Who We Are
There are approximately 60 Jesuit provinces around the world (although their number and boundaries have never been static). Each province has a superior who is simply called “the Provincial,” and who, in turn, reports directly to the central Jesuit government or “curia” in Rome, headed by the Superior General. The current “Father General,” as he is often called, is Father Arturo Sosa, S.J.
In the United States, there are currently four provinces; in Canada, there is one. There are many Jesuit communities within each province, and each one is usually headed by a “superior.”
The administrative arm of the Jesuits of Canada and the United States is the Jesuit Conference of Canada and the United States (JCCU). The Conference helps coordinate the relationships among all the various Jesuit entities, including service organizations and the provinces, as well as between them and the international headquarters in Rome.
Jesuit leaders from all countries meet from time to time for what are called General Congregations, often to elect a new Superior General and address important issues facing the order, the Church and the world. There have been 36 General Congregations throughout the history of the Jesuits, and they are the highest governing authority of the Society of Jesus.
Our Mission
To work for reconciliation every day — with God, with human beings and with the environment.
- Responding with intellectual rigor to the most challenging issues of our times.
- Employing Ignatian discernment in decision-making.
- Caring for the poor, the vulnerable and the earth, our common home.
- Serving the Church with creativity and with fidelity to our Jesuit tradition.
- Bridging societal divides and fostering understanding among diverse people and cultures.
- Collaborating regionally, through partnerships and in networks, to serve the people of God.
The Work of Reconciliation
Faith, justice and solidarity with the poor and the excluded are central elements of the Jesuit mission of reconciliation. In “Decree 1: Companions in a Mission of Reconciliation and Justice,” the Jesuits’ General Congregation 36 said, “Rather than ask what we should do, we seek to understand how God invites us — and so many people of good will — to share in that great work.”
The Jesuits’ work for reconciliation is three-fold: with God, with humanity and with creation. While we speak of three forms of reconciliation, all three are truly one work of God, interconnected and inseparable.
Our ministries extend across a world of human need — from parishes to prisons, from retreat centers to refugee resettlements, from schools to hospitals.
And when we speak of “our” ministries, we speak not only of those with the “S.J.” after their names, the vowed members of the Society of Jesus. Growing numbers of lay people are also taking part in our works, helping to steer our institutions, as partners in mission.
We collaborate because we see Christ in the other. Collaboration is at the heart of contemporary Jesuit mission.
For all those animated by the Jesuit vision, ministry is an adventure. There is a quote often (though perhaps incorrectly) attributed to St. Ignatius: “Go, set the world on fire!” Regardless of it’s source, we think it’s sentiment is true.
That’s what we say to the young people in our high schools, middle schools, colleges and universities. It’s what we tell business people and others who take part in our many programs linking spirituality to professional vocations. And it’s the spirit behind all of our ministries, which is often expressed in a phrase long associated with our order, Ad Maiorem Dei Gloriam (“For the Greater Glory of God”), often abbreviated as AMDG.
Our Universal Vocation
Although organized into different local and national jurisdictions, the Society of Jesus is essentially a global community. The 14,000-plus Jesuits worldwide come from more than 110 countries and belong to over 60 provinces, but the order has “a universal character that transcends” these boundaries, according to one official Jesuit declaration. We are called on “to go anywhere across the geographical and cultural frontiers where there is need of working with Christ” for the glory of God.
We are united in our diversity and increasingly global in our gaze. “The world is our house,” said the early Jesuit Jerome Nadal. He was referring, on one level, to the world outside of churches and monasteries, but also to the multitudes of God’s people and the expanse of human cultures. As Jesuit leaders explained at their General Congregation in 2008, “The entire world becomes the object of our interest and concern.”
Fr. Arturo Sosa, S.J., Superior General of the Jesuits, has said that, “You can find Jesuits, true Jesuits, in every region, in every color, in every activity. I think that is a sign of the Church for the world. What unites us all in our diversity is our connection with Jesus and the Gospel, and that is the source of the creativity of the Society and of the people with whom we share the mission.”
As a missionary order, Canadian and American Jesuits and their lay partners are going forth into that global house. Jesuits serve in refugee camps, where the Jesuit Refugee Service sponsors schools for children, along with many other services. Jesuits work for the promotion of justice, peace and care for creation — learn more about the social ministries here.
Of course, Jesuits serve in spiritual ministries all around the world, too. These include the Apostleship of Prayer, which is a global prayer group with daily online offerings. The apostleship has been called “the pope’s own prayer group,” because it also circulates his personal intentions — on behalf of priestly vocations, for example, or mutual respect among world religions. Another spiritual ministry is the Christian Life Communities, a Jesuit-sponsored lay association that has nurtured small, faith-sharing groups in some 60 countries.
A less typical ministry is the Vatican Observatory, one of the oldest astronomical research institutions in the world. It is run by Jesuit astronomers who peer through their telescopes in Tucson, Arizona, and at Castel Gandolfo, the papal summer residence.
Educating Church Leaders
In addition, the Society of Jesus has crucial responsibilities in Rome on behalf of the Universal Church. Particularly significant among these is the education and training of future Church leaders.
The Jesuits carry out this task at a number of institutions including the Pontifical Gregorian University, the Pontifical Biblical Institute, and the Pontifical Oriental Institutes. Those three now serve more than 3,500 students from 120 countries on six continents. The students are preparing for service as priests, sisters, religious brothers and lay leaders. They have a strong impact on the Church: graduates of the three institutions include one fourth of the world’s current bishops and half of the cardinals who voted in the most recent papal conclave.
U.S. and Canadian Jesuits are actively involved in all of the international ministries. Their provinces or regional jurisdictions take responsibility for ministry in regions not currently served by a Jesuit province abroad.
