Uncategorized Archives - Page 7 of 12

Pope Paul VI Lecture: Please join us on Friday 4 December

November 12, 2015

Cardinal Peter Turkson meets CAFOD's Director Chris Bain — Cardinal Peter Turkson meets Chris Bain

Director of CAFOD, Chris Bain, invites you to the upcoming annual Pope Paul VI Memorial lecture.

We are reaching that time of year when thoughts begin to turn to the start of Advent and the coming of Christmas. At CAFOD our thoughts also turn to our annual Pope Paul VI Memorial lecture. This year I am delighted that Cardinal Peter Turkson will be joining us to deliver the lecture on Friday 4 December. He will speak about the Church’s response to climate change in an address titled Care for Creation: how to protect and sustain our common home.

Reserve your free ticket for the CAFOD Pope Paul VI lecture

Cardinal Turkson has been president of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace since his appointment by Pope Benedict XVI in 2009. He is Archbishop Emeritus of Cape Coast, Ghana, and this year played a key role in communicating Pope Francis’ Encyclical on the environment.

We are especially glad that Cardinal Turkson is joining us this year as the lecture coincides with the Conference of Parties (COP21) in Paris when world leaders will meet to agree legally binding targets to reduce carbon emissions and tackle climate change. If successful, the talks will set governments on a more sustainable pathway for economic growth, protecting the planet and people from climate change.

At CAFOD we see the impact climate change is having across the world. In communities where we work, many are suffering from more frequent and extreme floods, storms, or droughts, pushing the most vulnerable people further into poverty. And farming families are struggling with more unpredictable seasons, meaning crops fail and livestock die because of a lack of food and water. We are called to respond to this.

Continue reading “Pope Paul VI Lecture: Please join us on Friday 4 December”

Young Climate Bloggers Celebration

November 10, 2015

On Thursday 5 and Friday 6 November, the CAFOD Young Climate Bloggers came down to Romero House for two packed days of reflection, workshops and celebration. Their original task was to blog monthly about climate change but they have gone above and beyond this. Since January, between them, they have written over 70 blogs and vlogs, spoken to MPs, raised money for those who are affected by climate change, have thousands of followers on social media accounts and raised awareness about climate change in their own communities and beyond.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FLaXJS3bSmA&w=560&h=315]

CAFOD Young Climate Bloggers visit Romero House to celebrate their achievements.

Part of their task on the two days they were in Romero House was to produce a vlog, as a group, to reflect on their year of blogging. You can watch this above.

Young Climate Bloggers Rap

We’re the CAFOD bloggers and we’re here to stay

We’re from different schools from across the UK.

We’re talking to you ‘cause we care about the earth,

Protect the planet, show what it’s worth.

Continue reading “Young Climate Bloggers Celebration”

Refugee crisis: update from Lesbos

November 6, 2015

Abandoned life-jackets on a beach on Lesbos

Zoe Corden from CAFOD’s Emergency Response Team is currently in Greece, supporting our local partners in their response to the refugee crisis. She writes:

Flying into Lesbos you see the aftermath of the crossings before you even land on the island. Along the coast scarlet life-jackets and sodden clothes litter the narrow bay, evidence of the previous crossings. Out to sea in the distance it is possible to see Turkey rising on the horizon.

This week there have been strikes among transport workers in Turkey. This has meant that everyone, Greeks and refugees alike, are stranded on the islands unless they purchase expensive flights. No departures were scheduled until Friday, and these are likely to be hugely oversubscribed.

Please donate to our refugee crisis appeal

Father Leon, whose parish covers the islands of Chios and Lesbos, was meant to return to his home island of Chios after visiting Lesbos on Sunday, but he remains on the island, stranded just as the refugees are. On Wednesday we had the opportunity to visit Kara Tepe refugee camp with him while he waited to return home. Continue reading “Refugee crisis: update from Lesbos”

Prayer as activism: My response to Laudato Si’

November 5, 2015

Ashley Ralston is a parishioner of Our Lady Queen of Peace, Adur Valley. He was part of a group looking at our new encyclical study guide. Here he shares his insight into being a Catholic activist and the importance of applying the lens of Scritpure to campaigning.

Many years ago, I went to a talk given by the late Gerard Hughes SJ (author of God of Surprises) about putting theology into practice, including the pitfalls that we encounter. For me, as an activist, it proved to be useful, because grounding your issue in sound theology, means the activism itself becomes like a prayer to the supreme Creator. That is doing theology.

