The Diocese of Leeds is seeking to appoint a dynamic and enthusiastic researcher with a passion for social justice.
Your main task will be working with volunteers to develop outcomes from an exciting action research project: the Caritas Leeds Criminal Justice Inquiry.
This is a fixed term contract of two-days a week (April-September 2020).
Closing date: Monday 24th. February 2020.
A personal reflection on a trip to the Holy Land by Annette Mitchell, Moira Smith & John Mazzucchi at a meeting on 17 Jan 2020
About 40 people gathered at St Mary & St Monica’s Church, Cottingley, Bingley, to hear an illustrated talk on the current situation in the occupied West Bank territories and take part in a discussion.
Father Sean opened the proceedings and led the meeting in prayer. After welcoming everyone, Moira Smith described the group’s visit to Bethlehem in October 2019, where they had visited the Church of the Nativity and other sites, as part of a tour organised by the Amos Trust.
John Mazzucchi then took over to describe the group’s visit to Hebron, a divided city where tension could be felt. Annette Mitchell showed pictures of their visit to a farm about 9Km from Bethlehem, where the owners had to live in underground caves. After sharing some food more details of their trip were given.
Annette provided some additional comments about their trip:
The Amos Trust is a Human Rights organisation, committed to challenging injustice . Their ‘Taste of Palestine’ trip allowed us to meet with people, learn about their culture and food and see how life is for them living under occupation – whilst also having the opportunity to visit many of the Holy sites and churches.
It was a very different experience from the diocesan pilgrimage as regards to the types of places we visited and the people we met. We visited a refugee camp in Bethlehem, had tea in the Banksy Hotel ,
visited date farms and picked olives in an olive grove. We were able to taste freshly made olive oil after watching the extraction process in the olive factory We visited spice shops, bakeries and women’s co-operatives where we had the opportunity to buy lots and eat lots !
We saw how resilient the people are, wherever there is a barrier they find a way to surmount it. We met a Christian farmer living near Bethlehem who has been struggling since 1991 to keep his farm. He has set up a project for peaceful resistance called The Tent of Nations inviting people to his farm from the International community to be involved with projects on the farm. It was very moving when he spoke about asking our friends to visit the living stones not the dead stones.
Travelling around the towns and countryside it became very obvious how the Palestinians suffer an unequal distribution of water as water tanks were visible on all of their rooftops but not on the rooftops of settlements – where there is piped water.We were very careful using water and aware of the lack of water available to Palestinians.
Visiting the old city of Hebron we became instantly aware of the tension and presence of soldiers everywhere even on the rooftops.
Checkpoints and turnstiles are very visible and the local Palestinians have to endure these restrictions daily. A couple of children desperately tried to sell their small items in the street but the streets were mostly empty. There was a feeling of isolation and abandonment here.
We also travelled out of the West Bank towards Nazareth . Here we stayed in a Guest House called Al Hakim in the old part of the city not far from the church of The Annunciation where we all enjoyed a Palestinian cookery lesson.
We spent wonderful evenings at Liwan culture cafe very near the guest house. Here we had lovely food, drinks and even ice cream. It was a great opportunity to soak up the atmosphere whilst supporting the local people. It was the most incredible and memorable trip and the people were welcoming and hospitable throughout our visit.
This organisation works with local and international peace activists, and partners with grass-roots projects, to call for a just peace, reconciliation and full equal rights for all Palestinians and Israelis. It works in other parts of the world as well.
Each year they organise trips to visit their partner organisations, including in Israel-Palestine. More details are available on their website:
Amos Trust Website
We recently featured the start up of the Women in Black group in Leeds. Now a group has started up in Bradford and they would welcome any women who are able to come along to their regular vigils (dressed in black, of course).
They are holding their vigils on 1st Thursday of every month. They gather at the junction of Bank Street and Hustlergate (BD1 1PR) @ 5pm. See their Facebook page for more details. On the Third Tuesday of every month they are intending to hold a vigil outside the gates of the Menwith Hill Listening station.
