About us

Interdisciplinary and Interuniversity Team

Jordan as interuniversity project. It is made up of universities of the Society of Jesus in Spain (UNIJES). Specifically, the Comillas Pontifical University, the University of Deusto, the Loyola Andalucía University and the Chemical Institute of Sarrià-Ramón LLull University (IQS) participate.

It is coordinated by the Doctor in Canon Law, Valeska Ferrer Usó. The interdisciplinary teamIt is made up:

Theology: Ianire Angulo Ordorika, Elisa Estévez López, Nurya Martínez-Gayol Fernández, Julio Martínez Martínez, Diego Molina Molina, Gabino Uríbarri Bilbao.
Canon Law: Jorge Canarias Fernández-Cavada, Miguel Campo Ibáñez, Carmen Peña García, José Luis Sánchez-Girón Renedo.
Psychology: Virginia Cagigal de Gregorio, Pedro Mendoza, María Prieto Ursúa, Sandra Racionero Plaza.
Philosophy-Ethics: Galo Bilbao Alberdi, Jonatan Caro Rey, Cristina Pena Mardaras, Oriol Quintana Rubio.

The team also works with a national and international dialogue community.

OUR MISSION

Our work plan is based on reality checkon the situation of abuses in the Spanish Church and current culture.

Two analysis tools are being carried out:

- Quantitative: a survey of the Spanish Province of the Society of Jesus started at the end of 2022.

- Qualitative: semi-structured interviews with victims, perpetrators and members of ecclesial institutions.

The characteristics of the people who participate in the research interviews are:

The interviewed victims have overcome the trauma of the wound caused by the abuse, they can speak with a certain peace and serenity.
The perpetrators have recognized the facts and have taken responsibility for them and their consequences, being open to reparation.
The members of the ecclesial institutions that have had to manage these situations see a need for a change in the way they are managed.

After data collection, the data will be discussed with the research team, with the following objectives:

Review the content of power and authority in the Church along with other theological and ecclesial categories.
Propose personal and institutional categories and ways of proceeding that bet on and encourage behaviors typical of a culture of life and good treatment, safe environments and the deactivation of dynamics that favor abusive behavior.

The results of the research will be presented over the next two years through:

Publications of articles indexed in JCR and Scopus.
Celebration of an International Congress (2024).

INSPIRES US

The Jordan Project wants to make a believing reading of reality of abuses in the church and in society with a critical eye and a sense of reconciliation.

The biblical icon that gives dynamism and light to the project ist on the project is, as its name indicates, the Baptism of the Lord in the Jordan. God, in the trinitarian presence of this image, penetrates everyday reality and shows himself audibly. In this image we find several keys of interpretation that want to shed light on this research project:

The waters, which purify evil. Waters into which Jesus walks, incorporated into the "row of sinners", even without having sin, joining the rest of humanity, bearing our mistakes and injustices to let the water cleanse, heal and renew. It opens the door to the possibility of communion and reconciliation in Him.
The open sky that enables communication. The voice of God creates a new intimacy by addressing Jesus as "Son" and with this begins a new form of relationship, introduces us to Abba, in the image of a God the Father who cares, accompanies, and sustains.
The dove-shaped Spirit anoints Jesus for the mission, covers him with the strength, courage, hope, to be the presence of God in the midst of the world.

From here the commitment of the Jordan Project is illuminated: reconciliation in Jesus, the image and intimacy with the Father as sons and daughters and the call to service in the mission for the Kingdom.

To introduce us as Church in a purifying current that, from the recognition of the evil committed, the damage caused and its consequences, in the light of the Spirit, walks towards a profound renewal and reconciliation that helps us to live as daughters and sons of God, making his Kingdom a reality.