Category: Events
Christians in National Peace March for Palestine
Source: Independent Catholic News
Up to half a million campaigners of all faiths and beliefs, marched through London on Saturday, from the Bank along Fleet Street towards Trafalgar Square down Whitehall to the Houses of Parliament, appealing for peace in Gaza and the West Bank.
Westminster Justice and Peace joined the Christian bloc, co-ordinated by Christians For Palestine, which included banners from Pax Christi, the Church of England, Quakers, the Columbans, London Catholic Worker, Passionists, Holy Land Trust, Fellowship of Reconciliation, Anglican Pacifist Fellowship, Sisters of St, Joseph of Peace and many more. We walked next to the Jewish bloc, which included hundreds of individuals and members of Na’Amod, International Anti-Zionist Network, Jews for Palestine, Torah Jews, JVL and other Jewish peace groups.
Columban Sisters Kate Midgley and Young Mi helped carry one of the Christian banners. Sr Mi said: “The reason I joined the demo is only a little gesture to show my solidarity towards suffering Palestinians. Because what is going on in Gaza and what Palestinians have to go through at this time is a total distortion of humanity.”
Little Amal – the 3.5 metre tall puppet of a nine-year-old Syrian refugee girl, who made the 8,000 km journey from the Syrian border to Manchester, in 2021, to highlight the plight of child refugees, led the front of the march, accompanied by a group of Palestinian children.
Speaking in Parliament Square, the Palestinian ambassador to the UK, Husam Zomlot, accused the British government of “complicity” with Israel. He said: “I stand before you with a broken heart but not a broken spirit.” He congratulated South Africa for bringing a genocide case against Israel at the UN’s international court of justice.
Sinn Féin’s president, Mary Lou McDonald, told the crowd that Palestinian freedom is possible. She said: “When I say this, standing in London, in common cause with you, having walked our own journey out of conflict, building peace for 25 years, this can happen. “This must happen and we will ensure that it does.”
Former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn thanked South Africa for their bravery bring their case to the ICJ. He pointed out that the weapons used in the onslaught on Gaza are provided by the United States and the UK. Corbyn thanked everyone around the world and especially those campaigners in Israel who are speaking up for peace, justice and hope.
This was the seventh National March for Palestine in London organised by the Palestine Solidarity Campaign since October.
Protests took place in 120 cities around the world on Saturday, including Dublin, Edinburgh, Washington DC, Johannesburg, Kuala Lumpur, Paris, Rome and Milan.
On Peace Sunday, 14th January 2024, Pope Francis made a heartfelt appeal for an end to armed conflicts and a firm condemnation of war as “a crime against humanity.”
“War itself is a crime against humanity. People need peace. The world needs peace,” said the Pope at the Sunday Angelus prayer.
He also mentioned a program he had seen on an Italian TV channel just minutes before, in which the Vicar of the Custody of the Holy Land had spoken. Fr Ibrahim Faltas said: “we need to learn from John the Baptist how to cry out and show the path to follow.” Jesus, he added, is “the way. He is forgiveness, justice, love, and peace.”
“If we follow Jesus, we will truly have peace and there will be no war,” said Fr Faltas.
He noted that there are over 60 ongoing wars in the world, calling the global situation “utter confusion.” “We want to live in peace,” concluded Fr Faltas. “We want to follow Jesus, so we will have peace throughout the world.”
LINKS
See more pictures and videos on the ICN Facebook page:
www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100064591363750&ref=bookmarks
Pax Christi: https://paxchristi.org.uk/
Stop the War: www.stopwar.org.uk/
Palestinian Solidarity Campaign: https://palestinecampaign.org/
Westminster Justice and Peace E-Bulletin January 2024
“Lord, come to our aid!
Grant us peace, teach us peace;
guide our steps in the way of peace.
Open our eyes and our hearts and give us the courage to say:
“Never again war!”
