The Center News

In the thirty-fifth year of its existence, Cristianisme i Justícia now issues its 200th booklet. We have always sought to kindle hope and feed a widely-shared desire for a world that is more just and more fraternal. In keeping with that desire and alert to the world around us, the present publication aims to provide a clear account of the teamwork in which our Centre is engaged, and a reliable guide to the challenges on which Cristianisme i Justícia reflects now and in the future.

Spain is a leading arms exporter, and despiteregulation in theory, there is no absolute ban on exports to countries where there are grave violations of human rights. These are even authorised 'for humanitarian purposes'. Government's actions are characterised by secrecy and the active encouragement of arms exports, using theseas an instrument of foreign policy.Entering this link you will have the possibility to download this paper.If you have the possibility you can also help us with a contribution.

The Ignatian charism has clearly a valuable contribution to make to Christian life in our worldtoday.

Islam, the religion of the crescent moon, is expanding numerically and is present everywhere in the mass media. Presently it is in a state of turmoil, engaged in a profound internal debate about its relation to tradition. A great number of political, social, and economic components mix together in a true ideological civil war.

On Thursday, January 14, there took place in Brussels a meeting of several centers of social thought and action of the Society of Jesus in Europe. The purpose of the meeting, convoked by José Ignacio García, was to reinforce the bridges that have been created among these centers and to establish new common projects.

Drawing on various biblical, theological, and ecclesiological arguments, four theologians agree on the need to apply the principle of mercy in the case of divorced persons who have remarried. Without slighting the value of the indissolubility of marriage, they grant greater centrality to acceptance and communion.Entering this link you will have the possibility to download this and all other booklets we publish.If you wish to receive them in paper remember you can sign up. If you have the possibility you can also help us with a contribution.

In a world that is hostile towards life and humanity, that hardens hearts and pulls us apart, we take as our starting-point, and as the lens through which to view the world and its people, a revolution favouring affection and tender-heartedness. As 2015 draws to a close, we want to spotlight five areas that we believe to be in particular need of acceptance or transformation.Entering this link you will have the possibility to download this paper.If you have the possibility you can also help us with a contribution.

Often we come to the Exercises thinking about ourselves, perhaps even a bit anguished at what we believe might turn into a new inspection of our interior lives. If this is the case with you, then you will certainly be relieved to know that the focus of the points for prayer that you will find here is not on ourselves but on Jesus, and more concretely it is on the Jesus presented to us in the Gospel of Luke.Entering this link you will have the possibility to download this and all other booklets we publish.If you wish to receive them in paper remember you can sign up.

On Monday, October 5, the Archbishop of Tangiers, Santiago Agrelo, took part in the inauguration of the academic year of the Cristianisme i Justícia study center in Barcelona, where he delivered a discourse titled, “Borders Against the Poor, Borders Against Christ.” Born in Galicia in 1942, Santiago Agrelo was a Franciscan missionary before being named archbishop of Tangiers in 2007, and since then he has become well known for his defense of the rights of migrants and for his condemnation of migratory policies that do not respect the rights of persons.

Recalling Saint Thomas’s "five ways" for approaching the reality of God, the author of this booklet proposes five other ways (science, philosophy, ethics, esthetics, and mysticism). While accepting that "in God we can only believe,” he does not concede that faith is irrational and unfounded. The booklet is dedicated “To all those who are searching, perhaps with great eagerness, and don’t seem to find anything.

59.5 million. This is the number of people who found themselves displaced from their country of origin in 2014 because of persecution, conflicts, widespread violence and human rights violations.

The Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) is a free trade treaty which is being negotiated between the United States of America and the European Union since 2013. If you haven't heard about it yet, it is because the chief negotiators of the two regions have kept it a secret during the different stages of discussions.

Islam is at war, but as opposed to what one might think, it is not at war with the West but rather, it is at war with itself. We are talking about a real civil war, a great division or fitnah, and one which is very complex.

This booklet aims to analyse which elements characterise the political, social and economic reality of Africa against the backdrop of the new political and economic context of the modern world, (multipolarity, the leadership of emerging markets such as China, India and Brazil, as well as so-called South-South Cooperation).

So thoroughly has capitalism penetrated into our daily existence (work, social relations, entertainment, etc.) that an alternative system can be developed only by drawing on the same everyday elements. The author approaches this challenge by asking what contribution Christian faith can make as a way of life, and how this faith can be enriched in turn by the profound transformations taking place all around us. A serene dialogue characterized by respect and openness may allow us to come upon an unexpected revolution that will help humankind to move beyond the present state of crisis.

The Tenth European Congress of Jesuit Alumni was coming to an end. On the afternoon of August 1, 1973, the closing session was solemnly convened. Then Fr. Arrupe, with his usual energy and enthusiasm and perhaps even more, gave the following conference. Limitations of time did not permit him to read the whole text, but the Acts of the Congress later published it as written. A conference that would change the Society of Jesus.

