This edition of the monthly e-bulletin for the North West leads with tributes to the late Daniel Berrigan SJ.
The Manchester Jesuit community also feature with an article on the launch of the Manchester Homeless Charter.
To download the E-Bulletin:
NJPN NW Justice and Peace E Bulletin June 2016
Baroness Sal Brinton and Sir Stephen Wall will speak on behalf of Christians for Europe with a case to remain. The Rev Dr Giles Fraser and The Rt Hon Ann Widdecombe will speak on behalf of Christians for Britain with a case to leave. The event will be chaired by The Rev Lucy Winkett, recorded by BBC Radio 4 and live streamed online.
‘The Hidden Victims of Crime’ In the lead article Katherine Copperthwaite tells us of a project undertaken by Pact, working with Place2BE to support children affected by the imprisonment of a parent.
Download newsletter Summer 2016
Ten years ago Tony Blair launched the present Trident renewal project with the thought that “giving it up [would be] too big a downgrading of our status as a nation”. Nuclear weapons are not simply deterrents (some people say they are not deterrents at all) and no-one doubts that they are deployed for reasons of prestige and strategic power politics. However the concept of deterrence is still central to any moral justification that is made for them. Indeed morally they have only this one leg to stand on. As the world moves on from concerns with superpower security to humanitarian consequences and “ethical imperatives”, the moral case has never been more important. Though opposed by an increasing number of people, and by decades of clear (and some less clear) teaching of the Christian churches, the Cold War gospel of nuclear deterrence persists unchallenged in most people’s minds. We could say that people have to change their own minds.
Martin Birdseye has designed a method for individuals to work through moral decision making about nuclear weapons.This is the thinking behind the Nuclear Morality Flowchart – a logical decision tree of the relevant moral and practical questions that are necessary for a rational, personal decision on the ethics of nuclear deterrence. You can try it on-line at:
Now as parliament approaches decision time on the Trident renewal programme, seemingly locked into the deterrent mindset, there is another role for the Flowchart. On 21st April it will be the basis for a meeting to brief MPs on the ethics of nuclear weapons. (See attached flyer) We hope this will help them to confront the moral dimension of this critical issue. The flowchart also gives them the option of demonstrating their thinking to their constituents. Ask your MP to try it and then send you his or her decision path. The special software makes this easy.
This article appears in the Summer edition of NJPN Newsletter
On Ash Wednesday members of the London Catholic Worker, the Catholic Worker Farm, Pax Christi and Christian CND met in Embankment Gardens to take part in the yearly liturgy that bears witness to the moral scandal of our government’s nuclear weapons programme. Ann Kelly and Anne Peacey from the NJPN, Fr Joe Ryan and the Nipponzan Myohoji Buddhist monks and nuns also joined us.
At the start of the liturgy we laid out the charcoal and ashes to be blessed. After being marked ourselves with ashes, we processed round Whitehall Avenue, under the banner, ‘No Faith in Trident’. When we came to the Ministry of Defence we spread ashes on sackcloth, in the form of the word ‘Repent’ and greeted each other, the police and the taxi drivers who happened to be striking that day with the sign of peace.
When the procession got to the back of the MOD Fr. Martin Newell cp and I clumsily rolled over the fence and marked the back wall, with a charcoal cross. Earlier that day Scott Albrecht from the Catholic Worker Farm and Ray Towey had already marked the front entrance.
Trident is a shadowy, hidden violence, only reported on when there is a debate in Parliament. Yet here in Whitehall sit the people whose job it is to take part in the procurement of the nuclear warheads, missiles and submarines.
In preparing for this day I read Deuteronomy 30:19, ‘I have put before you life and death [..] therefore choose life’. We, together with the people who work in Whitehall, have the power to influence decisions. Our own moral failure means that we still maintain these weapons. Ash Wednesday is a good moment to remember our collective sin.
During vigils and processions such as this one, I’ve often become aware of the heavy masonry buildings seeming to lose their permanence. By focusing on our own faith and prayer we realize their ephemeral nature; they are only full of people just like ourselves. The capacity for repentance, then, is enormous and the Ash Wednesday witness is full of hope.
Henrietta Cullinan
This article appears in the Summer edition of NJPN Newsletter
My commitment to justice and peace began in the nineties when we were living in Cambridge. We hosted a prayer group in our house that was part of something called the Movement for Faith and Justice Today. We spent time in prayer and reflection together trying to develop and live a justice spirituality. This left me with a life-long commitment to justice and peace as a key part of living out my faith – and started me off in homelessness work.
Working where I do the most important areas for me are to do with homelessness and housing need. The vision of Housing Justice is that everyone has a home that truly meets their needs and I am committed to helping to make that happen. However we are in the midst of a crisis where homes are increasingly unaffordable and changes to the welfare system are daily forcing people into homelessness. And the situation is even worse for destitute migrants and asylum seekers who have no recourse to public funds. We need to use our resources as individuals, parishes and as the institutional Church to bring about change.
The contact I have with people who are homeless and with people who are volunteering to help them is vital in sustaining my commitment. But I also need the joy and love I experience through prayer and in the Eucharist – and the support, encouragement and sometimes challenges I receive from my friends and colleagues in the Justice and Peace movement.
My hope is for a Church where all are welcome and all can experience the love of God, for a Church where justice and peace is integral to the life and worship of every parish. The big question remains how to bring this about…
Alison Gelder has been chief executive of Housing Justice since 2003 but has been involved in homelessness and justice and peace work since the nineties. She is also a member of the Archbishop of Southwark’s advisory committee on justice, peace and the integrity of creation.
‘Speaking Personally’ is a regular feature of the NJPN Newsletter.
