***ACTION OF THE WEEK***
Christian CND's 60th Anniversary
On Monday 12 July at 7pm Christian CND will be hosting a major Zoom meeting as part of the events to mark 60 years of our campaigning against nuclear weapons. The event was originally scheduled to take place in Methodist Central Hall, the location of the historic first meeting of the United Nations General Assembly which saw the very first resolution passed call for the elimination of nuclear weapons.
Join us for what promises to be a fantastic evening of speakers, workshops and memories from the past 60 years.
As well as a great list of speakers, there will be workshops to share ideas on the next season of campaigning.
Register for your place here.
Thank You.
NEWS AND COMMENT
1. COP26
Volunteer with the Climate Justice Movement at COP26
Be part of the team that brings climate justice to COP26! The climate justice movement needs your help in Glasgow this November. We're inviting you to be part of a team of volunteers that will be critical to making this November a success. From mobilisations to People's Summit to civil society hub - there are many ways for you to get involved.
Find out more and apply to become a Climate Justice Volunteer. Make sure to apply by 31st July. You don't need any particular skills or experiences, but you must be over 18 to volunteer. If you have any questions, email isobel@stopclimatechaos.scot.
UN Climate Change Conference of Youth
The 16th UN Conference of Youth, scheduled to happen on 28-31 October 2021 in Glasgow, Scotland, UK, is the official precursor youth event of COP26, which is officially endorsed by the office of the United Nations Secretary-General’s Envoy on Youth.
COY, in its 16th year in 2021, is dubbed as the largest and longest running youth event to date. It is likewise dubbed as the most significant youth gathering for its capacity to directly contribute and intervene in the UN climate negotiations.
To find out more information about COY16, go to their website.
Countdown to COP
Our friends at Independent Catholic News have an article explaining COP and giving links to various organisations and campaigns that have an interest in the talks. You can read it from ICN here.
2. Climate/Environment News - includes an Action
Integral nonviolence - an integral approach to Cry of the Earth
Pax Christi England and Wales held an on-line discussion on the relationship between nonviolence and care for the earth. Aware of the violence done to the earth through war, the global demand that militarism makes on fossil fuels and other energy sources and the conflicts that arise over access to resources, the gathering explored relationship between these acts of violence and the power and approach of nonviolence as a response.
Go to the Pax Christi website to read further details, and to see videos of the speakers and discussions.
Protecting the World's Second Largest Rainforest
ACI Africa reports: - 'The Archbishop of Kinshasa in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Fridolin Cardinal Ambongo has, at the ongoing workshop on the environment, called on his brother Bishops to seek ways of protecting the world’s second largest river basin, the Congo Basin.
Cardinal Ambongo said: -“It is certainly impossible to avoid the use of products from nature in general and the Congo Basin in particular. However, it is entirely possible to coordinate and rationalize action on nature and especially on the Congo Basin in order to return this universal heritage to its original name of beauty and improve its capacity to offer all humanity its precious services.”
President of CENCO (Episcopal Commission for Natural Resources of the National Episcopal Conference of Congo), Archbishop Marcel Utembi Tapa, said the Bishops' main aim is to "promote education of our people in respect for the environment for the protection of the Congo Basin."
"This is the second lung of the planet and the DRC is responsible for 60% of the forest in this Basin. Thus, we have the mission to advocate for the dignity of people and the improvement of the living conditions of the populations who live in this environment to be protected for the benefit of humanity,"
Read the full report through ACI Africa.
7 benefits of recycling
With the Environment Bill under review, there's renewed urgency on stemming the flow of plastic waste pouring into our environment.
The UK Government has announced a target to recycle 65% of municipal waste by 2035. England, Northern Ireland and Scotland failing to meet it's EU target of 50% recycling rate in 2020 – showing an aggressive change of tact from the government is necessary for us to reach this attainable target.
Friends of the Earth have provided a reminder of why recycling is such a good thing – for you and the planet.
It is available to read here.
Living without destructive plastic
Staying with the 'plastic' theme, Fr Shay Cullen has written a good piece for ICN concerning the dangers to all forms of life, including ours, of plastic waster and micro-plastics. From my point of view, I try and do my bit for recycling, and buying non-plastic items, but it is shocking the amount of plastic that still goes in our Recycling Sacks every week. Half of which probably doesn't get recycled anyway.
You can read his article here.
Laudato Si' Workshops - Have you started one yet?
