Tag Archives: social justice

As COP26 approaches, faith organizations across the world are intensifying their calls for bold action against climate change, also in light of the COVID-19 crisis.  Ahead of the UN summit due to convene in Glasgow, Scotland, from October 31 to November 12, hundreds of religious leaders from the five continents have signed a “Sacred People, Sacred Heart Statement”, urging a joint ...

The International Day of the Girl Child (11th October 2021) focuses attention on the need to address the challenges girls face and to promote girls’ empowerment and the fulfilment of their human rights. Girls are breaking boundaries and barriers posed by stereotypes and exclusion, including those directed at children with disabilities and those living in marginalized communities. As entrepreneurs, innovators ...

The International Day for the Eradication of Poverty 2021 is 17th October.  The theme for this year is: “Building Forward Together: Ending Persistent Poverty, Respecting all People and our Planet”. International days and dates have a purpose, in that they can focus our attention and determination to inform ourselves of the reality for our ‘brothers and sisters’ across the globe ...

The 107th World Day of Migrants and Refugees is on Sunday, 26th September 2021. This year’s theme is ‘Towards An Ever Wider “We”’ moving the focus from ‘Me’ to ‘We’. In the Encyclical Fratelli Tutti, Pope Francis expressed a concern and a hope that “Once this health crisis passes, our worst response would be to plunge even more deeply into ...

“For love of my brethren and friends, I say: Peace upon you!” (Ps 122:8). The first atomic bomb was dropped on August 6, 1945, on Hiroshima, virtually levelling the city. A second bomb was dropped on Nagasaki on August 9, 1945.  About 140,000 died in Hiroshima and 70,000 in Nagasaki. Half the deaths in each city occurred on the day of the ...

Sunday June 20, 2021 is UN World Refugee Day. As the world celebrates the progress made to advance refugee protection polices and acknowledges the contributions that refugees have made in their host countries, it is important to remember that the need to continue to advance humane policies is now more critical than ever. We often think of refugees as those ...

At a time when the role of women in shaping society was severely restricted, [Nano Nagle] lived on the razor’s edge, a woman fearless before a  tyrannical world. A woman ‘Ablaze with God’. ‘Nano Nagle, a woman ablaze with God, you daily walked the razor’s edge of life, witnessing to the divine conspiracy of love. Awaken within us the fire ...

This year’s World Day Against Child Labour is the first World Day since the universal ratification of the UN’s International Labour Organisation’s Convention No. 182 on the Worst Forms of Child Labour, and takes place at a time when the COVID-19 crisis threatens to reverse years of progress in tackling the problem. This Day falls each year on June 12 ...

Pope Francis has instituted a Church-wide celebration of a World Day for Grandparents and the Elderly. Starting this year, it will be held on the fourth Sunday of July (Sunday 25th July 2021) close to the liturgical memorial of Saints Joachim and Anne, the grandparents of Jesus.  The theme chosen by Pope Francis for this inaugural commemoration is “I am ...

Wednesday 24th March was the feast day of St. Oscar Romero.  Both Oscar Romero and Nano Nagle were people who allowed themselves to be disturbed by the suffering of humanity around them, by the injustices and ‘unjust actions’ perpetrated on behalf of those who should have been the ‘guardians of care and support’ for those kept poor. Disturb Us, Lord. ...