Jesuit Perspective

The global Society of Jesus tweeted the statement, Jesuit College & University Presidents Call for End to Violence, regarding the tragic events that marred the Electoral College certification on 06 January in Washington, D.C. Several links to the individual colleges and universities are available at the statement. Related statements are at some of those sites.

"We call for a recommitment to the ideals of fairness, justice, racial equity, and inclusion to which our nation aspires today."https://t.co/jpmI0r83nx

— Society of Jesus (@JesuitsGlobal) January 8, 2021

Racial Justice Initiative

The dean of Boston College Law School and president-elect of the Association of American Law Schools explained that the “the Forum on Racial Justice in America...will be a transformative process for the university and will launch a rethinking of how we understand our role in higher education, in the greater Boston community, in the nation and in the world.”

Pleased to welcome Dean Vincent Rougeau of @BCLAW back to the pages of @americamag to talk about this important new initiative. @BostonCollege @jesuitcolleges @jesuitnews https://t.co/wYX4dP1XtO

— Matt Malone, S.J. (@Americaeditor) July 17, 2020

In Memoriam

John Lewis (U.S. Congress) has died. He was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in December 2019. He had been the last living member of the civil rights activists who had the most significant effect on the movement.

John Lewis, lion of civil rights and Congress, dies at 80 https://t.co/hJZuYOWnuW

— America Magazine (@americamag) July 18, 2020

75 Years Ago

August marks 75 years since atom bombs destroyed Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan. Pax Christi USA urged: “As the only country to use nuclear weapons in conflict, the United States has a moral obligation to lead the world in ending this menace and restoring communities impacted by nuclear weapons.” For the anniversary it is initiating The Peace Ribbon 2020. 

Pax Christi USA marks the upcoming 75th anniversaries of #Hiroshima & #Nagasaki this August with the Peace Ribbon 2020 project, #stillhere statement, more #theribbon2020 https://t.co/yoWikQVO6g

— Pax Christi USA (@PaxChristiUSA) July 6, 2020

04th of July Gift

"Freedom is the gift of being able to choose the good: this is true freedom." Happy Fourth of July from the #Jesuits! pic.twitter.com/lrnvHMGiJh

— Jesuit News (@jesuitnews) July 4, 2020

Facing Ugliness

“When we do not deal with the ugly part about the truth about our history we have no chance of going forward in any productive way.”

[Jeffrey Robinson, 9:08 of video]

The U.S. celebrates Independence Day. The dream has never fully been realized. in 2017 the American Civil Liberties Union [ACLU] streamed a video featuring Jeffery Robinson, who continues to be part of the ACLU. Acknowledging all facets of history, all actions within history is the beginning of reconciling and moving forward.

The Truth About the Confederacy in the United States (FULL Version) https://t.co/TNinTdcqPx via @YouTube. Please take some time over this 4th of July weekend to watch this video. It is a must see.

— Sharon Malone (@smalonemd) July 3, 2020

Not at War

The Second Vatican Council developed “the doctrine of recent popes on the inviolable rights of the human person and the constitutional order of society”(Declaration on Religious Freedom, 1). This week the U.S. Supreme Court defended L.G.B.T. people and their right to work: they  cannot be fired for belonging to that community.

A reasoned America Magazine editorial noted: “The vocation of Catholics is to exercise moral suasion to influence the opinion of the citizens of the United States.” Persuasion is not force; “suasion” respects human dignity and freedom.

Editorial: L.G.B.T. discrimination protections are not a catastrophe for Catholicism. https://t.co/blF7fIP9jW

— America Magazine (@americamag) June 18, 2020

To Remain Silent Is a Choice

Podcast

This week on @jesuiticalshow, we ask @OlgaMSegura how she approaches conversations about racism with her family, the role of the Catholic Church in the fight for racial justice and what white Catholics can do to become allies in that fight. Listen now 🎧https://t.co/IXYlNskCt2

— America Magazine (@americamag) June 16, 2020

Responding to an Urgent Question

Fr. Alvan I. Amadi serves in Green Bay, Wisconsin. He wanted 2^nd graders ”to know another truth…’we are more alike than unalike.’”

How can I explain the color of my skin—and racism—to young white students? https://t.co/l2XWAs5HEV

— America Magazine (@americamag) June 13, 2020

Brief Conversation on Tracing

Contact tracing seeks to identify an infected person’s contacts. It is one way to curb the spread of a virus. Some countries have used it to great effect—South Korea is one example. Others countries are beginning to use it more—the United States.

CNN’s Dr. Sanja Gupta converses with a contact tracer and with an epidemiologist who work in New York City. Within the transcript is a link to the audio of the conversation.

Across the country, local officials are hiring people to track down anyone who may have been exposed to Covid-19. @drsanjaygupta talks to Dr. Syra Madad, an epidemiologist and special pathogens expert, about the importance and process of contact tracing. https://t.co/zkAOt1p1e8

— CNN (@CNN) June 11, 2020

Mayor’s Action

The mayor of Buffalo, New York, ordered that a new police unit without military gear and trained in civil rights handle peaceful demonstrations after a riot unit was involved in the injury of a 75-year-old protester https://t.co/nx9AxT1g5P

— Reuters (@Reuters) June 11, 2020

Listening: Conversation Essential

Matt Malone is a Jesuit and the President & Editor in Chief of America Media. In his first-person essay he noted that all Americans are judged by the colour of their skin. “The difference is that this judgment created an advantage for [those who are white] and a disadvantage for [those who are black].”

