Mission and Challenges of the SCJ International Theological Commission

Fr. John, you are the most experienced and senior theologian among the members of the SCJ International Theological Commission. How would you introduce yourself?”

Father John van den Hengel, SCJ: I am John van den Hengel, a member of the SCJ community. I live in Ottawa, Canada. I have been a theologian since 1965, and I have always been deeply interested in the theology of the Sacred Heart and the charism of our Congregation. Consequently, I serve as a member of the International Theological Commission (ITC), where I coordinate the North American continent, which includes Canada and the United States.

What is the mission of the SCJ International Theological Commission (ITC)?

The International Theological Commission has existed in its current form since 2017, and we held our first general meeting in Jakarta, Indonesia. Our task is to reflect on our Dehonian charism and to find a language that expresses it for today’s world.

This presents significant challenges because we are realizing that profound changes are taking place, not only in our apostolic engagements but in the world at large. Therefore, the task of articulating and providing a contemporary language for our theological tradition is shifting. This makes it a very exciting time to be a member of the Commission.

What exactly are these challenges you’re referring to?

The first challenge stems from the fact that our Congregation has spread across many diverse cultural areas. We must express our charism and spirituality not only in the European language where it originated but also in the languages and contexts of Asia, Africa, and South America. That is a true challenge.

A second challenge is that we, as a theological commission, have begun to read Father Dehon somewhat differently. Next year, we will gather in Taubaté, Brazil, to study the vast body of writings Fr. Dehon produced throughout his life. Our goal is to find a contemporary expression of that charism. We have taken it upon ourselves to return to Dehon’s original texts and begin a “new reading” to see how they speak to us in the 21st century. It is a demanding but fascinating task.

What does the Commission plan to do to overcome these challenges?

I recently made a very interesting discovery. For a long time, I had been interested in Fr. Dehon’s notion of “pure love.” I initially understood it in a specific way—as a link between his interior relationship with the love of Christ and his social engagement.

I began a focused study of “pure love” in Father Dehon’s writings, specifically looking at “Couronnes d’amour” (Crowns of Love), which he wrote in 1904 as a series of meditations. Through this analysis, I realized I hadn’t fully understood Dehon’s concept of the Sacred Heart until now.

In my view, Father Dehon was trying to do what Saint Ignatius of Loyola did with the Spiritual Exercises. He wrote a series of meditations on Jesus so that we might become truly united with Christ—to such an extent that He takes over our hearts, allowing us to look at the world from His perspective.

This leads to a unique understanding of reparation: the world changes through the transformation that takes place within us. As we become “other Sacred Hearts,” we transform and create a different world. I believe Father Dehon still has a lot to say to our time. We are fortunate that next year we will undertake a fuller study of his writings at the theological seminar in Taubaté. We hope this will provide a fuller vision that allows us to live out the Dehonian charism in the modern world.