July 17th, 2008
This month’s Commission meeting takes the form of a Prayer Walk around Osmotherley so part of this issue of the Newsletter has an Environmental theme. Those of us fortunate enough to …
Those of us fortunate enough to have access to the countryside can enjoy the healing properties of a walk in which we can breathe in the clean air and at same time look around at the beauty of creation. However the overall situation worldwide is nowhere near as happy. Of the damage caused by global warming, according to the UN’s Intergovernmental panel on climate change, 90% is caused by human activity. We should add to that the effect of war, including the actual explosive materials, the fuel burnt by planes, ships, armoured carriers and tanks, and then all the residual environmental damage caused by warfare, including depleted uranium residues and unexploded weaponry. It is surprising that, as Bruce Kent told us in May, these side effects of war seem never to be taken into account.
Contributions from readers are always welcome so I am particularly grateful to Sophie Harrison, a parishioner of St Hedda’s, Egton Bridge for agreeing to write a piece on her recent appointment as a Youth Advisor for UNICEF.
The Inaugural Anthony Storey Lecture at the University of Hull in May, organized by the Commission, was a great success. Something like two hundred people enjoyed a brilliant introduction by Professor Eamon Duffy to a wide ranging lecture by Paul Vallely. If you missed it, make sure that you come next year. Chris Dove
Note: the views expressed in this newsletter do not necessarily coincide with those of the Commission
Long term damage 23 years ago on the night of December 3, 1984, clouds of toxic gas escaped from Union Carbide’s pesticide plant in Bhopal, Central India. Hundreds of children are still being born with birth defects as a result of what was the world’s worst industrial disaster. The gas killed 5,000 people that night and 15,000 more in the following weeks. The Indian government stopped all research on the medical effects 14 years ago, without explanation The disused Union Carbide plant contains about 8,000 tonnes of carcinogenic chemicals that continue to leach out and contaminate the water supplies used by about 30,000 people. The clean-up has been stalled by bureaucratic indifference, legal actions and rows over corporate responsibility. Dow Chemicals, which bought the factory in 2001, says that because the plant is on government land it is up to the state to clean it up. However officials say that Dow should pay $24.6m to dismantle the factory and restore the fields. Source: Guardian Weekly 9 May 2008
Humans cause 90% of environmental damage. Global warming is disrupting wildlife and the environment on every continent, according to a study that reveals the extent to which climate change is already affecting ecosytems. In the study reported in the journal Nature, researchers analysed reports highlighting changes in populations or behaviour of 28,800 animal and plant species, as well as focussing on environmental effects, including surging rivers, retreating glaciers and shifting forests. In 90% of cases the shifts in wildlife can only be explained by global warming, while 95% of environmental changes were consistent with rising temperatures. Source: Guardian Weekly 23 May 2008
Should we link nuclear disarmament and climate change? For years now it has been argued that we need to have a nuclear submarine fleet because it acts as a deterrent, to prevent any nuclear attack on the UK. But post-Cold War we no longer have any target, we have no nuclear armed enemy. Today’s threats are terrorism, climate change, global economic meltdown – and no nuclear weapons will help to defeat them. As retired Royal Navy Commander, Robert Green, puts it: “Weapons stimulate hostility, create instability, promote proliferation and generate an arms race. They represent terrorist logic on the grandest scale imaginable.” There is now growing support for a Nuclear Weapons Convention that would provide a framework and timetable for disarmament. Even the US appears to be changing its attitude, as seen in an open letter to the Wall Street Journal in January 2008.
The letter was signed by two former Secretaries of State (George Schultz and Henry Kissinger); a former Secretary of Defense (Wm.J Perry) and a retired Chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee (Sam Nunn). They argued that nuclear weapons are fuelling insecurity, which is in no-one’s interest, and that the US and Russia must take the lead in disarming. In the Presidential primaries Barack Obama stated: ‘It would be a profound mistake for us to use nuclear weapons in any circumstances’ in Afghanistan or Pakistan.
Using such weapons in situations involving civilians is ‘not on the table’ he continued. Subsequently he has pledged to work towards elimination. Having won the Democratic nomination, he could turn out to be the most pro-disarmament President of all time.
In Britain the situation has reached a pivotal moment. The nuclear submarine fleet is based in Scotland, which now has its own parliament.
Although under the terms of devolution the Assembly is not supposed to interfere in ‘foreign policy’ issues, they can reject Trident based on international law as well as moral grounds.
The Scottish National Party came to power in 2007 against a back-drop of a year-long anti-nuke campaign and 70% of the Scottish public don’t want to host Britain’s bombs any more. A parliamentary coalition has been set up to explore legal options, such as using health and safety and environmental legislation to hit Westminster with a massive fine very time a convoy carrying nuclear warheads from Aldermaston crosses the border!
Campaigners say that there will be a colossal defence spending crunch – not the time to be spending around £70-80bn over the next three decades to replace Trident. Campaigners believe we should be linking the abolition of nuclear weapons to the fight against climate change. Why not use the £70-80bn to finance a wholesale shift to renewable energy? They argue that Britain could supply 50% of its energy from offshore wave and windpower by 2030 by diverting funds and skills directly from nuclear submarine manufacturing.
Brenda Boardman of the Oxford University Environmental Change Institute estimates it would cost £12-13bn a year to reduce UK housing carbon emissions by 80%. Scrapping the Trident replacement programme would make this a lot more possible. Source: New Internationalist June 2008
Priorities? “In the past six months the G8 countries have found a trillion dollars to bail out their banks. It shows what can be achieved by a concerted effort by the global economy!” Source: Observer 15 June 2008 “Can there be any threat more alarming, in today’s world, than that of a nuclear or biological weapon falling into the hands of terrorists, or being used by a State, as a result of some terrible misunderstanding or miscalculation? The more States have such weapons, the greater the risk. And, the more those States that already have them increase their arsenals, or insist that such weapons are essential to their national security, the more other States feel that they too must have them, for their security.” Source: Kofi Annan London 31 January 2006
Commission contacts Barbara Hungin Chair 01642 784398 KateWard Secretary 01642 781676 Nan Saeki Treasurer 01904 783621 Chris Dove Editor 01947 825043 email: dove.whitby@phonecoop.coop or 22 Blackburns Yard Whitby YO22 4DS website www.middlesbroughjp.org
Letter to the editor: from Gerry Danaher Baroness Helena Kennedy’s criticism of the Iraq war in your May/June edition is forceful and forthright; it seems only right to put the case for it at the same time. The good case for the war was simple enough: to get rid of a tyrant who had terrorised and impoverished his own people, who had invaded two neighbouring countries, and who – rightly or wrongly – was believed to be ready to do it again if he could get away with it.
There was a hope that by getting rid of this tyrant, prosperity and freedom from fear could be brought to Iraq. This is difficult and may prove impossible. Blame for this lies not with the coalition troops, but with terrorist groups, many of them foreign, who do not want prosperity and freedom to come to Iraq.
