The themes of compassion and tolerance run through the June edition of the NW NJPN E Bulletin, leading with a challenging op ed from Colette Joyce on the killing of Henry Nowak and a powerful reflection and poem from Scottish Minister Eleanor Hamilton, inspired by the callous mocking of asylum seekers who died trying to cross the Channel. She says, “maybe today we choose compassion over cruelty. Maybe today we remember who we’re called to be.”

Pope Leo XIV’s first encyclical letter, Magnifica humanitas, is examined by Professors Ian Linden and Anna Rowlands who calls the text “a gift to the world.”

‘Superpower suicide’ is a striking phrase used by the historian of totalitarianism, Professor Timothy Snyder. Jesuit priest Chris Chatteris examines Snyder’s argument that “the United States is in the process of committing ‘superpower suicide’, thanks to the Trump administration’s geopolitical blunders. Two egregious examples are the unwinnable war with Iran and the inexplicable alienation of its traditional allies in Europe.” Fr Chatteris adds, “It occurs to me that the United States is not alone. Witness the fatal self-harm that Putin’s Russia is inflicting upon itself, by hubristically taking on Ukraine in a war which Russia is losing and which is destroying its economy.”

Jan Harper from Merseyside Pax Christi reports on an online event from Pax Christi International which gave an opportunity to hear first-hand from Taybeh, one of the earliest Christian villages in Palestine, currently suffering persecution.  Regular contributor Heather Kiernan shares news of the continuing violence on Gaza, accompanied by two poems. Ukrainian writer Yuliia, now based in Wales, provides context to the current situation in her homeland, tracing the persecution of her people back to the Holodomor of 1932-33 – the famine created under Stalin’s Soviet regime. She reveals her own experience of being a displaced person.

Continuing the theme of reconciliation, regular columnist James Gordon Reid Haveloch-Jones says that “the call to reconciliation remains at the heart of Christian discipleship.”

Refugee Week runs from 15-21 June this year.  The Manchester based Boaz Trust offers a prayerful reflection on the theme of courage which they say is “more relevant than ever. With the rising popularity of far-right politics, and the intensifying scapegoating of people seeking safety in the UK.”

Following his retirement as England football manager, Sir Gareth Southgate is transferring his skills to addressing the lack of role models for boys and young men, an issue he focused on in last year’s BBC’s Richard Dimbleby Lecture. In a BBC documentary 8 June (available on iplayer) he examines how young men struggling to find work, particularly those who did badly at school, can suffer a cascade of problems later on in life including poor mental health and loss of identity.  These concerns are also addressed in former Labour minister Alan Milburn’s review into the rising number of young people Not in Education, Employment or Training (NEET), released on May 28.

Fr Joe Ryan gives a comprehensive report of Pax Christi England and Wales’ AGM on 6 June on the theme “Sowing seeds of Hope.” 

Finally, I’m delighted to report that 8 members of the St Vincent’s Altrincham CAFOD/J&P group (my parish) are to be presented with a Papal Blessing in recognition of their dedicated work for CAFOD over the past 46 years.

Please read and pass on to others

Anne O’Connor

NW NJPN Justice and Peace E Bulletin JUNE 2026