Fr. Arturo Sosa, SJ,
Superior General of the Society of Jesus, is on a 12-day visit to Canada. This
past week, he took part in a meeting that included the Jesuit provincials of
Canada and the United States. In this reflection, Fr. Timothy Kesicki, SJ,
president of the Jesuit Conference of Canada and the United States, discusses
some of the highlights of the provincials’ time with Father General.
May 26, 2018 — “Saint
Ignatius of Loyola had a strong devotion to la
Nostra Signora Della Strada (Our Lady of the Way); he prayed to her not
only when he was walking in different countries, but also when he was in his
office in Rome.” These were the opening words of Father General Sosa’s homily
to the provincials at their recent meeting in Montreal of the Jesuit Conference
of Canada and the United States, which represents
all Jesuits in those countries. As the 31st
successor to Saint Ignatius, Fr. Sosa invited the provincials to reflect on how
Our Lady has been helping us to follow her Son. This was Fr. Sosa’s first visit
to our Conference since being elected Superior General in October 2016, and the
provincials welcomed his spiritual and fraternal wisdom during these important
days together.
There are six Jesuit
Conferences in the world and Fr. General meets with three of them a year. His
participation in our Spring meeting comes at an important time in our Conference
as we continue to implement the strategic realignment of provinces. We met in
Canada, which will form one province from two this summer. During his time with
us, Fr. Sosa also visited Jesuit houses and ministries in Montreal.
Fr. General joined most of
our sessions and held individual conferences with each of the provincials. The
visit gave him an opportunity to engage in our important discussions as well as
express his vision for the Society of Jesus today. In his remarks to us, he
commented on our ongoing discernment of Universal Apostolic Preferences for the
Society. He reminded us that we are looking for apostolic orientations which
will bind the many Jesuit ministries around the world in light of the needs of
the world.
These Apostolic Preferences
will help Jesuits and their partners to make important choices for ministry in
the next 10 years. He then directed us to reflect on the pressing issues now
facing our world: a crisis in human rights; religious and ideological
fundamentalism; the challenge of migration; and the ongoing inequalities
between nations. He reminded us that the mission of the Society is its service
to the Church and the Holy Father whom we vow to serve. He also commented on
vocation promotion, emphasizing the need for Jesuit brothers along with
candidates for priesthood.
The agenda for the
provincials’ meeting focused on three primary themes: reconciliation, the
apostolate of higher education and the future of Jesuit formation. For over a
year the Society in the United States has been engaged in a process for
dialogue with descendants of Jesuit slaveholding. As part of this process,
three African-American Jesuits accompanied us in a reflection on racism within our
own ranks and in the larger world. This reflection flowed from the recent
Jesuit General Congregation’s call for reconciliation with humanity and with
God. The provincials in the conference are also preparing for a joint meeting
with presidents of Jesuit colleges and universities in the fall of 2019. These
joint meetings occur every three to five years and focus on the future of
Jesuit higher education. This summer there will be an international meeting on
Jesuit higher education in Bilbao, Spain, and this will inform our future
planning. Finally, we spent some quality time on our review and planning of the
intellectual formation of Jesuits.
A parting image for the
provincials at the end of the meeting was an image from Fr. Sosa’s homily.
Preaching on the chapter nine of Mark’s Gospel, he emphasized the passage,
“Everyone will be salted with fire.” He urged us to remember that we are not
salted with fire once and forever. This allegory for conversion is a process
whereby we need to keep on the fire, he said. “We need to take care of the friendship
with the Lord that makes being an apostolic body possible.”
