Blog

30 Sep -Commission supports Bishop Malcolm McMahon on nuclear weapons

On September 19th there was a letter published in the Guardian urging the Government to sign up (having boycotted the talks about it) to the Nuclear Weapons Ban Treaty. One of the signatories was Archbishop Malcolm McMahon of Liverpool. The Commission was encouraged by this leadership and wrote him a letter of thanks:

30th September 2017 |

20 Sep – A Carmelite Approach to Justice

On Saturday 16 September the Commission held a Day of Reflection with the Carmelite nuns at their Wood Hall monastery, near Wetherby. We made the practical arrangements and they did the hard work of putting together talks and time for prayer – as well as devising a programme that left some space for silent reflection.

Here, Sr Philomena reflects on the theme of that day.

The Carmelite Sisters have lived at Wood Hall, near Wetherby in the Leeds diocese for almost 50 years. Our life is one of withdrawal from the world for the sake of an intense life of prayer. One might well ask if our lives are of any value to anyone, especially when considering matters of Justice and Peace? But it is only when we have a deep belief in our union, as Christians, with Christ’s own prayer for His people, that our way of life here makes any sense. Our prayer focus has to be world-wide.

St Teresa of Avila, the foundress of our way of life as Carmelite Nuns, urges us not to let our prayer be confined to the four walls of our cells but to be always, reaching out beyond ourselves especially to all those who suffer in our world. Pierre Teilhard de Chardin wrote “If we cling to Christ we will hear the multitudes within His heart, suffering, weeping, praying”. This sums up our way of life, and surely that of every Christian, so that our prayer and our deep concern is for all who suffer.
The challenges for us resulting from this journey into the heart of Christ, is how we, in our cloister, can be more united with those who suffer in thewider world and on our own doorstep, and how we can campaign for a more just society and a fairer distribution of wealth. Nowadays in our Churches, there are many who, because of ageing and ill health, are no longer able to be so active on the front line, and, who like ourselves in our enclosed convent, still have a vital “activity” of clinging to Christ and encountering the multitude in His heart who are so in need of help. All of us can share, too, in that essential rôle of Moses who held up his hands in prayer on the mountain top as the battle waged below, and pleaded for the victory of his people.

From our earliest days at Wood Hall we were made very aware, and in a more direct manner, of the gross injustices in our world. This was due in no small way to our local Justice and Peace Commission. We have learned so much from you all.

What we wanted to share together on the day at our monastery is our co-dependence on each other. There is a need for the Martha and the Mary to be alive in all of us, each one of us has to sit at Jesus’ feet, listening to those calling to us from His heart, and having heard, giving oneself in love and service, but also in intercessory prayer.

All things and all people, so to speak, call on us with small or loud voices. They want us to listen. They want us to understand their intrinsic claims, their justice of being. But we can give it to them only through love, the love that listens.
Paul Tillich

The day was a great success and, given the level of interest that it generated, we are hoping that there can be a similar day in the Spring of 2018.
As one participant put it :
I really enjoyed the day, and was surprised by the Carmelite sisters. I had expected quiet, unworldliness – but found strong, well-informed women with a great sense of humour!

20th September 2017 |

21 Jul – Reflections after 3 months in the Job

Lucy Irven was appointed as the part-time Diocesan Refugee Support Group Facilitator about 3 months ago. Here she offers her reflections and observations about her experiences during that time

$\"photo$ Perhaps what has struck me most in my first weeks in this role is the number of refugees and asylum seekers we are trying to help and the level of hardship that so many are suffering. Whether it be a result of the poor accommodation that is provided, the inadequate funds they receive or the time it takes for decisions to be made by the Home Office, there is no doubt that they are experiencing great difficulties. Fortunately, I have also encountered some remarkable men and women, Parishes and communities that are coming forward to support them. They are actively offering the Welcome, Sanctuary, Hospitality and Celebration that we identified as the key elements to our Diocesan response to the refugee crisis.

