TEC originally was founded in 1963 for promoting a Christian presence among the intellectuals and students of Taiwan. Now it is offering to a larger public activities and structures conducive to a better understanding of one's faith, to deeper integration of faith and culture, to greater concern for social and intellectual issues, for dialogue and cooperation. TEC aims at mobilizing the resources offered within the Catholic Church by the Jesuit tradition for nurturing a value system oriented towards a full realization of the dignity of the human person.

Through its various units, TEC aims at incarnating the message of the Gospel into the Taiwanese society, culture and educational system. TEC pays special attention to the following fields: integral formation of the youth, spiritual growth of the individual and of community, meeting between Christian values and contemporary culture, inter-religious dialogue and cooperation, greater understanding and promotion of the underprivileged or marginal sectors of society.

Special attention is given to the way a new culture is in the making, and to the opportunities we have, however modest they may be, to shape it together with other religious, cultural and educational groups, through parish work, publications, research, symposia, conferences, common action. We believe that a genuine dialogue purifies and enriches all who are willing to participate in it. In a context of growing tensions, TEC wants to promote a culture of peace and to form peacemakers.

Summing up, TEC is a space for dialogue, interaction and creativity. In such a space, the Christian faith and religious beliefs as a whole can demonstrate their social and cultural relevance for the building up of a new culture in today's Taiwan.