As we look back on the year 2025, what stands out in our carrying on with the mission of the Conference and the Society of Jesus? Without any doubt, the context of our mission is a world marked by widespread uncertainty, epochal changes, polarisation, ecological crisis, disruption due to violence and wars, and an utter disregard for human dignity. Amidst all these, our humble efforts to work and walk together with those we serve show that our hopes have not been dimmed. The JCAP secretariats and groups have soldiered on with their online and onsite meetings and have continued to implement their apostolic plans. More importantly, they have carried these out with greater intentionality in collaborating not only with those in their respective sectors but also with other JCAP sectors and with the wider Society of Jesus and the Church.

A significant moment for all of us who share in the mission of the Society of Jesus was the Meeting of Major Superiors (MMS) held in October 2025 in Rome. Jesuit major superiors from all over the world gathered to meet with the Father General, his Council, and some major officials from the General Curia. As Father General Arturo Sosa said in his opening message to the MMS, “In these meetings, we seek to experience the universal dimension of the body of the Society of Jesus by bringing together those who have been put ahead to exercise its ordinary governance. Meeting as brothers… we want to go beyond a superficial contact among ourselves and grow as a group able to discern together the spiritual movements occurring within the body of the Society, in the Church, and in the social and cultural contexts in which we live, in order to better fulfil our mission of reconciliation and justice.”

Thus, coming together in prayer and discernment, the MMS focused on several key aspects of Jesuit life and mission, in particular the Universal Apostolic Preferences (UAPs), collaboration—including mission partner formation—the mission of the major superior, safeguarding, governance structures, and vocation promotion.

During their time together in Rome, the major superiors also had the opportunity to listen to and dialogue with Pope Leo XIV. In this wonderful encounter, the Holy Father warmly welcomed and addressed the major superiors. In his message, he reaffirmed the UAPs confirmed by Pope Francis and encouraged us to continue our mission to go to the frontiers where the Church needs us.

The Church, under the guidance of Pope Leo XIV, continues its push for synodality. In his homily during the Closing of the Holy Door marking the end of the Pilgrim Year of Hope, he invited the Church to continue its pilgrim journey with courage, “…not to be afraid of this phenomenon, but to appreciate it and orient it toward God who sustains us.” In sync with the Holy Father’s call, the Father General has asked the Society of Jesus to make its humble contribution through its work of promoting Discernment in Common (DIC) throughout the whole Church. Thus, in November in Salamanca, Spain, delegates from the six conferences of the Society of Jesus gathered for a workshop on DIC to learn and plan together how to share this valuable gift of St Ignatius in the coming years.

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