It is worth emphasizing these good intentions of the coalition forces because, for reasons of demography, our relationship with the Islamic world is going to be Europe’s most important political problem for the rest of this century. (Due mainly to the spread of western medical expertise since 1945, the Muslim population of North Africa and the Middle East to Pakistan is expected to increase from about 150 million in 1950, to over 1000 million in 2050.) There is now nothing we can do to prevent the increasing influence of Islam in Europe. Despite some Middle Eastern countries having developed effective family planning schemes, populations will continue to increase rapidly in Sudan, Somalia, Palestine, Yemen, Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan, throughout this century. War or no war, the resultant poverty and turmoil will force Muslims to emigrate in large numbers. In the Europe of the future, peace loving Muslims and non-Muslims may be able to withstand those who seek power by terror, but it will be difficult. It will be less difficult if we can help Iraq to become prosperous and free from fear. Is there a glimmer of hope? President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad of Iran had an enthusiastic welcome to Baghdad in March this year, and President Talabani greeted him with a double handshake and a beaming smile. The Iranian President said he was “truly happy” to be visiting an Iraq “without the dictator” Saddam Hussain. At least the two Presidents are happy. It’s a start. Programme for 2008 Sep 20: ‘Enriching Our Communities’ -a Celebration of the contributions to our society from those seeking asylum in the Tees Valley. Sacred Heart Middsbro’ If you wrote about Cluster weapons thank you and congratulations, it worked! Dublin, Ireland, May 21st, 2008 Campaigners pushing for a ban on cluster bombs welcome this afternoon’s statement from Gordon Brown and call on the UK to now give up their remaining cluster bomb stocks and sign up to the treaty. In response to a question this afternoon, a Number 10 spokesperson said in a public statement that: “The PM has issued instructions that we should work intensively to ban cluster bombs that cause unacceptable harm to civilians. We have already banned two types of cluster bombs, neither of which had a self-destruct or deactivation mechanism. The prime minister has asked the MOD to assess the remaining munitions in use to ensure that there is no risk to civilians” Simon Conway, Co-chair Cluster Munition Coalition and Director of Landmine Action said: “We are glad that Gordon Brown is making good on his previous public commitment to ban cluster bombs and now expect the UK to give up the M85 and the M73, its remaining stockpile of indiscriminate
cluster bombs”. Up until now the British position has been dominated by their insistence to keep two types of cluster bombs M85 and M73. M85s were used by the British in Iraq in 2003. The M73 has never been deployed by the British, but has been used by the Americans in Iraq. It does not have a self-destruct or deactivation mechanism. Anna Macdonald, Head of Arms Control for Oxfam said: “Britain has at last come in from the cold – we hope that this strong statement from the Prime Minister will ensure that the UK signs onto the treaty and immediately gets rid of these weapons which maim and kill long after they have been dropped”. Campaigners and survivors from the Cluster Munition Coalition hope that this statement by Gordon Brown will provide evidence that there is room for manoever and may encourage other countries
of concern to reconsider their position. Source: Landmine Action Sophie – Youth Advisor UNICEF UNICEF is one of the world’s largest charities, working in 191 countries and with high profile supporters like David Beckham, to improve the health and welfare of young people, particularly in some of the world’s poorest countries. Established after WW2 the United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund puts young people and the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) at the heart of their policies, which means a real effort is made to involve the youth of today in all aspects of their work. One way that they do this is by setting up a team of Youth Advisors who are a group 15 young people that work together to help raise awareness locally and nationally of global issues. As a youth advisor I work with the UNICEF team to increase youth governance and raise awareness affectively and innovatively. I am very passionate about the involvement of young people at the highest levels, from local committees to governments. Two years ago UNICEF gave me the opportunity to address world leaders at the G8 summit in St. Petersburg, showing that young people’s views can be taken very seriously. The UNCRC states that young people have the right to get involved in decision making that will affect them, and I feel that it is our social responsibility to make the most of this and to get out there and get active! As Benjamin Disraeli once said ‘the youth of a nation are the trustees of prosperity’. The future is ours, and it is our duty to shape and mould it! In my role as Youth Advisor I am focussing on peer education and producing resources for youth groups and schools to use, passing on knowledge to raise awareness among other young people. Educating young people on global issues like HIV/AIDS is hugely important and a real step to help preventing such problems worsening. HIV/AIDS is a disease that knows no barriers and affects every class, colour, sexuality and gender, and as Nelson Mandela recently said ‘aids is the greatest war against humanity’. In early August I will be attending the 17th International Aids Conference in Mexico City to discuss this situation and gain in depth knowledge and skills. I intend to utilize these in my work with UNICEF particularly at the annual outreach road shows which the Youth Advisors will be organising later on this year. I really enjoy my work as a Youth Advisor and see it as an opportunity for young people to become directly involved with issues facing our society today. This could include campaigning, lobbying politicians and fund raising. If you want to get active you can find out more at http://www.unicef.org.uk/youthvoice/
Holy Spirit of God.
Renew my hope for a world free from the cruelty and evil of war so that we may all come to share
in God’s peace and justice. Amen
Sunday, 27 July 2008
May/June 2008
April 30th, 2008
As we approach what is for many the most beautiful season of the year, we cannot fail to be aware that
Editorial As we approach what is for many the most beautiful season of the year, we cannot fail to be aware that the inequalities and injustices in the world seem to be increasing: in our own country and in the world as a whole the poor are getting poorer and the gap between “the haves and the have-nots” is widening. For those of us who are concerned for justice and peace, however, this is not a time for discouragement and despair, but for renewed effort and commitment. Following our May meeting at which Bruce Kent is our speaker we have our annual prayer walk with a theme of Light. Further details relating to this are to be found at the end of this issue. In the March issue we asked readers to get in touch with suggestions or comments as to how the Commission could become more effective. To date we have only had one reply, maybe this just reflects a general lack of interest in the matter. But we remain convinced that as Bishop Terry wrote: “No-one can take the Gospel to heart without acquiring a taste for justice and peace. Nor can this ever be merely an academic exercise or remain in the realm of theory.” So we still await your ideas as to how we should do this. Please do write to your MP to ask that the UK government makes an effort to get an international ban on the use of cluster weapons at the May conference in Dublin. (see below) Sr Mary Walmsley has been unable to attend meetings due to new commitments so she has had to resign. We are very grateful for all her valuable work and commitment. Fortunately Kate Ward has very kindly agreed to take on the work as Secretary. And finally, may I apologise for two mistakes in the March/April Newsletter. First, the Inaugural Anthony Storey Lecture at the University of Hull, Lindsey Suite, Staff House Cottingham Road will be from 10.30am till 1pm not 3pm on 17th May. And our September meeting, that will celebrate the contributions to our society from those seeking asylum in the Tees Valley, is not on September 10 but September 20th. Chris Dove Note: the views expresses in this newsletter do not necessarily coincide with those of the Commission
Law not War March 2008 marked the fifth anniversary of the start of the invasion of Iraq. On Remembrance Day 2007 Baroness Helena Kennedy QC gave a lecture at the Imperial War Museum. In it she said: “I believe the Iraq war to be illegal and immoral. I have no doubt that Saddam Hussain and his oppressive regime were responsible for egregious crimes against the people of Iraq. I signed petitions against his dictatorship and met with some of his victims who sought asylum here. I am sure many Iraqis, particularly the Kurds who suffered so monstrously at his hands must feel a degree of elation that he is gone, but I reject that war was the only means to securing Iraqi freedom. In addition to not having been authorised by the United Nations, the war was opposed by world opinion and especially by the people of the Middle East. It was also based on widespread deception by government and officials here and in the USA as to the threat of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. By its actions our government violated the right of all of us citizens in democratic society to trust in the integrity of leaders, especially in matters of war and peace. By what right can we visit war on a country that was not threatening us; by what right can we ignore the laws of war, by what right do we tear up the international conventions painstakingly under construction in the hope of creating a world ordered upon respect for humanity and a desire for peace? Those who supported the war on the basis that legal niceties should be forgotten when we have the opportunity to remove a dictator should consider the precedent set and the implications for the rule of law in such a course. There is undoubtedly a need to reform the Security Council with its byzantine, undemocratic workings but it is worth remembering the impulse which created the UN, which was a desire to avoid wars and at every turn to wage peace. Respect for the rule of law and a workable democratic structure of international law will be a far greater guarantor of peace and security than displays of power and might. Law is one of the keys to any new order. Otherwise in our rush to win the so-called war against terrorism we will unleash an even greater terror.” Source: Pax Christi.
We remember
* 1.2 million Iraqi people have been killed directly or indirectly. As a result of the destruction of infrastructure tens of thousands experience malnutrition and disease.
* since 2003 there as been a mass exodus of people fleeing from the ongoing violence and occupation. More than 4.4 million Iraqis have left their homes. Some 2.2 million are displaced internally and more than 2 million have fled to neighbouring countries, Syria, Jordan and Lebanon.
* the UN High Commissioner for Refugees reports that one in five Iraqi refugees registered in Syria is the victim of violence. 10% of the young children of these refugee families are working for a living.
