We are the Saint Joseph’s Justice and Peace parish group. Our aim is to work within the Justice and Peace structure to formulate a response to justice issues locally and globally. We aim to do this by encouraging parishioners to take action through prayer, letter writing and/or appropriate non-violent actions.
Within this framework we have recently formed a parish eco-committee and are presently recipients of the bronze eco-congregation award. We have formed a deanery group with Saint Bridget’s and Saint Cadoc’s and welcome parishioners from their parish to our meetings. Our aim is to encourage all to lead more environmentally friendly lives in a spiritual and practical way.
All are welcome.
Dear Justice & Peace Scotland Commissioners and Supporters,
I am writing to let you know that we have released a statement in response to the passing of the UK Government’s Safety of Rwanda (Asylum and Immigration) Bill, it is currently on our website.
The Safety of Rwanda Bill is cruel and immoral and we firmly oppose its approach. Its passing into law marks a terrible day for the upholding of international law, respect for human rights, and the progression of UK politics. Refugees and all who come to our shores are made in the image and likeness of God and should be treated with the dignity they deserve, not cruelty and inhumanity.
You can read the statement in full in the tab below or at this link: Justice & Peace Scotland > Statement.
JUSTICE AND PEACE SCOTLAND STATEMENT ON THE PASSAGE OF ‘THE SAFETY OF
RWANDA (ASYLUM AND IMMIGRATION) BILL’ – 24th APRIL 2024
Justice & Peace Scotland are dismayed at the passing of the Safety of Rwanda Bill. This marks a terrible day for the upholding of international law, respect for human rights, and the progression of UK politics. Refugees and all who come to our shores are made in the image and likeness of God and should be treated with the dignity they deserve, not cruelty and inhumanity.
The Rwanda scheme would enable the Government to forcibly expel people seeking asylum – including children, torture survivors, and victims of war – putting them at grave risk of further harm and human rights abuses. People will be removed to a country they have no connection to, despite the ruling of our own country’s Supreme Court that it is unsafe for them.
It is a human right to seek asylum and those who come to the decision to leave their homes behind do not make the choice lightly. Human beings seeking asylum or migrating for a better life do so because of problems that other human beings create: they move because of violence, war, torture, oppression, persecution, political instability, poverty, hunger, and ultimately because they have no alternative.
The passing of this morally questionable act, that serves to only further traumatise some of the most vulnerable members of society, betrays who we are as a nation that has historically provided refuge to those in need, and undermines long-standing UK values of hospitality, welcome, friendship, and compassion.
The Rwanda scheme evidences a blatant disregard for international law as it violates the UK’s international legal obligations as a state party to the Refugee Convention. Protecting refugees requires cooperation and responsibility sharing from all countries, not just those adjacent to crisis zones, as clearly defined in the Convention and its associated legal instruments. The UK government, instead of continuing to sow seeds of division and hostility, should be pursuing practical measures to address irregular flows of refugees and migrants, based on international cooperation and respect for international human rights law.
In place of this inhumane and cruel policy, we echo calls for a new plan for supporting
refugees and an approach to asylum in the UK that is fair, kind, and gets the system working again for everyone. Specifically, we call for hospitable alternatives to the Rwanda plan that will safeguard refugees and their rights such as provision of a humanitarian visa scheme, allowing people to travel easily and access protection quickly; the expansion and better management of country resettlement schemes, such as those implemented for Syrians and Ukrainians; and the opportunity for those in need to apply for asylum before arriving in the UK, all of which would eliminate the need for people to travel here via irregular means.
Justice and Peace Scotland
e-mail: office@justiceandpeacescotland.org
About Justice and Peace Scotland
The Scottish Justice and Peace Commission was formed in 1979. Its function is to act as the bishops’ advisory body on issues of social justice, human rights, peace, development and integrity of creation. It also has the responsibility of raising awareness of these issues within the Catholic community in Scotland. It does this through networking and offering support to both existing and newly formed local Justice and Peace groups. Policy is formulated in the context of the tradition of Catholic Social Teaching under the supervision of the Bishops’ Conference.
The constituency of Justice and Peace is over a thousand people out of an active Catholic population in Scotland of slightly less than 200,00. Each of Scotland’s eight dioceses is entitled to send an official representative to the National Commission. There is also space for youth and ecumenical representatives as well as representation from religious, clergy and SCIAF.
There are several ongoing campaigns, including environment, human rights and social justice.
For more information on Justice and Peace and their campaigns, see justiceandpeacescotland.org.uk.
Saint Joseph’s Justice and Peace
The Saint Joseph’s Justice and Peace group was one of the first to be formed after the formation of the Justice and Peace commission.
We have had much success over the years, campaigning through letter writing and lobbying. We have also moved to hosting open evening talks on a range of topics. These are under the heading of Integrating Life and Faith.
Current campaigns
Say No to Assisted Suicide
This bill is proposing that anyone over the age of 16 years old, who is terminally ill, mentally competent and wishes to die can end their life.
The Bishop’s of Scotland have published a pastoral letter, “Called to care, Not to Kill”. They describe the proposals as dangerous and urge us to write to our MSP in opposition of this bill.
For more details and a letter/email template visit: Assisted Suicide – Catholic Parliamentary Office (rcpolitics.org)
SCIAF
A SCIAF campaign appealing for spiritual and financial support for the people in Gaza and encouraging us to write to MPs condemning the violence, calling for an immediate ceasefire and asking for signatories to their petition.
To sign the petition and more details visit: What does 2024 have in store for Gaza? | SCIAF
Society for the Protection of Unborn Children (SPUC)
We are currently concerned about the proposed bill of introducing ‘Safe Access Zones’ around abortion clinics. This “buffer zone” law would be the most extreme of its kind in the world and anticipates criminalising ‘audible prayer‘ and ‘silent vigils‘ and will even criminalise certain actions within private homes.
As of the 30th of April, the bill has been passed through the first round in the main parliament. It will now be redebated by a cross part committee of MSPs.
We are encouraged to write to our local MSPs to show our opposition to this ban.
For more details visit: www.spuc.org.uk/Article/385516/Scottish-Bill-proposes-massive-fines-for-pro-life-vigils
or for an email/letter template:
Buffer Zones – Catholic Parliamentary Office
Eco-committee (deanery group)
The newly formed parish deanery group, with Saint Cadoc’s and Saint Bridget’s hopes to heighten awareness of environmental issues and respond by leading more environmentally friendly lives. We use references from the Holy Father encyclical “Laudato Si” and “Laudato Deum”. Working within the eco-congregation framework we are hoping to work our way to a silver award in the future.
More information about eco-congregation and its aims can be found here: ecocongregationscotland.org.
The scrapping of Climate Targets by the Scottish Government
On the 18th of April 2024, the Scottish government announced that it was scrapping the target of reducing emissions by 75% by 2030. The 2045 target of Net Zero will remain in place. The government had missed 8 out of 12 of their annual targets and were warned that this made the flagship goal unachievable. This is of great concern to us as we are required to act now to prevent significant impact to our world.
As a community, we must focus on making active choices in our lives, that are better for our environment and promote a green lifestyle. This can be achieved in several ways. As your eco-committee we hope we can provide information and assistance to help live a more eco way of life.
Meeting details and recent minutes
Our next meeting: Tuesday 28th May in Saint Joseph’s meeting room at 7:30pm.
Anne-Maire Clements, Catholic Social Teaching Engagement Officer from Justice and Peace Scotland, will be in attendance.
Click Here to access the most recent minutes
Previous minutes
Contact us
We welcome all new members, please contact John Seenan if you are interested.
Telephone: 01416442725.