Social Mission
Inward Reflection, Outward Action
The social mission of the Catholic Church is a fundamental aspect of our faith that aims to improve the lives of the poor and vulnerable. Guided by Catholic Social Teaching, the Jesuits’ Universal Apostolic Preferences to walk with the excluded and care for our common home, the Corporal Works of Mercy, and the Archdiocese of Cincinnati’s Love in Action principle, St. Xavier Church engages in a variety of service ministries to bear hope and healing to our neighbors and all of creation.
Our Social Mission Leadership Team compiled a Year-in-Review document of all the ways our parish put love into action throughout 2025!
Social Mission Leadership Team
The St. Xavier Social Mission Leadership Team (SMLT) drives the expansion of social mission throughout the parish. The SMLT comprises parishioners representing a variety of ministries, interests, and demographics, and meets regularly with the Director and Associate Director of Social Mission to develop service ministries and other outreach opportunities, plan programs and events, and establish structures for meaningful engagement.
Interested in joining the SMLT? Click here to fill out an interest form!
Get Involved
For more information about our social mission efforts, including the following programs and partnerships, please contact us!
Sr. Whitney Schieltz, SC, Associate Director Social Mission: wschieltz@stxchurch.org
Tim Severyn, Parish Family Director of Sustainability and Social Mission: tseveryn@stxchurch.org
St. Vincent de Paul Society
The core of the St. Vincent de Paul Society is person-to-person home visits, when volunteers — known as Vincentians — meet with our downtown neighbors seeking assistance to find ways to meet their needs and offer spiritual support. Vincentians from St. Xavier Church and the Cathedral gather every Saturday morning from around 9 AM to 12 PM.
Visitiation Ministry
Through the newly forming St. Xavier Visitation Ministry, parishioners will assist in the pastoral care of the congregation by visiting and accompanying those who are dealing with grief, isolation, illness, job loss, spiritual crisis, or other difficult times in life.
Refugee Support Team
In partnership with Catholic Charities Southwestern Ohio, our parish helps provide cultural orientation, connection to community resources, transportation, tutoring, and additional support to refugee families recently resettled in Cincinnati. Our Refugee Support Fund also offers financial assistance to refugees facing eviction, food insecurity, and other hardships.
Healthy Earth Team
This is our Jesuit Parish Family’s response to Pope Francis’ call to ecological conversion issued in his encyclical Laudato Si’: On Care for Our Common Home. The Healthy Earth Team develops educational initiatives and immersive events that connect our Catholic faith to the need for action in protecting our common home from ecological exploitation and injustice. Click here to see our 2026-27 Laudato Si’ Action Platform plan.
Active Discipleship Days
Three times a year (in the spring, summer, and fall), our parish family joins with other Jesuit works for these family-friendly days of service, prayer, and reflection. Active Discipleship Days offer the opportunity to serve alongside fellow parishioners at a variety of sites across the community. Lunch is then provided while participants reflect on their experiences together.
Xavier Jesuit Academy
The newest Jesuit work in Cincinnati, Xavier Jesuit Academy (XJA) provides a faith-based, scholarship-funded education for boys in Bond Hill and surrounding areas. The elementary school has become a close partner with St Xavier Church, with parishioners routinely volunteering in a variety of roles and providing financial assistance. Additionally, XJA is a recurring service site for Active Discipleship Days and regular recipient of gifts from our Advent Giving Tree.
Ignatian Spirituality Project
The Ignatian Spirituality Project (ISP) is a Jesuit ministry that accompanies men and women recovering from homelessness and addiction, offering retreat programs where they are invited to experience God’s unconditional love. Volunteers provide transportation for retreat attendees, serve on retreat teams, and offer spiritual accompaniment.
Transforming Jail Ministries
The mission of Transforming Jail Ministries (TJM) is to take God’s message of hope to those in jail. One Sunday morning each month, a ministry team from the Jesuit Parish Family visits local jails to share scripture and reflection.
St. Francis Seraph Ministries
A sponsored ministry of the Province of Our Lady of Guadalupe of the Order of Friars Minor (the Franciscans), St. Francis Seraph Ministries’ mission is to nourish and nurture people in need. They are always seeking volunteers to help serve a warm meal to those experiencing poverty in Over-the-Rhine. Breakfast and dinner are served Monday – Friday in their Mother Teresa of Calcutta Dining Room from 6:45 – 9 AM and 3:45 – 6 PM.
Tender Mercies
This organization transforms the lives of homeless adults with mental illness by providing security, dignity, and community. Once a month, St. Xavier parishioners provide a warm lunch for Tender Mercies residents. Donations and volunteers are always needed on the last Sunday of each month at 11 AM.
Peru Parish Twinning Partnership
St. Xavier Church and La Virgen de Nazaret Parish in Lima, Peru, entered a twinning relationship in 1999. Over the years, we have shared our faith, time, talents, and treasure, with groups from St. Xavier participating in immersion trips to La Virgen de Nazaret and visitors from our sister parish visiting Cincinnati.
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