* tens of thousands of Iraqis are detained, many without trial. A UN Human Rights report in June 2003 expressed concern about the Multinational Force’s detention practices, and in particular the internment of suspects for prolonged periods without judicial review of their cases,
* according to the MoD the UK has spent £5 billion on the war in Iraq over and above the UK’s defence budget. Source: Christian Peace Witness for Iraq
Cluster weapons [yet again] In our May/June 2007 newsletter we reported some good news, that the UK government had agreed to “join a fast track process to negotiate a ban on cluster bombs.” Sadly this seems to be no longer the case. In 2006 the MoD called the Hydra CRV-7 system a cluster weapon. In July 2007, the Armed Forces Minister. Bob Ainsworth, said they did not after all fall within the government’s “understanding of a cluster munition”. So it is the same weapon causing the same lethal destruction; the only difference is that the name has been changed Source: The Guardian Weekly 21.09.07 In the latest Amnesty magazine Martin Bell pleads for a ban on the use of cluster bombs to be agreed at the next meeting of the international group which takes place in Dublin in May. He writes “A treaty banning cluster bombs can be a reality in 2008. Such a treaty will not only protect future generations – it will also provide assistance to the victims of these weapons and mobilise more support for the work of removing the millions of explosive devices already littered round the world. The legacy of such a treaty will be lasting and tangible. Multilateral action is being made to work. People will live who would otherwise die. Our government is still dragging its feet on the issue – supporting aspects of the ban but wanting some of its own cluster bombs to remain in service. Let’s change this.”
Cluster weapons [latest update]
Factfile
* One cluster bomb container will typically spread submunitions over an area the size of 2-4 football fields, effectively carpet bombing that area.
* Unexploded submunitions remain from attacks in 1970s and still kill people.
* One third of reported cluster bomb casualties are children. In Southeast Asia at least 60% are children.
* In February 2007, 46 states agreed in Oslo to conclude in 2008 a treaty prohibiting cluster munitions that cause unacceptable harm to civilians. * In May 2007 68 states participated in a treaty preparation meeting in Lima. In December 2007 in a meeting in Vienna 138 states joined in and in February 2008, in Wellington New Zealand, a further 103 states, but still not Britain Can we hope that the UK will join the others in making the treaty a reality? I feel it is most important that as many people as possible write to their MP and/or David Milliband urging the government to support the Oslo Process to negotiate a new international instrument to ban the production, sale or use of cluster weapons. The UK must stop trying to get exemptions for types of cluster weapons that they argue are “safe”. This only risks creating loopholes that other nations will seek to exploit.
The push for more military spending The past few months have seen the beginning of an unprecedented campaign to raise military spending. A new organisation called the United Kingdom National Defence Association (UKNDA) was launched by a group of former military chiefs and politicians. A few weeks later, during a debate in the House of Lords, five former defence chiefs condemned the government for failing to fund the armed services “adequately”. All five happened to be patrons or vice-presidents of the UKNDA.
The UKNDA argues that while the Defence budget was 5.3% of GDP in 1984, it is now down to 2.2% and their demand is for this to increase to at least 3% – an increase of 35-40% over current levels, and the Conservative Defence Policy calls for a 50% increase. To support their arguments for these increases proponents point to the injuries and fatalities suffered by the armed forces in Iraq and Afghanistan and claim this is due to ‘inadequate resources’. They also call for increased spending on forces’ housing, education facilities and better medical care for those injured on active service. However, the UKNDA and Conservatives are choosing to compare today’s military spending with that of the height of the Cold War (1984).
The reality is that under the Comprehensive Spending Review of July 2007, the Defence budget for 2008-9 would be £34 bn, rising in 2009-10 to £35.3 bn and then to £36.9 bn in 2010-11, an increase of £7.7 bn over the three years. On top of this, by July 2007, we had spent £6.6bn on the Iraq and Afhganistan wars according to MoD figures . In fact the UK has the highest per capita spending on the military in Europe, second only in the world to the USA. Then, according to the National Audit Office report in November 2007, investigating new weapons systems on order for the MoD, the current top ten (by spending) military projects are currently estimated to cost just over £36 bn – more than the entire MoD budget for 1 year! And that doesn’t include the projected cost of replacing Trident – £20-25 bn. The obvious way forward is to call for the reallocation of the huge sums spent on military equipment into more productive areas. In fact there are plenty of security issues it could be spent on – countering climate change and conflict prevention are just two examples. If we are serious about peace and security we need to spend our money wisely. Rather than defence being too low on the list of priorities, war is far too high up on the list. Source: Fellowship of Reconciliation peace by peace Spring 2008
Depleted Uranium [DU] DU is nuclear waste left over after enrichment activities in the nuclear weapons and nuclear power industries. DU is chemically toxic and radioactive. It is used in armour-piercing munitions because of its very high density – 1.7 times that of lead. It is also used as armour in battle tanks, as ballast in some cruise missiles and in small amounts in some types of landmines. Why hasn’t the case for banning the use of DU ammunition been successful? It was easier to make a case against landmines, and similarly now against cluster weapons – the horrific results can seen wherever they have been used. But the remnants of DU weapons are less visible; it is a much slower story of toxic and/or radioactive poisoning, the long-term effects of which may not be known for generations. It is also dangerous because no-one fully knows what lies in store for future generations.
There are alarming signs from the ailments of people exposed to DU and from the bewildering disorders being shown in some of their children. But they are chronically under-researched. Doctors don’t know how to explain them. The governments that use these weapons and who claim they are safe don’t seem particularly bothered. In March 2007 two Australian soldiers active during the Gulf War of 1991 tested positive for DU contamination a full 15 years after their return from Iraq. The US and UK forces discharged an estimated 280 tonnes of DU ammunition in the first Gulf War. The US Army knew of the dangers six months before the war, in a report that detailed the risks of DU use, including cancer and kidney damage to both ‘natives and combat veterans’, it called for ‘public relations efforts’ to stave off the ‘potential for adverse international reaction’.
Basra Teaching Hospital reports on “a range of cancers increasing exponentially throughout the 1990s”. In July 2007 Iraq’s Environment Minister Nermin Othman called for international assistance following research linking a sharp increase in cancer to 350 DU-contaminated sites across Iraq. Source: New Internationalist November 2007 May 3 Bruce Kent ‘Movement against War’ English Martyrs York. July 19 Prayer Walk Osmotherley. Sep 17: ‘Enriching Our Communities’ - a Celebration of the contributions to our society from those seeking asylum in the Tees Valley. Middlesbrough.
Programme for 2008
Inaugural Anthony Storey Memorial Lecture, Sat 17th May 11.00a.m. – 1pm Lindsey Suite, Staff House, University of Hull, Cottingham Road, Hull. “How to effect real change in the real world – the G8, Geldof and the grassroots” Speaker: Paul Vallely, Associate Editor of the The Independent, former chair of Traidcraft and Progressio. Chaired by: Professor Eamon Duffy, Professor of the History of Christianity, Magdalene College, Cambridge Everyone welcome
Commission contacts Barbara Hungin Chair 01642 784398 KateWard Secretary 01642 781676 Nan Saeki Treasurer 01904 783621 Chris Dove Editor 01947 825043 email: dove.whitby@phonecoop.coop or 22 Blackburns Yard Whitby YO22 4DS website www.middlesbroughjp.org
Please …. Our postage costs have increased yet again so if you find this newsletter of some use to you or your church, perhaps you would consider sending a donation to the Treasurer: Nan Saeki 55 Moorgate York YO24 4HP. It would be very much appreciated.