As Pope Francis reminded us in 2013, refugees and asylum seekers ‘are human people,…, who are appealing for solidarity and assistance, who need urgent action but also and above all understanding and kindness.’ Refugees want to be with their families and they want to be safe. They miss home and their culture, their old way of life. They also want to contribute their skills, use their qualifications, and share their experiences and knowledge. ‘Have I made the right decision?’ I heard one Syrian asylum seeker say. His life has been on hold for two years since arriving, waiting for a decision, far from his family and tired with the discomfort of his daily life. Fortunately, he has recently been given refugee status so now he can work and take steps to improve his situation. From what I have learnt in the last couple of months, it is important that we make ourselves available to support people such as this, to accompany them through the asylum process and assist them in finding the sanctuary that they so urgently seek.

When I visited St Augustine’s Centre, in Halifax, I saw such a response in action. Every available space was being used; there were people sitting at tables having interviews, some working in pairs on the computers, others preparing a meal in the kitchen or sitting outside in groups. But, amid the bustle, everyone was calm and I was greeted with smiles, some offered me a drink and others to show me round. I sat in on an English lesson which was attended by men and women of several nationalities and a baby sleeping in a pushchair by the door. There was a gentle murmur as some helped others with translations but everyone got involved and I was really impressed by the respectful atmosphere. As I have travelled around the Diocese, I have heard of and seen for myself this example of welcome and sanctuary repeated at the St Vincent’s Centre in Leeds, DASH in Huddersfield, Wakefield City of Sanctuary and CHAS@St Vincent’s in Bradford.

It is encouraging to see such an effective response already in place and the SVP, Catholic Care, St Monica’s Housing and the Leeds Justice and Peace Commission, all members of the Diocesan Refugee Support Group, are an essential part of this. If you would like to get involved whether as an individual or Parish group then do please get in touch as there are opportunities in many areas of support including volunteering , campaigning, fundraising and prayer.

22nd July 2017 |

19 Jul – Can we reduce the Carbon Footprint of the Leeds Diocese?

$\"outline$ Some months ago we reported how our Diocese has moved to a ‘green energy’ supplier, along with a number of other dioceses. In the Commission we wondered if there were other actions that the Diocese could take to reduce its carbon footprint to both demonstrate its witness to the truths expressed in Laudato Si and to take practical action in support of its aims.

However, given that the Diocesan finances are in a poor state and that we are not technical experts in renewable technologies, it looked like there might be a few problems in trying to do anything about this!
To overcome these difficulties we developed a project proposal suitable for a university student. We framed it in terms of evaluating the feasibility of reducing the carbon footprint – so that the costs and monetary benefits will be included in the work.
Originally, the idea had been to see if there were church roofs that would be suitable for solar panels. However, by using the idea of carbon reduction there is a wider range of technologies to consider-and some will be more cost-effective than others in different church circumstances.

The university accepted our Project Brief and we currently have a student from the MSc course in $\"Mohamed$ Sustainability and Consulting at the University of Leeds carrying out the work. His name is Mohamed Juma and he comes from Bahrain. He came to the UK five years ago to study for an undergraduate degree in Civil Engineering at Portsmouth University. He came to Leeds because he is interested in working in the field of renewable energy. His MSc course seemed a good starting point for this goal, and our project was a good match with his interests.
He will be completing the first draft of his report by the end of August.
Members of the Commission have taken Mohamed to a sample of churches in the Diocese so that he can see their size, general construction and understand their current energy usage. We have tried to ensure that he experiences the full range of the types of churches that exist! –big churches such as St.Augustine’s in the Harehills area of Leeds, old churches like St Stephen’s in Skipton through to newer or re-furbished churches such as St Patrick’s in Leeds and The Church of the Assumption in the West Park area of Leeds.
We are grateful for the help of parish priests and parish administrators for taking the time to show Mohamed around and make available copies of utility bills. We will report back once the work has completed.

$\"small$ The Global Catholic Climate Movement have launched a campaign to get one million Catholics to sign a \’ Laudato Si\’ Pledge.

