How can Catholics stand alongside people on the margins? On this week’s episode of “The Spiritual Life”, James Martin, S.J., speaks with Cardinal Michael Czerny about working for justice and facing life’s realities without losing hope. Cardinal Czerny, whose ministry as a Jesuit and now as a Cardinal has always focused on listening and ministering to the marginalized, was made an archbishop and cardinal by Pope Francis in 2019. In 2022, he was appointed prefect of the Vatican’s Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development, and in May 2026, Cardinal Czerny helped establish a special Vatican Commission on Artificial Intelligence. As a cardinal, he participated in the conclave that elected Pope Leo XIV. In this conversation, Cardinal Michael recalls ministering in El Salvador during the civil war, responding to the AIDS crisis in Sub-Saharan Africa, and advocating for migrants and refugees around the globe.

Chapters:
00:00 Who is Cardinal Michael Czerny?
5:25 Jesuits martyred in El Salvador
10:10 The African AIDS epidemic and facing reality
14:38 Being a refugee; welcome refugees
19:03 God is always close
22:30 Cardinal Michael's daily spiritual practice
23:42 Migration and the crisis of management
28:54 How to help migrants and refugees
32:45 Hope is a precious commodity
34:14 Suffering, injustice and sin
38:36 The Vatican and A.I.
44:53 Audience question: How to advocate for justice

Read Maggi's spiritual advice article for this episode: https://www.americamagazine.org/podcasts/2026/11/02/cardinal-czerny-spiritual-life-james-martin-social-justice/

Links from the show:
Remembering Cardinal Czerny’s courageous past in El Salvador: https://www.americamagazine.org/faith/2019/10/30/remembering-cardinal-czernys-courageous-past-el-salvador
Cardinal Czerny awarded inaugural Pope Leo XIV Sustainability Medal: https://www.americamagazine.org/news/2026/09/16/pope-sustainability-medal-award
Cardinal Czerny on Pope Francis, Catholic social teaching and the legacy of Vatican II: https://www.americamagazine.org/faith/2023/06/30/jesuitical-cardinal-czerny-245626
Cardinal Czerny on sustainability, AIDS and AI: https://www.americamagazine.org/vatican-dispatch/2026/10/21/cardinal-czerny-laudato-si-sustainability-award-villanova

Support The Spiritual Life by becoming a digital subscriber to America magazine at americamagazine.org/subscribe

Do you have a spiritual question for Fr. Jim? You can write to us at: [email protected]

Become a subscriber today at Americamagazine.org/subscribe