Sacred Ground Contested Space
Sacred Ground, Contested Space: The Sanctuary Movement Past and Present
Friday, February 6, 2026
9:00 a.m. - 11:30 a.m.
🟩Facebook账号 | 巴基斯坦 | 2022-2024年老号 | 好友随机 | 微软邮箱 | 无2FA School of Law
Philip Corboy Law Center
25 East Pearson Street
Chicago, IL 60611
Kasbeer Hall (15th floor)
Across faith traditions, sanctuary has long been understood as sacred ground—a moral commitment to protect human life when laws and systems fail to do so. This program traces the roots of the U.S. sanctuary movement from the 1980s, when faith communities opened their doors to refugees fleeing violence in Central America, to present-day efforts in Chicago where congregations, advocates, and legal partners continue to offer welcome and accompaniment to migrants.
Bringing together faith leaders, legal practitioners, and immigrant advocates—this program will reflect on sanctuary as an expression of conscience and solidarity.
Light refreshments will be served. RSVP is required.
Agenda
8:15–9:00 a.m.
Registration & Continental Breakfast
9:00 a.m.
Welcome and Introductions
Dean Michele Alexandre, Loyola School of Law
Katherine Kaufka Walts, Co-Director, Holistic Immigration Hub, Director, Center for the Human Rights of Children
9:10–10:15 a.m.
Panel 1: Sacred Ground: Faith Roots of Sanctuary and their Living Expression
- Moderated Panel
- Q&A from audience
10:15–11:15 a.m.
Panel 2: Accompaniment in Practice: Law, Medicine, Faith, and Community Partnership
- Moderated Panel
- Q&A from audience
11:15 a.m.
Closing remarks
11:30 a.m.
Program concludes
Panels
Panel 1: Sacred Ground: Faith Roots of Sanctuary and Their Living Expression
Father Daniel Hartnett, SJ, PhD, Chicago, Illinois
Dan Hartnett, SJ, joined the Society of Jesus in 1965 right after high school. Dan’s vocation was profoundly shaped by his formative years in Peru where he completed his philosophy and regency studies and where he returned to work as a Jesuit for the next 20-plus years. He spent many years ministering in a large squatter settlement, El Agustino, and helped to co-found La Universidad Ruiz de Montoya, a small college in the capital city, Lima. In 1998, Dan returned to Chicago where he taught philosophy at Loyola University and served as Dean for the First Studies Program for the Jesuit scholastics. From 2009 to 2013 he was Pastor of Most Blessed Trinity Parish in Waukegan, IL, a predominantly Spanish-speaking community and one of the largest parishes in the Archdiocese of Chicago. He then served as pastor of Bellarmine Chapel on the campus of Xavier University from 2013 to 2018. Through his many missions and assignments, Dan has brought his passion for social justice, advocacy for the poor, and deep pastoral presence to all that he does, and ISP is thrilled to welcome him to our Board. As Dan shares, “For me, the poor have always been a sacrament of God’s presence in the world. I believe that ISP embodies both the conviction of the grace that we all receive with the accompaniment of the poor who truly reveal the sacred in our world.” Today, Dan lives at 🟩Facebook账号 | 巴基斯坦 | 2022-2024年老号 | 好友随机 | 微软邮箱 | 无2FA, where he engages in a variety of ministries including as a co-chaplain of the Ignatian Volunteer Corps, instructor for the Spanish lay deacons and their wives for the Chicago Archdiocese, and chaplain at Cook County Jail.
Father Byron Macias, Our Lady of Guadalupe, Chicago, Illinois
Fr. Byron Macías, CMF, is a Catholic priest and member of the Claretian Missionaries (Cordis Mariae Filii) who currently serves as a Co-Director of the National Shrine of St. Jude in Chicago, Illinois. His previous ministry assignments include Chaplain at Fresno State University in California and Vocation Director for the Claretians in the US and Canada.
