With the number of people experiencing homelessness rising sharply around the UK since the pandemic, this year’s Homelessness Sunday is an important way to raise awareness of the plight of so many who have become marginalised in our society, and to reflect on what we as Churches and communities can do to help alleviate this very serious problem on our doorstep.
We organise Homelessness Sunday on the Sunday before World Homeless Day each year, and this year’s Homelessness Sunday falls on 8th October. The theme is ‘Love and Justice’ as this is a key part of our mission to alleviate homelessness and the housing shortage in the UK.
Below you will find a range of resources to use if you are planning your own Homelessness Sunday Service either on 8th October or on another date of your choosing. These resources will be added to over the coming weeks and include pre-recorded prayers, hymns, homilies, Junior Church resources and much more.
If you would like to attend the Homelessness Sunday Service at St Mary’s Church, Upper Street, Islington, London N1 2TX at 3pm on 8th October, please RSVP to j.whitney@housingjustice.org.uk
When you hear the term ‘homeless’ – who comes into your thoughts?
Who would you reach out to help?
As a Catholic Community, how might we help?
In thinking about those experiencing homelessness, our thoughts automatically go to those sleeping rough on our streets. We often forget those who are ‘hidden homeless’; people who are Sofa Surfing with friends and families, those in Temporary Accommodation (B&B or private nightly lets), sleeping in their vehicles or in frightening communal hostels, refuges and shelters. People in our own community. People who are close enough for us to help. Its these forgotten people I want to remember this Homeless Sunday.
For every one person we see sleeping on the street, there are 111 people experiencing other forms of homelessness. An estimated one in 208 people in the England were experiencing some form of homelessness on a given night in 2022.
In the Diocese of Westminster with a population of about 5million people, this would mean that 24,000 people are experiencing homelessness.
As part of Caritas Westminster’s work with the Cardinal Hume Centre and the charity Justlife and others, I have been talking to people about their personal experiences living in Temporary Accommodation. This is part of a wider project to share their voices with charities, councils and key housing providers, to demand change.
Every person I talk to has a constant dull, damp-induced cough that accompanies our conversations. They tell me their homes are overcrowded, are in disrepair with ugly damp patches covering the walls.
One dad I spoke to lives with his wife and four children in a small, damp, third floor flat without a lift. The children sleep in bedrooms with no windows, Jaz (not his real name) and his wife sleep in the lounge. He has a letter from the doctor saying he has a back condition, which is getting worse by having to climb three sets of stairs. He has requested to move, but two years later there hasn’t been any action or support. Last time he complained to his private landlord, the landlord evicted him. His current housing provider has threatened him, saying ‘if you keep ringing and complaining you will be asked to leave.’
I also spoke to mum I’ll call Kay (again the names are changed). She told me about the constant and overwhelming stress of living in overcrowded conditions; Joy her 15-year-old daughter is sharing a bedroom with her 12-year-old brother Sol, and her 5-year-old sister, Beth who has learning difficulties. Their two-year-old sister sleeps with mum. Beth keeps trying to run away, and throws stuff out the balcony at passers-by. Sol is just starting his GCSEs but missing school due to his asthma from the damp. There’s never any space (or peace) to do homework. Mum Kay is being hounded by social services and the occupational therapist, and school are issuing amber warning letters because Sol isn’t at school. Kay wants the best for herself and her children, but life is hard.
Let me ask the questions again.
When you hear the term ‘homeless’ – who comes into your thoughts?
Who would you reach out to help?
As a Catholic Community, how might we help?
Almost two-thirds of people say that living in temporary accommodation has had a negative impact on their mental health.
Half say that it has had a negative impact on their physical health.
People who feel part of a community, have supportive friends around them are less likely to become homeless.
Here in parishes and schools across the Diocese of Westminster, we can help people feel welcome and supported. We can help prevent people from becoming street homeless. For example, could your parish open up the kitchen in the church hall or school for families who don’t have access to a working oven, or who can’t afford the electrics? Or run a warm space or offer a weekly homework club. You could set up or support a local mother and toddler group.
Caritas Westminster has provided a list of suggestions to get people started, and my colleagues and I are available to link you up with parishes and schools already doing good work, provide expert training where needed, or accompany them on their journey to safely help people find peace of mind, dignity, hope and justice. Email caritaswestminster@rcdow.org.uk
And next time you are asked to help those experiencing homelessness, please think too of those living in unsuitable temporary accommodation. Think about how our actions might help prevent someone ending up on the streets.
Homeless Sunday Resources for Parishes
We have produced some resources that you can use in your parish this Homeless Sunday – 8 October 2023 – or at any time that’s appropriate.
