GC 36 implied, but did not elaborate on a word that is the key to read its documents; namely the concept of ‘Process’. In his address to GC 36, Pope Francis said: “Initiating processes is different from occupying spaces. The Society (of Jesus) initiates processes and leaves spaces. This is important.” As if to render foundation for this thinking, Pope Francis spoke of magis as the fire, the fervour of action that rouses us from slumber. Our saints have always been an incarnation of this. Processes that originate from ‘magis’, protect us from slumber and ‘spiritual worldliness’.

Why is ‘process’ so significant than say, institution? Process keeps us on the move, on a journey. Ignatius liked to call himself a ‘pilgrim’ – on the move, in search of, of making progress, of bearing fruit. The Spiritual Exercises initiate us into a process of walking in the Spirit. “We walk neither by ourselves nor for our own comfort; we walk with a heart that does not rest, that does not close in on itself but beats to the rhythm of a journey undertaken together with all the faithful people of God.” (Pope Francis, Homily at Gesu, 3 January, 2014). It is a process of shedding of ourselves, to let God in.

Are ‘processes’ at work in South Asian Assistancy? From among others, we could think of two processes in particular: Lok Manch and REGAE (Reorienting for Greater Apostolic Effectiveness). Lok Manch initiates a process of collaboration among people committed to stand for basic needs of food and water. It is a walking together on a common platform. REGAE brings us Jesuits, together on spiritual animation process, inviting us to reorient our ministries and structures for greater apostolic effectiveness. It is a searching together for new orientations.

Ignatius the pilgrim, walks with us today, in a process of ‘finding God in all, and in all things God’. How do our ministries and institutions initiate processes that keep us on the path of the pilgrim? Let us be pilgrims of processes: ever seeking yet ever faithful.

George Pattery, SJ

The author is the former Provincial of Calcutta Province and former President of the Jesuit Conference of South Asia (POSA).