Berkley Center

Pope Francis urged us to work with God to repair what is broken in our hearts, communities, and environment. In his final encyclical, Dilexit Nos, he developed this reparative theme, writing, “Amid the devastation wrought by evil, the heart of Christ desires that we cooperate with him in restoring goodness and beauty to our world.” 

As the first Jesuit pope, Francis was steeped in Ignatian spirituality. Saint Ignatius of Loyola’s classic work, The Spiritual Exercises, he wrote, “assumes a firm and heartfelt desire to ‘rearrange’ one’s life, a desire that in turn provides the strength and the wherewithal to achieve that goal.” For Francis, Ignatian spirituality helps us change our hearts and lives so that we might change the world.

This forum turns to the same tradition to consider how Ignatian spirituality can help repair the wounds caused by anti-Black racism. Jesuit institutions, including Georgetown University, have been directly implicated in this history. Pope Francis spoke out against racism after the murder of George Floyd, saying “we cannot tolerate…racism and exclusion in any form and yet claim to defend the sacredness of every human life.” 

This Berkley Forum asks: What can Ignatian spirituality contribute to this work? If Pope Francis was right, it should help us reorganize our lives so that we can participate more fully in God’s restorative action. How can this spiritual tradition, which is foundational to Georgetown’s mission, become a source of both personal and social transformation?