The Jesuit Conference of European Provincials (JCEP) is based in Brussels. This is no coincidence. Brussels is considered the capital of Europe. The European Commission and several Councils and Committees of the European institutions have their headquarters in that city. Thus, the Jesuits of Europe show an interest in the smooth running of this large civil community: in most of the countries of the European Union, the Society of Jesus is involved.

It is from this deep rootedness in history, evangelization and social analysis in Europe that the Conference of Provincials has chosen to address, in a widely circulated communiqué, the leaders of the European institutions. The Jesuits insist on building an authentic ethical and social solidarity in the times of the current pandemic. The declaration was made on the 75th anniversary of the end of World War II and 70 years after the declaration of Robert Schumann, often considered the “father of Europe”, which aimed to ensure that the European Union could oppose the threats created by the lack of interest in international solidarity.

The JCEP document expresses how the coronavirus pandemic has reinforced the awareness of an interconnectedness that binds all the peoples of Europe beyond individualism. The Major Superiors of the European Jesuits invite the governments of the countries in which they live to rediscover in their Christian roots the closeness between all human beings. An interconnection that they discover as a source of change and solidarity that must respond to the various calls they have made in recent months for solidarity with the poorest, the future of the planet, the peoples of the South, refugees and migrants. In short, the Jesuits call for a rethinking of the current model of globalization, which will necessarily imply a certain redistribution of wealth from rich to poor countries.

More than once the document draws on statements or writings of Pope Francis who, according to the JCEP, offers an integral vision of the multifaceted solidarity we need today. In this sense, the message is also a call to interiority, to see the current crisis as a spiritual opportunity for conversion.

To read the JCEP statement, click here.