LIGHT on our SPIRITUALITY DAY This year our Spirituality walk on Saturday 19 July will focus, through the kindness of Fr Damian, on the Lady Chapel at Osmotherley. We start at Cod Beck Reservoir car park at 10am. and the whole walk will be about five miles. There is some uphill walking but nothing very strenuous and we should easily reach the Lady Chapel by noon. At the Lady Chapel there will be a short service, to which everyone is invited to bring a piece of writing on the theme of Light which they find significant. Then we will have our picnic (please bring your own!) which we will have outside unless it is too cold or wet. Fr Damian has kindly arranged for tea and coffee to provided. We will then complete the walk by travelling northward through woodland and back to the car park. If anyone prefers not to walk so far they could meet up with us at the Chapel at noon. So that we do not start without anyone, please let Annie know if you are planning to come on the walk, on 01947 825043 or by email to dove.whitby@phonecoop.coop May the God of peace make you perfect and holy; and may you all be kept safe and blameless, spirit, soul and body, for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. God has called you and he will not fail you. Thessalonians 5:24
A Prayer
As we approach what is for many the most beautiful season of the year, we cannot fail to be aware that
Editorial As we approach what is for many the most beautiful season of the year, we cannot fail to be aware that the inequalities and injustices in the world seem to be increasing: in our own country and in the world as a whole the poor are getting poorer and the gap between “the haves and the have-nots” is widening. For those of us who are concerned for justice and peace, however, this is not a time for discouragement and despair, but for renewed effort and commitment. Following our May meeting at which Bruce Kent is our speaker we have our annual prayer walk with a theme of Light. Further details relating to this are to be found at the end of this issue. In the March issue we asked readers to get in touch with suggestions or comments as to how the Commission could become more effective. To date we have only had one reply, maybe this just reflects a general lack of interest in the matter. But we remain convinced that as Bishop Terry wrote: “No-one can take the Gospel to heart without acquiring a taste for justice and peace. Nor can this ever be merely an academic exercise or remain in the realm of theory.” So we still await your ideas as to how we should do this. Please do write to your MP to ask that the UK government makes an effort to get an international ban on the use of cluster weapons at the May conference in Dublin. (see below) Sr Mary Walmsley has been unable to attend meetings due to new commitments so she has had to resign. We are very grateful for all her valuable work and commitment. Fortunately Kate Ward has very kindly agreed to take on the work as Secretary. And finally, may I apologise for two mistakes in the March/April Newsletter. First, the Inaugural Anthony Storey Lecture at the University of Hull, Lindsey Suite, Staff House Cottingham Road will be from 10.30am till 1pm not 3pm on 17th May. And our September meeting, that will celebrate the contributions to our society from those seeking asylum in the Tees Valley, is not on September 10 but September 20th. Chris Dove Note: the views expresses in this newsletter do not necessarily coincide with those of the Commission
Law not War March 2008 marked the fifth anniversary of the start of the invasion of Iraq. On Remembrance Day 2007 Baroness Helena Kennedy QC gave a lecture at the Imperial War Museum. In it she said: “I believe the Iraq war to be illegal and immoral. I have no doubt that Saddam Hussain and his oppressive regime were responsible for egregious crimes against the people of Iraq. I signed petitions against his dictatorship and met with some of his victims who sought asylum here. I am sure many Iraqis, particularly the Kurds who suffered so monstrously at his hands must feel a degree of elation that he is gone, but I reject that war was the only means to securing Iraqi freedom. In addition to not having been authorised by the United Nations, the war was opposed by world opinion and especially by the people of the Middle East. It was also based on widespread deception by government and officials here and in the USA as to the threat of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. By its actions our government violated the right of all of us citizens in democratic society to trust in the integrity of leaders, especially in matters of war and peace. By what right can we visit war on a country that was not threatening us; by what right can we ignore the laws of war, by what right do we tear up the international conventions painstakingly under construction in the hope of creating a world ordered upon respect for humanity and a desire for peace? Those who supported the war on the basis that legal niceties should be forgotten when we have the opportunity to remove a dictator should consider the precedent set and the implications for the rule of law in such a course. There is undoubtedly a need to reform the Security Council with its byzantine, undemocratic workings but it is worth remembering the impulse which created the UN, which was a desire to avoid wars and at every turn to wage peace. Respect for the rule of law and a workable democratic structure of international law will be a far greater guarantor of peace and security than displays of power and might. Law is one of the keys to any new order. Otherwise in our rush to win the so-called war against terrorism we will unleash an even greater terror.” Source: Pax Christi.
We remember
* 1.2 million Iraqi people have been killed directly or indirectly. As a result of the destruction of infrastructure tens of thousands experience malnutrition and disease.
* since 2003 there as been a mass exodus of people fleeing from the ongoing violence and occupation. More than 4.4 million Iraqis have left their homes. Some 2.2 million are displaced internally and more than 2 million have fled to neighbouring countries, Syria, Jordan and Lebanon.
* the UN High Commissioner for Refugees reports that one in five Iraqi refugees registered in Syria is the victim of violence. 10% of the young children of these refugee families are working for a living.
* tens of thousands of Iraqis are detained, many without trial. A UN Human Rights report in June 2003 expressed concern about the Multinational Force’s detention practices, and in particular the internment of suspects for prolonged periods without judicial review of their cases,
* according to the MoD the UK has spent £5 billion on the war in Iraq over and above the UK’s defence budget. Source: Christian Peace Witness for Iraq
Cluster weapons [yet again] In our May/June 2007 newsletter we reported some good news, that the UK government had agreed to “join a fast track process to negotiate a ban on cluster bombs.” Sadly this seems to be no longer the case. In 2006 the MoD called the Hydra CRV-7 system a cluster weapon. In July 2007, the Armed Forces Minister. Bob Ainsworth, said they did not after all fall within the government’s “understanding of a cluster munition”. So it is the same weapon causing the same lethal destruction; the only difference is that the name has been changed Source: The Guardian Weekly 21.09.07 In the latest Amnesty magazine Martin Bell pleads for a ban on the use of cluster bombs to be agreed at the next meeting of the international group which takes place in Dublin in May. He writes “A treaty banning cluster bombs can be a reality in 2008. Such a treaty will not only protect future generations – it will also provide assistance to the victims of these weapons and mobilise more support for the work of removing the millions of explosive devices already littered round the world. The legacy of such a treaty will be lasting and tangible. Multilateral action is being made to work. People will live who would otherwise die. Our government is still dragging its feet on the issue – supporting aspects of the ban but wanting some of its own cluster bombs to remain in service. Let’s change this.”
Cluster weapons [latest update]
Factfile
* One cluster bomb container will typically spread submunitions over an area the size of 2-4 football fields, effectively carpet bombing that area.
* Unexploded submunitions remain from attacks in 1970s and still kill people.
* One third of reported cluster bomb casualties are children. In Southeast Asia at least 60% are children.
* In February 2007, 46 states agreed in Oslo to conclude in 2008 a treaty prohibiting cluster munitions that cause unacceptable harm to civilians. * In May 2007 68 states participated in a treaty preparation meeting in Lima. In December 2007 in a meeting in Vienna 138 states joined in and in February 2008, in Wellington New Zealand, a further 103 states, but still not Britain Can we hope that the UK will join the others in making the treaty a reality? I feel it is most important that as many people as possible write to their MP and/or David Milliband urging the government to support the Oslo Process to negotiate a new international instrument to ban the production, sale or use of cluster weapons. The UK must stop trying to get exemptions for types of cluster weapons that they argue are “safe”. This only risks creating loopholes that other nations will seek to exploit.
The push for more military spending The past few months have seen the beginning of an unprecedented campaign to raise military spending. A new organisation called the United Kingdom National Defence Association (UKNDA) was launched by a group of former military chiefs and politicians. A few weeks later, during a debate in the House of Lords, five former defence chiefs condemned the government for failing to fund the armed services “adequately”. All five happened to be patrons or vice-presidents of the UKNDA.
The UKNDA argues that while the Defence budget was 5.3% of GDP in 1984, it is now down to 2.2% and their demand is for this to increase to at least 3% – an increase of 35-40% over current levels, and the Conservative Defence Policy calls for a 50% increase. To support their arguments for these increases proponents point to the injuries and fatalities suffered by the armed forces in Iraq and Afghanistan and claim this is due to ‘inadequate resources’. They also call for increased spending on forces’ housing, education facilities and better medical care for those injured on active service. However, the UKNDA and Conservatives are choosing to compare today’s military spending with that of the height of the Cold War (1984).
