Cardinal Jean-Louis Tauran, President of the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue, will be making a visit to England this year from 12th-16th June 2013, to affirm and strengthen the good interreligious relations in this country.

He will visit the Sikh Guru Nanak Nishkam Sevak Jatha Gurdwara in Birmingham, the Jain Derasar at the Oshwal Centre near Potters Bar, and Baps Shri Swaminarayan Mandir in Neasden. These visits will include the opportunity for dialogue on ways in which we can work together for the common good and for a more peaceful world.

The visit will also include a “Together in Prayer for Peace” event to which all people of good will are invited, on 13th June at 17:00 in Westminster Cathedral Hall. At this event, representatives from different religions will offer a prayer for peace in their own tradition in each other’s presence, bearing witness to their deep wish for peace.

It’s not often that we have the Vatican man on interreligious dialogue in our midst. The Cardinal who also said ‘Habemus Papam’ when Pope Francis was elected. It will be a great honour and gift. His presence will bring many graces.

London is one of the most cosmopolitan cities in the world, home to migrant communities who have come to seek shelter from oppression and to improve their situation. Many of the new migrants to our city are Catholics, and their social needs are made manifest in our churches and parish communities.

In recent years the Dioceses of Westmnster, Southwark and Brentwood, which between them serve the Londonarea, have organised a Mass in support of Migrants in our city.

This year’s Mass, in honour of St. joseph the Worker, will be at 11.00am on Monday 6th May 2013 (Bank Holiday Monday) in Westminster Cathedral with Archbishop Vincent Nichols as the principal celebrant.

It will be preceeded at 10.30am by a Banner Procession withrepresentatives from London’s diverse communities, occupations and civic organisations.

Press release

London, Monday, 5 November 2012. 

Call from young people to rid the world of nuclear weapons 

At 3 pm on Thursday, 8 November, students from Maria Fidelis Roman Catholic School in London will deliver a letter and 1,000 symbolic, hand-made paper cranes to the Prime Minister, David Cameron at 10 Downing Street.

The students are making the delivery on behalf of the ICAN* Hiroshima Youth Committee, in Japan.

The ICAN campaigners have launched an international initiative to send 1,000 origami cranes to leaders of all UN member states – a total of more than 190,000 cranes.

In return for their gift, they are seeking a message of support for a treaty banning nuclear weapons.

They believe that more needs to be done to ensure that no other city ever experiences the horrors of nuclear weapons.

Responses to their appeal will be displayed in Hiroshima and published on the ICAN website http://www.icanw.org/files/PaperCraneProject.pdf.

Part of their letter states: ‘As youth from Hiroshima, we are deeply concerned that our future is still being threatened by almost 20,000 nuclear weapons. We are writing to you and other leaders to ask for help in eliminating this threat. We enclose a gift of 1,000 hand-made paper cranes – each one a prayer for a peaceful nuclear-free world.’

In London, the letter from Hiroshima will be delivered by Year 9 students from Maria Fidelis School.

They include Harriet Agyekum, Catherine Huberson-Abie, Nawal Saleh, Regina Salazar and Tyty Mamisa. They will be accompanied by peace activist, Martin Birdseye who is a member of ICAN-UK* and Pax Christi*.

Paper cranes are a traditional Japanese symbol for good health.

Since the US atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August 1945, they have also come to symbolize support for a nuclear-weapon-free world. The two bombings claimed more than 210,000 lives by the end of 1945. Many more have died from radiation-related illnesses in the decades since.

One of its child victims, Sadako Sasaki was two years old at the time of the US atomic bombing of Hiroshima. Although she survived its immediate effects, purple spots began to form on her legs as a result of radiation sickness from the bombing 10 years later. She was diagnosed with leukemia, a cancer of the blood.

While in hospital, she learned that according to Japanese legend, she would be granted a wish if she folded 1,000 paper cranes.

She began folding dozens of cranes daily. When she ran out of paper, she used medicine wrappings and whatever else she could find. When her condition worsened, she could only manage to fold one or two a day.

Sadly, she died before reaching her target of 1,000 cranes. Her friends folded the remainder after her death. Sadako now symbolizes the impact of nuclear weapons on children.

A memorial has been built in Hiroshima to honour her and all other child victims of the nuclear bombings.

