As 2025 draws to a close, the NW NJPN E Bulletin for January 2026 reflects on the story of the Holy Family in the light of today’s world in which so many people are forced to flee.  Yuliia left her homeland in Ukraine in search of a safer life in Wales for her family.  She shares the impact of being a displaced person and says: “even here in Wales, I feel the atmosphere changing. I hear it in conversations. I see it online. Far-right narratives are growing louder, and compassion is slowly being pushed aside by fear and hate.”  One of the key take-aways of 2025 for me has been the alarming rise of ‘nationalism’ and with it a backlash against newcomers.  In my home town a local hotel has been allocated to asylum seekers, mostly young men, resulting in an unpleasant atmosphere of protests and Union Jack flags displayed on surrounding lamp posts.  

Also included in this bulletin are resources for Peace Sunday, a reminder for entries in the Columbans’ Schools Media competition and an update on a number of unsettling developments on the West Bank that have received little attention in the mainstream media. Ian Linden compares this year’s Reith lectures from Rutger Bregman, the Dutch historian and author to a 2012 lecture by Scottish Catholic philosopher of ethics, Alasdair MacIntyre – who died in May this year – and favours MacIntyre‘s radical vison of how the common good, the personal the social and the economic, might be considered and acted on.

There are two ‘blessing’ poems from Jan Richardson whose spiritual writings formed much of this year’s Pray and Reflect Advent material in my parish (and online via NJPN) which took as its theme Walking the Way of Hope. 

Wishing all our readers every blessing for the New Year as we pray for peace, tolerance  and compassion for all.

Anne O’Connor

NW NJPN Justice and Peace E Bulletin January 2026