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.
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.
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.
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
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.
Westminster Justice and Peace Pilgrims arriving at Westminster Cathedral. Photo: RCDOW
“Pilgrimage is of course a fundamental element of every Jubilee event. Setting out on a journey is traditionally associated with our human quest for meaning in life. A pilgrimage on foot is a great aid for rediscovering the value of silence, effort and simplicity of life. In the coming year, pilgrims of hope will surely travel the ancient and more modern routes in order to experience the Jubilee to the full.” (Spes Non Confundit, 5)
A group from Westminster Justice and Peace completed the Westminster Way Pilgrimage for the Holy Year on Thursday 29th May 2025, the Feast of the Ascension.
Setting out from English Martyrs Roman Catholic Church, 30 Prescot Street, London, E1 8BB, at 11.00am, the pilgrims visited five other churches along the way, finishing with Westminster Cathedral at around 4.15pm.
At each station we heard reflected on saints connected to London and the inspiration they continue to be for us today – St John Houghton and The Carthusian Martyrs of the Reformation, the missionary St Augustine of Canterbury, St Anne Line who sheltered priests and held secret Masses in her home during the Elizabethan persecution, St Erconwald, St Ethelburga and St Etheldreda, the scholars of the 7th Century who brought learning and education to both men and women, and St John Henry Newman whose own spiritual journey of conversion and prophetic sense of the nature of the Church had a profound influence on the 20th century leading up to the Second Vatican Council.
We also passed by the Tower of London and stood sombrely on the site of the scaffold where St John Fisher and St Thomas More were executed, among others.
As we were walking during Laudato Si’ Week, pilgrim leader Colette Joyce also invited pilgrims to reflect on the flora and fauna of London as we went along. London is a surprisingly green city, blessed with around twenty percent tree coverage – which makes it technically a forest! We are especially grateful to the Victorians who planted the ubiquitous London Plane trees which can be found in streets and parks all over the city, while there are over 400 other species of tree to discover.
“The entire material universe speaks of God’s love, his boundless affection for us. Soil, water, mountains: everything is, as it were, a caress of God… contemplation of creation allows us to discover in each thing a teaching which God wishes to hand on to us.” (Laudato Si’, 84-85)
On arrival at the Cathedral, the weary walkers were greeted by the Cathedral Dean, Fr Slawomir Witoń. We ended our pilgrimage with prayers in the Martyrs Chapel and a reflection from Fr Slawomir on the life and witness of St John Southworth, patron saint of clergy in the Diocese of Westminster.
The pilgrims received the final stamp in their Pilgrim Passports and a blessing before returning home.
Religious think-tank, Theos, has published an open letter signed by over 100 women from different faith traditions voicing significant concerns over the current proposed legislation for Assisted Dying.
We believe that the Terminally Ill Adults Bill has insufficient safeguards to protect some of the most vulnerable in society, particularly women subject to gender-based violence.
Colette Joyce, Justice and Peace Co-ordinator for the Diocese of Westminster, and Nikki Dhillon-Keane, Head of Safe in Faith for Caritas Westminster, are among the signatories.
We write as a group of women of faith from different traditions and backgrounds passionate about care for people in vulnerable situations, many of whom have dedicated our professional lives to preventing male violence against women and girls.
We hold a variety of views on the principle of legalising assisted dying. However, we are all clear that the current legislation – The Terminally Ill Adults Bill – progressing through parliament, has insufficient safeguards to protect some of the most marginalised in society, particularly women subjected to gender–based violence, and abuse by a partner, who also experience intersecting barriers to a full and safe life.
We are concerned that the proposed legislation could create a new tool to harm vulnerable women, particularly those being subjected to domestic abuse and coercive control, by helping them to end their lives.
A report out last month showed that the number of domestic abuse victims who died by suicide in England and Wales was higher than the number of people killed by their abusive partner, for the second year running.
