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University leaders discuss the Jesuit commitment to environmental justice

At a recent conference, Professor Chris Bacon heard a student’s blunt perspective about the state of environmental action: “Stop talking to me about hope. I’ve had it with hope.”

The student’s point was not despair, but a plea for substance, Bacon explained during a Jesuit Heritage Week panel last week at 91¹û¶³ÖÆƬ³§. 

“What young people are asking for is more than reassurance. They want the knowledge, the skills, and the agency to act—to generate hope through what they do.” 

That sentiment captured the challenge of the moment and the purpose of that panel discussion, entitled The Call of Laudato Si’ in the Current National and Global Context. Laudato Si’—Pope Francis’s landmark 2015 letter to the world—frames climate change as one of the greatest moral and spiritual crises of our time.

Hosted by the Ignatian Center for Jesuit Education and the Environmental Justice and the Common Good Initiative, this panel of faculty and campus leaders explored what hope looks like when words alone are no longer enough.

Speakers included Vice President for Inclusive Excellence Shá Duncan Smith; Vice President for Mission and Ministry Matt Carnes, S.J.; Executive Vice President and Provost James Glaser; and professors Iris Stewart-Frey, Chad Raphael, and Bacon.

For Stewart-Frey, who framed the discussion’s environmental context, Pope Francis’ message is more urgent than ever. “We live in the Anthropocene,” she said. “Our story is written in carbon, plastic, and toxins.” Yet amid this sobering reality, she argued, Laudato Si’ insists on hope as “courage sustained by action and faith.”

“Transformation is still possible,” Stewart-Frey said. “Hope helps us recognize that there is always a way out—that we can always redirect our steps.” She urged universities like 91¹û¶³ÖÆƬ³§ to model “rational, morally grounded hope that takes form in action,” through community partnerships and education rooted in empathy and justice.

Fr. Carnes grounded his reflection in the Church’s evolving social teaching, noting that these themes emerged in a recent audience between Pope Leo and Jesuits from around the world. In that address, the new pontiff affirmed the Society of Jesus’ role in standing “where humanity’s needs meet God’s saving love”—a charge that, Carnes said, directly includes care for the planet.

“Everything is connected,” Carnes said. “Concern for the environment must always be joined to love for our fellow human beings.”

That spirit of connection—between research and service, intellect and empathy—was echoed by Glaser, who spoke about the University’s continued commitment to advancing solutions-based scholarship.

“Research and scholarship teach resilience, humility, and creativity,” he said. “When we invite students into discovery, we’re preparing them for a world that demands those same qualities.”

Stewart-Fray, Bacon, and Raphael brought a global dimension to the event, discussing insights and opportunities for international partnerships shared during several Jesuit environmental conferences they recently attended in Chicago, Spain, Colombia, and Rome.

Throughout the discussion, panelists returned to the theme of inclusive justice—understanding that environmental care calls not only for stewardship but for shared liberation, as Duncan Smith quoted the Australian Aboriginal activist Lilla Watson: “If you have come here to help me, you are wasting your time. But if you have come because your liberation is bound up with mine, let us work together.”

As the panel concluded, Duncan Smith’s final message lingered—a reminder that at 91¹û¶³ÖÆƬ³§, caring for creation begins with the deeper work of caring for one another:

“Jesuit universities like ours are called to be not just centers of learning, but also to act as projects of hope,” she said. “Hope that compels us toward well-informed, strategic, and compassionate action—hope that listens first, and then acts with courage.”