Reconciliation and restorative justice
Certificate offered at CTU combines theory and practical experience
Raechel Kiesel, community engagement coordinator at Room in the Inn in Nashville, Tennessee, became interested in restorative justice during her time studying theology at Notre Dame and working at Precious Blood Ministry of Reconciliation (PBMR) in Chicago, which serves members of Chicago’s Back of the Yards neighborhood who are affected by violence and trauma.
Through the coursework offered within the Certificate in Reconciliation and Restorative Justice, Raechel hopes to gain additional tools and understanding to bring to her current work of offering healing to those who face housing insecurity. Created by the Schreiter Institute of Precious Blood Spirituality at Catholic Theological Union and supported in part by Missionaries of the Precious Blood, the certificate offers both practice and theory that students use to gain a deeper understanding of the spirituality behind reconciliation and restorative justice and apply that understanding to their work.
Kevin Considine, director of the Schreiter Institute, teaches two of the courses required for the certificate. He says that studying reconciliation and restorative justice allows students “to better understand how God’s Spirit is already moving for healing, justice, forgiveness, and reconciliation and then how to accept God’s invitation to participate in this work in whatever context they are in and in whatever way, large or small, they discern.”
While anyone with an interest in the spirituality of reconciliation will benefit from the coursework, those who serve in fields such as prison or hospital ministry, youth development, social work, and advocacy roles are likely to find the coursework particularly helpful. Raechel says, “One of the greatest gifts of the courses so far has been the community of people that they bring together. Being able to have small group discussions about spirituality and suffering with practitioners who have been working as hospital chaplains, hearing from ministers in college dorms, serving survivors of abusive relationships, working within parishes around the world — the community here is truly inspiring.”
The Precious Blood Spirituality Institute (PBSI) partners with the Schreiter Institute to develop a theological perspective that informs Precious Blood spirituality. PBSI Executive Director Vicky Otto says, “One of the largest groups of people who are hungry to learn more about our spirituality is the lay people drawn to our communities. The certificate program offers them an opportunity to engage in in-depth discussions and reflections that support this development.”
Putting lessons into practice is an integral part of the certificate. One course includes a week-long immersive experience with the Lakota people on the Rosebud Reservation in South Dakota. Here, students learn to move across cultural boundaries, building bridges between cultures and creating relationships. Other field-placement opportunities can be found in parishes, hospitals, retreat centers, or PBMR. Vicky says, “Field placement helps the students go to a place of work and look through a lens of spirituality.”
Father Denny Kinderman, C.PP.S., sees this connection in action at PBMR. “I can think of no better way to address the divisiveness or woundedness one may encounter in today’s workplace, communities, or families than to be a living example of what reconciliation and restorative justice look like and sound like from one who lives the spirituality of the precious blood,” he says.
Though the coursework is relatively new, Considine is pleased with what students have accomplished thus far. He says, “They have been excellent students, and are interested in learning about theologies and spiritualities of social reconciliation, understanding and healing trauma, understanding intercultural perspectives on trauma, healing, and woundedness, as well as examining how they can address the harms of a wide variety of injustices in their own lives and in their own backyards.”