We know too that domestic abuse victims who are also women of faith can face a particular form of abuse[1] at the hands of their perpetrators, who may weaponise theologies and culture to harm and control their victims. We are concerned that the assisted dying legislation, as it stands, fails to take account of how faith and its role at the end of life, as well as its use by both perpetrators and the women they abuse, create complex dynamics that can lead to vulnerable women, who may also hold strong religious beliefs, seeing no way out but death.
We know that poverty and other inequalities increase the risk of women and girls being subjected to violence, ill health and the quality of care and support they receive from statutory institutions and civil society. We know too that in a society riven with inequalities, women who are from Black and minoritised communities, disabled women, migrant women and working–class women, struggle to be heard. Their voices are absent from conversations about this bill, and so too are those subjective to coercive control or violence. It is unclear to us how the legislation and its consultative process has taken account of the multiplicity of faiths, cultures, socio–economic and health backgrounds of our citizens and women who make up our country.
Much of the debate inside and outside parliament has been conducted by those empowered to speak of the importance of personal choice, without consideration of those who struggle to be heard in the public square. It is the voices of the unheard, ignored, and marginalised that we are compelled by our faith traditions and scriptures to listen and draw attention to, in the pursuit of good law–making for the common good – legislation that considers and protects the most vulnerable, not just those who speak loudest.
Having followed the progress of the bill through parliament, we are particularly concerned about:
The risk that people (mainly women) with controlling and abusive partners (mainly men) will be coerced into assisted death. While we welcome the adopted amendments that stipulate training for the assessing doctors and the panel members, this safeguard only comes into play after someone has already been coerced into declaring that they want an assisted death, and will clearly not catch all cases. We also know, from research and experience, that coercive control is a long–term process that is both insidious and subtle with women often unaware of it until the perpetrator’s behaviour escalates.
The reality that since 2016, deaths by suicide have been included in the scope of domestic homicide reviews and there is growing research on women who die by suicide as directly linked to having an abusive partner. We are concerned that if this legislation passes, women may seek assisted deaths to end their suffering at the hands of an abuser. Domestic Homicide Reviews also reveal the disproportionate number of Black and minoritised women who are failed by statutory and state agencies like the police, social services, health services and specialist services like substance misuse and mental health and women’s services despite their calls for help.
There are no longer High Court protections embedded in the Bill
There are insufficient protections for those with learning disabilities and people with anorexia.
The use of the vehicle of the Private Member’s Bill for this landmark legislation. This has resulted in the impact assessment being shared after the Bill Committee stage, which makes it difficult for all of us with concerns about inequalities to gauge how this legislation will affect Black and minoritised and faith communities, people with disabilities, and those experiencing economic disadvantage.
If assisted dying is seen as a response to alleviate suffering, without addressing the underlying structural issues that make life difficult and safeguard against harm, it could put undue pressure on vulnerable women to choose death over inadequate care.
This is no way to legislate, especially not on matters of life and death. We have serious concerns about the bill and its lack of safeguards. The bill has too much potential to hurt vulnerable people and so we are uniting as women from across faith traditions to speak up for vulnerable women, including victims of violence against women and girls, and disabled women, and raise our concerns publicly.
