Interluding seasons one and two of the Ignatian Voices for Justice Podcast, we offer a thoughtful reflection from Dr. Annmarie Caño on the birthday of one of the UCA Jesuit martyrs, Ignacio Martín-Baró. Many in the Ignatian family will be gathered with us on the anniversary of the 6 Jesuits and their two lay companions assassinated in El Salvador at the 28th annual Ignatian Family Teach-In for Justice in mid-November. Stay tuned for in-depth conversations about faith-rooted justice work that we will cover in Season 2, as well as the fires that are fueled each year at IFTJ.

Remembering Ignacio Martín-Baró, by Annmarie Caño: https://ignatiansolidarity.net/blog/2025/11/07/remembering-ignacio-martin-baro-sj/

Leading Toward Liberation: How to Build Cultures of Thriving in Higher Education (Hopkins Press, 2025): https://www.press.jhu.edu/books/title/53804/leading-toward-liberation?srsltid=AfmBOooiPDo9MTAg9Wkp4I840PEbtFKkNJ6QfKRBiM32g773bmz0VdV9 (edited) 

Wrapping up our first season of the podcast, we sit down with Alyssa Perez Marquez, who just started a new role at Cristo Rey San José. So far, all of our featured guests are currently in high school, college, or just starting their full-time professional careers. The intention to feature these impressive individuals was to demonstrate to our network—especially the young leaders in our Ignatian network—that leadership in the faith-doing-justice world is a role they can and should step into right now. Our choice to wrap up the array of leaders this season with Alyssa was also intentional. The recipient of ISN’s 2025 Moira O’Donnell Emerging Leader Award, Alyssa has a decade of professional experience under her belt and is an inspiring exemplar to all of our young leaders of how a rich and fulfilling career in justice advocacy can unfold. All told, Alyssa has been to nine Ignatian Family Teach-Ins for Justice, starting in high school and culminating in MC-ing one. She’s facilitated leadership programming for ISN and contributed to our reflection series. In short, ISN has received so much from Alyssa and is honored to have played a part in her formation as well.

As her mentor, Patrick Furlong, the director of the Pam Rector Center for Service and Action at LMU mentions in our first segment, Alyssa’s impactful leadership is due to her authentic presence and the way that the perennial wisdom of Saint Ignatius flows through her. 

Alyssa was awarded the 2025 Moira O’Donnell Emerging Leader Award in San Francisco. Read about the award night celebrating justice here: https://ignatiansolidarity.net/blog/2025/05/13/ignite-illuminates-san-francisco/

Alyssa mentioned her reflection centering lessons on radical hospitality from her time as a Jesuit Volunteer in Belize. Read that reflection here: https://ignatiansolidarity.net/blog/2024/07/15/trusting-in-radical-hospitality/

Alyssa has written many reflections for ISN in our weekly Rise Up series and our annual Lenten series. Access all her contributions here: ​​https://ignatiansolidarity.net/blog/author/aperez/

Patrick Furlong, Alyssa’s mentor at LMU, highlighted the impactful work he gets to participate in at the Pam Rector Center for Service and Action. Explore their work here: https://studentaffairs.lmu.edu/activities/centerforserviceandaction/

This episode revolves around the Ignatian Solidarity Network’s Undocu Network. This initiative began in 2020 to provide a space for students and recent alumni connected to Catholic and Jesuit universities who identify as undocumented, with DACA or TPS, or in mixed-status families. In this unconditionally safe space, folks gather to build community, share concerns, and seek advice and professional development.

Because of this dynamic, in this podcast episode, our first guest, Israel, shares an incredible moment of advocacy while attending the 2024 Ignatian Family Teach-In for Justice. Then, Israel takes over hosting duties as he engages one of the Undocu Network’s leaders, Jonathan Mora, a recent Boston College graduate. 