The reality is that under the Comprehensive Spending Review of July 2007, the Defence budget for 2008-9 would be £34 bn, rising in 2009-10 to £35.3 bn and then to £36.9 bn in 2010-11, an increase of £7.7 bn over the three years. On top of this, by July 2007, we had spent £6.6bn on the Iraq and Afhganistan wars according to MoD figures . In fact the UK has the highest per capita spending on the military in Europe, second only in the world to the USA. Then, according to the National Audit Office report in November 2007, investigating new weapons systems on order for the MoD, the current top ten (by spending) military projects are currently estimated to cost just over £36 bn – more than the entire MoD budget for 1 year! And that doesn’t include the projected cost of replacing Trident – £20-25 bn. The obvious way forward is to call for the reallocation of the huge sums spent on military equipment into more productive areas. In fact there are plenty of security issues it could be spent on – countering climate change and conflict prevention are just two examples. If we are serious about peace and security we need to spend our money wisely. Rather than defence being too low on the list of priorities, war is far too high up on the list. Source: Fellowship of Reconciliation peace by peace Spring 2008
Depleted Uranium [DU] DU is nuclear waste left over after enrichment activities in the nuclear weapons and nuclear power industries. DU is chemically toxic and radioactive. It is used in armour-piercing munitions because of its very high density – 1.7 times that of lead. It is also used as armour in battle tanks, as ballast in some cruise missiles and in small amounts in some types of landmines. Why hasn’t the case for banning the use of DU ammunition been successful? It was easier to make a case against landmines, and similarly now against cluster weapons – the horrific results can seen wherever they have been used. But the remnants of DU weapons are less visible; it is a much slower story of toxic and/or radioactive poisoning, the long-term effects of which may not be known for generations. It is also dangerous because no-one fully knows what lies in store for future generations.
There are alarming signs from the ailments of people exposed to DU and from the bewildering disorders being shown in some of their children. But they are chronically under-researched. Doctors don’t know how to explain them. The governments that use these weapons and who claim they are safe don’t seem particularly bothered. In March 2007 two Australian soldiers active during the Gulf War of 1991 tested positive for DU contamination a full 15 years after their return from Iraq. The US and UK forces discharged an estimated 280 tonnes of DU ammunition in the first Gulf War. The US Army knew of the dangers six months before the war, in a report that detailed the risks of DU use, including cancer and kidney damage to both ‘natives and combat veterans’, it called for ‘public relations efforts’ to stave off the ‘potential for adverse international reaction’.
Basra Teaching Hospital reports on “a range of cancers increasing exponentially throughout the 1990s”. In July 2007 Iraq’s Environment Minister Nermin Othman called for international assistance following research linking a sharp increase in cancer to 350 DU-contaminated sites across Iraq. Source: New Internationalist November 2007 May 3 Bruce Kent ‘Movement against War’ English Martyrs York. July 19 Prayer Walk Osmotherley. Sep 17: ‘Enriching Our Communities’ - a Celebration of the contributions to our society from those seeking asylum in the Tees Valley. Middlesbrough.
Programme for 2008
Inaugural Anthony Storey Memorial Lecture, Sat 17th May 11.00a.m. – 1pm Lindsey Suite, Staff House, University of Hull, Cottingham Road, Hull. “How to effect real change in the real world – the G8, Geldof and the grassroots” Speaker: Paul Vallely, Associate Editor of the The Independent, former chair of Traidcraft and Progressio. Chaired by: Professor Eamon Duffy, Professor of the History of Christianity, Magdalene College, Cambridge Everyone welcome
Commission contacts Barbara Hungin Chair 01642 784398 KateWard Secretary 01642 781676 Nan Saeki Treasurer 01904 783621 Chris Dove Editor 01947 825043 email: dove.whitby@phonecoop.coop or 22 Blackburns Yard Whitby YO22 4DS website www.middlesbroughjp.org
Please …. Our postage costs have increased yet again so if you find this newsletter of some use to you or your church, perhaps you would consider sending a donation to the Treasurer: Nan Saeki 55 Moorgate York YO24 4HP. It would be very much appreciated.
LIGHT on our SPIRITUALITY DAY This year our Spirituality walk on Saturday 19 July will focus, through the kindness of Fr Damian, on the Lady Chapel at Osmotherley. We start at Cod Beck Reservoir car park at 10am. and the whole walk will be about five miles. There is some uphill walking but nothing very strenuous and we should easily reach the Lady Chapel by noon. At the Lady Chapel there will be a short service, to which everyone is invited to bring a piece of writing on the theme of Light which they find significant. Then we will have our picnic (please bring your own!) which we will have outside unless it is too cold or wet. Fr Damian has kindly arranged for tea and coffee to provided. We will then complete the walk by travelling northward through woodland and back to the car park. If anyone prefers not to walk so far they could meet up with us at the Chapel at noon. So that we do not start without anyone, please let Annie know if you are planning to come on the walk, on 01947 825043 or by email to dove.whitby@phonecoop.coop May the God of peace make you perfect and holy; and may you all be kept safe and blameless, spirit, soul and body, for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. God has called you and he will not fail you. Thessalonians 5:24
A Prayer
MARCH/APRIL 2008
March 30th, 2008
Editorial We were very happy to welcome Bishop Terry at our Core Group meeting at the end of February. This gave us an opportunity to tell him
Editorial We were very happy to welcome Bishop Terry at our Core Group meeting at the end of February. This gave us an opportunity to tell him about the aims and work of the Commission and to ask him to send a message to our readers which you will see below. We look forward to further meetings with him. Poverty and Homeless Action week in January was supposed to mobilise public opinion within the churches and beyond to put pressure on our political leaders to bring about change. However as Church Action on Poverty notes, the least well-off are a third less likely to vote than their affluent counterparts and four times less likely to become school governors. There is a role here for individual Christians and Churches to press not just for an end to child poverty but also towards the goal of ending poverty across all generations in the UK by 2020. Inequality in Britain is at a 40-year high. It cannot be right that boardroom bosses can award themselves multi-million pound bonuses at the same time as their workers still fall below the poverty line. Ten years ago the Catholic Bishops of England and Wales commented in The Common Good: “There must come a point at which the scale of the gap between the very wealthy and those at the bottom of the range of income begins to undermine the common good: this is the point at which society starts to be run for the benefit of the rich, not for all its members.” Perhaps it is time for our bishops to speak again and to insist on a change. Our next meeting will be on May 3 at English Martyrs, York where our speaker is to be the well-known activist Bruce Kent, He is a wonderful speaker so please make a special effort to come. And finally, the Commission have instituted an Annual Anthony Storey Memorial Lecture and we are delighted that the speaker at the inaugural lecture on 17 May will be Paul Vallely. Further details can be found on the last page of the newsletter. Chris Dove
Note: the views expresses in this newsletter do not necessarily coincide with those of the Commission A Message from Bishop Terry As Christians we should know that justice is the bare minimum we owe to one another. It arises out of our natural interdependence. Justice cannot be avoided; it is the foundation of so much else, not least of all peace. Without justice there can be no peace and without peace there can be no civilising society. This is what you might call the natural imperative, but there is more, there is the divine imperative which urges us beyond justice and peace, but certainly presupposes it – namely, the Gospel. No one can take the Gospel to heart without acquiring a thirst for justice and peace. Nor can this ever be merely an academic exercise or remain in the realm of theory.
He has sent me to bring the good news to the poor, to proclaim liberty to captives, and to the blind new sight, to set the downtrodden free, to proclaim the Lord’s year of favour. [1]
Jesus came to proclaim to us the good news of salvation, of freedom, of healing, of truth, of dignity, of respect. Some have wanted to interpret this good news solely in terms of the hereafter – pie in the sky when you die. However, this salvation is for all human kind and for all time. It is also for the here and now. Didn’t Jesus tell us that the Kingdom is here already, that it is overtaking us? The good news is both spiritual and material; it is both for hereafter and the here and now.
Father all-powerful, we praise you for your presence and action in the world. Your Spirit changes our hearts; enemies begin to speak to one another, those who are estranged join hands in friendship and nations seek the way of peace together. Your Spirit is at work when understanding puts an end to strife, when hatred is quenched by mercy, and vengeance gives way to forgiveness.[2]
For us Christians, justice and peace are fundamental, but there is much, much more. Justice and peace are only the beginning. In Christ and through his Spirit we aspire to something even greater, beyond our imagining:
In that new world where the fullness of your peace will be revealed, gather people of every race, language, and way of life to share in the one eternal banquet with Jesus Christ the Lord.[3]
May that new world come, and may we be part of it!
