Ignatian Voices for Justice

Antell Cole, a recent graduate of Saint Joseph’s Prep in Philadelphia, kept a reminder pinned in his notes app on his phone: “don’t forget what you learned at IFTJ.” Inspired by the formation and connections from his participation in 3 different Ignatian Family Teach-Ins for Justice and the formative Arrupe Leaders Summit, Antell was the driving force behind the Prep’s first Interreligious Peacebuilding Summit. Replete with speakers and breakouts just like IFTJ, Antell laid the groundwork for yet another tradition at St. Joe’s Prep that allows students to apply their faith to build a more just world.Read about the breakout session at IFTJ that inspired the Prep’s Interreligious Peacebuilding Summit.Watch the webinar that touches on some of the topics discussed in the inspirational IFTJ breakout session.Read about the Arrupe Leaders Summit that Antell attended in 2025.Register for the 2026 Ignatian Family Teach-In for Justice, where thousands of inspiring youth like Antell will share their gifts and deepen in perspective to amplify justice.

Aydee Cruz Mejía, an undergraduate student at Fairfield University and an alumnus of Cristo Rey Jesuit High School in Milwaukee, credits the Ignatian Family Teach-In for Justice as a major catalyst in her justice-seeking vocation. She has attended five of them so far, presented at three of them, and deepened her leadership skills as a high schooler at the Arrupe Leaders Summit. Aydee is a fantastic example of a student who is not only open to growth but also provokes growth from the people and institutions to which she belongs.Read about the last Ignatian Family Teach-In for Justice, at which Aydee presented a breakout session called “Building Solidarity and Justice in Predominantly White Institutions.”Read about the recent Arrupe Leaders Summit, a formative experience Aydee underwent as a high schooler.

Xavier High School in New York City organized a prayer service and two mile march from their school down to Federal Plaza, where federal immigration court is located. Brandon Sumba, and John Mahovlic, both current juniors at Xavier, participated in that public witness on behalf of migrants and, a few days later, attended the Ignatian Family Teach-In for Justice in Washington, D.C., where they got another experience of advocacy on Capitol Hill. In this episode, Brandon and John talk about what they experienced and learned over these formative experiences, providing rich examples of faith in action. During the Catholic Church’s Season of Faithful Witness, the Xavier witness is a fantastic model to follow for embodying faith-filled advocacy.Read about Xavier’s participation in the One Church One Family campaign through their 2-mile march through New York City.Learn about the opportunity to mobilize your community on March 24, 2026—the feast of St. Óscar Romero—to stand in solidarity with immigrants across the country.Fascilitate deeper engagemetn with this episode using this free discussion guide from Education for Justice.

Ruth Morgan, an undergraduate student at Georgetown University studying healthcare management and policy, features on this podcast episode. Ruth is introduced in the first segment by one of her mentors, Kimberly Mazcyk, the Associate Director for Engagement of the Initiative on Catholic Social Thought and Public Life at Georgetown University. Kim moderated a panel at the Ignatian Family Teach-In for Justice, where Ruth offered deeply engaging insights along with a couple racial justice veterans who are well-known in Catholic circles. That breakout session was titled: “Walking by Faith, Fighting for Racial Justice: Voices for Our Time.”The conversation with Ruth gives a glimpse of her work and career trajectory, in which she explores social justice through the lens of racial justice and health equity, grounded in the Jesuit value of being people for others.Read about the IFTJ breakout session Ruth and Kim were a part of at IFTJ.Read a feature piece that Georgetown University did on Ruth.Check out some of the fascinating webinar conversations the Initiative on Catholic Social Thought and Public Life has organized recently.Facilitate deeper engagement with this episode using this free discussion guide resource from Education for Justice.

Season 2 Episode 3: Featured on this episode is Sarah Flores, a New Yorker and a student at Loyola University Maryland. Sarah hyped up those gathered in front of the U.S. Capitol before the Advocacy Day of the Ignatian Family Teach-In for Justice. In all three segments, Sarah expresses how her campus ministers and what she has been learning about inter-religious dialogue grounded her experience of the Teach-In.Watch the entire recording of Sarah’s address in front of Capitol Hill.Facilitate deeper engagement with this episode using this free discussion guide resource from Education for Justice.