If Leeds is better for you then they hold their vigils in Dortmund Square at 12:30-1:30 on the first and third Tuesday of the month
St Monica’s Housing Ltd. is a small charity providing accommodation for failed women asylum seekers. It is based in Leeds and is working to extend to other parts of the Diocese. Members of the Commission were instrumental in helping to set this charity up and continue to be involved.
We quite regularly provide updates about its activities in this newsletter.
They now need someone to take over as Treasurer. It is a small charity (they currently have two houses). So, the amount of book-keeping is light. Whilst they would welcome someone with experience of applying for grant funding, they do have enough reserves to keep them going for another 18 months or so.
Please email the Secretary to find out more: jmclj2@hotmail.com
Who are you?
I’m Julie Bowyer and I live in Saint John Mary Vianney Parish (SJMV). I am a retired sales manager, hold a volunteer position as school governor at my local Catholic primary and am an active parish member at SJMV.
What attracted you to becoming a CAFOD schools volunteer?
I have always been interested in the work of CAFOD, and in May 2019 I attended a training session, with Catherine Gorman from CAFOD’s Theology team, in my role as a Children’s liturgist for the parish I attend. There I met with CAFOD’s local worker, Bronagh, who said there was a vacancy for a school volunteer in the Leeds Diocese. Initially I wasn’t sure if I had the right skills to be a school volunteer but decided to attend the induction training to find out more. I have recently completed the 2 days of training and am now excited to meet the local schools who have requested a visit from CAFOD.
Why are you interested in CAFOD’s work?
I help with the weekly tea and coffee after Mass, which raises money for CAFOD, helping the poor and doing our own little bit to make a difference. On my recent training, with the other school volunteers, I have learned a great deal more about the unjust world in which we live. I will be delivering assemblies to primary and secondary schools on the people defending the forests of the Amazon. I could not have imagined this time last year that this is what I would be doing!
What has this got to do with being a Catholic?
I never think about it in that way. I would not usually discuss my faith, but I suppose it is a way of putting my faith into practice.
What made you interested in going into schools?
I am a school governor and I also volunteer in a local primary school, so I suppose the interest in schools was already there, although this is a new challenge which I am looking forward to pursuing. There is a good level of support, both locally and nationally, which helps give you more
confidence to do it and I have met lovely people through the training so far.
What do you like about doing schools Volunteering?
It is great to get to meet the children and engage with them, educating them about the good work that CAFOD does. Already I have been able to share updates on CAFOD’s work in Uganda with nearly 200 children.
What would you say to anyone who was thinking about doing it themselves?
I would say ‘Give it a go’, CAFOD is a wonderful organisation and an opportunity to learn more about their work that otherwise you would never get to hear about. I think you need to have some IT skills, like how to find and download presentations from the CAFOD website and also
be interested in public speaking and working with children.
Has volunteering for CAFOD changed the way you live at all?
I think the current Lent campaign on the Amazon has really opened my eyes, on the help the indigenous people of the Amazon need to protect the rain forest. I look forward to seeing the reaction from the schools I will be meeting, when I invite them to hold football fundraisers this Lent, to help support the people defending the rainforest
Sr Maria Crowley of the Holy Family Sisters, Bradford reflects on their work with asylum seekers
This is a real challenge to us, in these dark times, where we are confronted daily with the great harm, we are capable of doing to each other. As we listen to the news and read the newspapers we hear and see the frequent genocide, ethnic hatred and the horrendous acts of violence committed daily in our world. We see terrorism and hatred and we know that so many countries of our world are at war. This reality calls us now more than ever to show humanity in our caring, our hospitality and generosity and be experts in
compassion.
The most vulnerable of our society are the victims of this hostile environment and most of these are refugees and asylum seekers. The aim is to make life so difficult for those who don’t have the correct documents that they would be forced to leave Britain. This became law in the Immigration Acts of 2014 and 2016. This policy creates a culture of fear and distrust and prevents migrants from accessing vital services.
There is a real contradiction between UK’s legal obligation to offer refuge and asylum, and the current environment aimed at forcing people to leave. The current mistrust engendered makes it hard for people to prove their genuine need. Massive delays in the asylum process have led to cases remaining unresolved for years, especially the more complex cases. Some delays are from 10-20 years. Our experience shows that the more complex cases are left in a state of limbo. The current backlog in the immigration system is 20,000. As the celebrations for Christmas were on the way, for those caught up in our consumer society, most of whom were forced to spend money they didn’t have, it was this Hostile Environment that was the backdrop for many of the asylum seekers that we are in contact with. One person said “How can we celebrate when we are living in fear and without hope in this hostile place?” This is the reality for most asylum seekers.
