1. Engage with Fr General about the mission and how he sees it going forward. His dream for the next 10 years for this project
2. Go back to the roots, look at the history of Discernment in Common and significant moments in that history and where significant positive steps have been taken.
3. Take stock of what has been happening in the Society in recent years with regard to Discernment in Common after GC 36: Who have been exercising it, what were the issues to discern, what has been their experience, what has gone well. Overall, what have been the graces? Also, what has the Society done to aid or facilitate Discernment in Common in the local church and in other religious congregations
4. Acknowledge when ideologies and resistances to discernment common have halted progress. Examine where mistakes have been made in the past
5. Present and discuss our diverse Discernment in common methodologies and systems. Share best practices and arrive at even better ones. Note the richness offered by our different cultures.
6. Explore theological foundations
7. Explore rules for discernment of St Ignatius applied to groups
8. Examine bibliography and key documents, identify 3 or 4 books/resource articles in major languages. Arrive at agreed core curriculum elements as well as best methodological practices
9. Engage the conference presidents: each conference groups shares results with its respective Conference president via Zoom or in person. Arrive at next steps in each conference. A first examination of Centres of Excellence in each Conference and how that might work. Possible feedback zoom with Fr General.
10. Build awareness of other initiatives on Synodality (the African Synodality Initiative (ASI) with Fr. Agbonkhianmeghe Orobator, SJ (JCAM), the Observatory on Synodality (an initiative of Fr. Paul Béré, SJ), Pactpan with Fr. Stan, and the Senegal platform of Sister Béatrice Faye) and ensure cooperation rather than competition or overlap
11. Next steps at global level:
    • decide how we can support and resource each other going forward.
    • clarify communication with various stakeholders including the Vatican Synod office.

A link to a powerpoint summary is HERE where you will find other important resources.

The meeting is envisaged in the style of a colloquium. There will be so much expertise in the room; the idea is that we share this expertise with each other to arrive at a deeper appropriation of discernment in common both at the theoretical and practical levels.

We will use a mix of methodologies: presentations, silent reflections, spiritual conversation in both mixed groups and conference groups, plenaries

A relator/reflector will link each day to the next with a 10-minute input every morning.