I wrote this essay for @americamag over the weekend. You are welcome to join the conversation. “I have walked into the lobby of more than a dozen hotels in Manhattan and used the men’s room. I have been stopped exactly once.” https://t.co/AH4AszE9un via @americamag

— Matt Malone, S.J. (@Americaeditor) June 9, 2020

Advanced Notice

An excellent online @Caabu briefing coming up with @samdagher: Is there a common thread to mass protests in the Middle East and the United States?

Join us on 25 June at 2pm UK time (BST) https://t.co/R9DjgqnL7u pic.twitter.com/SHCKSYbtX0

— Joseph Willits (@josephwillits) June 8, 2020

Noncooperation

Early commentators drew parallels between U.S. U.S. today and its demonstrations of 1968. However, The Atlantic Staff writer Franklin Foer noted a difference.

"What the United States is witnessing is less like the chaos of 1968, which further divided a nation, and more like the nonviolent movements that earned broad societal support in places such as Serbia, Ukraine, and Tunisia," @FranklinFoer writes: https://t.co/KymoI11lSs

— The Atlantic (@TheAtlantic) June 6, 2020

Healing Author

Healing is always accompanied by pain. Depending on its severity pain can be tolerated more easily. The long history of racism in North America causes its pain to be extremely severe. When whites refuse to admit their parts in racism they reject reconciliation. In part it may well be fear to endure the pain that the healing process entails. Author James Baldwin was convinced that “the political injustices brought on by racism began and can only be changed from the level of one’s inner self-awareness.”

Stephen Adubato contributed to America Magazine a window on author James Baldwin and his journey from hatred to healing. It is possible to see oneself in the same window.

As our country confronts yet again violent racism, James Baldwin’s words explore what hatred can do not only to society at large but to the individual who bears it.https://t.co/075PvRA00t

— America Magazine (@americamag) June 5, 2020

No “turning a blind eye to racism and exclusion”

So Pope Francis addressed the people of the United States at the Wednesday General Audience.

The tweet contains a video of the pope’s remark and an audio report from Vatican News.

#PopeFrancis comments on the protests in the United States following the killing of #GeorgeFloyd, saying we cannot claim to defend the sacredness of every human life while turning a blind eye to racism and exclusion.https://t.co/OcOubWRLF7

— Vatican News (@VaticanNews) June 3, 2020

Being and Doing

Jesuit Michael Rozier reflected well about human character during the pandemic. “This crisis can make us feel that we are the objects of other people’s decisions, but as I wrote in a previous column (“We must not allow the coronavirus to rob us of our humanity. How can we (safely) preserve it?”), reclaiming our agency is a spiritual task as much as it is a temporal one.”

Seniors who lived through earlier challenging times offered some 1^st-person advice about character, namely being a person who makes the world better. The seniors shared their memories with 2020 graduates.

How the coronavirus can help us reclaim the virtues of self-sacrifice and prudence https://t.co/bF3eEq0gcw

— America Magazine (@americamag) May 15, 2020

Here is some guidance — senior to senior — from people who graduated in the midst of epidemics, wars and the fight for equal rights. https://t.co/hifOVPrIUw

— CNN (@CNN) May 15, 2020

Not the Same

Live-streamed masses are giving way in some areas to masses in churches. Yet prudent physical distancing continues to make singing difficult (“Singing, to a greater degree than talking, aerosolizes respiratory droplets extraordinarily well. Deep-breathing while singing facilitated those respiratory droplets getting deep into the lungs”); not to mention limiting numbers of people.

In the U.S. the communion service is being considered as a way to offer communion. “Since most bishops and priests have not spent any time explaining the Eucharistic prayer to their people, they should not be surprised if the people don’t grasp the difference between a Mass and a Communion service."

"The requirement to practice social distancing means that many more U.S. Catholics are going to attend a Communion service on Sunday rather than a Mass," writes @ThomasReeseSJ.

"Preparing the American Catholics for Communion services will not be easy."https://t.co/creD9m1bS6 pic.twitter.com/AJbJRuWh3a

— Religion News Service (@RNS) May 15, 2020

Happy Independence Day

Wiki-image of Fireworks in D.C. PD-US

Memorial Day Challenges

The title given the column commands attention: “Memorial Day needs more war stories.” It rides atop Michael Garvey’s reflections for today in U.S. Catholic. Three challenges offer themselves: 1) to enter the stories—the columnists or one’s own—and not take sides; 2) to be touched by an element of a story; and 3) to read with an eye to seeing oneself. Feeling the power of a story is easier than inhabiting a story so it’s power can transform.

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Wiki-image by Metropolitan Transportation Authority of the State of New York of Memorial Day Flag Folding CC BY 2.0