Justice & Peace

For the month of September, the Social Impact Team this morning hosted prayer for CDA staff at Pompallier Diocesan Centre, Auckland. After an extraordinary week of mourning and celebration it was most appropriate that monthly morning staff prayers should be equally sombre and exuberant, joyful and sad, solemn and spirited. This morning the Social Impact Team were blessed by the presence and participation of our extended whanau from Catholic Social Services Ponsonby and Otara. Prayer began with a moment of silence to acknowledge the recent passings of Kiingi Tuheitia Pooatatau Te Wherowhero VII – Māori King and Paramount Chief of …
Read More about Beautiful Beginnings & Sorrowful Endings: CDA Staff Prayer September 2024

  Please read Commission Media Statement here: Remembering Kiingi Tuheitia Pooatatau Te Wherowhero VII

366 days as the Executive Secretary to the Justice and Peace Commission has been both a psalm and a lament. Inheriting a dynasty now in its eleventh year was not without its quibbles or conflicts, nor has the past year been without pain or loss. Akin to the parable, this seed, which was the final picking of Pat Lythe, has been crushed, cleaned, sieved and reshaped before falling on good ground. The yield and harvest are expected to be fruitful, but this dynasty created over many moons also requires adequate sunlight and time to grow (aren’t parables fun!). As Spring …
Read More about Year One: A Year of Growth

Today it is an honour and a privilege to support and celebrate the International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples. This year’s theme focuses on the right to voluntary isolation and initial contact of indigenous peoples. While we cannot, nor wish to, erase the past we can learn and develop from it.   We all need to know our history and the different legacies it has left to Māori and Tau Iwi. In many parts of the world, indigenous peoples face the loss of land, of language, of culture and identity. We have an opportunity to heal wounds that have …
Read More about International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples 2024

Remembering Pat…. It is with great sadness we remember and pray for the soul of our dear friend and former Chair to the Justice and Peace Commission, Pat Lythe who passed away this morning after a brief but stoic battle with cancer. There was no mistaking when Pat was in a room or a meeting. Her direct, no nonsense, steadfast, and matronly spirit knew no restraint. Yet, she could exhibit and inhabit a genuine warmth and caring kindness which belied her firm school Ma’am exterior. Her encouraging, tough-love approach could break through the most stubborn and headstrong of personalities, while …
Read More about Vale Dame Pat Lythe

Foodbank collectives are united in their response that a reduction in government funding will reduce the amount of food and support provided, perpetuating a brutal and often unbreakable cycle of hardship, hunger and poverty. Loraine Elliott, Vicar for Social Impact and Communications for the Catholic Diocese of Auckland states: “Every food bank, no matter the size or origin, is fulfilling a desperate need in our community. This need, this hunger – is not shrinking, but only growing daily due to cost of living expenses.” ‘For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you …
Read More about Fund the foodbanks, feed the poor!

Today started in the wee hours before dawn when the roads were surprisingly deserted. We made our trek to the rooftop widow’s walk of PDC to collectively cast the net of our prayers, losses, hopes, dreams and intentions to the rising of Matariki. Some of us were lucky enough to sight Matariki in a well-timed clearing of cloud while up on the roof. We then gathered for a dawn prayer service where our Catholic and Christian beliefs intermingled with Māori tradition in the perfect meld of praise and honour for all God’s creation and creatures, and a genuine appreciation and …
Read More about A Many Varied Day – Matariki 2024

Read the Justice and Peace Media Statement for the 2024 Budget A tax cut lunch? Child and family poverty? A plus and minus for education? Climate change survival? Are the wheels on the bus and our trains on track? Are our roads and houses up to scratch? Maybe a slice for Te Matatini? Or addressing inequities? Are there budget short falls? Who are the winners this budget? What will Christmas bring?   What are your thoughts on this year’s budget? Click here to read: A Tax Deficit Budget Justice and Peace Commission Auckland Budget Media Statement 2024