As the UK once again prepares to host the Defence and Security Equipment International (DSEI) arms fair, the Department for International Affairs of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales has released a statement saying the sale of weapons for profit causes “grave harm” to humanity.
The biannual DSEI Arms fair takes place 12-15 September, bringing together governments and military delegations from across the world with more than 1,500 companies selling guns, bombs, and other weaponry.
Full statement:
Pope Francis reminds us that while it may sometimes be legitimate to provide military assistance for countries to defend themselves against aggression, promoting the sale of weapons for profit is immoral and inflicts grave harm upon our human family.
Through hosting one of the world’s largest arms fairs, our country is complicit in fuelling conflicts around the world which destroy lives, drive people from their homes, trap communities in poverty, and damage the environment.
We once again send our prayers and best wishes to all those who, inspired by Christ’s call to be peacemakers, are opposing the arms fair.
Bishop Declan Lang Chair – Catholic Bishops’ Conference Department for International Affairs
Bishop Nicholas Hudson Catholic Bishops’ Conference Department for International Affairs
This inspiring volume from Westminster Interfaith brings together Sacred Scripture, writings and poems from a range of religious, cultural and spiritual traditions to create a wonderful resource exploring twelve themes from an interfaith perspective. As the subtitle indicates, it is the Prayer of People of Faith.
Originally published in 2016 honour of Brother Daniel Faivre SG, who founded Westminster Interfaith in 1981, this fourth edition includes further texts and an additional chapter. The book starts with a prayer from Brother Daniel, before introducing him to us as a humble but trailblazing lifelong advocate for interfaith relations between people. It then offers a brief extract from Michael Barnes SJ on ‘Listening to the Sacred’ to unpack and explore a little about the interfaith context and other faith traditions, particularly from the perspective of Christianity.
The main body of the book contains writings, from different faith traditions, that enable us to go deeper into exploring aspects of God, the Divine, spirituality and our relationship with them, drawing on a wide range of carefully selected texts. The chapters cover a range of thought-provoking themes on Transcendence, Presence, Light, Creation, Providence, Praise, Union, Compassion, Love and Devotion, Peace, Life Eternal and, in a timely final chapter at this time of ecological crisis, One Earth.
This expanded edition will hopefully introduce those who are new to this book to the inspiring and important work of Brother Daniel and Westminster Interfaith, whilst at the same time offering those familiar with this work an opportunity to be re-inspired and re-invigorated. It can offer support and encouragement to those working in an interfaith context, or for those just exploring what the wisdom contained within these writings could be saying to them and to all of us.
To order a copy of this book, go to New City website: www.newcity.co.uk/books/transcendence, or attend the Book Launch at the London Jesuit Centre on Tuesday, 5th September 10.30-2.30 by contacting Jon Dal Din (jondaldin@email.com) 07527 758 729 or Sister Elizabeth (elizabethodonohoe@gmail.com) 07946 591 564.
“Let Justice and Peace Flow” is the theme of this year’s ecumenical Season of Creation, inspired by the words of the prophet Amos: “Let justice flow on like a river, righteousness like a never-failing stream” (5:24).
The evocative image used by Amos speaks to us of what God desires. God wants justice to reign; it is as essential to our life as God’s children made in his likeness as water is essential for our physical survival. This justice must flow forth wherever it is needed, neither remaining hidden deep beneath the ground nor vanishing like water that evaporates before it can bring sustenance. God wants everyone to strive to be just in every situation, to live according to his laws and thus to enable life to flourish. When we “seek first the kingdom of God” (Mt 6:33), maintaining a right relationship with God, humanity and nature, then justice and peace can flow like a never-failing stream of pure water, nourishing humanity and all creatures.
