When people ask Jesuit priests, “What do you do?”, most likely they are trying to figure out how Jesuits are different from diocesan priests or other religious men, like Dominicans, or Benedictines, or Franciscans and so on.
Admittedly, there is no short and easy answer to the question, “Who is a Jesuit priest?”, because of the sheer diversity of ministries we find ourselves in. Among the many images of Jesuit priesthood in the Philippines is Fr Jun-G Bargayo celebrating daily Mass in the prison camps of National Bilibid Prisons. Another is Fr Bobby Yap, who serves as president of Ateneo de Manila University. In Philippine General Hospital, Fr Lito Ocon brings daily communion to the sick and their families. Meanwhile, Fr Joe Quilongquilong shuttles between Baguio, Angono, and Cebu to coordinate efforts at providing spaces conducive for silence and prayer in our retreat houses. South in the country, Fr Jereme Asunto walks kilometers of unpaved and muddy roads to reach indigenous communities in Miarayon, Bukidnon. Frs Pedro Walpole and Gabby Lamug-Nañawa pursue ecological advocacy all over the Province and East Asia. These images underscore the diversity of ministries of Jesuit priests that often go beyond parishes—in universities, hospitals, prisons, and remote villages—responding to a whole range of spiritual needs.
Versatile Ministry
Jesuit priests, guided by a profound commitment to love and serve, embody a priesthood that is both distinctive and versatile. Their ministerial priesthood finds expression in the Jesuit mission understood as a mission of reconciliation in Christ and the justice of the Gospel. The Jesuit way of life calls for an expansive, sacrificial ministry that reaches beyond the traditional roles of parish clergy and seeks to facilitate encounters with Christ in the peripheries and in all aspects of the world.
The Jesuit priest is, at his core, a man on a mission. Jesuit priesthood is marked by what St Ignatius called missionary availability, a readiness to go wherever the Church calls. General Congregation (GC) 32 (1974) described Jesuits as “men on mission,” who model their apostolic journeys after those of the original apostles, remaining free to move wherever they are needed. This “itinerant” availability distinguishes Jesuits and allows them to go to those underserved in prisons, indigenous communities, slums, academic institutions, even frontiers that to others seem extrinsic to the faith, such as science, ecology, and social justice. St Pope Paul VI encouraged the Jesuits at GC 32, “Wherever in the Church, even in the most difficult and extreme fields, in the crossroads of ideologies, in the front line of social conflict…there have been, and there are, Jesuits.” Their mission is both demanding and dynamic, confronting complex intersections of ideology and human need.
Despite the social, educational, and health-oriented nature of their ministries, Jesuit priests serve foremost as priests. As alter Christus, a Jesuit priest brings Christ to people in every setting, no matter how secular or unusual. His task is to be more than a social worker, an academic, or an economist, though he may possess skills in those areas. He is to be fundamentally a spiritual presence, a living image of Christ. This means that Jesuits are often asked for what is uniquely priestly: the sacraments. While their daily routines may include activities outside traditional priestly tasks, they remain responsive to the sacramental needs of the people they serve. They celebrate Mass, hear confessions, baptize, anoint the sick and—because of their missionary availability—at times in the most unexpected places.
Universal Mission
From its inception, Jesuit priesthood was conceived as a service to the universal mission of the Church. By committing to serve the Pope, Jesuits make central their willingness to be sent wherever they are needed for God’s greater glory and the salvation of souls. Unlike diocesan priests, Jesuits are not bound to particular dioceses. Instead, they serve a universal mission ultimately under the Pope’s guidance. This global focus allows Jesuit priests to respond dynamically to the Church’s evolving needs, promoting a broad, adaptable, apostolic reach. In this context, Jesuit priesthood is essential to the Society’s mission, which is characterized by readiness for service, devotion to universal Church priorities, and commitment to the Pope’s apostolic vision.
Writing in the last century, Jesuit theologian Karl Rahner imagined that in a secular context marked by disbelief and diminished Church influence on society, the priest would be a “man with the pierced heart,” proclaiming the Word out of a spirituality that is rooted in the Heart of Jesus. This way, he would embody divine-human love and inspire a community of witnesses to serve God’s message. In the same vein, Jesuit priesthood today seeks to facilitate encounters with the pierced Heart of Christ in all aspects of life. In the Jesuit tradition of being “contemplatives in action” and desiring “in all things to love and serve the Lord,” the Jesuit priest celebrates the liturgy of the Word as it extends into everyday experiences and mundane settings, straddling the secular and the holy, manifesting Christ’s presence everywhere.