Land Justice

AN INTERVIEW WITH BRITTANY

From a Catholic perspective, a lot of it boils down to what Pope Francis talks about in Laudato Si’ (On Care for Our Common Home): heeding the cry of the Earth and the cry of the poor. Land justice is about making decisions that attempt to do this.

Why was this the area that Nuns & Nones decided to focus on?

When we talk about the healing of the Earth, we have to reckon with the fact that 1,500 acres of land are developed every day and 98 percent of private land is owned by white people or institutions. The same construct that has allowed for white ownership of land allows for the continued extraction of land. It is all part of a paradigm of domination that has led us to a crisis of racial injustice and a climate crisis. It is all connected. If we really care about taking action for justice, we can’t forgo thinking about the land we own and steward. It’s a huge responsibility, but I believe it’s also a huge opportunity for transformation and transformative leadership. If religious landowners can change how they plan for the future stewardship of the lands they hold in trust, then I think we could see the world change.

The Land Justice Project was the result of a several-years-long organic unfolding that allowed for this “spinoff” to happen. We never planned on this. This wasn’t part of the Nuns & Nones blueprint, but it was the result of really listening to how we wanted to manifest their values of a solidarity economy—the redistribution of wealth, the healing of the Earth, and racial and ecological justice. Those were all things the Nuns & Nones community were grappling with.

At the same time, many of the sisters in our community were being faced with really unsatisfactory options about the land that they have loved forever. No one else is talking about this—no one is talking about how to make decisions about land that are in-line with Laudato Si’ and with the solidarity economy movement. Many of the sisters wanted their lands to be a part of this type of movement but didn’t have the resources to figure out what that looked like.

This issue centers around salmon in the Pacific Northwest, but there are similar calls from Indigenous communities to change our ecological practices around the nation. How can the church be better at listening to Indigenous communities when it comes to ecological justice?

In Laudato Si’ Pope Francis talks about Indigenous people as the primary dialogue partner in ecological work.

If we’re really listening to Indigenous people, what they’re asking for is the rightful connection to their land. Indigenous people can’t lead or practice the ways of being in right relationship with Earth if they don’t have access to it and aren’t given power. Listening is the first step in giving over power to a worldview that has been disempowered by institutions such as the Catholic Church.

What would the world look like if land justice was the model by which the Catholic Church stewarded its land?

Tangibly, there would be more examples of regenerative stewardship led by the very people who have been cut off from land because of the extractive economy in which we live. We would see land-regeneration work or habitat restoration led by Indigenous lifeways and that draw on ancestral practices. Indigenous spirituality, which is mostly land-based spirituality and practices, was illegal in this country until 1978. Land justice would look like land being loved back into health by the very Indigenous lifeways that were marginalized for so long.

It would also look like Black food sovereignty collectives and BIPOC regenerative farms that serve as thriving community spaces. That’s not to say that white people aren’t involved in this new kind of stewardship; we point toward BIPOC stewards because this is also about equalizing land access and centering the very people who were pushed out by white colonialism.

Land justice also means that the church embodies an ethic of repair and reparation. It means that religious institutions embody environmental justice through the ways in which they redistribute their wealth. The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America has in its official guidelines to look at land-back efforts when disposing of land. I want to know what it looks like when the return of land and this very critical and tangible act of healing and repair begins to be expected as an expression of faith.

Pope Francis talks about how we’re not in an era of change, we’re in a change of era. I believe that the choices we make about where and to whom our land goes, how it’s stewarded, and how we redistribute our wealth are foundational stepping stones to a paradigm of healing and wholeness.

How can our readers start discerning what to do with land in their own communities?

Come to our learning platform: There’s lots for you there. My first piece of advice is that if your community is planning on letting go of land at some point, to resource yourselves to make that choice from a place of ecological and racial healing and to bring land justice into that decision-making process.

That is true even for communities that feel like they can’t afford to donate land. Even if you need to sell your land, there are ways to do it through this paradigm. For example, look around and see if there are regenerative stewardship partners who might be interested in your land. Build relationships with them. Come to the table together: Be clear about what you need, and see if they might need time to fundraise. Contribute to their fundraising. Be active allies in that process. Help local foundations see the importance of this work. People want to pay to see these projects happen, so the money and resources are there.

Communities who know they are downsizing or letting go of land now or in the future should also educate themselves about the history of land injustice and various case studies as part of their discernment process. They can do this at our website: nunsandnones.org/ land-learning.

In the examples we’ve seen where this works, relationships rooted in solidarity are key. How do you build relationships in a way that acknowledges this might be hard for Black or Indigenous people? People might be distrustful, need more time, or want to engage more or less—it’s not always a rosy-glasses, best-friends-forever type of situation. Be aware of how long the relationship-building process can take and commit to building relationships from a place of solidarity. Center the experience and the healing of people who might want to explore being on the land in the future.

The Vatican recently repudiated the doctrine of discovery. What implications does this have for land justice movements?

The doctrine of discovery is literally woven into U.S. property law. In 1823, a court case addressed whether Indigenous people had the right to own land in the United States. Johnson v. M’Intosh found that the land did not belong to the Indigenous people, because it was “discovered” by white settlers. Because the country was relatively young and there wasn’t a lot of precedent, the courts cite the papal bulls and the doctrine of discovery in the case.

