All posts by Stephen Cooke

NJPN Comment in the Catholic Universe: Phil Kerton – Imagine

 

This is Refugee Week 2020, running from 15 to 21 June and including UN World Refugee Day on 20 June. The theme is ‘Imagine’. Imagine a world after the Covid-19 era. Many see signs of hope for a future where we develop new ways to care for our planet and protect and value human lives. We may look less at how much things cost or how much a person earns, but rather at the benefits they bring.

 

Hopefully, more people will start to imagine how desperate people must be to leave homes and families, taking perilous sea journeys in the hope of reaching places where they may find an end to conflict and famine. They hope to find decent shelter, education and employment, so becoming able to contribute to society and retrieve some sense of dignity.

 

It’s easy to write off those refugees stuck near Calais as only seeking better lives and somehow dragging the rest of us down. As individuals made in God’s image, they deserve better lives than those from which they have fled and genuine chances to realise their potential.

 

20 years ago, during the night of 18 June, Dover port workers and Customs officers were traumatised to find the bodies 58 young Chinese in a sealed trailer arriving from Zeebrugge, victims of a bungled trafficking operation. We imagined that lessons had been learned, but then on 23 October 2019 another sealed and overheated container arrived  at Grays in Essex, again from Zeebrugge, and contained the bodies of 39 Vietnamese migrants.

 

We had hoped to gather in Dover on 20 June – as we did last year – and remember the Chinese deaths – and hundreds of others occurring as people seek to reach Britain to claim asylum. Surely those in authority must imagine a better safe and legal procedure?

 

Conforming to the spirit of social distancing, Dr Rose Hudson-Wilkin, Bishop of Dover, will join a tiny live gathering at 11.30 am on Saturday 20 June. This will be live-streamed and reach a larger audience with a recording remaining for more to view at www.kentpahirestreaming.co.uk

 

Additionally, an earlier virtual ‘Zoom’ rally will be hosted by ‘People not Walls’ focussing on the plight of unaccompanied minors experiencing human rights abuses near the French coast. Join for free by registering beforehand at the link below. It will end by switching to the Dover remembrance.

www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/keep-children-from-danger-tickets-107546307902?utm_campaign=post_

 

 

Phil Kerton is a co-director of  ‘Seeking Sanctuary’ and active with Southwark Justice and Peace.

He is a former Chair of NJPN and remains an adviser to the Executive.

Campaigns

***NJPN Action of the Week*** Catholic Association for Racial Justice

“More than forty years ago, our predecessor – the Catholic Commission for Racial Justice (CCRJ) – issued a paper on ‘The Police and the Black Community in the Metropolitan Area’. They said in that paper that they felt the problem between the police and the black community was ‘of such seriousness that it should be brought to the attention of the Catholic community.’

In 1981, disturbances involving the police and black communities in Brixton, Toxteth and Moss Side led to the Scarman Inquiry; and similar disturbances at Broadwater Farm Estate in Tottenham in 1985 led to the Gifford Inquiry.

On 18 October 1986, CARJ organised a Conference on Police/Community Relations. The Conference was organised to follow up issues raised in the Gifford Report – the report of the independent inquiry on the disorders at Broadwater Farm Estate in Tottenham in 1985.

In 1991, the Bishops Conference was invited to make a submission to the Royal Commission on Criminal Justice. The Bishops’ Committee for Community Relations prepared a submission focusing on the experience of black people with the police.

The murder of Stephen Lawrence (1993) was eventually the subject of the Macpherson Report (1999) in which the police response was judged to have been inadequate; and the issue of ‘institutional racism’ was finally addressed.

In our Submission to the Lammy Review (June 2016), we concluded: ‘Despite real improvement over the years, the legacy of this history is still in place today. People from BAME communities are over-represented in almost all areas of the Criminal Justice System. They are more likely to be the target of ‘stop and search’, more likely to be arrested and more likely to receive a prison sentence.’

Mrs Yogi Sutton, Chair of CARJ, has commented on the death of George Floyd :

‘I am appalled that year after year, brutality on our fellow beings still occurs because of racism. The latest death of Mr Floyd will also simply become yet another statistic. There will be widespread protests and then …….. Silence …….. Nothing will change.

I do not condone violence, but peaceful protests are very important. How else are people to show solidarity. However, history shows, the protests are not sufficient means to bring about change. 3 June 2020 CARJ Briefing I want to call on people around the world, especially Catholics because we believe and profess that we are ALL made in the image and likeness of our Creator, that we are all Sisters and Brothers in Christ, to speak up for justice by acknowledging racism in all its forms. Any addict will tell you that there is no cure until one accepts that one is an addict. In the same way, we must acknowledge that we are racist. If and when we genuinely understand and accept this, then we will face the road to solutions.

This is what I would pray for:

I am generally one who prefers the circular movement for change, asking everyone to do his/her bit, this time I would start at the top and implore Governments to take a stand. Not to speak of zero intolerance of racism but to practice the same. No Minister should be allowed to stay in his/her position should they make any racist statement or behave in any racist manner. Coming from the top in every organisation in the media, in business, in education, in the workplace, anywhere and everywhere. If the punishment was the same universally, for all, immediate and transparent, the message would soon get through and be learnt. No one would put a hand in the same fire after being burnt.

