Curia – World Day of the Poor Message
Abstract
Our mother Church today celebrates the World Day of the Poor. Initiated in 2017, the Holy Father wanted a day for paying particular attention to marginalised people through whom, in this world, Christ also manifests his presence. From the time of St. Ignatius to the present, the Society of Jesus never ceased to try walking with the poor at various times and contexts. And, on this day dedicated to the poor, we are invited to reflect on our mission of establishing justice and reconciliation and building bridges in this broken and divided world.
Dear Friends in the Lord,
“Our Commitment to follow a poor Lord quite naturally makes us friends of the poor.”
– St. Ignatius
Our mother Church today celebrates the World Day of the Poor. Initiated in 2017, the Holy Father wanted a day for paying particular attention to marginalised people through whom, in this world, Christ also manifests his presence. From the time of St. Ignatius to the present, the Society of Jesus never ceased to try walking with the poor at various times and contexts. And, on this day dedicated to the poor, we are invited to reflect on our mission of establishing justice and reconciliation and building bridges in this broken and divided world.
In 2019, the Society of Jesus celebrated the 50th anniversary of the Secretariat for social apostolate, renewed after the Second Vatican Council’s Gaudium et Spes, the Pastoral Constitution of the Church in the Modern World. Fr. Pedro Arrupe, then Superior General, established the Jesuit Socio-Economic Development Secretariat (JESEDES) in 1969 to coordinate Jesuit social apostolate worldwide and advise Father General. It was a milestone in Fr Arrupe’s effort to promote the faith that does justice. JRS was created in 1980 as part of the SJ social apostolate, and in 1981, the Fe y Alegria network of schools was established. Since then, many collaborative networks have emerged everywhere, giving voice to the poor.
In the last two decades, emerging ecological challenges added an environmental dimension to our social justice mission, hence our current name, Secretariat for Social Justice and Ecology. In response to calls from more recent General Congregations on the need to collaborate and network, Father General Arturo Sosa promulgated the document on Global Ignatian Advocacy Network (GIAN): A Pathway to deepen Collaboration on 26th May 2022. It has four sectors: Ecology (Ecojesuit), Justice in Mining, Migration, and the Right to Quality Education. We strive to make them truly effective. Continually listening to the cry of the vulnerable, the Secretariat has been instrumental in establishing the Women’s Commission in the Society of Jesus and Promoting a Consistent Culture of Protection (PCCP).
Since the publication of the encyclical, Laudato Si’ in 2015, Jesuits and several mission partners have committed to working for ecological conversion. Pope Francis emphasises, “We have to realise that a true ecological approach always becomes a social approach; it must integrate questions of justice … to hear both the cry of the earth and the cry of the poor” (LS §49). In 2019, upon receipt of Pope Francis’s confirmation, Fr. General Arturo Sosa promulgated the four Universal Apostolic Preferences (UAPs) of the Society, namely: to show the way to God, to walk with the poor in a mission of reconciliation and justice, to accompany young people towards a hope-filled future, and to care for our common home.
Jesuits and mission companions worldwide give their best to walk with the poor and vulnerable and show care for our common home. For us, accompanying the migrants, victims of climate catastrophes, indigenous people, youth, women, children, and the conflict / war-affected people in many parts of the world, especially in Syria, Lebanon, Central and West Africa, Central CURIA GENERALIZIA DELLA COMPAGNIA DI GESÙ Segretariato per la Giustizia Sociale e l’Ecologia (SJES) Borgo Santo Spirito, 4 – 00193 Roma (Italia) | tel. (+39) 06 698 681 | [email protected] – www.sjesjesuits.global America, and more recently Ukraine is the way we bring hope, dignity and new life to people. We have walked very closely with the defenceless, particularly during the Covid19 pandemic, and strive continually for racial justice and reject every form of discrimination. Advocating for the rights and dignity of the marginalised remains a big challenge and an opportunity.
The Secretariat publishes these and several other social justice initiatives and actions on our website (www.sjesjesuits.global). We have also opted to spread the good news via social media (Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and Instagram) to reach a wider audience, especially the youth. Additionally, a bi-monthly newsletter and a bi-annual magazine Promotion Iustitiae, are published online.
We thank each of you, our mission companions, for your inspirited sense of collaboration and dynamism for the common good. We thank each of you, our benefactors and friends who have accompanied us. And may our good Lord continually give us the grace to love and serve Him among the least of our sisters and brothers.
In Solidarity
