Paul Kelly, parishioner at Ss Mary & Michael, Settle, and project lead for the Refugee ReSETTLEment Community sponsorship Group, sends this update. Twenty months since a parish meeting agreed to start the community-wide project to welcome and provide for a family displaced by the Syrian conflict, 5 months since the Home Office approved our intensive […]
Social Action
taking actions on issues of social justice
07 Jul – Student in Leeds Diocese obtains Million Minutes Award
The official list for the Celebrating Young People Awards 2019 was announced in London’s West End on the 3 July. Nominations were gathered from schools, parishes and organisations across England and Wales. The awards – now in their fourth year – are powered by the Million Minutes Organisation and honour the achievements of those young […]
14 Jun – Jean Vanier remembered
By Marjorie Parker Jean Vanier died peacefully on 7th May. At his requiem Mass, Marie-Helene, his long time friend and co-founder of Faith and Light reminded us that “to die is not a lamp going out but a new light lighting up, Jean has given us a new light” What is the light that Jean […]
12 Feb – Helping Asylum Seekers & Refugees in 2019
On Tuesday 12 February the Parish of Our Lady of Lourdes & St William’s (Parish of St. Blaise), Ingleby Road, Bradford, hosted another very successful meeting for the Diocesan Refugee Support Group. The spacious parish hall was packed with nearly 100 people and at least 15 organisations that support refugees and asylum seekers in and […]
09 Oct – Caritas Leeds Looks to the Year Ahead
Caritas Leeds, which calls together all those in the Diocese in our organisations , groups and parishioners involved in charitable activities and social action, held an annual Diocesan reflection day on the first Saturday in October. Opened by Bishop Marcus, it was launched with an introductory reflection on Pope Francis’s latest Apostolic Exhortation “Gaudete […]
The Crisis in Criminal Justice
The fact that our criminal justice system is broken is regularly distracted by high profile individual cases of the need to ‘lock them up’ regardless of the conditions or provisions for eventual release. The media driven cry to ‘protect the public’ trumps all other considerations. Yet it is a widely acknowledged reality that in Britain […]
17 Mar Faith in Action Awards – New Programme in the Leeds Diocese
Contributed by Jessica Wilkinson, Youth Coordinator for the Leeds Diocese It will be probably not surprise you to hear that many young people are passionate about justice and fantastic at social action! Social Action is just part of what they have to do to gain their Faith in Action Award from Bishop Marcus. Established by […]
09 Feb – Newman parish takes part in WYDAN Night shelter Scheme
by Anne Tracey, John Henry Newman parish The middle of January this year saw some very wintery weather, with rain, wind and sleet seeming to take it turns. And this was the week that we in Newman parish had offered to help with providing a night shelter for asylum seekers who might otherwise have had […]
30 Nov – Who says Young People don’t get involved in social action?
About 200 young people came together for the first Leeds Peacejam Conference (there has been a previous one in Bradford) on the weekend of the 25-26 November. Peacejam is an international organisation founded in 1996 by a group of Nobel Peace laureates. It is specifically aimed at young people and is about encouraging them to […]
30 Oct – First World Day of the Poor 19 Nov 2017
Pope Francis has instituted a new ‘World Day of the Poor’, inviting us “to embrace the culture of encounter” and to understand that sharing with those living in poverty “enables us to understand the deepest truth of the Gospel”. In his message for the first World Day Pope Francis asks all of us, whatever our […]
23 Oct – Medaille Trust appoints Leeds Diocese Rep
The Medaille Trust is a charity which supports men, women and children who have been freed from human trafficking. It has been operating for eleven years and now provides safe houses throughout the country for the victims of 21st century slavery. The Trust has recently appointed a new Diocesan Representative for the Leeds Diocese: Liz […]
Young People
This General Election was very different not least because of the number of young people (under 25 years) who got involved. I remember at the launch of our candidate’s local campaign, at which more young people than usually turned up in support, declaring that this 2017 election could become the young people’s election not least […]
Catholics Voting
What advice is there for Catholics for the upcoming General Election?
Open Commission Meeting in Skipton 26 Nov 15
This write up also appears in the December 2015 Newsletter Commission members, at the moment, mainly come from Leeds. To ensure that we understand better what social justice campaigning and other activity is going on around the diocese we are planning on having meetings across the diocese over the course of the next 12 months. […]
Commission Meeting of 15 Sep 2015 – Key Points
The Commission agreed that it should start to make more details of its meetings available via this website. So here they are! – but rather than present the minutes per se we will attempt to convey the key points of each meeting so you can get a flavour of what was discussed. New website Our […]
07 July 2015 – Leeds Citizens Founding Assembly
Around seven hundred people gathered at the Centenary Pavilion of Leeds United to join in the Founding Assembly of Leeds Citizens. The Diocese of Leeds is a founding partner of Leeds Citizens and the Justice and Peace Commission is also a member. The date was deliberately chosen to show how people in Leeds have come […]