A crisis shakes the Justice and Faith Center and the magazine Relationships since the end of March: sudden interruption of activities and brutal layoff of staff, accompanied by unsatisfactory explanations and a vague mention of possible resumption in the fall. Several letters of indignation were addressed to the board of directors and to the Jesuit Province of Canada by numerous citizens and various public figures from different community, cultural and academic backgrounds. Nearly 1,000 people sign a Statement in solidarity with staff, and the list is growing. The standard letter that some received in response smacks of a communications operation more than it explains how such a decision can be justified. Casualness or insensitivity? Refusal to be accountable to the numerous collaborators and allies who until now considered themselves in good faith as partners of this Center? Such silence seems unacceptable in any case.
It is important to take the proper measure of this crisis. Beyond the fate inflicted on an institution and its staff, it is the Quebec movement of awareness and social transformation which risks losing one of its strongest supports. The scarcity of resources seeking to make our society more humane would rather require us to protect and support those that remain. The damage caused by these authoritarian measures is already considerable: the credibility of the Center risks being weakened, the viability of Relationships is compromised, and people are made precarious. It becomes more urgent every day for the board of directors of the Justice and Faith Center to rectify the situation and reassume an essential commitment.
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