Above: Xavier students with Rev. James Martin. S.J. at the 2014
Ignatian Family Teach-in for Justice.

Students to Call for Action in Washiington

Living out Pope Francis’ call to advocate for economic and environmental justice, 13 Xavier students will travel to Washington, D.C., this weekend to participate in the Ignatian Solidarity Network’s 18th Annual Ignatian Family Teach-in for Justice—an event that will culminate in the largest Catholic advocacy day of the year.

A record crowd of more than 1,600 people is expected at this year’s Teach-in, a jump in attendance credited to Pope Francis’ apostolic visit to the United States and his calls to minister to the margins. Attendees will include representatives from more than 90 Catholic institutions in 25 states, Canada, El Salvador, and Mexico. Twenty-seven Jesuit universities and more than 30 Catholic high schools will be represented, including Xavier, the Notre Dame School of Manhattan, and St. Peter’s Prep, who will travel to Washington, D.C., together by bus. Special guest Rev. Vincent Biagi, S.J. ’67, provincial assistant for secondary and pre-secondary education for the USA Northeast Province of the Society of Jesus, will join students on their journey.

The event will feature celebrated speakers like Rev. James Martin, S.J., author of A Jesuit Guide to Almost Everything, and anti-death penalty activist and Dead Man Walking author Sr. Helen Prejean, C.S.J. It will also hark back to its roots by remembering the Jesuit martyrs of El Salvador, who along with their housekeeper, Elba Ramos, and her 15-year-old daughter, Celina Ramos, were killed at the University of Central America in San Salvador, El Salvador, in November 1989. 

“The Teach-in itself is done in remembrance of the Jesuit martyrs,” said Director of Campus Ministry Kaija DeWitt, who will travel to the event along with students, Xavier President Jack Raslowsky (an Ignatian Solidarity Network board member), Director of Ignatian Service Programs Paul Wendel, science department chair Alex Lavy, and campus ministry alumni volunteer Greg Stelzer '11. “Our students often encounter issues of injustice today, and the question emerges: ‘What do I do?’ That’s why the Teach-in integrates an advocacy component that empowers them to legislative action.”

More than 1,200 Teach-in attendees will travel to Capitol Hill on Monday, November 9, to urge Congress to address the moral issues raised by Pope Francis. The Advocacy Day begins with a 9 a.m. rally on the Southwest Lawn, followed by congressional meetings. Xavier students will visit the office of Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) at 11 a.m.

To keep up with Xavier at the Teach-in, follow Xavier Campus Ministry on Facebook and Twitter.