Category: News

4 June 2025: Austen Ivereigh Speaks to the Northern and Southern Catholic Environment Groups

A very special combined event was hosted by the Southern Dioceses Environment Network and the Northern Dioceses Environment Group on 4th June 2025 to mark the tenth anniversary of Pope Francis Papal Encyclical ‘Laudato Si’ – On the Care of Our Common Home (2015).

Colette Joyce (Westminster) and Mark Wiggin (Salford) facilitated the meeting, with prayers led by Bernadette Jordan (Salford) and Siân Thomas-Cullinan (Brentwood).

We calculated that approximately 115 people registered for the event and we estimate 95 attended.

Our guest speaker, Austen Ivereigh, is a well-known Catholic journalist, writer and commentator with a special relationship with Pope Francis.

Austen helped us to reflect on where we have come in the last ten years and what we are being called to do in the next ten.

The publication of the papal encyclical Laudato Si‘ in 2015 galvanised Catholics around the world and in every country to unite with those of all other faiths and none in the common cause of caring for our home planet and all the people on it. Pope Francis urged us to integrate questions of justice into our debates on the environment, ‘so as to hear both the cry of the earth and the cry of the poor’ – for they are one and the same thing. (LS, 49). 

Austen deepened our reflection on the method that Pope Francis adopts to respond to the cry of the earth and the cry of the poor, using a broad SEE-JUDGE-ACT model. The first stage is to enter the crisis and open our eyes to places where there is pain and suffering. What is happening to our Earth? The second task is discernment: finding where God’s action can be seen and what frustrates God’s action. The third was to move to proposals for action in line with the Kingdom, confident that what is aligned with the arc of the Kingdom is never wasted.

He suggested that the Laudato Si’ apostolate can be considered as enabling these three tasks: (a) helping people to see what is happening to our Earth and to help people experience grief and the desire to repent; (b) helping people enter into an understanding of what is happening (as does Laudato Si’ in chapters three and four); and (c) enabling processes of synodal discernment that move through these two stages into concrete actions.

A full report by Ellen Teague can be found here on Independent Catholic News

Supplementary Reading

AI – Artificial Intelligence and the Church https://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/congregations/cfaith/documents/rc_ddf_doc_20250128_antiqua-et-nova_en.html

Synodality – The Vatican’s Final Document on the recent world-wide process: https://www.synod.va/content/dam/synod/news/2024-10-26_final-document/ENG—Documento-finale.pdf 

Austen Ivereigh’s Publications Include:

  • The Great Reformer- Francis and the Making of a Radical Pope (2014). Biography of Pope Francis.
  • Let Us Dream (2020). Pope Francis reflection on what we learnt during the Covid pandemic.
  • First Belong to God: On Retreat with Pope Francis (2024). An eight-day Ignatian retreat drawing on the wisdom of Pope Francis and the spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius of Loyola. Pope Francis and St Ignatius encourage us recognise our triple belonging: to God, to Creation and one another.

LINKS

Austen Ivereigh Website

Southern Dioceses Environment Network

Northern Dioceses Environment Group

Opening prayer: Bernadette Jordan (Diocese of Salford)

Adapted from a prayer by David Kossoff in ‘You have a minute, Lord?’ 1977

Lord, a word.
It’s about the world.
Your world that you made in six days,
Resting on the seventh and being pleased with your work.
And rightly so Lord.
It is a beautiful world you made.
Beautiful.
Well, Lord, it’s getting dirty.
We’re dirtying it, Lord.
You made the seas and the creatures therein, Lord.
And we are choking the creatures
with filth and oil, Lord.
You made all the creatures that
fly and swim and live on land.
And you looked on them and said, ‘Good.’
Well Lord, there’s quite a few
You wouldn’t be able to find.
Extinctions have happened and are happening right now.
We try to improve on your work, Lord.
We make a lot of noise and a lot of smoke.
And a lot of what are called waste-products.
Pollutants, Lord. Effluents and such.
Wonderful gifts you have given us, Lord.
Riches beyond imagination
Now we have the fastest roads and
The fastest cars and the fastest planes.
But sometimes we don’t stop to see the wonders
that are with us every day.
Every Spring you make it all new again, Lord,
Every summer it all grows.
Every autumn you show us colours to
Catch the breath, to swell the heart.
Every winter you remind us of your presence.
We need reminding, Lord.
We litter the place.
We clash with the colours.
And worse, to be quite honest, Lord,
A lot of us don’t notice.