A whole host of activities have taken place around the Diocese this month, including an outdoor ecumenical service for Farm Street Church and Grosvenor Chapel; a litter pick around Our Lady of Fatima parish, White City; weekly themed flower arrangements featuring the ‘river of justice and peace’ at St Peter and Paul, Northfields; an Uxbridge parish trip to Church Gardens, Harefield; and a Justice & Peace outing to the ‘Plants of Qur’an’ exhibition in Kew Gardens.
If you would like to share your events and photos from the Season of Creation, please reply to this email and let me know!
CAFOD ‘Fix the Food System’ Campaign
In addition, some 43 Westminster parishes plus the staff at Vaughan House signed the most recent CAFOD Fix the Food System campaign over the course of the summer – ‘Salina’s letter’ to the World Bank, calling for the rights of farmers to be protected to preserve and trade their own seed. This represents around 8,180 signatures. Thank you to everyone!
Bishop Nicholas Hudson signs ‘Salina’s Letter’
Laudate Deum and the Synod
During the month, Pope Francis announced that he has written ‘Laudato Si’ Part 2’, a follow-up to his 2015 encyclical. The Apostolic Exhortation ‘Laudate Deum’ will be launched on 4th October (details below) to close the Season of Creation, significantly placing the care of creation and concern for the poor, themes central to the life of St Francis, at the heart of the Synod in Rome which opens on the same day. We will be reflecting on all these developments over the course of the coming months.
New Commission Members
A very warm welcome to Richard Harries, the new Director of Caritas Westminster, and to Beata Rozycka, recently appointed as CAFOD Westminster Community Participation Co-ordinator, who are joining the Westminster Justice and Peace Commission as representatives of Caritas and CAFOD respectively. We look forward to working closely with Richard and Beata on justice at home and abroad and benefitting from their insights and experience. All best wishes in your new roles!
The newsletter also contains three pages of Diary Dates detailing unmissable events on these and other themes of justice and peace to share with your parishioners, friends and colleagues.
Each video quotes one of the twenty-four principles from the recently published document ‘Love the Stranger’ and is accompanied by a prayer.
Love the Stranger places the human being at the heart of our pastoral outreach and urges us to see each and every person as a unique individual with a name, a face and a story.
Contributors to the videos come from the Holy See, COMECE, CAFOD, CSAN and Caritas Social Action Network members. Contributors from the Diocese of Westminster include Bishop Paul McAleenan (Principle 6) and Colette Joyce, Westminster Justice and Peace Co-ordinator (Principle 15).
We affirm the responsibility of the Church and civil society to help people in their homelands, including through the work of organisations such as CAFOD, Missio, Pax Christi, and Aid to the Church in Need
Intercessory Prayer
We pray for all dedicated to the task of improving the quality of life in countries afflicted by poverty, war and persecution for the agencies and charities, for fieldworkers and members of the church who accompany and lift up the poor May their work bear fruit, providing relief and building justice for the good of society Lord, in your mercy, hear our prayer.
Principle 15
We urge the fulfilment of obligations under international frameworks protecting migrants and refugees, such as the Refugee Convention, the Convention on the Rights of the Child, the Global Compact on Refugees, and the Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration.
Intercessory Prayer
We pray for international cooperation to be upheld and strengthened wherever possible so that people on the move will always receive the protection of the law and justice may we always hold before our eyes your love o Lord for each and every traveller and receive with compassion those who seek protection in this country Lord in your mercy, hear our prayer.
Inspired both by Christian Climate Action and the Laudato Si Movement, on Saturday 9 September we had a ‘Pilgrimage for the Planet’ along the Thames Path. Over 50 people came. Some of us started at Kate’s parish in Bow where there was a prayer and blessing from parish priest Fr Howard James.
They then joined the rest of the group at the Cutty Sark and we all began our pilgrimage to the Thames Barrier.
We were pilgrims from various local parishes: a big contingent from the Chinese Catholic Community, nine religious Sisters from different Congregations (Columban Sisters, Little Company of Mary Sisters, Missionary Sister of Our Lady of Africa, Sister of the Holy Cross, Carmelite Sister), Fr Richard Nesbitt and parishioners from White City, including a visiting seminarian from Nigeria, Laudato Si animators and members of Christian Climate Action.
We hadn’t asked God for an extreme weather event, but we were given one anyway! It was the hottest day of the year and the sixth day in a row when it was over 30C in London in September!
We began our pilgrimage at the Cutty Sark with a prayer and an invitation to walk the pilgrimage with our five senses wide open to what God may want to show us. And as we walked we paused to reflect on Creation’s Song, Creation’s Cry and Creation’s Call and the message of Pope Francis for the Season of Creation.
