Thomas Massaro SJ, Promotio Iustitiae no 138, 2025/5

Thomas Massaro, SJ, revisits Pope Paul VI’s 1965 mandate calling the Society of Jesus to confront modern atheism and traces how this mission influenced General Congregations 31 and 32: “to do research, to gather information of all kinds, to publish material, to hold discussions among themselves, to prepare specialists in the field, to pray, to be shining examples of justice and holiness, skilled and well-versed in an eloquence of word and example made bright by heavenly grace,” where the words of the pope (7-05-1965). Massaro demonstrates how the challenge of atheism, once addressed explicitly, later became integrated into broader Jesuit priorities such as evangelization, justice, and inculturation. Massaro concludes by asking how today’s Jesuits might renew creative fidelity to this call and allow the struggle against atheism to shape their apostolic mission.