The month of May is a busy one for the General Curia in Rome, because it is hosting many workshops and meetings. Here is the May calendar:
From 4 to16 May twelve new Provincials are attending an English Language Colloquium. It is the second of the three scheduled for this year, two in the English and one in Spanish / Italian. The purpose is to give to new Provincials an overview of the issues the Society is facing today and at the same time let them learn about the commitments and duties of their office regarding cura personalis, cura apostolica, community and apostolic life, from the legal, legislative, financial and organizational viewpoints. The Colloquium offers Father General the opportunity to develop a more personal understanding of his closest collaborators and bring them up to date on the governance of the Society as well as the progress of the projects he received from the 35th General Congregation. New Provincials have the chance to better understand the General Curia, with its many offices and secretariats, and visit the International Roman Houses.
From 4 to 9 May the delegates of Provincials’ Conferences are attending the meeting of International Committee for the Apostolate of Jesuit Education (ICAJE). Father Pierre Salembier, delegate of Father General for alumni, is also attending. On the agenda the “Ignatian leadership” in its practical, working aspects as well as what we are doing in various Provinces and Assistancies to identify, invite, form and support leaders for our schools according to the Spirituality of St. Ignatius and of the Society of Jesus.
From 18 to 22 May the annual meeting of the Social Apostolates Assistancy/Conferences Coordinators. Participants are coming from the Jesuit Assistancies and Conferences of Latin America, Europe, East Asia and Oceania, Africa and Madagascar, USA and South Asia. Representatives from Entreculturas (www.entreculturas.org) and OCIPE (Office Catholique d’Information et d’Initiative pour l’Europe, www.ocipe.info) have also been invited for a review of the emerging advocacy networks.
During the first part of the meeting, led by Fathers Antoine Kerhuel, Regional Assistant for Western Europe, and Edward Mercieca, Secretary for Spirituality, participants will explore the spirituality of the social apostolate under the heading ‘Interiority in Action’. The second part, a follow-up of the Ignatian Advocacy Workshop held November 2008, will include a meeting with Fr. General. The final day is dedicated to ongoing apostolic discernment within the social apostolate, and will be moderated by Father Joseph Daoust, former president of the Jesuit School of Theology at Berkeley and now Delegate for the Roman houses of the Society.
The outcomes of the meeting will be published in Promotio Iustititae, available online at www.sjweb.info/sjs.
The Society in numbers. The General Secretariat of the Society has compiled the statistics for the year 2008. We present some overall statistics. As of 1 January 2009, the total number of Jesuits stood at 18.516 – 13.112 priests, 2.920 scholastics, 1.675 brothers and 809 novices – this show a net loss of 304 from 1 January 2008 and present a smaller decline in relation to the previous year. As of 1 January 2009, the average age of all Jesuits was 57.44 years – of priests 64.24 years, of scholastics 28.96 years and of brothers 67.68 years. An important part of the universal mission entrusted to the whole Society is carried out by the Interprovincial Roman Houses immediately dependent on Fr. General. The total number of Jesuits in the Interprovincial Roman Houses in 2008-2009 is 441 (4 cardinals, 1 archbishop, 360 priests, 51 scholastics, and 25 brothers). Of the 441, 126 are students. As of 1 January 2009 there were 11 Dependent Regions in the Society – 3 in Africa, 3 in the Americas, and 5 in Asia-Oceania. For more information please refer to the bulletin “Documentation n. 89” published by our office or visit the ad usum nostrorum section of http://www.sjweb.info/.