2025 is a Year of Jubilee! Traditionally, a time of renewal, freedom and celebration: Debts were cancelled, people and the land could rest, prisoners and slaves freed, and land redistributed fairly, a year of the Lord’s favour. In Luke, Jesus read from the prophet Isaiah.“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has […]
International Development
21 Nov – World Summit of Nobel Laureates for Peace
by Matty MaslenFor the final two weeks of September this year, I was lucky enough to be in Mexico. Thanks to the generous support of SPARK, Pax Christi, and the Rotary Clubs of Winchester and Westbourne, I attended the 19th World Summit of Nobel Laureates for Peace in Monterrey.I attended with the PeaceJam Foundation, as […]
18 Nov – A Jubilee Year, pilgrims of the hope that does not fade.
By Christine Allen, CAFODChristmas Eve is the beginning of the Church’s Jubilee year. The theme is Pilgrims of Hope. Hope defines CAFOD’s mission because we witness hope through the communities we serve, in solidarity with those experiencing oppression, injustice and environmental degradation.In the Old Testament, a ‘Jubilee’ meant a radical reset every 50th year. Based on […]
01 May – CAFOD’s Sudan Emergency Appeal
CAFOD launches emergency appeal to support ‘world’s worst crisis’ in Sudan CAFOD has launched an emergency appeal to support families in Sudan, as Britain’s Ambassador to the United Nations says that Sudan is in the grip of the world’s worst hunger and displacement crisis. With over eight million people having fled their homes to escape […]
25 Jan – LiveSimply Parishes across Leeds Meet up
By Trish Sandbach, Commission memberOn Jan 20th about 25 Parishioners from 4 Parishes (Our Lady of Kirkstall, St John Fisher & St Thomas More, St John Vianney, and St Benedict’s) gathered at St Benedict’s, Garforth. All the parishes either have the Live Simply Award, some for many years, or have started on the journey towards […]
05 Feb – Responding to the Cry of the Poor Today
Every year the Romero Trust organise a short lecture tour with a visiting speaker with personal connections to St Oscar Romero or El Salvador. This year the speaker will be Peggy Healy and we are delighted that, in partnership with Leeds Trinity University, we will be hosting a presentation of her talk at Leeds Trinity […]
14 Dec – Thank you Achille Ratti Climbing Club for supporting CAFOD’s Work
By Angela Powell, CAFOD Leeds & Hallam For many years members of the Achille Ratti Climbing club have shared donations raised from their activities and CAFOD is very privileged to be a beneficiary. During this year’s annual Mass of Remembrance, the names of deceased members were read out, and prayers were offered in thanksgiving for […]
10 Jul – From A To B Via C (ANGLIA, TO BENTHAM VIA CAFOD)
This piece is a celebration of Fr Paul Hypher. Fr Paul, a priest from East Anglia who now resides in the Diocese of Leeds, who is celebrating 60 years of ministry.As part of his celebrations, Fr Paul has set up a Celebration Fund which you can find by using this link:https://celebration.cafod.org.uk/celebrations?p=fd&v=a2S4H000002PiqLUASAll the money that he […]
25 Apr – Celebrating 60 years of CAFOD
This year marks CAFOD’s 60th Anniversary as an official charity. The very first Family Fast Day in 1958 was organised by 4 friends (Jacquie Stuyt, Evelyn White, Nora Warmington and Elspeth Orchard), raised over £6000 for the Dominica Mother and Baby Clinic. Just four years later, in 1962, CAFOD became an official charity. For the […]
14 Feb – CAFOD’s Lenten Walk Against Hunger
By Matthew Maslen It will be Ash Wednesday in a fortnight. This year, CAFOD’s Lenten campaign is the Walk Against Hunger; inviting people to walk 200km during Lent to raise awareness and funds for CAFOD’s nutrition projects. The campaign is particularly focusing on Sierra Leone. Around the world there are 200 million children living at […]
21 Jul – J&P Diocesan Annual Gathering
By John Battle, Commission Chair On the 24th June 2020 we held the annual meeting of our Leeds Diocesan Justice and Peace Commission as an open “gathering” on ” Zoom” to announce the refocussing of our project work; responding as a Diocese to the climate crisis, developing our parish “Poverty in the UK” workshop pack […]
We could all do with a bit of ‘FACTFULNESS’
Every day we seem to be bombarded with statistics of one sort or another in connection with the Covid-19 crisis. The phrase ‘the scientific evidence leads us…’ is one that is frequently heard. If you ever needed any persuading about the importance of having a modest statistical education, then our current predicament should be motivation […]
20 Jan – Being a Schools Volunteer with CAFOD
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 […]
18 Jun – Goodbye to Madeline -CAFOD Step into the Gap volunteer
Madeline started as a CAFOD ‘Step into the Gap’ volunteer at Leeds Trinity University last September. This programme is for people aged 18-30 who want to take a year out in the service of others. CAFOD works with various placement organisers such as universities, retreat centres and diocesan youth teams. Madeline first heard about the […]
04 Apr – New CAFOD Director, Christine Allan, visits Leeds
Christine Allen, the new Director of CAFOD, was in Leeds today to meet with Bishop Marcus. She described her meeting with Bishop Marcus as ‘very positive’ with the Bishop asking what else he could do to support the work of CAFOD in the Diocese. Christine also visited the CAFOD Volunteer centre in St Monica’s House, […]