Latest J&P News from the North West
Issued on the day of The Time is Now Lobby of Parliament, the July 2019 edition of the North West National Justice and Peace (NJPN) E Bulletin has a strong focus on Climate Change and environmental issues. Bruce Kent’s commitment to Justice and Peace is celebrated as he enters his 90th year and there are challenging opinion pieces from Mary Colwell (page 1-2) and Ellen Teague (page 7).
Current campaigns feature corporate tax avoidance, Richard Ratcliffe’s hunger strike in support of his wife Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, imprisoned in Iran for more than 3 years, World Refugee Day, and 5 Weeks Too Long (re Universal Credit payments).
Campaign Against Arms Trade welcomes the Court of Appeal verdict overturning a 2017 High Court judgment allowing the UK to export arms to Saudi Arabia for use in Yemen.
New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern unveils a “well-being” budget to support vulnerable people and the 25th anniversary of the Fairtrade Mark and the 40th since Traidcraft was launched are celebrated.
Pax Christi news, book reviews and a comprehensive diary add up to a 15-page bulletin.
Don’t forget to book for the NJPN Annual Conference 25-28 July, run this year with Church Action on Poverty – details on page 15.
Please read and pass on.
NJPN Comment in the Catholic Universe: Liam Purcell
“I just got so used to being hungry that I thought, that’s life.”
No child should go hungry. But when Church Action on Poverty began working with teenagers Corey, Tia and their friends in Lancashire, they talked of going all day at school without food.
Read more here:
NJPN comment – Liam Purcell
Latest J&P News from the North West
“With the signing of the Good Friday agreement, my generation, the children and grandchildren of the civil rights protesters were told we would be the first to enjoy peace in decades. But just because we’re not at war anymore doesn’t mean the shadow of the gunman has left the room” – the prophetic words of Lyra McKee, killed by a bullet on Easter Thursday.
The other lead story in the May edition of the NW NJPN E Bulletin is Climate Change with reports of 16 year-old Swedish activist Greta Thunberg’s visit to the UK plus a new Laudato Si Centre for Salford announced by Bishop John Arnold. Another Bishop in the news, Declan Lang of Clifton, the lead Catholic Bishop for International Affairs, urges the UK government to promote the global abolition of the death penalty. Atrocities in Sri Lanka, UK Arms sales to Yemen, a €13 billion allocation by the EU Parliament for the defence industry, the suspicious death of an environmentalist La Salle lay brother in Peru, ongoing support for migrants in Calais, activist Rachel Corrie killed whilst trying to block an Israeli armoured bulldozer in 2003 remembered, plus a focus on young people with the publication of Pope Francis’ Apostolic Exhortation Christus Vivit – Christ is Alive! are also covered. Film and book reviews and a wide range of local events plus current news reports make for a packed bulletin.
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