The Initiative on Restorative Justice and Healing (IRJH) officially launched September 8, 2021 and what a year it has been. We could not be more grateful for the ways in which this work, which remains vital and relevant, has been blessed. Over the past 12 months, IRJH initiated and hosted conversations on a variety of topics related to restorative justice and healing, including programs: on the intersection of racial justice and restorative justice; societal polarization; the wisdom and light from victim-survivors, the emerging virtual avenues now open to restorative justice; and a conversation with civic and religious leaders of the Twin Cities regarding the need for greater justice and healing. Here is a link to the playlist that includes these programs:

• Launch of Law School Initiative on Restorative Justice and Healing
• Exploring the Intersection of Racial Justice & Restorative Justice
• Harm and Hope in a Polarized World
• Wisdom from the Wound – A Conversation with Victim Survivors and Advocates
• When the Practice Pivoted – Restorative Justice in a Virtual World
• Justice and Healing for a Wound Community

Our new Restorative Justice, Law, and Healing course – the first of its kind in Minnesota – is now underway as we prepare the next generation of lawyers to utilize the light and wisdom of restorative justice to meet the needs of future clients and the broader community.

Next week, IRJH will host a national consultation at St. Thomas, co-sponsored with the Office for Mission and the University of Notre Dame on truth and healing processes in response to the wounds of clergy abuse and leadership failures in the Catholic Church.

This awareness and education has been enhanced with integrated communications, including a webpage, Facebook page, Twitter presence, Instagram page and the IRJH blog, Toward Justice and Healing. The first blog post is titled “A Journey Toward Justice and Healing”, written by Msgr. Chad Gion. We will keep the blog fresh and relevant with monthly posts and news contributed by IRJH advisory board and leadership team members.

In June, Fr. Griffith and Julie Craven presented a paper titled, “Reason and Faith – Restorative Processes and Catholic Social Thought in Response to Corporate Harm” at “Freedom, Subsidiarity, and the Spirit of Gift”, the Twelfth International Conference on Catholic Social Thought and Business Education” at the University of Public Service – Ludovika in Budapest.

To extend the reach of this work and share best practices, we have networked with several organizations including the Catholic Mobilizing Network, the Restorative Justice Network of Catholic Campuses, and Awake Milwaukee.

Looking Forward to 2022/2023

Below, see what is in store for 2022/2023 as we continue this important work of exploring the dynamism of restorative justice and the Catholic faith. In the fall of 2022, these programs are scheduled:

• Salving the Wounds that Remain: Where the Catholic Church Can Find Healing for its Sex Abuse Crisis – September 15, 2022

• Honoring Veterans with Restorative Justice – November 11, 2022

IRJH will facilitate and host a university-wide restorative justice working group for faculty and staff of the University of St. Thomas.

An externship for law students is being developed which will provide greater opportunity for practical experience in restorative justice as they prepare for the practice of law.

IRJH will co-host with Catholic Mobilizing Network, a National Catholic Restorative Justice Conference in early October of 2023 at the University of St. Thomas in Minneapolis.

We remain grateful for this vital work, its healing impact, your engagement, and the work ahead. We continue to ask for the intercession of Mary the Mother of God – whose Magnificat prophetically calls for greater justice for the lowly and oppressed as we seek together God’s grace to build a world of justice and peace.

Gratefully,

Fr. Daniel Griffith, Founding Director, IRJH

Julie Craven, Associate Director, IRJH