Find out More

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19th July 2017 |

24 Jun 17 -Live Simply Workshop

Fifty five people from across our Diocese and beyond came along to the Workshop that we organised about Live Simply – with the financial support of CAFOD.
The event ended with a mass signing by all those present of CAFOD’s ‘Power to Be’ petition cards (highlighting the need for support of renewable energy projects to help the world’s poorest communities) addressed to Melanie Robinson – the UK representative for the World Bank

Whilst this was an easy action that everyone could take straight away, there were many different ideas thrown up during the course of the workshop about how we could live more sustainably and live more in solidarity with poor communities across the world.
Whilst the award scheme (run by CAFOD) may not be for everyone, the ideas provide a focus for individual and parish action. In so doing they represent a real 21st century approach to the concepts of ‘Parish Renewal’ in that they challenge us as individuals to think about our own behaviours and also about our behaviours in our church communities.

The last part of the event was a shortened form of an Emmaus meal where we heard stories from different
world communities: Malawi, East Timor, Lebanon and Sri Lanka. We were fortunate to have people who could talk first-hand about their experiences – such as Benson Taylor (A CAFOD Ambassador), Patrick (the CAFOD campaigns volunteer for the Leeds Diocese) who was brought up in Malawi and Germano from East Timor who now lives in the parish of Our Lady of Kirkstall.

St Benedict’s is the only parish in the Leeds Diocese to have actually gained the award. The opening liturgy was conducted outdoors so that people could stand on the piece of land that has been developed into a smallholding, growing flowers for use in church, vegetables for people to take and eat, and walkways for people to walk amongst the plants and reflect on God’s creation. This was all developed as part of their journey towards obtaining the award. But, as parishioner Trish Sandbach pointed out, it is not a journey that stops once you have gained the award and there is still a Live Simply group actively operating within the parish
The discussions were enriched not only by the participants from St Benedict’s but also by Paul Kelly, from Lytham St Annes – the first parish to pilot the Live Simply Award scheme – and Regina Schwarz who had travelled from her parish in Walthamstow to share their experiences with us.

As well as signing the Power to Be cards, we asked everyone to think of one personal action and one action that they would discuss with others in their own church communities. The result was an ‘Actions Board’ crammed with Post It notes.

It was a packed agenda but everyone engaged enthusiastically and there was much laughter throughout the workshop.

Joe and PAtrick talking about CAFOD's Power to Be caqmpaign

St Benedict\’s lovely church hall was nearly full for this event

Joe holds up one of the CAFOD \’Power to Be\’ campaign cards that we asked everyone to sign.

Patrick, the volunteer Campaigns Coordinator for CAFOD in the Leeds Diocese, explains some of the background to the \’Power to Be\’ campaign.

David Arblaster, a Deacon from St Aelred\’s parish in Harrogate, signs a petition card.

We asked everyone to commit to undertake one personal action and to talk with others about one possible community action – the result was a packed \’Actions Board\’.

28th June 2017 |

28 Apr 17 – Kevin Dowling on Oscar Romero and Nonviolence

On Tuesday 25 April Bishop Kevin Dowling gave a talk to just over 50 people about the Catholic Nonviolence Initiative and the lessons in nonviolence from the life of Oscar Romero.

It was a very powerful presentation. Bishop Kevin spoke from his personal involvement in situations of unrest in both South Africa and other part of Africa. He stressed the importance of trying to get across that there is an alternative narrative to how conflicts can be solved; that the many techniques of nonviolence (he cited 198!) are proving to be more effective at attaining goals than armed conflict is. There was much to think about arising out of what he said.

Bishop Dowling has provided the full text of his talk and we make this available as a PDF download here.

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2nd May 2017 |

24 Apr 17 – ‘Vivir bien’ – working with communities to shape development in Bolivia

This article is by Nikki Evans, CAFOD’s Programme Officer for Bolivia. As she lives in Yorkshire she is regularly to be seen around the Leeds CAFOD Volunteer Centre. This article serves as an introduction to the lecture she will be giving at Leeds Trinity University on 4th May – see the end of the article for more details.

In 2016, Bolivia experienced its worst drought for over 25 years. Water rationing was imposed in the capital, La Paz in November and the reservoirs dried up as an unprecedented crisis unfolded. The rural regions of Bolivia had been suffering for many months due to the low levels of rainfall and over half of the municipalities in the country declared a state of emergency.

