Category: columns2014

CCSJ wishes to share with readers the following Statement produced by the group of 67 persons, led by Cardinal Peter Turkson, who gathered at the Vatican on July 11 & 12 for a seminar organised by the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace titled: “The Global Common Good: Towards a More Inclusive Economy.”

Participants included “leading economists, central bankers, heads of international and intergovernmental organisations and church leaders.”  Among them was Nobel Laureate Muhammad Yunus. 

The group reminded us, as Pope Francis has, that we cannot understand the Good News of Jesus Christ, the gospel of dignity and fraternity, of justice and peace, without being aware of real poverty, or by turning our backs on the scandal of exclusion and blindly hoping that it will take care of itself (cf. Evangelii Gaudium, #54). On the contrary, it is by putting the human being back into the heart of economics and politics, by welcoming the participation of the poor, that poverty can be overcome and the planet safeguarded.

On July 25, Sr Monica Tywang and I attended the funeral of our friend Oswald Noblemunn in London. Ossie, as he was affectionately called, was a true T&T patriot and a respected member of the community in London. His coffin was draped in the T&T flag and many members of his family wore either scarves or ties that reflected our T&T flag.

St Ignatius Jesuit Parish Church in Stamford Hill, London, was packed with friends and relatives who came to bid farewell to a man who had lived a purposeful life. His daughter, Davina (one of four children), described him in her eulogy as a “warrior, a political activist, a philosopher, a community leader; a husband, father, grandfather and friend”.