Bishop O’Dowd High School senior, London Walker, joins us in three segments: live from D.C. at the Ignatian Family Teach-In before her mainstage address, a clip of her mainstage address, and from her school in Oakland, CA, as she reflects on her Teach-In experience.Watch the entire recording of London’s mainstage address at IFTJ.Check out HBCU Prep School, the publishing company that published London’s children’s book on cybersecurity.

Kicking off season 2 of the podcast—which will focus largely on speakers and presenters at the 2025 Ignatian Family Teach-In for Justice—we are joined by Micahel Libunao-Macalintal, director of campus ministry at Regis High School in NYC, and Lucas Bujosa, a senior at Regis. In addition to captivating clips from their respective mainstage addresses, hear them speak about the inspiration behind the bold themes in their speeches.Watch the entire recording of Mike breaking open the “Pressing On” theme at IFTJ.Watch the entire recording of Lucas’ speech at IFTJ.Read more of Mike’s brilliant contributions to ISN’s reflection series.Learn more about REACH, the academic mentorship program Lucas participated in as a middle schooler that laid the foundation for his impressive career at Regis.Facilitate deeper engagement with this episode using this free discussion guide resource from Education for Justice!

Interluding seasons one and two of the Ignatian Voices for Justice Podcast, we offer a thoughtful reflection from Dr. Annmarie Caño on the birthday of one of the UCA Jesuit martyrs, Ignacio Martín-Baró. Many in the Ignatian family will be gathered with us on the anniversary of the 6 Jesuits and their two lay companions assassinated in El Salvador at the 28th annual Ignatian Family Teach-In for Justice in mid-November. Stay tuned for in-depth conversations about faith-rooted justice work that we will cover in Season 2, as well as the fires that are fueled each year at IFTJ.Remembering Ignacio Martín-Baró, by Annmarie Caño: https://ignatiansolidarity.net/blog/2025/11/07/remembering-ignacio-martin-baro-sj/Leading Toward Liberation: How to Build Cultures of Thriving in Higher Education (Hopkins Press, 2025): https://www.press.jhu.edu/books/title/53804/leading-toward-liberation?srsltid=AfmBOooiPDo9MTAg9Wkp4I840PEbtFKkNJ6QfKRBiM32g773bmz0VdV9 (edited) 

Wrapping up our first season of the podcast, we sit down with Alyssa Perez Marquez, who just started a new role at Cristo Rey San José. So far, all of our featured guests are currently in high school, college, or just starting their full-time professional careers. The intention to feature these impressive individuals was to demonstrate to our network—especially the young leaders in our Ignatian network—that leadership in the faith-doing-justice world is a role they can and should step into right now. Our choice to wrap up the array of leaders this season with Alyssa was also intentional. The recipient of ISN’s 2025 Moira O’Donnell Emerging Leader Award, Alyssa has a decade of professional experience under her belt and is an inspiring exemplar to all of our young leaders of how a rich and fulfilling career in justice advocacy can unfold. All told, Alyssa has been to nine Ignatian Family Teach-Ins for Justice, starting in high school and culminating in MC-ing one. She’s facilitated leadership programming for ISN and contributed to our reflection series. In short, ISN has received so much from Alyssa and is honored to have played a part in her formation as well.As her mentor, Patrick Furlong, the director of the Pam Rector Center for Service and Action at LMU mentions in our first segment, Alyssa’s impactful leadership is due to her authentic presence and the way that the perennial wisdom of Saint Ignatius flows through her. Alyssa was awarded the 2025 Moira O’Donnell Emerging Leader Award in San Francisco. Read about the award night celebrating justice here: https://ignatiansolidarity.net/blog/2025/05/13/ignite-illuminates-san-francisco/Alyssa mentioned her reflection centering lessons on radical hospitality from her time as a Jesuit Volunteer in Belize. Read that reflection here: https://ignatiansolidarity.net/blog/2024/07/15/trusting-in-radical-hospitality/Alyssa has written many reflections for ISN in our weekly Rise Up series and our annual Lenten series. Access all her contributions here: ​​https://ignatiansolidarity.net/blog/author/aperez/Patrick Furlong, Alyssa’s mentor at LMU, highlighted the impactful work he gets to participate in at the Pam Rector Center for Service and Action. Explore their work here: https://studentaffairs.lmu.edu/activities/centerforserviceandaction/

