Our Prayers Go with Hanna
By Leela Ramdeen, Chair of the Catholic Commission for Social Justice “There can be no keener revelation of a society’s soul than the way in which it treats its children” (Nelson Mandela). I thought about Mandela’s words as people called in to a Television programme on which I was a guest. They called to donate […]
Standing in solidarity to promote unity
Today, Sunday 20 December, the world marks International Human Solidarity Day to celebrate unity in diversity; to remind people of the importance of solidarity in working towards eradicating poverty and to remind governments of their commitments to international agreements. The Millennium Declaration identified solidarity as “one of the fundamental and universal values that should underlie […]
Beware of anti-life strategies for dealing with climate change.
By Leela Ramdeen, Chair of The Catholic Commission for Social Justice As we prepare for the coming of the Christ-child, let us act on the advice of Pope Benedict XVI, who said recently: “Advent, this intense liturgical time… invites us to pause in silence to grasp a presence. It is an invitation to understand that […]
The Challenge of Copenhagen
The UN Climate Change Conference begins in Copenhagen, Denmark, tomorrow, Monday 7 December, and will run until 18 December. Climate change has many dimensions, for example, it can exacerbate poverty and economic recovery. At the recent Commonwealth People’s Forum (CHOGM), the Assembly on the Environment and Climate Change listed a number of areas that leaders […]
After CHOGM, what?
By Leela Ramdeen, Chair of the Catholic Commission for Social Justice The CHOGM website states that “CHOGM is all about bringing people closer together to share ideas and create partnerships to address some of the most critical issues of the 21 Century.” Let us pray that the deliberations between the Leaders who gather for CHOGM, […]
Nature – not a heap of scattered refuse
By Leela Ramdeen, Chair of the Catholic Commission for Social Justice Today I continue to focus on environmental issues in the lead up to the UN Climate Change Conference to be held in Copenhagen in December. One of the most profound statements made by Pope Benedict XVI in his encyclical, Charity in Truth, is that […]
Nature, the fruit of God’s Creation
By Leela Ramdeen, Chair of the Catholic Commission for Social Justice The countdown is on to COP 15 – the 15th meeting of the parties of the UN’s Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) which will take place in Copenhagen, Denmark, from Dec 7-18. Prime Minister, Hon. Patrick Manning, rightly reminded youths present at […]
Safeguarding Creation
Pope Benedict XVI’s general prayer intention during the month of November is: “That all the men and women in the world, especially those who have responsibilities in the field of politics and economics, may never fail in their commitment to safeguard creation.” I don’t think everyone in TT is aware of the gravity of the […]
Agape love for Haiti
By Leela Ramdeen, Chair of the Catholic Commission for Social Justice The second reading this Sunday (1 Cor 12:31 – 13:13) is most appropriate as we focus on Haiti. We need to “strive eagerly for the greatest spiritual gifts” so that we can build a spirituality of justice in our communities, in our country and […]
