July 21, 2022
We are, as St John Paul II said, suffering a ‘paradox of abundance;’ we need 3.7 billion tonnes a year to feed everyone, and we produce more than 4 billion. Yet every day, one in ten, or 800 million people, go hungry. This summer, CAFOD has been asking Catholics to come together and look at the fundamental issues afflicting our food system.
Continue reading “Parishes step up to Fix the Food System”July 19, 2021
The global coronavirus pandemic is a defining moment for our generation. Some will remember the race to buy tins of beans and toilets rolls, the panic and fear – others will remember small acts of kindness, a loving community spirit, and the special items they treasured in lockdown.
Continue reading “What precious items have helped you through lockdown?”July 18, 2016
Today is Nelson Mandela Day. In 2005 at the ‘Make Poverty History’ march, Nelson Mandela called young people to be part of a ‘great generation’ to work to eliminate world poverty. Francis Hillen reflects on what being part of the ‘great generation’ means to him.
Francis is a youth worker at the Kenelm Youth Trust in Birmingham Archdiocese where he supports young people on their faith journey through retreats and outreach work. He’s the CAFOD ambassador on the team there, championing the inclusion of global justice in the programmes.
“Sometimes it falls upon a generation to be great. You can be that great generation. Let your greatness blossom.” Nelson Mandela
When I think of this quote I think of the power we all have to make a difference or a change. Nelson Mandela is a great example of a man who during his lifetime made a remarkable positive change.
During Mandela’s lifetime we see how the people of Britain were able come together and campaign against the injustice of apartheid and Mandela’s imprisonment throughout the 80s. This most definitely will have gone some way towards his freedom and subsequent election as President of South Africa. For example the song ‘Free Nelson Mandela’ was written by a group of lads from Coventry, it later became an anthem used by the movement.
In today’s world there are many people who lack freedom and through my work with Kenelm Youth Trust as a gap year volunteer, and as a CAFOD Ambassador, I’ve seen the yearning of young people to make a difference. Children I’ve worked with have written truly sincere messages of hope for refugees and teenagers have offered words of solidarity.
Send a message of hope to refugees. Continue reading “Great Generation: Nelson Mandela Day”
June 21, 2016
In July, Takura Gwatinyanya, from CAFOD partner Caritas Harare, will be travelling across England and Wales to share his passion for tackling poverty and to show how your support is making a difference in Zimbabwe.
Meet Takura and discover more about CAFOD’s climate and energy campaign at a series of special events, starting in London on Wednesday 6 July.
We caught up with Takura to ask his about his family, his work and what keeps him motivated.
Tell us a little bit about your family.
I am married to Rutendo Avriel, and we have one five-year-old son.
You’re an expert in water and sanitation. What makes you passionate about this area?
My experience in sanitation and humanitarian work has shown me that access to water and sanitation is a fundamental human right. It bring human dignity, with immediate and evidenced results. The need for decent water and sanitation cuts across all ages and all backgrounds, it doesn’t matter whether you are rich or poor.
Pumps run on solar power are helping people in the communities where I work to access clean water and are reducing the time it takes people to collect water.
Continue reading “One Climate, One World: CAFOD speaker from Zimbabwe tours England and Wales”
June 7, 2016
This Lent, Joe Andrew celebrated 20 years of volunteering with CAFOD. Here, he writes about the journey on which volunteering has taken him:
My involvement with the Catholic Church and with groups like CAFOD has gone in waves or cycles all my life. As a teenager I was an altar boy, went to Mass several times a week, and did house-to-house collections, sponsored events, all that kind of thing.
In my 40s I returned to my youthful faith and enthusiasms, and with it a renewed sense that ‘faith without deeds is dead’. With a few like-minded people in the parish I helped set up a local CAFOD group. We did lots of different stuff: raised money by auctions, coffee mornings, raffles and all the things that Catholics are so good at. Within a few years, I felt the need to go further, and applied successfully to become what was then known as a Covenant Volunteer for Birmingham Archdiocesan CAFOD. (‘Covenant’ meant that you ‘covenanted’, that is, committed to spend x hours a year on work for CAFOD).
Now the arrangements are more informal and you do what you can. For me my main role is as a Media Volunteer, and I also speak at Mass around the two Fast Days, visit a few local schools at those times, and also help out with fixing up speakers at Mass for the two Fast Days.
See how you can volunteer with us
Continue reading “Why I volunteer: “…the best decision you will ever make!””
May 24, 2016
Ahead of Volunteers’ Week, we asked a number of CAFOD volunteers to share why volunteering with CAFOD is important to them. One volunteer, Trevor Stockton, has been an active volunteer for more that 40 years in the Birmingham diocese. Here, he shares his inspiration for volunteering and tips for those wanting to get involved.
My volunteer work with CAFOD has been an important part of my life, especially my spiritual life, since the early 1970s. I was inspired by Pope Paul’s encyclical ‘Populorum Progressio’ and by Dom Helder Camara and his work in Brazil.