As examples of vulnerable situations for women go, there is surely none more precarious than that of the journey of migrant women attempting to cross borders. The author of this booklet examines in depth the sexual violence that these women suffer on their migratory path.

This plan for the Ignatian Exercises is based on the proposal made by Saint Ignatius in Annotation 19, where he speaks of persons whose required activities make it impossible for them to withdraw in solitude for an extended time. The exercises in ordinary life are thus proposed as an adaptation that can help many persons have a profound experience of God at the very heart of their daily activities.Entering this link you will have the possibility to download this Guides.

More than half a century after its birth and despite its undoubted success, the European project appears to have run aground. The particular interests of the various countries once again are taking priority over the general interests of the community, and many citizens are showing themselves indifferent, if not hostile, to the European project. The collapse began earlier on, but it culminated with the extreme economic crisis we are now suffering. Is this the end of the road?

This booklet aims to present in a simple, practical way some of the most basic features of the way of life that Ignatian spirituality proposes. In this essay the author, while remaining faithful to the basic intuitions of Saint Ignatius Loyola, exercises some freedom with regard to his formulations. As much as possible, he tries to stay close to the daily life of those of us who are caught up in this busy world but who still seek with desire and humility “to love and serve in all we do.”Entering this link you will have the possibility to download this Guides.

Gaudium et Spes is surely the most novel document produced by the Second Vatican Council. In this booklet the author offers a reading which delineates three spheres where the Church can offer her good news to a wounded world: justice, peace, and the integrity of creation.

At a political and cultural moment like ours, with its all-pervasive mediocrity, the figure of Tolstoy, at once revolutionary and spiritual, may serve as a stimulus for a generation of citizens who are perplexed, indignant, and rebellious. The present booklet captures the genius of this great moral teacher, the likes of whom are only too rare in our present day.Entering this link you will have the possibility to download this and all other booklets we publish.If you wish to receive them in paper remember you can sign up.

We live our lives at such a rapid pace that events of fifty years ago can easily be buried in forgetfulness if we don’t make an effort keep their memory alive. This booklet, more than just a chronicle of the past, seeks to reflect on the present and future significance of a Council that aimed to change the Church.Entering this link you will have the possibility to download this and all other booklets we publish.If you wish to receive them in paper remember you can sign up. If you have the possibility you can also help us with a contribution.

Corporations, soldiers, politicians, NGOs …. and in the center, the suffering masses. These are the main actors in a drama that has been people’s daily experience in the Democratic Republic of the Congo for decades now, but the situation has grown worse due to the high demand for certain minerals that are especially plentiful in the African subsoil.

The team of the Cave of Saint Ignatius is especially interested in all that is related to the “inner self”, from the point of view of the “power” that radiates from the school of thought of the Exercises and from Saint Ignatius who encouraged to adjust to and become incarnate in every specific historical moment.

Traditionally the gospel message has been commonly seen as a utopian ideal that appeals to all. However, we need only reflect on the tragic fate of Jesus and that of the Christian martyrs of all ages to conclude unequivocally that the horizon of God’s kingdom is basically dystopian.“The evangelical utopias/dystopias are located beyond the moral sphere. They do not seek to reward the virtuous poor and punish the covetous rich.

In this Booklet the author sets himself a daunting objective: to delve into the diverse spiritual experiences—or “mysticisms”—that are at the base of the different world religions, with a view to allowing the various experiences to complement and cross-fertilize one another. It is only by entering into the heart of the mystical experiences that the way can be opened up for dialogue among them.Entering this link you will have the possibility to download this and all other booklets we publish.If you wish to receive them in paper remember you can sign up.

No one doubts that the winds of change are blowing, and we are only beginning to perceive their power and their vastness.  In this context the Church is faced with a dilemma: should she draw back defensively or should she respond to the voice of the Spirit of God as revealed in a multitude of signs?  The author explores some of those signs and urges the Church toward a profound renewal so that she becomes herself a sign of hope for our world.Entering this link you will have the possibility to download this and all other booklets we publish.If you wish to receive them in paper remember you c

The ethics of care has often been ignored by traditional ethics, which has relegated it to the private or domestic sphere or has assigned it exclusively to women.   In a world wounded by poverty and inequality it becomes necessary to recover a Christian vision of justice that spells out the meaning of caring for others and for the Earth and that impels us toward social transformation.  That is precisely what theologian Lucía Ramón does in this booklet.Entering this link you will have the possibility to download this and all other booklets we publish.If you wish to receive them in paper reme

Believers or non-believers, we all should make an effort to oil the joints of our common existence, if we want to avoid sliding down a slope that could end in an unprecedented catastrophe. This booklet describes the privileged place that the encounter with God has in our relations with others, since contemplation is at the heart of interhuman relations and so is one of the chief characteristics of Christianity.Entering this link you will have the possibility to download this and all other booklets we publish.If you wish to receive them in paper remember you can sign up.