Virginia Bell, part of the Laudato Si' Animators UK group, recently took part in a zoom Laudato Si' Workshop, presented by Paul Bodenham. She has written a very good article about the Workshop, and there are various links to Laudato Si' Animators and Green Christian.
Virginia finishes with 'It wasn't complicated, it encouraged participation according to each individual's requirements with no pressure to embrace every suggestion. It mentioned all the things that I'm keen on - parish green teams, parish environment policies, bishop participation, the 'Global Healing' films. What we needed to do was to find a way of pulling it all together to get a groundswell of action which could be mobilised. Paul thought that LS Workshops were a way to do this. I completely agree.'
You can find the full report through ICN here.
Say NO to burning trees for energy - Action
Biofuelwatch have asked us to share this petition: - The UK spends more money burning trees for energy than any other European country. An area of forest larger than 50,000 Wembley Stadium pitches was logged in 2020 so the UK could burn the trees for energy. Trees came from some of our planet's rarest and most special forests, like Canada's Boreal, Estonia's nature reserves, and the wetland forests of the Southern US, which are at the heart of a Global Biodiversity Hotspot.
Drax Power Station in Yorkshire receives over £2 million every day in UK renewable subsidies, while emitting close to 13 million tons of CO2 every year.
At the same time, the UK Government claims it wants to lead the world in tackling the climate crisis, protecting nature, and cleaning up the air we breathe.
Please sign the Petition here.
3. Sea Sunday
Seafarers and fishers bring us food, fuel and medicines. Catholic maritime charity Stella Maris (Apostleship of the Sea) provides them with practical, pastoral and spiritual support. The charity is asking us to remember and pray for seafarers and fishers on Sea Sunday which falls on 11th July this year.
Seafarers often have to work away from their families and local communities for nine to twelve months at a time. Across the world, Stella Maris aim to provide a ‘friend in every port’ and stand alongside seafarers and fishers to ensure their rights are upheld. For 100 years they have been extending the hand of friendship and welcoming seafarers and fishers to our shores.
Their network of chaplains and volunteers makes more than 70,000 ship visits each year and supports hundreds of thousands of seafarers and fishermen in times of need.
For more details and to donate, please go to: https://www.stellamaris.org.uk/donate/
Online communication tool for Kenyan Seafarers
Stella Maris in Kenya’s Catholic Archdiocese of Mombasa plans to develop, in collaboration with other stakeholders, an online communication tool in the country’s maritime sector to keep those who work at sea in touch with their families.
They are hoping that this new tool will use satellite technology on mobile devices, and it will not affect the running or security of the vessels.
The full article is available through ACI Africa.
4. Refugees/Migrants - (includes an Action)
JRS condemns government’s new Borders Bill - Action
JRS UK has condemned plans put forward in the Nationality and Borders Bill which seeks to punish people seeking safety for how they travelled to the UK, and risks violating international refugee law. The Bill had its first reading in parliament on Wednesday 7th July and is a key instrument in a wider overhaul of the asylum system proposed in the government’s New Plan for Immigration, which has been widely condemned by many. JRS UK maintains that this legislation shows no respect for human dignity, justice, or the protection of human life.
To read Sarah Teather's comments, and the key features of the Bill, go to the JRS UK website.
To write to your MP about the Bill, using a prepared letter, click here. The second reading of the Bill takes place 19-20 July, so please contact your MP before then.
Priti Patel’s asylum overhaul plans ‘almost neo-colonial’, warns UN
UNHCR have said that 'UK proposals present ‘profound threat’ to international refugee protection system' according to an article in The Independent yesterday, and that it was 'designed to shift the responsibility for protecting refugees away from Britain.'
The Nationality and Borders Bill, laid in parliament on Tuesday, would enable immigration officers to intercept vessels in British waters and take them to foreign ports – a controversial practice known as pushback, and it would allow them to send Asylum Seekers overseas whilst processing their claims.
Read it in full through The Independent.
Holy See calls for shared responsibility to protect refugees and migrants
As forced migration continues to grow dramatically across the world, more generous resettlement policies are needed, together with a “stronger commitment to responsibility sharing”, the Holy See has reiterated.
According to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) the number of forcibly displaced people fleeing from wars, violence, human rights violations, as well as natural disasters, has risen up to 82.4 million worldwide in 2020.
