Since the 36^th General Congregation (GC 36), there has been a hive of activity around the Jesuit world. We have had a consultation on poverty, a discernment on the Preferences, a Procurators’ Congregation. We have recovered agility with many Provinces being restructured to better serve the mission. There have been training sessions on discernment in common and on apostolic planning. The Discerning Leadership programme has expanded its work to train lay, religious and clergy. And let’s not forget communications – letters to and from Rome have gone back and forth in a way that would have made St Ignatius proud; and the communications department at the General Curia has been transformed. Some people have been asking “what’s all this leading to?” If you were a fly on the wall at the recent Enlarged Council (January 13-17), those kinds of doubts would have been laid to rest.

The meeting kicked off with a report on the Women’s Commission. Their new proposals will deepen our perspectives and widen the consultation processes in decision making.

“GC 34 had a ground breaking document (Decree 14) on the role of women. This Commission was an important follow up and has shown us how the perspectives of women can enrich and renew us”, said Fr Sosa. “Discernment about so many issues can’t happen in a complete manner if we are missing the viewpoints of women. Jesuits have blind spots – let’s be honest; the work of the Commission and its recommendations will help us move beyond these to find the dream of God for our world today.”

That was followed by the presentation of a new website with resources for Mission Partner Formation.

“St Ignatius always knew that strong and deep formation was vital if Jesuit ministry was to have impact”, said Fr Sosa. “That remains my conviction also. We are following through on it now, into the 21^st century, by ensuring high quality formation not just for Jesuits but also for mission partners.”

The Council got an update about what is happening in higher education – we serve three quarters of a million students; in secondary and pre secondary education over 2 million students attend Jesuit schools.

“Education has always been a major apostolic instrument of the Society of Jesus”, said Fr Sosa. “It’s particularly consoling to see how we are now making links across sectors. Our higher education institutes collaborate with our social centres while our spiritual centres are helping to strengthen mission and identity in education institutions.”

There is also a brand-new communications plan, new thinking is happening about the Brothers’ vocation and in July a special workshop will take a deeper dive into the Constitutions to understand better how they shape our vocation. And we got a preview of the new JRS (Jesuit Refugee Service) strategic framework.

Since Pope Francis launched the synodal process, facilitators for discernment in common have been much in demand but were in short supply. The Council members heard about a new training programme which aims to ensure that competent facilitators are available for the Synodal journey. And, last but not least, important findings from a survey on integral ecology were presented.

“The meeting showed in a very concrete way how all the processes that we’ve been involved in are leading to an intense and deep renewal of the life-mission of the Society of Jesus”, said Fr Sosa. “It is deeply consoling and humbling to see how the Spirit is guiding us. When we make space for the Spirit, we open ourselves to new directions. With this openness, we become ‘Servants of Christ’s mission’ not just in words but in reality, as GC 33 called us to be.”