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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

 

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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”.

World Day of the poor logoIn 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.

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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

 

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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.
photo of Liz AndrewThe 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.

Logo for the Medaille TrustLiz can be contacted by email at l.andrew@medaille-trust.org.uk

 

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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

phptp of pat gaffneyAfter 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.

photo of Marie DennisMarie 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.

photo of Maria StephanMaria 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

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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:

Commission Letter to Malcolm McMahon

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20 Sep – A Carmelite Approach to Justice

On Saturday 16 September the Commission held a Day of Reflection with the Carmelite nuns at their Wood Hall monastery, near Wetherby. We made the practical arrangements and they did the hard work of putting together talks and time for prayer – as well as devising a programme that left some space for silent reflection.

Here, Sr Philomena reflects on the theme of that day.

The Chapel at Wood HallThe Carmelite Sisters have lived at Wood Hall, near Wetherby in the Leeds diocese for almost 50 years. Our life is one of withdrawal from the world for the sake of an intense life of prayer. One might well ask if our lives are of any value to anyone, especially when considering matters of Justice and Peace? But it is only when we have a deep belief in our union, as Christians, with Christ’s own prayer for His people, that our way of life here makes any sense. Our prayer focus has to be world-wide.

St Teresa of Avila, the foundress of our way of life as Carmelite Nuns, urges us not to let our prayer be confined to the four walls of our cells but to be always, reaching out beyond ourselves especially to all those who suffer in our world. Pierre Teilhard de Chardin wrote “If we cling to Christ we will hear the multitudes within His heart, suffering, weeping, praying”. This sums up our way of life, and surely that of every Christian, so that our prayer and our deep concern is for all who suffer.
The challenges for us resulting from this journey into the heart of Christ, is how we, in our cloister, can be more united with those who suffer in thewider world and on our own doorstep, and how we can campaign for a more just society and a fairer distribution of wealth. Nowadays in our Churches, there are many who, because of ageing and ill health, are no longer able to be so active on the front line, and, who like ourselves in our enclosed convent, still have a vital “activity” of clinging to Christ and encountering the multitude in His heart who are so in need of help. All of us can share, too, in that essential rôle of Moses who held up his hands in prayer on the mountain top as the battle waged below, and pleaded for the victory of his people.

From our earliest days at Wood Hall we were made very aware, and in a more direct manner, of the gross injustices in our world. This was due in no small way to our local Justice and Peace Commission. We have learned so much from you all.

What we wanted to share together on the day at our monastery is our co-dependence on each other. There is a need for the Martha and the Mary to be alive in all of us, each one of us has to sit at Jesus’ feet, listening to those calling to us from His heart, and having heard, giving oneself in love and service, but also in intercessory prayer.

All things and all people, so to speak, call on us with small or loud voices. They want us to listen. They want us to understand their intrinsic claims, their justice of being. But we can give it to them only through love, the love that listens.
Paul Tillich

The day was a great success and, given the level of interest that it generated, we are hoping that there can be a similar day in the Spring of 2018.
As one participant put it :
I really enjoyed the day, and was surprised by the Carmelite sisters. I had expected quiet, unworldliness – but found strong, well-informed women with a great sense of humour!

 

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