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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 become more involved in civil society to address issues of social justice. The conference was hosted at Leeds Trinity University.

The keynote speaker for the weekend was Nobel laureate Mairead Corrigan Maguire from Northern Ireland At a Trinity Talk on Friday evening she gave a movingly personal and passionate address, full of strength and hope, teaching us that “a real peace movement can be built”. ”Don’t get stuck in the past” she said’ ‘”be present in the community, in the moment”.

John Battle & Liz Firth from the J&P Commission led a workshop on each day of the weekend conference. On Saturday they used a case study to explore the difficulties that families on low incomes experience.

The Sunday workshops across the event were more focussed on undertaking some sort of practical action. John & Liz introduced the participants in their workshop to the basics of campaigning. The young people participating in the workshop were asked to go through that day’s newspapers and find a social justice issue about which they felt strongly. Then they had to find out who their MP was, what party they belonged to, what their particular interests were and so on. They then had to work out what they wanted their MP to do, prior to getting in contact with them. It was left to them to decide how they would contact their MP.

This picture shows one participant from Bradford Academy trying to ring his MP to ask him to lobby for more aid to go to Yemen.

Liz Firth tweeted this picture of one of the participants doing some research about his own MP – Alex Sobel of Leeds North West. Liz Firth took this picture and tweeted it with the message “Amazing participants @PeaceJamUK doing some research on issues of injustice and learning from @battlejohn on how to work with MP’s to get them to hear your voice – many can’t vote yet but we’re getting them ready early! @TheyWorkForYou” . To his delight, Alex immediately re-tweeted it.

It was encouraging to see so many young people come along and, hopefully, motivating for them to find that there are ways that they can get to the people in power.

30th November 2017 |

31 Oct – Update on Carbon reduction in the Leeds Diocese

In July we reported how the Commission had engaged with the University of Leeds for an MSc student on the Sustainability and Consulting course (Mohamed Juma) to evaluate whether the Diocese could do more to reduce its carbon footprint.

Climate change remains one of the biggest challenges to the world today. The challenge is huge because it needs action by everyone in the world – not just governments and big businesses but individuals and small companies and organisations like the Diocese as well.
The challenge for the Diocese is that it has a significant financial deficit so does not have the monetary resources to invest large amounts in ‘green’ technology just because it is a good thing to do.
Mohamed surveyed a sample of different churches across the diocese. He examined the applicability of a range of carbon reduction technologies: solar panels, wind turbines, and general construction materials – such as draught proofing, insulation levels, double glazing and the use of energy efficient lighting.

There was no ‘silver bullet’ in what Mohamed found out. Many of the churches he looked at do have roofs that would be very suitable for solar panels, for instance. A number have a large roof at a suitable angle on an East-West orientation (so they get the sun all day). Potentially, some of these roofs could support installations that could generate in the region of 30kW. However, whilst the cost of solar panels has reduced dramatically in the last five years, the amount paid for the electricity generated has fallen by an even larger amount. Hitherto, there have been companies interested in ‘renting’ roofs – which would have been a cost-neutral way of reducing the diocese’s carbon footprint. However, due to the reduction the amounts paid for the electricity these schemes seem to have largely disappeared.
This is not to say that individual parishes should not consider doing it. It is especially worth considering if a church building has to have some work done on its roof. A significant part of the cost of installation is hire of scaffolding whilst installation takes place – so if this can be done off the back of other work that has to be done then it becomes a much more attractive proposition.
A striking finding relates to the heating systems installed in different churches. Most of the churches had relatively new central heating boilers. However, in at least two of the churches visited the boilers themselves were of the order of 50 years old. Whilst it is fantastic that these boilers have lasted so long, they are very inefficient when compared with more recent boilers. So there may well be an economic case to be made in such circumstances.

