CARJ was established 40 years ago on 16 June 1984 at a meeting of approximately 25 ‘founding members’ from a variety of ethnic backgrounds.
From the beginning, CARJ was seen as a black-led, independent organisation where ethnic minorities could find support and a voice, and where people of all backgrounds could work together for racial justice.
Despite challenging times in society and in the church, CARJ secured remarkable achievements along the way including:
Hosting the first National Congress for Black Catholics -1990
Holding the National Racial Justice Congress -2003
Since 2006 CARJ has worked in schools, delivering workshops on racial justice, training youth ambassadors and supporting the general educational attainment of black and minority ethnic young people
CARJ has setup and has run networks and support groups, including the Urban Network and Travellers and Gypsy working group
On Saturday 25th of May in London, CARJ launches a new ‘Racial Justice Agenda for Change’, which will be the vision for the work of CARJ into the future. The Agenda for Change builds on the experiences and learning of the past 40 years and puts forward a strategy for bringing about greater equality and creating a racially just church and society, a goal which continues to elude us in the 21st century.
Date Saturday 25th May 2024
Venue: Amigo Hall at St George’s Cathedral London SE1 7HY
Bishop Paul McAleenan at the memorial plaque in Dover. Photo: CBCEW
Bishop Paul McAleenan, Lead Bishop for Migrants and Refugees, has joined with leaders of the other churches to renew their commitment to caring for the most vulnerable, as legislation to enable asylum seekers to be deported to Rwanda was approved by Parliament.
In a joint statement with leaders of the Church of England, Methodist, Baptist, Quaker and United Reformed Churches, they pay tribute to all those who “live out Jesus’s call to feed and clothe the poor, and to welcome the stranger, at times in the face of opposition and prejudice.”
The statement voices concern that asylum seekers and refugees have been used as a “political football” and speaks of people fleeing war, persecution and violence having been “unjustly maligned by some for political reasons.”
Read the full statement:
We retain deep misgivings about the Safety of Rwanda Bill, passed in Parliament last night, for the precedent it sets at home and for other countries in how we respond to the most vulnerable. This includes victims of modern slavery and children wrongly assessed as adults, whom we have a duty to protect.
As leaders in Christian churches we wish to express our profound gratitude to those who live out Jesus’s call to feed and clothe the poor, and to welcome the stranger, through their work with asylum seekers and refugees, at times in the face of opposition and prejudice.
We note with sadness and concern the rise in hostility towards those who come to these islands seeking refuge and the way in which the treatment of the refugee and asylum seeker has been used as a political football.
We are disappointed that the kindness and support offered by churches and charities to the people at the heart of this debate – those fleeing war, persecution and violence trying to find a place of safety – has been unjustly maligned by some for political reasons.
In their response to the tragic attack in Clapham earlier this year, some former Home Office ministers, MPs and other commentators sought to portray churches and clergy as deliberately facilitating false asylum claims. It was for this reason, at the request of Anglican leaders, that representatives of our Churches met the Home Secretary in February. When asked, neither he nor officials could provide evidence to support the allegations of widespread abuse. Home Office Ministers have since confirmed this in a written parliamentary answer, and on questioning by the Home Affairs Select Committee. Follow-up meetings have since been agreed to promote closer cooperation and co-working between the churches and the Home Office.
Like so many in this country, we seek to support a system that shows compassion, justice, transparency and speed in its decisions. We grieve the appalling loss of life in the Channel today.
There may be differences between our churches and Government on the means by which our asylum system can be fair, effective and respecting of human dignity, but we do agree that borders must be managed and that vulnerable people need protection from people smugglers. We have pledged to continue to work with the Home Office, and we do so in good faith.
Bishop Paul McAleenan, Lead Bishop for Migrants and Refugees, CBCEW Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby Archbishop of York, Stephen Cottrell Bishop of Southwark, Christopher Chessun Revd Lynn Green, General Secretary, The Baptist Union of Great Britain Revd Dr Tessa Henry-Robinson, United Reformed Church General Assembly Moderator Revd Gill Newton, President of the Methodist Conference
The Archdiocese of Southwark is hosting the annual London Migrant Workers Mass at St George’s Cathedral on Monday 6 May.
Migrants make a valuable contribution to life in the UK. The annual Mass is a celebration of how communities have been enriched by migration and the difference migrants make to wider society.
