What follows is a summary of Decree 13, 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.
The Society of Jesus offers itself in service to the full realization of the mission of the laity to "take an active, conscientious, and responsible part in the mission of the Church" and we commit ourselves to cooperation with them in their mission.
Since GC 31, a growing cooperation with the laity has expanded our mission and transformed the ways in which we carry it out in partnership with others. We cooperate with priests, men and women religious, people of all faiths and beliefs. Jesuits are men for others and men with others.
"Laity are taking on greater responsibility for the ministry of the Church" through their calling "to be holy and concerned for faith, justice, and the poor." The Society of Jesus offers "our spiritual and apostolic inheritance, our educational resources, and our friendship" to serve the mission of the laity.
Jesuits must respond to the desire of the laity for formation "so that they are able to minister as fully as possible according to their call and gifts." Cooperation with laity in mission "requires the formation and renewal of all Jesuits." Lay persons "can help us understand and respect their distinct vocation as well as appreciate our own."
1. Collaboration in works of the Society
"We collaborate with the laity in works of the Society," e.g., educational institutions, parishes, social centers, retreat houses and the Jesuit Refugee Service. "Each work must be guided by a clear mission statement which outlines the purposes of the work and forms the basis for collaboration in it." "All those engaged in the work should exercise coresponsibility and be engaged in discernment and participative decision making where it is appropriate."
2. Cooperation in non-Jesuit works
In institutions, organizations and activities not sponsored by the Society of Jesus, we cooperate as a way of witnessing to the Gospel and to Ignatian spirituality. This includes social development and welfare centers, seminaries and religious institutes, labor unions, international organizations, etc. "Cooperation ... should be in accord with the Society's criteria for the choice of ministries, especially service of the faith and promotion of justice."
3. Cooperation with Associations
Jesuits are encouraged to know apostolic associations of Ignatian inspiration as their members often "desire to be united with us." This includes Christian Life Communities, Jesuit Volunteer programs, Jesuit Past-student Associations and the Apostleship of Prayer.
"As lay people continue to grow in their service to the world, the Society of Jesus will find opportunities for cooperation with them."
1. Empowering the "Church of the Laity"
"Lay men and women will assume more and more responsibility for the ministries of the Church in parishes, diocesan structures, schools, theological institutions, missions, and works of justice and charity." Thus, Jesuits "must shift the focus of our attention from the exercise of our own direct ministry to the strengthening of laity in their mission" based on "the strength of our Jesuit companionship and on a renewal of our response to the call of Christ to serve his mission."
2. Lay Leadership in Works of the Society
This transformation of the Church can enrich Jesuit apostolic works "and expand their Ignatian character if we know how to cooperate with the grace of the emergence of the laity." A genuine Ignatian partnership of laity and Jesuits, each acting according to our proper vocation will result.
3. Developing an Ignatian Apostolic Network
"A challenge for future cooperation with the laity in mission" is posed by those "who find a common spirituality and apostolic motivation in the experience of the Spiritual Exercises." An Ignatian apostolic network "will foster better communication and provide personal and spiritual support among these persons and groups."
4. Some Joined to the Society by Closer Personal Bond
"The possibility of joining lay persons more closely to the Society was given official recognition in GC 31." GC 34 "recommends 10 years of experimentation of juridical bonding' of individual lay persons to the Society of Jesus ..." Its purpose is apostolic---"to extend the missioning process of the Society to lay persons who accompany and are accompanied by Jesuits in apostolic discernment and activity."
Elements to be considered include: "a) procedures for selection of associates; b) adequate and appropriate formation; c) terms of agreement regarding rights; responsibilities, duration, and evaluation; d) mutual discernment with the provincial or his delegate about mission; e) norms for possible communal life of associates; f) norms for informal relationships with Jesuit communities; g) preparation and assignment of Jesuits to accompany associates; h) financial and other practical arrangements."
"Cooperation with the laity is both a constitutive element of our way of proceeding and a grace calling for individual, communal, and institutional renewal."
Synopses of Other Decrees which are available.
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