Reflection from Bernadette
Pope Francis raised our awareness in his encyclical Laudato Si’ and coming together in celebration gives us hope. The natural world springs back new each year on Earth’s untrodden ground. This fills me with gratitude and thanksgiving. We are called to Hope that is linked to love and to a sense of responsibility for those who come after us. Lord, let us tread lightly on the Earth by reducing our demands and living simply.

Closing Prayer: Siân Thomas-Cullinan (Brentwood Diocese)

Loving God, as we close this time together,
we pause to recognise Your presence among us.

In our conversations, in our questions, and in our
shared commitment to care for this beautiful, fragile world
we carry with us the vision of Laudato Si’
A vision of a world
where the earth is treated not as a resource to be used,
but as a gift to be cherished.

A world where the dignity of every person is honoured,
where the vulnerable are protected,
and where justice and sustainability walk hand in hand.

Together, we hold onto the hope of a world that is fairer,
greener, and more deeply connected, where communities flourish,
creation is respected, and future generations can live with joy and peace.

As we step back into our daily lives, give us the imagination to dream big,
the courage to act boldly, and the grace to stay rooted in love for You,
for each other, and for our common home. Amen

9 July 2025 Mass Lobby of Parliament for the Climate

We need your voice!

On Wednesday 9 July 2025, thousands of people will be joining a mass lobby co-organised by The Climate Coalition

Register with the Climate Coalition

A mass lobby is an event where lots of people meet with their MPs on the same day to have powerful conversations about issues we care about.

Supporters of more than 100 organisations from across the UK will come to Westminster that day to ask our MPs to take action on climate, debt and nature.

In this Jubilee year, it’s vital that MPs also hear from people of faith. So please come along and promote this mass lobby in your local community and parish.  

Colette Joyce, the Westminster Justice and Peace Co-ordinator, will be based at the Faith for the Climate stall throughout the day in the QEII Centre, Broad Sanctuary, London, SW1P 3EE. Call or message her on 07593 434905 if you would like to meet up on the day or assist for an hour or two on the stall yourself.

Catholics in Westminster are also invited to join the Lobby via CAFOD who will also have a strong presence on the day. There are travel subsidies available for those who would benefit from receiving assistance to get to the event. Follow the CAFOD link for details.

If you have joined in with previous mass lobbies, you will know how powerful these moments are and about the uniquely inspirational atmosphere generated on the day.

For those who haven’t attended a mass lobby before, this day will be a unique opportunity to join the Church’s global debt campaign and make our call for the cancellation of the debts of countries hit hardest by the climate crisis, loud and clear.  Even if you don’t get to meet your MP you can still be part of a big public act of solidarity and witness that will make a difference.

On the day, the Mass Lobby will end with Mass at Westminster Cathedral at 5.30pm! The Celebrant is Bishop John Arnold, Bishops Conference of England and Wales spokesman on the Environment.

Pope Leo XIV urges participation and discernment in developing the social doctrine of the Church

In an address to members of the Centesimus Annus Pro Pontifice Foundation, Pope Leo XIV addressed the question of the development of social doctrine and stressed the responsibility of all the faithful to contribute to this process. In this way, he said, we would make a contribution to better understanding, hope and peace.

“I invite you, then, to participate actively and creatively in this discernment process, and thus contribute, with all of God’s people, to the development of the Church’s social doctrine in this age of significant social changes, listening to everyone and engaging in dialogue with all.”

Pope Leo XIV on Doctrine 2025 To the members of the %22Centesimus Annus Pro Pontifice%22 Foundation (17 May 2025)Download

Two Free Places at the NJPN Conference, 25-27 July 2025, for Young Adults (18-35)

Westminster Justice & Peace has two fully-funded free places to offer to young adults (18-35) at the forthcoming National Justice and Peace Network Conference, 25-27 July 2025.

In return, we invite you to help as a volunteer at the event with tasks such as running our stall at the Just Fair, stewarding or helping with music and liturgy.

