Ignatian Spirituality and Racial Justice
“For a believer, it is important to see racism as a soul sickness. Racism is that interior disease, that warping of the human spirit, that enables us to create communities where some matter and some do not.”
- Fr. Bryan Massingale
Ignatian.info aims to reflect a variety of voices, particularly those which historically have been underrepresented or marginalized. We acknowledge the limited perspective of the creators and editors of this website. As a predominantly white organization, we urge white readers to learn from the wisdom, leadership, and experiences of these authors and people of color in our Ignatian community.
As a Jesuit, I live and breath Ignatian spirituality. It has become the doorway through which I see possibility in a world that is broken by racism. It empowers me to trust in a better future.
- Patrick Saint-Jean, SJ, The Crucible of Racism
Article.
Racism is a soul sickness. Can Jesuit spirituality help us heal?
by Fr. Bryan Massingale
via America Media (5 minute read)
Go deeper.
Read “Overcoming Racial Faith,” by Willie James Jennings (4 minute read).
Video.
IFTJ 2021 | Keynote: Fr. Bryan Massingale, Racial Justice Scholar, Fordham University
Check out Fr. Bryan Massingale’s keynote presentation at the Ignatian Solidarity Network’s “Ignatian Family Teach-in for Justice” in 2021. (40 minutes, 47 seconds)
Go deeper.
Watch “Exploring ‘The Spiritual Work of Racial Justice’ with Patrick Saint-Jean, SJ,” a conversation hosted by Ignatian Young Adult Ministries in 2022.
Not surprisingly, 11 a.m. on Sunday morning remains the most segregated hour in Christian America.
- M. Shawn Copeland, Black Theology and the Legacy of Oppression
Books.
Racial Justice and the Catholic Church
by Fr. Bryan Massingale
The Spiritual Work of Racial Justice
by Fr. Patrick Saint-Jean, SJ
Birth of a Movement: Black Lives Matter and the Catholic Church
by Olga M. Segura