The Mass will be led by Archbishop John Wilson, with bishops from the Diocese of Westminster and Brentwood in attendance.
Speaking ahead of the Mass, Archbishop John said:
“Each and every person is a gift from God. Each and every person has gifts to offer to God and to others. That is why it is such a blessing people from across the globe have made their home here. It is this diversity, which has enriched our lives immeasurably, that we will be celebrating, and for which we will be giving our thanks to God.
“Our faith demands that we love our neighbour. This means we must serve those without a place to call home, especially those seeking refuge. As one family of humankind, united in love, we can – and we must – welcome our brothers and sisters who are suffering and help them to feel at home in our communities.”
The Mass takes place on the Feast of St Joseph the Worker and is a collaboration between the Archdiocese of Southwark, Diocese of Westminster and the Diocese of Brentwood. It is supported by the Justice and Peace Commissions and the Ethnic Chaplaincies.
People are encouraged to attend in their national dress as part of the celebrations, with a banner procession taking place at the beginning of Mass.
The Migrants Mass has been celebrated since 2006, when it was initiated by Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O’Connor, then-Archbishop of Westminster. The Archdiocese of Southwark and dioceses of Westminster and Brentwood host it in turns, this year being in St George’s Cathedral, Southwark.
The Mass will be celebrated on Monday 6 May at 12.30pm at St George’s Cathedral, London SE1 6HR. People are encouraged to arrive early as it is expected to be a full Mass.
There is a chance to hear the renowned pianist Bobby Chen on Saturday, 27 April, when he gives a special concert in aid of humanitarian relief for the Holy Land at Farm Street Church, Mayfair, London. A reception will follow the concert.
All proceeds will be donated through the Humanitarian Relief Fund of the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem through the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem.
Bobby Chen will play
Beethoven’s – Piano Sonata No. 14 in C-sharp minor, marked Quasi una fantasia, Op. 27, No. 2 Moonlight
Schubert’s Four Impromptus. D.899 (Op.90) (complete)
Liszt – Sonetto 104 del Petrarca, from Annes de pèlerinage II, S.161
Mist – Ballade No. 2 in B minor, S.171
The concert takes place on Saturday, 27 April 2024 at 7.30pm.
Farm Street Church, 114 Mount Street, Mayfair, W1K 3AH
Tickets are £50 for the concert and reception – £25 concert only.
‘Homeless Jesus’ by sculptor Timothy Shmalz in Farm Street Church. Photo: Sue Bingham
Fr Dominic Robinson SJ, Chair of Westminster Justice and Peace Commission and Parish Priest at Farm Street Church, Mayfair, has joined other clergy from the main churches in London’s West End in writing an Open Letter to local MPs Nickie Aiken and Sir Keir Starmer, to express serious concerns over changes proposed in the Criminal Justice Bill, which would criminalise many people sleeping on the streets of their parishes.
The full text of their letter follows:
Rt Hon Nickie Aiken MP and Rt Hon Sir Keir Starmer MP House of Commons London SW1A 0AA
9th April 2024
Dear Nickie, Dear Sir Keir
As Christian clergy responsible for parishes and churches in the West End of London we are writing to you as our two constituency members of Parliament about the provisions in the Criminal Justice Bill relating to rough sleeping.
As clergy in the West End of London we have a particular interest in this matter. We see rough sleeping every day in our parishes. Our churches and local charities are at the forefront in efforts to support the many more currently sleeping rough.
We are deeply concerned by the current proposals and hope that you will reconsider the measures before the Bill is next considered in Parliament.
We are very grateful for your support in repealing the Vagrancy Act 1824 but are extremely concerned with recent proposed updates which makes begging and some forms of rough sleeping a criminal offence. The Government committed in 2022 to repeal and replace this legislation, but this must be done with proper consultation.
We are extremely concerned that the changes proposed in the Criminal Justice Bill are being made following the publication of a policy paper from the Home Office, without a public consultation. It is vitally important that any changes to the law in this area are made following consultation in the usual way, giving groups and individuals involved to have their say.
The Home Office says that the new powers in this Bill are needed to “help move vulnerable individuals off the streets and direct them to the appropriate support they need, such as accommodation, mental health or substance misuse services.” The Bill, however, contains nothing that would increase support for rough sleepers and contains no new additional funding for these services as far as we can see.
