The Westminster Social Justice and Peace Forum invite you to join us for a time of reflection on the experience of the pandemic so far and a conversation about the journey that now lies ahead. How has it impacted our personal lives and our pastoral practice? What are the implications for our social justice and peace-building activity? What have we learnt? Where do we go next?
This invitation is extended to everyone in the Diocese of Westminster (and beyond.)
Speakers helping to facilitate the Forum include Anna Gavurin (Caritas Food Collective), Fr Richard Nesbitt (Parish Priest, White City), Dr Pat Jones (Theologian) and Fr Paschal Uche (Assistant Priest, St James the Less & St Helen, Colchester). Chair: Fr Dominic Robinson SJ (Chair of Westminster Justice & Peace)
Hosted by Bishop Nicholas Hudson and Bishop Paul McAleenan
Co-sponsored by Caritas Westminster & Westminster Justice & Peace Commission
Colette Joyce, Justice and Peace Co-ordinator for the Diocese of Westminster, writes about the need to persist in the cause of justice in this month’s E-Bulletin:
“Two images have stood out in my head this week. You have probably seen them, too. The first is the picture of the Kurdish-Iranian family who attempted to cross the Channel on Wednesday with a group of other migrants, desperate to seek sanctuary in the UK… The other picture was of 22 year-old England footballer Marcus Rashford helping out at a Foodbank….”
Deacon Adrian Cullen, Evangelisation Co-ordinator, Agency of Evangelisation, Diocese of Westminster, writesin this month’s E-Bulletin:
At the heart of the ‘The God Who Speaks’ Year of the Word 2020-21 is the figure of St Jerome whose Feast Day on 30th September marks 1600 years since his death. It was Jerome whose tireless work to interpret the Bible, and translate it from Greek, Hebrew and Aramaic into Latin, opened the Scriptures for the people of his age, and through the centuries since.
In the practical work of bringing justice and peace to our world, it is lines of wisdom, stories of courage, and the sayings of Christ, so wonderfully brought to us by Jerome, that feed our every action. There will be words, phrases and paragraphs from the Old and New Testaments that play around in our mind; we may not even realise they are there, but they support us, guide us and encourage us in our work of bringing God’s Kingdom into the World.
In our world where it appears that the divide between rich and poor is ever widening, and that for many people God seems to be irrelevant, the words of the herdsman and prophet Amos, who faced similar issues, may to come to mind: “let justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream”. This too, is what we strive for… Read in full
The Carmelite Spirituality Group, Carmel-in-the-City, based at St Joseph’s Church, Bunhill Row, near London’s Barbican, will make the close of the Season of Creation with a Mass of Creation and an Ecumenical Creation Prayer Walk.
This will take place on Saturday, 3 October 2020 beginning with Quiet Prayer at 11.30am, followed by a Mass of Creation, Bring-Your-Own-Lunch, and the Creation Prayer Walk at 2pm.
The Walk will include Wesley’s Chapel Garden, a local Wild-life Garden, and St Joseph’s Quiet Garden in memory of Cardinal Basil Hume. The afternoon ends at 3.30pm. ALL ARE WELCOME !
For more information phone: 07889 436 165 website: www.carmelinthecity.org.uk email: info@carmelinthecity.org.uk
Bishop Paul McAleenan will celebrate the World Refugee Day Mass at Westminster Cathedral on the 27th of September, 6pm. It will also be live streamed at www.westminstercathedral.org.uk
Pax Christi England and Wales have organised a series events from 6-9th August 2020 to mark 75 years since the first atomic bombs were dropped on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki at the end of the Second World War.
Thursday 6th August 10.00-11.30am:Hiroshima. There will be a silent, outdoor, socially-distanced presence outside Westminster Cathedral. If you can safely join us, please come and stand in silence for a while. The plaza space is large so you will be able to maintain a distance. You might like to bring a candle, some flowers, or a sign, but just to be present will be enough.
Sunday 9th August 10.00-11.30am:Nagasaki. There will be a silent, outdoor, socially-distanced presence outside Westminster Cathedral. If you can safely join us, please come and stand in silence for a while. The plaza space is large so you will be able to maintain a distance. You might like to bring a candle, some flowers, or a sign, but just to be present will be enough.
‘Come, Lord, for it is late, and where destruction has abounded, may hope also abound today that we can write and achieve a different future. Come, Lord, Prince of Peace! Make us instruments and reflections of your peace!’
“When you say, ‘I’m not racist’, you deny structural injustice” an African-American woman from the United States told a Westminster Justice and Peace zoom meeting on Friday. More than 65 people joined the meeting, ‘A Catholic Response to George Floyd and Black Lives Matter,’ where Leslye Colvin, speaking live from Alabama, deplored “racially segregated Christianity”. She highlighted the conflict between lived experience in her country and American ideals, saying that Catholic Social Teaching calls for Catholics to demand justice for all our neighbours. She felt “patriotism and faith” is fuelling nationalism in the US, but we must be, “ruled by a love and build the beloved community”.