In a statement addressed on Monday to the 81st Standing Committee of UNHCR’s Executive Committee, the Vatican Permanent Mission to the United Nations and Other International Organizations in Geneva reminded that these people are not just numbers, but “fellow sisters and brothers”. This is why – it said - Countries should commit to a shared responsibility to ensure that “no one is left behind”, as Pope Francis has called for.
The full article is available to read through Vatican News.
Praying with Detainees
This reflection is from Ursula, who is a volunteer with the Detention Outreach Team at JRS UK, visiting those held in detention near Heathrow.
Since March 2020 there is a solitary pound coin, one of the old pound coins, on a bookshelf in my room. It sits on a JRS prayer card and is a constant reminder of all those who are detained in immigration centres as this is the coin I use for the locker at the reception area in Harmondsworth Detention Centre. Bags, books, money, one’s phone, even the bottle of water go into the locker; you bring just yourself, a few tissues and necessary papers when you go to visit.
Every person who approaches our JRS table in the Welfare Office comes with the hope that we can do something for them to shorten their stay in detention. Sometimes we can offer practical help like explaining a Home Office document in simple terms, but unfortunately it is not in our power to offer a quick way out of detention. Instead, we listen, we try to strengthen hope, we accompany.
Each week I listen intently to stories expressed in broken English, listening in the silences, trying to understand the body language. I have heard stories that anger me, sadden me, and yet encourage me. I get angry at a system that doesn’t treat people fairly, at a world that sells arms to countries resulting in wars that cause people to flee their homeland, even angry at God who has yet to convert the Home Office! But mostly I am saddened by the stories of suffering, of loss, of powerlessness. I remember the man who cried because there was nobody in the detention centre who spoke his language, or the bewildered young man threatened with deportation to a country he was born in but hadn’t lived in since he was a child, or those with medical conditions aggravated by the stress of detention. I listen, pray as I hand over a tissue, try to show that I care, and say something that might lift the person’s spirits.
There are so many ‘Good Friday’ moments but there are ‘Easter Sunday’ Resurrection moments too as when the encounter ends with a smile, the conversation is easier, or a detainee shares news that his lawyer is finally helping him. I am in admiration of the human spirit that tries to overcome adversity and hardship, and the kindness one sees among the detainees like the day a young Chinese man with very little English brought along a newly arrived man from Eastern Europe to us and simply said, ‘You help’.
Each week I leave the detention centre with my head full of pictures and sounds: long corridors, doors being locked and opened, men from all over the world, the faces of those I have met that day in the Welfare Office, the stories I have heard. I become more aware of my powerlessness and yet remember the words of the prophet Micah: ‘This is what Yahweh asks of you: only this, to act justly, to love tenderly and to walk humbly with your God.’ (Micah 6:8) There is much to pray about.
As my JRS prayer card says: ‘Lord Jesus, give us courage to accompany others, for in walking at their side we find you there present with us.’ And I pray too that soon again I can ‘act justly, love tenderly, and walk humbly’ not only with my God, but with my supportive JRS Detention Visitors group, as we visit those in the detention centre. Ursula
JRS Hosting Scheme
The Jesuit Refugee Service UK are in urgent need of volunteer hosts to join their ‘At Home’ hosting scheme which operates in Greater London and arranges three month placements for destitute refugees. If you have a spare room you could offer to a refugee facing street homelessness, please do get in touch with Hannah: Hannah.markay@jrs.net or visit: https://www.jrsuk.net/at-home-hosting-scheme/
Catholic Peace Entity Links Africa’s Growing Refugee Crisis to Craze for Natural Resources
According to the Denis Hurley Peace Institute, the connection between natural resources, violence and forced displacements is becoming clearer in many African countries experiencing a rise in the refugee crisis.
The peace entity that is monitoring the evolution of violence in a number of Africa countries, has stated that there are plans to depopulate regions endowed with mineral resources so that prospectors and multinationals can have free access to the resources.
To read further details, go to ACI Africa
5. Father Stan Swamy RIP
From the Jesuit Missions: -
Fr Stan Swamy SJ passed away on the 5th July 2021 in Holy Name Hospital in New Delhi aged 84.
Dr Stanislaus D’Souza SJ, the Jesuit Provincial of India has announced; “With a deep sense of pain, anguish and hope we have surrendered Fr Stan Swamy, aged 84, to his eternal abode.” He was a long-term sufferer of Parkinson’s disease, and his imprisonment in October 2020 made his condition worse.
