In honor of the legacy of Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., the St. Joe's community met on January 23rd to celebrate our Mass of Solidarity. Solidarity is one of the seven core Catholic Social Teachings. In a Catholic understanding, the principle of solidarity challenges us to treat every neighbor as “another self."
To engage our students in this theme of solidarity, we invited Courtney Santasero, a community leader of Nahuatl heritage in Buffalo who currently works with the Erie County Restorative Justice Coalition. As our 2025 Solidarity Speaker, Courtney drew from ancient indigenous wisdom and contemporary scientific understanding to share how deeply interconnected we are as human beings. Courtney challenged our students to see their relationships as essential to their identity.
In Courtney’s words, “Let me get to know you so that I may better get to know
Myself.”
We hope and pray that St. Joe’s students will take in this message and deepen their sense of interconnectedness and solidarity with all people in our world.