Jorge Palacios Jr., director of the Undocu Network, kicked off the episode by promoting a call to action for all Catholics and people of faith to participate in a national day of public witness for our immigrant brothers and sisters on October 22. Learn more here: https://1family.us/

Check out Jonathan’s invigorating address at the public witness of the 2023 Ignatian Family Teach-In for Justice: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ovD6CYQ4KIk

Read about the Undocu Summit that Jonathan helped organize as part of the group’s core committee: https://ignatiansolidarity.net/blog/2025/02/07/action-alert-undocu-summit-2025-fostering-community-advocacy-and-joy/

Inspired by his participation in his first Undocu Summit, Jonathan helped organize Boston College’s first Undocu Week on campus: https://ignatiansolidarity.net/blog/2024/04/26/boston-college-undocuweek/

Israel talked about a surprise phone call he received from Senator Cory Booker at the 2024 IFTJ Advocacy Day. Read about that moment here: https://ignatiansolidarity.net/blog/2024/10/31/saint-peters-university-student-rekindles-connection-to-united-states-senator-during-ignatian-family-teach-in-for-justice

Israel contributed to ISN’s Lenten reflection series with a powerful reflection on building a future with “bricks of love and hope”: ​​https://ignatiansolidarity.net/blog/2025/03/31/building-with-bricks-of-love/

Amidst the back-to-school fervor, this episode of Ignatian Voices for Justice features Lucy Robb, who graduated from Jesuit High School in Portland, Oregon, and is starting her first semester of college. Lucy was deeply involved with justice work and advocacy over her time at Jesuit Portland, so much so that she received an award from her alma mater based on her “commitment to advocating for those who are marginalized in our society…and service as a role model and friend to classmates over all four years.” The inspiring conversation with Lucy is preceded by an introduction from Andrea Casey, a great friend of ISN who has taken delegations of students to the Ignatian Family Teach-In for Justice for many years. Besides the teach-in, where Lucy addressed the thousands gathered from the mainstage, Lucy and Andrea have participated in local Ignatian advocacy with fellow Jesuit institutions, centering the endangered salmon population of the region as they weaved together ecological justice, Indigenous solidarity, and intergenerational advocacy.

Lucy spoke from the mainstage at the 2024 Ignatian Family Teach-In for Justice: Listen to her 5-minute address here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NjBYhK-YCqc

Lucy and Andrea both participated in the Northwest Ignatian Advocacy Summit and the local policy engagement that followed. Read more about that summit here: https://ignatiansolidarity.net/blog/2025/03/25/northwest-ignatian-advocacy-summit/

Legislative advocacy has deeply formed Lucy, and all the opportunities to advocate for a more just world at Jesuit Portland accumulated points for the school in their participation in the Ignatian Advocacy Madness, hosted by ISN and spanning across the Jesuit and Catholic educational network. Read about the friendly competition, where justice is the champion: https://ignatiansolidarity.net/blog/2025/05/29/2025-ignatian-advocacy-madness/

Jesuit Portland has been leading the way in sustainability and caring for our common home for over a decade. They were awarded the Oregon Sustainable School award in 2015 and are part of ISN’s Energy Star Pilot program. Learn more about how your institution can join the movement: https://ignatiansolidarity.net/ignatian-energy-star-pilot-program/

Catholic communities across the United States are organizing local pilgrimages as sacred opportunities to pray for the grace to encounter Christ in Creation and renew our relationships with God, the Earth, and one another. We invite you to walk with us by hosting and/or joining a Pilgrimage of Hope for Creation during the Season of Creation—September 1-October 4: https://catholicpilgrimsofhope.org/

With a couple weeks to spare before the Feast of Saint Phoebe (September 3), we sit down with Kascha Sanor, director of social and environmental justice for the Congregation of the Sisters of Saint Joseph, and Elise Stankus, a Rosemont College graduate student deeply involved with Discerning Deacons. Kascha and Elise went to Rome as pilgrims for Discerning Deacons during the two-part Synod on Synodality, where they engaged with synod delegates and carried stories and prayers from women across the world. Kascha and Elise are beautiful examples of messengers—like Saint Phoebe—carrying lessons that help our church expand and deepen.