Anti racist training should become part of every profession, administration, everywhere. It should be part of the curriculum in schools. We should learn how to respect, accept and live with and along side one another in joyful, peaceful harmony.’

A petition has been created about George Floyd. You could consider signing it

https://secure.avaaz.org/campaign/en/george_floyd_loc/?zOECLab

CARJ, 9 Henry Rd, London N4 2LH. 020 8802 8080. Info@carj.org.uk. The Catholic Association for Racial Justice (CARJ) is an independent charity committed to working with others of diverse backgrounds and beliefs to bring about a more just, more equal, more cooperative society. CARJ Briefings are primarily intended to give readers accurate and relevant background information on current issues. Occasionally, a position or argument may be put forward provisionally for reflection and further discussion.

NJPN Action of the Week

NJPN Comment in the Catholic Universe: Celia Capstick – The Women’s Bishop

Bishop Vincent Malone, who died recently, was a much-loved Episcopal Liaison to the National Board of Catholic Women from 1999 to 2007. He survived through the reigns of four Board presidents, all of whom found him supportive and caring. His role was to be a bridge between the Bishops’ conference and its consultative bodies, of which the Board is one.

For us, he communicated the current issues of the Bishops and in turn he would convey, often as an advocate, our concerns to them. He co-chaired, with the President, the Joint Dialogue Group which was set up by Cardinal Hume to give women a stronger voice in the church and which, in the beginning, had three bishops as members to emphasise its importance. Throughout the ups and downs of those years his was a calming and gentle presence. He did not always agree with us but was willing to listen and then express his views with clarity and precision and a dry wit.

He rarely missed a meeting of the Board, including our weekend AGMs. He enjoyed the evening socials and on request he would delight everyone by reading the monologue ‘Albert and the Lion’ and joining in the dancing. On one occasion he played the part of Prince Charming in the pantomime Cinderella to great acclaim.

During one discussion he was happy to agree that, for some women, confessing to a woman religious rather than a male priest should sometimes be possible, showing, for the time, quite a forward-looking theology. On another occasion he pointed out that it would be difficult to change the Our Father to a gender-neutral address as the words were those of Jesus Himself. He was supportive of the Board’s mission to enhance the role of women in the Church but – like Cardinal Hume – realised that the pontificate at that time was unlikely to encourage any radical change.

His homilies during the Masses he celebrated with us were always meticulously prepared and relevant. We loved him and he seemed to enjoy our company. He said he enjoyed being an auxiliary bishop – it gave him more time for being with people. It may have been in fulfilling this pastoral role that he became infected with Covid-19. I like to think that he would have seen it as sharing in the distress of the people he loved. The Board missed him when he retired. We miss him now in another way: gone to God whom he served so faithfully.

 

Celia Capstick is a past president of the National Board of Catholic Women.

NJPN Universe comment

NJPN eBulletin – 25th May 2020

***IMPORTANT NEWS ON CONFERENCE***
 
 

Unfortunately the NJPN annual conference will not now take place. The Hayes Christian Conference Centre have taken the decision to cancel all bookings up to the 27th July.

We hope to arrange an alternative event around the same time, so please look out for further details which will be posted in due course.

Those who have already booked to attend our 2020 conference will be contacted individually by Geoff, NJPN Administrator.
 

…so that they may be one as we are one.

John 17:11

Dear Friends,

This weekend marks the end of ‘Laudato Si week’, marking the fifth anniversary of Pope Francis’ landmark encyclical about caring for our common home.

In those five years certainly many churches and charities have become more aware of the need to look after our precious planet and its resources. But it is more than that; it is about looking after everything and everyone in it. Are we prepared to see the effects of poverty across the globe, and not do anything towards it? We need to accept responsibility for looking after our world and our neighbours. 

This newsletter highlights many of the struggles that are real and happening right now both in this country and elsewhere. We hope that you engage with the contents, and do what you can to change the world that you live in. Every little gesture makes a difference somewhere…

God bless you and your families, and please continue to stay safe.

Temporary Mailing Address

Please note that, due to the closure of the Eccleston Square office, the NJPN are using the following address:

Geoff Thompson, NJPN, c/o CAFOD Lancaster Volunteer Centre, St Walburge’s Centre, St Walburge’s Gardens, Preston PR2 2QJ.

The telephone number remains the same: – 020 7901 4864

See below for: – 

Note on Data Protection

About these E-Bulletins

Donate to NJPN

 

Note on Data Protection

Your email address is stored with MailChimp only to allow us to send you these emails, and to track interactions (e.g. open rates). To read more about how MailChimp stores and uses your information, click here for the full MailChimp Privacy Policy. Sections referring to Distribution Lists concern your emails.

No sensitive data (such as credit card details) is given to MailChimp because we do not have an e-commerce element.