Signatories:
Chine McDonald, director, Theos
Bekah Legg, CEO, Restored
Huda Jawad, co–founder and executive director, Faith and VAWG Coalition
Sam Clifford, CEO, Jewish Women’s Aid
The Rt Revd and Rt Hon Dame Sarah Mullally DBE, Bishop of London
Dr Naomi Green, Assistant Secretary General, Muslim Council of Britain
Professor Sheila The Baroness Hollins, President, The Catholic Union of Great Britain
Rabbi Debbie Young–Somers
Zara Mohammed, former secretary general, Muslim Council of Britain
Hannah Rich, director, Christians on the Left
Revd Dr Helen Paynter, founding director, Centre for the Study of Bible and Violence
Naomi Lerer, CEO, Noa Girls
Amanda Jackson, senior advisor on diversity, World Evangelical Alliance
The Rt Revd Rachel Treweek, Lord Bishop of Gloucester and Anglican Bishop for HM Prisons
Commissioner Jenine Main, Territorial Leader, The Salvation Army, United Kingdom and Ireland
Louisa Collyer–Hamlin, Head of External Affairs, Catholic Union
Patricia Stoat, Science Health & Bioethics Committee of the National Board of Catholic Women
Rt Revd Rose Hudson–Wilkin, Bishop of Dover
Dr Sahira Dar, president, British Islamic Medical Association
Rachel Fink, CEO, S&P Sephardi Jewish Community
Tola Doll Fisher, Creative Director and Editor, Premier Woman Alive
Elizabeth Harris Sawczenko, OBE, Interfaith consultant
Nikki Dhillon Keane, Head of Caritas Safe in Faith
Jagbir Jhutti–Johal, Professor of Sikh Studies, University of Birmingham
Professor Tina Beattie, Professor Emerita of Catholic Studies, University of Roehampton, London
The Rt Revd Dr Joanne Woolway Grenfell, Bishop of Stepney and Lead Safeguarding Bishop for the Church of England
Natalie Collins, author and activist
Sian Rees, head of Bible Society Wales
Rt Revd Dr Jill Duff, Anglican Bishop of Lancaster
The Rt Revd Vivienne Faull, Lord Bishop of Bristol
Rev Catherine De Souza, CEO, Prison Fellowship England & Wales
Sally Hope, Domestic Abuse Practitioner and Writer
Dr Selina Stone, Lecturer in Theology and Ethics, University of Edinburgh
Dawn McAvoy, Both Lives UK
Mandy Marshall, Director for Gender Justice, Anglican Alliance and Anglican Communion
Revd Jenni Entrican, Former President of the European Baptist Federation
Alicia Edmund, Head of public policy Evangelical Alliance
Dr Madeleine Pennington, Quaker writer and head of research, Theos
Rev Leonora Wassell, Co–Chair, Methodist Women in Britain
Rebecca (Bex) Chapman, General Synod member and vice–chair, Christians in Media
Debra Green OBE, CEO, ROC
Alice Gray, palliative care doctor and assistant pastor, Oasis Church, Birmingham
Ruth Parrott, former president and co–chair, Methodist Women in Britain
Shermara Fletcher–Hoyte, Principal Officer for Pentecostal, Charismatic and Multi–cultural Relations, Churches Together in England
Catherine Butcher, author, lay reader, and member of General Synod
Faith Van Horne, PhD, Theology and Religion, University of Birmingham
Jamie Phear, writer and speaker
Rachel Muers, Professor of Divinity, University of Edinburgh
Jayne Manfredi, Anglican Deacon
Katharine Lock
Rev Cham Kaur–Mann, Co–Director, Next Leadership
The Rt Revd Esther Prior, Bishop of Aston
Rev Dr Kate Coleman, Co–Director, Next Leadership
Rosemary Nuamah–Williams, policy Adviser and advocate
Jo Chamberlain, National Environment Officer, Church of England Environment Programme
Dr Usha Reifsnider, Co regional Director, Lausanne Europe, Cultural Theology Consultant
Lucy Butt, CEO, Bramber Bakehouse
Dr Janet Soskice, Professor of Philosophical Theology, Emeritus, University of Cambridge
Stella Mbubaegbu CBE, FE College Principal & Chief Executive
Mary McHugh, National Board of Catholic Women of England and Wales
Hope Virgo, author, campaigner and Secretariat for the APPG for Eating Disorders
Rev Bev Thomas Ecumenical Minister & Social Justice Advocate
Rev Claire McClelland, Head of Chaplaincy, Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals
Rev Jenny Kimble, Dean of Undergraduate Studies, Regents Theological College
Rev. Michelle Nunn, Principal, Regents Theological College, and Member of Elim’s National Leadership Team
The Venerable Karen Best, Archdeacon of Manchester
Dr Anne Richards, Policy Adviser, Church of England