Kascha and Elise presented a breakout session at the 2024 Ignatian Family Teach-In for Justice (IFTJ) titled “Synodality and Reimagining Women in Ministry.” Breakout session applications are now open for the 2025 IFTJ: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1iigy3r4avV8zT-9mPa9C-HPh-IwJAHwS1VCMoGcQ4gc/edit?tab=t.0#heading=h.z5wv44ihaqud

Elise covered her experience in Rome through her blog. Dive into it here: https://elisestankuswrites.wixsite.com/witnessing-synod/my-blog

Read Kascha’s powerful reflection on the readings for the sixth Sunday of Easter: https://ignatiansolidarity.net/blog/2025/05/26/peace-justice/

Discerning Deacons is the throughline of this episode. Learn more about this organization here: https://discerningdeacons.org/about/

Discerning Deacons welcomes everyone to participate in the Feast of St. Phoebe Virtual Prayer and Celebration on September 3, 2025, at 7 PM ET. Learn more about this celebration and other ways to honor Saint Phoebe in your own community: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1_yxc8kEDEIKl2L58ldAjjddbX5ok4tvPSmXBlcPnEwc/edit?tab=t.0

Elise participates in the Synodality in Catholic Higher Education in the Archdiocese of Philadelphia (SCHEAP). Learn more about SCHEAP here: https://synodalityinphillyhighered.wordpress.com/latest-updates/

On this episode, we sit down with Cecilia Gonzalez-Andrieu, Ph.D., a beloved theologian from Loyola Marymount University (LMU), who introduces us to Jesus “Paco” Estrada, a recent LMU graduate who is integrating his Catholic faith with political advocacy. Paco’s efforts to speak up for the most vulnerable in his community has taken him from local rallies all the way to a personal audience with Pope Francis, which he speaks about on the podcast. Dr. Cecilia and Paco are wonderful examples of what it means to put gospel values into action, especially in the face of immoral family separations from immigration authorities affecting the LA community and beyond.

Paco became fired up about immigration advocacy after attending the 2021 Migration Justice Summit. Read more about the 2025 iteration of that same summit here: https://ignatiansolidarity.net/blog/2025/07/02/seeking-justice-through-an-ignatian-lens-at-the-2025-migration-justice-summit/

Paco mentioned the huge state advocacy summit that led to hundreds of California youth from Jesuit schools converging on the Capitol in Sacramento to advocate for climate justice: https://ignatiansolidarity.net/blog/2025/04/24/california-pilgrims-of-hope-for-creation/

Dr. Cecilia is a widely published, influential theologian. Read one of her most recent pieces responding to the current migrant crisis in America Magazine here: https://www.americamagazine.org/politics-society/2025/06/09/immigration-crisis-pope-francis-250880

Dr. Cecilia has also contributed richly to ISN’s Lenten series. Read her powerful 2025 Easter Sunday reflection here: https://ignatiansolidarity.net/blog/2025/04/20/the-power-of-good/

One of Dr. Cecilia’s former students at LMU attended the Ignatian Family Teach-In for Justice and took what they were doing at LMU on a local level to a national level in what eventually became ISN’s Undocu Network. Read more about that history here: https://ignatiansolidarity.net/blog/2025/02/07/action-alert-undocu-summit-2025-fostering-community-advocacy-and-joy/

Engage your elected officials on just immigration reform through our easy-to-use action alert: https://ignatiansolidarity.net/blog/2025/02/13/action-alert-love-your-neighbor-immigration/

Patrick Cavanaugh, a student at St. Xavier High School in Cincinnati, Ohio, shares his wisdom on restoring and ecological spaces on the podcast and demonstrates how caring for our common home is integral to his faith. 

