St Pius InPrint
  • NEWS
  • 5-Minute Reflection
    • Stations of the Cross
    • Bishop Richard on the Refugee Crisis
    • Prayer for Refugees
    • Materials from NJPN Conference 2017
    • Pope Francis' Five-Finger Prayer
  • CALENDAR
  • LINKS
    • Catholic Parish of Guildford
    • Our Catholic Schools
    • Catholic Resources
    • Christian Activities and Resources
    • Some of our Charities

St. Pius InPrint
​Magazine

An "Outsider's" View of the NJPN Conference 2017

30/7/2017

0 Comments

 
Picture
Susy Brouard and Fr. Peter Hughes
Picture
A triptych depicting the life of Oscar Romero, incorporating a relic
I suppose I was aware of the NJPN – the National Justice and Peace Network of England and Wales – but perhaps not that NJPN holds an annual conference.  This, coupled with the fact that I am not a member of J&P at any level, made it somewhat unlikely that I would have volunteered to attend this year’s conference.  And yet, attend it I did, at the suggestion of my wife, who is a member of the Parish J&P Group.  As is the nature of these things, the weekend of the conference fell in a busy period for me and so I did not pay much attention to the content of the conference before the event.  All I knew was that we would be travelling to Derbyshire.  I considered myself as the “driver”, so my preparations were limited to ensuring that we had petrol in the tank, and putting the destination into TomTom.
The Friday traffic on the M25 and M1 made the journey a little tedious, but fortunately TomTom’s patience is greater than mine, and he calmly guided us to the Hayes Conference Centre, in the village of Swanwick.  There we were met by a team of enthusiastic greeters who welcomed us and directed us to our room.  We found that we were two of some 250 attendees, some staying for the weekend, some for one or two days.  The Hayes centre has 265 bedrooms located in the main house, dating from the 1860’s, and a number of modern buildings.  The site is impressive, with its extensive grounds, three conference halls, numerous smaller rooms, dining rooms and a large chapel.  A bar and efficient wi-fi are the icing on the cake!

So there I was as an outsider.  Or so I thought at first, although I soon became aware that the conference is open to anyone who is interested enough to book a place.  I also found that some people were there to learn and to be inspired, some to represent a group or organisation, some to meet up with friends and presumably most of them for more than one of these, and other, reasons.  Furthermore, when I looked at the agenda, I found that the content of the conference was linked to  the Laudato si’ encyclical.  Now, I must admit that I have not read it from cover to cover, but thanks to the sessions arranged in the Parish by our own J&P group, I knew at least something about it.  I was particularly pleased to see that NJPN was promoting the very serious issues which Laudato si’ so brilliantly addresses – it is all too easy for the message of even such excellent documents to fade from the mind – or at least that is my experience.

Now I felt less of an outsider, and as this extremely well-organised event unfolded I became increasingly pleased that I had made the effort to be the “driver”.  The conference consisted of the following elements:

  • Three absorbing talks, all based on aspects of Laudato si’ (recordings will be available – see below)
  • “Poverty Hearings” – a panel discussion (will also be available to listen to)
  • “Just Fair” – a series of exhibits by numerous organisations
  • Mass
  • Morning prayer
  • Reflection
  • A crèche, plus organised activities for children in two age groups – making this a family-friendly event
  • Diverse activities plus some 15 ‘workshops’, including food diversity, volunteering and renewable energy
  • An excellent play, depicting the life and death of Oscar Romero, performed by three energetic young actors
  • Substantial breakfasts, lunches and dinners!

During the weekend, the NJPN formally adopted Oscar Romero as its patron.  A triptych incorporating a relic of Romero was on display whilst Mass was celebrated on Saturday afternoon.

Although I made pages of notes whilst the speakers delivered their talks, my summaries could not do justice to the commitment, the spirit or the tone of these most engaging people.  Instead, I have reproduced below the official press release for the conference.  More importantly, I have arranged to receive recordings of the talks, and obtained permission to make them available through St. Pius InPrint.  Each lasts 45-60 minutes, and so some sustained effort is called for to listen to them, but I believe that many people will find it a worthwhile experience, as I did.

These resources from the conference will be published separately in St. Pius InPrint:

  • Two versions of a Laudato si’ Litany, based on the encyclical texts and compiled by Susy Brouard of Cafod’s Theology Team, who chaired the conference.
  • “Laudato si’ Action Sheet” – a practical guide to living in accordance with the spirit of the encyclical, and which was distributed at the conference.
  • “Made for Love: Living out the integral ecology of Pope Francis” by Ruth Valerio (Recording)
  • “Listening to the cry of the earth and the cry of the poor: the response of the church in Latin America” by Fr. Peter Hughes, SSC (Recording)
  • “Poverty and Truth Commissioners” (Recording)
  • “Recovering the common joys: ‘This could be our revolution; to love what is plentiful as much as what’s scarce’” by Kathy Galloway (Recording)

The 2018 conference is already planned - why not give it a try?  I can assure you that you will not be an "outsider"!

