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The start of the Congress, with the commemoration of the Martyrs, was strong for us. This could sound depressing, but on the contrary they are a sign of hope for us. They gave all the participants a sense of hope and renewed energy to continue being involved in Justice and Reconciliation.¨

Father Franck Janin SJ, the President of the Conference of European Provincials, gave his thoughts on the Jubilee Congress in Rome on the 4th to the 8th of November on the occasion of the 50th Anniversary of the Secretariat of Social Justice and Ecology. The JESC team interviewed him to collect his impressions on the importance and impact of the Congress.

Alba Requejo: Thank you for accepting the JESC team invitation to interview you on the occasion of the 50th Anniversary of the Jesuit Secretariat of Social Justice and Ecology. Before moving into more specific areas, we would like to know your impressions of the Jubilee Congress and the participants involved.

Franck Janin SJ: The most impressive thing about the Congress was the involvement of the participants. There were more than 200 participants, Jesuits and lay collaborators. Meeting them and realising that they are very devoted people, some of them untiringly involved in social affairs and justice and others strongly committed to helping refugees, migrants and prisoners. There was even one of them working with gang members in Los Angeles. This full encompassing experience gave me a feeling of joy and a sense of hope. Moreover, one hundred invitations were sent out, however double that number of participants attended the Congress and this further reflected the widespread interest in creating a better future for our world. As the conventional saying goes: Good does not make noise and hence, those congregated in Rome are not part of the newspaper headlines. However, they make a big difference for many people. Another highlight were the testimonies of social justice activities and the personal testimonies and reflections about daily endeavours that follow the good will. Besides, we were lucky to have a special audience with Pope Francis. He remembered Father Pedro Arrupe SJ, our Spanish Basque Jesuit priest, who served as the twenty-eighth Superior General of the Society of Jesus (1965–83). He started the Secretariat for Social Justice and Ecology 50 years ago. However, the concepts Justice and Reconciliation are not newly mentioned within the Society of Jesus. They date back to our Society of Jesus Foundational text ‘Formula of the Institute’, where our founding Father St. Ignatius of Loyola speaks about Reconciliation. 

Read more on the JESC site

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