Digitized by the Internet Archive 2016 in https://archive.org/details/consolationinactOOobri CONSOLATION ACTION IN The Jesuit Refugee Service and the Ministry of Accompaniment A Thesis Submitted in Partial Fulfillment ofthe Requirements for the S.T.L. degree ofWeston Jesuit School ofTheology, Cambridge, Massachusetts S.T.L. Candidate: Kevin O’Brien, S.J. Thesis Director: John O’Malley, S.J. Second Reader: Kevin Burke, S.J. / May 2006 ViSSTOaJ OV'Ti^LlOfiYLiBRARIf S9{SF.ATTLESTREET CA^^BRIDGE, ivlASS. 02138 Contents Introduction 1 Chapter 1: The Story ofJRS as a Jesuit Ministry 7 Roots ofJRS in Jesuit History 8 Foundation ofJRS 13 Arrupe’s “Swan Song” 15 JRS After Arrupe 17 Expansion ofJRS Around the World 18 JRS Charter of2000 24 Mission ofJRS Today 25 JRS and Education 29 Conclusion 32 Chapter 2: Accompaniment as the Practice ofSolidarity 34 Solidarity as a Social Principle and Moral Virtue 35 Solidarity as Accompanying the Poor and Powerless 41 JRS and Refugees Bearing One Another’s Burdens 47 Conclusion 54 Chapter 3: JRS and the Spiritual Exercises 55 Accompanying Jesus through the Exercises 56 Taking Crucified Peoples Down from their Crosses 60 Witnessing to the Hope ofthe Resurrection 65 Conclusion 68 Chapter 4: JRS as an Embodiment ofthe Biblical Virtue ofHospitality 70 Hospitality as a Classical and Biblical Virtue 70 Hospitality in the Gospels 73 ii (1 ,J iV* ^ - .^^•/ * '-^i •'i Hospitality in Paul and the Early Church 81 Jesuit Hospitality 87 Conclusion 90 Conclusion 92 Appendix A: How You Can Become Part ofthe JRS Story 95 Appendix B: The Story ofJRS in Summary 98 Sources 102 iii