Photo opportunity at 2.45 outside the gates of 10 Downing Street, Whitehall. ICAN Hiroshima Committee letter hand-in at 3.00pm, on Thursday, 8 November, 2012

For more information contact: 

Pat Gaffney, Pax Christi on 0208 203 4884

Martin Birdseye 0208 571 1691

Santorri Chamley 07963 284 647

Notes to editors: 

Pegs/Hooks

2012 marks the 50th anniversary of the Cuban missile crisis (22-28 October 1962).

Defence secretary Philip Hammond recently announced £350 million contracts for the design of new nuclear-armed submarines.

* International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons

ICAN-United Kingdom was set up in 2007 to raise awareness of the need for a comprehensive nuclear weapons abolition treaty and build popular support for the government to begin work on such a multilateral agreement. ICAN-UK works with leading NGOs to promote negotiations on a nuclear weapons convention through education, parliamentary lobbying and nonviolent action. Website: http://www.icanw.org.uk

*Pax Christi UK Is an international Catholic movement for peace, working for a world where people can live in peace, without fear of violence in any form. Pax Christi is a member of ICAN. Website: http://www.paxchristi.org.uk

Ends

Pat Gaffney

General Secretary

Pax Christi

St Joseph’s

Watford Way

London , NW4 4TY

0208 203 4884

www.paxchristi.org.uk

https://twitter.com/paxchristiuk

coordinator@paxchristi.org.uk

Westminster Justice and Peace Commission will be hosting a selection of talks, workshops and discussions throughout the coming year on the theme of ‘Justice and Peace in the Year of Faith’.

The first event is ‘An Evening with Brian Davies’ on the main outcomes of Vatican II and its impact fifty years on. The evening will be hosted at St John Vianney Parish Centre, N15 3QH on Wednesday 10th October 2012, 7.00-9.00pm

Brian is a former head of education at CAFOD and remains active in Justice and Peace in Shrewsbury. He is an engaging and insightful speaker with a wealth a wisdom to share. His talk will connect up the outcomes of Vatican II with developments in Catholic Social Teaching and Inter-faith relations. There will be an opportunity afterwards for questions and discussions.

Cost: Free. All welcome. This talk will be of particular interest to anyone involved in charitable, inter-faith or social justice projects as well as catechists, clergy and others.

Fairtrade refreshments will be served. Donations appreciated.

We congratulate Ann Milner on completing the first half of the London Outer Orbital Path (LOOP) and thank the small band of faithful companions who have joined her along the way.

Ann will be continuing to walk the LOOP until 23rd September 2012 to pray for peace during the Olympic Games and a lasting peace legacy to pass on to Brazil for the Rio 2016 Games.

Please contact Ann by email if you would like to join her for any of the remaining sections from Petts Wood to Hatch End.

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100 Days of Peace Website

Walk the London LOOP for Peace

The letter to the Guardian in full:

The opportunity to promote peace and internationalism through the Olympics is not completely lost. A coalition of social justice, peace, faith and community groups, under the banner 100 Days of Peace, have been working for over two years to engage schools and local communities in peace-building leading up to and beyond the Games themselves. The ‘hot potato’ of this project has been the problem of challenging the militarisation of the Games, as highlighted by Seumas Milne. One aspect not mentioned in his article is the role that has been given to hundreds of members of the armed forces during the Games in the welcome and victory ceremonies.

At what is arguably one of the largest international gatherings we will host, we feel that the presence of the armed forces in ceremonial dress will give a very nationalistic, militaristic and insensitive message. Is this showcasing more reflective of the government’s attempt to affirm and promote its role at a time when our ongoing involvement in war and conflict is increasingly unpopular?

If the promotion of peace and service are aims of Locog, then why not involve inspirational people and volunteers from other services, nurses, teachers, community organisers, international peacemakers, the fire-service and so on, in these high-profile ceremonies? This might better reflect the UK-sponsored UN resolution for a truce in all the world’s conflicts throughout the duration of the Olympic and Paralympic Games. It states that sport ‘can and does help mend broken communities, rebuild trust, rediscover self-respect and foster the values at the core of our common humanity’.

Pat Gaffney – Pax Christi international Catholic movement for Peace, Barbara Kentish, Fr Joe Ryan – Westminster Diocese Justice & Peace Commission

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100 Days of Peace Website

Guardian Letters: Rings of Steel

The Guardian: Our Curious Love Affair With the Military