Revd Dr Hannah Lewis, Lead Chaplain among the Deaf Community, Diocese of Oxford
Janie Oliver, CEO, Stewardship
Dr Calida Chu, Associate Editor, Practical Theology
The Revd Jessica Monopoli, Assistant Curate, St Mary’s Cockerton, and Clergy Lead at The Haven in Darlington, Co. Durham
Bobbi Kumari, founder, Living in Light
Barbara Earl, Croydon Quakers
Danielle Finch, freelance writer (disability, family & faith)
Rev. Rebecca Amoroso, Hospital Chaplain
Christina Mottram, retired lay Catholic hospital chaplain, Leicester Hospitals
Salomé Criddle, CEO, Thriving Women In Real Life
Revd Dr Joanne Cox– Darling, Methodist presbyter
Anupama Ranawana, Postdoctoral Researcher, Department of Theology and Religion, University of Durham
Danielle Wilson, Pioneer Pastor, Birmingham
Dr Claire Williams OMS, Lecturer in Practical Theology, Academic Inclusion Advocate, Regents Theological College
Reverend Joyce Fletcher, National Executive Director of Women and Family for the Church of God of Prophecy
Dionne Gravesande, trustee of Restored and co–chair, National Church Leader Forum
Dr Beverley Samways, Director, Unique Connections
Alianore Smith, member of the General Synod of the Church of England
Revd Novette Headley, Chair – Birmingham Methodist District
Colette Joyce, co–ordinator, Justice and Peace Commission, Diocese of Westminster
The Revd. Lis Goddard, vicar, St James the Less Pimlico
Doreen Patricia Waugh, domestic abuse practitioner, Justice and peace representative
Rev. Sarah Whittleston, National Elim Prayer Director
Dr Eve Poole OBE Lay Canon, York Minster
Revd Alexandra Lilley, Vicar, St George and All Saints Tufnell Park and Dean of Women’s Ministry
Michelle Dumont
Revd. Canon Kate Wharton, Vicar of St. Bartholomew’s Church, Roby, Liverpool, General Synod member, and Prolocutor of the Lower House of the Convocation of York.
Rani Joshi – South Asian Forum coordinator / Evangelical Alliance
Baroness Shaista Gohir – CEO, Muslim Women’s Network UK
This initiative follows a meeting organised in partnership with the Faith and Violence Against Women and Girls Coalition, and Restored, facilitated by Jewish Women’s Aid, and brought together by Theos.
Faith leaders hold vigil outside Foreign Office, calling on government to show leadership on climate justice
Source: Quakers in Britain
At a vigil outside the Foreign Office on Tuesday, Christian, Muslim, Hindu, Jewish, Sikh, and Buddhist representatives handed in a letter to Foreign Secretary David Lammy. Catholic signatories included Bishop John Arnold (Salford), spokesman on the environment for the Catholic Bishops Conference of England and Wales, and Colette Joyce, the Westminster Justice and Peace Co-ordinator.
The letter asks the foreign secretary to take the initiative at upcoming COP29 by contributing new funding to the International Loss and Damage Fund.
It’s time for the UK – and its wealthiest polluters – to pay our fair share- faith leaders
It must do this in the form of grants not loans and by taxing pollution and wealth, rather than repurposing official development assistance, the letter, co-ordinated by Quakers in Britain and the Faith for the Climate network, says.
The 21 signatories call on the UK government to champion a new “collective quantified goal” for climate finance for developing countries, including sufficient funding to respond to loss and damage.
“Our call to Make Polluters Pay is partly about our history,” the letter says. “When we factor in Britain’s colonial past, the UK is the fourth largest contributor to climate change.”
It is also about our present, faith leaders including Paul Parker, recording clerk of Quakers in Britain, write.
Two fossil fuel giants, Shell and BP, are based here, enjoying record-breaking profits.
“Meanwhile, many British households are struggling to heat their homes. At the same time, communities all around the world are being devastated by extreme weather events, such as flooding, super storms and forest fires.
“These inequalities need to be redressed, to acknowledge the intrinsic value of every living being on our precious and finite earth.”
The faith leaders conclude, “It’s time for the UK – and its wealthiest polluters – to pay our fair share.”
Diocese of Westminster Justice and Peace Commission 