February 23, 2008

It is 25 years since GC 33, which I attended in 1983 as Provincial of the New York Province. I am now an elected delegate at GC 35, and the similarities and differences between the two congregations are striking.

Both congregations were called to elect a new General. Both had swift elections, Fr. Kolvenbach on the first ballot, and Fr. Nicolas on the second ballot. Both elections left the delegates with a clear sense that the Holy Spirit had guided our discernment process, and a conviction that we had elected men who love the Society greatly and who would provide great leadership. We also learned that community discernment really can work, but it requires much more prayer than we usually give it in our local communities. Each day the delegates privately prayed for hours before the Blessed Sacrament.

The differences are even more striking. GC 33 began with a tense relationship between the Society and the Holy Father. Today the Holy Father has expressed great confidence in the Society, and those at the congregation are eager to be of greater service to the Church and the missions he assigns to us. The international character of the Society is much more apparent today, especially due to the prominent role played by numerous Jesuits from India, Africa, and the Far East. GC 33 still had some of the vestiges of tension between the faith and justice aspects of our mission that surfaced conspicuously at GC 32. Today one is struck by how that tension has disappeared, and how faith and justice have been well integrated with our missions to dialogue and culture. The Jesuits of India especially give voice to the need for dialogue between religions and cultures.

The second part of the congregation dealing with the writing of decrees is much better prepared for and organized today than at GC 33. A new tension has however arisem that was not present 25 years ago, a tension between those who prefer that our decrees be written in a more poetic inspirational narrative style and those who prefer a more rationalistic or juridical approach. With 225 Jesuits trying to write texts a safe bet is that this tension will be resolved by compromise.

Vincent M Cooke SJ

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