Norms, Part VII, 263-310

Chapter 4 and 5

• Chapter 4: The Ministries by Which the Society Fulfills Its Mission

• Missionary service• Interreligious dialogue• Ecumenical activity• Pastoral services and works• Educational apostolate• Intellectual apostolate• Social apostolate• Social communications• Interprovincial work and houses in Rome

Chapter 5: Our Cooperation with the Laity in Mission

• Cooperation with the Laity in general• Cooperation with the Laity in their works• Cooperation with the Laity in works of the

Society• Lay associations of Ignatian inspiration• Closer bonds of certain laity with the Society

Be aware of your consolations / desolations

- What are my reactions and reflections as I ponder these texts?

- Am I being called to add another dimension to my present ministry?

- Do I see how my province or the Society as a whole is responding to these prescriptions of the Complementary Norms?

- Is God revealing anything to me (us) through my reactions or reflections?

• Chapter 4: The Ministries by Which the Society Fulfills Its Mission

• Missionary service• “By reason of their vocation to the Society, all our

members, and not only those who so petition, may be sent to evangelize peoples. But those who were born in former mission lands ought to be aware of their serious responsibility to promote the faith and life of the Church with deep roots in their own cultures. But even they should be prepared to undertake mission service among other peoples” (Norms, 263).

• Interreligious dialogue• “In the context of the divisive, exploitative,

and conflictual roles that religions, including Christianity, have played in history, dialogue seeks to develop the unifying and liberating potential of all religions, thus showing the relevance of religion for human well-being, justice, and word peace” (Norms, 265).

• “Dialogue is ‘an activity with its own guiding principles, requirements, and dignity’ [John Paul II, Encyclical Redemptoris mission, no. 56]; and it should never be made a strategy to elicit conversions, since a positive relationship with believers of other faiths is a requirement in a world of religious pluralism” [GC 34, d. 5, no. 3] (Norms, 265).

• “The culture of dialogue should become a distinctive characteristic of our Society” (Norms, 266).

• How?• The dialogue of life (sharing of live)• The dialogue of action (integral development

and liberation of people)• The dialogue of theological exchange

(specialists)• The dialogue of religious experience (sharing

the spiritual traditions)

• “The Society must prepare members able to became experts in the third aspect of interreligious dialogue” (Norms, 267).

(The dialogue of theological exchange)

• Ecumenical activity• “Faith which does justice is necessarily committed to

ecumenical dialogue and cooperation” (Norms, 268). • “Ecumenism ... is a new way of living as a Christian” (Norms,

268). • “(...) superiors should see to it that some of our members are

prepared as experts in ecumenical matters (...)” (Norms, 269, §2).

• “In ecumenical activity Jesuits are faithfully to observe all the

prescriptions and directives of the Holy See and of those whose duty it is to direct the ecumenical movement” (Norms, 269, §3).

• Pastoral services and works• The pastoral works from the past are to be

renewed (cf. Norms, 270).• We should “look for new forms of pastoral

service and works that answer contemporary needs, even those of other religions” (Norms, 270).

• “Our pastoral service ought to prepare Christian communities for carrying on dialogue with believers of other religions and help them experience God’s compassionate love in their lives” (Norms, 270).

• Insistence on the importance of the Spiritual Exercises: “The Spiritual Exercises, carefully adapted in different ways, should be presented to every type of person insofar as individuals are capable of them, not excluding simple folk” (Norms, 271).

• “The same thing should be done, as far as possible and with appropriate adaptations, for believers of other religions”. (Norms, 271).

• The importance of “teaching Christian doctrine to children and the uneducated” (Norms, 272).

• “Our members cooperate with the program of renewal of both the Christian Life Communities and the Apostleship of prayer” (Norms, 272).

• “residences should be encouraged among the more neglected groups of people” (Norms, 273).

• “the care of souls in a parish is no longer considered contrary to the principles of our Constitutions” (Norms, 274 §1).

• “Parishes accepted by the Society must be in accordance with its proper charism and mission” (Norms, 274 §2).

• “Those who are appointed pastors must have

special training” (Norms, 274 §3).

• The importance of our “labours among Eastern churches, whether Catholic or not Catholic” (Norms, 275).

• The apostolate of the Heart of Christ, “as a most pleasant responsibility entrusted to the Society by Christ our Lord” (Norms, 276 §1).

• The importance of the “patronage of the Blessed Virgin Mary” (Norms, 276 §2).

Be aware of your consolations / desolations

• What are my reactions as I ponder these texts?

• Do these texts challenge me or us to a different way of relating these works?

• If I am in parish work, do these norms relate to my experience?

Be aware of your consolations / desolations

“The end of the Society and of its studies is to aid our fellowmen to the knowledge and love of God to the salvation of their souls”

Saint Ignatius of Loyola, Constitutions of the Society of Jesus, [446].