. 38, no. 5. ↩︎