By Tim Devereux, Chair of the Movement for the Abolition of WarI joined blind peace campaigner Tore Naerland, along with Åse Simonsen, Tordis Landvik for a five-day, 222 mile Bike for Peace ride which finished in Bradford on 1st September. Tore Naerland, President of Bike for Peace, is almost totally blind but is a keen […]
Peace
02 Sep – Events across the Diocese commemorating Hiroshima & Nagasaki Bombings
By Tim DevereuxChair, Movement for the Abolition of Warwww.abolishwar.netThis year, as many before, there were events in Bradford and Keighley to commemorate the dropping of atomic bomb on Hiroshima, 6th August, 1945, and in Leeds three days later remembering the Nagasaki bombing, 9th August, 1945. From outrage at the bombing of Guernica in the Spanish […]
05 Jul – Vienna TPNW Treaty Conference
By Matthew MaslenPreviously, I have written about when I was accepted onto the Youth for TPNW 1MSP (Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons – Meeting of States Parties) delegation, my thoughts just before our delegation took off for Vienna, and now I’m going to tell you my thoughts now that I’ve returned from it(hopefully […]
13 Jun – Final Thoughts before TPNW Youth 1MSP
By Matty Maslen A week on from today (20th June), I will be flying to Vienna from Manchester airport for the first MSP (Meeting of State Parties) on the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons. Since April, when I last wrote about what I’d been doing in the run-up to Vienna, our pre-MSP events […]
01 Jun – Yorkshire CND at RAF Lakenheath
On the 21st May, hundreds gathered at RAF Lakenheath in Suffolk to protest against US nuclear weapons being stationed on British soil.A group from the West Yorkshire area got in a coach in Bradford and Sheffield and arrived among the earliest at RAF Lakenheath. Among them were Mollie and David Somerville. Other groups had travelled […]
08 Apr – Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons
By Matty Maslen – Bradford/Glasgow UniversityOn the 22nd January last year, the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW) entered into force. The treaty is a comprehensive prohibition on the development, production, stockpiling and use – or threat of use – of nuclear weapons. In other words, it is a legally binding agreement that […]
25 Mar – Commemorating the Assassination of St Oscar Romero
The chapel where Romero was assassinatedArchbishop Oscar Romero was assassinated by paramilitaries on 24 March 1980 whilst in the middle of saying mass in the chapel at a hospital for cancer patients.On 25th March, the Commission held a presentation of a film about his assassination and the subsequent journey to him […]
Ukraine – What should we do?
Ukraine is an independent country of 44.7 million people with an elected government and President taking its place in the United Nations. Yet, as a result of Russian military invasion and bombing attacks, nearly 2 million (mainly women and children) have had to leave their homes and flee the country as refugees seeking help from […]
28 Jan – War & Climate Change
This was the title of our January webinar led by Tim Devereux, Chair of the Movement for the Abolition of War. Tim spoke for about half an hour and the rest of the time was used in questions. After a brief scene setting about Climate Change itself, Tim went on to explore the greenhouse gas […]
02 Jan – Still Rolling with the Catholic Nonviolence Initiative
By Pat Gaffney, Vice President of Pax Christi in England and WalesThis article first appeared in Peace News in November 2020I am a cup-half-full sort of person, not I hope naïve, but encouraged by the hope-filled actions around me. In the last year this includes the strengthening of the Black Lives Matter movement, the persistence […]
John Hume RIP
By John Battle, Commission Chair(adapted from John’s universe article)Sorting family papers this summer, my wife’s father’s family in Derry turned up a handwritten letter to her Uncle Eddie from John Hume written in 2001. It congratulated him on his 80th birthday and thanked him for his key role in establishing the Credit Union with him […]
28 Aug – Hiroshima & Nagasaki remembered
It’s easy to get into a social justice silo: ‘I’m a peace activist’ or ‘we must do more about Climate Change’. Well, if you need any convincing of the connectedness of these issues then try this quote by Bruce Kent, President of MAW(Movement for the Abolition of War), Vice President of CND“The elephant in the […]
16 Jul – Bishop Marcus signs up to Anti-Nuclear Weapons Statement
By Tim Devereux (St Joseph’s Pudsey & Leeds Pax Christi)Our Bishop, Marcus Stock, has signed Christian CND’s ecumenical statement by clergy for the 75th Hiroshima/Nagasaki anniversary (6th & 9th August); my Parish Priest Father Peter Kravos has signed it; and yes, I did ask them to, and they responded promptly and positively. The statement does […]
30 Apr – Revolution of the Heart: The Dorothy Day story
A review by Carol BurnsThis new documentary by Martin Doblemeier (who has made a number of films previously about people such as Dietrich Bonhoeffer and Reinhold Niebuhr), is an engaging watch. It’s just less than an hour which makes is suitable for showing in small groups and it will certainly spark discussion. You can see […]
28 Oct – Drones and Modern Warfare
This is a precis of the talk given by Chris Cole (Director of Drone Wars UK and Vice Chair of Pax Christi UK) when he spoke at the Yorkshire Sabeel meeting in September. Although this talk focussed on the use of drones, Chris stressed the importance of looking at alternative thinking; to challenge the idea […]