So it is with Catholic Social Teaching, from Rerum Novarum to the present time, the theological input underpinning the ‘the sign of the times’ enables us to read our world through the lens of Scripture. Laudato Si’ continues this in a very accessible way.

Download the Laudato Si’ study guide

Continue reading “Prayer as activism: My response to Laudato Si’”

Prime Minister of Tuvalu: We’re on the front line of climate change

October 27, 2015

Prime Minister Enele Sopoaga with Stephen Twigg MP, Chair of the International Development Committee

Yesterday the presidents of all the Continental Associations of Bishops’ Conferences released a statement calling on world leaders to limit global temperature increase and protect vulnerable communities from climate change. We hear firsthand from the Prime Minister of Pacific Island Tuvalu – one of the places most impacted by climate change – on how extreme weather is affecting his community and what must be agreed at the Paris climate talks in December.

If there is one country that is right on the front line of climate change, it is Tuvalu. Our Pacific Island nation has only 26 square kilometres of dry land, none of it more than four metres above sea level. Most of the 12,000 population live less than two metres above sea level.

When Cyclone Pam – a maximum category 5 storm – hit us in March this year, we had waves up to five metres high. Crops were ruined, livestock swept away and an enormous amount of infrastructure, including a hospital, was destroyed. Nearly half of our people suffered losses, and we are only beginning to recover. We continue to seek support from the international community to rebuild.

It is clear. The science tells us that these severe events are caused by human interference with the climate. As Pope Francis wrote in his recent encyclical, “Climate change is a global problem, with grave implications.” We, in low-lying island states such as Tuvalu, are the first to feel the effects, and have the most to gain or lose from the new international climate change agreement to be concluded in Paris at the end of the year.

Take action: Email David Cameron about climate change

Continue reading “Prime Minister of Tuvalu: We’re on the front line of climate change”

Remembering CAFOD supporters this November

October 24, 2015

As CAFOD gets ready for its tenth year of November memorial Masses, director Chris Bain reflects on the month of remembrance.

November is a very special time of year. And it’s not just the fireworks that make it special. For the Church and her faithful, it is a time especially set aside to remember and pray for all those who have died.

For many people, this might seem strange. In today’s busy society there aren’t many opportunities for us to take the time and space to remember those who are no longer with us. We’re constantly on the go and feel we need to be in control. And, because we’re frightened by what might happen if our emotions get the better of us, we are often uncomfortable with the idea of death and grief.

Of course, for those of us who have lost someone special, they are always with us and we think of them often, but it can be hard to find a way to express our feelings or share the experience with others without making people anxious.

Visit our website to find details of your nearest CAFOD memorial Mass

But that’s why this month of remembrance should be recognised more widely. Having a space in the Church calendar where we’re encouraged to celebrate our loved ones reminds us that it is good and right to do so; to remember and give thanks for the people who’ve influenced us, and pray for all those who have died. It might sound sombre, and indeed it can be an emotional time, but ultimately the Church is giving us a message of hope. Hope and encouragement that love and life are stronger than death. Continue reading “Remembering CAFOD supporters this November”

Our CAFOD young climate bloggers: How to live more sustainably

October 7, 2015

Our CAFOD young climate bloggers never cease to engage with what is going on in the world around them. This month some

of them have been looking at living more sustainably. Two of our blogging groups, from St James’s and St Robert’s, have been looking at ways in which they can do this individually, and on a wider level in their school communities.

Kayleigh, from St James, says:

“We at St James are trying to be very environmentally friendly. Before we started blogging, we already had a few things in place. This year marks the 10th anniversary of the installation of a wind turbine and solar panels at the school. We are now re-launching the E-squad to let people know what we have done and can do ourselves. The E-squad’s motto is recycle, reuse, reduce. Here is our notice board that raises awareness and reminds us of the small changes we can all make. Throughout the school, recycling takes place dividing litter into three different categories. If everyone does their bit, then we will can make a difference together.”

Call on David Cameron to act on climate change and sign CAFOD’s climate change petition

St Roberts students on their enrichment visit to Europe

The St Robert’s bloggers also encourage us to think how lifestyle changes, such as turning the heating down, can play a part. They’ve been inspired by a recent trip to the European Parliament, arranging a private meeting with their MEP Jude Kirton-Darling. They said that the trip gave them “an insight into what other countries and the European Union itself is doing to combat climate change, whether it is through emissions cuts or more investment in renewable energy. Continue reading “Our CAFOD young climate bloggers: How to live more sustainably”

Refugee crisis: swimming to Europe

October 6, 2015

CAFOD is working with its partner Caritas Serbia to support thousands of refugees as they attempt to travel north across the continent.

