A young Muslim woman wanted to organise an Interfaith Vigil because she believed in the importance of the different faiths acting together to express concern about the appalling violence unleashed on October 7th and continuing on an unimaginable scale in Gaza, spreading to the West Bank, Lebanon and elsewhere.
She was in touch with sympathetic Orthodox Jews who were anti Zionist and horrified by the way the State of Israel was perpetuating the oppression of the Palestinians, stating that this was in variance with the values of Judaism. She wanted to include Christians in the Vigil but didn’t know any and was referred to me.
Through contacts a number of us worked to publicise the event throughout the Christian community, to obtain their support and prepare a contribution. As we were unable to find a member of the clergy to speak at the event we just had to do the best we could. As the initiative had come from the Muslim community who had extended their hand of friendship to us we felt it important to respond.
We had no idea what to expect but wanted to take the opportunity to mourn the terrible suffering on all sides of the conflict and to focus on expressing our love and compassion for the victims, embedded in the life and witness of Christ.
A few of us got together from different denominations and prepared a short address, a Taize chant, a prayer and an invitation to extend the hand of peace amongst all of us in the crowd and to those suffering in such a horrifying situation,
All our emotions are touched in times like these. A variety of emotions were expressed during the vigil. There was a beautiful, heartfelt poem, the Rabbi who increased our understanding of his group’s perspective on Judaism and its refusal to be drawn into a position of hatred and violence. There was a speech from a prominent political activist empathising the necessity of putting pressure on our Government to stop the supply of arms to Israel and its complicity with its government and there were other impassioned contributions.
There was a large crowd of over a thousand and it commanded a lot of attention in a public space in the City Centre, outside Waterstones.
We had hoped for a much larger Christian presence. It was intimidating to be such a small group speaking out at such a large event, when none of us had had any experience like this before. We hope that our contribution was meaningful despite being such a “still, small voice”.
NJPN at Wistaston Hall, rising to the challenge of the Jubilee Year
Liz Archibald, Sharon Chambers, Ann Kelly, Kevin Burr, Sue Ingham, Barbara Butler, Brian O’ Toole, Anne Peacey (Chair) James Buchanan & Annette Brindle.
Buoyed by the success of the ‘Just Politics’ Conference in Swanwick, the National Justice and Peace Network (NJPN) executive gathered recently in Wistaston Hall, Crewe to review and evaluate the year that culminated in this timely conference. NJPN and their members continue to be exercised and challenged by the significant issues that face those furthest behind with a particular and an ongoing focus on the Movement of people, the Environment, Peace and Poverty & Inequality.
The peace and quiet of Wistaston, offered the executive a time to reflect and consider their work and plans in the context of the theme of the forthcoming Jubilee year, “Pilgrims of Hope”. The Jubilee year promises time to re-establish a proper relationship with God, with one another, and with all of creation, with a specific significance on the acts of social justice. Recognising that hope is faith in action the NJPN are concerned with the restoration of the dignity of the person with the lived experience and in drawing upon the Jubilee symbolism of “opening the holy doors,” they resolve to do their level best to garner support to wedge these holy doors open to draw on the hope that is embodied in the recently agreed “Pact For The Future.”
The pact aims to reinvigorate the Sustainable Development Goals and to turbo charge the Paris Agreement, also addressing peace and security at a time of so many conflicts. The NJPN sees that their responsibility is ‘not to let the bad news win,’ and feels that with so many concerned people and groups there is a real and obvious hope brewing on the cusp of this Jubilee year. The NJPN take real inspiration from Pope Francis who regularly speaks to the promise that we can successfully address all of the existential crises that confront us. He importantly supports this statement by issuing the challenge that we all have a part to play in the delivery of solutions, especially for those future generations who have no voice now but ours and so we have a responsibility to prophetically work for a just future for all.
The NJPN intends to imminently gather the ‘Just Politics’ conference attendees to consider the implications of the outcomes and the actions that were prompted given the inspiration from, not just the keynote speakers, but especially from the youth who delivered an impassioned and motivating session to seasoned activists.
And over the course of the next year there are a number of both in-person and online NJPN events planned that will be ‘Jubilee’ themed and framed in our brand new ‘Pact for the Future,’ but all with an underlying aim to restore the dignity of the person furthest behind, to give opportunities to those with a lived experience to be heard and to be agents of real change in our collective futures. As Pilgrims of Hope the NJPN embarks on this journey to pursue, a just peace, a just equality, a just movement of people and justice for our environment but in recognising the power and strength of the network they are resolved to renew and re-energise the membership in their collaborative efforts to make a real and lasting difference. Keep and eye on the NJPN website for details of future plans and events.
Brian O’ Toole
(NJPN Executive)
The September issue of the NW NJPN E BULLETIN features a wealth of events across the region as well as several Zoom presentations. Announcing this year’s International Day of Peace (21 September) with the theme ‘Cultivating a Culture of Peace’, UN Secretary-General António Guterres says: ‘In a world mired by conflict, inequalities and discrimination, we must strive ever harder to promote dialogue, empathy and human rights for all. Let us plant the seeds for non-violence, justice and hope’.
The World Council of Churches is taking ‘Gaza’ as a single focus for the 2024 World Week of Prayer for Peace in Palestine and Israel (16-22 September). Pax Christi will be hosting an online prayer event on 18 September and the final 3 pages of this bulletin contain the text of a service for Palestine and Israel put together for a Pray and Reflect service in my parish. You are welcome to dip into this or use in full – I can supply this material laid out in an 8-page A5 size booklet on request.