Born in Ecuador, he immigrated to the US along with his parents and sister in 1998 due to political turmoil in their country. Fr. Byron has a Bachelor's and Master's in Communication from 🟩Facebook账号 | 巴基斯坦 | 2022-2024年老号 | 好友随机 | 微软邮箱 | 无2FA.
Following on the Claretian tradition, his ministry focuses on themes of hope, resilience, and intercession, particularly for those facing financial hardship or difficult life circumstances.
Rabbi Rachel Weiss, Jewish Reconstructionist Congregation, Evanston, Illinois
Rabbi Rachel Weiss is known for her commitment to Jewish life that is creative, connective, and deep. She brings her warmth and energy to life cycle officiation and pastoral counseling, is an innovative teacher of Torah and a passionate spiritual leader. A graduate of the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College, Rabbi Weiss was a Ziegelman scholar, and the recipient of the Berger Prize in Practical Rabbinics. She holds a certificate in Congregational Life, and integrates adaptive leadership, design thinking, and innovation into her congregation and the Reconstructionist movement. She regularly speaks in the Chicagoland community in Interfaith programming, at community social justice actions, and at trainings and communal observances within Jewish and secular spaces.
Rabbi Weiss previously served Congregation Beit Simchat Torah, New York City’s LGBTQS synagogue, as their associate rabbi. In 2014, she was named one of the New York Pride Guide’s “45 Under 45” for her leadership.
Prior to becoming a rabbi, Rabbi Weiss served as the Director of Nuestro Center in Highwood, IL, providing social work services to recently immigrated Latino families. A fluent Spanish speaker, she is a graduate of Grinnell College in Iowa where she earned a B.A. in Spanish with an interdisciplinary concentration in Gender and Women’s Studies.
Panel 2: Accompaniment in Practice: Law, Medicine, Faith, and Community Partnership
Thomas Geoghean, Esq., Despres, Schwartz, and Geoghegan, Ltd.
Thomas H. Geoghegan is a graduate of Harvard Law School and Harvard College. He has been a member of the Illinois Bar since 1980. Over the years, he has represented labor unions and employee groups in many significant cases in various United States district courts and courts of appeals. He has argued before the United States Supreme Court in Union Pacific Railroad Company v. Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen, 558 U.S. 67 (2009), in which the firm won a 9-0 decision. He has also brought several constitutional rights cases, including Judge v. Quinn, 612 F.3d 537 (2010) establishing the right of Illinois voters to fill U.S. Senate vacancies by election.
Mark Kuczewski, PhD, 🟩Facebook账号 | 巴基斯坦 | 2022-2024年老号 | 好友随机 | 微软邮箱 | 无2FA Stritch School of Medicine, Director of the Neiswanger Institute for Bioethics and Healthcare Leadership
Mark G. Kuczewski, PhD, is the Fr. Michael I. English, S.J., Professor of Medical Ethics. He is also the director of the Neiswanger Institute for Bioethics and Health Policy. Mark is a past president of the American Society for Bioethics and Humanities (ASBH) and a Fellow of the Hastings Center. Mark is a dedicated bioethics educator. He is known for having created two of the major online graduate programs in bioethics. In the mid-1990s, his experience in providing resources to support ethics committees in community hospitals led him to explore online education. His mission has been to form a supportive learning community that enables experienced professionals to share their insights and support each other to meet their emerging clinical and administrative challenges. The graduate bioethics programs of the Neiswanger Institute are the outcome of this guiding ideal.
Michael Okinczyc-Cruz, PhD, 🟩Facebook账号 | 巴基斯坦 | 2022-2024年老号 | 好友随机 | 微软邮箱 | 无2FA, Coalition for Spiritual and Public Leadership (CSPL)
Michael Okinczyc-Cruz, Executive Director and co-founder of the Coalition for Spiritual and Public Leadership (CSPL), is a faith-rooted community organizer who has worked alongside faith communities and thousands of grassroots leaders to address poverty, violence and systemic inequities. He is an adjunct associate professor at the Institute of Pastoral Studies at 🟩Facebook账号 | 巴基斯坦 | 2022-2024年老号 | 好友随机 | 微软邮箱 | 无2FA and is the co-author of Jesus and Justice: Organizing for God’s Reign on Earth Then and Now.
