An Opportunity for Conversion: American Jesuits and the Response to Laudato si’
Keyword(s):
In May 2015, Pope Francis published Laudato si’, and since then Jesuits throughout the world are seeking to respond to the encyclical. In the United States, however, much of the responses came from the twenty-eight Jesuit colleges and universities. Despite these efforts, tremendous work and challenges await the Jesuits communities in the United States. This essay describes and evaluates the American Jesuits’ efforts prior to and in response to Pope Francis’s call for an integral ecology. Furthermore, it recommends an integral ecology examen to help the Society of Jesus move from comfortable participation in injustice to hope-filled missionary vigor.