Annual Ignatian Family Teach-In

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The weekend’s keynote speakers included Bill McKibben, Maka Black Elk, and Olga Segura. 

The first evening keynote on Saturday was delivered by Bill McKibben, an author, educator, and renowned climate activist who founded the first global grassroots climate campaign, 350.org, as well as Third Act, which organizes people over the age of 60 to work on climate and racial justice.

He spoke of the critical work of shifting from a global dependence on fossil fuels, and emphasized the need for intergenerational commitment—heralding the commitment of young people as leaders in the work to avert climate crises. “We don’t know how this story will turn out, we don’t know who will win the fight,” he said, “but we do know that you have brothers and sisters from every corner of the world who are grateful for your efforts, and who are with you in solidarity.”

Saturday’s mainstage events concluded with the Prayer for the Jesuit Martyrs, an annual IFTJ tradition honoring the lives of the Jesuit martyrs and other lay and religious who have given their lives in the service of faith and justice. The 2022 prayer included an added element of inviting attendees to place white crosses bearing the names of those impacted by injustices in fencing at the front of the ballroom. This served as a reminder of the vigil at the gate of Fort Benning in Georgia that called attention to the U.S. role in human rights abuses in El Salvador and other countries and the annual event from which the first IFTJ arose.

On Sunday morning, keynote Maka Black Elk, director of Truth and Healing for Red Cloud Indian School, spoke about the legacy of abuse against Indigenous people at Jesuit and Catholic-run boarding schools, designed to erase Indigenous culture.

The final keynote speaker of the weekend was Olga Segura, author of Birth of a Movement: Black Lives Matter and the Catholic Church. She spoke of racial justice movement work, explaining that “community building [is] a way to create…systems outside of the violence in our world.”

Sunday concluded with Catholic mass, with presider Rev. Ted Gabrielli, S.J. Other mainstage speakers throughout the weekend touched on racial and cultural equity and inclusion, sustainability and ethical purchasing, climate justice, and immigration reform.

Speakers throughout the weekend were complemented by art as a form of activism and social analysis. Francisco Herrera, a musician and longtime IFTJ artist-in-residence, was joined on the mainstage by The Peace Poets, who first attended IFTJ in 2018 as keynotes. Their presence elevated the energy in the room through music and storytelling. Kate Marshall, facilitator of the House of Hagar Catholic Worker in Wheeling, West Virginia, presented Rooted Growth, a dynamic and collaborative art experience focused on the year’s IFTJ theme. 

The annual event culminated with a public witness in Washington, D.C.’s Union Square, with more than 1,000 individuals then attending advocacy meetings on Capitol Hill, asking Congressional members to act for humane immigration reform and climate action. 

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