What follows is a summary of Decree 12, one of 26 Decrees dealing with the Mission of the Society Jesus today issued by the 34th General Congregation [GC34] of the Society of Jesus. The congregation met in Rome in the first three months of 1995. Its work affects the immediate future of Jesuits worldwide.
"A faith doing justice must necessarily lead to ecumenical and interreligious dialogue and cooperation."
"Ecumenism calls us to pardon and to love as essential components of a Gospel-inspired struggle for justice and reconciliation." "It is an apostolate ... for which the Society is suited by its global outreach and numerous institutions dedicated to formation in the Christian spirit."
"It is a new way of being a Christian" seeking "what unites rather than divides," seeking understanding and not confrontation, seeking "to know, understand, and love others as they wish to be known and understood," respecting their distinctiveness "through the dialogue of truth, justice and love."
The Church has repeatedly called us to this as have preceding general congregations. This congregation recommends "greater attention to initial and ongoing ecumenical formation in the Society ... "; it "draws attention to the recent norms of the Congregation for Catholic Education for courses in ecumenism and Eastern Christian studies; recommends an attentive fostering of ecumenical sensitivity in all our ministries" and "reaffirms the concrete proposals of GC 31."
Synopses of Other Decrees which are available.
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