March 6 , 2008

On February 15th, the deputatio appointed five members to draft a new decree on Mission: Fernando Franco, Fred Kammer, Tomasz Kot, Bienvenido Nebres, and Eugenio Valenzuela.

The drafting committee produced three drafts which, after discussion and amendment, resulted in the decree approved on Wednesday, March 5th.

The decree contains several key themes: reaffirmation of mission; its new context; right relationships and reconciliation; and our apostolic response to new challenges. It also confirmed the global apostolic preferences of Africa, China, intellectual apostolate, inter-provincial institutions in Rome, and migrants and refugees.

In the first part, the congregation reaffirms the Jesuit mission articulated by General Congregation 32 and developed by General Congregations 33 and 34. That mission is the service of faith, inextricably linked to the promotion of justice, and dynamically related to the inculturated proclamation of the Gospel and dialogue with other religious traditions.

In the section on context, key themes are globalization, a new world culture, and the tensions and paradoxes in our lives resulting from this new world, including threats to humanity and our environment.

The congregation recalls the prophetic and Jubilee traditions of proclaiming right relationships with God, with one another, and with creation. It develops this proclamation with the understanding of the role of Jesus Christ as the reconciliation of God. From this understanding, our mission today involves the call to right relationships and reconciliation which in our history has taken us from the centers of the known world to the frontiers of new continents and new ideas. This theme of “frontiers” from the address of Pope Benedict XVI to us inspired the decree’s title: “Challenges to Our Mission Today: Sent to the Frontiers.”

The decree spells out the contemporary challenge for Jesuits today under three headings. Under the relationship with God are: contemporary spiritual hungers and the need for new forms of evangelization; cultural subjectivism and relativism as an opportunity and challenge to dialogue and proclamation; renewed search for meaning and the value of the Spiritual Exercises in many forms; need for inter-religious dialogue in a context of fundamentalism and erosion of traditional religions; and the importance of ministry to youth in a fragmented world.

In our relationship with others, the decree includes: the call to see this globalized world from the viewpoint of the poor, learn from them, and accompany them; the importance of building bridges across societal divides and of collaboration among ministries; and the importance of new communications vehicles for advocacy, education, and networking.

In the section on our relationship with creation are: how care for creation is critical to our relationships with God and others; the impact of environment damage, particularly on the poor; the importance of environment research and stewardship, advocacy in union with the poor, and preaching and teaching on our covenant with creation.

The decree closes with an emphasis on authenticity in our own spiritual and community lives, incarnation of right relationships within ministries, and the important potential of our universality for greater apostolic effectiveness and as a witness to solidarity for our world.

Fred Kammer SJ

© 2008 Society of Jesus » www.sjweb.info/35