That case has been cited as recently as 2005 by Ruth Bader Ginsberg. This is not a partisan thing. This is the water we are swimming in that we think is normal and fine, and it is built on the harmful and erroneous statements of the Catholic Church.

While the repudiation is not everything—it fails to fully own the responsibility the church had in that moment—it is a very important step and cultural moment. It is less about what the church is saying and more about the onus it puts on all of us to look around to see that the way we talk and think about property is fundamentally flawed and rooted in violence. The implications are what we do with that information.

This moment is a wakeup call to what our history means. If we can own it, we can live into some very creative exciting and healing possibilities. I believe so deeply in the power of religious communities, because they’ve already done so much transformative work to heal the Earth, especially on the lands where they live. I feel like land justice is a natural next step for them. We have the potential to do some very wonderful and healing acts.

Reflection Process

WINTER EVENTS

Prophetic Communities: Organizing as an Expression of Catholic Social Thought:

Questions

n In “Caring for Creation and the Common Good in the Lower Snake River Region,” the Washington bishops stress that any plan for preserving the salmon population must include the voices of local Indigenous peoples. What might it look like to truly listen to and be in reciprocal relationship with Indigenous communities, whether in addressing the salmon population crisis or in your own local area?

n How adequately do you think our culture and society allows for reciprocity? Is there anything you or your communities can do differently to foster such reciprocal relationships?

n How might understanding our relationship with salmon and the rest of the ecosystem as reciprocal change how we address ecological crises?

n Have the articles and reflections in this issue changed your perspective at all? How so? How might you act differently after reading about the importance of salmon in both Indigenous culture and our ecosystems?

Find and support Native owned bookstores at blog.libro.fm/indigenousowned-bookstores/

From February 9-11, Catholic community organizers, theologians, and those committed to social justice work gathered at the University of San Francisco for a conference titled “Prophetic Communities.” Participants from across the country participated in plenaries, workshops, and synodal sessions aimed at connecting Catholic social thought and the work of community organizing. The conference offered the opportunity for meaningful and intentional dialogue, networking among Catholics from diverse vocations, and the creation of materials that express the importance of Catholic community organizing to the Catholic tradition. On May 12, planners and participants of the conference will gather virtually to work toward ensuring Catholic community organizing is part of the spiritual formation of the faithful with the long-term goal of creating a more just church.

At the Table: Conversations with Catholic Students

On March 22nd, IPJC’s Youth Action Team interns hosted an event called “At the Table: Conversations with Catholic Students.” After three months of engaging community stakeholders in listening sessions and relationshipbuilding events, the interns identified that racism and ableism were key issues affecting the educational community. As their first course of action to address education inequities, the students planned and facilitated a public storytelling event to raise consciousness about the issues and build relationships with interested parties. Eighty Catholic school students, faculty, and staff attended the action. Four interns shared their experiences of racism and ableism at their schools and the remainder presented listeners with their vision for creating a more equitable and inclusive Catholic school system. To read the students demands and potential solutions and to support their petition visit: https://tinyurl.com/3fvx78fu.

Season 4 of Justice Rising Podcast

Justice Rising is back for a fourth season! This season will be an expansion of the themes, ideas, vision, and desires developed at the Prophetic Communities conference. In each episode, Justice Rising host Cecilia Flores will interview faith-based community organizers about the community organizing cycle, the joys and challenges of organizing in the church, organizing in diverse contexts, and how organizing leads to the reinvigoration of the Catholic tradition. Catch up on past seasons and tune in for season four at: https://ipjc.org/justice-rising-podcast/

Upcoming Events

The Annual Spring Benefit

Ignite - July 2023

We are so excited to partner with Agape Service Project, Youth Migrant Project, and Jesuits West to offer an immersive faith-based community organizing experience in Whatcom County and Skagit Valley in July. Ignite allows Catholic high school students and faculty the opportunity to be immersed in the farmworker reality, serve in solidarity and collaboration with farmworkers, develop leadership skills as faith based organizers, and meaningfully engage in spiritual practices. Learn more about Ignite and register your school at: https://ipjc.org/ spring-benefit-registration/.

Youth Action Team Internship Application

Thursday May 18, 6:30pm

Join us on May 18th at 6:30pm at Seattle University for our annual Spring Benefit fundraiser. We are excited to gather in person after many years apart due to the challenges and risks related to COVID. This year’s theme, Extraordinary Courage, stemmed out of a desire to celebrate the courage each of us had to embody to survive the pandemic and the courage our community partners enact each day as they strive for justice. The 2023 Thea Bowman award will be presented to an extraordinarily courageous woman, Sr. Judy Byron! To purchase tickets to this year’s event visit: https:// ipjc.org/spring-benefit-registration/. We cannot wait to see you there!

It is time to begin the application process for next academic year’s cohort of Youth Action Team Interns! The application deadline is May 24th. The details of Youth Action Team Internship, its requirements, and the application are available at: https://ipjc.org/youth-action-teaminternship/.

Donations

IN HONOR OF Judy Byron, OP IN MEMORY OF Gael O’Reilly Rose Gallager, SNJM