Justice

Martin Luther King’s speeches gave release to the yearnings of a people for freedom from a tortuous history of oppression in the United States. The martyrdom of the poor and their church leaders in Latin America helped to bring down structures that kept the rich, rich and the poor, poor.

As an earnest young scholastic, and later, as a young priest in Gujarat Province, India, I was reflecting on how to make my commitment more meaningful, in keeping with the magis, 'the fire' of a Jesuit. Finding meaning in my call and articulating it in my own way has been a long struggle.

I have been involved in the broadly defined social apostolate from the time I studied philosophy during formation. I worked in a shelter for homeless women in Krakow, and later did my regency at the Jesuit Refugee Service in Berlin.

In April, as part of a three-week seminar on Catholic social teaching, my Jesuit novitiate visited the Louisiana State Penitentiary, better known as Angola Prison. Though in the past I worked for a program that assists recently released prisoners, until this day, I had not interacted with the permanently incarcerated.

It was the 24th of November 2007. The Adivasis (indigenous/tribals) from every corner of Assam reached Guwahati, the capital city of the north eastern state of Assam, India, at the invitation of the All Adivasi Students' Association of Assam (AASAA).

The detainees in the only Slovenian 'close detention centre,' which I visit once or twice a week, arouse my deepest feelings and move my heart. My visit is always a special moment for me. The detainees are persons affected by Slovenian laws and European directives on migration in Slovenia, which is one of the Schengen (so-called) countries of Europe.

I work in Camden, New Jersey. It is America's poorest and most violent city of its size and this year we are on course to set a new homicide record. Put in perspective, if New York City were to have the murder rate of Camden this year, it would mean that close to 6000 people would have been killed already.

Jesuit priest Ferdinand Muhigirwa from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), engaged in the social sector, was the director of the Centre of Studies for Social Action (CEPAS) from 2005 until 2012. Although his country is bursting with natural resources, their exploitation does not benefit most of the population.

I had to walk up and down 10 kilo meters every day to the (High) school. When I was seventeen years old and doing my final year of schooling there was a severe drought in our region and people were facing starvation and struggling even for drinking water and my family and I were not spared.

At the end of August in 2011, I boarded a plane to Jeju Island, the largest island located in the southern part of South Korea to go to a small village called Gangjeong. Who would have imagined that my simple journey to a small village in an island will end up being in the jail?