Stefan Teplan from Caritas describes meeting a father who had to swim to Europe alongside an overcrowded boat.

Donate to our Refugee Crisis appeal

Omama, 8, feels homesick. Her father Khaled says to her, “How can you feel homesick when there is no home any longer?” His words are well intentioned but the truth does little to console her.

Omama is one of the middle children from a family of six from Syria. Their flat was completely destroyed by a bomb. “But can you really say we were lucky?” asks Khaled. “We had to live in a tent in the suburbs of our home-town Aleppo from then on. For more than one year. And we were frightened every single minute, every day and every night.”

The family feared the criminal gangs roaming through the suburbs and villages. They were frightened of more bomb attacks, being exposed to the sounds of explosions and gunfire nearly every day.

Khaled and his wife Jayal have three daughters and one son. I meet them all, two weeks after they escaped from Syria, in a refugee camp in northern Serbia, close to the Hungarian border. They are hoping to travel to Germany.

Khaled says, “I hope so dearly it will work and I will immediately get some work in Germany. I’m used to working a lot. I’m a construction-site worker. And I urgently need money. You know, I borrowed all the money for our flight from Syria and I have to pay it back. And we are already running short of money because the people smugglers took nearly all of it.”

Swimming to Europe

The crossing of the sea from Turkey lasted only about 40 minutes, yet it cost the family $5000. Khaled and his daughter Ronya were not even on the boat. It was so overcrowded that there was no space for them.

Khaled is a tall, sturdy and broad-shouldered man. Otherwise he could not have managed what I first find hard to believe when he tells me: “I was swimming alongside the boat, with Ronya wrapping her arms around me and clinging her head to my neck. It was a rubber boat and very slow. So I could keep up with it. If that hadn’t worked I was expecting Jayal and the other children to wait for us at the shore in Greece.” Continue reading “Refugee crisis: swimming to Europe”

“Treated like humans”: CAFOD supports refugees in Serbia

September 22, 2015

CAFOD is working with its partner Caritas Serbia to support thousands of refugees as they attempt to travel north. Stefan Teplan from Caritas describes what it was like to meet just one of them.

“I walked so many roads,” says Abdalkarim. “I crossed so many rivers. I went over so many hills and valleys. I lost my home, my belongings, literally everything.” Abdalkarim Zahra is only 26, yet he says he is “totally finished”.

It’s been many weeks since he fled his home in Syria. His journey has taken him to Turkey, Greece, Macedonia and Serbia. People smugglers have taken all his money. He has been pushed into an overcrowded boat to reach Greece. He has worn the same clothes for weeks. He has suffered hunger and thirst. He has been kicked by border police. “Can I still be called a human?” he asked.

Donate to our Refugee Crisis appeal

I meet Abdalkarim Zahra in a refugee aid camp in Kanjiža, a Serbian town 3.5 kilometers away from the Hungarian border. About 2,000 to 3,000 refugees come here every day on their way to Hungary. They then head mostly to Germany.

With support from CAFOD, Caritas Serbia is providing emergency relief there, in two other refugee aid camps in the south of the country in Preshovo on the Macedonian border and in the capital Belgrade. Just like tens of thousands before him (and most probably hundreds of thousands after him), Abdalkarim Zahra has stayed in them all.

In these camps, Caritas Serbia distributes drinking water and juice to the refugees, provides medical help and legal support. In Kanjiža, Caritas is even providing a temporary facility for refugees and migrants that has bathrooms, showers and beds.

“In these aid camps for the first time after so many exhausting weeks, I felt I was treated as a human,” said Abdalkarim. Continue reading ““Treated like humans”: CAFOD supports refugees in Serbia”

Harvest Fast Day: Getting ready to Brighten Up!

September 10, 2015

Katharine O’Brien is a parish youth worker at Our Lady of Lourdes Parish in Wanstead. This Harvest we are asking children and young people to Brighten Up to help build a brighter world, and in this blog Katharine explains how she will introduce the theme and explore the material with the children and young people she works with.

Harvest Fast Day is approaching. On Friday 2 October, schools and communities around the country will be raising money to support communities affected by violence, like Isabel’s. I watched Isabel’s film and saw the reality of life in San Salvador, El Salvador. The video offers insight into her community, into the heart of the youth project seeking to brighten up the prospects of young people, to tackle the reality of gang culture and the danger they face simply by stepping out of doors. Isabel tells us how sad it is to see the children she grew up with turning to guns and violence.

Continue reading “Harvest Fast Day: Getting ready to Brighten Up!”