IS THE CHURCH CALLED TO BE PROPHET OR PROVIDER?This is the title of the 2025 Hook Lecture. This is an annual public lecture on the ways faith interacts with public life and is jointly organised by Leeds Church Institute, Leeds Minster, and the Centre for Religion and Public Life at the University of Leeds.This year […]
UK Poverty
11 Sep – Commission Planning Meeting
Saturday 27 September at Hinsley Hall from 10:30 until 14:30Our quarterly meetings are usually hybrid affairs, with some of us joining via Zoom and some people together in a meeting room at Hinsley Hall. However, once a year we get together for an extended meeting to reflect on what we have done in the past […]
5 Sep – Urgent Action Required for Graduate Employment Crisis
by Iesha , a recent graduate from Leeds Trinity University and SPARK member Thousands of young people are graduating from UK universities every year full of skills, ambition, and energy to contribute to society. But instead of doors opening, they are walking straight into closed-off job markets, exploitative “entry-level” roles that require years of experience, […]
30 May – Jubilee for Schools – Making the Jubilee Pledge
by Sharon Matthews, CAFOD Community Participation Coordinator (Education Focus)It doesn’t seem that long ago when, back in January, we celebrated the Jubilee Year Launch Day for schools and colleges. A flurry of activity saw pupils and teachers across the nations come together to mark the start of this landmark moment in the Catholic church.Pope Francis […]
24 May – From Rerum Novarum to Pope Leo XIV via Leeds
by John Battle May 2025 at Church HouseTwo recent distractions; hearing echo loudly in the Eucharistic prayer at Mass after the Consecration the phrase “together in the FULLNESS of charity” and seeing our new Holy Father Pope Leo XIV hold up a copy of his namesake predecessor’s foundational encyclical” Rerum Novarum”. (1891).I have been trying […]
12 May – Jubilee Debt Campaign
by CAFODJubilee Debt Campaign in this Holy YearAs we mourn Pope Francis and pray for the new Holy Father, and the Cardinals, who will be gathering to elect a new Pope, we continue to celebrate the Jubilee Year Pilgrims of Hope. We recall that, in his letter for the Jubilee Spes non confundit, Pope Francis invited us […]
6 May – LIVESIMPLY EVENT PRODUCES A REAL BUZZ
by Joe Burns, Commission MemberJust over 50 people gathered at Wheeler Hall on the Bank Holiday weekend Saturday to find out more about the LiveSimply award scheme. It was a hectic day with 3 different workshops in the morning. In the afternoon people chose to attend another three workshops (out of 6 offered).LiveSimply asks parishes […]