Repentance and reconciliation
By Leela Ramdeen, Chair of the Catholic Commission for Social Justice Some time ago, Fr Matthew D’Hereaux, who was then a member of CCSJ, asked me to run a one-day retreat for members of his Prison Ministry team. I decided to focus on the very moving parable of the Prodigal Son (Luke 15:1-3. 11-32 – […]
Progress for all
By Leela Ramdeen, Chair of the Catholic Commission for Social Justice Tomorrow the world will mark International Women’s Day. The theme this year is: Equal rights, equal opportunities: Progress for all. One of the 10 key themes of Catholic social teaching is Rights and Responsibilities. In a DVD produced by CCSJ, I focus on this […]
Lenten carbon fast in praise of creation
by Leela Ramdeen, Chair of the Catholic Commission for Social Justice “The environment is God’s gift to everyone, and in our use of it we have a responsibility towards the poor, towards future generations and towards humanity as a whole.” – Pope Benedict XVI, Charity in Truth. By the time you read this article, His […]
Indifference can bring death
By Leela Ramdeen, Chair of the Catholic Commission for Social Justice On February 20 the world marked World Day of Social Justice. In 2009 the 192-member UN General Assembly unanimously adopted a resolution to observe this day annually. The UN invited Member States “to devote the Day to promoting activities at the national level in […]
Respect and responsibility during Carnival
By Leela Ramdeen, Chair of the Catholic Commission for Social Justice Today is Valentine’s Day; a day when the word “love” will be uttered by all and sundry across the land. But while we express our love for others, let us not forget that God wishes us to love and respect ourselves also. Over the […]
Reducing child poverty
By Leela Ramdeen, Chair of the Catholic Commission for Social Justice I return to T&T from London this week. Recent research (Jan 26) by the UK Charity, Save the Children, shows that the number of UK children living in homes in which there is “severe poverty” rose by 260,000 to 1.7 million from 2004 – […]
Standing in solidarity with Haitians
By Leela Ramdeen, Chair of the Catholic Commission for Social Justice The scale of the devastation in Haiti as a result of the magnitude 7.0 earthquake on 12 January calls for immediate and sustained action by all of us. I am in London at the moment and am involved in raising funds here for the […]
Self-test for Catholic Schools
By Leela Ramdeen, Chair of the Catholic Commission for Social Justice Last Saturday, Jan 9, I had to privilege, as one of CREDI’s Directors, to address CREDI’s students at a conference entitled: “CREDItable Conversations: Integral human development”. Msgr Jason Gordon, Fr Joe Harris and Dr Launcelot Brown also presented papers. Inter alia, I shared insights […]
Catholic family, become what you are
By Leela Ramdeen, Chair of the Catholic Commission for Social Justice “Treat people as if they were what they ought to be, and you help them to become what they are capable of being” (Johann Wolfgang von Goethe) The Archdiocese’s pastoral priority this year is: The New Evangelization. The sub-theme is: Catholic family, become what […]
Pope’s Peace Message
By Leela Ramdeen, Chair of the Catholic Commission for Social Justice As we begin a new year, let us reflect on Pope Benedict XVI’s message for the 43rd World Day of Peace on the theme: “If you want to cultivate peace, protect creation.” The Holy Father draws on Articles 48 -51 of his 3rd encyclical, […]
