The executive directors of the member organizations of the Xavier Network met in Madrid from October 15 to 18, 2024, during which time a day was dedicated to reflection on the mission and identity of the organization.
Luis Arancibia, Delegate for the Social Apostolate of the Spanish Province, facilitated the reflection, which began with a review of the network’s history. This helped us to see the growth and consolidation of the work of the network from its humble beginnings to one that now includes members from Europe, Australia and North America. It has developed ways of working together in a coordinated fashion, which allows it to better respond to today’s realities.
The network now has working committees on international programs, advocacy, volunteers, emergency response, fundraising and communications, in addition to an executive committee. It has also developed common safeguarding policies and an emergency protocol that everyone adheres to.
The reflection also helped us to situate ourselves in the current world context, with its challenges and opportunities. The poverty and marginalization of large segments of the world’s population, the conflicts that affect millions of civilians, including their forced displacement, and the ecological crisis that threatens the survival of present and future generations, call for a renewed commitment to work for justice and peace.
At the same time, we saw opportunities arising from the work of grassroots communities and our Jesuit partners in Africa, Asia and Latin America. From this place, we began a process of discernment about our mission and identity and our renewed commitment to the universal mission of the Society of Jesus. It is a process that will continue in the months ahead.
We reflected on the characteristics of current and future relationships with strategic partners of the Xavier Network with whom we work closely, supporting each other’s mission, ways of working and future directions. Our goal was to see how we can strengthen these relationships, which are based on shared values and a mutual commitment to justice and peace, while being aware of the new ways in which we need to structure the network and how we relate to our partners.
Among other things, we reflected on the importance of advocacy to address the root causes of the current world reality and the potential role of the Xavier Network, following a special session of the advocacy subgroup. We also discussed our response to current crises, such as those in Lebanon and Ukraine, as well as lesser-known ones, such as the conflicts in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Sudan and Myanmar.
We were generously hosted by the team of Entreculturas, with whom we shared some time. We left the meeting grateful for the work done and with a renewed commitment to build the network for greater and more effective solidarity.
