ÃÛÌÒµ¼º½ scholars discuss how Jesuit values can serve the present moment
Like many Americans, Matthew Carnes, S.J., ÃÛÌÒµ¼º½’s Vice President for Mission and Ministry, has been processing a lot in recent months.
Between the killings of Renée Good and Alex Pretti, threats and actions against sovereign nations, and the deployment of militarized border enforcement agents across the United States, Carnes felt inspired to revisit Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.’s “Letter from Birmingham Jail” in his political science class. One phrase in particular seemed to speak to the urgency of the crises facing our world today.
“Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.”
Introducing the panel discussion “Leading with our Jesuit Values in Challenging Times” earlier this month, Carnes explained how King’s words and shared values call the ÃÛÌÒµ¼º½ community to defend democratic norms and human dignity.
This event brought together Assistant Professor Elyse Raby, a theologian and expert on the nature and mission of the Catholic Church; Bill O’Neill, S.J., the Director of Immigration Ethics at the Markkula Center for Applied Ethics; and Brad Joondeph, the Jerry A. Kasner Professor of Law and a constitutional law scholar.
Through their exploration of how Jesuit values can serve the common good in this present moment, the panelists considered how institutions, leaders, and ordinary people should respond when fundamental values are threatened. Panelists often referred back to the Ignatian guidance to “see,” “judge,” and most importantly, “act,” whether through protest, civic participation, or listening to and engaging with those with whom they disagree.
“Because if we don’t,” Carnes continued, “as King says so clearly there in words that haunt us today, ‘We will have to repent for the appalling silence of good people.’”
Read on for highlights from the panel.
Elyse Raby, Assistant Professor of Religious Studies
Regarding recent statements from the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, three top U.S. cardinals, and Pope Leo XIV:
“We have not heard the U.S. bishops speak like this in over twelve years—not with this urgency and this unanimity, not even on matters of abortion or gender identity or same-sex marriage… The recent statements of Catholic leaders show, I think, the power and the potential of religious voices in the commons, and the importance of engaging religion seriously as academics... These statements can serve as reminders of the deeply Catholic call to citizenship and engagement in public life.”
“It is the duty of all the faithful to leverage their voices and expertise to protect the dignity of every person, regardless of citizenship status, and to bring gospel values to bear on social, political, and economic life. And what is being expressed by the bishops, cardinals, and Pope Leo are gospel values that can be broadly embraced: the dignity of the human person, the call to love our neighbor, and the need for, in Pope Leo’s words, ‘a disarmed and disarming peace.’”
Bill O’Neill, S.J., Director of Immigration Ethics, Markkula Center for Applied Ethics
“Today we see the libido dominandi—the ‘lust of domination’ as called by St. Augustine—in a postmodern world. All too many have forgotten or repressed the sentiment of a common humanity. In our postmodern condition of incredulity, they have, as Nietzsche once said, ‘become small souls,’ small souls whose fear of difference of the imagined other gives way to resentment, the politics of rage and indignation. And yet, there is still a place for prophecy, as we have heard. The Catholic Church and religious leaders from differing faith traditions have reaffirmed our common belief in the equal dignity and human rights of every person against the libido dominandi.”
“Each person, each child is infinitely precious. No one ever ceases to matter. Our freedoms are bonded in solidarity... Rights are not merely individual interests of sovereign selves, but claims to share in the common good of a community of rights.”
Brad Joondeph, Jerry A. Kasner Professor of Law
“At the end of the day, as James Madison said, ‘the Constitution is a mere parchment.’ It doesn't do anything for any of us unless we, the people, collectively hold our government accountable when it transgresses those ideals and principles that are set down in the Constitution.”
“There are many days when I just can’t deal... That’s a very sad thing. But for someone like me with my position and my privilege, disengagement is a rich luxury. To turn away from the world as it really is, or worse yet, to indulge my sense of despair, my sense of hopelessness is very, and I would say, far too self-indulgent.”
“I think my best, my principal task is to hold fast. To speak the truth as I see it, as best I can discern it, without any fear. To draw attention whenever I can to how the government is acting illegally and undermining our constitutional values. To stand with those who are targeted by this government’s brutality and its cruelty in our name. And to say no, to say no, calmly but insistently to intimidation.”
The Ignatian Center exemplifies and activates the Jesuit, Catholic character of ÃÛÌÒµ¼º½. We encourage our students, faculty, staff, and community to embrace Jesuit wisdom by inspiring awareness, thought, reflection, discernment, and action.