+ Terry
Poverty in Britain A Joseph Rowntree Report in December 2007 said that the British government’s approach to tackling child poverty is in urgent need of a rethink. The number of children in working families that need to escape poverty is rising; half of all children in poverty are in working families, suggesting more needs to be done to tackle the problem of low wages. “Progress on child poverty has stalled at a level that is only half way to the target set two years ago. Tax credits may be working, but they are not enough on their own, yet the government’s budgetary and legislative programme set out in autumn 2007 contains no substantial new ideas about what should be done.”
DID YOU KNOW? the UK has proportionately more poor children than most rich countries one in three UK children lives in poverty – 3.8 million children 2.2 million pensioners are living in poverty 7.2 million working age adults in the UK are living in poverty 70% 0f Bangladeshi children in the UK are poor. women are the majority in the poorest groups London has a higher proportion of people living in poverty that any other region in the UK.
How is poverty calculated? Poverty is calculated as 60% of median income after housing costs. This is the measure of poverty used by most researchers, the EU and the UK governments. In 2005/6 the 60% threshold was worth: £108 per week for single adult with no dependent children. £186 per week for a couple with no dependent children. £223 for a single adult with 2 dependent children. £301 for a couple with 2 dependent children. Save the Children says that the government is 14 years behind its target of halving child poverty by 2010 and eradicating it completely by 2020. Save the Children classes the worst deprivation as that which forces families to live on £19 a day, after paying housing costs. Source: Church Action on Poverty Having touched on the problems of poverty in this country, the following news items give us an insight into the wider picture. UN cannot afford to feed the world The United Nations has warned that it does not have enough money to stave off global malnutrition this year because of a dramatic upward surge in world commodity prices. Using voluntary contributions from the world’s wealthy nations, the World Food Programme (WFP) feeds 73 million people in 78 countries, less than a tenth of the total number of the world’s undernourished. Its agreed budget for 2008 was $2.9bn. But with food price increases around the world of up to 40% this past year, plus serious hikes in fuel costs, that budget is not enough even to maintain current food deliveries. The shortfall comes at a time when many people, particularly in urban areas, who had thought that their food supply was secure, are now unable to afford basic foodstuffs. The head of the WFP, Josette Sheeran said, “There is a new face of hunger. There is food on the shelves but people are priced out of the market. There is vulnerability in urban areas and food riots in countries where we have not seen them before.” Afghanistan, Egypt, India, Pakistan, Malaysia and the Philippines are all involved in varying degrees of desperation. WPF officials say the extraordinary rise in global prices of basic foods were caused by a “perfect storm” of factors: a rise in the demand for animal feed from more prosperous people in India and China; the use of more land and agricultural produce for biofuels; and climate change. “For the poorest populations, 50% to 80% of income goes on food purchases” according to OXFAM. “We are concerned now about an immediate increase in malnutrition in the poorest countries, and the landless, the farm workers there, all those who are living on the edge.” And of course the lower the world food reserves, the more nervous the markets become, and the increased volatility is particularly detrimental to the poor who have small assets. The impact of climate change will amplify that situation. Record flooding in West Africa, a prolonged drought in Australia and unusually severe winter snowstorms in China have all had an impact on the world’s food production this past year. It is expected that the climate change factor will get bigger and this increases the anxieties for markets. Source: The Guardian weekly 29.02.08 Agriculture in the 21st century An article in Le Monde noted that biofuels and increasing meat production are taking the staple foodstuffs from the poor. The higher cost of oil adds to the cost of sea transport, which now accounts for a third of the price of grain, and it boosts the appeal of biofuels, so that sugar, maize, manioc and oil seeds are diverted from the food market. In some African countries palm oil is linked to the price of crude oil and local shoppers can no longer afford it. Because of higher standards of living, people in Brazil, China and India have acquired new tastes. In less than a generation, meat consumption in China has more than doubled, with a direct impact of demand for grains as more and more grains are being fed to animals. If economic growth in emerging countries continues, this trend will do so too. Every year the world has an extra 28.5 million mouths to feed; global population is expected to increase from 6.5 billion people to 9 billion people in the second half of the 21st century, so there is little chance of a drop in demand. To the three factors usually cited – rising population, economic growth and global warming – is added an equally important fourth: continued application of misguided policies. According to the World Bank, for the past 20 years world leaders have ignored agriculture. Although three-quarters of the world’s poor live on the land, agriculture receives only 4% of public aid. The Bank now acknowledges that increased agricultural output and poverty reduction depend on public investment in rural infrastructure: irrigation, roads, transport and energy. We will all have to produce more. Some recommend giving more land to farming, but global warming and urban sprawl are actually reducing the available space. It would also be possible to boost output, but intensive farming uses more water which is becoming a rare and precious resource. This leaves genetically modified plants – but their use is disputed. Agriculture is going to be a big problem in the 21st century. Source: The Guardian weekly 29.02.08 Climate Change The latest science suggests that a stated target of 60% cuts in emissions of CO2 by 2050 is woefully weak. The talk now is of making this 80% and the Christian environmental organisation, Operation Noah, after discussions with such bodies as the Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research and others, is calling for a 90% cut by 2030. Such a target is realistic in the light of the recent statement by the former UK government Chief Scientist, Sir David King, that global warming constitutes a much bigger threat to our society than terrorism. If every country in the G8 pledged a minimum of 10% of its annual military budget to the transformation of its energy economy it would go a long way towards helping to ward off this huge threat to our future security. Source: Mark Dowd. The Tablet 9 February Note: A recommended series of websites offering ways of checking and reducing our carbon footprints include the following. If anyone has tried some please let me know your opinion as to their value. www.carbonfootprint.com climatestewards.net/index.php actonco2.direct.gov.uk/index Many carbon calculators offer you the chance to make a payment to offset your carbon use. There is an argument that offsetting just excuses continued “carbon indulgence” in the rich world. However funding a carefully chosen project to balance the consumption you cannot (yet) change is better than doing nothing. American control of UK bases The Government has been accused of treating Parliament with contempt after committing the Menwith Hill RAF base, in North Yorkshire, to the US missile defence system. RAF Fylingdales, near Pickering, has also been upgraded and could be used in the so-called Son Of Star Wars scheme. Under this scheme, the RAF base at Menwith Hill will house a tracking system that will link to US satellites and interceptor missiles based outside the UK. It is a field station of the US national security agency and has been described as the largest electronic monitoring station in the world. Between 1,500 and 2,000 US nationals from various agencies work there. Lord Wallace of Saltaire, retired professor of international relations at the LSE said: “The abandonment of British sovereignty in the operation of Menwith Hill presents a far greater incursion into British sovereignty that anything the EU has to offer. Menwith Hill is under American control.” Source: York Press The Commission’s Policy Review The programme for 2008 is complete and we are now thinking of what changes we might make from 2009. Over the years there has been a steady fall in the numbers attending Commission meetings. This is in spite of having some excellent speakers on a wide range of subjects. We have tried moving round the diocese, meeting in Middlesbrough, York, Hull, Malton, and Whitby but without making much difference. What is certain is that we are all getting older and this may be a reason for the reduced numbers coming to meetings. But the issues of justice and peace are just as important. So, should there be fewer meetings? Should we still produce 6 issues of the newsletter each year, or would you prefer fewer? If any of our readers have suggestions or comments to make on the work of the Commission that might be of assistance, please do write to Barbara or me. Would you prefer to receive the newsletter by email instead of by post? This would certainly save time and postage costs. For this reason, I will now be emailing the newsletter to those clergy who have email addresses, unless they are receiving batches of the newsletter. I am sure I will be told if this is not wanted! At the same time may I particularly ask those who have been receiving numbers of the newsletter for distribution to let me know if they agree to continue to do this or if [understandably] they feel the need for a break. Chris Please note the new web address for the Commission Commission contacts Barbara Hungin Chair 01642 784398 Nan Saeki Treasurer 01904 783621 Chris Dove Editor 01947 825043 email: dove.whitby@phonecoop.coop or 22 Blackburns Yard Whitby YO22 4DS website:www.middlesbroughjp.org Programme for 2008 May 3 Bruce Kent ‘Movement against War’ English Martyrs York. July 19 – Prayer Walk Osmotherley. Sep 10: ‘Enriching Our Communities’ - a Celebration of the contributions to our society from those seeking asylum in the Tees Valley. Middlesbrough.
