CONVOCATION OF THE 69TH CONGREGATION OF PROCURATORS
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On July 31, 2002, Father General announced the convocation of the 69th Congregation of Procurators to be held in Loyola, from September 17, 2003, feast of St. Robert Bellarmino. It is expected to last approximately five days
TO ALL MAJOR SUPERIORS
Dear Father,
P.C.According to what is established in our Institute (GC34 d.23 C. n.2), a Congregation of Procurators should be held next year. Having heard the General Counsellors, I convoke the Congregation for 17 September 2003, the Feast of Saint Robert Bellarmine, and I direct that Provincial Congregations be held before that time in conformity with the Formula for Provincial Congregations.
Each Provincial Superior should summon the Congregation of his Province, which must be concluded by 4 May 2003. Using the option provided in the Formula for Provincial Congregations (3 § 3; 95), I have decided that all Regions, both independent and dependent, will designate a Relator without need of a special Congregation.
In preparing and conducting these Congregations, as well as in providing for the participation that dependent Regions should have in term, everything must be done according to what is established in the Formula for Provincial Congregations, the Manual for Provincial Congregations, the Notes about Provincial Congregations which Precede the Congregation of Procurators (Notanda), and the corresponding List (Elenchi varii) .The Secretary of the Society will send this material in a timely manner.
Should a doubt arise, especially with respect to the rights of persons, please submit the question to me for resolution. Among the participants in the Provincial Congregation there must be at least one formed Brother and two approved scholastics, at least one of whom must be neither a priest nor a deacon (CG34 d.23 D. n. 5).
In accord with the Formula for Provincial Congregations, postulates may be sent to the Superior General through the Provincial Congregations. The postulates directed to the Superior General should "present him with useful knowledge about matters to be corrected or fostered in the Province, insofar as this pertains to personal perfection and the help of souls; or they should propose to him suitable means for achieving the same end." (Form. Prov. Congr. 78 § l, 2°). The Provincial Congregation may also send questions and difficulties which it judges should be proposed to a future General Congregation (Form. Prov. Congr. 85 § 3).
Moreover, "the Congregation is also competent to discuss, under the leadership of the Provincial, questions he has proposed concerning the state of the Province." (Form. Prov. Congr. 85 § 4; cf. GC34 d.23 D. n.8). This is a good time to evaluate the Province's progress in apostolic planning and its cooperation with other Provinces, especially those that belong to the same Conference.
In his report on the state of the Province, the Provincial should also examine the extent to which the Province has been able to grow in apostolic vitality. A Province has the responsibility to be the servant of Christ's mission (GC34 d.2), by the explicit and inculturated proclamation of the Gospel, by dialogue with other religious traditions, and by an active promotion of the justice of the Kingdom in the service of those who suffer from oppression and discrimination.
I ask that you carefully observe the dates by which various documents are to be sent, before, during, and after the Provincial Congregation, in accord with Number 12 of the Notanda.
The 69th Congregation of Procurators will be held in Loyola, beginning on the afternoon of 17 September 2003, and will last approximately five days. Before the Congregation, from the night of 8 September until the night of 16 September, the Spiritual Exercises will be held in the same place. In order to allow sufficient time for an individual colloquy with each Procurator, I recommend that as many participants as possible take part in these Exercises.
The meeting with the Procurators, in addition to the deliberation over whether or not to convoke a General Congregation, will be for the Society the important consultation prescribed in the Formula for the Congregation of Procurators (2 § 1, 2°), "about the state and tasks of the Society in general and especially of the more universal apostolic works."
I ask that you communicate this act of convocation to all members of your Province or Region and commend to their prayers and Holy Sacrifices the fruit of the Congregation of Procurators.
Fraternally in Christ,
Peter-Hans Kolvenbach, S.J.
Superior General
CURIA:
PREPARATION TO THE CONGREGATION OF PROCURATORS
Father General has started the "Tempo Forte" held in Curia from 16 to19 June 2003 in preparation to the Congregation of Procurators with the following reflection:
As we begin this important meeting in preparation for the Congregation of Procurators, let us invoke the Holy Spirit:
Spirit of truth, present everywhere and filling everything! Paraclete, treasure of goodness and giver of life: come and make your dwelling in us.
In the Spiritual Exercises, Saint Ignatius invites us to contemplate the Ascension, but he says nothing of Pentecost; he urges us to converse with the Father and the Son, but he keeps silent about the Spirit; he directs us to find in ourselves the good spirit but without reference to the Holy Spirit...
In order to avoid the accusation of being alumbrado, Ignatius could not speak clearly about Him who is the true Master of the Spiritual Exercises which are an authentic Pentecost experience.
In his letters, however, Ignatius felt that he could be more explicit. In order to understand the will of God and then to carry it out to its completion, Ignatius entrusts himself to the true light of the Spirit, fully confident of His loving guidance. For Ignatius the Spirit is a peerless master who teaches us what is true. To the extent, writes Ignatius, that a person is open to the light of the Spirit, he or she has no need of Ignatius' advice or instruction. Without the sound of words and human voices, the Spirit inspires the Church, Ignatius and our own deliberations. This happens, says Saint Ignatius of Antioch, when we drink from the living waters springing up from the depth of ourselves and we pay attention to the inspiration of the Spirit who gives us this invitation: through all your deliberations, come to the Father who is the Abba; through all your encounters, come to Jesus, who is the Lord.
Let us pray that this meeting will be an experience of the Spirit so that we may see more clearly and undertake with more determination the road that leads us to carry out the work that the Spirit began in Ignatius and his Companions for the greater glory of God.