Above: Xavier's delegation at the Ignatian Family Teach-in for Justice.

Xavier Advocates for Justice in Washington

By Billy Malewich '12

This past weekend, 18 students and eight faculty members represented Xavier at the Ignatian Family Teach-In for Justice (IFTJ) in Washington, D.C. The annual Teach-In brings together members of the Ignatian family to discuss social justice as well as to learn, pray, reflect, and advocate together. With 2016 being the 19th year of the Teach-In, the event has grown into the largest Catholic social justice gathering in the U.S. Participants heard keynotes from such notables as Greg Boyle, S.J. who talked about "ventilating" conversations about race, immigration, and poverty with the "love of the Holy Spirit." 

The theme of this year’s IFTJ was “Mercy in Action,” a theme that resonates throughout Jesuit education as well as the Catholic Church. Pope Francis declared 2016 the Year of Mercy, calling for an invitation to love, kindness, and unbounded generosity. With this in mind, Xavier had a unique opportunity to experience mercy in action and the impact it has on others as well as themselves.

For the sixth year in a row, Director of Campus Ministry Kaija DeWitt led a group of students and faculty members to Washington. She noted, “Participating in the Teach-In gives our students a number of unique opportunities. First, by gathering with hundreds of other Jesuit high school and college students, they are able to see the enormity of the Ignatian community and the interconnectedness of it. Second, they are exposed to world-class speakers as well as professionals and students who are dedicated to issues of social justice. Third, we give students the opportunity to not only learn how to advocate and lobby on issues of justice, but we bring them to their legislative offices in D.C. so they can actually do it. They are what Ignatian spirituality calls contemplatives in action."

Science department chair Alex Lavy, one of the faculty members in attendance, said of his experience: “So much of our world these days tells us to make decisions based on fear, prejudice, and parochialism, and treats compassion as a luxury at best or a weakness at worst. The Teach-In celebrates mercy, a central value of the Gospel, and calls us to proclaim it boldly in our worlds.”

Students concluded the Teach-In by visiting the office of New York's senior Senator, Chuck Schumer, on November 14 (Advocacy Day). The newly elected Senate Minority Leader, Schumer is a good friend of Xavier High School; he attended the Xavier Hall of Fame Dinner last month.