Inaugural Anthony Storey Memorial Lecture, Sat 17th May 11.00a.m. – 3pm Lindsey Suite, Staff House, University of Hull, Cottingham Road, Hull. “How to effect real change in the real world – the G8, Geldof and the grassroots” Speaker: Paul Vallely, Associate Editor of the The Independent, former chair of Traidcraft and Progressio. Chaired by: Professor Eamon Duffy, Professor of the History of Christianity, Magdalene College, Cambridge So they say…. Of our limitations: how much difference can an individual make to a catastrophe such as Darfur? In The Talmud, Pirkei Avot says: “It is not given to you to complete the task, but neither are you free to desist.” “Can Christian thinkers shake themselves free from a domestic agenda dominated by a constant tinkering with ecclesial organisation or else an obsessive preoccupation with various aspects of sexuality in order to address the real questions of our day?” From “World Without End – Contours of a post-terrorism world” Leslie Griffiths & Jennifer Potter. Epworth Press 2007
[1] Luke 4.18,19 [2] Eucharistic Prayer for Reconciliation II [3] Eucharistic Prayer for Reconciliation II
Editorial We were very happy to welcome Bishop Terry at our Core Group meeting at the end of February. This gave us an opportunity to tell him
Editorial We were very happy to welcome Bishop Terry at our Core Group meeting at the end of February. This gave us an opportunity to tell him about the aims and work of the Commission and to ask him to send a message to our readers which you will see below. We look forward to further meetings with him. Poverty and Homeless Action week in January was supposed to mobilise public opinion within the churches and beyond to put pressure on our political leaders to bring about change. However as Church Action on Poverty notes, the least well-off are a third less likely to vote than their affluent counterparts and four times less likely to become school governors. There is a role here for individual Christians and Churches to press not just for an end to child poverty but also towards the goal of ending poverty across all generations in the UK by 2020. Inequality in Britain is at a 40-year high. It cannot be right that boardroom bosses can award themselves multi-million pound bonuses at the same time as their workers still fall below the poverty line. Ten years ago the Catholic Bishops of England and Wales commented in The Common Good: “There must come a point at which the scale of the gap between the very wealthy and those at the bottom of the range of income begins to undermine the common good: this is the point at which society starts to be run for the benefit of the rich, not for all its members.” Perhaps it is time for our bishops to speak again and to insist on a change. Our next meeting will be on May 3 at English Martyrs, York where our speaker is to be the well-known activist Bruce Kent, He is a wonderful speaker so please make a special effort to come. And finally, the Commission have instituted an Annual Anthony Storey Memorial Lecture and we are delighted that the speaker at the inaugural lecture on 17 May will be Paul Vallely. Further details can be found on the last page of the newsletter. Chris Dove
Note: the views expresses in this newsletter do not necessarily coincide with those of the Commission A Message from Bishop Terry As Christians we should know that justice is the bare minimum we owe to one another. It arises out of our natural interdependence. Justice cannot be avoided; it is the foundation of so much else, not least of all peace. Without justice there can be no peace and without peace there can be no civilising society. This is what you might call the natural imperative, but there is more, there is the divine imperative which urges us beyond justice and peace, but certainly presupposes it – namely, the Gospel. No one can take the Gospel to heart without acquiring a thirst for justice and peace. Nor can this ever be merely an academic exercise or remain in the realm of theory.
He has sent me to bring the good news to the poor, to proclaim liberty to captives, and to the blind new sight, to set the downtrodden free, to proclaim the Lord’s year of favour. [1]
Jesus came to proclaim to us the good news of salvation, of freedom, of healing, of truth, of dignity, of respect. Some have wanted to interpret this good news solely in terms of the hereafter – pie in the sky when you die. However, this salvation is for all human kind and for all time. It is also for the here and now. Didn’t Jesus tell us that the Kingdom is here already, that it is overtaking us? The good news is both spiritual and material; it is both for hereafter and the here and now.
Father all-powerful, we praise you for your presence and action in the world. Your Spirit changes our hearts; enemies begin to speak to one another, those who are estranged join hands in friendship and nations seek the way of peace together. Your Spirit is at work when understanding puts an end to strife, when hatred is quenched by mercy, and vengeance gives way to forgiveness.[2]
For us Christians, justice and peace are fundamental, but there is much, much more. Justice and peace are only the beginning. In Christ and through his Spirit we aspire to something even greater, beyond our imagining:
In that new world where the fullness of your peace will be revealed, gather people of every race, language, and way of life to share in the one eternal banquet with Jesus Christ the Lord.[3]
May that new world come, and may we be part of it!
+ Terry
Poverty in Britain A Joseph Rowntree Report in December 2007 said that the British government’s approach to tackling child poverty is in urgent need of a rethink. The number of children in working families that need to escape poverty is rising; half of all children in poverty are in working families, suggesting more needs to be done to tackle the problem of low wages. “Progress on child poverty has stalled at a level that is only half way to the target set two years ago. Tax credits may be working, but they are not enough on their own, yet the government’s budgetary and legislative programme set out in autumn 2007 contains no substantial new ideas about what should be done.”
DID YOU KNOW? the UK has proportionately more poor children than most rich countries one in three UK children lives in poverty – 3.8 million children 2.2 million pensioners are living in poverty 7.2 million working age adults in the UK are living in poverty 70% 0f Bangladeshi children in the UK are poor. women are the majority in the poorest groups London has a higher proportion of people living in poverty that any other region in the UK.
How is poverty calculated? Poverty is calculated as 60% of median income after housing costs. This is the measure of poverty used by most researchers, the EU and the UK governments. In 2005/6 the 60% threshold was worth: £108 per week for single adult with no dependent children. £186 per week for a couple with no dependent children. £223 for a single adult with 2 dependent children. £301 for a couple with 2 dependent children. Save the Children says that the government is 14 years behind its target of halving child poverty by 2010 and eradicating it completely by 2020. Save the Children classes the worst deprivation as that which forces families to live on £19 a day, after paying housing costs. Source: Church Action on Poverty Having touched on the problems of poverty in this country, the following news items give us an insight into the wider picture. UN cannot afford to feed the world The United Nations has warned that it does not have enough money to stave off global malnutrition this year because of a dramatic upward surge in world commodity prices. Using voluntary contributions from the world’s wealthy nations, the World Food Programme (WFP) feeds 73 million people in 78 countries, less than a tenth of the total number of the world’s undernourished. Its agreed budget for 2008 was $2.9bn. But with food price increases around the world of up to 40% this past year, plus serious hikes in fuel costs, that budget is not enough even to maintain current food deliveries. The shortfall comes at a time when many people, particularly in urban areas, who had thought that their food supply was secure, are now unable to afford basic foodstuffs. The head of the WFP, Josette Sheeran said, “There is a new face of hunger. There is food on the shelves but people are priced out of the market. There is vulnerability in urban areas and food riots in countries where we have not seen them before.” Afghanistan, Egypt, India, Pakistan, Malaysia and the Philippines are all involved in varying degrees of desperation. WPF officials say the extraordinary rise in global prices of basic foods were caused by a “perfect storm” of factors: a rise in the demand for animal feed from more prosperous people in India and China; the use of more land and agricultural produce for biofuels; and climate change. “For the poorest populations, 50% to 80% of income goes on food purchases” according to OXFAM. “We are concerned now about an immediate increase in malnutrition in the poorest countries, and the landless, the farm workers there, all those who are living on the edge.” And of course the lower the world food reserves, the more nervous the markets become, and the increased volatility is particularly detrimental to the poor who have small assets. The impact of climate change will amplify that situation. Record flooding in West Africa, a prolonged drought in Australia and unusually severe winter snowstorms in China have all had an impact on the world’s food production this past year. It is expected that the climate change factor will get bigger and this increases the anxieties for markets. Source: The Guardian weekly 29.02.08 Agriculture in the 21st century An article in Le Monde noted that biofuels and increasing