Where Your Money Goes

The Society of Jesus considers stewardship and accountability its highest values in the management and distribution of the gifts it receives.  The generosity of the benefactors calls for nothing less.  Below are four areas and brief descriptions of the principle ways your donations aid the Jesuits.

•    To support the needs of Jesuits in Formation
•    To support the needs of older & infirm Jesuits
•    To support the needs of international works of the Province
•    To support the needs of new apostolates

For more information, contact the Development Office of the province about which you wish to learn. Links to the province development offices are on the support page map.

Supporting Jesuits in Formation - Service to the World

In the stages of a Jesuit's life, the earliest period is referred to as life “in formation.” Thanks to the generosity of the donors, Jesuits receive educational, apostolic (ministerial), and spiritual training for a life of service within the Catholic Church.

Generally, a Jesuit’s formation period lasts ten years, marking it as one of the longest formational periods among Roman Catholic religious men and women. The five elements of a Jesuit’s formation are: novitiate, philosophy, regency, theology, and tertianship. Ordination for a Jesuit called to the priesthood occurs between his theology and tertianship years.

A Jesuit’s life is characterized as one of service to the world. From the Society of Jesus’ initial foundations, a Jesuit was to receive spiritual and educational training to allow him be ready to go wherever needed and wherever sent by his religious superiors and God. The phrase “service to the world” takes on additional significance in the apostolic life of the province.  Due to the generosity of benefactors, the provinces have been able to provide gifts for Jesuit formation needs elsewhere in the world.

Donors now support the formation of more Jesuits than ever before.

Supporting Older & Infirm Jesuits - Lives of Prayer

The Society of Jesus is dedicated to the care of the whole person at every stage of the Jesuit’s life, giving special attention to the needs of infirm and older Jesuits. Thanks to the generosity of many donors, a number of care centers throughout the nation were created to serve the needs of the Jesuits who require 24-hour health care. There are also numerous other sites in each province where Jesuits who need assisted living care may receive it.

It is said that Jesuits never retire. If you were to look at a 70 year old Jesuit’s life, you would likely see second, third, and even fourth and fifth careers in his biography. Many men in their 70’s enter completely new apostolates.

Jesuits whose health does not permit them to remain in their previous ministry take on a new assignment: praying for the Church and the Society. These are the Jesuits who pray for the benefactors and for those who have supported the Society of Jesus and its ministries by their prayers, financial resources, companionship and colleagueship in apostolic works.

The support of the donors provides care for the older and infirm Jesuits while they, in turn, pray for the benefactors and the future of the Society of Jesus.

International Works of the Province - Sent on Mission

Being ready to be sent anywhere in the world is part of a Jesuit’s formation. Each province in the United States has established a variety of international relations where good works are accomplished every day. Some are fully supported by the particular U.S. province and others exist as partnerships with the local province in a foreign land.

Today, Jesuits from the ten U.S. provinces serve in lands as diverse as Peru and the Czech Republic, from Japan to Argentina, in India, in Nepal, and in many countries in Africa.

These Jesuits working internationally rely on the support of loyal benefactors, their family and friends.

Thanks to the donors, Jesuits sent on mission internationally are able to do more for the often-forgotten members of the world community.

New Apostolates - On Mission in the USA

From the earliest days, when the Jesuits arrived, until today, the apostolic life of the Society of Jesus in the United States is dynamic — growing as benefactors and lay colleagues worked to build and strengthen the institutions Jesuits founded. Contemporary needs are always a part of the apostolic life of a province.

New needs arise and a Bishop, or the Holy Father, or Father General of the Society of Jesus, calls for help. Jesuits respond.

•    In 1980, the General of the Society, Fr. Pedro Arrupe, wanted Jesuits to respond spiritually and practically to the plight of the world’s refugees: he created Jesuit Refugee Service.

•    In late1989, after the Jesuits in El Salvador and their co-workers were slain, Jesuits around the world volunteered to take their place at the University of Central America.

In each American province, great needs call for help, too. Alumni, former Jesuit Volunteers, former Jesuits, retreatants of Ignatian spirituality, and Jesuits often band together to meet the needs of poor urban school systems, dispirited and impoverished people, people suffering from addictions, communities living with disintegrated housing, etc.

The commitment of Jesuits to the service of faith includes a commitment to justice, as well. U.S. Jesuits needs help to meet new religious and social needs for its domestic mission work.

Donors can help seed new ministries, until those works are able to develop their own sound, funding base.