Spring 2020

Featured in the June 11 Newsletter:

• The ICTC stands in solidarity with Black Lives Matter and People of Color as our collective work of creating a just society gains new momentum. We have collected a variety of resources for learning in "Sign of the Times."
• Amber Larkin'slast day as Program Coordinator with the ICTC is June 30 
• The "new" Patrick Howell, S.J. Catholic Heritage Series is announced
• Pope Francis invites us to celebrate Laudato Si' for a year
• The Immigration Summit officially closes, but the work remains

On behalf of the ICTC, we share in the grief and outrage of the recent racist events happening in our country. 

The 4th Annual Catholic Immigration Summit has more videos available! Be sure to visit the page soon, some videos will expire as the information presented is timely.

Here's what has been added recently:

• Jorge Baron, Executive Director of Immigrant Rights Project, addresses common questions on the topic of immigration and financial support during the pandemic (Spanish).
• Nicole Peger, Staff Attorney for Catholic Immigration Legal Services, gives an update on what DACA recipients should know as they await the Supreme Court's decision.
• Mario Villanueva, Executive Director of the Washington State Catholic Conference, discusses immigrant advocacy.

In many ways it seems the world has stood still these past two months, as if on pause. Although we are all experiencing the pandemic, our experiences vary from individual, community and country. In this newsletter, we want to highlight the experiences specifically of people facing the challenges of immigration in the US during this time.

When we find ourselves in times of distress and great challenge we look to our ancestors, teachers, loved ones, and traditions for some wisdom that can accompany us during this difficult journey. We have in our tradition such a figure in the person of St. Catherine of Siena, a mystic, activist, and Doctor of the Church whose feast day was April 29. St. Catherine was born in 1347, right in the midst of the Black Death; the America Magazine article “Why you should read St. Catherine of Siena—in her own words—during the coronavirus pandemic” is a wonderful illustration of how a woman mystic who died 640 years ago can speak relevantly to our current context.

In this newsletter, we look at various ways those connections continue to be made and hope you are finding new ways to connect—even while apart—and certainly hope you will continue to connect with ICTC.

Remembering our Brother Peter: On April 11, 2020, Holy Saturday, we the SU community suffered a great loss. Our brother Fr. Peter Ely, SJ, passed. Shocked and overwhelmed by grief, we mourn that we didn’t get a chance to say goodbye; to tell him how much his presence meant to us, or that his questions about our well-being, our family, and our research, made us feel “seen” and cared for. We will miss how he drew from his own flawed humanity to appreciate and to advocate for mercy, forgiveness, and compassion.

Like many of you, we at ICTC are reflecting on the rapid and radically different world we find ourselves in. Many of us have moved to working entirely online in order to respond to our professional responsibilities and to maintain contact in our personal relationships.