The Conference is being held at the beautiful Hayes Conference Centre, Swanwick, Derbyshire, DE55 1AU

All expenses will be covered including conference fees, accommodation, meals and travel.

Applicants must live, work or worship within the Diocese of Westminster.

To apply – please send a short message to the Co-ordinator, Colette Joyce, giving your name, address, phone number and email address and a brief description of why you are interested in this opportunity. Short-listed applicants will be invited to an online interview. Email: colettejoyce@rcdow.org.uk

Closing Date: 2 July 2025

CONFERENCE INFORMATION

“War is a defeat for everyone” – Words of Pope Francis, quoted by Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re at His Holiness’ Requiem Mass on 26 April 2025.

“Peace be with all of you!” – The first words of Pope Leo XIV as he appeared on the balcony of St Peter’s in Rome having been just elected by the Conclave on 8 May 2025.

In this Jubilee Year, at a time of transition for the global Catholic community and great upheaval for the world, the National Justice and Peace Network invites you to our annual conference: ‘Towards a Just Peace – Challenging the Inevitability of Violence’

The weekend provides opportunities for networking and prayer with Catholics and others from across the country who share an interest in world peace and the promotion of social justice. There will be talks, workshops, prayer, a Just Fair with stalls from many different charities and organisations, and time for socialising.

Speakers this year include Dr Rowan Williams, former Archbishop of Canterbury, who will address the theme, and Dr Joanna Frew of Rethinking Security, who will explore what real security looks like today.

Workshop contributors include Richard Solly of Jesuit Missions and Ellen Teague of the Columban Justice, Peace and Ecology Team who will explore links between violence and environmental problems. Another workshop will listen to the voices of bereaved Israelis and Palestinians who are committed to working together for a Just Peace. Bokani Tshidzu of Operation Noah will explore ‘Investing in Peace through Climate Action.’ Quakers in Britain will look at how local interfaith and intercommunal relations in Britain are impacted by international conflicts.

NJPN says: “Journey with us this jubilee year as we open the doors to a just peace for current and future generations. Join us as we commit to taking restorative action to bring about peace and justice for migrants, or people living in poverty and inequality and for a world in climate crisis. We owe it to future generations to make this Jubilee permanent”.

National Justice and Peace Network

Venue

The Hayes Conference Centre, Swanwick, Derbyshire, DE55 1AU

Meals for Central London Catholic Churches Homeless Project Provided by Exclusive Mayfair Club

Clemente Attolico and colleagues with the delicious lunches they are taking to Farm Street.

By Nathalie Raffray

A prestigious Private Members Club in the heart of Mayfair has got involved with a project providing meals to people living on the streets.

Mark’s Club, in Charles Street, is one of several exclusive clubs to offer food donations to a homeless lunch project organised by the Central London Catholic Churches.

Annabel’s, George and Harry’s Bar, similarly exclusive clubs with a VIP list closed to most people, have also got involved, joining five-star hotels including the Connaught, Claridges and the Mandarin Oriental.

Set up in 2020 at the start of the coronavirus pandemic and supported by Westminster City Council, the homeless lunch service is run from Farm Street Church twice a week and can serve up to 180 people.

Clemente Attolico at Mark’s Club, told ICN that they heard about the project through Harry’s Bar.

They offer a variety of food, depending on the availability of the produce in the kitchen.

Clemente added: “We simply got involved so that we could participate more actively in our community’s wellbeing. A lot of properties were helping and it was only fair for us to participate as well. We are a small club, but we try to do our part.”

Father Dominic Robinson, parish priest at Farm Street church, said: “I’m so grateful to all the clubs for coming on board. It makes this such a wonderful community project which shows that a neighbourhood as wealthy as Mayfair also has a heart for the poorest.”

Besides the homeless lunch, served in the Arrupe Hall, the London Jesuit Centre, 114 Mount Street, also hosts the Cana Lounge Café downstairs where they serve tasty treats, hearty soups, sandwiches and hot cooked meals on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday between 11am and 2.30pm.

All items are offered for a reasonable recommended donation. All Café staff are volunteers, typically homeless or unemployed. The café’s mission is to help leverage skill development to get folks back into employment. Come and be a part of their journey. All food is made and prepared onsite. Daily specials, always fresh!

Takeaway and catering services are also available. For more details see links below.