We are extremely concerned that the definition of “public nuisance” in this Bill is poorly defined and open to broad interpretation by the police and local authorities. Equally, we are concerned by the scope of the powers in this Bill allowing the police and local authorities to “address” rough sleeping.
The penalty proposed for breaching these offences of £2,500 or one month in prison is in no way proportionate and risks criminalising and jailing some of the most vulnerable people in our parishes.
We would be happy to work with you to make sure that any new legislation supports rough sleepers and genuinely helps to tackle homelessness in this country.
We look forward to hearing from you.
Yours Sincerely
Revd Jennifer Mills-Knutsen, American International Church in London, Tottenham Court Rd jmk@amchurch.co.uk
Revd Dominic Robinson, SJ, Farm Street Church, Mayfair, and Chair of Justice & Peace in the Diocese of Westminster dominicrobinson@rcdow.org.uk
Revd Simon Buckley, St Anne’s, Soho
Revd Pascal Boidin, SM, Notre Dame de France, Leicester Square
Revd Richard Carter, St Martin-in-the-Fields, Trafalgar Square
Revd Stephen Coleman, Grosvenor Chapel, Mayfair
Revd Philip Dawson, St Giles-in-the-Fields
Revd Simon Grigg, St Paul’s, Covent Garden
Revd Roderick Leece, St George’s Hanover Square, Mayfair
Revd Pascale Renaud-Grosbras, French Protestant Church, Soho
Revd Scott Rennie, Crown Court Church of Scotland, Covent Garden
Revd Alan Robinson, Corpus Christi Maiden Lane, Covent Garden
Revd Adam Scott, House of St Barnabas, Soho
Revd Simon Woodman, Bloomsbury Central Baptist Church
Revd Lucy Winkett, St James’s Piccadilly and St Pancras Euston Rd
Fr Dominic Robinson SJ, commented: “When this new legislation to criminalise the homeless was proposed, the clergy across the West End of London were of one voice in expressing their horror and disbelief and demanding to be consulted.
It is clear to us all, who serve on the ground in parishes and churches of different traditions, that rough sleeping is a complex matter which deserves an integrated response.
This response needs to see the homeless we serve in our parishes not as people to be punished for begging but which treats the poorest of our flock with care and respect for their human dignity. Any policy or law needs to get to the roots of the issue in trafficking and find ways to help people get back on their feet.
All this requires funding for dignified accommodation and professional help rather than fining those who have nothing to give. It is clear to all of us who work with the street population that the proposed law will simply result in locking people away in prison where they can be conveniently forgotten by the rest of society. And that must be resisted strongly by the Christian community and by anyone who cares about creating a civilised society”.
Christians for Palestine outside St Paul’s Cathedral, January 2024
Date: 9 May 2024 Time: 7:00pm – 8:30pm Venue: Our Lady of Victories, Kensington, 235a Kensington High St, London W8 6SF, UK
Westminster Justice and Peace began the Holy Land Roundtables in response to the horrendous series of events unfolding in our news bulletins since 7th October 2023, with first the massacre of over 1,200 people in Israel by Hamas and the taking of around 240 hostages, then full-scale retaliatory military action by the Israeli government across the whole of Gaza.
Six months later, the conflict continues to escalate, with homes and infrastructure destroyed, the entire population of Gaza facing famine, and more than 100 men, women and children still being held hostage. Now, there is an increasing threat of escalation of the conflict to other countries in the Middle East.
This Roundtable aims to gather together Catholics from across the Diocese with an interest in exploring our collective response as a community and asking what more we could do?
All are welcome to join us for our third meeting at Our Lady of Victories Parish Centre, 235a Kensington High Street.
We are currently setting up a working party to be responsible for the Roundtable and facilitating a Justice & Peace response in the diocese in five main areas:
1) Muslim, Christian & Jewish relations in Westminster Diocese. 2) Supporting local parish responses to the conflict. 3) Promoting prayer and liturgy for peace. 4) Assisting Christians and other communities in the Holy Land. 5) Campaigning for a ceasefire and ending weapons sales.
