At the end of July JCFJ hosted an evening of mixed emotions to mark two occasions. The celebratory occasion was the launch of the 100th issue of our journal Working Notes. For this landmark issue I asked each of our policy delegates to write a manifesto-style essay that expressed the priorities and values of the Centre at this moment in time. You can read Working Notes at 100: A Faith that Still Does Justice here.
The second occasion was one of appreciation and sadness in equal measure. Dr Kevin Hargaden gave a farewell lecture to a packed John Sullivan Room on the topic of social theology as a way of drawing to a close his 10 years at JCFJ. Kevin has been appointed as Professor of Moral Theology at the University of Notre Dame’s Institute for Social Concerns. He goes to Notre Dame with our gratitude and blessing.
Kevin needed no introduction but I insisted on embarrassing him with some sincere words of praise before he gave his last lecture as JCFJ’s social theologian. I would like to take this opportunity to repeat the following:
Kevin, the breadth of your learning is matched by the breadth of your friendships. You have built relationships with people from every social background, every political persuasion, different Christian traditions, other faiths and numerous academic disciplines. You are even friends with a few neoliberals—which, if nothing else, is a testament to your generosity of spirit. You have a remarkable gift for building bridges between people who might otherwise never engage.
Most importantly, you have placed all these gifts at the service of those on the margins: the poor, the excluded and the oppressed. Like St John Chrysostom, you recognise them as the Church’s true treasury. Your commitment to justice has never been detached from your faith. You unapologetically pursue justice, and you do so unapologetically as a Christian.
It is easy to see why the University of Notre Dame has invited you to join its Institute for Social Concerns where you will continue to promote the justice of the Kingdom in an interdisciplinary way. Our loss is certainly their gain. Kevin, thank you for all that you have given to this Centre, to the Jesuits, and to so many of us personally. We wish you, Claire and the children every blessing as you begin this new chapter.
Knowing that many who wanted to attend the event were unable to do so, we recorded Kevin’s lecture. It can be viewed by clicking on the image below.
