The Faith-Justice Institute was founded in 1977. It serves the University as a center that promotes social analysis and critical thought around faith and justice issues. The Institute seeks to foster a culture of “Christian justice” which permeates the academic endeavors of our community and which will significantly influence “the way in which a group of people live, think, feel, organize themselves, celebrate, and share life” (GC 34, Decree 4- “Our Mission and Culture”). Such a culture encourages a serious consideration of problems and their solutions from the standpoint of a faith-filled concern for justice. It also challenges its members to work for the “justice of God’s kingdom” in their personal and professional lives, as well as in their social, cultural, and political activities.
The Institute explores contemporary issues of faith and justice through academic courses, public forums, and experiential field seminars. These initiatives seek to critically analyze the sources of and reasons for injustice and to actively fashion more just communities at local, national, and international levels. Such efforts should be rooted in a spirituality that takes seriously the world as it unjustly exists and that fosters hope and commitment to keep working to reshape that world in the light of Gospel values.
The Faith-Justice Institute Visiting Fellow
The Faith-Justice Institute Visiting Fellow is selected by the Director to assist in the development of projects that serve the mission of The Faith-Justice Institute. Projects of the Visiting Fellow will relate to Faith-Justice Studies, Service-Learning programs and other experiential learning initiatives, faculty and staff development for community-based research and immersion and outreach activities and shared discourse with community partners.
The inaugural Faith-Justice Institute Visiting Fellow is Fr. Joseph Sands, SJ, PhD. Fr. Sands comes to Saint Joseph's Univeristy after spending three years in Manaus, Brazil working with the Institute of Theology and Pastoral Ministry and The Center for Action and Reflection. After recieving his PhD in Politics from Princeton University, Fr. Sands served as Assistant Professor in the Department of Political Science at Santa Clara University. His recent articles include, "Education Funding in a Re-Centralizing Democracy: A Cautionary Tale of Four Brazilian Cities" in Latin American Politics and Society (Vol 50, No 3, Fall 2008).
Ed Brady, SJ was born in New Orleans, LA, graduated from St. Charles College and entered the Jesuit Novitiate in the New Orleans Province. Fr. Brady was ordained to the priesthood in 1959, professed his final vows to the Society of Jesus in 1963, and came to Saint Joseph's University in 1969. From 1970 to 1976, Fr. Brady served as Director of the Peace Studies Center. In 1977 he became the founding director of The Faith-Justice Institute. In 1979 he left Hawk Hill to direct the Bread for the World Education Fund. He became director of the Catholic Office for Emergency Relief in Thailand (1981-1985) and then was Education Coordinator for the UN High Commission for Refugees (1985-2000). From 2000-2007, Fr. Brady served as Spriritual Director at St. Paul's Seminary in Nairobi, Kenya.
Ed Brady, SJ passed away in 2007. At the celebration of the 30th year of its creation, The Faith-Justice Institute initiated an annual faculty award, the Ed Brady, SJ Faith in Action Service Award to honor the memory of its founding member.