LINKS

Farm Street Church: www.farmstreet.org.uk/

Cana Cafe: www.farmstreet.org.uk/cana-cafe

Mark’s Club: https://marksclub.co.uk/

Bishop Curry says that when Christians pray for peace in the Holy Land, it can be both supplication and a cry of protest

Photo: CBCEW

Bishop Jim Curry is an auxiliary bishop in the Diocese of Westminster

Bishop Jim Curry, the Lead Bishop for the Holy Land for the Bishops’ Conference, has joined our former Middle East North Africa consultant, Dr Harry Hagopian, as a special guest on his monthly Middle East Analysis podcast. Contributing to a discussion on Gaza, the West Bank and the wider region of the Holy Land, Bishop Curry said that when Christians pray for peace, it can be both supplication and a cry of protest.

“Obviously, the Christian always wants to pray, and we can’t just dismiss prayer as fanciful. Prayer is a cry of protest as well as supplication,” says Bishop Curry. “The fact that we can pray in our churches publicly for the situation in Palestine and Gaza, in the West Bank, that we remember our Christian brothers and sisters and the wider community is important. So we can’t ever dismiss it.”

Bishop Curry also spoke about the Christian presence in the Holy Land as foundational and a vital part of the rich tapestry of the region:

“One of our fundamental tenets is to go on pilgrimage, because these lands are holy to us, they are holy to the Jews, and to Muslims. Christians have been part of the mosaic of those lands for over 2,000 years, they belong there. They’re not interlopers. They’ve built schools, they’ve built churches, they’ve built communities. So going to visit them is important for us. When we last visited [for the Holy Land Coordination], we were able to visit Bethlehem, Beit Jala, where the Latin Patriarch has a seminary, Aboud, and Taybeh. We were able to show that they are not forgotten. But I’m always conscious that afterwards, we walk away. We walk away and leave communities to struggle with lack of access to jobs, to security, to freedom of movement.”

The Bishop also shared his first impressions of the Palestinian city Ramallah, the administrative capital, that he visited in January 2025 as part of the Holy Land Coordination meeting, organised by the Bishops’ Conference:

“I’d never been to Ramallah, and as I looked around as we entered the city I saw a peaceful, busy, bustling city with cafes and buses, restaurants and shops, and people about their business.

“It was a warm day, with a blue sky, and I thought ‘that’s what normality looks like’. People don’t run away from normality. We were asking ourselves, ‘what would normality look like?’ And there we saw it. Someone whispered into my ear, ‘You should have seen Gaza. It was bigger and more well-organised’. Now all we see are these images of rubble and people being displaced – hungry and frightened. I’d seen a different reality in Ramallah, a place that worked. I’m sure people complain about the services there, but I saw something different and it stayed with me.”

In the face of conflict, death, destruction and extreme hardship, Bishop Curry offers a suggestion to enable us to cling to a shard of hope:

“What can we do? We can go on advocating that normality is possible, that people can live well together. People want to live well together… Everywhere we went, we heard this plea, ‘We just want to live normal lives. We want jobs, we want our kids to go to school, we want them to be able to play their part in this land when they come back after university’. It still comes back to me, that image of what normality is. People don’t run away from normality.”

He reserved special praise and heart-felt prayers for the small Catholic community of the Church of the Holy Family in Gaza:

“They are giving a witness to the possibility that our despair can’t be the final word about the human situation. That little community there, the Holy Family in Gaza, they are a living sign that human beings can live together, and they can work together for each other’s good.”

Listen

You can listen to the full June 2025 episode of Middle East Analysis on the Catholic Bishops’ website or on Soundcloud.

Bishop Hudson says peacebuilding is a vital aspect of international security

Source: CBCEW

Bishop Nicholas has responsibility for Justice & Peace in the Diocese of Westminster

In response to the government’s recently announced Strategic Defence Review, Bishop Nicholas Hudson, Chair of the International Affairs Department at CBCEW, expressed the strong hope that the government will not neglect international peacebuilding efforts.  

Bishop Hudson said: “I understand that the government has a very difficult decision to make given the current fiscal position and international environment.” 

“However, if defence spending is to increase, it should not be at the expense of other ways of promoting peace and justice. Peacebuilding is a vital aspect of international security that must not be sacrificed to an increased emphasis on defence.” 