What Mohamed’s work has illustrated to us is that there are possibilities but that they need detailed investigation and promotion at a parish level. If you are interested in helping us to do this then please email us at mailto:jandp@dioceseofleeds.org.uk

31st October 2017 |

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 means or background, to unite in love, in acts of service to one another and in genuine encounter.

So what can we do to mark this Sunday in our parish liturgies?
The good news is that there are readily available resources with loads of ideas that you can just pick up and use ‘out of the box’.

If you want to hold a special liturgy or incorporate some specific prayers into the masses on that day then CAFOD have collected together all their resources that are suitable onto one webpage:
https://cafod.org.uk/Pray/World-Day-of-the-Poor

CSAN (Caritas Social Action Network) has put together a fairly comprehensive set of resources – including suggestions for liturgy groups – including childrens’ liturgy groups – intercessionary prayers, Homily Notes as well as testimonies so that the voice of the poor can be heard. In addition there are ‘print ready’ materials so that posters and prayer cards can be printed out if you so wish. Their website has all the details:-
http://www.csan.org.uk/worlddayofthepoor/#Print
With these resources every church can mark this special day in some respect.

Bishop Marcus will be celebrating a special mass on this theme at 11:00 on this day at St Anne’s Cathedral and there will be a Pastoral Letter that will be read in all churches.

30th October 2017 |

27 Oct – Inter-generational Conversations on Faith and Justice

At the end of September some people from the Leeds Diocese attended a workshop in Salford Cathedral centre about this. The idea behind it is that there is value in having a conversation across generations about Faith and Justice to see what different generations can learn from one another.
We were presented with a method of conversation reflecting on the call to justice and peace in relation to vocation, life choices and commitments. We also explored how older people could accompany young people and young adults more effectively in this area (always remembering that in church circles anyone under 40 is ‘young’)
The method used in the workshop was very effective and did enable some interesting conversations to take place. It wasn’t about formulating any kind of action plan or coming up with a set of recommendations to pass onto others. The emphasis was very much about listening to the perspectives of different generations.

As the process worked so well the Commission agreed at its last meeting that we should hold some similar conversations in our own Diocese.
Initially we are working with people to arrange meetings based at Leeds Trinity University, the University of Bradford and Leeds Cathedral.

The meetings will last for 2hours and we will try to ensure that there is an even mix of generations at each meeting. We will publish dates and times once arrangements are in place – but if you are interested in coming along to one of these sessions then please email us and we will make sure you know about the arrangements as soon as they are finalised.

27th October 2017 |

25 Oct – Diocesan Refugee Support Group: Grave Concerns about NHS Charging

Changes to the provision of NHS treatment have very recently come into effect.
The Diocesan Refugee Support Group have been very concerned about this and asked the facilitator, Lucy Irven, to write to all MP’s across the Leeds Diocese to spell out their concerns.
Below we reproduce the text of the letter sent to Government MP’s and we would encourage you to write similar letters to your own MP’s about this matter. At the bottom of this article as well as being able to download template letters you can also download the Briefing Paper prepared by Asylum Matters if you want more background information. If enough people take part it could have a real impact and get elements of these changes removed.
18 October 2017
Dear <name of MP>
I am writing to raise our grave concerns about the potential impacts of an amendment to the NHS charging regulations which was laid before Parliament on 19 July and is due to take effect next week and to ask for your help with challenging this.
The Diocese of Leeds Refugee Support Group was formed in October 2015 following the dramatic increase in refugee arrivals in the UK as a result of the crisis in Syria and the Middle East. The Pope asked that the Catholic Community take particular care of the migrant population, calling on our generosity and solidarity to recognise and act upon our common humanity in response to the growing crisis.

Since then, the Diocesan Refugee Support Group has been working in various ways to support the refugee population in our area. There are four pre-existing organisations which make up this group – Catholic Care, St Monica’s Housing, the St Vincent de Paul Society and the Leeds Justice and Peace Commission. In addition, many of the clergy, deacons, religious men and women and parishioners from across the Diocese are involved in providing an enthusiastic and generous response in their local communities. You can see examples of this ‘faith in action’ in the attached newsletter.
The NHS Charging regulations, which govern how people access healthcare in England and when they have to pay for it, will be subject to two significant changes.