You can unsubscribe or update your preferences at any time by clicking the links at the bottom of the page.

 

E-Bulletin Contents: –

News and Comment

  1. Spotlight on Refugees from JRS and Safe Passage
  2. Palestinian Nakba Rally and Peace Plan 
  3. Update on Laudato Si Week
  4. NJPN Column in the Universe
  5. 14 Year Old Girl Forced to Marry – from Independent Catholic News   
Newsletters

    6. North West Justice and Peace Newsletter

  
Events

    7. Campaign Against Climate Change Webinar
    8. Global Justice Now about the restarting of the US-UK Trade
      Talks
   9. Fellowship of Reconciliation – It’s time to make peace the new
      normal
  10. Christian CND Prayer Meetings
  11. Leeds Justice and Peace Commission – A Pentecost Liturgy

Actions/Appeals

   12. Rainforest Action Network: No more business as usual

***NJPN Action of the Week***

    
  
 

Petitions

13. Take a Stand against Child Trafficking into Orphanages
    

Resources

14.Gleanings Report – Listening and learning about poverty under
    lockdown

The Last Word

    15. You’ve got a friend

     
 

News and Comments

1. Refugees, and the challenges faced by Covid-19; plus some good news!

The Jesuit Refugee Service (JRS) have had to adapt to the challenges faced by them in regards to their Detention outreach work. On the positive side, many refugees have been released from detention; but on the flip side, those that are left are struggling even more to cope.
Read about their work here.

Care4Calais, in their May update, describe the harsh eviction of refugees to temporary shelters; which isn’t necessarily a good thing. They are also appealing for any tents that have been bought for a holiday or a festival that may not get used. Read here for more information.

On a happier note, Fr. Pat Browne from the Church of the Holy Apostles, Pimlico, reported in his newsletter on the 17th May: –

‘ Last Monday a plane arrived at Heathrow from Greece. Some highly vulnerable migrants arrived in the UK on an “unprecedented” family reunion flight to be reunited with their families. Many of the individuals, some with severe health problems, had been living for several months in the dire conditions of Greek refugee camps. Among these people are children that will finally be with their siblings, men and women to finally be reunited with their spouses. British refugees travelled to Heathrow to greet nephews, brothers, husbands and wives after Monday’s flight brought people from Syria, Somalia and Afghanistan to join close family in the UK. The reunion was the result of two months of intense lobbying by the campaign group Safe Passage and the British peer Alf Dubbs. I am very proud of some of our parishioners who helped to make this happen through their lobbying and action for justice for these people.’

Safe Passage this week shared a YouTube video of a young refugee, Tekle, who wanted to be reunited with his brother. Watch his story here.

2. Palestian Nakba Day, and comment on the ‘Peace Plan’

On the 15th May, Palestinians marked Nakba Day, which commemorated the event in 1948 that saw over 750,000 Palestinians flee from their homes, and over 450 Palestinian towns and villages wiped off the map.
Ben Jamal from the Palestinian Solidarity Campaign, presents the Nakba Rally that took place virtually. Please watch it here.

With regards to the Peace Plan, there is an interesting article here concerning the ‘mortal blow’ it delivers to the future of Christianity in the Holy Land.

3. Laudato Si Week – 16th to 24th May 2020

By our actions, we can mitigate the effects of climate change, stop the destruction of habitats and reverse the decline of species worldwide. The way we treat the earth today is already affecting the poorest and most vulnerable in the world and, in time, will affect us all.
I urgently appeal, then, for a new dialogue about how we are shaping the future of our planet.
We need a conversation which includes everyone, since the environmental challenge we are undergoing, and its human roots, concern and affect us all.

Pope Francis, Laudato’ Si

This week marked the end of the commemoration of Pope Francis’ encyclical that came out five years ago.
If you have a TV Licence, and haven’t yet seen it, Climate Change – the Facts by David Attenborough is worth watching on iPlayer, particularly if you have only recently become more aware of the need for action.

On Vatican News, Fr Joshtrom Kureethadam, who is the Coordinator of the Sector on Ecology and Creation, which functions under the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development, talks about the precarious state of Our Common Home. Read the article and listen to him now. 

“Creation is God’s first and primordial revelation. Creation is, indeed, the very first epiphany of God,” the Apostolic Nuncio in Kenya and South Sudan, Archbishop Bert van Megen said. Click here to read the full details of his speech on 18th May.

4. The latest NJPN Comments in The Universe

Colette Joyce, Westminster Justice and Peace Co-ordinator, on Living Laudato Si from the 22nd May edition is available here.

Other news has been made available here thanks to our friends from the Catholic Universe. If you are able to subscribe, please do so. In this time of lockdown, they are dependent on home subscriptions to survive.

5. Article in the Independent Catholic News re abduction in Pakistan

On the 19th May, the Independent Catholic News reported about a 14 year old Christian girl that was abducted and forced to marry a man and was forced to abandon her faith. According to reports, around 1,000 women are abducted and forced to marry every year. More details of the case are available here.

