SEARCH Journal

Pursuing social justice and compassion: the Church’s witness in exhausted times

WHAT might it mean to pursue justice and compassion? Let’s begin not with ourselves, but with God. The God who sees those who suffer. The God who suffers with them. This is what compassion means, after all: com-passio. From there, we’ll be able to turn closer to home – to the particular injustices we harbour here in Ireland. And to help us think with more bite, I’ll turn to a Berlin-based philosopher through whom we can begin to recover something ancient: the political power of ecclesial practices we too often overlook.

One of the tasks at this year’s SEARCH colloquium is to reconsider the word “mission.” We are exploring what it means to think with a vocabulary that isn’t quite as laden with destructive preconceptions and lamentable legacies.

No such scrutiny was suggested by the organisers for the word “justice” – and I think that needs to be noted. I’ve been asked to talk about the church pursuing social justice and compassion, and about invitation to commitment – but fi rst we need to define justice. Compassion too.

* Full article available in printed copies.

Kevin Hargadenan

Elder of the Presbyterian Church in Lucan, is Director and Social Theologian of the Jesuit Centre for Faith and Justice in Ireland.