Jesuits will have the third world superiors in October in Rome

The Superior General of the Company of Jesus, the Venezuelan priest Arturo Sosa, summoned the superiors old Jesuits to a world summit that will be held in October in Rome to discuss various issues such as his life and mission, the vote of poverty, sexual abuse in their communities and the role of women in their apostolate, among others.

It will be the third time in which the higher Jesuits meet, after the meetings held in the years 2000 and 2005. This time, the summit will be held from October 17 to 26, within the framework of the Jubileo de la Esperanza 2025.

In one Letter dated January 16Fr. Sosa points out that the October meeting “represents an important step in the process of discernment of the life-mission of the Society of Jesus inspired by the 36th General Congregation” that urged the Jesuits to “respond with courage to the signs through which the Holy Spirit is leading us in the best way to serve the mission entrusted by the Lord Jesus to the Church. ”

The superior general also emphasizes that “the examination of the meaning and challenge of the vote of poverty, together with the review of the statutes of religious poverty of the Society of Jesus and the instruction on administration and finance, has been another call for the attention of the spirit Holy ”to the Jesuits.

Fr. Sosa also points out that in these years “it has been hard to become aware of the presence of all kinds of abuse in all social contexts in which we live and work. It has been difficult to recognize its presence within our communities and apostolic works. ”

In that sense, it emphasizes that “important steps have been taken: recognize each case, take the relevant measures, facilitate processes of justice and reconciliation. At the same time, programs have been developed to prevent possible cases and strengthen ‘safe environments’ in apostolic works ”.

Perhaps one of the most difficult cases of abuses that the Jesuits have faced in recent years is that of the Slovene artist and priest Marko Rupnik, on whom multiple accusations of spiritual, psychological and sexual abuse against more than 40 religious in his position weigh, and which was expelled from the Society of Jesus in June 2023.

Other cases that have received broad media coverage are those of Fr. Alfonso Pedrajas “Padre Pica”, a Spanish priest who died in 2009 and that abused at least 80 minors in Bolivia; and that of the Chilean presbyter Felipe Berrios, expelled from the Society of Jesus after being found guilty of abuses committed against “seven women, who were between 14 and 23 years old when they occurred.”

In April 2024, Julio Fernández Techera, Jesuit priest and rector of the Catholic University of Uruguay (UCU), wrote a critical essay on the Society of Jesus, warning that the order is in “deep decline.”

Similar criticism expressed in 2022 Cardinal George Pell, who suggested to make an apostolic visit or research to the Society of Jesus, because “the order is highly centralized, likely to be renovated or ruined from above.”

In his letter of January 16, Fr. Sosa wrote that “in the company’s apostolic life there are processes in progress” as “the reflection on the role of women in the company’s apostolate”, the Jesuit brothers, the education, commitment to integral ecology, and the spiritual exercises of San Ignacio and the Constitutions.