NEWSLETTERS

6. North West Justice and Peace Newsletter

The June 2020 edition focuses on how the Coronavirus is changing our view of the world, and our interconnectedness with all creation. There are also lots of resources around Laudato Si, along with prayers and reflections. A great, thought-provoking and interesting read as usual. Find it here.

EVENTS
 

7. No Going Back: Climate, Jobs and Justice in a time of Covid   
      Crisis (held by Campaign Against Climate Change)

 

Taking place on Monday 25th May, 6pm until 7.30pm, it highlights the fact that the Coronavirus is not just a public health crisis, but one of inequality.
For more details and to register for the Webinar, taking place via Zoom,
go to…

8. Global Justice Now – Why the US-UK Trade Deal will make us
    more vulnerable to crisis.

Taking place on Friday 5th June at 2pm, this Webinar held via Zoom, will be looking at how trade rules underpin the corporate structure of the global economy, what the Trump administration’s trade agenda is, and how the pandemic could lead to a new wave of corporate court (ISDS) cases – and what to do to change this. To register, click here.

9. It’s time to make peace the new normal.

Fellowship of Reconciliation invite you to join in a Day of Action on Wednesday 27th May to speak out for peace and urge politicians to make ‘peace the new normal’ as the reality of living life in a pandemic continues. 
For more details and your Action Pack, sign up here.

 

10. Invitation from Christian CND to their Prayer Meetings
 

So next week we’re running two Prayer Meetings on Zoom, one on Tuesday at noon and another on Thursday at 8pm. We’ll be using our Prayer Diary as a basis for our prayers, with lots of time for contributions from you.

There will be chance to pray for the current pandemic facing the world, as well as issues around nuclear weapons including the upcoming talks at the United Nations.

It doesn’t matter if you’ve never taken part in a Christian CND event before, we always love to see new faces. If you are able to join us, please email CCNDDevelopment@cnduk.org for the link to join the Zoom meetings.

More information can be found on Facebook: – 

Tuesday Prayer Meeting   and Thursday Prayer Meeting

11. Renewing the Face of the Earth

Leeds Justice and Peace Commission are holding an online liturgy for Pentecost to pray for the renewal of the Earth post the current crisis.
Details of how to join available here.

ACTIONS

12. Rain Forest Action Network: No more business as usual

*** NJPN Action of the Week***    

Chase says it supports the Paris Agreement and a liveable climate, but we have the receipts that say otherwise. $269 billion in fossil fuel finance calling its bluff. Today, let Chase know that this is OUR bottom line: Put your money where your mouth is and defund climate change.  

Click here to make a difference.

E-Petitions

13. Freedom United want Volunteer Tour Operators to take a stand 

Criminals are profiting from the trafficking and abuse of children in orphanages around the world. Traffickers, attracted by the funding orphanages receive from donations and organisations offering ‘voluntourism’ placements, effectively turn children into commodities by ensuring there is a constant supply of children available to attract funding.
For more information and to sign the petition, click here.

Resources

14. From the Joint Public Issues Team and Church Action on
      Poverty:- Gleanings: Listening and Learning about poverty
      under lockdown.

JPIT and Church Action on Poverty have started an ongoing programme of research looking at and listening to the experiences of poverty during the pandemic, with churches and local charities. Through surveys and regular focus group conversations they are aiming to understand the impacts being seen on the ground. To see a snapshot of the findings click here.

The Last Word

15. You’ve Got a Friend

The Folk Group at Holy Apostles, Pimlico, central London, leads the congregation in singing at the family Mass every Sunday morning – or at least they did until the 22nd March 2020, when the Covid-19 lockdown began.
They knew that a lot of people were finding it really hard during lockdown, and they wanted to bring a smile to people’s faces, so they decided to record the song ‘You’ve Got a Friend’ by Carole King. The story of what they did, and the song, are available here….and it was so good, Carole King even shared it on her Instagram page! Now that’s certainly a great tribute to them!

NEWS LINKS

Independent Catholic News
Find Justice and Peace stories at:
http://www.indcatholicnews.com/news/justice-peace-environment
Sign up to receive these regularly.
  
Catholic Communications Network
Find news stories at www.catholicnews.org.uk
 
Latest Zenit Headlines here
 
Vatican Radio homepage: http://en.radiovaticana.va/
 
World Council of Churches
https://www.oikoumene.org/en/
 
UK Parliament News
https://www.parliament.uk/business/news/
 
Follow us on Twitter: @NJandPNetwork

Follow us on Facebook: National Justice and Peace Network

 
About these E-BULLETINS
 
The items above are emails received from around the Network which may be of interest to those involved in working for justice and peace.
The views expressed are not necessarily those of NJPN.
To unsubscribe from these mailings, email admin@justice-and-peace.org.uk with “unsubscribe” in the subject box. We also welcome your feedback at the same address.
Forwarding these emails: Please feel free to forward these emails on to your contacts – but please remember to tell them to contact YOU if they want to unsubscribe!
Urgent Actions:
We sometimes receive emails that need immediate action and cannot wait for the weekly bulletin. To receive these items email the same address with “urgent actions” in the subject box.
If you appreciate these bulletins, help to keep them coming by donating to NJPN:
Send cheques payable to NJPN to: NJPN, 39 Eccleston Square, London SW1V 1BX.
Make a regular donation by standing order: Download standing order/membership forms from http://www.justice-and-peace.org.uk/
(NJPN is a registered charity no: 1114947 Company no: 5036866)
If you shop online, you can support us at no extra cost to yourself by signing up with easyfundraising.org.uk, where lots of companies will make a donation to us when you shop online with them.
NJPN eBulletins

