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 […]
Peace
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 […]
12 Jun – New Pax Christi Director visits Leeds Diocese
Theresa Alessandro, the new Director of Pax Christi UK, visited the Leeds Diocese on 10 June. Pax Christi UK is the UK part of an international Catholic peace movement.Theresa had agreed to time her visit so that it coincided with the quarterly meeting of the full J&P Commission. John Battle, Chair of the Commission had […]
09 Apr – Disturbing the Peace
About 30 people turned out on 09 April to a film viewing sponsored by the Commission that took place at Mill Hill Chapel, City Square, in central Leeds. It was a film called “Disturbing the Peace” and it was an event jointly organised with the Leeds Pax Christi group.The film was introduced by Tricia Griffin […]
27 Jan – Holocaust Memorial Day in Huddersfield
Walking with the ‘Weeping Sisters’. A reflective account of this event by John Duffy, Commission member from Huddersfield. We meet in the cold dark outside the Jug & Bottle, people shuffling round, nodding to old friends, nobody anxious to be seen to be too happy, because we are walking through town to mark Holocaust Memorial […]
13 Nov – Remembrance is not enough Service
Here are some of the key points made by our guest speaker at our service at Mill Hill Chapel on 10 November. Solidarity is one of the basic concepts in Catholic Social Teaching: “We are all one family in the world. Building a community that empowers everyone to attain their full potential through each of […]
10 Oct – World War 1 Centenary Liturgy Booklet
A new liturgy resource has been published by the Justice & Peace Commission in conjunction with the Leeds Pax Christi group. It has the title of ‘Remembrance is not enough’. Copies of this booklet have recently been sent to all parishes and to all high schools. As Bishop Marcus puts it in his Foreword, “The […]
WWI – Remembrance is not Enough (2)
Last month Tim Devereux wrote why he thought that ‘Remembrance is not enough’. One main point is that it is right to remember all the military killed in conflict, but we must also remember all the civilians who have been killed and all those whose lives have been shattered because of conflict. In our own […]
WWI Centenary – Remembrance is not enough
Do you remember four years ago, the stunning installation ‘Blood Swept Lands and Sea of Red’ thousands of poppies flooding down the walls of the Tower of London and into the moat? When I visited, I was very moved by the hushed crowd, and the poignant profusion of blood-red poppies – one for each of […]
05 Dec – Bradford Peace Museum Faith and Peace Project
How often do we hear religion being blamed for the wars of the world? The argument goes that, as there is a religious dimension to the mess in the Middle East, Islamic State, Northern Ireland… so religion must be a force for bad. Yet within each of the three Abrahamic religions – Judaism, Christianity and […]
04 Oct – Nonviolence Works!
A brief report from the open meeting organised by Pax Christi through the Peace Studies department at Leeds Beckett University on Tuesday October 3rd After some formal introductions, Pat Gaffney, General Secretary of Pax Christi UK set the scene. The groundwork for the nonviolence conference at the Vatican in 2016 started in 2013. Having the […]
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:
Lest we forget…
With the demise of the Soviet bloc in the late 80’s the fear of a nuclear holocaust receded for a few years only to be replaced by a fear that a terrorist group of some sort would get its hands on such a weapon. More recently, with the likes of the expansionist Vladimir Putin, the […]
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 […]