Center for Faith and Justice
Deepening Spirituality, Pursuing Justice and Promoting Pluralism
Rooted in our Jesuit, Catholic tradition, the Dorothy Day Center for Faith & Justice (CFJ) helps students make meaning, discover purpose and work for a better world through communities bound by common belief, a sense of belonging and the desire to seek solidarity. We support and challenge one another as we wrestle with big questions, grow in relationship and community and journey through Xavier and beyond.
We are an office that has grown out of what used to be three separate centers—Campus Ministry, Peace & Justice and Interfaith Community Engagement. By building community together, we create dynamic spaces for you to grow into who you are called to be.
Deepening Spirituality
Our vibrant Catholic campus ministry communities offer everything from student lead masses to retreats, from spiritual direction to fellowship, with maybe even the occasional pie in a Presider's face, while our multi-faith chaplaincy staff allows you to explore or grow your faith in many traditions. At the CFJ, discern who God is calling you to be and how to live out your faith in the world.
Learn About Catholic Campus MinistryLearn About Our Many Faith Traditions
Pursuing Justice
As a Jesuit, Catholic University, engaging service, immersion, advocacy and justice is an important part of who we are. Whether you can commit for a morning or for a whole summer, our programs will provide spaces for you to grow in compassion and critical engagement of the world as we work towards living out solidarity.
Pursuing Justice at Xavier University
Promoting Pluralism
At the CFJ, we know that engaging difference also helps us to deepen our own identities and commitments. Our Jesuit, Catholic tradition invites us towards pluralism. Join this journey through interfaith dialogue, immersion, leadership, faith and race programming or simply by meeting up with the staff.
Pluralism and Engaging Difference on Campus
Get Connected
The best way to stay up-to-date on all current events, applications, and more is to follow us on social media and find us on Engage. Sign up for our weekly newsletter. Find us on Instagram @xucfj. Join our portal on EngageXU. Or drop by to see at on the third floor of Gallagher Student Center, Room 310 by the elevator. You can always reach out to a staff person to get started too. Meet Our StaffOur First Faith & Justice Fair!
Looking for ways to pause your busy life, and to play with big ideas in community? Join at Sept. 8 from 12-2:30 on the yard to meet CFJ programs, learn about new initiatives, and build new relationships.
Meet our Jesuit Regent
This summer, Matthew Zurcher, SJ, joined the CFJ to facilitate Catholic Community, help with retreats, and provide spiritual direction. Matthew comes to Xavier fresh from Loyola Chicago having finished a Masters Degree in Social Philosophy. Matthew has worked as a halfway house manager, choral conductor, school bus driver, prison chaplain, and high school English teacher. He is a connoisseur of ice cream and the band, Phish.
Consider a retreat this year
Take time this year to step away to reflect on your values, deepen your faith and discern direction. Coming up this year--our classic Ignatian retreats, Encounter - Oct. 14-16 and Approach March 31--April 1. Try our new Rooted retreat by and for students of color, Oct 14-16.
What do our students say?
Each spring, seniors reflect on their most significant experiences. A couple of snapshots from the Class of 2021...
"In this community, the simple gesture of respecting other opinions and being vulnerable helped in building authentic relationships." - Jacara Betts
"I felt so incredibly loved by some of my closest friends, by some acquaintances, and by some strangers." - Alysia Wilson
"I now know that by recognizing privilege, but I have a duty to listen and learn while serving." - Niki Shekeran
"Mass puts me in a state of grace, where I see God first, present in me and those around me, and it constantly challenges me to work to be more like Christ in how I love." - Maggie Farrell
"Dorothy Day Immersions was the single most formative experience of my time at Xavier and will be one for my whole life. If faith is that thing which we devote our entire selves to, that ultimate concern, then a faith that works for justice is what I chose." - Jonathon Hesford
125 years since her birth, Dorothy Day remains integral to faith and justice at Xavier
Tuesday marks the 125th birthday of Dorothy Day, the trailblazing activist whom Pope Francis has hailed for her "passion for justice and for the cause of the oppressed.”