***NJPN Action of the Week*** Rain Forest Action Network: No more business as usual

 

***NJPN  Action of the Week***

 

Rain Forest Action Network: No more business as usual

 

Chase says it supports the Paris Agreement and a liveable climate, but we have the receipts that say otherwise. $269 billion in fossil fuel finance calling its bluff. Today, let Chase know that this is OUR bottom line: Put your money where your mouth is and defund climate change.

Take action here:

https://act.ran.org/page/19496/petition/1?ea.tracking.id=e_en&utm_medium=Email&utm_source=EngagingNetworks&utm_campaign=

 

NJPN Action of the Week

NJPN Comment in the Catholic Universe: Colette Joyce – Living Laudato Si’

Lockdown means that I am writing this article outdoors in my garden rather than from a desk in Vaughan House, Westminster. I am sitting on the grass, listening to bird song and wondering if the breeze actually requires a warmer jumper. When my mind wanders from the task, I study the patterns of the moss within the lawn for inspiration. This is the simple connection with nature that human beings are in danger of losing in our high-tech, concrete and plastic-covered world. For many of us, the pandemic has created a chance to sit still, stay put, stop polluting and reassess what is important to us.

 

The week 16-24 May marks the 5th anniversary of the encyclical Laudato Si’: On the Care of Our Common Home and Pope Francis is calling us all once again into an urgent dialogue about our common home, not just for the sake of our health and well-being, but for our very survival. The problems he spelt out five years ago are getting worse: pollutants in the air, water and soil, a throwaway culture, toxic waste, the loss of biodiversity, extinction of species and de-stabilisation of the climate  This beautiful world, with all its many wonders, stands on the brink of ruin.

 

He pointed to the decline in the human environment caused by choosing ever-increasing exploitation of the earth’s resources over the building of sustainable communities. He highlighted global inequality as the gravest of all the problems confronting us. That we have accepted as normal the deterioration of the land and societies of the poorest people on earth to enrich the wealthiest is the gravest of distortions. We measure success by our percentage increases in national GDP (the overall production of ‘stuff’) when perhaps we should be measuring people’s well-being.

 

The central insight of the encyclical is that the cry of the Earth and the cry of the poor are one and the same thing. (#48) A ‘green’ recovery from the pandemic is necessary to prevent future affliction. We have before us an unexpected chance to re-make our societies in a way that benefits both people and planet.

 

This Laudato Si’ Week let us set aside time to decide what changes we need to make to our lives as individuals, parishes and societies in order to save that which is most precious to us.

 

Pope Francis invites people everywhere to pray the Laudato Si’ prayer together on Sunday 24 May at 12noon local time. https://laudatosiweek.org/prayer/

Colette Joyce is the Westminster Justice & Peace Co-ordinator.

NJPN comment_22 May

Colette Living Laudato Si

Environment, NJPN Universe comment

Latest News From The Northwest

The June edition of the NW NJPN E Bulletin looks at ways in which the coronavirus is changing the way we view the world and our interconnectedness with all creation with a mix of inspiring opinion pieces, prayers and reflections. As always, it is the poor who suffer most as reports from the UK and overseas indicate.
There’s a tribute to the late meteorologist Sir John Houghton, one of the first to raise the alarm about climate change. His name will be known to many activists, especially in connection with Operation Noah whose patron he became. But we also salute one of the countless men and women who quietly ‘do their bit’ to bring about a better, fairer world: Will Cochrane, a tireless and dedicated campaigner for over forty years who remains very close to our hearts here in Shrewsbury Diocese, who has died due to Covid-19.
Liam Purcell from Church Action on Poverty offers some resources to keep us occupied during lockdown and there resources on Laudato Si’ to help us celebrate the feast of Pentecost on 31 May.
Please pass on to others. Stay safe; stay alert!
 
NJPN North West

Please help Brazil’s Bishops avert genocide *** NJPN Action of the Week***

“Please do all in your power, by prayer and action, to make these urgent initiatives more widely known” Clifton J&P Commission

The initiatives are:

1): The Brazilian Bishops’ “statement on impact of Covid-19 on people and rainforest“ dated 4th May 2020.

2): Sebastião Salgado’s “We are on the eve of a ‘genocide’: Brazil urged to save Amazon tribes from Covid-19”.
An open letter published in The Guardian on the 3rd May, Salgado is both a Brazilian and one of the world’s leading photojournalists.

