1.1. A Memorandum for the 34th General Congregation?
A Memorandum had been prepared by the University of Namur (Belgium) for the Jesuit Universities' Presidents and Rectors Meeting held in Washington, D.C., July 30-31, 1994. Due to different circumstances - and mainly to the fact that the Coetus Praevius of General Congragation XXXIV was already closed -, this Memorandum could not be discussed in the plenary sessions, but only in private conversations with Vincent Duminuco, Secretary of the International Center for Jesuit Education, Rome, and with several Presidents, Rectors and Principals. The ideas behind the document were welcomed by all, so that, after the Washington meeting, I was asked to go ahead and prepare some document which would summarize them.
The Memorandum stated that the document Revision of the Society of Jesus' Law, prepared for the General Congregation (Rome, January 1993, 2nd edition), contained the proposal to consider the chapters 11-17 of the 4th part of the Constitutions, related to the Universities, as Abroganda (except ¤¤440-442). Moreover, in the Normae Complementares, very little was said about the Universities (NC, 731 ¤¤ 4-5, 742).
A short annotation of the Revised Constitutions indicated that Jesuit Universities are ruled by ecclesiastical law and by their own statutes, as approved by the legitimate authority. This meant that there would be no other rules than:
- Ex Corde Ecclesiae,
- Sapientia Christiana,
- the few articles of Canon Law (Can. 807-821),
- particular statutes.
In our Memorandum, we raised the question whether this would not mean that there would be no further mention of any explicit specific characteristic of the Jesuit University or, at the least, that this would not be mentioned in our Law? We suggested including, in the proposed annotation, some short sentence that would stress the living tradition, old and recent, of reflection on the specificity of Jesuit Universities as developed by the Universities themselves and the ordinary government and adding, at the end of the proposed sentence -One may find in these chapters several useful and relevant counsels and criteria to be taken into account in our higher education apostolate -, something like while drawing on the statements of the last general congregations or of the ordinary government.
Other paragraphs of the Constitutions seemed also worth noting:
- §§ 440-442, which were not mentioned as Abroganda,
- § 446 about the place of theology in our Universities,
- §§ 447-452: from theology to all the sciences (except Law and Medicine!). An interesting idea as a sign of openness to all knowledge, - provided it is rephrased,
- § 456: a way to express the cura personalis and the care of the less advanced or of the poorest,
- § 490: the Rector's designation (or approval) by the General as a sign of autonomy.
Frs. Arrupe and Kolvenbach have insisted several times on the specificity of the Jesuit University [1]. One may here refer to the analysis presented in Toulouse, during the Jesuit Universities' Rectors and Presidents meeting (September 1st, 1991), by Fr. Gerardo Arango Puerta S.J. [2]. The characteristics which are developed in these documents are not peculiar to the Jesuit University, and some of them have been adopted as a common good by other Universities, even secular ones. But they may be considered as specific characteristics by which we stand firm, and in that sense as stressing our specificity, our way of proceeding.
Fr. Arango mentioned:
- a positive attitude towards the world and a climate for the awakening of freedom,
- the knowledge of the humanizing Incarnation of God who humanizes God in Jesus Christ and deifies man by the gift of the Spirit, as a constituent of integral knowledge,
- the experience of discernment through mechanisms such as information spreading, planning, evaluation process, reflection on problems which are important (see also choices to be made in relation with the objectives of our mission, in: Fr. Arrupe, The Intellectual Apostolate, 1976).
We also added:
- the cura personalis and the care of the poorest (GC XXXII, D. 4),
- a pedagogical excellence (The Characteristics of Jesuit Education, chap. 7),
- the necessary universalization (world-wide organization of co-operation, as we are increasingly confronted with the phenomenon of globalization).
It was also suggested that a comparison be made of our Mission statements (that we were invited to write by Ex Corde Ecclesiae, [Normae Generales, art. 2, § 3]), and that we examine how we have stated our specificity as a Jesuit University.