Please do come along to find out more or get in touch with the Westminster Justice and Peace Co-ordinator, Colette Joyce, on 07593 434 905 colettejoyce@rcdow.org.uk
Barbara Kentish gives the reflection outside the Home Office
Not casting stones
We come here month after month, to pray for asylum seekers and to mark the deaths of those whom the system has failed. We pray, like the importunate widow, each time, for justice for refugees, for a welcome for these strangers. What more can we be doing that we are not already doing?
I thought about today’s reading, and the woman who apparently deserved stoning, and Jesus’s reluctant conclusion: ‘Let he who is without sin cast the first stone.’
I wonder if there is a danger that we can look as though we are blaming government for all the ills of the asylum and immigration system. Yet we have a tiny part to play.
We are here as Christians, but also as citizens, who have a degree of freedom of speech, the right to assemble, the right to share our views, although we know that all of these cannot be taken for granted. And a vote. We have an election coming up, probably in the Autumn.
Our message, month after month, is surely that a politics of compassion must be applied to the whole asylum system. This system is national, European and global, and the crisis of people on the move needs to be seen as a huge humanitarian crisis. This was done after the Second World War, but also after the Vietnam war, when more than 1.3 million people were resettled.
I looked up some suggestions for policy, and found on Amnesty International site the following eight pointers:
Safe routes to sanctuary 2) Resettle most vulnerable 3) Save lives 4) Crossing borders: allow people to cross borders without papers, as they flee from danger. 5) Stop trafficking 6) Stop blaming refugees for domestic problems Governments need to stop blaming refugees and migrants for economic and social problems, and instead combat all kinds of xenophobia and racial discrimination. 7) Start funding an impoverished UN, which has not even enough money to deal with the famine crisis in the Sudan for instance. 8) Asylum is a human right The world has a very short memory. In the aftermath of World War II, most countries agreed to protect refugees through the 1951 Refugee Convention, and through UN agencies like the UNHCR.
Barbed wire fences and chronic underfunding have left that vision of a better world in tatters. By ignoring the warning signs, world leaders have allowed a huge, global humanitarian crisis to unfold. Ultimately, it will be resolved by ending the conflicts and persecution that forced people to flee in the first place.
But no one knows when that will be. Meanwhile, we need radical solutions, visionary leadership and global co-operation on a scale not seen for 70 years. That involves setting up strong refugee systems: allowing people to apply for asylum, treating their refugee claims fairly, resettling the most vulnerable of all, and providing basics like education and healthcare.
None of these eight solutions are impossible to achieve, if politicians listen to the millions of people saying “refugees welcome”, and put solidarity and compassion above petty wrangling over who should host a few thousand refugees’.
My own thoughts on the local domestic level are obvious:
– stop throwing money at walls and fences and spend it instead on improving the claims system, using the money to enable the – Home Office to deal with the huge backlog of applications. – Stop putting people in detention for indefinite periods, treating them like prisoners, and instead let them go out to work, including while they await a hearing of their applications.
As Simon Jenkins of the Guardian says:
‘Our plight is rich in absurdity. The UK needs new workers and people want to come here. The real problem is populist politics’.
In other words, the fears planted in people about invasion by strangers is simply a tool of a party faction using biased media, and should be dealt with as such.
But overall, as Clive Myrie, of the BBC says: ‘we need international cooperation to solve a global crisis’.
Which brings me to the central idea behind all of these measures: Compassion and humanity. The theme for Refugee Week this year is Compassion.
What we are doing here in Marsham Street is praying for an international politics of compassion. And whatever we are getting involved in, whether hospitality, campaigning, accompaniment or befriending, we are praying that the umbrella idea over all of it, is compassion, not numbers, not expediency, identity politics or anything else. The alternative is the deaths we have just heard read out. It does not have to be like this.
With a general election coming up, might we think of doing our part, and coming up with a sort of Charter of Compassion for refugees, Might we do our own writing on the ground, as to what to put forward on how we might address this global crisis, and not be accused of simply casting stones at the Government?
The things we pray for, Lord, give us the grace to labour for!
List of the Dead, March 2023
At the Vigil we prayed for all those who died in the month of March 2023 while trying to seek sanctuary in Europe. Please remember them also in your prayers. You might like to download or print this sheet for your own daily memorials.
Father Fadi Diab, Rector of the Anglican Parish in Ramallah, received a warm welcome when he visited the parish of Our Lady Help of Christians in Kentish Town, North London, on Saturday. Fr Fadi is currently on a visit to the UK hosted by Friends of the Holy Land.