NJPN Action of the Week

NJPN eBulletin – 11th May 2020
Annual Justice & Peace Conference 17-19 July 2020
“2020 Vision: Action for Life on Earth”
Bookings are still being taken until advice to the contrary
 
Booking forms from NJPN
c/o CAFOD Lancaster Volunteer Centre,
St Walburge’s Centre, St Walburge’s Gardens,
Preston PR2 2QJ
020 7901 4864 admin@justice-and-peace.org.uk
or download here
Discount for families

Lest We Forget….

Dear Friends,

As the country marked the 75th Anniversary of VE Day on Friday the 8th May, in a much quieter way than was originally planned, we have the words of Pope Francis to reflect on: –

“History teaches us that the path of peace requires great tenacity and continuous steps…my hope is that each and every person may give his or her own contribution to peace and reconciliation.”

Amen to that.

May God continue to bless you and your families.

As previously mentioned we are still taking bookings for the Conference at this current moment in time (details above).

If your organisation is interested in running a stall at the conference, please contact the Just Fair Manager, Ann Kelly at annkellynjpn@btinternet.com

Please note also a temporary postal address due to the closure of the Eccleston Square office:

Geoff Thompson, NJPN, c/o CAFOD Lancaster Volunteer Centre, St Walburge’s Centre, St Walburge’s Gardens, Preston PR2 2QJ.

You can still use the same phone number.

See below for: –

Note on Data Protection

About these E-Bulletins

Donate to NJPN

Note on Data Protection

Your email address is stored with MailChimp only to allow us to send you these emails, and to track interactions (e.g. open rates). To read more about how MailChimp stores and uses your information, click here for the full MailChimp Privacy Policy. Sections referring to Distribution Lists concern your emails.

No sensitive data (such as credit card details) is given to MailChimp because we do not have an e-commerce element.

You can unsubscribe or update your preferences at any time by clicking the links at the bottom of the page.

 

E-Bulletin Contents: –

News and Comment

  1. High Court Rules Government unlawful denying migrants access to services
  2. Pope appeals for respect for the dignity of farm workers
  3. Update from Pact
  4. Palestine Solidarity Campaign defeats UK Government over pensions divestment
  5. Let’s bailout the people and not tax haven billionaires
  6. Catholic Church in the US now aligned to Trump
  7. NJPN column in the Universe
  8. Calais in the times of Covid-19
  9. A new hymn written for Christian CND
Newsletters

10. Ecumenical Council for Corporate Responsibility Newsletter

 
Events

11. Day of Prayer for Humanity – 14th May
12. A New Lucas plan for post-pandemic socially useful jobs?

Actions

13. Please help Brazil’s Bishops avert genocide

***NJPN Action of the Week***

14. Become a Friend of your Local Pantry
15. Campaign Against the Arms Trade Watch and Share Videos

Petitions

16. Make the Covid-19 Vaccine affordable for all
17. 38 Degrees Petition for pay rises for our NHS Heroes

Resources

18. Life on the Breadline – conference resources

The Last Word

 19. The Great Realisation

 

News and Comments

1. Migrants being denied access to services

New analysis from ONS and High Court ruling of the 7th May 2020 shows negligence towards minorities.
Please click here to read the full story, and comment from Sarah Teather.

2. Pope calls for respect for the dignity of immigrant farm workers

Pope Francis was alerted this week to the harsh exploitation of farm workers, many of them immigrants, during the current crisis. This is also something that Caritas Europa called for back in April.
Read both articles here.
Pope Francis wished that the “crisis may give us the opportunity to make the dignity of the person and of the work the centre of our concern.”

3. An update from Pact CEO, Andy Keen-Downs

I have been looking for the source of a quotation, and would love to hear from any of our well-read supporters who may be able to confirm its source. I believe it may be John Churton Collins, and I may well be misquoting, but it’s something like:
‘In prosperity, our friends know us. In adversity, we know our friends.’
It came to mind as I was reading messages and letters from so many individuals and charitable funders who have responded with such kindness and generosity in recent weeks. I want to take this opportunity to thank each and every one of you for your kindness.
As our Government maintains the social lockdown, and begins to explore what the future might look like, we remain worried about what is happening within prisons. . We are urging the Government to do more to allow lower risk prisoners who are close to the ends of their sentences to go home to their families, so as to minimise infection levels and deaths in prisons.
We have published guidance for prisoners’ families on the two schemes established by the Government for this purpose, namely, the ‘End of Custody Temporary Release’ scheme and the ‘Compassionate Release on Temporary License’ scheme.
The Early Conditional Release Scheme was supposed to be releasing between 3,500-4,000 prisoners. Many experts find it shocking that, as of Friday the 1st May, only 33 prisoners have been released under this programme.
The number of deaths in prison from Covid-19 have so far been fewer than feared, but this is thanks to heroic efforts by prison governors and staff and, of course, to the almost complete lockdown of prisons which means that men and women are spending at least 23 hours a day in their cells. But as I write, 5 prison staff and 15 prisoners have sadly lost their lives to the virus.
We continue to do all we can to support prisoners and their children and families to keep in touch and to cope this includes forming a new partnership with The Smallwood Trust, which means we are now providing emergency financial aid to mothers who are leaving prison who are facing destitution.
We have created ‘Pact Packets’ to help families, and especially children, through this very difficult time of not being able to visit their loved one in prison. For more information, go here…
We are also providing 20,000 men and women prisoners with a free ‘Writing Home’ pack, including a guide on letter writing and a free stationery pack. Our Helplines and volunteer befrienders are providing a lifeline for thousands more worried families. We can only achieve these things thanks to being able to work in a spirit of partnership with our colleagues in HM Prison & Probation Service, and thanks to the continuing support of our friends.

