The Fourth Vow of Obedience to the Pope for Mission in Light of Elizabeth A. Johnson's Wisdom Christology

Abstract

This article examines “the fourth vow of obedience to the Pope for missions” in the context of women religious, the Congregation of Jesus. Its foundress, Mary Ward, sought for her Institute to take the same form of life and spirituality of the Society of Jesus in order to actively serve and spread the Catholic faith in the seventeenth century. To achieve this goal, she envisioned her Institute free from enclosure and from subjection to local bishops, seeking obedience only to the Pope, as the Jesuits did. However, her vision was not fully realized for nearly four centuries due to the prevailing sexism of her time. At the General Chapter 2002, the Congregation adapted the Jesuit Constitutions to its own, including the fourth vow, which it extended to all members, reclaiming its missionary nature. This article seeks to reinterpret the meaning of the fourth vow through the lens of Elizabeth A. Johnson’s Christology and to explore its relevance for the Congregation today. Through historical and theological analysis, it examines the original meaning of the fourth vow in the Ignatian tradition, particularly in relation to Mary Ward’s foundation of the Congregation. By engaging Johnson’s Wisdom Christology, this article proposes a renewed understanding of the fourth vow as a call toward the greater universality of Jesus-Sophia. Her Christology, which affirms the full humanity and active participation of women in the life of Jesus, illuminates the fourth vow as a path to a more inclusive and transformative vision of mission.