The Jesuit Refugee Service (JRS) is an international Catholic organisation with a mission to accompany, serve, and advocate on behalf of refugees and other forcibly displaced persons, that they may heal, learn, and determine their own future. Founded in November 1980 as a work of the

Society of Jesus The Society of Jesus (; abbreviation: S.J. or SJ), also known as the Jesuit Order or the Jesuits ( ; ), is a religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rome. It was founded in 1540 ...

, JRS was officially registered on 19 March 2000 in

Vatican City Vatican City, officially the Vatican City State (; ), is a Landlocked country, landlocked sovereign state and city-state; it is enclaved within Rome, the capital city of Italy and Bishop of Rome, seat of the Catholic Church. It became inde ...

as a foundation. The impetus to found JRS came from the then superior general of the

Jesuit The Society of Jesus (; abbreviation: S.J. or SJ), also known as the Jesuit Order or the Jesuits ( ; ), is a religious order (Catholic), religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rom ...

Pedro Arrupe Pedro Arrupe y Gondra, (14 November 1907 – 5 February 1991) was a Spanish Catholic priest who served as the 28th superior general of the Society of Jesus from 1965 to 1983. He has been called a second founder of the Society, which he led in ...

, who was inspired to action by the plight of

Vietnamese boat people Vietnamese boat people () were refugees who fled Vietnam by boat and ship following the end of the Vietnam War in 1975. This migration and humanitarian crisis was at its highest in the late 1970s and early 1980s, but continued well into the earl ...

. JRS has programmes in over 55 countries. The areas of work are in the field of

education Education is the transmission of knowledge and skills and the development of character traits. Formal education occurs within a structured institutional framework, such as public schools, following a curriculum. Non-formal education als ...

, emergency assistance,

health care Health care, or healthcare, is the improvement or maintenance of health via the preventive healthcare, prevention, diagnosis, therapy, treatment, wikt:amelioration, amelioration or cure of disease, illness, injury, and other disability, physic ...

, livelihoods, reconciliation, and psychosocial support. JRS is also involved in advocacy and

human rights Human rights are universally recognized Morality, moral principles or Social norm, norms that establish standards of human behavior and are often protected by both Municipal law, national and international laws. These rights are considered ...

work. This involves ensuring that refugees are afforded their full rights as guaranteed by the 1951 Geneva

Convention relating to the Status of Refugees The Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees, also known as the 1951 Refugee Convention or the Geneva Convention of 28 July 1951 is a United Nations multilateral treaty that defines who a refugee is and sets out the rights of individuals ...

and working to strengthen the protection afforded to

Internally displaced person An internally displaced person (IDP) is someone who is forced to leave their home but who remains within their country's borders. They are often referred to as refugees, although they do not fall within the legal definitions of a refugee. I ...

s (IDPs). JRS's international headquarters is located in

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

at the Society's General Curia. The International Director is Br Michael Schöpf SJ.

History

JRS was founded in November 1980 by Fr.

SJ, the then superior general of the Society of Jesus, to respond to the plight of

fleeing their war-ravaged homeland. Following the end of the Vietnam War in 1975, hundreds of thousands of South Vietnamese fled their homes, setting out in overcrowded boats across the South China Sea. Many did not survive the journey; they were killed by pirates, or drowned because of storms and rough seas. Fr Arrupe felt compelled to act. He called on the Jesuits "to bring at least some relief to such a tragic situation." Fr Arrupe wrote to over 50 Jesuit provinces regarding the situation, recognising that the Jesuits, then numbering 27,000 men across the world, were well-placed to coordinate a global humanitarian response. As conflicts broke out in Central and Latin America, southeastern Europe, and across Africa, JRS rapidly grew from helping Vietnamese boat people in a few camps in Southeast Asia to working with refugees around the world. Nearly 20 years after its founding, JRS was officially registered as a foundation of the Vatican City State on 19 March 2000. Today, JRS works in over 55 countries serving more than 1.5 million people.

