You can find Jesuits, true Jesuits, in every region, in every color, in every activity. I think that is a sign of the Church for the world. What unites us all in our diversity is our connection with Jesus and the Gospel, and that is the source of the creativity of the Society and of the people with whom we share the mission. ~ Superior General Arturo Sosa, SJ
The Society of Jesus is an international body, present in virtually every country in the world. Jesuits have always sought ways to strengthen our ministries via international collaboration, something that has become ever more important as the disparities between wealthy and poor nations continue to grow.
One form of that collaboration is the close relationship between two provinces that we call twinning. The USA Central and Southern (UCS) Province is twinned with the Central American Province. Practically, this means that the two provinces share manpower and resources where that is possible. Jesuit novices from the UCS Province frequently study Spanish in Nicaragua, and some young Jesuits from Central America have worked in schools in the Central and Southern Province. Learn more about this collaboration.
International Apostolates
International Jesuit ministries seek to nurture hope in places that would seem to offer little of it. Jesuit Refugee Service provides education and other services for refugees – both adults and children – who often spend years in refugee camps.
American Jesuits International is the international solidarity organization of the Society of Jesus in the United States. Committed to working with individuals and institutions to support Jesuit education and development initiatives in Latin America, Africa, and Asia, they live the belief believe that Ignatian values call us to build a world in which the dignity of each person is respected, human rights are protected, creation is cared for, and all people thrive.
There are also primarily spiritual ministries carried out by the worldwide Society of Jesus. These include the The Pope’s Worldwide Prayer Network, a global prayer group with daily online offerings. The apostleship has been called “the pope’s own prayer group,” because it also circulates his personal intentions — on behalf of priestly vocations, for example, or mutual respect among world religions.
Another spiritual ministry is the Christian Life Communities, a Jesuit-sponsored lay association that has nurtured small, faith-sharing groups in some 60 countries.
Educating Church Leaders
In addition, the Society of Jesus has crucial responsibilities in Rome on behalf of the Universal Church. Particularly significant among these is the education and training of future Church leaders. The Jesuits carry out this task at a number of institutions including the Pontifical Gregorian University, which now includes the former Pontifical Biblical Institute, and the Pontifical Oriental Institutes. These three historic schools became one on Pentecost 2024 and educate more than 3,500 students from 120 countries on six continents. The students prepare for service as priests, sisters, religious brothers, and lay leaders. They have a strong impact on the Church: graduates of the three institutions include one fourth of the world’s current bishops and half of the cardinals who voted in the most recent papal conclave.
For more information about the Jesuit provinces throughout the world, please visit the Jesuit Curia, the global headquarters of the Society of Jesus, located in Rome.
Universal Apostolic Preferences
In 2019, Fr. General Arturo Sosa, SJ, announced four new Universal Apostolic Preferences for the international Society of Jesus. These preferences are meant to help Jesuits around the world discern between multiple ways to serve the Church. They are:
- To show the way to God through the Spiritual Exercises and discernment;
- To walk with the poor, the outcasts of the world, those whose dignity has been violated, in a mission of reconciliation and justice;
- To accompany young people in the creation of a hope-filled future;
- To collaborate in the care of our Common Home.
