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A general congregation is the most authoritative body in the Society of Jesus. They do not happen often, with only 34 occurring in over 450 years of Jesuit history. So the decrees of a general congregation have great weight and articulate an authoritative vision of what the Society of Jesus ought to do.
General Congregation 34 took place in 1995 and further developed the Jesuit understanding of the inherent connection between Christian faith and an active concern for justice. The following two paragraphs come from the document, "Our Mission and Justice."
5. The struggle for justice has a progressive and gradually unfolding historic character, as it confronts the changing needs of specific peoples, cultures and times. Previous Congregations have called attention to the need to work for structural changes in the socio-economic and political orders as an important dimension of the promotion of justice. They also urged:
working for peace and reconciliation through non-violence;
working to end discrimination against people based on race, religion, gender, ethnic background or social class;
working to counter growing poverty and hunger while material prosperity becomes ever more concentrated.
Each of us may focus our efforts in only one or other of these dimensions, but all of them are of continuing importance in the Society`s overall mission of the promotion of justice.
6. More recently we have become increasingly aware of other dimensions of this struggle of justice. Respect for dignity of the human person created in the image of God underlies the growing international consciousness of the full range of human rights. These include economic and social rights to the basic necessities of life and well-being; personal rights such as freedom of conscience and expression and the right to practise and share one’s faith; civil and political rights to participate fully and freely in the environment. Since persons and communities are intertwined, there are important analogies between the rights of persons and what are sometimes called the "rights of peoples", such as cultural integrity and preservation, and control of their own destiny and resources. The Society, as an international apostolic body, must work with communities of solidarity in supporting these rights.