On a beautiful summer day in July 2022, during my pilgrimage to Canada, I reflected on this on the shores of Lac Ste. Anne in Alberta. That lake has been a place of pilgrimage for many generations of indigenous people. Surrounded by the beating of drums, I thought: “How many hearts have come here with anxious longing, weighed down by life’s burdens, and found by these waters consolation and strength to carry on! Here, immersed in creation, we can also sense another beating: the maternal heartbeat of the earth. Just as the hearts of babies in the womb beat in harmony with those of their mothers, so in order to grow as people, we need to harmonize our own rhythms of life with those of creation, which gives us life”. [1]
During this Season of Creation, let us dwell on those heartbeats: our own and those of our mothers and grandmothers, the heartbeat of creation and the heartbeat of God. Today they do not beat in harmony; they are not harmonized in justice and peace. Too many of our brothers and sisters are prevented from drinking from that mighty river. Let us heed our call to stand with the victims of environmental and climate injustice, and to put an end to the senseless war against creation.
The effects of this war can be seen in the many rivers that are drying up. Benedict XVI once observed that: “the external deserts in the world are growing, because the internal deserts have become so vast”. [2] Consumerist greed, fuelled by selfish hearts, is disrupting the planet’s water cycle. The unrestrained burning of fossil fuels and the destruction of forests are pushing temperatures higher and leading to massive droughts. Alarming water shortages increasingly affect both small rural communities and large metropolises. Moreover, predatory industries are depleting and polluting our freshwater sources through extreme practices such as fracking for oil and gas extraction, unchecked mega-mining projects, and intensive animal farming. “Sister Water”, in the words of Saint Francis of Assisi, is pillaged and turned into “a commodity subject to the laws of the market” ( Laudato Si’, 30).
The United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has stated that acting now with greater urgency means that we will not miss our chance to create a more sustainable and just world. We can and we must prevent the worst from happening. “Truly, much can be done” (ibid., 180), provided we come together like so many streams, brooks and rivulets, merging finally in a mighty river to irrigate the life of our marvellous planet and our human family for generations to come. So let us join hands and take bold steps to “Let Justice and Peace Flow” throughout our world.
How can we contribute to the mighty river of justice and peace in this Season of Creation? What can we, particularly as Christian communities, do to heal our common home so that it can once again teem with life? We must do this by resolving to transform our hearts, our lifestyles, and the public policies ruling our societies.
First, let us join the mighty river by transforming our hearts. This is essential for any other transformation to occur; it is that “ecological conversion” which Saint John Paul II encouraged us to embrace: the renewal of our relationship with creation so that we no longer see it as an object to be exploited but cherish it instead as a sacred gift from our Creator. Furthermore, we should realize that an integral approach to respect for the environment involves four relationships: with God, with our brothers and sisters of today and tomorrow, with all of nature, and with ourselves.
As to the first of these relationships, Pope Benedict XVI spoke of the urgent need to recognize that creation and redemption are inseparably linked: “The Redeemer is the Creator and if we do not proclaim God in his full grandeur – as Creator and as Redeemer – we also diminish the value of the redemption”. [3] Creation refers both to God’s mysterious, magnificent act of creating this majestic, beautiful planet and universe out of nothing and to the continuing result of that act, which we experience as an inexhaustible gift. During the liturgy and personal prayer in “the great cathedral of creation”, [4] let us recall the great Artist who creates such beauty, and reflect on the mystery of that loving decision to create the cosmos.
Second, let us add to the flow of this mighty river by transforming our lifestyles. Starting from grateful wonder at the Creator and his creation, let us repent of our “ecological sins”, as my brother, Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, has urged. These sins harm the world of nature and our fellow men and women. With the help of God’s grace, let us adopt lifestyles marked by less waste and unnecessary consumption, especially where the processes of production are toxic and unsustainable. Let us be as mindful as we can about our habits and economic decisions so that all can thrive – our fellow men and women wherever they may be, and future generations as well. Let us cooperate in God’s ongoing creation through positive choices: using resources with moderation and a joyful sobriety, disposing and recycling waste, and making greater use of available products and services that are environmentally and socially responsible.