COP28 Has Confirmed What We Need To Do
Westminster Justice and Peace joined many other groups at the Global Day of Action march in central London for COP28 on 9 December 2023
Coinciding with the final days of the climate summit in Dubai, the London gathering brought together Christian groups including CAFOD, Jesuit Missions, Christian Aid, Tearfund, Christian Climate Action, Operation Noah, Green Christian, Laudato Si’ Movement, Columban Justice, Peace and Ecology, and the Quakers.
We also joined up with other activists from Faiths for the Climate and The Climate Coalition, marking the Global Day of Action for Climate Justice on the final Saturday of COP28 by taking part in COP28 marches and rallies throughout the UK.
We were united in calling for action at COP28 before time runs out.
The UN climate conference has now concluded and its impact is being assessed. While the negotiations have still fallen short of what is needed, in some ways the conference has exceeded expectations.
Reporting on the outcomes of COP28, Neil Thorns, Director of Advocacy at CAFOD, said:
“COP28 has confirmed what we need to do with an explicit reference to a world without fossil fuels and support to the most vulnerable communities through the agreement of a loss and damage fund.”
Neil recognises there is still a risk of delivering only the appearance of concern, rather than substantive change, but in his positive assessment, “We now have the basis to create greater ambition at our national levels. That is the way we will keep to a 1.5 degree pathway.
“It’s encouraging to see increasing government support to link the climate and food agendas, which should be reflected in future national plans and an urgent plan to transform our food system to provide greater support smallholder farmers.”
Read Neil’s report for CAFOD for COP28
Global Call to Action for COP28, 9 December 2023, 11.50am at St James Square
This Saturday, 9 December 2023, sees the Global Call to Action. Westminster Justice and Peace are joining CAFOD and many other civic groups to march and call for leaders at COP28 to commit to urgent action on the climate crisis.
We’re going to meet at 11:50am at St James’s Square, SW1Y 4LE. This is next to the office of BP, one of the world’s largest fossil fuel companies.
A large march calling for a ceasefire in the war in Israel and the occupied Palestinian territory is now going to be taking place in London on the same day as we gather to call for leaders at COP28 to act on the climate crisis.
As a result, the route for the COP28 march is going to be shorter than originally planned:
- Once we meet at St James’s Square at 11:50am, we’ll hold a moment to gather with people from different faith and belief groups to pray or reflect on the need for leaders to act at COP28.
- There will then be a rally taking place outside BP to call for governments to stop supporting fossil fuels.
- Following the rally, there will be a short march that will end just before 2:00pm at Trafalgar Square, with many people taking part in the climate march going on to join the Palestine march.
Along with Christian Aid and Tearfund, CAFOD have written a set of prayers that we will say when we meet outside BP. And, of course, if you’re unable to join us in person to call for leaders to act at COP28, you can say these prayers with us from wherever you are in the world.
We will be there with the Westminster Justice and Peace banner from 11.45am.
You can also join in at Farm Street Church for the Jesuit Missions prayer event from 10am
You are welcome to let us know if you would like to join us or just show up on the day.
And spread the word!
Email: justiceandpeace@rcdow.org.uk Colette Joyce Mobile: 07953 434905
Westminster Justice and Peace E-Bulletin December 2023
A warm welcome this month to James Holland as he takes up the post of Westminster Interfaith Co-ordinator. The work of inter-religious dialogue is intimately connected to work for justice and peace so we look forward to working closely together in the months to come.
James writes:
Hello! My name is James, and I have recently taken over from Jon Dal Din as the Coordinator of Westminster Interfaith. I’m delighted to have been appointed and I am very much looking forward to meeting some of you in the coming months.
Before joining Westminster Interfaith, I worked for 3 years as Lay Chaplain at St Charles Catholic Sixth Form College, in North Kensington. My diocesan email is jamesholland@rcdow.org.uk – please do get in touch, even if it is just to say hello!