Fr Stan dedicated his life to marginalised people in India, for which he will forever be remembered. He fought hard for the land rights of Adivasi and Dalit communities against multi-national companies and mining businesses. Fr Stan was unfairly arrested by the National Investigation Agency of India on fictitious charges about his advocacy work being linked to Maoist terrorism.
The full article is available through Jesuit Missions here.
Also, Cardinal Bo, the Asian Bishops' president, pointed out that Fr Stan followed the nonviolent path of Mahatma Gandhi, who was also "arrested and incarcerated under sedition laws by British officials." With his "great love for those in the margins," Fr Stan "is the latest saint of modern India's poor".
He said the Jesuit priest "redefined his priesthood, extending his altar to the streets and hills of those obnoxious corners of injustice, breaking the bread of good news of human dignity and justice especially among the indigenous (tribals, Adivasi) people."
More of this is available through ICN, including a video of Fr. Stan's funeral.
6. Child Labour
Anti-Slavery writes: - New global estimates on child labour released by the ILO and UNICEF show that child labour has increased for the first time in twenty years.
At the beginning of 2020, 160 million children were in child labour globally, accounting for almost 1 in 10 of all children worldwide.
This is an increase of 8.4 million children in the last four years, with a significant rise in the number of children aged 5 to 11 years affected.
Children in slavery experience psychosocial trauma at a critical stage of their development. This, alongside a lack of their rights to education, health and care, affects opportunities throughout their lives, often trapping them in slavery as adults.
For more information, go to the Anti-Slavery website.
Vatican News have also reported on the same subject, and have included key results and a list of things that the ILO and UNICEF are calling for to stem the surge in child labour.
7. The Ethics of Tax Fairness
Church Action for Tax Justice writes: - Sometimes folk ask about the ethics of tax fairness. Where does it come from? Why do Christians have anything to say on the issue? There are lots of ways we could respond to this, but one is simply to return to the age old instructions that God gave us several millennia ago, and in particular these three:
Do not steal; do not covet; do not murder.
To read their thought-provoking breakdown of each of the above, head over to their website.
8. Police, Crime and Sentencing Courts Bill (NC55)
Many of you would have been aware that an amendment to the above Bill was due to be debated in the House of Commons on Monday, which would have allowed abortion, for any reason, up to birth, had it gone through.
Pro-life campaigners and health professionals have now welcomed the news that Diana Johnson MP has decided not to take her amendment to the UK Government's flagship Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill (NC 55). ICN have reported on the letter that 800 medical professionals signed ahead of the debate, and you can read it here.
Also, regarding the same Bill, one part of it poses a serious threat to the lives of Gypsies and Travellers. Part Four of the PCSCB outlines measures to introduce a new criminal offence of trespass with the intent to reside, and extend existing powers in the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994 (CJPOA). Again, full details are available through ICN.
9. World Chocolate Day
Those of you who have been reading this e-bulletin regularly may have remembered how excited I got last year, finding out that there was a World Chocolate Day!
Fairtrade Foundation have passed on this special message from the Ivorian Fair Trade Network (RICE): - "As the world celebrates World Chocolate Day, we cocoa producers want you to remember what a chocolate bar should mean to all of you on a daily basis:"
"Fair price for cocoa producers, this will help us earn decent incomes. This means a fairer world in which we care for the environment, educate our children and promote the rights of women, children and disabled people in our communities."
"Our support remains unwavering for Fairtrade, because of Fairtrade’s commitment to a fairer world.
Watch the short film, 'Love Chocolate, Hate Injustice?' here.
10. NJPN Blog on Independent Catholic News
'60 Years of campaigning against nuclear weapons' by Patricia and Michael Pulham
(Patricia and Michael are on Christian CND's Executive Committee)
A special commemorative zoom event is planned by Christian CND to mark 60 years of its campaigning against nuclear weapons. It will take place on Monday 12 July at 7pm....
Patricia and Michael then go onto talk about the format of the event, the speakers, and the work of Christian CND
Read the rest of their blog through ICN
'How can we create an 'ever wider We' by Celia Capstick
(Celia is a is co- convener of the NBCW Social Responsibility Committee.)
How can we respond to the UK Government’s New Plan for Refugees and Asylum Seekers by challenging the current hostile system using Catholic Social Teaching as a basis and putting the 'we' back into community?
Celia then goes onto quote Sarah Teather (Director of JRS UK) in her foreword to 'Being Human in the Asylum System', and the address that she gave to the National Board of Catholic Women.
