Web - General Congregation 35
From 7 January to 6 March of 2008, the Society of Jesus celebrated the General Congregation 35. After the election of Fr. Adolfo Nicolás as new Father General, the Congregation, during two months, was debating different issues related with the mission, the structure, and the identity of the Society. This web site has been the window through which we have been witnessing to the world all this important event
The end of the second phase of General Congregation 35: creating decrees
Following the directives that the Congregation gave Father General Nicolás, the Curia has continued to work on the final version of the documents. To accomplish this Father General convoked the members of the Curia who have the right to participate at a GeneralCongregation. They met four times during April and decided to revise the texts in the language in which they were approved, to establish the order of publication of the decrees, to prepare a historical introduction, to provide a narrative on the topics entrusted by the Congregation to ordinary governance, and to determine the documents that will appear in the official publication of Acta Romana. The current task is to prepare the decrees and the complementary documents in three languages (Spanish, English and French).
The work of the congregation became especially intense in the two days preceding the closing of the 35th General Congregations. The delegates considered amendments to previously discussed documents, going over each proposed change one by one before voting to approve or reject the decree as a whole. A member of the group responsible for drafting the document explained each amendment and the reasons why the drafting group was in favor of it or opposed to it. Then the delegates used their digital voting machines to say yes or no to the change. The amendments were numerous (one document elicited 48) and took a long time to process. After approving or rejecting the amendments, the assembly voted whether or not to accept the entire document.
On the final morning, March 6, the congregation complied with the formalities prescribed in the Formula Congregationis Generalis. The closing of the Congregation "can be proclaimed not at the will of the General alone, but only with the consent of the Fathers of the Congregation by a majority vote." The majority in this case was easily obtained and the delegates accepted ending the congregation 60 days after its opening on January 7.
Among its last votes the Congregation authorized Father General to make corrections which are clearly necessary "and resolve any contradictions that may be found in the documents." After consulting with the Fathers of the General Curia who have the right by reason of their office to attend General Congregation, with a deliberative vote of their consent, the General "may polish the style and change the order of the decrees if it seems to help."
The General Congregation also approved a letter expressing gratitude to Father Peter-Hans Kolvenbach for his almost 25 years of guidance and spiritual inspiration to the whole Society.