Lastly, for the mighty river to continue flowing, we must transform the public policies that govern our societies and shape the lives of young people today and tomorrow. Economic policies that promote scandalous wealth for a privileged few and degrading conditions for many others, spell the end of peace and justice. It is clear that the richer nations have contracted an “ecological debt” that must be paid (cf. Laudato Si’, 51). [5] The world leaders who will gather for the COP28 summit in Dubai from 30 November to 12 December next must listen to science and institute a rapid and equitable transition to end the era of fossil fuel. According to the commitments undertaken in the Paris Agreement to restrain global warming, it is absurd to permit the continued exploration and expansion of fossil fuel infrastructures. Let us raise our voices to halt this injustice towards the poor and towards our children, who will bear the worst effects of climate change. I appeal to all people of good will to act in conformity with these perspectives on society and nature.
Another parallel perspective has to do with the Catholic Church’s commitment to synodality. This year, the closing of the Season of Creation on 4 October, the feast of Saint Francis of Assisi, will coincide with the opening of the Synod on Synodality. Like rivers in nature, fed by myriad tiny brooks and larger streams and rivulets, the synodal process that began in October 2021 invites all those who take part on a personal or community level, to coalesce in a majestic river of reflection and renewal. The entire People of God is being invited to an immersive journey of synodal dialogue and conversion.
So too, like a river basin with its many tiny and larger tributaries, the Church is a communion of countless local Churches, religious communities and associations that draw from the same shared waters. Each source adds its unique and irreplaceable contribution, until all flow together into the vast ocean of God’s loving mercy. In the same way that a river is a source of life for its surroundings, our synodal Church must be a source of life for our common home and all its inhabitants. In the same way that a river gives life to all kinds of animal and plant life, a synodal Church must give life by sowing justice and peace in every place it reaches.
In Canada, in July 2022, I spoke of the Sea of Galilee where Jesus brought healing and consolation to many people and proclaimed “a revolution of love”. Lac Ste. Anne, I learned, is also a place of healing, consolation and love, a place that “reminds us that fraternity is genuine if it unites those who are far apart, [and] that the message of unity that heaven sends down to earth does not fear differences, but invites us to fellowship, a communion of differences, in order to start afresh together, because we are all pilgrims on a journey”. [6]
In this Season of Creation, as followers of Christ on our shared synodal journey, let us live, work and pray that our common home will teem with life once again. May the Holy Spirit once more hover over the waters and guide our efforts to “renew the face of the earth” (cf. Ps 104:30).
The Catholic Union’s 2023 Craigmyle Lecture will be given by Dame Rachel de Souza DBE, the Children’s Commissioner for England.
Dame Rachel will use her lecture to talk about creating a society where children can flourish. The lecture will be followed by a drinks reception to continue the conversation.
The lecture will be taking place on Wednesday 13 September, 6-8.30pm at the University of Notre Dame London campus, near Trafalgar Square in London. The event will also be live-streamed. Further details can be found on the Catholic Union’s website.
The office of Children’s Commissioner was established under the Children Act 2004 to “represent the views and interests of children”. Dame Rachel has served as Commissioner since March 2021.
The Craigmyle Lecture is the Catholic Union’s annual flagship lecture, giving a platform to a prominent public figure to talk about a matter of importance to Christians and wider society in this country. The previous three speakers have been Baroness Hollins, Lord Bird, and Sir James MacMillan.
This year marks the 100th anniversary of the birth of Donald, Lord Craigmyle, a former President of the Catholic Union, after whom the Lecture series is named.
Dame Rachel de Souza commented: “I’m delighted to be giving this year’s lecture, especially in the centenary year of Lord Craigmyle’s birth. Since taking on the role of Commissioner, I’ve become even more convinced of the need for us as a nation to prioritise children’s welfare. We all have a role to play to support children in schools, in families, and when it comes to broader issues like online safety and migration policy. I am very glad to see that the Catholic Church is part of this work to improve the lives of children. I’m looking forward to setting out how we can create a society where children can flourish. It is one of the most important questions for every generation as our children are the future.”