Fr Fadi will be joining Westminster Justice and Peace for the Westminster Holy Land Roundtable on Saturday 23rd March, 4-6pm, at Farm Street. More details
Born and educated in the West Bank, Fr Fadi is a founder of the Youth Connection for Peace Programme, a member of the Palestine-Israeli Theologians Forum and the Palestine Advisory Council of the Episcopal Peace Fellowship, co-author of Kairos Palestine document and board member on Kairos-Palestine. He has presented workshops at the World Council of Churches on the theological understanding of the Palestine Israeli conflict.
Fr Fadi began by thanking everyone present for their support. “It means a lot to know to know you care, Its means a lot to know we are not abandoned. We are all part of the Body of Christ. People who care.”
The situation in the last few months has been “heartbreaking, devastating” for the people of Gaza and the West Bank, he said. But he pointed out: “This situation didn’t start on October 7. The settler colonial project began more than 75 years ago. “Israel wants to take all the land and get rid of the people of the land…”
“In Gaza it is not a war against Hamas,” he said. “Its a war against all Palestinians.” In the West Bank (which is not run by Hamas) since October around 500 people, including many children have been killed in attacks by settlers and the Israeli army. 50 houses have been demolished.
Gaza at the present time “is another story” he said. “It is beyond imagination! More than 33,000 killed. 13,000 children. 7,000 women. Thousands more are missing under the rubble. Schools, hospitals, mosques, churches, universities, and most homes all destroyed.” The population is now facing starvation.
“We believe human being were created in the image of God – to kill one person is to kill humanity.”
Fr Fadi said there is an urgent need for “awakening” in churches abroad. “They are so often silent, shy or complicit.” He said he is often surprised at how little many Christians know about the Holy Land.
But he was encouraged to see so many demonstrations taking place in the UK. “Its a process” he said. “It is our mission to challenge structures of injustice. God’s plan is for every person to be treated equally. No one should be left out.”
Fr Fadi went on to describe the desperate plight of Christians in the Holy Land. “We are facing an existential crisis – the decline of Christians in Holy Land. The place God chose to send the Messiah… This is the community that traces its roots back to the first Christians. They have been there for two millennium witnessing to the message of Jesus Christ – looking after pilgrims – but now most of them have left.”
“In 1917 they were 17- 20% of the population. Today Christians are less than 2 per cent. 90% of Christians from Ramallah now live in US. There are less than 50,000 Christians in West Bank. All 900 Christians in Gaza have filed immigration applications.”
80% of Christians in Bethlehem rely on tourism. For two years during the pandemic there were no pilgrims and people faced real difficulties. Now things are much worse. 100,000 Palestinians from the West Bank used to go to Israel to work. But since October they have had their work permits revoked. Now Israel is bringing in people from India and other countries to do their jobs, Fr Fadi said.
“The challenge for Christians is huge. Young people are fed up. They have lost hope… The Church, together with the UN and government provide all the education, health and social social care. To lose that would be really frightening. To think of the Holy Land without Christians is frightening.”
Fr Fadi is Chair of the Holy Land Committee of Friends of the Holy Land, an ecumenical, non-political charity with a mission, together with other Christian charities is to secure a resilient and enduring Christian community in the West Bank, Gaza, Israel and Jordan – transforming lives through education, scholarships, medical and social care for the young and old, as well as food these days. Since the latest crisis, Fr Fadi said many people are on the “edge of collapse,” suffering from depression and anxiety, and so Friends of the Holy Land has introduced trauma counselling programs.
“We feel this is a Kairos moment – to respond to the situation in every way we can – offering support and promoting peace and justice” Fr Fadi said.
During the Q& A afterwards Fr Fadi was asked what he would like to see UK churches do. He responded by saying that the UK is responsible for what has happened in the Holy Land on many levels, and so we should have a role in restoring justice. “The Church needs to put pressure on the government” he said. “The Church should be crystal clear about that… the. UK should not be providing weapons to Israel” he said.
Churches in the UK need to educate people more, Fr Fadi said. “I’m surprised at how little people know. This should be a central component in UK churches and all over the world.
