The Loyola 2022 Justice & Ecology Congress took place from 28th March to 1st April!

The event hosted more than 200 participants at the birthplace of Ignatius of Loyola to discuss social justice, sustainability, migration and spirituality. The participants joined from all over the World from numerous Jesuit works: Academics, Social Delegates, directors of Social Centres, etc. The aim of the Loyola 2022 Congress was to strengthen the Jesuit mission and seek better ways to implement the Universal Apostolic Preferences (UAPS): Showing the way to God, Walking with the Excluded, Journeying with Youth and Caring for our Common Home.

The program was very diverse and rich. The president of the Jesuit Conference of European Provincials, Franck Janin S.J., intervened in the opening session: "Let us take hold of this Congress. Let us be actors in it. Let us put depth into it. Dare to intervene, to speak out. As Pope Francis says, “go forward, make noise”.

 The main topics discussed during the Congress were:

- “Integral Ecology: Our Common Home” with the Jesuit and socio-political activist Jörg Alt SJ, a group of youth climate Jesuit volunteers, Sabin Bieri, social geographer from Centre for Development and Environment and Javier Arellano Yanguas researcher from Universidad Deusto.

 - “Refugees and movement of peoples: on the way” with Fr. Fabio Baggio from Migrants and Refugees Section of the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development and Amaya Valcárcel and Michael Schöpf SJ from the Jesuit Refugee Service International (Italy).

 - “Changing hearts, minds and systems” - The day started with a morning prayer and an invitation to participants to join different rounds on workshops from various speakers, focused on several topics  from ecology to sustainability, migration, justice and spirituality.

Learn more