Catholic Union Director, Nigel Parker, said: “We’re extremely grateful to Dame Rachel for agreeing to give this year’s lecture. Since the Craigmyle Lecture was established more than 20 years ago, it has given a Catholic angle to some of the most pressing issues of the day. How we create a society conducive to children and family life is surely one of the most important questions we face. We are all very much looking forward to Dame Rachel’s talk. Our sincere thanks to the Universe Catholic Weekly for sponsoring this event. Having a thriving Catholic press and a weekly Catholic newspaper in this country is so important. Now that the Universe is back in print, I strongly encourage people to subscribe and get a copy of the paper each week.”
6 August 2023, Memorial Service for Hiroshima and Nagasaki in St Alban’s, Hertfordshire
On 6 and 9 August 1945, the United States detonated two atomic bombs over the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and then Nagasaki. On Sunday afternoon, Sunday 6 August 2023, some of the Cathedral congregation gathered alongside members of other local churches, including St Bartholomew’s and St Alban and St Stephen’s Catholic Churches, at the Peace Pillar to remember those affected by those bombings and to pray for world peace.
The Peace Pillar stands at the entrance to Sumpter Yard and was given by the people of Japan in gratitude that the Dean at that time, Cuthbert Thicknesse, refused for the Cathedral bells to be rung with other bells in the city to mark Victory in Japan because it had come at such a cost in terms of destruction and loss of life.
The Cathedral would now like to move the Peace obelisk, now very obscured by the tree and hedge (barely discernible in the picture above, behind the woman in red on the right), to a more prominent location.
We continue to pray for all who strive for peace in our own day.
Video from the Catholic Bishop’s Conference of Scotland addressing Peace and Disarmament (2022)
In 1982, the Scottish bishops released a landmark statement on nuclear weapons. In this letter they challenged not just the use of nuclear weapons, something the church has always condemned, but they challenged also the very notion of deterrence and the morality of deterrence.
Last year, 40 years on – with the help of schools – bishops and anti-nuclear activists made a video version to endorse the words of the statement. The school pupils also call for peace education in the classroom as a right.
The Bishops have re-shared the video to mark Hiroshima Day, 6 August 2023.
Pax Christi vigil outside Westminster Cathedral, 9th August 2022
The nuclear bombs dropped on Hiroshima (6 August 1945) and Nagasaki (9 August 1945) killed hundreds of thousands of people and left countless others living with the effects, many of which continue today. Those who survived the bombings, known as Hibakusha, have been leading campaigners for nuclear disarmament for nearly eight decades.
This year the Christian Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament and the Anglican Pacifist Fellowship will come together on the evening of Sunday 6 August, 8.00pm, for an Online Vigil – ‘Reflections for Peace’ -including prayers, reflections and songs. While the evening will include prayers for the victims and survivors, it will also look forward with hope towards a world without nuclear weapons.
In London, there will be also be a Pax Christi vigil and stall outside Westminster Cathedral from 11.00am to 1.00pm on both Sunday 6 and Wednesday 9 August.
On Wednesday 9 August there is a Service to Commemorate Blessed Franz Jägerstätter (1907-1943) on the 80th anniversary of his death at 6.30pm in the Crypt of Westminster Cathedral, which is followed by a walk to the London Peace Pagoda in Battersea to join an interfaith gathering to remember the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombings and pray for a world free from nuclear weapons.
In Hertfordshire, on Sunday 6th August, 3.00 pm, the Justice Peace and Integrity of Creation Group from Ss Alban and Stephen Catholic Church in St Albans mark the event with a short service on the theme ‘Against Nuclear Proliferation’ at the Abbey Peace Pillar in Sumpter Yard, Holywell Hill, St Albans, AL1 1BY.
All are welcome to join the congregation of the Ukrainian Catholic Cathedral to mark 500 days since the Russian invasion of Ukraine. The service will be in English with music in Ukrainian.
The service will include thanksgiving for the help and welcome given to thousands of Ukrainian refugees in the UK.
