The Catholic Church recently issued a statement formally repudiating concepts that fail to recognize the inherent human rights of Indigenous peoples, including the legal and political “doctrine of discovery.” Like other Indigenous Catholic leaders, Sr. Priscilla Solomon, an Ojibway member of the Anishinabek Nation and a Sister of St. Joseph of Sault Ste. Marie, expressed …
By Elise Gower In a world still reeling from Covid-19, as the deep societal structures of racism and inequity are highlighted and amidst violence and impending war, where does one find hope? In Los Angeles, California, Homeboy Industries — the largest gang intervention, rehab and re-entry program in the world — is a sacred place …
By Colleen Hutchison An African proverb says, “If you educate a man, you educate an individual. But if you educate a woman, you educate a nation.” In India, two organizations supported by Canadian Jesuits International (CJI) are advancing gender equality and transforming communities by investing in their women. But many women — especially in the …
Bernard Senécal is unique. This Quebec Jesuit taught Buddhism in South Korea, where he has lived since 1985, and is now the director of the Way’s End Stone Field Community, as well as a longtime contributor to Relations (the journal of the Centre justice et foi). Seo Myeongweon (his Korean name) has always understood the life of a Jesuit as that of a man who goes to the peripheries, who confronts difference and …
One of the good things about technology is that it enabled me to see Br. Paul Desmarais, SJ, and hear his laughter all the way from Zambia. Books on agriculture (academic or otherwise) were stacked from his desk to his bookcase and everywhere in between. It was against this backdrop that he described how …
Brother Paul Desmarais: Sowing the Seeds of Knowledge Read More »
Chain-smoking, dishevelled, even hearing confessions in a bar: Fr. Martin Royackers, SJ, never ceased to amaze. According to several sources, he rarely made a good first impression. Yet this Canadian Jesuit with a razor-sharp mind was a strong advocate for human rights, deeply committed to social justice, and firmly rooted in his relationship with God. …
Cigarettes, Coffee, and Justice: The Unusual Holiness of Martin Royackers, SJ Read More »
By Pierre Bélanger, SJ Journalist, General Curia of the Society of Jesus, Rome Who is this tattooed character embracing an Indigenous family from the Amazon? He is a Jesuit! Fernando Lopez is a member of an itinerant team and, as the name suggests, travels the rivers and forest roads of the Amazon to live with …
Justice and Indigenous Wisdom: The Work of the Pan-Amazonian Ecclesial Network Read More »
“It’s not about working for young people but with them.” Listening to Fr. Grégoire Le Bel, SJ, talk to us about Cowork Magis, we were almost ready to move to Paris and jump right into the world of business. After receiving a mandate from his provincial, Fr. Le Bel set up a coworking space in …
Journeying with Youth at Cowork Magis: A Space for Start-ups in Paris Read More »
“That’s the one thing I hope everyone avoids – going to another country is not meant to transplant one so-called developed culture for another supposedly undeveloped.” Several members of the Jesuit Province of Canada work outside the Province. Fr. Bill Bourke, SJ, the last of the Canadian Jesuits to have been sent to India, worked …
Being open to the world: a reflection of the late Fr. Bill Bourke Read More »