Justice & Peace Advisers
Specialist Adviser: David Thomson
DABCEC, 4 Southgate Drive, Crawley West Sussex RH10 6RP.
Tel: Crawley (01293) 651155. Email:
david.thomson@dabnet.org Priest Adviser: Fr Kevin Dring
JUSTICE AND PEACE COMMISSION:
The Commission exists to keep the diocese aware of problems of injustice and violence, at home and overseas; to assist in the work of reflection on these problems in the light of the Church's social teaching; and to foster and encourage action for justice and peace at every level of diocesan life.
Events
See Pastoral Team Noticeboard for event information by clicking here and the J&P Newsletter (below).
The IF Campaign.
When G8 leaders come to the UK this June, they have the power to act on global hunger IF enough of us demand urgent action.There is Enough Food for Everyone….IF……..we force governments and investors to be honest and open about the deals they make in the poorest countries that stop people getting enough food; if governments keep their promises on aid, invest to stop children dying from malnutrition and help the poorest people feed themselves through investment in small farmers; if we stop poor farmers being forced off their land, and use the available agricultural land to grow food for people, not biofuels for cars and ifgovernments stop big companies dodging tax in poor countries, so that millions of people can free themselves from hunger.
On 8 June, tens of thousands of people will gather in London's Hyde Park to show G8 leaders that it's time for action. Find out more about the event at http://www.cafod.org.uk/Campaign/Take-action-today/Joint-campaign-on-food Show your support as a parish, school or group by making a Big IF out of loaves and fishes from the Hungry for change action cards. Use loaves and fishes to write your own messages or prayers for those who don't have enough food. Send a photo of your group with your Big IF (with the number of people who have taken part) to bigif@cafod.org.uk so we can add them to our gallery here and on Facebook. And if you are joining us on 8 June, make sure you bring your Big IF to show how many people from across England and Wales believe we must act to end world hunger.
Martin Brown of CAFOD writes as follows:
Times for Saturday 8th June:
11am Start of activities, including faith services and other activities across London
11:30am Ecumenical Service with high-profile speakers, Westminster Central Hall
1pm Arrival: gates open in Hyde Park for the event. The walk to Hyde Park will be a ‘Walk of Witness’ not a march/rally (it says something different and is more likely to attract our crowd))
2–5pm. The main event takes place in Hyde Park. This will be a mix of probably inspirational speakers, celebrities, possibly some music etc.
What we do know is that it will be an inspiring day and we have the chance to accomplish a lot. Please click here for some suggestions for Tweets than you can use to promote this event.
J&P Monthly Newsletter
To view the lastest J&P Newsletter, click here
A Day on Prayer and Protest at A&B Justice and Peace Assembly 2013
Over 150 people gathered together for the annual Diocesan Justice & Peace Asssembly in Crawley to hear a variety of speakers lead reflection and discussion on the theme of prayer and protest. A full report can be found here.
You can listen to Fr Kevin Dring's talk on Catholic Social Teaching here and here in 2 parts.
You can also listen to Juliet Lyons speak about her work for Prison Reform by either downloading J_P Assembly 26 Jan 2013 Track 2 Juliet Lyons.mp3 or listening here
Past Assemblies include:
Annual Justice and Peace Assembly 2012
The Diocese of Arundel and Brighton hosted its annual Justice and Peace Assembly on 21st January 2012 at the Christian Education Centre, Crawley. The title of the Assembly was"Slaves to Branding" and focused attention on the exploitation of overseas workers in the clothing industry. For more information and to download the talks click here...
Annual Justice and Peace Assembly 2011
The annual Justice and Peace Assembly organised by the Diocese of Arundel & Brighton took take place on 22nd January 2011 at the Christian Education Centre on Southgate Drive, Crawley. The key talk at the Assembly was given by Oliver McTernan, an expert in conflict resolution and interfaith work, and a regular broadcaster on the BBC. For a full report, click here
At the Assembly, an Action Plan was compiled by attendees and an updated version for 2012 is now availabe here. The plan is in the form of a timetable of events focussing on four aspects of human rights which acknowledge the fact that the year 2011 marked the 60th anniversary of the signing of the European Convention on Human Rights
Crawley Open House
Crawley Open House provides a gateway to support services for those suffering the effects of homelessness, unemployment, loneliness, discrimination or other forms of social exclusion. Our support is available to everyone regardless of age, sex, religion, sexual orientation or ethnic origin. They have an urgent appeal for help in finding a new van. Please click here for details.