Bishop Paul McAleenan, students from Newman College, Brent, and electro-pop band Ooberfuse, were among those joining the regular monthly prayer vigil outside the Home Office in Marsham Street on Monday for an extended service to mark Refugee Week (19-25 June 2023)
The event was given added poignancy following the tragic sinking of the Andriana off the coast of Greece on 13 June. The boat was believed to be carrying as many as 750 migrants, of whom only around 100 were rescued.
A harrowing list of names of those who have died in the last month trying to reach Europe in small boats was read out during the vigil. They included some of the hundreds of people who perished in the Andriana disaster last week, an unknown man who died of hunger and thirst after 13 days adrift at sea off the coast of Spain, and a child electrocuted on a railway line in France.
While Home Office staff came and went, more than a hundred people took part in the moving vigil of prayer, hymns and reflections. Among them was Brother Johannes Maertens from the London Catholic Worker, Robina Rafferty former head of Housing Justice, Fr Dominic Robinson SJ, Chair of the Diocese of Westminster Justice and Peace Commission, and a group of students from Newman Catholic High School in Harlesden.
Electro-pop band Ooberfuse, together with Kurdish refugee folk singer Newroz Oremari opened the vigil with their latest song: ‘Show Me Love’ . Singer-songwriter Alistair Murray led some of the hymns.
Bishop Paul McAleenan, Lead Bishop for Migrants and Refugees in the Bishops Conference gave the following reflection:
“The reality of the life of a refugee, the hardships and hazards they endure opens this Refugee Week as we listen to the accounts of the latest tragedy off the coast of Greece.
No doubt there will investigations and enquiries into the tragedy, into the events of the preceding hours before the boat sank so that the truth can be uncovered. Those enquiries are important.
Our concern is not simply the events and decisions which took place immediately before that tragedy but the decisions and the policies which have been in place for many, many years which make such tragedies almost inevitable. The term safe and legal routes come to mind again.
We see again the consequences of policies which do not include compassion, the theme of this year’s Refugee Week. We see again the need for international cooperation.
When law and policies increase suffering, compounds trauma, and put lives in danger justice is not served. To advocate on behalf of migrants, refugees, displaced persons, asylum seekers is not simply kindness but it is a plea for justice for the most vulnerable, it is to do what the law should do.
Migrants, refugees, asylum seekers have had to abandon those things from which one has the right to expect stability and security, homeland, family, familiar customs. Our solidarity with them comes from this basic belief, that we have a duty, an obligation towards those who have lost everything.
When they encounter rejection not surprisingly there will be consequences which impact upon their mental and physical well-being. There will also be consequences which impact upon the whole human family. So I repeat that to support migrants and refugees is not almsgiving but an attempt to build fraternity and unity by encouraging the sharing of resources.
In Isaiah a verse describing the manner of the Redeemer in his pursuit of justice says of him, ‘He does not break the crushed reed nor quench the wavering flame’.
If someone has fled their homeland, crossed a desert and a sea and survives and is then detained, denied the right to work, threatened with deportation is it likely that the flame of hope which they managed to keep alive is going to strengthened or extinguished.
That is why we oppose Immigration systems which threaten to destroy hope, which divide people into categories giving different rights to each category.
Whether a person is a citizen, a migrant or a refugee they have a dignity, that innate dignity is our starting point and one which what ever else we must keep in mind.
To say we respect someone’s dignity is one thing, though I don’t think the word ‘respect’ captures the fullness of our obligation. The dignity of a person is so sacrosanct it needs to be protected and promoted, it involves relationship.
To meet a refugee and listen to their experience is very enlightening, informative and moving. We may not have met a refugee in the flesh, nevertheless we can stand with them and for them. That is what we are doing now, making a statement, declaring they are our brothers and sisters.
So I thank you for all you do, for your presence here today at the beginning of Refugee Week. May our prayers and our work bear fruit for the good of all especially those who have nothing.”
The Christian Prayer Vigil is organised each month by Westminster Justice & Peace and London Catholic Worker.
The next vigil is on Monday, 17 July 2023, 12.30-1.30pm.
Diocese of Westminster Justice and Peace Commission 