Berkley Center

In March 1975, the thirty-second General Congregation of the Society of Jesus issued its decree number four, which affirmed that the “mission of the Society of Jesus today is the service of faith, of which the promotion of justice is an absolute requirement.” In this essay, Senior Fellow Rev. David Hollenbach, S.J., sketches some ways in which the decree described the prevailing challenges both to faith and to justice when written 50 years ago and how these challenges have developed more recently. It outlines some of the theological and ethical reasons that undergird the decree's insistence on the central role of faith and justice in the mission of the Jesuits and the institutions they serve, as well as the development of Jesuit efforts in those areas during the past 50 years. The article was published in the Autumn 2025 edition of Studies in the Spirituality of Jesuits.