My whole working career was in social work and so my commitment to people who are disadvantaged was already active. So, parish involvement in Lent and Harvest Fast Days, and campaigns such as that against apartheid in South Africa were my starting points with CAFOD.
Find your starting point for volunteering with CAFOD
Continue reading “Why I volunteer: “we must care for each other and be good stewards””
May 16, 2016
CAFOD volunteer Kris Pears from Coventry went on a pilgrimage to Walsingham and spoke to fellow pilgrims about the Lampedusa cross
“Hello my name is Kris and I am a CAFOD volunteer”, an opening line that I have used many times in the past, but this time it was very different.
Pentecost Sunday 2016 was the third and final day of the weekend pilgrimage to Walsingham by my parish, St Thomas More’s. The day before I had been privileged to serve Mass for Bishop Robert Byrne at the climax of the Archdiocese of Birmingham’s Diocesan day pilgrimage to the shrine. This morning the crowds had gone and as we left Elmham house to walk the pilgrims’ mile down to the shrine.
A few minutes before the group of 50 of us set out I had briefly explained to the Coventry group and our fellow pilgrims from Liverpool about the Lampedusa cross. Now I carried it at the font of our group as we walked the path between the fields from the village. Continue reading “Walsingham pilgrims pray for refugees with CAFOD’s Lampedusa cross”
July 8, 2015
Susy Brouard is CAFOD’s Theological Advisor. Susy has twelve years experience of facilitating workshops on Catholic Social Teaching. But never has she come across a text which has produced so much energy from her participants. She explains why.
To be perfectly honest with you, Pope Francis’ latest encyclical, Laudato Si’, is a facilitator’s dream.
I say this as someone who has, during the last week, facilitated three different workshops on the encyclical. Each workshop – the first with CAFOD volunteers in Birmingham, the second at the CAFOD headquarters with staff, and the third with members of an Anglican Church in central London – filled the participants with energy and joy. In fact, the Birmingham volunteers took Pope Francis’ words of ’sing as you go’ to heart and ended their day of reflection by singing and dancing a conga in the garden!
So what is it about this encyclical that produces so much energy? This encyclical is unique because it is addressed to every citizen of the earth. Since he wants to communicate with everybody, Pope Francis writes with great clarity and directness. He tells it as it is – the good, the bad and the ugly. It is like looking in a mirror and we realise what madness it is that as humans we are systematically destroying “our common home”.
Liberating effect
While this may be seen as depressing, it is also liberating. We are confronted with what we have done and we can decide whether to continue as we are, or make changes to the way we live and consume. In the workshops, we spent time reflecting on the symptoms of overdevelopment which Pope Francis describes in the first chapter of his encyclical; climate change, mining, water pollution and global inequality, amongst others. From our reading, we came up with key elements that we thought were essential for progress; elements such as education, love, justice, understanding, mindfulness, sacrifice and, of course, God!
Continue reading “Laudato Si’: generating enough energy to empower the world!”
July 2, 2015
Students from Blessed William Howard Catholic High School travelled from Wolverhampton to London on the day of the Speak Up For The Love Of climate lobby to meet their MP. In this blog they reflect on their experience.
On 17 June a group of nine of us from Blessed William Howard travelled to London. We had made a short video clip about climate change as part of the Close-up on Climate film project, and excitingly our video got chosen to be shown at the Speak Up For The Love Of rally at the end of the day.
After a long journey we went to the ecumenical service which was really lovely, as everyone joined in and became united in their belief of addressing climate change. We planned to meet our local MP, Jeremy Lefroy, in the houses of Parliament. We were talking to him for an hour and forty five minutes. What we learnt was very interesting. We asked him several questions, and some even caught him out.
Asking tricky questions
One question we asked was: “It is all about leading by example, so what are you doing to make the Houses of Parliament more green?” He didn’t give a straight answer. This proves that we all need to keep pressurising the government to do things locally to make a difference. Continue reading “Students from Blessed William Howard Speak Up For the Love Of”
June 6, 2015
Megan Cornwell is CAFOD’s UK News Officer working on the One Climate, One World campaign.
This summer, people of all faiths and none from across the country are knitting, stitching, sewing and speaking up, all for the love of our brothers and sisters overseas who are being driven deeper into poverty because of extreme weather like floods, droughts and typhoons.
Whether you’re a seasoned campaigner or just passionate about your faith and our world, Wednesday 17 June is our opportunity to meet our newly-elected MPs and speak up.
Join us on 17 June and Speak Up to your MP at Westminster
If you can’t make the event, you can still make bunting to show your MP what you love and could lose to climate change. Here, four supporters tell us how they’re turning their talent and faith into action for our One Climate, One World campaign.
Continue reading “Climate campaign: Turn your talent and faith into action”