Finally, the Memorandum intended to address a recommendation to the Coetus Praevius, to the General Congregation or to Father General, on behalf of all the Rectors and Presidents of Jesuit Universities. But that did not happen.
1.2. After General Congregation XXXIV
As far as the Constitutions are concerned, the General Congregation XXXIV has abrogated "the concrete normative determinations of Chapters XI-XVII of the fourth part, excepting §§ 440-442" [3]. A footnote specifies in quantum nondum fuerint abrogatae legibus Ecclesiae de Universitatibus tam Ecclesiasticis quam Catholicis. The same footnote adds that those chapters contain many relevant and useful criteria which may be carefully considered in our educational apostolate.
Four paragraphs of the Normae Complementariae concern Jesuit Universities and higher education institutions: Nrs. 289 and 293-295. These Normae Complementariae refer mainly to Decree 28 of the General Congregation XXXI and Decree 17 of the General Congregation XXXIV, stressing the importance of the intellectual apostolate and the necessary qualities of the Jesuits who receive their mission for it. They insist on the human, social, spiritual and moral formation of the alumni and persons, as well as on the interdisciplinary work and the strength to be given to philosophy and theology.
As the Memorandum would have come too late to be considered by the Coetus Praevius and then by the General Congregation, we were asked to see if the analysis of Jesuit institutions' Mission statements was a feasible process. I suggest that you write to each of the Presidents/Rectors/Principals to request a copy of their university mission statement. Knowing human nature, you probably won't get 100% replies, but if you receive a decent number, you can proceed well. [4] A letter was sent to all the Presidents, Rectors and Principals on September 21st, 1994 (approx. 150 persons, representing 130 institutions). The answer was decent, since we got 52 Mission statements or equivalent documents! We cannot say if we got all the mission statements; it is up to each institution to check if it is in the list of institutions which have answered (see Annex 1, Table 11)!
[1] Pedro ARRUPE, S.J., La figura del Jesuita Presidente de Universidad, A los Presidentes de las Universidades s.j., Rome, 8 Aožt 1975. Peter-Hans KOLVENBACH, S.J., L'Université jésuite aujourd'hui, Meeting of University Presidents and Rectors, Frascati, Italie, 5 Novembre 1985; Palabras pronunciadas por el Preposito de la Compaña de Jesus, Y Gran Canciller de la Universisdad de Deusto, Clausura del Centenario, Deusto, España, 5 June 1987; Discours du Père Général ˆ l'Assemblée Générale de l'Enseignement Supérieur Jésuite aux Etats-Unis, Georgetown University, USA, 7 June 1989; Discurso en la Universidad Javeriana, Bogota, Colombia, 24 de febrero de 1990; Educacion y Valores, Universidad Iberoamericana, Mexico, D.F., Mexico, 23 August 1990; Apostolado Educativo, Familia y Sociedad Nueva, A la Communidad Educativo del ITESO y del Instituto de Ciencias, Guadalajara, Mexico, 29 August 1990; I Centenario de la Universidad Pontifica Comillas, Discorso del P. General, Madrid, España, 1st October 1991; Universidade Catolica e Evangelização da Cultura, Aos Membros da direção da UNISINOS, São Leopoldo, 8 December 1992
[2] Gerardo ARANGO PUERTA, S.J., Recteur - Bogota, L'identité d'une Université Jésuite aujourd'hui - Implications pratiques, Toulouse, Réunion des Recteurs Jésuites, 1st September 1991 (English Translation: The Identity of a Jesuit University Today: Practical Implications). See, in particular, his § 2.2. on the "Ignatian Charisma" as developed by Fr. P.H. Kolvenbach in several discourses.
[3] Constitutiones Societatis Jesus a Congregationi Generali XXXIV annotatae et Normae Complementariae ab eadem Congregatione approbatae, Romae, Apud Curiam Praepositi Generalis Societatis Iesu, 1995. The last sentence of §442 refers also to Norma Complementaria 402, §3, which is also abrogated.
[4] Letter of Vincent J. Duminuco to Jacques Berleur (September 6th, 1994).