JCFJustice

Call for 30km/h speed limit in urban areas

Road safety should be the top priority on our roads! And moving rural roads to 60km is a great start. However, phase two, reducing urban areas to 30 km/h, is being decided upon by each local authority. Creating bureaucratic delays and barriers to increased road safety 🚸
www.rte.ie/news/ireland...

If you haven't had a chance to, read the first two blogs here!

The Agrarian Localists: Poets, Scientists, and Activists
www.jcfj.ie/2025/06/10/t...

and

The Urban Localists: Kate Raworth and the Doughnut
www.jcfj.ie/2025/07/11/t...

'Localism is an alternative worldview that many people in ‘developed’ countries are now actively exploring. But reading Laudato Si’ makes you realise that elsewhere, localism is just people and communities doing what they have always done.'

Pope Francis' Love for the Local - Jesuit Centre for Faith and Justice in Ireland If you do a search for the word ‘local’ in Laudato Si’, Pope Francis’ letter on the care of our common home, you will discover that the document is peppered with references to all sorts of local conce...

www.jcfj.ie/2025/08/07/p...

@nlsj.bsky.social helps us explore what localism looks like in his 3rd in the three part blog series on localism different parts of society, encouraging us to challenge what we see as normal:

250 years on, O’Connell challenges us still: will we let faith be private and passive, or public and prophetic? In an age of division, he shows another way: justice rooted in love, for neighbour and stranger alike. That’s the Ireland worth building. /end

When it was still deeply contentious, O’Connell stood with enslaved African Americans. He made justice connections global because his Catholic faith knew no borders. His vision of Irish freedom wasn’t tribal, but moral: justice for all, not just our own. That’s the nationalism we need now. /5

He mobilised the masses, inspired by faith, not fear, to demand justice without violence. Making decisions and taking stances that valued human life.

His legacy reminds us: when people of faith organise with love and courage, they can reshape history for the common good. /4

What O’Connell achieved wasn’t just a civil rights win. It was faith made public - it was faith and justice working together.

A peaceful, mass movement rooted in conscience, solidarity, and the belief that justice serves the whole common good. /3

Catholic emancipation meant Irish Catholics could be elected to Parliament, vote freely (in the terms of the day), and worship without fear. This ended centuries of second-class citizenship under British rule. It was a civil rights breakthrough before the term existed. /2

Let us introduce you to Daniel O’Connell, the Liberator. A🧵

Born on this day 250 years ago, he won Catholic emancipation in 1829 without violence, proving that mass political mobilisation could change British policy in Ireland. /1

My answer was that while I find little grounds for optimism, I do find hope in the New Testament are full of stories of people who seemed to be facing devastation, but then God did a new thing. For Christians, hope might occur in the good times, but it comes into its own when times are tough. 2/2

With crowds of people attending events all around the city, it was hard not to be affected by the energy. In our Faith and Politics session, a participant asked question of us. "How do we maintain hope in the face of the social and economic discouragements we see in our work?" 1/2

Hundreds of young adults trekked to Rome to celebrate the festival of Jubilee. At our first event about "Hope in Politics", it is clear that the young generation coming up is engaged and won't settle for the status quo. They instinctively understand that justice is what love looks like in public.

Faith and Politics has begun.

Join us tomorrow from 12-13:30 in Ipogego del Gesú. For a taster of what our week long event is like next year

The Prophetic Origins of the Bicycle - Jesuit Centre for Faith and Justice in Ireland In April 1815, the Mount Tambora volcano in Indonesia erupted with a force unmatched in recorded history. A massive plume of ash and gas reached the stratosphere, darkening the skies. The year before,...

www.jcfj.ie/2025/07/27/t...

It's important we remember our history.

'The first bike was born out of crisis. In the wake of Mount Tambora’s eruption, old routines were no longer sustainable. Karl von Drais responded not by retreating into nostalgia but by inventing a new way of moving forward.'

Wexford principal‘s desperate plea for school to be added to safe routes scheme – ‘I can’t stand by and look at the potential threats to life’ Clonroche National School is in a unique situation. As the only school in Wexford located on a national road its staff, students, and parents must negotiate an ever-increasing volume of traffic as the...

“As much as you educate your children on road safety you can’wexford-principals-desperate-plea

#VisionZero #Love30

www.independent.ie/regionals/we...

The Urban Localists: Kate Raworth and the Doughnut - Jesuit Centre for Faith and Justice in Ireland My last post focused on localism as practiced by small farmers, but localism is as much an urban phenomenon as a rural one.

'The most obvious difference between doughnut economies and modern economies is the voluntary acceptance of a limit to production and consumption.'

The second in a three-part blog series introducing localsism by @nlsj.bsky.social l

www.jcfj.ie/2025/07/11/t...

It's been 10 years since Pope Francis published Laudato Si' and three months since his passing.⁠
⁠
WN98 98 serves to reflect on the past 10 years and remind us of the incredible work he did.⁠

www.jcfj.ie/working-note...
⁠
#faith #Laudatosi #10years

A group seeks to push the case for abolishing prisons in Ireland Along with a new understanding of what a just society looks like, say members of the Irish Penal Abolition Network.

Irish Penal Abolition Network seeks to push the case for abolishing prisons in Ireland, along with a new understanding of what a just society looks like.

www.dublininquirer.com/a-group-seek...

'Fearless': Tributes following death of Capuchin Day Centre founder Brother Kevin Crowley The lifelong humanitarian helped thousands of people through his work and the work of his team.

www.thejournal.ie/kevin-crowle...

We are saddened to hear of the passing of Brother Kevin Crowley. Founder of the Capuchin Day Centre, which provides 1000 hot meals each day and has been feeding the homeless since 1969.

A true example of living by faith for the common good.

In the latest issue of 'Search', the theological journal of the Church of Ireland, our Social Theologian, Kevin Hargaden, considers how local churches can pursue justice and compassion.

Connecting and reflecting - Jesuit Centre for Faith and Justice in Ireland Our Environmental Engagement Officer shares some of the highlights of her time in the JCFJ so far.

'While I often leave these events acutely aware of how much more I have to learn, that feeling is usually outweighed by the energy and hope I drew from the imagination, expertise, and determination of the people I meet.'

~ A short reflection by our colleague Siobhan

www.jcfj.ie/2025/06/23/c...

• Migration goes much deeper than having to flee one's home. People are often forced to leave their culture behind because of our actions in the north. /END

•Creating a place for dialogue involves the integration of as many viewpoints as possible, so we also have to test our critics /7

•Future generation policy making asks us to think about the world that children will inherit /6

• Young people have been and will continue to be agents of change. Seeking out the skills and knowledge to lead the charge. /5

Taking away ideas such as
• Integral Ecology starts from the ground up! Literally in the soil. And taking small actions like gardening together encourages conviviality. /4

📓 Throughout the week, we broke into case study groups covering everything from community garden, youth and ecology, farmers and migration. /3

🌱Eamon Ryan spoke on the political side of ecology. Using the Irish word 'Meitheal'~ to labour together as we work towards ecological justice. /2

Ignatius Social Thinking Week 🌿

A week filled with reflections and motivations for the future /1

with @europeanjesuit.bsky.social @centreavec.bsky.social @ceras-dse.bsky.social @cijusticia.bsky.social @entreculturas.bsky.social