Ahead of the World Day of Migrants and Refugees on 29 September, the Jesuit Refugee Service UK has issued a challenging report that examines the experiences of homelessness among people refused asylum in the context of the cost-of-living crisis and following the COVID-19 pandemic.
There are resources for the Season of Creation (1 September – 4 October) including details of a Climate Justice Gathering in Liverpool on 12 October, rescheduled from 29 June, plus news and events from CAFOD Lancaster Diocese.
Church Action on Poverty is urging churches to sign a letter lobbying for the controversial two-child limit to be removed in the October Budget. This cap means families are not allowed to access support through Universal Credit or Child Tax Credit, for more than two children, if children were born after April 2017. Please ask your church to sign or send an individual response using the sample letter.
The Autumn 2024 NJPN Newsletter, featuring a wide range of articles including reports on our 2024 Annual Conference “Just Politics”, the Living Wage, Palestine and Israel,
Our 2024 Conference on the theme of “Just Politics” took place in July, below are videos of most of the talks, as well as high quality audio files further down the page
Rt Revd Dr Guli Francis-Dehqani’s talk “What Should the Church Offer to Politics Today?”
Rt Revd Dr Guli Francis-Dehqani’s question and answer session
Steve Whiting’s talk “Power and Choice”
The Emerging Leaders panel session
The Emerging Leaders panel question and answer session
Fr Chris Highes, Sara Bryson and Shantel Suneesh’s talk “Taking Action? Get Organised! It works!”
High quality audio recordings of each talk are available below, with thanks to Paul Clarke,
Rt Revd Dr Guli Francis-Dehqani talk
Rt Revd Dr Guli Francis-Dehqani, Q&A
Steve Whiting talk
Steve Whiting feedback session
Mass homily
Emerging Leaders panel
Chris Hughes, Sara Bryson and Shantel Suneesh part 1
Chris Hughes, Sara Bryson and Shantel Suneesh part 2
Chris Hughes, Sara Bryson and Shantel Suneesh part 3
I am aware that we are not quite into Autumn yet but several things are happening in the first weeks of September so it is good to have notice in case you can manage to join any . St Albans Macclesfield J & P group have excelled themselves this year for the Season of Creation joining with many churches and other groups in the area. There events under the Pax Christi umbrella – a Peace Pilgrimage and Peace Conference plus information about a book, a play and a film about the atomic bomb. I have included something about Myamar (Burma) as positive things are happening there but it tends to be off our radar as we hear about things nearer home – Ukraine, Gaza and the recent unrest in our own country . The Burma campaign would like us to write to David Lamay our new Foreign Secretary as they fear it may be off his radar too.
The NW NJPN E Bulletin for Mid-August leads with an opinion piece by Dr Penny Howes on our Christian response to the riots across the country following the horrific murder of three young girls in Southport, plus a statement from NJPN Chair Anne Peacey (see page 2) and links to comments from other leading organisations. On page 3 Bernadette Bailey shares news of plans to celebrate Creation Time in the Macclesfield area and there are details of this year’s theme ‘To hope and act with Creation’ on pages 4-5. Pages 6-7 showcase a range of conservation and well-being activities in the North West and a report of a highly successful initiative which mixes elderly care home residents with a children’s nursery group. Writer and podcaster Diana Safieh examines the concept of ‘survivor’s guilt’ in the Palestinian diaspora in an article for the Balfour Project on pages 8-9. There are reports on Hiroshima and Nagasaki commemorations on pages 9-12 including an in-depth analysis from Joseph Kelly of The Catholic Network. We remember the anniversaries of martyrs for peace Blessed Franz Jagerstatter and St Maximilian Kolbe and also St Clare (with a sonnet by priest poet Malcolm Guite) on pages 12-13 and conclude with a diary for September and October.
Statement from National Justice and Peaced Network following racist violence.
NJPN is appalled by the events of the past days. We hold in our thoughts and prayers Alice da Silva Aguiar, Elsie Dot Stancombe, Bebe King and all those affected by the tragic events in Southport.
We utterly condemn the violence directed towards mosques, refugees and asylum seekers and minority groups. We applaud those who stand in solidarity with victims of racist behaviour. Targeting the most vulnerable is abhorrent as is spreading misinformation creating division within our communities.
Language is key to how we operate as a society and the use of vicious, discriminatory, and misleading rhetoric about those other than ourselves has been increasingly evident in the public space in recent times. Truth and integrity are lacking in much of our public discourse. Seeking truth in the face of much dishonest and misleading reporting can be challenging.
We must work to change the narrative and bring people of all beliefs and good will together to build more respectful, listening and welcoming communities. Violence is never the answer, more powerful is the witness of the many individuals and groups who came together to clear up their local areas. As faith communities we must commit to working closely together and ask what is our role in building cohesive and welcoming communities where everyone is able to thrive, to find a place to call home and walk the streets in safety feeling confident and included?
NJPN joins over 200 Christian leaders in calling for a ceasefire in Gaza
“We speak with urgency. We speak in a spirit of peace. We speak because we are deeply inspired by the courageous and selfless commitment of our Palestinian Christian brothers and sisters in the Holy Land, who suffer alongside their Muslim and Jewish neighbours and remain resolutely determined to help bring about a just and dignified future for all inhabitants of these lands.”