This episode revolves around the Ignatian Solidarity Network’s Undocu Network. This initiative began in 2020 to provide a space for students and recent alumni connected to Catholic and Jesuit universities who identify as undocumented, with DACA or TPS, or in mixed-status families. In this unconditionally safe space, folks gather to build community, share concerns, and seek advice and professional development.Because of this dynamic, in this podcast episode, our first guest, Israel, shares an incredible moment of advocacy while attending the 2024 Ignatian Family Teach-In for Justice. Then, Israel takes over hosting duties as he engages one of the Undocu Network’s leaders, Jonathan Mora, a recent Boston College graduate. Jorge Palacios Jr., director of the Undocu Network, kicked off the episode by promoting a call to action for all Catholics and people of faith to participate in a national day of public witness for our immigrant brothers and sisters on October 22. Learn more here: https://1family.us/Check out Jonathan’s invigorating address at the public witness of the 2023 Ignatian Family Teach-In for Justice: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ovD6CYQ4KIkRead about the Undocu Summit that Jonathan helped organize as part of the group’s core committee: https://ignatiansolidarity.net/blog/2025/02/07/action-alert-undocu-summit-2025-fostering-community-advocacy-and-joy/Inspired by his participation in his first Undocu Summit, Jonathan helped organize Boston College’s first Undocu Week on campus: https://ignatiansolidarity.net/blog/2024/04/26/boston-college-undocuweek/Israel talked about a surprise phone call he received from Senator Cory Booker at the 2024 IFTJ Advocacy Day. Read about that moment here: https://ignatiansolidarity.net/blog/2024/10/31/saint-peters-university-student-rekindles-connection-to-united-states-senator-during-ignatian-family-teach-in-for-justiceIsrael contributed to ISN’s Lenten reflection series with a powerful reflection on building a future with “bricks of love and hope”: ​​https://ignatiansolidarity.net/blog/2025/03/31/building-with-bricks-of-love/

Amidst the back-to-school fervor, this episode of Ignatian Voices for Justice features Lucy Robb, who graduated from Jesuit High School in Portland, Oregon, and is starting her first semester of college. Lucy was deeply involved with justice work and advocacy over her time at Jesuit Portland, so much so that she received an award from her alma mater based on her “commitment to advocating for those who are marginalized in our society…and service as a role model and friend to classmates over all four years.” The inspiring conversation with Lucy is preceded by an introduction from Andrea Casey, a great friend of ISN who has taken delegations of students to the Ignatian Family Teach-In for Justice for many years. Besides the teach-in, where Lucy addressed the thousands gathered from the mainstage, Lucy and Andrea have participated in local Ignatian advocacy with fellow Jesuit institutions, centering the endangered salmon population of the region as they weaved together ecological justice, Indigenous solidarity, and intergenerational advocacy.Lucy spoke from the mainstage at the 2024 Ignatian Family Teach-In for Justice: Listen to her 5-minute address here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NjBYhK-YCqcLucy and Andrea both participated in the Northwest Ignatian Advocacy Summit and the local policy engagement that followed. Read more about that summit here: https://ignatiansolidarity.net/blog/2025/03/25/northwest-ignatian-advocacy-summit/Legislative advocacy has deeply formed Lucy, and all the opportunities to advocate for a more just world at Jesuit Portland accumulated points for the school in their participation in the Ignatian Advocacy Madness, hosted by ISN and spanning across the Jesuit and Catholic educational network. Read about the friendly competition, where justice is the champion: https://ignatiansolidarity.net/blog/2025/05/29/2025-ignatian-advocacy-madness/Jesuit Portland has been leading the way in sustainability and caring for our common home for over a decade. They were awarded the Oregon Sustainable School award in 2015 and are part of ISN’s Energy Star Pilot program. Learn more about how your institution can join the movement: https://ignatiansolidarity.net/ignatian-energy-star-pilot-program/Catholic communities across the United States are organizing local pilgrimages as sacred opportunities to pray for the grace to encounter Christ in Creation and renew our relationships with God, the Earth, and one another. We invite you to walk with us by hosting and/or joining a Pilgrimage of Hope for Creation during the Season of Creation—September 1-October 4: https://catholicpilgrimsofhope.org/