Fr Fadi said we need to question where we invest our money. “There is no limit to educating people about ethical questions.” And he pointed out the need for constant prayers. Three faiths have lived in the Holy Land for so many centuries, it can accommodate them peacefully, he said.
At the end of the talk, Brendan Metcalfe, director of Friends of the Holy Land reminded everyone that the FHL website has a section for prayers, as well as a news page “so we know what we’re praying for.” See: www.friendsoftheholyland.org.uk/
He also had a meeting with Bishop Nicholas Hudson.
On Sunday, he preached at the 9am & 11am services at Southwark Anglican Cathedral and had a Q&A with the congregation. Watch the service here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=HTh7qHWPpJc&t=6s
Dr Raymond Perrier, Director of the Denis Hurley Centre in Durban, South Africa, gave the following address during the Ecumenical Service to mark the 44th anniversary of the martyrdom of St Oscar Romero at St Martin in the Fields, Trafalgar Sqhaere, London on Saturday, 16 March 2024.
Prayerful and Prophetic Resilience in the Face of Injustice
We have, in the figures of St Oscar Romero of El Salvador and Denis Hurley of Durban, South Africa, two ‘golden arches’. Two men who used their position as archbishops in the Catholic church to be ‘a voice for the voiceless’. They operated on different sides of the planet; while Hurley was a leading figure in the Second Vatican Council in the 1960s, Romero was relatively unknown outside his home country until his death; and while Romero was an archbishop for under three years, Hurley was a bishop for almost 60 years. Yet there are some remarkable similarities between their lives.
Being of similar age, they both studied for the priesthood in Rome in the 1930s. Frustratingly we cannot prove that they ever met, though Hurley in his memoirs assumes that they must have attended the same lectures. What we do know is that they had a shared experience of seeing the rise of fascism in Italy and then the conflicted response of the Church in the face of political intimidation. They both spent part of their lives training future priests – really quite bookish men who were unlikely revolutionaries. The appointment of each of them to high office in the Church was surprising, though for different reasons: Romero was chosen because he was the quiet man who had been a rural bishop and, it was thought, would not rock the boat; Hurley, when he was appointed in 1947, was absurdly young: in fact at 31 he was the youngest bishop in the entire Catholic world.
But once they were in charge of dioceses, both had the experience of being conscientised by their own people and most especially by the poor and marginalised. Romero broke the conventions of the strictly classist Salvadoran society by mixing with peasants and listening to their experiences. There are moving photos on the Romero Trust website of him walking the streets, or sharing a meal with ordinary families, to connect with the lives of his people. Hurley broke the even stricter laws of Apartheid South Africa by reaching out to citizens of all colours and hearing at first hand what injustices and daily humiliations they faced. Hurley also broke the equally strict conventions of his Church at the time by listening to and empowering lay people, women, Christians of other denominations and people of other faiths.
By walking alongside their people, these bishops learnt about the exclusions, oppression and violence that was happening in their countries and that so many other leaders – political and religious – chose to ignore. They thus both became icons in the struggle against injustice having the courage to use the platform they had to speak out in a divided society. And what they said was often not what people wanted to hear. Of course, that deafness is still true today and we just sang Hurley’s own words in the hymn: “We humbly ask your pardon, Lord: the ones who hear are all too few.”
For their stand against injustice, both archbishops faced intimidation and vilification, a cool reception from members of their church, from their fellow bishops and even from Rome, and warnings from their governments of legal actions and death threats. Romero of course did not survive these. He was assassinated while saying Mass almost exactly 44 years ago on 24 March 1980 – the blood of the chalice mixing with his own blood in the supreme image of martyrdom. Hurley was spared such violence and lived to see the transition to a democratic South Africa; he died 20 years ago, in his 90th year.
In both these men we see a prophetic stance but importantly it is a prophetic stance that is rooted in prayer and in Scripture. There is a lovely story told of a group of young revolutionary-minded trainee priests in San Salvador, creeping out of the seminary to campaign on the streets, and passing an old priest who was on his knees praying in the chapel. They mocked him wondering why he could not be more like their great hero the activist Archbishop Romero. And then the old priest stood up and turned around and it was indeed Archbishop Romero.