Firstly, charges will be introduced for services provided by all community health organisations in England, except GP surgeries. This includes community mental health, health visiting, community midwifery, and school nurses.

Secondly, the regulations introduce up-front charging, which means that every hospital department in England will be legally required to check every patient’s paperwork before treating them. If a patient cannot prove that they are entitled to free care, they will receive an estimated bill for their treatment and will have to pay it in full before they receive any treatment other than that which is ‘urgent’ or ‘immediately necessary’.
We are concerned that these changes have been introduced without evaluation of their impact on health outcomes and health inequalities, and without a full and robust assessment of the long-term costs to the NHS. In particular, we would ask you to consider the following;

Up-front charging and the need to present paperwork proving eligibility for free care will increase barriers to healthcare for vulnerable groups – such as refugees, and people seeking asylum, who are eligible for free care, but will struggle to prove entitlement.
Additional bureaucracy will mean patient waiting times are likely to increase and there is a risk of racial profiling being used as a means to identify chargeable patients, leading to an increase in health inequalities.
These measures will cost the NHS more money as the only way to check eligibility for free NHS services which does not contravene equality law is to check everyone. Reviewing every patient’s immigration status will be time-consuming, costly to administer and frustrating for both patients and NHS staff.
Confusion over who is entitled to free care will deter patients from seeking medical advice at an early stage, leading to mounting costs for the NHS as conditions become more complex and difficult to treat and there is a greater reliance on emergency services.
There is a risk that healthcare, including lifesaving care, will be withheld from those unable to prove their entitlement to free NHS treatment or able to pay up-front, causing needless human suffering.
Refused asylum seekers will be chargeable, but with no permission to work and often being entirely destitute, they will have no means of paying. Once again they will be reliant on the emergency services.
The extension of charging into community care services, coupled with the likelihood that public health services commissioned through Local Authorities will also be affected by the regulations will stop patients accessing the preventative care programmes which protect us all, such as immunisation programmes.

I am writing to ask you to help raise these concerns with the Shadow Secretary of State for Health, Jon Ashworth, and the Leader of the party, encouraging them to look carefully at the regulations and to urge some response.

Thank you for your support and please let us know of any action you are able to take on this matter. We would particularly welcome your news on any progress made that we can share with the parishes.

Yours sincerely

Lucy Irven,

Diocese of Leeds Refugee Group Facilitator

If you want to write your own letter then you can download some suitable wordings here:-

Government MP Letter Opposition MP letter Briefing Paper from Asylum Matters

25th October 2017 |

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 Andrew. She is starting work locally to raise awareness of the subject of human trafficking and modern slavery and of the work of the Medaille Trust.
It seems astonishing that slavery is still an urgent current issue but it is Big Business. People trafficking, sexual exploitation, forced labour and domestic servitude are all lucrative and fast growing forms of international crime and it is estimated that a minimum of 21 million people are enslaved throughout the world today.

The experiences of the victims often include violence- physical, psychological, emotional, sexual. They have little or no control over their own lives. They often end up in a foreign country where they do not speak the language and where they have no understanding of their rights. Their passports and travel documents are confiscated by traffickers and they live in fear of being identified as ‘illegals’ – and therefore deported or imprisoned.

Once the police rescue victims from trafficking, they need to begin the process of putting their shattered lives together. It is here the Medaille Trust comes in.
With 108 beds in eleven houses throughout the country, it is the largest provider of victim support in England and has helped over 1000 victims since starting in 2006.

As well as providing them with a safe roof over their heads, the Trust offers victims physical and psychological help. It provides practical compassion, supplying:

• First and foremost a refuge and then the nuts and bolts of everyday life such as clothing, toiletries, food.