The Aymara and Quechua indigenous farming communities living on the Altiplano plain, high in the Andes mountains, were hit hard by the drought. Unable to plant sufficient crops to survive the year, many families have been forced to leave their land to seek temporary employment in the cities. In May, the families that have stayed on their land will harvest their crops in the hope that they have been able to produce enough to survive. Prices of food are expected to rise which will hit hardest those families that are already suffering the effects of last year’s drought.
Farming in harmony with nature and the environment is a central pillar of community life for indigenous farming families. These Andean indigenous communities still organise their political, economic and social systems according to pre-colonial traditions. Community leaders are appointed by rotation with each family obliged to take responsibility for roles within the community and decisions are made by consensus. Land is managed communally and people care for Mother Earth (Pacha Mama) in gratitude for the gifts she gives.
Central to the Andean view of the world is the idea of “vivir bien” which can be roughly translated as “living well”. For many families and communities, vivir bien means living simply in harmony and nature but each person you speak to will have their own idea of what it means for them. One farmer told me “For me, vivir bien means that you have everything you need. You’re able to grow food and you’re able to eat well”. Another said “Before we hardly had any money. We didn’t really grow very much. We didn’t eat very well. I didn’t dress very well. We didn’t have any proper shoes. Now we’ve got much more. We eat well and we’re producing food. For me, that’s vivir bien.”
Respecting communities and each family’s understanding of vivir bien underpins the work of the local Bolivian organisations supported by CAFOD. These organisations are providing essential support to communities in helping communities respond to the effects of the drought and the challenges of farming in such a tough environment. The work being done to support these families responds directly to their vision of vivir bien. For many families, this may be this may be about having access to water to irrigate their plants, for others it might technical training to help to help them grow more crops or learn how to make bread and cheese.
For Don Ismael (right), vivir bien meant having his own greenhouse that allows him to grow vegetables all year round.

To find out more about this come along to the CAFOD Lecture at

Leeds Trinity University on Thur 04 May at 7pm.

Lecture Details and registration

24th April 2017 |

20 Apr 17 – Icon of Peace Completes its tour of Yorkshire

In the last three weeks of its time in the Leeds Diocese the Icon of Peace was in Leeds, Garforth and Cottingley.

Between 27 March and 02 April it was at the Holy Rosary Church on Chapeltown Road in Leeds – part of the parish of Our Lady of Unfailing Help. They had an event every day centred around the Icon – ranging from Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament, a couple of peace liturgies and peace Stations of the Cross followed by a simple lunch. There was also an event involving the primary school , taking the story of Esau and Jacob as the theme.

The following week the Icon was in St Benedict’s parish in Garforth where there was a similar pattern of using the icon as a focus for reflection about peace and reconciliation.

The Icon’s last week in the Diocese (encompassing Holy Week and Easter) was spent at the parish of Our Lady and St Joseph of the Aire Valley – at the church of St Mary and St Monica in Cottingley. Again, the icon was placed to one side of the altar to provide a focus for prayer and reflection about reconciliation.

The Group photo from St Mary & St Monica shows parish priest Fr Sean Molloy with parishioners after the Maundy Thursday mass. On the far right is parishioner Paddy Spiller who along with Ann Trotter, Colin Spiller and Fr Sean were heavily involved in preparing the reflections about the icon in the parish – making it a real parish affair. Annette Mitchell, who also helped to organise the icon, commented, ” The icon provided a beautiful focus for prayer and reflection. I understand the need for action on peace issues such as the injustices suffered by Palestinians, but sometimes we also just need to take time to reflect and pray. I am really glad that we were able to host it in our parish.”

The icon leaves Leeds for Birmingham, where it is to be used at a large Taize event at the end of April.

Its presence across the diocese has touched many people – in the region of 1000 prayer cards with an image of the icon have been distributed and the icon has been a part of over 50 services. The icon was on loan from Pax Christi UK and anyone wanting further information about the icon should get in contact with them directly.

20th April 2017 |