Despite the heavy hearts and the number of refusals, all found the strength and joy to take part in the various parties organised by different organisations. The good news for them is receiving that brown envelope from the Home Office with the leave to remain. In this hostile environment most correspondence from the Home Office is a letter of refusal with no appeal!
This is the story of our guest who submitted her fresh claim application to the Home Office last September. In October she moved back into Section 4 Government accommodation which we felt was good news for her and she was back in the system. But she was given accommodation in Stockton on Tees in the north of England living in a shared room with 2 strangers and in an area where she knew nobody or the support services available to her. Sadly, in December, she got the long-awaited letter with a refusal and no right to appeal! She could however apply for a Judicial Review.
Our Guest has been applying for her refugee status for 9 years. When she came to us, she was homeless and destitute and now she returns to that same situation. We have been in regular contact with her and she is living on the happy memories of her time with us last Christmas. Despite all the setbacks and refusals, she still smiles and is hopeful.
Her faith as a Muslim is a great support to her; she is always positive and remains hopeful. Please keep praying for our guest that she will be safe and will continue to get the support she deserves, to get her through this tough stage. People who come to the UK are capable and want to contribute to society, but with no definite future it becomes a question of survival rather than living, without being able to dream of a better future.
The asylum process is a tough one. After a horrendous journey to where they thought would be their promised land, they experience nothing but one rejection after another. They are expected to live on the minimum and are not allowed to work and have no access to education – not even basic English classes. A requirement of the asylum process is to be able to speak English and have some understanding of life in UK but they are not allowed to have any formal help. Thank God there are many voluntary organisations that support these people without any funding or resources. As asylum seekers are not allowed to work or make any contribution to life in the UK, they cope with this situation by spending all the day in bed. What else is there for them to do? The feeling of uselessness leads to severe depression, despair and in some cases suicide.
There are many destitute Asylum seekers all around us. While we may not be able to do anything about their legal situation, we can offer them friendship and support. We can befriend them and listen to them. We can support them and somehow this offers them some form of dignity and respect in this harsh and hostile environment. We know that asylum seekers have great faith and commitment to that faith. Despite the hardships of the journey so far, they believe that their God is with them and will not let them down. We are blessed to be able to accompany so many destitute asylum seekers. We are enriched by their deep faith, culture and their positive attitude and their desire to share the little of what they have with others.
The hostile environment is spread beyond migrants to include those applying for benefits and facing homelessness, with people being measured according to their profitability and commercial value! Let us not be afraid to open our hearts and our homes, as we remember and pray for these destitute people; we are all one family. We can be surprised and enriched by their culture, as well as their great faith, hope and courage. Let us be the ones to build bridges and not walls.
As a Commission of the Catholic Church it is not our role to advise you to vote for specific candidates or parties. However, there are two key messages that we would like to get across to everyone in the Diocese of Leeds:-
Our project working with people aged 16-30 is starting to take off. Earlier 
this week over 100 students at St Mary’s High School in Menston took part in workshops exploring UK poverty through drama.
Aoibheann Kelly, the talented theatre professional who is leading this work commented ”Drama can help young people to make sense of the world they live in and explore ways in which to make a difference. It can also bring people closer together and offer opportunities to have challenging conversations, problem-solve, find out what they have in common and develop a deeper understanding of someone elese’s lived experience or point of view. Theatre of the oppressed, in particular, has its roots in exploring issues of injustice and can actas a catalyst to discuss ways people can can change or improve a situation for the greater good. I led sessions with 5 different groups of students. Some young people even came back again to take part in other sessions which was a good sign. Some wanted to start a new social justice action group straight away!”
Workshops have also taken place at Leeds Trinity University and in the New Year they are planned in for Notre Dame College in Leeds and St John Fisher High School in Harrogate
If you are interested, there may still be the opportunity to join in with this project. For more details please email