• Victims of trafficking are often scarred, both physically and psychologically. The Trust provides counselling and therapeutic services and often interpreters and translators.

• Victims need assistance with providing statements to the police so that the criminals who have been involved in trafficking can be brought to justice.

• And victims need assistance in knowing where to go next so the Trust helps them with the often baffling process of repatriation or integration into the UK.

Funding for the Medaille’s work comes partly from the Government who provide for just over 6 weeks of accommodation. However, it can often take more than 6 weeks for victims, who are likely still to feel disoriented and bewildered, to try and work out what to do with the rest of their lives. The Trust is keen not simply to abandon them after the six week period but to offer them the time and support they actually need.
The Medaille Board is made up of Clergy, Religious & laity all with a clear Catholic focus and is pleased at Pope Francis’s great interest in the fight against trafficking and his call for action. Many of the safe houses have been made available by the religious and the clergy.
Liz would be delighted to come along to parish communities and talk some more about the work of the trust. The sorts of things she could do are:

• Speak at Sunday Masses or to midweek parish groups
• Ask people to accept delivery of the Medaille magazine
• Attend events and fairs to promote the work of the Trust and to sell craft items made by potential and recovering victims of trafficking in Nairobi, Kenya
• Develop relationships which flourish in other dioceses with groups such as the Knights of St Columba, Catholic Womens’ League, Catenians and others.

Liz can be contacted by email at l.andrew@medaille-trust.org.uk

23rd October 2017 |

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 conference itself was something of a breakthrough, in terms of the support from the Church establishment. However, the conference was only a starting point for a process which is continuing and growing, in terms of the numbers of people involved. Everyone was delighted when the pope chose the theme of ‘nonviolence: a style of politics for peace’ for Peace Sunday in 2017 and the hope is that Pope Francis will go on to write an encyclical about it.

Marie Dennis is an author of several books and Co-President of Pax Christi International. She has been a leading light in the Catholic Nonviolence Initiative. She described how the Nonviolence and Just Peace Conference, and the conversations since then have included people from across the globe. They knew that it was essential to first of all listen to the people who are in the front line. The conference included participants from the Philippines, Northern Nigeria and other areas directly affected by violent conflict.
Since the conference meetings have been exploring a number of topics such as exploring the best biblical exegesis about Jesus’ approach to conflicts, how to explicitly integrate Gospel nonviolence into the life of the Church and a fundamental review of ‘Just War’ theory (in reality, is there any conflict situation today that could justify war as the solution?). This global dialogue, mediated through the use of modern technology, is growing and the global presence of the Church means that Catholics have a unique contribution to make – though in answer to a question, Marie
agreed that there was much that could and must be learned from working ecumenically.

Maria Stephan is senior policy fellow at the United States Institute of Peace (USIP), where she focuses on the dynamics of civil resistance and its relevance for violent conflict prevention and democratic development. Maria is the ‘go to’ person in terms of the quantitative academic research into the examination of the outcomes of violent vs nonviolent approaches to conflict resolution. Her collaborations with other researchers have examined over 400 major conflict situations since 1900. Cutting to the chase, in terms of outcomes, nonviolent approaches are seen to be around twice as successful as violent approaches, on a range of measures. The main problem is that ‘if the only tool you have is a hammer then all your problems start to look like nails.’ Countries spend billions on having plenty of violence-based ‘tools’ in their conflict resolution toolkit. Very few spend significant amounts, if any, on developing nonviolent approaches to conflict resolution. Isn’t it time we really started advocating for change in this area of Government policy?

To find out more click on the links above to the Pax Christi website and the website for the Catholic Nonviolence Initiative.

You could also read the book:

“Why Civil Resistance Works: The Strategic Logic of Nonviolent Conflict” by Erica Chenoweth & Maria J Stephan

9th October 2017 |

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:

30th September 2017 |