It is a tradition of the Curia to invite the new Provincials to get to know the inner workings of the Society and to meet some of the members of the General Curia with whom they interact in the course of their responsibilities. Obviously, as with so many international meetings nowadays, the 2021 colloquia are organised online.

Two groups have been “convened”: from 15 to 19 March, work has been done in English; from 21 to 25 March, it is in Spanish. About ten new Provincials make up each group. For some of the sessions, other people with responsibilities in their Provinces may be invited to participate as well.

In his intervention at the beginning of each colloquium, Father Arturo Sosa, as Superior General, specified the spirit that should guide these meetings. He recalled the recommendations of St. Ignatius on the ways of praying and orienting prayer: “... before entering on the prayer I recollect myself for a while, and either seated or walking up and down, as may seem better, I will consider where I am going, and for what purpose.” (Ex. Sp. 239)

The programme includes several meetings, for example: with the General Treasurer, on the spirit and the letter of the norms for the administration of goods and the financial reports to be sent to the Curia; with the Secretary of the Society and his assistant on all matters related to the exchange of letters with Father General; with the Procurator of the Society on questions of canon law and the specific legislation of the Society; with the Assistant for Formation.

This year, as a follow-up to the ongoing efforts to implement the Universal Apostolic Preferences and to assist the Provinces in their apostolic planning objectives, a session is being conducted by Christina Kheng, JCAP consultant (Asia-Pacific), on how to prepare, launch and implement an apostolic plan. The purpose of such an exercise is to ensure that institutions are truly at the service of the Society’s mission. All this is based on essential spiritual foundations, starting from the principle that God works actively and out of love for the world, but needs our collaboration for the advancement of his project.

Let us go back to Father General. He told the Provincials that the Curia was also their home. That they were always welcome there, in person or in other ways, and that constant communication between them and the team in Rome was essential to the good health of the Society. Communication, he insisted, is an essential element of the union of the universal body of the Society of Jesus, as Ignatius himself had intuited from the foundation. Communication is the key to obedience to the Holy Spirit. Communication between us, he said, must be inspired by the constant communication between the Father, the Son, and the Spirit, the Holy Trinity. It supports our personal consecration, our community life and our apostolic action. Father Sosa therefore asks the provincial and regional superiors to strive to be good communicators and to be those who open good channels of communication. This is a priority dimension of the service to which they are called.