European Social Centres ‘Social Thinking Week’

The European network of Jesuit Social Centres met last week, 17- 21 June, 2025, at the Châtelard ecological spiritual retreat centre outside Lyon. The meeting was dubbed the “Ignatian Social Thinking week” and the Social Centres were joined by various representatives of universities, other Jesuit justice works, and associated lay Christian organisations. Read more below on the event from Dr Kevin Hargaden, Director of the Jesuit Centre for Faith and Justice based in Dublin.

Deepening Connections

Our gathering overlapped with the tenth anniversary of Laudato Si’ and it was a chance to consider the state of environmental activism across the continent in the aftermath of a bruising year of political setbacks. It was also a chance to gather as teams and get to know each others’ work. One of the factors at play in the deepening of our own impact in JCFJ in recent years has been the realisation that we have the support, insight, and encouragement of similar groups working across Europe. Our thinking was that further collaboration can only be achieved when our teams have real, organic relationships with their counterparts in Belgium, France, Spain, or wherever else. The last goal was to strengthen the sense of an Ignatian ethos within our Centres.

Success in the first goal was practically guaranteed as we were lucky enough to enjoy the presence of Eamon Ryan, (second from right, second row back) the former leader of the Green Party in Ireland and arguably one of the most transformative government ministers of the century. Eamon led the first morning’s sessions and shared with profound clarity and wisdom about the fundamental principles of the environmental agenda, the mistakes of the European green political movement, and his own understanding of the role of Christian faith in both care for our common home and the politics of climate adaptation. It was a remarkable session which set the tone for what followed.

Each of the Social Centres brought examples of their work. From JCFJ, we spoke about a major on-going research project on the role of “Faith-based communities” in the integration of newcomers to Ireland in our own neighbourhood of Dublin’s north-east inner-city. This work will be finalised in September and we hope will prompt a serious conversation within the city council about the blindspots it sustains around the role of religion in the lives of some of the most marginalised and vulnerable people in our society. We also presented on the new MPhil in Theology and Social Justice that we are running in conjunction with the School of Religion, Theology, and Peace Studies in TCD – a unique programme across the world. And myself and Niall Leahy delivered a workshop on our discoveries around the ministry and networking potential offered by community gardens.

The other groups were inspiring in their inputs, especially the presentation by the team from Ceras about a new generation of quite conservative young Catholics who are radicalised on the question of environmental politics. Hearing this account, we began to better understand why Eamon Ryan refuses the explanation that the “green wave” has receded. As he sees it, the sealine always seems to withdraw before the arrival of a tsunami.

It was not all work. There was – for a Jesuit event – an unusually spacious schedule to allow people to chat and bond. And prayer was woven through the week. Highlights included an afternoon spent with Xavier de Bénazé SJ as he introduced us to the reality of eco-spirituality, and a prayer session dedicated to peace in the world, with a focus on Palestine, led by the team from Centre Avec. These were powerful moments of reflection in the midst of the week, and they successfully demonstrated both the richness and the accessibility of Ignation approaches to spirituality.

As we returned home from Châtelard, there was a shared sense that this week had not only deepened our connections but also reoriented our collective imagination. In a time when the political climate can feel hostile to ecological justice and when social fragmentation weakens our common witness, the experience of praying, learning, and strategising together was both grounding and galvanising. The work ahead is daunting. But we left with a renewed sense of what it means to think socially and act spiritually, as companions in a shared Ignatian mission for justice.

Kevin Hargaden,

Director JCFJ,

July 2025