📢JOIN US AT SCOTLAND DEMANDS BETTER – The March for All of Us

🗓️ Saturday 25th October
🕥10:30am–12:30pm
📍 Scottish Churches Meeting Point: at the Scottish Water Top-Up Tap, outside the Scottish Parliament Visitors’ Entrance - (What3Words: wiping.small.chief)

We envision a future for Scotland built on unity, solidarity, and inclusion, not on division and intolerance.

That’s why Justice & Peace Scotland is proud to stand alongside The Poverty Alliance, the Church of Scotland, the Scottish Episcopal Church, and over 200 organisations and faith groups for the Scotland Demands Better March in Edinburgh.

We are uniting this October to call for:
1️⃣Fair jobs and wages.
2️⃣Decent social security.
3️⃣Investment in essentials so that every household can thrive.

We know that the challenges facing our communities – poverty, low pay, homelessness, lack of resources – are leaving many frustrated and angry. We also know a better way is possible: one that rejects division and the scapegoating of minority groups and instead is rooted in solidarity and hope.

✝️ We need YOU to join us in Edinburgh as we come together as people of faith against poverty, against division, and demanding better for all people in Scotland.

🚶‍♀️The march will set off from the Scottish Parliament at 11am, travel up the Royal Mile to The Meadows, and conclude with a family-friendly rally full of music, speeches, and community spirit.

🪧Look out for the J&P Scotland banner and placards at the meeting point - bring your family, bring your friends, and let's demand better for Scotland.

🚨 TOMORROW: Pray and Act for Gaza 🕊️

As we approach two years of war in Gaza, the Bishops' Conference of Scotland have asked Catholics across the country to dedicate 7th October to praying for peace in the Holy Land and wherever there is violence and conflict in our world.

Justice & Peace Scotland is inviting everyone to take part in two simple but powerful steps:

🕯️Step 1: Light a Prayer for Peace
Join us by visiting a Church tomorrow if you can, and lighting a candle for all those affected by the war in Gaza. Pray for an immediate end to violence, for any ceasefires or peace agreements to hold, for families to be reunited with loved ones taken hostage, and for a just and lasting peace to be achieved for all Palestinians and Israelis.

✍️ Step 2: Write to Your MP
A template letter is available on our website for you to download and personalise. Use it to urge the UK Government to do all in its power to help end the suffering, ensure humanitarian aid reaches those in need, and support genuine peace where both Palestinians and Israelis have agency in shaping their own futures.

Even as the situation continues to change rapidly, these actions remain vital. Together, through prayer and advocacy, we can shine a light in the darkness and be a voice for justice and peace.

Archbishop Nolan has expressed his horror at the terrorist attack on a Manchester synagogue.
He said: "The attack on innocent people taking part in a religious event in broad daylight is an act of evil which should be condemned by all right-thinking people. The Jewish community was memorably defined by Saint John Paul II as ‘our older brothers in the faith’ and we feel a special closeness to them in this hour of sorrow and fear.
"My prayers, and those of the Catholic community are for those who have died, the bereaved, the injured, and those who feel anxious and afraid. Leaders of all faiths must unite in times like this to make it clear that killing and destruction in the name of religion is abhorrent. Violence and inhumanity have no place in the tenets of the great world faiths.”

🚨UPDATE: Pray And Act For Gaza
We recognise that the situation in Gaza and Israel is changing rapidly, and in the coming days there may be announcements about possible peace agreements.

🕯️Whatever happens, we continue to invite everyone to join us in prayer for peace on 7th October and if agreements are reached, that they may hold and bring lasting justice for all. The Bishops' Conference of Scotland have asked Catholic in Scotland to dedicate this day to praying for peace.

📝Alongside this, we are still encouraging people to write to their MPs even if a peace plan is agreed: please ask your MP to do all they can to support its implementation, to ensure humanitarian aid reaches those in need, and to work for a future of genuine peace and security for both Palestinians and Israelis.

❓REFUGEES Q&A❓

It's more important than ever to understand the realities of refugees. As Catholics, we are called to welcome the stranger and care for the vulnerable. Yet, there's a lot of misinformation out there that can cloud our understanding and compassion.

Here we address some common myths and answer questions you might have about refugees in the UK. Let's build a more welcoming and informed community together.

1️⃣WHAT IS A REFUGEE?
A refugee is a person who has been forced to flee their country because of a well-founded fear of persecution for reasons of race, religion, nationality, political opinion or membership in a particular social group.

This is not a choice; it's an urgent flight to find safety. The right to seek asylum is a universal human right, protected by international law in the 1951 Refugee Convention, which the UK helped to write.

2️⃣WHY DO REFUGEES COME TO THE UK?
Many refugees do stay in other "safe" countries. Countries bordering conflict zones host far more refugees than the UK. There are international legal obligations, which are binding on the UK, that require countries to share responsibility for hosting refugees. For those refugees who do come here, the reasons are often personal and practical:

👨‍👩‍👦Family: They may have loved ones already living in the UK.
🗨️Language: they may already speak English.
🇬🇧Historical Ties: Some, like Afghans who worked with the British military, have a direct connection to the UK.

3️⃣WHY DO PEOPLE COME IN SMALL BOATS?
People risk their lives in small boats because there are very few safe routes to claim asylum in the UK. The few existing pathways are extremely restricted by nationality and number.

There is no specific asylum visa to allow someone to enter the UK regularly to access their legal right to seek asylum, leaving people with little choice if one of the few resettlement schemes aren't available to them. It is a violation of the Refugee Convention to punish a person seeking asylum on account of how they arrived in the host country. People arriving by small boat are not "illegal".

The majority of people arriving by boat are from places where conflict and persecution are widespread such as Afghanistan, Iran, Eritrea, Syria and Sudan.

4️⃣HOW MANY REFUGEES ARE IN THE UK?
Refugees and asylum seekers make up less than 1% of the UK's total population. They also represent only a small fraction of the overall immigrant population in the UK, at around 13%.

In the year ending June 2023, 44,460 people arrived by small boats, which is only 3.7% of the total 1.2 million people who immigrated to the UK during that time. The idea that refugees and people seeking asylum are overwhelming the UK is NOT supported by the statistical facts. The challenge we face is with a slow and inefficient asylum system, not the number of people arriving.

5️⃣WHY ARE THERE MORE YOUNG MALE ASYLUM SEEKERS?
In many countries, societal expectations of men - such as being the breadwinner, or joining the army - make them a target in times of political and social unrest. Young men are also at high risk of forced conscription to the military or armed groups in some conflict zones. These factors make them more likely to risk the initial dangers of unsafe routes, such as small boat crossings. As a result, more men make these type of journeys to the UK.

Following grants of asylum, many of these men will go on to be joined by female partners through family reunion. From 2012 to 2023, 81% of adults receiving refugee family reunion visas were women.

6️⃣WHAT DOES OUR CATHOLIC FAITH SAY?
Catholic Social Teaching demands we stand against the cruel political scapegoating of vulnerable people fleeing unimaginable trauma actively reject the hostile narrative surrounding refugees in the UK. Let's not allow misinformation to harden our hearts when our compassion is needed most. This is summed up in the words of Pope Francis in Fratelli Tutti:

"Migrants are not seen as entitled...to participate in the life of society... it is forgotten that they possess the same intrinsic dignity as any person... in practice, by our decisions and the way we treat them, we can show that we consider them less worthy, less important, less human. For Christians, this way of thinking and acting is unacceptable, since it sets certain political preferences above deep convictions of our faith: the inalienable dignity of each human person regardless of origin, race or religion, and the supreme law of fraternal love."