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Barry examines how the Society of Jesus shifted from primarily individual spiritual discernment in GC 31 (1965-66) to a stronger emphasis on communal discernment in GC 32 (1974-75). Drawing on developments such as retreat practices, spiritual direction, and influential Jesuit studies and workshop models, the article argues for recovering and sustaining authentic Ignatian communal discernment. It also presents the motivation to document workshop processes to help others reapply this method when it appears to have fallen into disuse.",{"@graph":69,"@context":122},[70,84,105],{"@type":71,"itemListElement":72},"BreadcrumbList",[73,77,79,82],{"item":74,"name":75,"@type":76,"position":8},"https://docshare.wps.com","Home","ListItem",{"item":78,"name":9,"@type":76,"position":14},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/",{"item":80,"name":45,"@type":76,"position":81},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/religion-spirituality/",3,{"item":83,"name":65,"@type":76,"position":19},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/toward-communal-discernment-a-practical-suggestions/429497/",{"url":83,"name":65,"@type":85,"image":86,"author":91,"headline":65,"publisher":94,"fileFormat":97,"inLanguage":63,"description":67,"dateModified":98,"datePublished":99,"encodingFormat":97,"isAccessibleForFree":100,"interactionStatistic":101},"DigitalDocument",{"url":87,"@type":88,"width":89,"height":90},"https://docshare.wps.com/thumbnails/toward-communal-discernment-a-practical-suggestions/429497.png","ImageObject",300,407,{"name":92,"@type":93},"Logic","Person",{"url":74,"name":95,"@type":96},"DocShare","Organization","application/pdf","2026-10-08","2026-09-29",true,{"@type":102,"interactionType":103,"userInteractionCount":39},"InteractionCounter",{"@type":104},"ViewAction",{"@type":106,"mainEntity":107},"FAQPage",[108,114,118],{"name":109,"@type":110,"acceptedAnswer":111},"How did GC 31 and GC 32 differ regarding discernment?","Question",{"text":112,"@type":113},"GC 31 emphasized individual discernment, while GC 32 shifted the focus toward discernment in common, encouraging communities to become communities of discernment.","Answer",{"name":115,"@type":110,"acceptedAnswer":116},"What role did early 1970s publications play in communal discernment?",{"text":117,"@type":113},"Scholarly translations and influential studies—especially John Futrell’s and Jules Toner’s works—helped define communal discernment models and made them more accessible to English-speaking Jesuits.",{"name":119,"@type":110,"acceptedAnswer":120},"Why did the author write the article and describe the workshop process?",{"text":121,"@type":113},"After observing a silence or decline in communal discernment following the early nineteen-seventies surge, the author wanted to document the process from firsthand workshop experience and provide a stimulus to bring the practice back into use.","https://schema.org",{"og:url":83,"og:type":124,"og:title":65,"og:site_name":95,"og:description":67},"article",{"robots":126,"canonical":83},"index,follow",{"doc_id":128,"site_id":62},429497,1790741654,{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":131},{"doc_id":128,"user_id":132,"nickname":92,"user_avatar":133,"doc_module":4,"category_id":44,"category_name":45,"doc_title":65,"doc_description":67,"doc_content":134,"file_id":135,"file_url":136,"file_type":137,"file_size":138,"view_count":39,"is_deleted":4,"is_public":8,"is_downloadable":8,"audit_status":8,"page_count":52,"language":139,"language_code":63,"site_id":62,"html_lang":63,"table_of_contents":140,"faqs":141,"seo_title":142,"seo_description":67,"update_tm":143,"read_time":144},1099513958762,"https://ap-avatar.wpscdn.com/avatar/1000023916a998db790?x-image-process=image/resize,m_fixed,w_180,h_180&k=1784791008015729253","TOWARD COMMUNALDISCERNMENT:SOME PRACTICALSUGGESTIONS  \nBy WILLIAM A.BARRY  \nOMETHING INTERESTING happened in the Society of Jesusbetween the 31st General Congregation(1965-66)and the32nd (1974-75).Every reference to spiritual discernment orthe discernment of spirits in the documents of GC 31 refersto individual discernment whereas the preponderance of suchreferences in GC 32 are to discernment in common.GC 31 isobviously concerned that the Society recover the dynamic of theSpiritual Exercises and especially the individual discernment ofspirits.While not neglecting the need for such a continuingrecovery,GC 32 makes an effort to encourage communities tobecome communities of discernment:  \nClearly,the requisite dispositions for true communitarian discern-ment are such that they will not be verified as often as those forordinary community dialogue.Nevertheless,every communityshould seek to acquire them,so that when need arises it can enterinto this special way of seeking the will of God.  \n## What happened between 1966 and 1975?\n\nIn North America,to take an example,the directed retreatmovement spread like a brushfire through the Society.At GC 31it was almost timidly suggested:‘The scholastics should be permit-ted on occasion during their formation to make the SpiritualExercises alone under the direction of an experienced spiritualfather ...”2 By the time of GC 32 hardly a scholastic in NorthAmerica made the Exercises in any other way.Spiritual directionwith an emphasis on the discussion of the actual religious experienceof the directee also took on great importance.But along with thisincreased interest in individual spiritual direction and this recovery  \nread more at www.theway.org.uk  \n# TOWARD COMMUNAL DISCERNMENT\n\nof the original intention of St Ignatius in giving the Exercises alsowent a renewed interest in other aspects of Ignatian spirituality.The Institute of Jesuit Sources under George Ganss began publish-ing English translations of original Jesuit documents,the mostimportant being the appearance in 1970 of Ganss's own translationof the Constitutions.3The Institute also made available in translationsuch scholarly works as de Guibert's The Jesuits:their spiritual doctrineand practice⁴and began publishing original studies that made itpossible for English-speaking Jesuits to recover their spiritualheritage.Finally in 1969 the American Assistancy Seminar onJesuit Spirituality under the direction of George Ganss beganpublishing the very influential monograph series,Studies in theSpirituality of Jesuits.Thus,the Society in North America respondedto the call of Vatican II and GC 31 that religious try to recoverthe charism of their founders.  \nVery early in the Studies series,in April 1970,'Ignatian discern-ment’by John Futrell appeared.⁵This monograph,based onFutrell's doctoral dissertation,focussed not only on individualdiscernment but also on communal discernment modelled on thedeliberation that led to the founding of the Society of Jesus.Ayear and a half later Jules Toner's‘A method for communaldiscernment⁶was published by Studies to be followed in November,1972 by Futrell's ‘Communal discernment:reflections on experi-ence'.?Finally,in June 1974,Toner's‘The deliberation thatstarted the Jesuits:a commentary on the Deliberatio primorum patrum,newly translated with a historical introduction⁷made its appear-ance.Since that time nothing more on communal discernment hasappeared in the Studies series.  \nEven a cursory reading of these four publications makes itclear that Futrell,Toner and other Jesuits were giving numerousworkshops on communal discernment to groups of religious.Dur-ing these same years William J.Connolly of the Centre forReligious Development in Cambridge,Massachussets was indemand to conduct similar workshops and introduced me to theprocess when together we facilitated such a workshop for all theJesuit superiors of the New England Province in 1972.In shortorder I was asked to facilitate a number of such workshops i","cbCaifxQAaIQJwus","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCaifxQAaIQJwus","pdf",162667,"English","# What happened between 1966 and 1975?\n# Toward Communal Discernment\n## Publications and scholarly momentum\n## Workshops and practical facilitation\n## Renewing the practice after GC 32","[{\"question\":\"How did GC 31 and GC 32 differ regarding discernment?\",\"answer\":\"GC 31 emphasized individual discernment, while GC 32 shifted the focus toward discernment in common, encouraging communities to become communities of discernment.\"},{\"question\":\"What role did early 1970s publications play in communal discernment?\",\"answer\":\"Scholarly translations and influential studies—especially John Futrell’s and Jules Toner’s works—helped define communal discernment models and made them more accessible to English-speaking Jesuits.\"},{\"question\":\"Why did the author write the article and describe the workshop process?\",\"answer\":\"After observing a silence or decline in communal discernment following the early nineteen-seventies surge, the author wanted to document the process from firsthand workshop experience and provide a stimulus to bring the practice back into use.\"}]","TOWARD COMMUNAL DISCERNMENT - A Practical Suggestions | PDF",1790650354,25]