Cardinal Michael Czerny, a Czech-born Canadian Jesuit, has dedicated his life to social justice issues and is currently prefect of the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development, leading Pope Francis’ defense of migrants and his focus on the environment.

Born on July 18, 1946, in Brno, Czechoslovakia (now Czech Republic), Czerny comes from a family with Jewish roots who survived the Holocaust. His mother, a Catholic with Jewish ancestors, survived a concentration camp, while his father endured forced labor during World War II. His grandfather died in a concentration camp, and two uncles were murdered in forced labor camps.

In 1948, Czerny’s family immigrated to Canada, settling in Montreal. He joined the Society of Jesus in 1963 and was ordained a priest in 1973. Czerny earned a doctorate in interdisciplinary studies from the University of Chicago in 1978. His dissertation was entitled “Feuerbach the Teacher and Marx the Prophet — An Introduction to Religion.”

Throughout his career, Czerny has been deeply involved in social justice initiatives. In 1979, he co-founded the Jesuit Centre for Social Faith and Justice in Toronto, serving as its first director until 1989. Following the assassination of six Jesuits in El Salvador in 1989, Czerny volunteered to replace one of the murdered priests, directing the University of Central America’s Institute for Human Rights and assisting in negotiations to end the country’s civil war.

From 1992 to 2002, Czerny worked at the Jesuit General Curia in Rome, focusing on social justice and ecology. In 2002, he founded the African Jesuit AIDS Network, providing pastoral care, education, and health services for people with HIV/AIDS in nearly 30 African countries.

Czerny’s Vatican career began in 2010 when he joined the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace. In 2016, Pope Francis appointed him under-secretary of the Migrants and Refugees Section of the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development. He was elevated to cardinal in October 2019 and became prefect of the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development in April 2022, succeeding Cardinal Peter Turkson whom he had advised for many years.

Notable events in Czerny’s recent ecclesial career include his participation in the Synod on the Amazon in 2019 and his mission to Ukraine in March 2022, when Pope Francis sent him with humanitarian aid following the Russian invasion.

Cardinal Czerny holds progressive views and overall his approach generally aligns with Pope Francis’ vision of pastoral care, mercy, and social justice.

As Prefect of the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development, he strongly emphasized the importance of welcoming and protecting migrants, in line with Pope Francis’ pronouncements. The Cardinal highlighted the severe hardships faced by migrants, describing their journeys as coming “straight from hell” and facing numerous dangers, and advocating on their behalf, also on the international stage.

The cardinal sees migration as an overall good, an opportunity for cultural enrichment and mutual exchange, potentially leading to “reciprocal gifts” between different cultures.

Czerny connects the issue of migration with environmental concerns, asserting that many are forced to flee due to the climate crisis. He emphasizes the need to address both the “cry of the earth and the cry of the poor.”

He is very vocal about the environment and has called for an ecological conversion. “Ecology” may be fashionable, he said, adding we have not grasped the gravity of the situation. The current ecological crisis is so deep, he added, “if we don’t change we won’t make it,” he said after the Amazon synod in 2019.

Czerny has called for a rapid transition from a fossil-fuel economy to a clean-energy economy, with the goal of achieving zero emissions by mid-century. He promotes the concept of “eco-justice,” which focuses on concern for the poor and vulnerable in addressing environmental issues and has urged educational institutions to become catalysts for action and critical thinking about our existence in our common home

Soon after the 2019 Amazon Synod the cardinal expressed continued openness to women deacons, after the participants called on the Pope to reopen a women deacons commission. The cardinal said the Church respects “different levels of authority,” adding that the issue of women deacons was “not within scope of the Synod for the Amazon” and that it must be reflected on at a different level.

Cardinal Czerny has defended the unborn. In response to the 2022 Dobbs decision that overturned Roe vs. Wade, he said that “life is sacred in all its stages, and, as such, all stages of life should be protected under law” and that the “whole community needs to provide solid assistance to mothers, couples and the unborn, encouraging mothers in difficulty to see the pregnancy through and entrust the infant to reliable foster parents.”

The cardinal added: “The protection and defense of human life is a matter not just of individual rights but of broad social significance. Adequate sexual education, accessible health care, affordable housing and sound legislation are needed to protect motherhood and the family and to overcome persistent inequities.”

Cardinal Czerny speaks English, Czech, French, German, Italian, and Spanish fluently or near-fluently.