The “World Union of Jesuit Alumni(ae)” (or “ASIA”: “Antiqui Societatis Iesus Alumni”) was established on July 31, 1956 at Bilbao (Spain) during the Congress of Loyola held on the occasion of the fourth centenary of the death of Saint Ignatius of Loyola. Its purpose is to unite, in one common apostolic effort, the spiritual and cultural forces of all former students of all Jesuit educational institutions, joined together in their local, regional, national and international organizations.
The spirit of the World Union is the spirit of the Magna Carta of Loyola of 1956, revised in Drongen (Belgium) in 1979. These two documents are appended to these Statutes; together they are regarded as the Constitution of the World Union.
Statutes are necessary in any organization to ensure that it meets its aims. In response to the call of Father Pedro Arrupe S.J., repeated and made more specific by Father Peter-Hans Kolvenbach S.J., the 1986 World Congress reaffirmed the commitment of the World Union to action: an action which will be more effective if it is worldwide under a common inspiration, and if it is reviewed periodically at a World Congress.
To assist in achieving these two objectives, the following revised Statutes are published and will be in effect until the next World Congress. Concrete experience will provide those additional revisions that may be necessary to make of the World Union an effective apostolic body under the inspiration of Saint Ignatius of Loyola.