Accompanying: A core feature of the Ignatian way of doing advocacy Author: José María Segura Salvador Persistent link: http://hdl.handle.net/2345/bc-ir:104993 This work is posted on eScholarship@BC, Boston College University Libraries. Boston College Electronic Thesis or Dissertation, 2012 Copyright is held by the author, with all rights reserved, unless otherwise noted. JM Segura SJ Final version 4/10/2012 Accompanying. A core feature of the Ignatian way of doing Advocacy. A Proposal for a Thesis Submitted in Partial Fulfillment Of the Requirements for the S.T.L. Degree From the Boston College School of Theology and Ministry (Weston Jesuit) By: José María Segura Salvador S.J. Co-Mentors: David Hollenbach S.J. Meg Guider O.S.F. 1 JM Segura SJ Final version 4/10/2012 Contents Contents ............................................................................................................................................2 Foreword ...........................................................................................................................................4 I History of Ignatian Advocacy (IA). .....................................................................................................5 1. Developing the Ignatian Advocacy Network: ................................................................................... 7 2. Main features of IA. ........................................................................................................................ 10 a. Shared conceptions with other advocacy efforts: ...................................................................... 13 b. Ignatian Advocacy has specific and distinctive elements ........................................................... 18 II Ignatian Theology, the theological foundation for IA: ..................................................................... 25 1. Incarnation and Creation. ............................................................................................................... 27 2. Theological Anthropology: Human beings are created to be “capax dei.”..................................... 34 3. An Ecclesiology of Discipleship: ...................................................................................................... 39 4. The Cross as Sacrament of the God of Liberation:.......................................................................... 46 III Accompanying its beneficiaries, source of legitimate advocacy for IA. ........................................... 53 1. Power and Power Relations. ........................................................................................................... 54 a. Foucault on Power: ..................................................................................................................... 56 b. Steven Lukes ............................................................................................................................... 58 c. Towards a positive take on power: ............................................................................................. 60 d. Hannah Arendt, the communitarian dimension of power. ........................................................ 62 2. NGOs and Power issues: ................................................................................................................. 64 a. Anti-human trafficking campaign: .............................................................................................. 66 b. The Kiyuku and the “female genital mutilation campaign.” ....................................................... 68 3. Legitimacy and accurate information: the NGOs’ source of Power and Credibility. ...................... 70 a. Legitimacy: .................................................................................................................................. 72 b. Accountability and Evaluation: ................................................................................................... 82 IV Jesuit Refugee Service (JRS) as the embodiment of Ignatian Advocacy ........................................... 88 1. The history, identity and spirituality of the JRS. ............................................................................ 88 2 JM Segura SJ Final version 4/10/2012 2. JRS advocacy: ................................................................................................................................. 92 a. JRS advocacy is aimed at achieving structural change ............................................................... 93 b. Advocacy that is people-centered and creates capabilities ......................................................... 95 c. Discernment in JRS ................................................................................................................... 101 3. JRS a Ministry of hope: .................................................................................................................. 104 a. JRS serves the Crucified People, ............................................................................................... 104 b. JRS remains at the foot of the cross: ........................................................................................ 109 4. Education as a concrete example of how JRS develops integral IA. ............................................. 111 By way of conclusion. ..................................................................................................................... 115 Bibliography .................................................................................................................................. 119 3 JM Segura SJ Final version 4/10/2012 Foreword The thesis to be demonstrated in these pages is that a core feature of the Ignatian way of doing advocacy (IA) consists in accompanying, understood as remaining close to the people IA serves and to the people’s reality in order to advocate for their rights.1 In this thesis, it is demonstrated how being companions with the people is a cornerstone of any advocacy that seeks to be effective, Christian, and Ignatian. We show that accompanying the people whose cause is being advocated 1) is consistent with the history of Ignatian Advocacy and with its heritage of Ignatian Spirituality, 2) is more effective and credible, and 3) is a “Christological” way of doing advocacy. Methodologically, the thesis proceeds as follows. In a first chapter it explains that accompanying is a central characteristic of IA. In order to do so, a brief account of IA´s history is given, followed by a brief definition and explanation of the main features of IA. In the second chapter we give theological arguments to sustain our thesis. Concretely, we ground our understanding of accompanying, as practiced in IA, on the Theology of Creation-Incarnation, Anthropological Theology, Ecclesiology of Discipleship, and Theology of the Cross. The third chapter is focused on the practical aspects of accompanying. Concretely, the case is made that advocacy is more effective when it manages to interrupt the mainstream narratives of power with the narratives of the powerless on whose behalf it is advocating, narratives that demands accompaniment. To make our point, reference is made first to scholarly research on power and power relations to explain the importance and depth of power issues. In a second moment we refer to the studies of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) to illustrate our claims with some 1 I use “accompanying” or “being companions” instead of “accompaniment” to keep the sense of dynamism that better conveys the idea of IA being on the move with the people, and of IA being developed out of the experience. It also conveys the idea that although being companions includes mutual and bidirectional accompaniment, it is not reduce to that. Rather, it involves sharing, being with and, in IA advocating together. 4 JM Segura SJ Final version 4/10/2012 case studies. Finally, in the fourth chapter, we draw on JRS’s reports and publications to show how JRS exemplifies the proper way of doing IA. Concretely, it is argued that, because it is accompanying the people, JRS advocacy is effective, Ignatian, and Christological. May the last word of this introduction be devoted to a clarification; in this thesis I use the plural form “our” or “we” in order to acknowledge the fact that this thesis has been an exercise of being accompanied. First and foremost by my co-mentors, David Hollenbach S.J. and Meg Guider O.S.F., and closely followed by a thorough English grammar editor, Joe Owens S.J. Moreover, the plural form pays tribute to the fact that many other Jesuits and friends of the Ignatian family have been giving feedback to drafts of this thesis and that these lines, however discrete, are in debt to all their contributions and comments. I History of Ignatian Advocacy (IA). IA was born from an encounter with the needs of God´s children. Elias was the chaplain priest for a “parish” of 30,000 refugees in a JRS camp in Tanzania. 2 The catechist responsible for care of the sick urged him to visit a hospitalized woman who was persistently asking for the Fr. to bring her communion. After a long day, the catechist led him to the poorest section of the hospital. There, lying on a canvas stretcher with a hole in the middle to help her defecate without disturbing the nurses, was a widow left to die, surrounded by her four children. Her name was Modesta, and her “room,” with roof and “walls” of plastic, resembled a greenhouse. On the ground the rats ran about and fed on Modesta's