With a couple weeks to spare before the Feast of Saint Phoebe (September 3), we sit down with Kascha Sanor, director of social and environmental justice for the Congregation of the Sisters of Saint Joseph, and Elise Stankus, a Rosemont College graduate student deeply involved with Discerning Deacons. Kascha and Elise went to Rome as pilgrims for Discerning Deacons during the two-part Synod on Synodality, where they engaged with synod delegates and carried stories and prayers from women across the world. Kascha and Elise are beautiful examples of messengers—like Saint Phoebe—carrying lessons that help our church expand and deepen.Kascha and Elise presented a breakout session at the 2024 Ignatian Family Teach-In for Justice (IFTJ) titled “Synodality and Reimagining Women in Ministry.” Breakout session applications are now open for the 2025 IFTJ: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1iigy3r4avV8zT-9mPa9C-HPh-IwJAHwS1VCMoGcQ4gc/edit?tab=t.0#heading=h.z5wv44ihaqudElise covered her experience in Rome through her blog. Dive into it here: https://elisestankuswrites.wixsite.com/witnessing-synod/my-blogRead Kascha’s powerful reflection on the readings for the sixth Sunday of Easter: https://ignatiansolidarity.net/blog/2025/05/26/peace-justice/Discerning Deacons is the throughline of this episode. Learn more about this organization here: https://discerningdeacons.org/about/Discerning Deacons welcomes everyone to participate in the Feast of St. Phoebe Virtual Prayer and Celebration on September 3, 2025, at 7 PM ET. Learn more about this celebration and other ways to honor Saint Phoebe in your own community: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1_yxc8kEDEIKl2L58ldAjjddbX5ok4tvPSmXBlcPnEwc/edit?tab=t.0Elise participates in the Synodality in Catholic Higher Education in the Archdiocese of Philadelphia (SCHEAP). Learn more about SCHEAP here: https://synodalityinphillyhighered.wordpress.com/latest-updates/

On this episode, we sit down with Cecilia Gonzalez-Andrieu, Ph.D., a beloved theologian from Loyola Marymount University (LMU), who introduces us to Jesus “Paco” Estrada, a recent LMU graduate who is integrating his Catholic faith with political advocacy. Paco’s efforts to speak up for the most vulnerable in his community has taken him from local rallies all the way to a personal audience with Pope Francis, which he speaks about on the podcast. Dr. Cecilia and Paco are wonderful examples of what it means to put gospel values into action, especially in the face of immoral family separations from immigration authorities affecting the LA community and beyond.Paco became fired up about immigration advocacy after attending the 2021 Migration Justice Summit. Read more about the 2025 iteration of that same summit here: https://ignatiansolidarity.net/blog/2025/07/02/seeking-justice-through-an-ignatian-lens-at-the-2025-migration-justice-summit/Paco mentioned the huge state advocacy summit that led to hundreds of California youth from Jesuit schools converging on the Capitol in Sacramento to advocate for climate justice: https://ignatiansolidarity.net/blog/2025/04/24/california-pilgrims-of-hope-for-creation/Dr. Cecilia is a widely published, influential theologian. Read one of her most recent pieces responding to the current migrant crisis in America Magazine here: https://www.americamagazine.org/politics-society/2025/06/09/immigration-crisis-pope-francis-250880Dr. Cecilia has also contributed richly to ISN’s Lenten series. Read her powerful 2025 Easter Sunday reflection here: https://ignatiansolidarity.net/blog/2025/04/20/the-power-of-good/One of Dr. Cecilia’s former students at LMU attended the Ignatian Family Teach-In for Justice and took what they were doing at LMU on a local level to a national level in what eventually became ISN’s Undocu Network. Read more about that history here: https://ignatiansolidarity.net/blog/2025/02/07/action-alert-undocu-summit-2025-fostering-community-advocacy-and-joy/Engage your elected officials on just immigration reform through our easy-to-use action alert: https://ignatiansolidarity.net/blog/2025/02/13/action-alert-love-your-neighbor-immigration/

