What We Believe
No service of faith without
promotion of justice
entry into cultures
openness to other religious experiencesNo promotion of justice without
communicating faith
transforming cultures
collaboration with other traditionsNo inculturation without
communicating faith with others
dialogue with other traditions
commitment to justiceNo dialogue without
sharing faith with others
evaluating cultures
concern for justiceGeneral Congregation 34 [47]
Ours is a service of faith and of the radical implications of faith in a world where it is becoming easier to settle for something less than faith and less than justice. We recognize, along with many of our contemporaries, that without faith, without the eye of love, the human world seems too evil for God to be good, for a good God to exist. But faith recognizes that God is active, through Christ’s love and the power of the Holy Spirit, to destroy the structures of sin which afflict the bodies and hearts of his children. Our Jesuit mission touches something fundamental in the human heart: the desire to find God in a world scarred by sin, and then to live by his Gospel in all its implications. This, the instinct to live fully in God’s love and thereby to promote a shared, lasting human good, is what we address by our vocation to serve faith and promote the justice of God’s Kingdom. Jesus Christ invites us, and through us the people we serve, to move, in conversion of heart, “from solidarity with sin to solidarity with him for humanity,” and to promote the Kingdom in all its aspects. General Congregation 34 [36].
Today, there are over 20,000 Jesuits spread across 112 countries. While history speaks eloquently of the Friends in the Lord, Jesuits no longer remain content with the established. They are men on a mission, ready to challenge convention and strive and work in whatever field possible that is conducive to the service of faith and justice. The only established motive that has ever remained constant is love for Christ. This love for Christ is the armour that every Jesuit dons, as he prepares to take on the world. What motivates him forward are just three questions he asks himself.