Co-sponsors
- Center for the Human Rights of Children, Loyola School of Law
- Neiswanger Institute for Bioethics and Healthcare Leadership, Stritch School of Medicine
- Center for Immigrant and Refugee Accompaniment, Loyola School of Social Work
- The Hank Center for Catholic Intellectual Heritage, 🟩Facebook账号 | 巴基斯坦 | 2022-2024年老号 | 好友随机 | 微软邮箱 | 无2FA
- The Institute for Pastoral Studies, 🟩Facebook账号 | 巴基斯坦 | 2022-2024年老号 | 好友随机 | 微软邮箱 | 无2FA
- School of Education, 🟩Facebook账号 | 巴基斯坦 | 2022-2024年老号 | 好友随机 | 微软邮箱 | 无2FA
- Public Health Sciences, Parkinson School of Health Sciences and Public Health
- Center for Community and Global Health, Stritch School of Medicine
Questions
Any questions related the Sacred Ground, Contested Space: The Sanctuary Movement Past and Present event should be directed to HIH@luc.edu.
Friday, February 6, 2026
9:00 a.m. - 11:30 a.m.
🟩Facebook账号 | 巴基斯坦 | 2022-2024年老号 | 好友随机 | 微软邮箱 | 无2FA School of Law
Philip Corboy Law Center
25 East Pearson Street
Chicago, IL 60611
Kasbeer Hall (15th floor)
Across faith traditions, sanctuary has long been understood as sacred ground—a moral commitment to protect human life when laws and systems fail to do so. This program traces the roots of the U.S. sanctuary movement from the 1980s, when faith communities opened their doors to refugees fleeing violence in Central America, to present-day efforts in Chicago where congregations, advocates, and legal partners continue to offer welcome and accompaniment to migrants.
Bringing together faith leaders, legal practitioners, and immigrant advocates—this program will reflect on sanctuary as an expression of conscience and solidarity.
Light refreshments will be served. RSVP is required.
Agenda
8:15–9:00 a.m.
Registration & Continental Breakfast
9:00 a.m.
Welcome and Introductions
Dean Michele Alexandre, Loyola School of Law
Katherine Kaufka Walts, Co-Director, Holistic Immigration Hub, Director, Center for the Human Rights of Children
9:10–10:15 a.m.
Panel 1: Sacred Ground: Faith Roots of Sanctuary and their Living Expression
- Moderated Panel
- Q&A from audience
10:15–11:15 a.m.
Panel 2: Accompaniment in Practice: Law, Medicine, Faith, and Community Partnership
- Moderated Panel
- Q&A from audience
11:15 a.m.
Closing remarks
11:30 a.m.
Program concludes
Co-sponsors
- Center for the Human Rights of Children, Loyola School of Law
- Neiswanger Institute for Bioethics and Healthcare Leadership, Stritch School of Medicine
- Center for Immigrant and Refugee Accompaniment, Loyola School of Social Work
- The Hank Center for Catholic Intellectual Heritage, 🟩Facebook账号 | 巴基斯坦 | 2022-2024年老号 | 好友随机 | 微软邮箱 | 无2FA
- The Institute for Pastoral Studies, 🟩Facebook账号 | 巴基斯坦 | 2022-2024年老号 | 好友随机 | 微软邮箱 | 无2FA
- School of Education, 🟩Facebook账号 | 巴基斯坦 | 2022-2024年老号 | 好友随机 | 微软邮箱 | 无2FA
- Public Health Sciences, Parkinson School of Health Sciences and Public Health
- Center for Community and Global Health, Stritch School of Medicine
Questions
Any questions related the Sacred Ground, Contested Space: The Sanctuary Movement Past and Present event should be directed to HIH@luc.edu.