Mission

JRS's mission is to accompany, serve, and advocate on behalf of refugees and other forcibly displaced persons, that they may heal, learn, and determine their own future. As an international humanitarian NGO, JRS strives to implement the magis ideal of

Ignatius of Loyola Ignatius of Loyola ( ; ; ; ; born Íñigo López de Oñaz y Loyola; – 31 July 1556), venerated as Saint Ignatius of Loyola, was a Basque Spaniard Catholic priest and theologian, who, with six companions, founded the religious order of the S ...

, founder of the

s. One of the key messages of the 35th Jesuit General Congregation (2008) was to reach new physical, cultural, religious and social frontiers, to those who are estranged, a task confirmed by two

Popes The pope is the bishop of Rome and the visible head of the worldwide Catholic Church. He is also known as the supreme pontiff, Roman pontiff, or sovereign pontiff. From the 8th century until 1870, the pope was the sovereign or head of sta ...

. The search for new frontiers has taken JRS to places where refugees face deprivation and abuse of their basic rights: traditional refugee camps, detention centres and prisons, conflict zones, border areas, and in the heart of big cities, including Iraq and Syria. On 24 May 2019, Jesuit Superior General

Arturo Sosa Arturo Marcelino Sosa Abascal (born 12 November 1948) is a Venezuelan Catholic priest who has served as the 31st superior general of the Society of Jesus since 2016. He was elected by the Society's 36th General Congregation to succeed Adolf ...

called all Jesuits to "renewed commitment" to JRS in accord with the Jesuits' newly promulgated apostolic preferences, endorsed by

Pope Francis Pope Francis (born Jorge Mario Bergoglio; 17 December 1936 – 21 April 2025) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 13 March 2013 until Death and funeral of Pope Francis, his death in 2025. He was the fi ...

. For its part JRS is restructuring to produce "strong country offices that will strengthen local capacity and encourage subsidiarity." JRS defined its priorities for 2019-2023 as, "the promotion of reconciliation and social cohesion; the delivery of quality formal and informal education; innovative livelihood programmes that lead to self-reliance and sustainability; and effective advocacy for the rights of refugees." JRS is a signatory to the Immunization Agenda 2030 pledge, seeking to increase the worldwide uptake of

vaccines A vaccine is a biological preparation that provides active acquired immunity to a particular infectious or malignant disease. The safety and effectiveness of vaccines has been widely studied and verified. A vaccine typically contains an ag ...

in support of the

Sustainable Development Goals The ''2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development'', adopted by all United Nations (UN) members in 2015, created 17 world Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The aim of these global goals is "peace and prosperity for people and the planet" – wh ...

Refugees

In deciding with whom to work, JRS finds the scope of existing international conventions is too restrictive. It therefore applies the expression 'de facto refugee' to all "persons persecuted because of race, religion, membership of social or political groups"; to "the victims of armed conflicts, erroneous economic policy or natural disasters"; and, for "humanitarian reasons", to internally displaced persons, that is, civilians who "are forcibly uprooted from their homes by the same type of violence as refugees but who do not cross national frontiers." Since the above definition refers only to individuals in fear of persecution, regional organisations in both Africa (African Union 1969) and Latin America (Organisation for American States 1984) have developed wider definitions which include mass displacements which occur as a result of social and economic collapse in the context of conflict. JRS strives by "accompaniment" to respect the human dignity of all refugees throughout their ordeal.

UNHCR

On the website of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, detailed recent reports are given of JRS work under the following categories: Country Reports, Fact Finding Reports, Handbooks/Manuals, Legal Articles/Analyses/Commentaries, Policy/Position Papers, Regional Reports, and Thematic Reports.

References

External links

Official website
* {{Coord, 41, 54, 4.94, N, 12, 27, 38, E, display=title Charities based in Italy Emergency organizations Christian refugee aid organizations Jesuit development centres Christian organizations established in 1980 Homelessness charities Peace organizations International educational charities Refugee aid organizations Catholic organizations