Through all their actions, Romero and Hurley were doing no more – and no less – than Jesus proclaims in his first public sermon as recounted in Luke chapter 4. Jesus enters the synagogue in Nazareth, takes out the scroll and reads from the prophet Isaiah: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me; he has anointed me.” Hurley chose as his episcopal motto a phrase from 2 Corinthians which we have just heard read: “Where the Spirit is, there is Freedom”. And it is in the power of that anointing by the Spirit that Hurley and Romero find freedom and were able to show others the way to freedom. It is the freedom to preach good news to the poor, to liberate captives, to open the eyes of the blind, to bind up the broken hearted.
Both Hurley and Romero used their pulpits, and used the media available to them, to preach good news to the people of their own countries. Both men also benefited hugely in their ministry from the support of CAFOD and Christian Aid to make sure that the truth of what was happening was heard further afield. As we heard from Romero’s words earlier:
“It is not enough to demand justice. The civilisation of love also demands truth…and truth is what is lacking in our situation…When the truth is spoken it gives offence, and the voices that speak the truth are silenced.”
Romero was silenced by his assassination but, as he had predicted: “they may kill an archbishop, but I will rise again in the Salvadoran people”. Hurley was also fearless in witnessing to the truth, often standing on his own outside Durban City Hall holding a placard and daring the authorities to arrest him. He was also supremely creative in how he could use the power of religious symbols to tell the truth to the world. Let me give one example.
At the height of the state of emergency, in March 1985, a group of anti-Apartheid activists had been detained without charge in the central prison in Durban and Hurley wanted to show solidarity with them. Strictly speaking it was illegal for him even to mention that they were detained, let alone organise any kind of public demonstration. His great lieutenant, a lay man called Paddy Kearney, came to Hurley with an idea. “Is it not, your Grace, an ancient tradition of the church that a bishop should be able to visit his congregants on Good Friday?”. “Is it?” asked Hurley; “well,” Paddy replied, “it is an ancient tradition: who knows?”
So Hurley went to the Chief of Police and explained this ancient tradition to him and the Chief of Police, a loyal member of the Dutch Reformed Church, felt he could not refuse. But then Hurley explained that, since not all the detainees were Catholic, the Anglican bishop and the Methodist and the rest should also be allowed to visit the prison. And so, at dawn on Good Friday, Hurley led a group of fellow Christian leaders into the jail so that they could pray with the detainees; meanwhile a group of other Christians who had by coincidence turned up at the same time stood in a circle around the prison and sang hymns so the prisoners would know they were not forgotten. And then they all walked away in complete silence, so they did not break the rules on public protests.
This was not a protest but a prayer service – a prayerful and prophetic witness – that comforted the afflicted inside the prison and afflicted the comfortable forces of the Apartheid regime. That tradition of a silent ecumenical walk of witness at dawn on Good Friday continues to this day and we will be marking it in central Durban in two weeks’ time.
The ecumenical nature of that event is worth noting in this wonderful ecumenical service. We should remember that Romero was honoured by Westminster Abbey many years before he was canonised by Rome. Long before it was encouraged, or even allowed, for Catholics to mix with ‘our separated brothers and sisters’, Hurley was reaching out to Christians of other denominations and indeed to people of other faiths since Durban has sizeable Muslim and Hindu communities. One of his great collaborators was Ela Gandhi, grand-daughter of the Mahatma. I am proud to say that the Denis Hurley Centre in Durban is located between the Catholic Cathedral, the largest mosque and the site of Mahatma Gandhi’s law office. We are, as far we know, the only building in the world named after a Catholic archbishop which houses a halal kitchen so we can work together with all faiths to feed the poor.
If Isaiah calls us to bind up the broken-hearted, then every act of ecumenical or interfaith collaboration is an opportunity to bind up the broken heart of the one God who created us all.
Romero did not live to see liberation in El Salvador – it came after his death. But he also did not live to see how that liberation would later be squandered by politicians who once fought for the poor and now ignore their plight and feather their own nests. Hurley did live to see liberation with South Africa’s first democratic elections 30 years ago in 1994 – that was a moment celebrated especially here in Trafalgar Square where for so many years there had been a valiant protest outside South Africa House next door to us. But Hurley died before the pot of gold in the rainbow nation was found to be empty – stolen by members of a party that claimed to be the liberators or sold by businesses and political leaders to the highest bidder.