We also paused at significant places such as:
-Crowley’s Wharf – where ironworks made ankle-irons, manacles and collars used in the enslavement of African people -Greenwich Power Station -The tidal terraces/reed beds – an innovation in flood defence providing a habitat for plants and animals -‘Tribe and Tribulation/Totemic Sculpture’ by Serge Attukwei Clottey on the meridian line, with its sound recordings from three former slave forts on the Gold Coast. At this point we reflected on Creation’s Cry and also listened to a moving recording of Rev Jon Swales prayer for COP 27 -The beautiful Ecology Park which mimics the original marshland of Greenwich Peninsula.
At this point we reflected on Creation’s Call at this critical time in human history, and also invited all to enter into an imaginative dialogue with an other than human member of creation.
We passed the wharfs where boats arrive daily with sand and gravel aggregates found on the sea bed.
We finally reached the Thames Barrier, where we had the great joy of being joined by another pilgrimage group, coordinated by Barbara Wilson, a parishioner of Corpus Christi, Brixton, and member of Christian Climate Action. This group had walked 17km from the Shell HQ on the Southbank.
It included several Medical Mission Sisters and five Buddhists who found the pilgrimage experience very moving. The group had been reflecting on Pope Francis words: “How can we contribute to the mighty river of justice and peace in this Season of Creation? … We must do this by resolving to transform our hearts, our lifestyles, and the public policies ruling our societies.” These words inspired reflections at their stopping points.
It was wonderful for both groups to join together to share reflections and pray for people of all continents, especially those most impacted by climate change in the global south. We then listened to a powerful recording of Ben Okri reading ‘Broken’ from his book ‘Tiger Work’. Our final song was ‘Let Justice and Peace flow like a Mighty River.’
Sr Kate Midgley is a Missionary Sister of St Columban. Cecilia Bullock is a Laudato Si Animator, a member of Christian Climate Action, and a parishioner of St Paul’s, Harefield
Pax Christi has sent the following message:Following our online prayer event on Wednesday and the ‘No Faith in War Day’ protests at the entrance to the ExCeL Centre in London yesterday, we are committing ourselves to praying this prayer daily until Saturday 16th September when the Fair has closed and all those exhibiting will be packing up. We’d love you to join us.
Disarm our hearts, God of Peace; Help us to renounce the fear that takes the form of weapons. Help us to choose the fierce love that moves your human family to dialogue, not destruction.
Disarm our hearts, God of Peace Our children are fragile, as is our Earth. Give us the wisdom to cherish these gifts By voicing our support for a world free of weapons.
Disarm our hearts God of Peace; Help us to embrace your wisdom and your will Challenge us to choose life, solidarity and hope.
Disarm our hearts, God of Peace Give us a voice that is heard for those who have no voice and are not heard For those who know there is no tomorrow in war For those who know that the violence of weapons destroys the beauty of creation and the joy of life.
God of Peace We pray for authentic and lasting peace We pray for the will to bring this about so we may be called peacemakers, the children of God. In your name we pray for an end to arms fairs, the arms trade and the weapons of war
Amen
“It’s our responsibility to help eradicate hatred & violence from human hearts. Let’s encourage arms to be set aside, that there be a reduction in military spending so that humanitarian needs can be provided for & so that instruments of death be turned into instruments of life.”
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
Caritas Westminster welcomed its new Director, Richard Harries on Monday 4 September.
Richard is a former senior civil servant who spent many years working on criminal justice, voluntary sector and local government policy issues. In 2013 he took up a new role working for a Westminster-based think tank before going on to become Director of Research for a National Lottery grantmaker. Most recently he was Director of the Institute for Community Studies, where amongst other things, he had been working on the impact of faith-based social action. He is also on the board of the Caritas Social Action Network.
Richard fills the place of John Coleby who had been director for almost all of Caritas Westminster’s 11 years, until June this year. Richard has been tasked with expanding the reach of Caritas within the diocese of Westminster, and growing the impact of its services and the projects which it supports, as well as raising awareness of the underlying issues and socio-economic challenges facing those who live and work in the diocese.
Richard says: “I am deeply grateful for the opportunity to build on the foundations laid by John Coleby. Caritas Westminster in its first decade has achieved so much, not least in its marvellous response to the Covid-19 pandemic. I look forward to working closely with Catholic communities and third sector organisations in north London and Hertfordshire seeking to respond to the spiritual and material needs of the diocese.”
Caritas Westminster is the official social outreach charity of the Roman Catholic diocese of Westminster, which covers most of London North of the Thames, and Hertfordshire. Visit their website here: www.caritaswestminster.org.uk
Press enquiries to Louise Cook, Communications Officer louisecook@rcdow.org.uk
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.
Diocese of Westminster Justice and Peace Commission 