4. Palestinian Solidarity Campaign vs. the Government

PSC is delighted to announce that we have won a great victory in the battle to defend the right to take action in the UK in support of Palestinian rights.

Since 2017 we have been fighting the UK Government in the courts, protecting the right to undertake Boycott Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) campaigns in the UK. We won in the High Court, then lost in the Court of Appeal, but today the final verdict from the Supreme Court is in – and we have won!
For the full story follow this link.

5. Should the Coronavirus be the catalyst to start taxing companies and the rich properly?

Robert Palmer, Executive Director of Tax Justice UK, wrote an interesting article in the Independent on the 26th April about the Coronavirus and who should be getting Government support, along with what is wrong with our tax system. Read the article here.

6. Dolan delivers the Church to Trump and the Republican Party

The National Catholic Reporter writes: – ‘The capitulation is complete. 
Without a whimper from any of his fellow bishops, the Cardinal Archbishop of New York has inextricably linked the Catholic Church in the United States to the Republican Party and, particularly, President Donald Trump.’
The piece in the NCR makes for interesting reading and will probably have you cringing in places. Read it here.

7. NJPN Column in the Universe from 1st May

Niall Cooper, Director of Church Action on Poverty writes…

Three weeks ago, millions of people across the UK saw their livelihoods evaporate overnight. The global pandemic is not just a health crisis, but also an economic crisis unparalleled in our lifetimes.
In the space of under a week in late March 14 million people in the UK suffered an ‘income shock’: a sudden and unexpected drop in income as a result of the crisis measures taken to combat the coronavirus.
More than three million people Britain have gone hungry since lockdown began, because they did not have enough food. The only economic crash that is on anything of a comparable scale is the Great Depression of 1919/20 – but this time the crash literally happened overnight.
One Friday bars, shops, cafes, hotels were open, tills were ringing, wages were paid. By the following Friday, everything was shut. 14 million livelihoods had gone west in the space of a week.
What has happened to those 14 million in the intervening month? Facts are currently thin on the ground. As of this week, businesses have applied funding to continue paying 2.8 million employees ‘on furlough’ at least to the end of June.
A further 1.6 million people have applied for Universal Credit. These are not necessarily those who would previously have counted themselves as the ‘poorest’ in society. For many, this will be their first experience of applying for benefits. But how many others have not applied out of pride, shame, ignorance or confusion, or because the thought that they might be eligible for state benefits has not even occurred to them?
The response at community level, by foodbanks and other community projects, has been heroic, with many seeing a doubling or trebling in the numbers turning to them for support. However, it is clear that charitable and voluntary action cannot avert the scale of crisis of poverty that is now affecting millions.
In the light of this, further bold and courageous Government action is required to match some of the radical measures being rolled out by nations in the grip of the crisis. As Chancellor Rishi Sunak has said, the support needed is “on a scale unimaginable only a few weeks ago. This is not a time for ideology and orthodoxy, this is a time to be bold – a time for courage.”
With grateful thanks to our friends at The Universe. Click here to see the latest news and to subscribe. With all the churches shut just now they are very much depending on direct home subscriptions.

8. Covid-19 and the effect on Calais

The April Update on the Care 4 Calais website makes very sobering reading. They have had a very tough few weeks and have had to make a lot of changes to their operation, along with conditions being some of the worst they have seen. More details are here.

9. ‘Let Us Raise Our Voice’

A new hymn has been written by Chris Idle, with music by Sue Gilmurray, to mark Christian CND’s 60th Anniversary in 2020. We hope that it will inspire congregations and groups around the country to join us in working and praying for a nuclear weapons-free world.
Listen to it here.

NEWSLETTERS

10. Ecumenical Council for Corporate Responsibility

The ECCR April 2020 Newsletter is now available to read here.

EVENTS

11. Covid-19 Day of Prayer for Humanity on Thursday 14th May

Pope Francis is supporting an interreligious day of prayer and fasting for an end to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Thursday 14th May the day of prayer for humanity will be an opportunity for all believers “to pray, fast and do works of charity,” the Pope says.

Expressing his closeness to the victims of COVID-19, as well as those entrusted with their care, the pope also encourages co-operation between countries to “adequately and effectively” respond to the COVID-19 crisis. “It is important,” Pope Francis says, “to bring together scientific capacities, in a transparent and impartial way, to find vaccines and treatments and to guarantee universal access to essential technologies that will enable every infected person, in every part of the world, to receive the necessary health care.”