Romero and Hurley might have hoped that their successors as religious leaders in El Salvador or South Africa (or even here in Britain) would have continued the fight against injustice with the same vigour. And some of them do; but by no means all. Can we put our hands on our hearts and say that we have – to use Hurley’s words from 1960 – ‘a true social apostolate, a systematic effort to concentrate the energies of divine light and life on the failings of human conduct’?
Because, of course, the anointing that Jesus mentions in Luke 4 is and not for just for him or for Romero and Hurley. Each one of us by our baptism has been anointed; the Spirit of the Lord is on each one of us and the manifesto of Isaiah should be the manifesto of all our lives. So what does this mean for us sitting here today?
We heard Hurley’s words from 64 years ago reminding the Church that in a bitterly divided community, its mission is one of salvation. And that while we can hope to draw on the strength of God, we have to constantly be aware of – and challenge – the weakness of humans, starting with our own frailty.
In El Salvador and in South Africa today the work of bringing good news to the poor is far from over. I would suggest that the same is true of the bitterly divided nation which looks to this square as the epicentre for celebration and for protest. The over-riding need for that good news is something I see every day in central Durban at the Denis Hurley Centre. It is a place where people of all faiths come together to serve the homeless, refugees, drug users, the unemployed – the captives of our economic system who are looking to be liberated. So many wonderful parallels to the work of St Martin in the Fields. Occasionally, especially when there is an election coming up, government with its massive resources does remember that these are the poor and marginalised whom Hurley and others fought valiantly to liberate from Apartheid. But more often than not, the poor are forgotten by the South African government because (to use Hurley’s words) of “the slowness or the failure or the refusal of humans to respond to the call of God.”
In the face of increasing injustice and indifference – in El Salvador, in South Africa or here in Britain – one temptation for people of faith is to retreat. But as Romero put it: “To pray and wait for God to do something is not holiness, it is laziness.” We are all anointed and called to constantly find ways, small and large, to bring good news to the poor, to bind up the broken hearted and to open the eyes of the blind – starting with opening our own eyes and then encouraging others to see what they would rather ignore.
Another temptation is to be committed to act but then to wait for the perfect moment. In Luke 4 we are told of the year of the Lord’s favour – that sounds like a great time to act and until then we should just wait, shouldn’t we? Clearly, Romero did not live to see the year of the Lord’s favour: but he did what he could when he could and entrusted the rest to God: accepting that he was a worker not the master builder. In South Africa with the elections 30 years ago it looked as if we had reached that Kairos moment – the year of the Lord’s favour. But of course 1994 was just the start of another mountain and at the Denis Hurley Centre we are very aware that we still have a long way to climb. The example of the lives of Romero and Hurley remind of what Jesus tells us in Luke 4: there is no excuse for waiting: for now is the acceptable time, now is the day of the Lord’s salvation.
Christians for Palestine bloc outside St Paul’s Cathedral
The next Westminster Holy Land Roundtable, hosted by the Westminster Justice and Peace Commission, will take place on Saturday, 23 March, from 4-6pm, at the Catholic Church of the Immaculate Conception, Mayfair, 114 Mount Street, London, W1K 3AH, to share and discuss the response of the Catholic community in the Diocese of Westminster to war and conflict in the Holy Land.
The horrendous series of events unfolding in our news bulletins since the 7th October attack by Hamas in which 1,200 were killed and over 250 were taken hostage, and the subsequent retaliation by Israel in which over 30,000 people have been killed – most of them women and children, where over 1.8 million people have seen their homes destroyed and are now facing a major famine – has increased the concern of people everywhere for the Holy Land.
Following the first Roundtable on 20th February, we are hoping to gather Catholics in the Diocese with an interest in exploring our collective response to strife in the Holy Land and asking what more we could do as a community?
We hope to set up a Working Party to cover the following areas:
· Christian, Muslim and Jewish relations in the Diocese. · The ‘Ceasefire Now!’ rallies and liaising with the ‘Christians for Palestine’ group. . Liaising with Catholic parishes and other organisations. · Prayer and Liturgy. · Support for Catholics and other Christians in the Holy Land.
If you are interested in helping in any of these areas, but are unable to attend the meeting on 23rd March, please contact Colette Joyce directly on colettejoyce@rcdow.org.uk for further details or a chat.
It is not necessary to register, but it will be helpful for us to gauge numbers if you do. Many thanks.
Diocese of Westminster Justice and Peace Commission 