The Constitutions of 1982 (excerpts)

The constitutions of 1982 were drafted following a wide consultation of all the rscj in the world. They are the fruit of a deepening of the spirituality of Sophie Barat in the light of the Gospel and a response to the calls of the Church in the aftermath of Vatican II.

The glorification of the “gentle and humble heart of Jesus” is always at the center of the charism of the rscj, but it is expressed in new terms: “By our charism, we are consecrated to glorifying the heart of Jesus: we respond to the call to discover it and to manifest its love by allowing ourselves to be transformed by the Spirit to live in union and conformity with the Lord and radiate with our love and service the very charity of his heart” (C. 82 art 4)

Taking into account the needs that have emerged in recent years, the mission puts more emphasis on: the meaning of the Church, the sense of personal responsibility, continuing education, internationality, the educational meaning, the preference for the poor, prayer and discernment.
“In education and training, in other activities of human development and promotion of justice, in the pastoral care and the accompaniment of the faith …… Where we are sent, whatever our tasks, they will be all animated by the love of the Heart of Jesus and the desire to make it known, expressed in the concern for the integral growth of the person; the thirst for building a world of justice and peace, in response to the cry of the poor; the passion to announce the Gospel.”(C82 s 13).

The most important changes relate to the Government of the Corporation. Formerly ordained to the Superior General, it now highlights the wealth of experiences and local or provincial cultures, dependent on the mother-house to ensure unity.
As for education, it remains the privileged means of discovering and manifesting the heart of Jesus, but it is understood in a broader sense as “the way to make the person grow in his human dignity and as a child of God” (C82 art 7, 8, 11 and 30)