At time of writing, it is the end of Interfaith Week, and I spent yesterday at a Parliamentary event with the All Faiths Network. Here, the most moving testament to the importance of dialogue was the warmth with which the Muslim representative spoke about the Rabbi, who this year hosted an Iftar in his synagogue.
In a world where we are so often defined in opposition to one another, this subtle embrace was more powerful than any of the other words spoken. As Catholics, we have a role in this conflict, and that is to pray for peace and to promote dialogue. Echoing the words from our fellow Christians at Evensong, we might pray:
Give peace in our time, O Lord,
for there is none other that fights for us, but you, O God. Amen
You can also read the Advent Message from Fr Dominic Robinson SJ
Fr Dominic’s Advent Message
Advent – a season of renewal, of hope in a new age to come.
The ever-moving cycle of the Church’s Year starts once more as we hear the message of hope in the light of Christ enveloping our darkened world.
It would seem there is much to dampen that hope in these dark days of mid-winter. Everything has been put into perspective by the singularly appalling violence in the land of Christ’s birth and could lead us to simply despair. And in our own city and its environs too the mid-winter is looking increasingly bleak. The growing number of homeless on our streets and those trapped in poverty. The ever more hostile policy against those looking for welcome from abroad, many of whom now, after only seven days of being granted refugee status, will shamefully spill out onto our streets looking for shelter.
This new insult to human dignity will surely mean the number of those sleeping rough, at record numbers already, will spike even more, with the shameful lack of inhabitable accommodation to give them a room at the inn. The fight for the very survival of the planet looms too at this time as we follow Pope Francis in campaigning for environmental justice at COP 28. So much, indeed, could lead us away from the light and leave us dwelling in the darkness of night.
Yet for the Christian disciple we have a certain hope that God’s Kingdom of justice and peace will one day prevail.
That must be our heartfelt prayer this Advent.
For the Christian all action for justice and peace starts with hope in his coming Kingdom, and in heartfelt prayer for this.
Then comes action, so necessary at this time of crisis and so much in evidence on our streets and in our communities. This is expressed in finding ways to help concretely and to advocate for the poor, the weak and the voiceless.
We see it in the food banks and pantries, night shelters, refugee vigils, climate vigils and marches, and in the attempt to deliver aid to Gaza and to campaigning for a just and peaceful resolution to this terrible conflict. Such action we see around our communities, be they in schools, parishes, chaplaincies and other organisations.
Action for justice and peace is always most effectively rooted in Christian love, which does not take sides in the conflicts but which seeks true reconciliation through dialogue, a lasting peace through which the dignity of every human person of whatever faith and nation is respected.
The Justice and Peace network can lead the way at this time of crisis as we are schooled through the treasure of Catholic Social Teaching in the search for a lasting peace which is never achieved without justice.
The voice of so many advocating for this peace is a vital prophetic voice which, like the great Advent voice of John the Baptist, proclaims the dawning of a new horizon of hope.
My prayer is that this Christmas we spread something of that hope in the Kingdom to come to those around us and so proclaim the prophetic vision of true and lasting peace.
Fr Dominic Robinson SJ, 1st December 2023
Chair, Westminster Justice and Peace
Hitchin Parish Chosen for Launch of National Project against Human Trafficking and Modern Slavery – 30 November, 7-9pm
Source: Santa Marta Group
A nationwide project to encourage local action against human trafficking and modern slavery in partnership with police and statutory agencies is being launched at a Catholic parish in Hitchin, Hertfordshire, on Thursday, 30 November. The project aims to mobilise local communities across the United Kingdom to recognise and report the signs of human trafficking to the police and call on all government agencies to ensure their neighbourhoods become slave-free.
Hitchin was chosen as the launchpad for this nationwide project as it has had a long association in the struggle against slavery. It was one of the first towns to set up its own anti-slavery society in 1825, following leading abolitionist Thomas Clarkson setting up the first national society. A monument to Clarkson was erected in nearby Wadesmill, Hertfordshire in recognition of the place where he famously devoted his life to anti-slavery in 1785 while resting at Wadesmill on his way to London from Cambridgeshire. Freed slave and leading abolitionist Henry Garnett also visited Hitchin in 1850 in recognition of the town’s place in the movement to abolish slavery.
