Loyola Marymount University’s Center for Ignatian Spirituality invites faculty and staff to a lunch and conversation on Thursday, Nov. 7, with Tom Smolich, S.J., ‘78 and ’91, and Professor Brett Hoover, Ph.D., as they take a thought-provoking look into immigration and the many refugee crises of our world titled “Global Immigration and the Plight of Refugees.” The conversation will be at noon in William H. Hannon Library, VDA Family Suite 322. Register here.
Hoover, an associate professor of pastoral and practical theology, is the author of “Immigration and Faith: Cultural, Biblical, and Theological Narratives.” He teaches courses on ministry, immigration, faith and culture, and U.S. Catholicism. Hoover also serves the Church by teaching pastoral leaders locally and around the country, especially about ministry in culturally diverse parishes, the focus of much of his recent research.
Father Smolich currently serves as the rector of the Jesuit Community of the Jesuit School of Theology of Santa Clara University. For nine years, he served as the director of the Jesuit Refugee Service, which seeks to accompany, serve, and advocate for refugees and other forcibly displaced people and is focused on helping refugees and other forcibly displaced people rebuild their lives. A California native and member of Jesuits West Province, Father Smolich served as the president of the Jesuit Conference, the organization that represents the Society of Jesus in the U.S. and the provincial of the former California Province Jesuits.
Father Smolich calls himself “blessed” for being able to visit 50 of the 57 countries JRS serves across the world. “JRS is distinctive because it is really tied into the Society of Jesus’ mission,” said Smolich. “Our hope is to walk with people and by learning people’s needs and hearing their stories it really compels us to do what we do which is incredibly diverse across the JRS landscape.”
He experienced what it means to be forcibly displaced during his time in Europe. “This is not rational stuff, because rationally, we can make a great case for the need, for our history and our history of welcoming migrants economically our need for young people,” said Father Smolich.
Decisions made out of those fight-or-flight moments can turn out to be challenging ones as well. “That’s why I’m saying that to approach the reality of migration probably requires some sort of conversion because you can’t rationally get out of fear, this is a discernment of spirits issue. What is God calling us to be? Where is it? Where are the things that I get stuck on?”
Dorian Llywelyn, S.J., director for the Center for Ignatian Spirituality, shared how the story of immigration is not a new phenomenon, it is the history of humanity. “From the emergence ofhomo sapiensin Africa 300,000 years ago, is a story of immigration,” said Father Llywelyn. “It’s a world phenomenon today, driven by many causes, including the massive economic inequalities between the global North and the South, by violence and war, demographic shifts that include aging populations in the North and burgeoning ones in other parts of the world, and climate change and global warming.”
Father Llywelyn said that drawing from the university’s roots as an institution ,immigration is an important topic to provide Ignatian perspectives on because it ties to how St. Ignatius thought about things. “That gives us characteristic ways of looking, understanding and acting – finding God in all things, for example, or always seeking the Magis,” he said. “Immigration is a very present reality, one that affects the whole world – and it needs local solutions and global perspectives. The Jesuit mindset as well as the rich heritage of Ignatian spirituality is of direct – and very practical – use, right here in this community of learning and teaching.”
For more information, please email ignacio@lmu.edu.
