Catholic Commission for Social Justice
On the occasion of International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women (November 25) the Catholic Commission for Social Justice (CCSJ) calls for community mobilization to end violence against women in TT/the world.
We cannot remain silent/indifferent in the face of the onslaught of such violence. It dehumanizes all of us. It plagues all strata of every society; all religious and ethnic groups.
“…there is the golden rule that God has inscribed into human nature created in Christ: The rule that only love gives meaning and happiness to life.” These words by Pope Francis (September 3, 2017), reminds us that our vocation is love. Love for God and for our neighbour.
CCSJ is making a special request to show your love by supporting an initiative that our Commission is organising in collaboration with the NGO, Inventions and Creativity Through the Arts (ICTA), and some of the artists who work with this NGO. ICTA’s President, Deborah Hutchinson, is a teacher at a Catholic secondary school in south.
A key event organised by the CCSJ and the Catholic Youth Commission during Justice, Peace and Community Week (October 21–28) was the 3rd Annual Spoken Word Competition on the theme: A Catholic perspective on the Development of Peoples aired on TCN on Friday, October 27.
Episcopal Delegate for Youth, Winston Garcia and I thank Kyle de Gannes, Mark Howell-Paul, Fidelis Iwueke, Serapion Jones, Michael Logie, Ngozi Lucas, Paige McCarthy, Naiyla Nakhid, and Leeum Quan Kep for their powerful pieces. Naiyla, Kyle and Leeum won first, second and third prize respectively.
Tomorrow, Monday, November 6, the world will observe the International Day for Preventing the Exploitation of the Environment in War and Armed Conflict. In Genesis 2:15, we read: “God took the man and settled him in the garden of Eden to cultivate and take care of it.”
Pope Francis’ 2015 encyclical, Laudato Si (On Care For Our Common Home) is a call for conversion of hearts, minds and lifestyles if we are to save our planet. He says dialogue and education can “help us to escape the spiral of self-destruction which currently engulfs us”. He urges us to “hear both the cry of the earth and the cry of the poor.” … He calls us to promote authentic human ecology which connects ecological issues and life issues.
On behalf of members of CCSJ, I extend sincere congratulations to Archbishop-elect Jason Gordon. Since my return to T&T from London, I have been blessed to have worked with Archbishop Edward Gilbert and Archbishop Joseph Harris and, like the other members of CCSJ, I am so looking forward to working with the Archbishop-elect who, in fact, played a major role in the establishment of CCSJ after the first sitting of Synod in 2003.
Indeed, he was a member of CCSJ and I still recall attending some of the meetings he held in the parish hall at St Martin de Porres RC, Gonzales, where he was parish priest, and where he initiated/implemented the Pride in Gonzales and CITY projects. His ability to bring together key stakeholders and community members to seek to transform that community is legendary. The model he used is still valid today.