Click here for details.
0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Archives

    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    September 2015

    Categories

    All
    10% Collection
    A&B Crisis Fund (Catholic Children's Society)
    A & B ENewsletter
    Aberfan Disaster 1966
    A&B Lourdes Pilgrimage
    ACAT Action By Christians Against Torture
    ACAT - Action By Christians Against Torture
    Activities
    Advent Reconcilliation
    Advent Reflection
    Alpha Course
    Altar Servers
    Ann
    Announcements
    Announcement Slides
    Antwerp
    Arms Trade
    Baptism
    Bereavement
    Big 'O' Party
    Bishop Moth
    Bishop's Diocesan Migrant Fund
    CAFOD
    Calais
    Canon Brian O'Sullivan
    Canon Colin Wolczak
    CAP Money Course
    Cardinal Cormac Murphy O'Connor
    Car Free - Care Share Weekend
    Carols On The Green
    Catholic Association For Racial Justice
    Cherry Trees Respite Home
    Christians In The Middle East
    Christmas Greetings Campaign
    Christmas Party
    Churches Together In England
    Clergy Moves
    Climate Change
    Concert
    Confession
    Craft Group
    David Allen
    Day For Life
    Day Of Reflection
    Depaul International Charity
    Diocesan Plan
    Easter Basket
    Easter Triduum
    Ecumenism
    Edu-Care Cameroon Charity
    Ellie Carter
    Emergency Appeal
    Fairtrade
    Family Day
    Film Night
    First Holy Communion
    Floral Ministry
    Footsteps Charity
    Formation
    Fr Alan Sharpe
    Fr. Roy
    Gift Aid
    Gill Woodrow
    Groups
    Guildford
    Guildford Youth Ministry
    Harvest Fast Day
    HCPT Group 2
    HMP Send Catholic Chaplaincy
    HMP Send - Catholic Chaplaincy
    Holy Saturday
    Homily
    Housing Justice Charity
    Human Rights Day
    Human Trafficking
    Humour
    Iraqi Christians In Need Charity
    Justice & Peace
    Knights Of St. Columba
    Lace Making
    Ladies' Lunch
    Lent
    Lenten Lunch
    Lent Fast Day
    Lent Groups
    Life Group
    Lourdes Pilgrimage Trust
    Macmillan Big Coffee Morning
    Magnificat Magazine
    Mary's Meals
    Men's Walking Group
    Merrow Lunch Club
    Migrants
    Missio
    Musicians
    National Youth Sunday
    Nativity Play
    Number Five Shelter
    Oakleaf Mental Illness Charity
    OFS
    Oxfam
    Palestine
    Parish Day
    Pax Christi
    Peace Sunday
    Pentecost
    Peru
    Philip Kenny
    Phyllis Tuckwell Hospice
    Pope Francis
    Prayer
    "Prayer For The Day"
    Prayer Vigil
    Project Francis
    Project Peru
    Q & A
    Quiz Night
    Racial Justice Sunday
    Rambling/Walking
    RCIA
    Recipes
    Reconciliation
    Reformation
    Refugees
    Requiem/Funeral
    Review Of 2017
    RIP
    Rohingya People
    Roles
    Sainsbury's
    Saint Oscar Romero
    Secular Fanciscan Order
    Shared Lunch
    Shelter Box Charity
    Social Events
    St. Peter's School
    St. Pius InPrint
    St. Pius Pastoral Council
    Sunday Coffee
    Syria
    Terrorism
    The Universe
    Together In Christ
    Ukriane
    Vatican
    Vision For Mission
    Vocations
    Week Of Prayer For Christian Unity
    Wintershall
    Women At The Well Charity
    Womens-world-day-of-prayer
    World-day-of-migrants-and-refugees
    World-day-of-peace
    World Day Of Prayer
    World Day Of Prayer For Creation
    World Day Of The Poor
    World Fair Frade Day
    World War I
    World War II
    Write For Rights Campaign
    Yara Eid

    RSS Feed

Proudly powered by Weebly
  • NEWS
  • 5-Minute Reflection
    • Stations of the Cross
    • Bishop Richard on the Refugee Crisis
    • Prayer for Refugees
    • Materials from NJPN Conference 2017
    • Pope Francis' Five-Finger Prayer
  • CALENDAR
  • LINKS
    • Catholic Parish of Guildford
    • Our Catholic Schools
    • Catholic Resources
    • Christian Activities and Resources
    • Some of our Charities