The February edition of the NW NJPN E BULLETIN leads with a hard-hitting opinion piece from Joseph Kelly of The Catholic Network on the background to the devastating earthquakes in Turkey and Syria. In a wide-ranging article, regular contributor Professor Ian Linden looks at “How ‘Global Britain’ is letting down the world’s poor.” At the end of this month it will be one year since Russia invaded Ukraine. To mark the day, CND and Stop the War have called a national demonstration in central London on Saturday 25 February at midday to say ‘no to war,’ and ‘no to the risk of nuclear war.’ We also have a request for host families for Ukrainians and a moving poem (first published by Pax Christi), ‘A plea for peace,’ by Mary Hale. Manchester Museum is set to re-open this month after an extensive refurbishment with news of the repatriation of sacred objects to communities of origin to Aboriginal communities plus a digital data base to catalogue images of over 5,240 objects looted during the 19th century British punitive expedition on the Kingdom of Benin (now Edo State, Nigeria) as part of the museum’s ongoing commitment to prioritise cultural heritage material for return.  Ince Benet, former home of Fr. Tom Cullinan, has undergone a refurbishment and is now a prayer/retreat centre near Liverpool. There is a packed diary for February and March as well as notices of a wide range of interesting Zoom talks on pages 10-12.

Also included in this mailing are two resources for Lent: a daily reflection booklet with scripture readings and a Stations of the Cross based on an essay ‘Healing through the Life, Death and Resurrection of Christ’ by my daughter Annie, a scripture scholar who died in 2020 during Covid. To print the booklets choose ‘landscape’, ‘print both sides’, ‘flip on short edge’ and ‘paper, actual size.’                                                                                                                        

Please read and pass on to others.

Anne O’Connor

NW NJPN Justice and Peace E Bulletin February 2023

STATIONS OF THE CROSS HEALING THROUGH THE LIFE, DEATH AND RESURRECTION OF CHRIST 

A JOURNEY FROM LENT TO EASTER