The Bishops' Conference of Scotland

✨HAPPY INTERNATIONAL WOMEN'S DAY✨

💬Tell us in the comments... What Catholic women inspire you and why?

🕊️ We'll start with Dorothy Day, co-founder of the Catholic Worker Movement and the embodiment of what it means to live out the call to Catholic justice and peace.

She was a woman deeply committed to sharing her understanding of God’s love with the world. Her work emerged from a commitment grounded in Catholic liturgy, characterised by charity and advocacy. Day’s commitment to amplifying her voice, as well as those surrounding her, was clear in her writing and ministry. Day lived out her reading of scripture by digging at the heels of injustice through peaceful protest and demonstrating her compassion and her refusal to be silenced. Though gentle in her treatment of others, there was nothing gentle about her advocacy for change. May her words inspire us to be agents of God's love, justice and peace in the world:

"What we would like to do is change the world - make it a little simpler for people to feed, clothe, and shelter themselves as God intended them to do. And by fighting for better conditions, by crying out unceasingly for the rights of the workers, the poor, of the destitute - the rights of the worthy and the unworthy poor, in other words - we can, to a certain extent, change the world."

📸Photo credit - Vivian Cherry

❓How much do you know about human trafficking?
❓Did you know it is the fastest growing international crime and the second largest source of illegal income in the world?
❓Did you know that incidents of human trafficking or modern slavery have been recorded in all 32 local authorities in Scotland?

Caritas Award students from St Anthony's and St Mark's Rutherglen have been collaborating on a project with Justice & Peace Scotland in recent months to learn, pray, and act in response to this significant human rights issue which Pope Francis has called "a crime against humanity."

Human trafficking is the the acquisition or illegal movement of a person by means of deception or coercion for the purpose of exploitation. The group have lead an awareness raising campaign in their parish over the past two weekends to engage more people on the topic. This has involved designing posters, preparing presentations, creating social media content, and engaging with fellow parishioners during all Sunday masses. The group's aims are simple:

1️⃣ Motivate their parish community to engage with the issue of human trafficking by linking it to our faith, gospel values, and the principles of Catholic social teaching.
2️⃣Inform people about the work of organisations like Survivors of Human Trafficking in Scotland who identify, recover, and support people in situations of exploitation and modern slavery.
3️⃣Spread the word beyond their own parish through their online social media campaign.

👍You can help them achieve as wide an audience as possible by liking and sharing this post and using the app from the Unseen & the Modern Slavery Helpline to report concerns about human trafficking.

🌟A huge congratulations to the Caritas Award students who have dedicated themselves to working with Justice & Peace Scotland since September. We are incredibly proud of your hard work, and it is truly inspiring to witness young individuals embodying the call of our Catholic faith to address the justice and peace challenges facing our world.

✝️Lent is less than a week away: how will you enrich your faith before Easter?
📖How could you express love for Jesus through Catholic Social Teaching?

We are delighted to announce that our three-part seminar series on CST will be held in two parishes in Motherwell Diocese this Lent.

Join us on Mondays at St Aloysius & The Sacred Heart in Chapelhall or on Thursdays at St Joseph's Parish Blantyre as we explore "the church's best kept secret".

🕢Workshops will take place at 7.30pm in the church hall after the 7pm masses in each parish. All dates are in the flyer below!

📩Stay up-to-date with all things Justice & Peace Scotland, including receiving our quarterly newsletter, by joining our mailing list today!

📬Don't worry - we only email with important updates on our work, info about exciting events, or any campaign actions we need your help with. No daily emails clogging up your Inbox!

🔗Follow the link in the comments to join us!

👕Where does your t-shirt come from and who makes it?

🌏We had a wonderful afternoon in St Joseph's Primary, Inverness, mapping the Journey of a Cotton T-Shirt from the USA to Bangladesh to Spain to Scotland to Kenya!

🇻🇦In Laudato Si Pope Francis urges us to think about our consumption habits and the impact they have on people and planet. Justice & Peace Scotland offer our Journey of a Cotton T-Shirt workshop to explore these issues and investigate what the connection is between the Pope's message and the contents of our wardrobe!

📩Get in touch to find out more and book a free visit today.

📢CALL FOR INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY TO INSIST ISRAEL OVERTUN UNRWA BAN

🚫UNRWA, the UN agency that supports the relief and development of the Palestinian refugee population, has been banned from operating following an act passed by the Israeli government.

❌The ban will jeopardise the lives, education and healthcare of millions of Palestinians across the Occupied Palestinian Territory and risks undermining the fragile ceasefire in Gaza.

🏥No entity can replace UNRWA owing to the scale of its operations across Gaza, the West Bank and East Jerusalem. UNRWA operates 140 primary health facilities and 706 schools.

📃Foreign Ministers from the UK, France & Germany have issued a statement underscoring their support for UNRWA’s mandate to operate in the region and urged Israel to abide by its international obligations and ensure full, rapid, safe and unhindered humanitarian assistance and the provision of basic services to the civilian population.

📢 Justice & Peace Scotland add our voice to the many urging the international community to demand that the Israeli authorities urgently overturn the ban and allow UNRWA unhindered delivery of its crucial services. You can help by sharing these calls and by contacting your MP urging them to advocate for the protection of UNRWA and its services.

📷Image credit: UNRWA USA