The above article is published in the forthcoming Summer edition
A few weeks ago, hundreds of Church Action on Poverty supporters emailed editors in the media, asking them to adopt new guidelines created by the National Union of Journalists to ensure responsible, sensitive reporting on poverty issues.
Then the Chief Executive of Channel 4 spoke out and criticised Channel 5 for “carpet bombing” the schedules with programmes about people on benefits. We were pleased to hear that Channel 4 is now worried about the impact of these programmes, since their own Benefits Street has been a cause of considerable worry and stigma for people receiving benefits
We have written to the chief, David Abraham, and asked him if he will show his commitment to responsible reporting by publicly endorsing the NUJ’s new guidelines. So far, he has not responded. Could you send him a message too, so he understands how concerned people are about this?
Please ask the chief of Channel 4 to adopt the new guidelines for covering poverty issues:
“Think, Pray Vote” explores issues such as sovereignty, the single market, freedom of movement, the environment and more, providing a combination of information, the opportunity for theological reflection and different perspectives from Christians intending to vote.
Please click here to access the page
On the page you will find:
• The EU Referendum resource
• Information on running your own hustings or question-time event
• A word version of the resource from which you can copy and paste into any of your own publications (with appropriate crediting).
An update from Seeking Sanctuary
Dear Friends
It’s good for any organisation to revisit its aims and mission statement regularly and check that it is still working to the ideals and vision which established it.
Our vision is summarised in the two words of our title: ‘Seeking’ because this is a consequence of the war and disorder that leads so many innocent people to have to leave their homes and ‘Sanctuary’ because those who have to flee their homes need a place of welcome and rest. The term ‘Sanctuary’ transcends technical definitions of ‘migrants’ and ‘asylum seekers’ and helps us to realise that all that flee their homes due to the civil wars in Syria and beyond deserve our understanding and support.
We were very struck by the recent visit of the Pope to the island of Lesbos, alongside the Orthodox Patriarchs. As one of the Patriarchs reminded us, it is only through looking into the eyes of someone who has suffered that we are able to see the depth of trauma and suffering that they and their loved ones have experienced. The Pope’s gesture of taking three families back to Rome was particularly symbolic.
That is why encounter, listening and accompanying are as important as humanitarian assistance. So many of us who have visited Calais and Dunkirk have been moved by the stories and experiences of those who seek sanctuary in northern France and beyond. It has enabled us to break away from the all too frequent stereotyping to which we are all tempted and see people as the human individuals that they really are. And we and so many others are heartened by the example of solidarity from so many volunteers from the UK – as well as from France and elsewhere – who are prepared to defy the prevailing narrative of intolerance with a narrative of respect and understanding for our fellow human beings.
Nevertheless, humanitarian needs remain considerable, though with slightly different priorities now that winter is over and there seems to be no immediate threat of further expulsions and demolitions. It is important that people ordering or collecting and delivering goods do check on the latest lists produced by the Calaiswarehouses.
Take a good look on the following website to see how you can volunteer to go to Calais for a time to help these groups in their essential work.
Over the last month our campaign has been marked by a call to identify and process the claims of children and young people who are still vulnerable in so many ways in Calais, Dunkirk and beyond. For this reason we have campaigned for the ‘Dubs amendment’ to the Immigration Bill that is currently passing through Parliament, and we were pleased that after its defeat in the House of Commons it was immediately passed on the following day in the House of Lords with slight changes to its wording. However, our concerns remain. In response to questions about the circumstances of vulnerable children, Ministers and civil servants repeat the litany of good efforts that the UK has promised to better the lot of people in and near Syria and appends a list of agreements that may result from talks with their French counterparts. However, full-time volunteers in the camps very rarely see any practical results emerging from these good intentions.
The Children’s Commissioner for England, Anne Longfield, appeared before a House of Lords Committee on 20 April and her evidence included impressions from a visit to Calais. She was struck by a delay in the system, not only in the process but also in the fact that ‘there was not the impetus to register children, offer them instant protection and then proactively look at how to get them through the process with some speed. Focus and speed around some of this would be the first thing, looking at where there are children who are potentially able to find legal routes and putting forward a coherent action plan that could resolve that.’ Some of the youngsters do not want to talk and be involved with the French authorities, because they do not trust anyone in authority and are very driven to come to the UK. British volunteers, on the other hand, do know the children and have been offering some care, producing a relationship of trust. The Commissioner considers that there are opportunities to build on this and offer a speedy resolution for the children with a likely cost of only around £75,000 – not an immense sum in the great scheme of things! On the same day the French Human Rights Ombudsman [Défenseur des Droits] issued a lengthy and critical report detailing areas where the authorities had failed to act upon earlier recommendations.
Finally, if you visit our website you will find a recently added link to prayers offered at Leros by Pope Francis and his Orthodox brothers and a new list of links to current petitions – including those related to the needs of unaccompanied minors.
With our thanks for your messages of support and appreciation,
Ben + Phil.
About ‘Seeking Sanctuary’. There are currently still over 5000 migrants in and around Calais (March 2016) and many more near Dunkirk. ‘Seeking Sanctuary’ aims to raise awareness about this situation and is organising basic humanitarian assistance through Faith Communities and Community Organisations in partnership with experienced aid agencies such as ‘Secours Catholique’.
For further information on how you or your organisation can help, contact Ben Bano on 07887 651117 or Phil Kerton on 01474 873802. To check the latest news, visit our website.
A new website dedicated to covering the refugee crisis in Europe has been launched by Churches Together in Britain and Ireland (CTBI). It aims to be a one-stop source of information covering news, policy, practical action and resources for those in the faith community interested in refugee and asylum issues.
Be sure to take a look and click here:
