Ignatian Family Teach-In for Justice 2019: Radical Hope, Prophetic Action

HC Students Advocate for DACA 
and the environment

More than 2,000 students and staff from Jesuit educational institutions around the country gathered in Washington, D.C. last November 16-18 for the Ignatian Family Teach-In for Justice (IFTJ-2019). The event, which commemorates the 30th year anniversary of the martyrdom of El Salvadoran Jesuits and their companions, has through the years, become a platform to reaffirm participants’ commitment to social justice and the protection of underrepresented members of society. Among those who delivered addresses during the 3-day event included missionary to El Salvador Sr. Peggy O’Neil, S.C., Georgetown professor Marcia Chatelain and advocate for immigrants and entrepreneur Reyna Montoya. This year’s conference carried the theme: Radical Hope, Prophetic Action.

The Holy Cross community was represented in the event by a delegation from Pax Christi, Community-Based Learning groups, the Chaplaincy Office, LASO and the Multicultural Peer Educators. The Holy Cross delegation visited the offices of Congressman James McGovern, Senator Emily Warren and Senate Chaplain Patrick Conroy to lobby for the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) and the protection of the environment.

Offering her insights about the conference, participant and religious studies and political science double major, Olivia Hastie (Class 2022) notes how the climate crisis and DACA remain issues related to how our faith calls us to seek to be for and with others in the world.   "It is our job to protect those who are most vulnerable in this world," was for Hastie a common theme shared by speakers during the event.  In one of the break-out sessions, Hastie also met members of the Catholic Women Preach organization, a group who gather to reflect and preach on the gospel.  For someone who wishes to elevate and celebrate the voice of women in the church, the encounter was truly a valuable one for Hastie. Meeting the Jesuit Volunteer Corps during the conference also provided Hastie opportunities that she can pursue after college.   

Joining the Holy Cross delegation to the conference were Motherlove Agbortoko, Paige Cohen, Jennifer Feraud, Jany Gonzalez, Yesenia Gutierrez, Margaret Hannick, Nelson Martinez De Los Santos, Izabel Melgoza, Thuy Nguyen, Hunter Russell, Anne Rogers, Zain Tirmizi, and Jiaying Zhang together with Frs. James Hayes S.J. and Frank Savadera, S.J.