Recovering The “In All Things” Foundation of Ignatian and Quaker Business Ethics

Abstract Recovering The “In All Things” Foundation of Ignatian and Quaker Business Ethics Michael Sheeran, S.J. (1983: 3) in his book Beyond Majority Rule: Voteless Decisions in the Religious Society of Friends [Quakers] and in his “Ignatius And The Quakers (Sheeran, S.J., 1990)” article found important similarities between Ignatian and Quaker ethical decision making and political-economy with respect to what Sheehan referred to as the “idea that there is that of God in everyone [and in all things]” and the corollary “communal discernment” (Nielsen, 1996, 2018). Dufresne, Botto, and Steele (2015) address and apply these Ignatian “In all things” and “communal discernment” principles in their development of an Ignatian leadership perspective which is related to but different than what Lowney (2003) refers to as Ignatian “heroic leadership”. Similarities between Ignatian and Quaker “in all things” based ethical decision making and political economic principles, practices, and mission as well as their marginalization within Quaker and Jesuit institutions are considered. Strategies for recovering and/or strengthening Ignatian “in all things” based mission within Jesuit institutions are addressed. Ignatian and Jesuit institutional practices and principles are not always identical.