Universal Apostolic Preference

Rethinking how we live, work &
relate to people we serve.

Universal Apostolic Preferences

Are the fruit of a process of discernment lasting almost two years.

The Holy Father, after making his own discernment, officially gave to the Superior General and to the whole Society of Jesus, the Universal Apostolic Preferences for the period 2019 to 2029.

The Preferences give a horizon, a point of reference to the whole Society of Jesus. They capture our imaginations and awaken our desires. They unite us in our mission. The new Preferences are four areas vital for our world today. The Society of Jesus will pay special attention to them in the next ten years. We invite you to learn more and take action with us! We want to make a Gospel difference.

What is a Universal Apostolic Preference?

“The universal apostolic preferences… have been above all the Society’s response to the needs of the Church…

They have expressed and should still express in concrete terms our readiness, as a universal apostolic body, to work beneath the banner of the cross, to serve the Lord alone and the Church, his spouse, under the Roman Pontiff.

Thus, apostolic preferences create for us the tension of seeking the most universal good as the ultimate goal of the numerous apostolic activities the Society carries out…

We are all too well aware of the disproportion between the needs of humanity which the Church seeks to meet and the resources we have at hand. The preferences do not establish a hierarchy of the needs of humanity or of the Church, but they do indicate the best ways for the Society to make use of the resources it has available for the service of Christ’s reconciling mission in the world.”