The livesimply network website for Catholic Social Teaching
The livesimply network has a website dedicated to Catholic Social Teaching. The website is a valuable resource for parishes, schools and people wishing to deepen their understanding of the faith and explore the link with social justice.
Once described as the Church’s best kept secret, the social teachings offer a blueprint for those working for justice both inside and outside of the Church. The site focuses on the six themed areas of human dignity, community and participation, care for creation, life and work, peace and solidarity.
Contributors include South African Archbishops Desmond Tutu and Kevin Dowling, Archbishop Vincent Nichols, Archbishop of York John Sentamu, Ellen Teague, Mary Colwell and Bruce Kent.
Campaigning
Indefinite immigration detention
The UK is one of the only countries in Europe that detains immigrants indefinitely. Immigration detention without time-limits is not new in the UK, but only recently has detention for extreme periods become routine. In April 2006 when, following media criticism of Home Office failures to follow existing policies on the deportation of foreign ex-offenders, a new policy of a presumption of detention was introduced for people due to be deported after serving prison sentences. As a result, detention was no longer used primarily for people about to be removed; instead, the priority became to detain ex-offenders, even where intractable obstacles to removal existed.
The impact on civil liberties of this routine indefinite detention dramatically exceeds that of the proposed 42 day detention of alleged terrorist suspects.Yet indefinite immigration detention has received a fraction of the wider discussion devoted to detention under anti-terror legislation.
The Detained Lives campaign demands that the government sign up to EU law and introduce a time limit on detention.If detention must be used, it should be as a last resort for people who can be deported imminently.The government should follow the example of community-based alternatives to detention that have been successfully used in Sweden and Australia.
Find out more about this issue and how you can help raise awareness of this injustice from the Gatwick Detainees Welfare Group http://www.gdwg.org.uk/index.php.
Climate Change
This is a key justice issue as it hits the world's poorest communities first and hardest. For information on campaigning and acting on Climate Change then visit the following organisations:
CAFOD's Climate Justice Campaign is calling on the rich world to take greater responsibility for tackling climate change. Please visit this CAFOD campaign link for more details.
Operation Noah founded by Christian Ecology Link in 2001 it is a Christian campaigning group that focusses solely on the issue of Climate Change enabling churches and individuals to take action here and now. At a recent ecumenical event in London, speakers chose the subject of: "Climate change both a challenge and a curse for Christians" as their main theme.
INVITATION TO VISIT NEW CEL WEBSITE www.greenchristian.org.uk
For more information about Operation Noah, then click here
Peace and Justice
Pax Christi is an international Christian peacemaking movement based on the gospel and inspired by faith. They have a number of key current peace campaigns. Details of the Ash Wednesday vigil can be found here. Click here and here for resources.
Poverty in the UK
Housing Justice is a new network for those working with homeless and vulnerable people. They have produced a useful document on current homeless issues called Rough Sleeping: Compassion v Coercion. For a copy of this plus further information on housing justice campaigninig click here
Child Poverty is still a reality for 3.9 million children in UK. The budget did not really tackle this issue and it looks unlikely that the government will meet its own target to halve child poverty by 2010. Why not take action by writing to your MP. For more information on visit www.endchildpoverty.org.uk
"How come it is always the money of the poor that is lost? How come the money of the rich is always saved?...When it comes to alleviating poverty, there are no resources. But when it comes to saving the rich, there are always resources."
Cardinal Oscar Rodriguez Maradiga
Becoming a Fairtrade Diocese
If you want to find out more about how you can help the Diocese to retain Fairtrade status, click here
Racial Justice Charter
Racial Justice Sunday was on 9th September 2012 on th theme of "Being an Inclusive Church, not an Exclusive Club" It provided an opportunity for all Christians in Britain and Ireland to focus their worship, prayer and action on racial justice by:
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Celebrating human diversity.
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Rejoicing in how far God's people have travelled together.
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Recognising that there is much further to go both in the Church and in the world.
What are the aims?
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To raise awareness and deepen understanding of the diversity of culture and experience both in society and in the church.
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To become more inclusive, outward-looking and welcoming.
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To encourage all Christians to tackle injustice, not ignore it.
Make sure your church remembers racial justice!
For more information, click here