You can read the rest of the blog here.
Thanks to go our friends at Independent Catholic News for providing us with a platform for our articles. You can check out ICN in full here.
NEWSLETTERS
11. NW NJPN E-Bulletin July 2021
Anne O'Connor has put together another excellent edition, covering a range of topics from Climate Change, Covid crisis funding, a tribute to Martha White, US Civil Rights activist, an article on the thorny issue of women priests, resources and diary dates. You can find it through the NJPN website.
12. Lancaster Faith and Justice July 2021
Lots of interesting articles on refugees, COP26, the Police, Crime and Sentencing Bill, the Climate and Sea Sunday. You can find it through the Lancaster F&J website here.
13. London Mining Network July 2021
Lots of information on the various mining issues around the world, and the work that is being done by them. It is available through their website here.
14. Operation Noah June 2021
A good edition, but it does not appear to be available through their website. You can subscribe and get it direct to your inbox here.
15. WCC Water Network May/June 2021
The World Council of Churches Ecumenical Water Network Newsletter is available to read through their website here.
16. ECCR June 2021
The most recent newsletter from the Ecumenical Council for Corporate Responsibility is available to read here.
EVENTS (in chronological order where applicable)
17. 12th July 10am - 4.15pm - Christian CND
Nuclear Weapons: No Thanks: Christian CND's 60th Anniversary
18. 12th July 7.30pm - 9.30pm - National Board of Catholic Women,
and other organisations
Death by Appointment: A Rational Guide to the Assisted Suicide Debate
19. Saturday 17th July 10am - 11.30pm - Caritas Plymouth
The God who speaks through Creation
20. 23rd - 25th July NJPN Conference
21. 28th July - 11am - 9pm - Christians Aware
Hope, Healing, Harmony Summer School (Programme for the day is available through a link from this page.)
22. 28th July - 7pm - 9pm - Central England Quaker Peace Committee
70 years of the UN Refugee Convention - the UK's dereliction of duty
23. 2nd October - Christian CND AGM
24. 11th - 17th October Challenge Poverty Week
ACTIONS/APPEALS/SURVEYS/E-PETITIONS
25. Stop Arming Israel
Campaign Against Arms Trade have asked us to email our MPs demanding that the Government end its complicity in the bombardment of Gaza. For more details and to send an email, click here.
26. Help Save Maira Shahbaz from Death Threats
Many of you may remember Maira Shahbaz, a 14 year old Christian girl from Pakistan, who was abducted from her home and forced to marry a Muslim man and abandon her faith. She was eventually returned to her family, but they have been receiving death threats.
On 7th June Priti Patel stated in the House of Commons that she would meet Sir Edward Leigh MP and representatives of Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) to discuss granting asylum to Maira Shahbaz. Over a month on, Priti Patel has not offered a date yet.
Aid to the Church in Need are asking that we write directly to Priti Patel, asking for her to agree a date. Click here to send an email.
27. Stop Aid Cuts to Burma
Burma Campaign writes: - The British government is cutting aid to the world’s poorest, and aid to Burma is in the firing line. British aid to Burma helps keep people alive. It helps the poorest in the country.
Thanks to successful campaigns by Burma Campaign UK, there are strict rules in place to prevent any aid reaching the military.
The humanitarian situation in Burma was already dire, but since the military coup in February, the situation has got much worse. More than half the population is living in poverty and another 100,000 people have fled their homes because of bombing attacks by the military.
Please email Dominic Raab asking him not to cut aid to Burma.
28. THE LAST WORD
This week we have an article from Church Action on Poverty about poet Matt Sowerby and how he harnesses the power and resolve of people in poverty.
Matt started using his skills as a route to social justice when he became involved in the End Hunger UK campaign. From there, he hasn’t looked back.
In 2020, he was poet in digital residence at Church Action on Poverty, and worked with fantastic campaigners around the country to produce Same Boat? - a powerful anthology of poems based upon poverty and the pandemic.
Matt, and Church Action on Poverty's Food Power Officer, Ben Pearson, have made a podcast about why Matt became involved in social justice movements.
You can listen to the very interesting podcast here, plus you can hear the poems from the Same Boat? Anthology if you click on the link above.
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NEWS LINKS
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Vatican News homepage: www.vaticannews.va
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UK Parliament News
https://www.parliament.uk/business/news/
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