Leslye lamented the recent killings of George Floyd and three other black people. “They were murdered because of systemic racism” she said; “it could have been me; maybe it will be me the next time.” Seeing colour is not the problem, she felt, but judging people because of colour. Referring to the particular discrimination experienced by the black community, she suggested that, “when you say ‘all lives matter’, you deny our lived experience”. She invited participants in the meeting to become allies and, “take one step at a time, for this is not a sprint, it’s a marathon, for the roots of racism are deep within our societies”. Leslye said she appreciated, “knowing I have brothers and sisters in the UK”.
The second speaker was Baroness Patricia Scotland of Asthal, QC and Secretary General of the Commonwealth of Nations. She is a dual citizen of the UK and the Caribbean island of Dominica, where she was born, and was the first black woman to be appointed a Queen’s Counsel. She spoke about ‘Black Lives Matter’ from the UK perspective, saying, “US experience is mirrored here – it’s a common global experience”. She agreed that racism is systemic and endemic. Describing herself as a Catholic “of the Windrush generation,” she remembered as a child seeing TV images of black children being hated and shot at in South Africa and asking ‘Why?'” She saw similar images in the south of the United States. “Being black meant I would be spat at, beaten up on way home,” she reported, and “growing up, there was a feeling that black people could not achieve”. However, she was also taught that, “each of us had a gift from God and we have to use it.”
She felt the Commonwealth has been radical, wanting mixed sport, for example. It has not accepted discrimination, and in 1953, Queen Elizabeth ll described the Commonwealth as a new concept of the best of humankind. The story was highlighted of the queen breaking barriers by dancing with President Kwame Nkrumah of Ghana in 1961, demonstrating her acceptance of a new footing between their countries.
Baroness Scotland felt, “our humanity is on trial, and the George Floyd case highlighted this”. She suggested we must reflect on what Christianity means for us? “Christianity is not something we do but something we are?” and she reflected, “there are no races in God’s eyes – just one race, the human race”. She called for the election of leaders better able to address the issue and for prayer and action for racial equality.
The meeting on 24 July was the most ethnically diverse I have been on and with a strong international dimension, with participants from several parts of the United States and the Zimbabwean Chaplain in London. Catholic groups represented included Catholic Association for Racial Justice (CARJ), Newman House Chaplaincy, Caritas Westminster, Catholic Children’s Society, Pax Christi and Columban JPIC. A range of Westminster parishes included Holloway, Royston, Pinner, Finsbury Park, West Green, Twickenham, Eastcote, Euston, and Wealdstone. There was participation from Southwark, Hexham & Newcastle and Clifton dioceses as well, showing the considerable interest in the subject.
Fr Dominic Robinson, SJ, Parish Priest, Farm Street Church of the Immaculate Conception and chair of Westminster Justice and Peace Commission, said “this was an inspiring and challenging evening”. He feels “racial justice is central to Catholic Social Teaching and so to all our lives as Church”.
The Chair, Suddie Komba-Kono, said she was disappointed with Church silence in the UK over ‘Black Live Matter’. Many seemed to agree, saying in the chat that the Church, particularly priests, have a responsibility to highlight racism as a sin as is done for other social justice issues. “Even black parish priests don’t preach about racism during times when racial injustice takes place, which is very disappointing” was one comment, and “the Church needs to pay attention to ensuring that the clergy and those in leadership positions access ‘Cultural Competence’ training as part of their preparation for leadership and service to the faithful.” Lorna Panambalum, a black teacher, commented that education is key and, “we need to look at the structure of our education system”. She asked, “how are we making sure we know the history of racism in our society and Church?”
Participants agreed we have a special opportunity at this time for learning about structural racism. The Quaker ‘Black Lives Matter’ five-week seminar course was recommended, which has an extensive reading and resource list. It was felt that the Quakers have always been activists on the race issue, being against the Trans-Atlantic slave trade and supporting abolitionist efforts and now their ‘Black Lives Matter’ initiative.
For us at the Commission, it has been an important month for conversation and dialogue, as we try and grapple with the ‘new normal’ and reflect on the world we are trying to build as we emerge, tentatively, from coronavirus lockdown measures. What have we learnt to do differently that we want to keep? What do we need to change?
Last week we held a webinar to help parishes and other organisations prepare for the Season of Creation 1st September – 4th October, with people attending from all over the Diocese and beyond. A Zoom recording of the event is available to view on our website, along with a page of resources to get you started. Please let us know about any ideas, reflections and other resources you may have…
We are also looking forward to our next webinar on racial justice on Friday 24th July, 7.30-8.30pm. Please sign up and join us in reflection on our response as Catholics, individually, as a Diocese and as an international Church:
Diocese of Westminster Justice and Peace Commission 