It is not only when debt is contracted that the ethical dimension is involved, it is throughout the repayment process. The debtor and the lender are not equal. It is not, as we say in economics, a zero sum game. The creditor expects his money to be profitable and to earn interest.

“I tried to raise the point of who was Edward Colston, and why are these people saying the statue needs to come down? I was just floored, basically told to shut up, and that these people protesting were just ignorant and stupid. So, I just sat there crying silently and just feeling ostracised and disappointed because the other students were also not educated. So that’s where some of this began.”

Debt is where dreams go to die. We put aside ‘unnecessary’ things like our hopes of becoming an artist or musician. There are monthly repayments to be made, and so we need to work, and work, until (if we are fortunate) we can retire and enjoy a few years of glorious unproductivity before death.

Jesuit Centre for Faith and Justice · Do We Really Feel Fine? Towards An Irish Green New Deal The Problem: The Centre Cannot Hold The world as we know it is falling apart, but in a thousand different ways. A pandemic rages, but contrary to what the dystopian movies taught us, society is intact. Climate… Read more »

  Jesuit Centre for Faith and Justice · Any Light in Darkness? A Theological Reflection on Covid-19 How much longer will you forget me, Yahweh? For ever? How much longer will you hide your face from me? (Psalm 13:1 Jerusalem Bible) Our Predicament: The Individual Seeking Meaning At the dawn of Western literature, in the… Read more »

Jesuit Centre for Faith and Justice · “Family Hubs” Lives On Hold Introduction Many policy changes in Ireland in recent years have been launched and branded in terms of “hubs”. The language and proximate adjectives are attractive to policymakers. Hubs are innovative, dynamic, and quick to change and adapt to new opportunities and potential. Yet,… Read more »

Jesuit Centre for Faith and Justice · Confines, Wards And Dungeons “Denmark’s a prison”, says Hamlet in Shakespeare’s play. “Then is the world one”, Rosencrantz responds. To which Hamlet replies: “A goodly one; in which there are many confines, wards and dungeons.” The analogy between a given society – or even the world – and… Read more »

Jesuit Centre for Faith and Justice · Editorial, By Keith Adams A Transformed Context In March, our world crawled to a halt in ways which were previously unimaginable. The slow emergence and then rapid proliferation of the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 cast doubt on many strongly held certainties and loosened societal touchstones. Much is still uncertain as… Read more »

  Jesuit Centre for Faith and Justice · Letter From Director This is the first letter of introduction I have written for Working Notes, because it goes to press just a few weeks after I have been made Director of the Jesuit Centre for Faith and Justice. I received this baton from the out-going Director,… Read more »

“…sustainability is not an individual property but a property of an entire web of relationships: it involves a whole community” – Fritjof Capra Introduction Climate change and biodiversity loss are crises that not only put ecosystems, but also human societies at risk. Our present mainstream sustainability thinking discusses the compromises between the three pillars of… Read more »