“One of the strongest themes I heard from SJU students related to the first theme of "journey from exclusion to inclusion,” says Beth Ford McNamee, EdD, associate director for the Office of Campus Ministry. “Students expressed desire for explicit welcome and hospitality for LGBTQ+ students as well as for students holding other diverse identities. They also discussed the desire for greater opportunities for women's leadership in the Church. That being said, students expressed gratitude for the sense of community that they were experiencing as part of SJU Campus Ministry; we explicitly welcome students of all identities to our programs, communities and spaces.”
The report also included seven pieces of artwork — funded by the Joseph William and Madeline Eberle Klein Fund — by Becky McIntyre ’17, who was commissioned as the “visual note taker” for the event.
“There were 48 listening sessions across 14 campuses —about 400 university students altogether were involved in Philadelphia — and I synthesized all of those notes into images,” says McInyte, a community artist and muralist activist with Walls for Justice.
McIntyre’s experience at SJU, taking an art class with Dennis McNally, S.J., and studying abroad, allowed her to get in touch with the creative nature of art and how art can be transformative and restorative.
“The organizers of the Philadelphia synod session were really intentional in wanting to include the public art creative spirit of Philadelphia into the reports,” says McIntyre.
McIntyre’s art visualized the key themes of the listening sessions, including the importance of welcoming marginalized groups into the Church.
“Students can hear themselves in the words of the report, but they can really see themselves in the artwork that was created and feel represented,” McIntyre says. “I really believe that the arts are so important in the process of dreaming and imagining and visualizing together.”
Oseka’s conversation with Perez led to her being selected as the delegate for the North American continental stage in February. She was the only college student from Philadelphia's Synodality in Catholic Higher Education group to represent the Philadelphia Archdiocese at the event.
The experience was “absolutely breathtaking,” Oseka says. “And I’m extremely grateful and honestly very happy that Archbishop Perez wanted young people to be involved in the continental stage.”
Oseka hopes that her participation on the continental stage will help create a more inclusive church for everyone like the community she has found at SJU.
“What are my hopes?,” Oseka asks, “That our smaller communities will continue to gather — not only gather and talk about the Church but also in different fields. The conversations on campus show that young people want to be involved, that people care about their spirituality.”