Earlier this month the government announced the review, with wide-ranging measures, including building 12 attack submarines and a commitment to raise defence spending to 2.5% by 2027-28 with the aim of 3% by the next parliament. 

Bishop Hudson added: “It is important to ensure that the expansion of military funding does not result in the diversion of resources away from foreign aid and support for the world’s poorest people. Without a balanced investment in diplomacy, multilateralism, and assistance to the poor as vital means of securing peace, we risk deepening the very crises we seek to prevent. 

“I also hope that the UK approaches the development of autonomous weapon systems with great caution, always upholding the principle that machines must never replace human moral judgment or responsibility in matters of life and death.

“I urge our government leaders to remember that true security comes not only from strength, but also from compassion and active peacebuilding.” 

Read the Catholic Bishops’ document on disarmament and the ethical use of weapons:

 ‘Called to Be Peacemakers’

16 June 2025, 12.30pm: Home Office Vigil Prayers for Refugee Week

Everyone is welcome to join us for the monthly Memorial Prayer Vigil for Refugees and Asylum-Seekers outside the Home Office, SW1P 4DF, on Monday, 16 June from 12:30pm to 1:30pm.

This month is of particular significance as it takes place during Refugee Week 16-22 June 2025.

The theme of this year’s Refugee Week is ‘Community as Superpower’. Come and raise your voices and swell our community so that together we can have a much greater impact!

Praying for:

  • Those who died trying to reach the UK
  • Victims of current wars
  • Those in detention and who are homeless
  • The UK to be a more welcoming nation

Sign up to receive email news & alerts of changes or cancellation at: homeofficevigil@gmail.com

Co-sponsored by
Westminster Justice and Peace Commission
London Catholic Worker
London Churches Refugee Fund

Cardinal gives thanks for 10 years of Caritas Bakhita House

Source: RCDOW

Cardinal Vincent Nichols has shared a message for the upcoming tenth anniversary of Caritas Bakhita House, the Diocese of Westminster’s safe house for survivors of trafficking and exploitation.

To mark the anniversary, the Cardinal will celebrate a Mass of Thanksgiving in Westminster Cathedral on 30th June at 5.30pm, which will be attended by the centre’s staff, volunteers and supporters.

Cardinal Nichols extends the invitation to the faithful and general public, noting: ‘It’s a moment for us to thank God for the new life given through the work of [Caritas] Bakhita House, inspired by the compassion and the love that Jesus has for everyone; as he gave his life, that we might live life to the full.’

Opened in 2015, the initiative began as a response to Pope Francis’ injunction for the Church to contribute to combating human trafficking. Since then, the safe house has offered round-the-clock support to over 200 women, including tailored support plans, access to medical and psychological support, therapeutic activities and support with bringing perpetrators to justice.

Cardinal Nichols reflects: ‘I’m most proud of [Caritas] Bakhita House for the way it builds a community… of women who have been rescued from trafficking and found their way back to healthy, productive lives — along with many of their babies, too.’

Caritas Bakhita House

Report on Pax Christi AGM: “The world is looking for prophets of peace”

Sr Katrina Alton and Oliver McTernan

Source: Ellen Teague / Independent Catholic News

“The old rules of war have gone, and this is something to which we should give full attention.” Oliver McTernan, the Co-Founder and Director of Forward Thinking, was guest speaker on Saturday at the Annual General Meeting of Pax Christi England and Wales in London. The experienced mediator in conflict situations called for Pax Christi and other peace groups to highlight the moral and ethical issues in modern warfare. “We are not impotent,” he said, “we have the power to challenge.”

The theme of his talk was ‘Prophets for Peace in a Changing World’. The Chair of Pax Christi England and Wales, from Pax Christi Merseyside, Kathryn Lydon, told around 60 in-person participants and 20 online, that “the world is looking for prophets of peace.”

Dioceses represented included Birmingham, Hallam, Leeds, Liverpool, Middlesbrough, Southwark and Westminster. Groups represented included the Archbishop Romero Trust, Columbans and the National Justice and Peace Network of England and Wales.

Devoting much of his talk to the Gaza conflict, McTernan deplored Israel’s use of powerful Artificial Intelligence (AI) systems to identify targets in Gaza…

Continue reading on Independent Catholic News