JRS USA President Kelly Ryan on refugees, Trump and the role of the church

Jesuitical

America Media

Spirituality, Christianity, News, News Commentary, Religion & Spirituality

4.8 • 949 Ratings

🗓️ 17 January 2025

⏱️ 49 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

On “Jesuitical” this week, Zac and Ashley chat with Kelly Ryan, the president of Jesuit Refugee Service USA, about her 30 years of experience working with refugees, asylum seekers and migrants in light of a second Trump administration. A two-time U.S. presidential political appointee, Kelly has also worked extensively with faith-based organizations, including the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops and the Holy See. Zac, Ashley and Kelly discuss: - The origins of Jesuit Refugee Service, from its founding in 1980 by Pedro Arrupe, S.J., to assist refugees, especially those fleeing the Vietnam War - Challenges at the U.S. southern border, including the dangerous journeys many migrants make and the difficulties in processing their asylum claims - Concern about potential changes to refugee admissions and deportation policies under the incoming Trump administration In Signs of the Times, Zac and Ashley discuss Pope Francis’ autobiography Hope, which features critical reflections about his rowdy youth and staunch defenses of his most controversial moves; plus they chat about the 2025 College Football National Championship between the University of Notre Dame and Ohio State University, including some words on Marcus Freeman, Notre Dame’s current coach, a Catholic convert—and a former Buckeye. Links for further reading: Opening doors at Advent and all year long: How J.R.S. responds to the plight of refugees Pope Francis acknowledges mistakes and defends most controversial decisions in new autobiography Notre Dame story Father Pedro Arrupe: a controversial Jesuit’s bumpy path to sainthood A Jesuit border priest on Trump and the plight of migrants 109th World Day of Refugees and Migrants Message from Pope Francis Jesuit Refugee Service JRS is on Instagram: @jrs_usa You can follow us on X and on Instagram @jesuiticalshow. You can find us on Facebook at facebook.com/groups/jesuitical. Please consider supporting Jesuitical by becoming a digital subscriber to America Media at americamagazine.org/subscribe Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	What kind of weekend are you in the mood for?
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0:06.0	Whether that be two days of twists and turns with only murders in the building,
0:11.0	drama and fine dining with The Bear,
0:13.0	or a journey back to feudal Japan with Shogun.
0:17.0	January weekends just got better with Disney Plus.
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0:22.1	18 plus subscription required.
0:24.0	Learn more at Disneyplus.com.
0:36.6	Hello and welcome to Judge Whitical, a podcast from American Media for Saints and Sinners.
0:41.1	You can join us each week for honest conversations about the Catholic Church in our world today,
0:46.0	sometimes over drinks. I'm Ashley McHenlist, and I'm joined by Zach Davis. Good to be with you,
0:50.2	as always, Ashley. Good to be here. Looking forward to the big game. I am. Yeah, I hail from
0:56.2	Ohio. Listeners of this podcast, probably don't know that, but I try to remind them once in a while.
1:01.0	So yeah, we're excited to cheer on my Buckeyes on Monday. Yeah, we're going to get more into that
1:05.3	and send to the times. But first, our guest this week is really exciting. Yeah, we're talking to Kelly Ryan, who is the president of Jesuit Refugee Service USA. And she is, in addition to that, just has this impressive background. And we thought this was a really important conversation to have, especially with the inauguration coming and the new presidential administration, you know, migration is always
1:28.8	a hot topic in the United States. And it's a really complicated issue. And this is someone who's
1:32.6	worked in it at a number of different levels for a long time. Yeah. So she has over 30 years
1:37.0	of experience working with refugees, asylum seekers, migrants, both in faith-based organizations.
1:42.9	So with the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops
1:45.3	and the Holy See, but also as a presidential appointee twice, once in the State Department
1:50.9	and another stint at the Department of Homeland Security.
	...

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