Loretto and Land Justice Futures: working toward healing land, people and communities

In mid-2022 the Loretto Community was invited to participate in the Nuns and Nones (N&N) Land Justice project. N&N was aware of Loretto’s interest in this topic, as demonstrated by the 20 Loretto Community members who took part in a series of Zooms about Land Justice hosted by N&N fall 2021 – spring 2022. The partnership was fitting given Loretto’s embrace of Pope Francis’s Laudato Si’ encyclical and the Community’s commitment to work for racial, climate and earth justice. 

Land Justice Futures describes the purpose of the movement this way: 

“Today, 98 percent of land in the U.S. is owned by white people and institutions, and 1,500 acres of that land are developed every day. When we peel back the layers on today’s climate crisis, we see a history of violence to both people and the Earth.

“Land justice calls us to radically transform this reality — and create something new together. It is the practice of healing the land, protecting it from extraction, and restoring stewardship to Black, Indigenous and other dispossessed communities. The time is ripe for these possibilities to flourish — and religious communities can be the much-needed catalyst to make them come to life.”

With input from the Loretto Forum, Loretto’s Executive Committee accepted N&N’s invitation for the Loretto Community to join five other religious communities to become a Land Justice Focus Community. Loretto’s Focus team members, appointed by the President/Executive Committee, were Jessie Rathburn CoL, Libby Comeaux CoL, Eleanor Craig SL, Carole Eschen SL and Mary Margaret Murphy SL. Carolyn Jaramillo CoL joined Loretto’s team for our second year with N&N (now Land Justice Futures) when Jessie accepted a position with N&N in early 2024. 

Loretto’s team was asked to focus on two specific properties: Eleanor and Carole are learning about the property inherited by the Cavanaugh family located in Kansas. Libby and Mary Margaret are focusing on San Elizario, Texas, where Loretto began a short-lived school in the 1880s.

Each of the research teams has been looking into the history of this land, how it is now being used, who is working it, and what are the options to consider as Loretto moves into the future.

Through Loretto’s involvement with Land Justice Futures, the Community receives invaluable consulting help, land justice education, implementation possibilities and stimulation of learning with and from other religious communities through annual retreats together.

This week on Facebook and Instagram, we’ll share some of what Loretto is learning because of our involvement with Land Justice futures, and through the research being done by members of our focus team.