General Congregation

The General Congregation is an assembly of the Jesuit representatives from all parts of the world, and serves as the highest authority in the Society of Jesus.

It had been delayed for two years after St. Ignatius’ death because of a war between King Philip II of Spain and Pope Paul IV.

[8] It also emphasized the importance of inculturation of the church in non-Western cultures, in part due to the large number of delegates coming from various parts of Africa and Asia with, unlike previous congregations, eighteen of the twenty-one delegates from India being native Indians.

For the first time in Jesuit history, the majority of delegates did not come from Europe and the United States.

Pope Benedict XVI confirmed and applauded the Society's efforts to venture into the "new frontiers" of our time,[12] which included globalization, new technologies, and environmental concerns, even as the previous themes of promotion of justice and care for refugees are reiterated,[13] along with the need to pass on to the laity the Jesuit charism through the Spiritual Exercises and the practice of communal discernment.

Taking its cue from Pope Francis' encyclical Laudato si', it emphasized that poverty, social exclusion, and marginalization are linked with environmental degradation.