Jesuit European Social Centre

On Thursday the 4^th of July, we visited the headquarter of the Jesuit European Social Centre, JESC, in Brussels. Peter Rožič SJ, JESC’s director since September 2017, welcomed us warmly and explained us the mission and the activities of JESC.

About Peter Rožič

A Slovenian national, Fr. Rožič also works as the Social Apostolate Delegate for the Conference of European Provincials, holds a PhD in Political Science from Georgetown University and, before arriving in Brussels, he was an assistant professor at the University of Ljubljana and rector of the Residential College in Maribor. 

According to the European Commission, in 2017, 112.8 million people in the EU lived in households at risk of poverty or social exclusion, which, in fact, amounted to a 22.4 % of the population. It is in this context where JESC operates since its objective is “to give a voice of the voiceless”, that is to say, advocate for the poor on the level of the EU . For that purpose, JESC Brussels focuses its work in four different areas: European affairs, ecology, justice and leadership.

European Affairs

Article 17 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union introduced by the Lisbon Treaty allowed religious and non-confessional communities to engage with European institutions. Moreover, as Brussels is the second biggest city in terms of lobbies after Washington DC, it has a branch of European Affairs. As the Secretary for European Affairs, Fr. Martin Maier SJ manages JESC’s activities related to the European institutions, providing “vision and values for Europe”

Peter Rožič pointed out that, to operate in such a context, they need to be registered as lobbyists and provide data, research and analysis to institutions. Sometimes it is the politicians who ask JESC for advice on different topics, just like Junker’s cabinet, president of the European Commission, did on ecology to mobilise both the political community and the church. Other times, it is the lobbies themselves which organise conferences, evenings in chapels or establish personal relationships with politicians, such as JESC’s conference on December on Tax justice.

When asked about the role of Catholic lobbies in an increasingly more secular EU, Peter Rožič answered: “I wouldn’t say there’s a major influence of Catholic institutions in the EU, not at all, but there are people that make a difference”. He then mentioned new challenges concerning technology that are arising, such as AI, which need for people strong in ethical dilemmas in the developing of the future.

Ecology

Throughout the talk, Peter Rožič emphasised the need for the society to adopt a conversion towards ecology. In this sense, JESC finds its mission related to Pope Francis’ encyclical, “Laudato Si” (2015), an extremely important document for the Church, in which he talked about “Integral ecology” and marked the current economic models as not being sustainable. Through research papers and awareness campaigns, JESC focuses its action on two different levels: the individual and the institutional, because they believe that the “throw-away culture doesn’t liberate us, it just makes us slaves”.

Justice

As part of their Ignatian vocation, JESC cooperates with the Jesuit network of European provinces and NGOs such as Entreculturas in social issues. With a motto like “The more you give, the more you will be given”, JESC carries out research in several centres all over Europe about social justice, poverty and inequality and publishes newsletters, such as “The just talk” or the Catalonian Cristianisme I justicia.

Leadership

Inspired by the leadership of Saint Ignatius of Loyola, the JESC community organise workshops, spiritual programs, retreats to CEOs, coaching… Furthermore, since March this year, they are holding the European Leadership Programme  to train future leaders in Europe. This five-month training provides the participants with 30 ECTS and involves lectures, workshops, discussions with experts and high-ranking politicians, personal development, volunteering and living in an international environment.

- Cristina Ímaz