Patrick has had incredible mentorship from his teachers, including Katie Collins, a great friend of ISN, who has taken her students to the IFTJ, Arrupe Leaders Summits, the first Student Eco Summit, and has even participated in the Eco Educators Summit. Read about her participation in the Eco Educators Summit: https://ignatiansolidarity.net/blog/2023/06/30/integral-ecology-comes-alive-at-first-ignatian-eco-educator-summit/

In this episode, both Patrick and Katie talk about the outdoor classroom space at St. X. Read more about how that incredible space came to be both the location and the primary material for the course Katie designed, Faith in the Wild: https://ignatiansolidarity.net/blog/2024/08/29/faith-in-the-wild/

Listen to Patrick’s speech in front of Capitol Hill, galvanizing the participants of the 2024 IFTJ Advocacy Day: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zb8JyXie7QA&pp=0gcJCcEJAYcqIYzv

Patrick participated in ISN’s first Student Eco Summit. Read more about that program: https://ignatiansolidarity.net/blog/2025/03/13/catholic-ecology-rooted-in-gratitude/

In June 2025, ISN co-organized the Jesuit Integral Ecology Assembly, bringing ecological leaders across Jesuit apostolates for strategic action planning. Read about that assembly here: igsol.net/jiea

Brice Hansen, an undergraduate student at Mercyhurst University in Erie, Pennsylvania, joins the podcast to talk about moving her campus towards ethical purchasing and procurement of the clothes and food that are sold on campus. Brice has had great mentorship from one of her professors, Dr. Elizabeth Pyne, and also from Grace Adams, ISN’s coordinator for the Catholic Ethical Purchasing Alliance (CEPA).

Steeped in the Catholic social thought that grounds this issue, Brice tells wonderful stories about growing a movement on campus to help the university align its purchasing with its Catholic values. 

Explore the Catholic Ethical Purchasing Alliance: ethicalcatholic.org

Read about all the sustainability efforts going on at Mercyhurst: https://ignatiansolidarity.net/blog/2024/08/30/mercyhurst-university-adds-to-sustainability-initiatives-through-cepa-club/

Read about the Ignatian Justice Summit, which helped Brice and her peers form a vision for starting Mercyhurst’s ethical purchasing club: https://ignatiansolidarity.net/blog/2024/08/09/ijs-cia/

Members of Education for Justice can access the Virtual IFTJ breakout session where Brice chats with Br. Ken Homan, S.J. about the ethical purchasing club journey: https://educationforjustice.org/resource/creating-a-community-filled-with-hope/

Voices for Justice landing page — https://igsol.net/vfj

Give us feedback or recommend a future guest — https://ignatiansolidarity.wufoo.com/forms/z1773jgl0ardd19/

Reueline Arulanandam, a recent Saint Louis University graduate and mainstage speaker at the 2024 Ignatian Family Teach-In for Justice, speaks about Christian leadership and how her faith has deepened as she has engaged critical issues in criminal justice, including judicial equity, reentry from incarceration, and anti-death penalty advocacy.  

With a keen interest in the intersection of health and criminal justice reform, Reueline will pursue a law degree at Saint Louis University to further her impact. She aspires to leverage her education and experiences to advocate for comprehensive reforms that improve both health and justice outcomes.

Shownote links:

Reueline’s address at 2024 IFTJ — Ignatian Network Speaker - Reueline Arulanandam | #IFTJ 2024

Apply to be a mainstage speaker for the 2025 IFTJ —

Ignatian Network Speaker Application Instructions | IFTJ 2025

Reueline’s “Take Heart” reflection from ISN’s 2025 Lenten series — https://ignatiansolidarity.net/blog/2025/04/09/the-thing-about-anxiety/

Reueline mentioned the impact that the book Just Mercy had on her desire to get involved in the criminal justice reform space — https://justmercy.eji.org/

Voices for Justice landing page — https://igsol.net/vfj

Give us feedback or recommend a future guest — https://ignatiansolidarity.wufoo.com/forms/z1773jgl0ardd19/