Patrick Cavanaugh, a student at St. Xavier High School in Cincinnati, Ohio, shares his wisdom on restoring and ecological spaces on the podcast and demonstrates how caring for our common home is integral to his faith. Patrick has had incredible mentorship from his teachers, including Katie Collins, a great friend of ISN, who has taken her students to the IFTJ, Arrupe Leaders Summits, the first Student Eco Summit, and has even participated in the Eco Educators Summit. Read about her participation in the Eco Educators Summit: https://ignatiansolidarity.net/blog/2023/06/30/integral-ecology-comes-alive-at-first-ignatian-eco-educator-summit/In this episode, both Patrick and Katie talk about the outdoor classroom space at St. X. Read more about how that incredible space came to be both the location and the primary material for the course Katie designed, Faith in the Wild: https://ignatiansolidarity.net/blog/2024/08/29/faith-in-the-wild/Listen to Patrick’s speech in front of Capitol Hill, galvanizing the participants of the 2024 IFTJ Advocacy Day: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zb8JyXie7QA&pp=0gcJCcEJAYcqIYzvPatrick participated in ISN’s first Student Eco Summit. Read more about that program: https://ignatiansolidarity.net/blog/2025/03/13/catholic-ecology-rooted-in-gratitude/In June 2025, ISN co-organized the Jesuit Integral Ecology Assembly, bringing ecological leaders across Jesuit apostolates for strategic action planning. Read about that assembly here: igsol.net/jiea

Brice Hansen, an undergraduate student at Mercyhurst University in Erie, Pennsylvania, joins the podcast to talk about moving her campus towards ethical purchasing and procurement of the clothes and food that are sold on campus. Brice has had great mentorship from one of her professors, Dr. Elizabeth Pyne, and also from Grace Adams, ISN’s coordinator for the Catholic Ethical Purchasing Alliance (CEPA).Steeped in the Catholic social thought that grounds this issue, Brice tells wonderful stories about growing a movement on campus to help the university align its purchasing with its Catholic values. Explore the Catholic Ethical Purchasing Alliance: ethicalcatholic.orgRead about all the sustainability efforts going on at Mercyhurst: https://ignatiansolidarity.net/blog/2024/08/30/mercyhurst-university-adds-to-sustainability-initiatives-through-cepa-club/Read about the Ignatian Justice Summit, which helped Brice and her peers form a vision for starting Mercyhurst’s ethical purchasing club: https://ignatiansolidarity.net/blog/2024/08/09/ijs-cia/Members of Education for Justice can access the Virtual IFTJ breakout session where Brice chats with Br. Ken Homan, S.J. about the ethical purchasing club journey: https://educationforjustice.org/resource/creating-a-community-filled-with-hope/Voices for Justice landing page — https://igsol.net/vfjGive us feedback or recommend a future guest — https://ignatiansolidarity.wufoo.com/forms/z1773jgl0ardd19/

Reueline Arulanandam, a recent Saint Louis University graduate and mainstage speaker at the 2024 Ignatian Family Teach-In for Justice, speaks about Christian leadership and how her faith has deepened as she has engaged critical issues in criminal justice, including judicial equity, reentry from incarceration, and anti-death penalty advocacy.  With a keen interest in the intersection of health and criminal justice reform, Reueline will pursue a law degree at Saint Louis University to further her impact. She aspires to leverage her education and experiences to advocate for comprehensive reforms that improve both health and justice outcomes.Shownote links:Reueline’s address at 2024 IFTJ — Ignatian Network Speaker - Reueline Arulanandam | #IFTJ 2024Apply to be a mainstage speaker for the 2025 IFTJ —Ignatian Network Speaker Application Instructions | IFTJ 2025Reueline’s “Take Heart” reflection from ISN’s 2025 Lenten series — https://ignatiansolidarity.net/blog/2025/04/09/the-thing-about-anxiety/Reueline mentioned the impact that the book Just Mercy had on her desire to get involved in the criminal justice reform space — https://justmercy.eji.org/Voices for Justice landing page — https://igsol.net/vfjGive us feedback or recommend a future guest — https://ignatiansolidarity.wufoo.com/forms/z1773jgl0ardd19/