The 14th May initiative comes from the Higher Committee of Human Fraternity. Full details are available from the Vatican News website here.

12. Online Lucas Plan event on the way forward after the pandemic – Wednesday 13th May 19:00 – 20:30 BST

An online event on how worker-led industrial conversion to deal with the coronavirus pandemic is a model for the future.
The public health crisis caused by the Covid-19 pandemic has put into sharp focus the precarious nature of work and human lives upon which our neoliberal capitalist economies thrive. On the other hand, it has shown what type of work is essential to society such as work in health and social care, public transport and other public services, and in the food supply chain.
To find out more about this Webinar, and join in go to…

ACTIONS

13. Please help Brazil’s Bishops avert genocide

*** NJPN Action of the Week***

“Please do all in your power, by prayer and action, to make these urgent initiatives more widely known” Clifton J&P Commission

The initiatives are:

1): The Brazilian Bishops’ “statement on impact of Covid-19 on people and rainforest“ dated 4th May 2020.

2): Sebastião Salgado’s “We are on the eve of a ‘genocide’: Brazil urged to save Amazon tribes from Covid-19”.
An open letter published in The Guardian on the 3rd May, Salgado is both a Brazilian and one of the world’s leading photojournalists.

14. Become a Friend of Your Local Pantry
The coronavirus crisis has caused sudden hardship and natural fear for people across the country. We know it will mean many more parents losing work, children potentially going hungry, and people worrying about food security. For that reason, we have brought forward the launch of our friendship scheme, so our supporters and the wider public can act now to prevent hunger.
The Your Local Pantry project, run jointly by Foundations Stockport and Church Action on Poverty is now being rolled out nationwide, with communities invited to set up their own affiliated Pantries, to emulate the success in Stockport and unlock food poverty in their area.
To find out more and donate, go to…

15. Questions for BAE
Weapons manufacturer BAE Systems held its Annual General Meeting on the 7th May, but it wasn’t taking questions from shareholders.
We understand why it would want to hide from scrutiny: this is a company with plenty to be ashamed of. But as it continues to profit from violence around the world, we still have #QuestionsforBAE, such as its complicity and support for violence and humans rights abuses around the world.
The Campaign Against the Arms Trade are asking you to Watch and Share the Videos now.

E-Petitions

16. Global Justice Now petition to make the Covid-19 Vaccine affordable for all.
Will you join over 13,000 people calling on our Government to attach conditions to public funding so that a Covid-19 vaccine will be patent-free and affordable for all? Details and petition here…

17. Give our heroes the pay rises they deserve
Our health and care workers have been risking their lives to look after us during the coronavirus pandemic. The crisis has forced them to work even longer hours, kept them away from loved ones, and made our hospitals and care homes some of the toughest places to turn up to work each day.
We are asking the Government to give a permanent pay rise to everyone who works in the NHS and Care System.
Sign the petition here.

Resources

18. Transforming Structural Injustice
On 13th September 2019, over 50 people gathered at Coventry University for the Life on the Breadline workshop.
This participatory workshop reflected on how the Church can work to transform structural injustice.
To read more about it click here.

The Last Word

19. The Great Realisation
A rather moving YouTube video – but you have to put up with the adverts beforehand…stick with it, though, it is worth it.

NEWS LINKS

Independent Catholic News
Find Justice and Peace stories at:
http://www.indcatholicnews.com/news/justice-peace-environment
Sign up to receive these regularly.

Catholic Communications Network
Find news stories at www.catholicnews.org.uk

Latest Zenit Headlines here

Vatican Radio homepage: http://en.radiovaticana.va/

World Council of Churches
https://www.oikoumene.org/en/

UK Parliament News
https://www.parliament.uk/business/news/

Follow us on Twitter: @NJandPNetwork

Follow us on Facebook: National Justice and Peace Network

 
About these E-BULLETINS
 
The items above are emails received from around the Network which may be of interest to those involved in working for justice and peace.
The views expressed are not necessarily those of NJPN.
To unsubscribe from these mailings, email admin@justice-and-peace.org.uk with “unsubscribe” in the subject box. We also welcome your feedback at the same address.
Forwarding these emails: Please feel free to forward these emails on to your contacts – but please remember to tell them to contact YOU if they want to unsubscribe!
Urgent Actions:
We sometimes receive emails that need immediate action and cannot wait for the weekly bulletin. To receive these items email the same address with “urgent actions” in the subject box.
If you appreciate these bulletins, help to keep them coming by donating to NJPN:
Send cheques payable to NJPN to: NJPN, 39 Eccleston Square, London SW1V 1BX.
Make a regular donation by standing order: Download standing order/membership forms from http://www.justice-and-peace.org.uk/
(NJPN is a registered charity no: 1114947 Company no: 5036866)
If you shop online, you can support us at no extra cost to yourself by signing up with easyfundraising.org.uk, where lots of companies will make a donation to us when you shop online with them.

 

.

NJPN eBulletins

Newer Posts|Older Posts