The Hitchin event is organised by the Santa Marta Group and the Roman Catholic Diocese of Westminster, which also covers Hertfordshire. The Santa Marta Group was set up in 2014 when Pope Francis instructed Cardinal Vincent Nichols, Archbishop of Westminster to lead the work to end human trafficking and modern slavery as an important mission for the Catholic Church across the world. SMG now has partners in over 40 countries, working with leaders in police, the justice system, diplomats, business as well as local communities.
The United Nations currently estimates there are 50 million people trafficked across the world, making over $150bn in profits for criminal gangs. In the UK alone last year 17,000 victims of trafficking were identified, with around 40% being children and 25% of victims being UK nationals. The scale of this crime against humanity led to all United Nations members making the eradication of human trafficking and modern slavery one of its Sustainable Development Goals (SDG 8.7 – which calls for immediate action by all UN members to eradicate forced labour, end modern slavery and human trafficking, and eliminate the worst forms of child labour by 2030).
Cardinal Nichols, president of the Santa Marta Group, said: “This crime against humanity damages individuals and communities everywhere, for these victims of human trafficking are not remote; they are in our midst, in our local communities here in the UK.
“We are all part of this endeavour. Individuals and local communities can change events through what we do and what we demand is done by the police, government agencies and businesses in our neighbourhoods. I appeal to all of you to take up this challenge. These resources, prepared by the Santa Marta Group, will inform you about human trafficking and show what you can do to bring about the changes that will end this evil trade and help to restore freedom and dignity to so many of our brothers and sisters.”
The aim of the Hitchin event is to start a process that will enhance awareness and understanding of human trafficking and modern slavery around Catholic parishes and other local community groups. At the end of these sessions, these groups will have received awareness and guidance on how to use their individual and collective voices to increase actions in countering this horrific crime in their localities and improve services for victims.
SMG’s new ‘Guidance and Awareness Handbook’ for parishes will be distributed for the first time. It will provide ideas and suggestions on increasing prevention, protection, support to victims, and accountability led by communities but delivered by statutory agencies.
By initiating the conversation and equipping local communities with knowledge on how to spot and combat human trafficking and modern slavery within their own communities, the UK will be brought one step closer to eradicating this crime and fulfilling the aims of SDG 8.7.
This event has been organised through the collaboration of Bishop Paul McAleenan from the Westminster Diocese with the Santa Marta Group. The presentation and subsequent discussion will be led by SMG’s Global Strategy Director, Kevin Hyland, formerly the UK’s first Independent Anti-Slavery Commissioner. This event is the start of a series of events in the Hertfordshire area and across the UK that will continue over the coming year.
‘Awareness and Guidance for Communities’ will take place at Our Lady Immaculate & St Andrew Parish Hall, 16 Nightingale Road, Hitchin, SG5 1QS, November 30, 2023, 7pm – 9pm
1st December, 6pm, World Aids Day Mass at Farm Street Jesuit Church
World Aids Day Mass will take place in London on Friday 1 December, 6pm, at Farm Street Jesuit Church, Mayfair, in the presence of the City of Westminster Deputy Lord Mayor, the Hon Alderman Cllr Guthrie McKie.
The chief celebrant and preacher will be Fr Kieran Fitzsimmons OFM.
(For those joining the Music Group for this Mass, there will be a practice at 5.30 prompt.)
A display on HIV/AIDS pastoral support has been mounted in a side chapel – available to visit from now until 4 December.
LINKS
Catholics for AIDS Prevention & Support (CAPS): www.positivefaith.org.uk
Read, also, a moving WAD reflection by Michael Carter: www.thetablet.co.uk/features/2/23741/world-aids-day-a-road-less-travelled
Diocese of Westminster Justice and Peace Commission 