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St Ignatius recognized the importance of letter writing. In the Constitutions of the Society of Jesus, written in 1558, Ignatius was particularly concerned to ensure that those dispersed members of the Society sent to all parts of the world retained a sense of belonging and union. Ignatius issued detailed instructions on the frequency and subject matter of letters to ensure that individual Jesuits remained in contact with their local superiors, that superiors stayed in contact with provincials and, in turn, that provincials stayed in contact with Fr General. As well as prescribing the frequency of letters, Ignatius expected a certain standard of letter writing and he is said to have returned letters which were unfinished, incoherent, or simply written in poor Latin.

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Collection's Items (Sorted by Submit Date in Descending order): 41 to 41 of 41
Issue DateTitleAuthor(s)
1551-06-01To Urbano Fernandes, by Commission: Rome June 1, 1551 (Letter 1848: III:499-503; in Spanish)Ignatius, of Loyola
Collection's Items (Sorted by Submit Date in Descending order): 41 to 41 of 41
As the Society expanded rapidly with more members, houses and provinces, so the web of correspondence became ever more complicated. Some of Ignatius’ early instructions, particularly regarding the frequency of letters, had to be adjusted. Despite these changes, the Jesuit predilection for letter writing was firmly established.