Thank you to all our friends and supporters for making CJI’s Giving Tuesday campaign, A JUST FUTURE FOR ALL, a success! We held 4 events to promote our campaign, including 3 webinars held in November 2020 and a thanksgiving online concert, JUST Gratitude, on December 1. The campaign highlighted the work of our Jesuit partners in the Global South who address the inequalities and societal cracks exposed by COVID-19, especially those most impacted by the pandemic: women, migrants and Indigenous people.

The first webinar, Solidarity with South Sudan held on Nov 10, featured Fr Augostine Ekeno SJ, parish priest of St Teresa Church in Rumbek, South Sudan, and two South Sudanese women, Lydia Casmiro and Rachael Angok. Fr Ekeno talked about the challenges facing Africa’s youngest nation while Lydia and Rachel shared their experiences, hopes and dreams for their country.

Accompanying forcibly displaced people in Colombia, the second webinar, was held last Nov 17. Juana Potes, Programs Officer of JRS Colombia, talked about their challenging context: accompanying, serving, and advocating on behalf of forcibly displaced people amid a global pandemic.

Resisting a democracy recession, the last in the series, was held on Nov 24, with Fr Xavier Jeyaraj SJ of the Social Justice and Ecology Secretariat. Fr Xavier talked about the transformation of democracy in the world with the election of authoritarian regimes and how these governments are redefining justice, equality, human rights, and “development for all.” Chris Adams, Rector of St Paul’s College at the University of Manitoba, gave his insightful commentary after Fr Xavier’s presentation.

To view all our webinars: https://www.canadianjesuitsinternational.ca/webinars/

Banner photo: Protesters rally in support of Fr Stan Swamy in Ghospukur Chowk, Darjeeling, India last October 17, 2020. Credit: Pascal Xalxo SJ.