meat production are taking the staple foodstuffs from the poor. The higher cost of oil adds to the cost of sea transport, which now accounts for a third of the price of grain, and it boosts the appeal of biofuels, so that sugar, maize, manioc and oil seeds are diverted from the food market. In some African countries palm oil is linked to the price of crude oil and local shoppers can no longer afford it. Because of higher standards of living, people in Brazil, China and India have acquired new tastes. In less than a generation, meat consumption in China has more than doubled, with a direct impact of demand for grains as more and more grains are being fed to animals. If economic growth in emerging countries continues, this trend will do so too. Every year the world has an extra 28.5 million mouths to feed; global population is expected to increase from 6.5 billion people to 9 billion people in the second half of the 21st century, so there is little chance of a drop in demand. To the three factors usually cited – rising population, economic growth and global warming – is added an equally important fourth: continued application of misguided policies. According to the World Bank, for the past 20 years world leaders have ignored agriculture. Although three-quarters of the world’s poor live on the land, agriculture receives only 4% of public aid. The Bank now acknowledges that increased agricultural output and poverty reduction depend on public investment in rural infrastructure: irrigation, roads, transport and energy. We will all have to produce more. Some recommend giving more land to farming, but global warming and urban sprawl are actually reducing the available space. It would also be possible to boost output, but intensive farming uses more water which is becoming a rare and precious resource. This leaves genetically modified plants – but their use is disputed. Agriculture is going to be a big problem in the 21st century. Source: The Guardian weekly 29.02.08 Climate Change The latest science suggests that a stated target of 60% cuts in emissions of CO2 by 2050 is woefully weak. The talk now is of making this 80% and the Christian environmental organisation, Operation Noah, after discussions with such bodies as the Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research and others, is calling for a 90% cut by 2030. Such a target is realistic in the light of the recent statement by the former UK government Chief Scientist, Sir David King, that global warming constitutes a much bigger threat to our society than terrorism. If every country in the G8 pledged a minimum of 10% of its annual military budget to the transformation of its energy economy it would go a long way towards helping to ward off this huge threat to our future security. Source: Mark Dowd. The Tablet 9 February Note: A recommended series of websites offering ways of checking and reducing our carbon footprints include the following. If anyone has tried some please let me know your opinion as to their value. www.carbonfootprint.com climatestewards.net/index.php actonco2.direct.gov.uk/index Many carbon calculators offer you the chance to make a payment to offset your carbon use. There is an argument that offsetting just excuses continued “carbon indulgence” in the rich world. However funding a carefully chosen project to balance the consumption you cannot (yet) change is better than doing nothing. American control of UK bases The Government has been accused of treating Parliament with contempt after committing the Menwith Hill RAF base, in North Yorkshire, to the US missile defence system. RAF Fylingdales, near Pickering, has also been upgraded and could be used in the so-called Son Of Star Wars scheme. Under this scheme, the RAF base at Menwith Hill will house a tracking system that will link to US satellites and interceptor missiles based outside the UK. It is a field station of the US national security agency and has been described as the largest electronic monitoring station in the world. Between 1,500 and 2,000 US nationals from various agencies work there. Lord Wallace of Saltaire, retired professor of international relations at the LSE said: “The abandonment of British sovereignty in the operation of Menwith Hill presents a far greater incursion into British sovereignty that anything the EU has to offer. Menwith Hill is under American control.” Source: York Press The Commission’s Policy Review The programme for 2008 is complete and we are now thinking of what changes we might make from 2009. Over the years there has been a steady fall in the numbers attending Commission meetings. This is in spite of having some excellent speakers on a wide range of subjects. We have tried moving round the diocese, meeting in Middlesbrough, York, Hull, Malton, and Whitby but without making much difference. What is certain is that we are all getting older and this may be a reason for the reduced numbers coming to meetings. But the issues of justice and peace are just as important. So, should there be fewer meetings? Should we still produce 6 issues of the newsletter each year, or would you prefer fewer? If any of our readers have suggestions or comments to make on the work of the Commission that might be of assistance, please do write to Barbara or me. Would you prefer to receive the newsletter by email instead of by post? This would certainly save time and postage costs. For this reason, I will now be emailing the newsletter to those clergy who have email addresses, unless they are receiving batches of the newsletter. I am sure I will be told if this is not wanted! At the same time may I particularly ask those who have been receiving numbers of the newsletter for distribution to let me know if they agree to continue to do this or if [understandably] they feel the need for a break. Chris Please note the new web address for the Commission Commission contacts Barbara Hungin Chair 01642 784398 Nan Saeki Treasurer 01904 783621 Chris Dove Editor 01947 825043 email: dove.whitby@phonecoop.coop or 22 Blackburns Yard Whitby YO22 4DS website:www.middlesbroughjp.org Programme for 2008 May 3 Bruce Kent ‘Movement against War’ English Martyrs York. July 19 – Prayer Walk Osmotherley. Sep 10: ‘Enriching Our Communities’ - a Celebration of the contributions to our society from those seeking asylum in the Tees Valley. Middlesbrough.
Inaugural Anthony Storey Memorial Lecture, Sat 17th May 11.00a.m. – 3pm Lindsey Suite, Staff House, University of Hull, Cottingham Road, Hull. “How to effect real change in the real world – the G8, Geldof and the grassroots” Speaker: Paul Vallely, Associate Editor of the The Independent, former chair of Traidcraft and Progressio. Chaired by: Professor Eamon Duffy, Professor of the History of Christianity, Magdalene College, Cambridge So they say…. Of our limitations: how much difference can an individual make to a catastrophe such as Darfur? In The Talmud, Pirkei Avot says: “It is not given to you to complete the task, but neither are you free to desist.” “Can Christian thinkers shake themselves free from a domestic agenda dominated by a constant tinkering with ecclesial organisation or else an obsessive preoccupation with various aspects of sexuality in order to address the real questions of our day?” From “World Without End – Contours of a post-terrorism world” Leslie Griffiths & Jennifer Potter. Epworth Press 2007
[1] Luke 4.18,19 [2] Eucharistic Prayer for Reconciliation II [3] Eucharistic Prayer for Reconciliation II
January/February 2008
March 6th, 2008
Editorial Peace Sunday, with the Pope’s message of “The Human Family, a Community of Peace” has passed. Hopefully your parish
Editorial Peace Sunday, with the Pope’s message of “The Human Family, a Community of Peace” has passed. Hopefully your parish made some reference to it. In is message the Pope wrote: “The countries of the industrially developed world profit immensely from the sale of arms. While the ruling oligarchies in many poor countries wish to reinforce their stronghold by acquiring ever more sophisticated weaponry. In difficult times like these, it is truly necessary for all persons of good will to come together to reach concrete agreements aimed at an effective demilitarization, especially in the area of nuclear arms. At a time when the process of nuclear non-proliferation is at a standstill, I feel bound to entreat those in authority to resume with greater determination negotiations for a progressive and mutually agreed dismantling of existing nuclear weapons.” We would do well to remind our government of their commitment to those negotiations. In this issue Barbara shares her thoughts at the beginning of a new year, and we have another Letter to the Editor from Gerry Danaher with a cogent argument for considering how the increasing world population is adding to the risks of conflict.
Poverty & Homelessness Action Week. 26 Jan – 3Feb 2008 asks: Are we deaf to the cry of the poor? Are we blind to their tears? Are we dumb when we should speak out on their behalf? A belated but no less sincere prayer that we will all have a happy and peaceful 2008. Chris Dove
Note: the views expresses in this newsletter do not necessarily coincide with those of the Commission
New Year Message from Barbara
At this time in January we have themes from Epiphany of light and stars alongside the darkness of the current outbreaks of violence in different parts of the world. Pakistan struggles to find the path to democracy and Kenya has become engulfed in tribal strife.
As we look forward to 2008 it makes our task even more urgent.
In 2007 we mourned the loss of one of our founder members – Fr. Tony Storey who was an inspiration to us all. In his memory we plan an annual ‘Anthony Storey Memorial lecture’ – the first of which will be held later this year in Hull.
The beginning of a New Year can be a time for change and renewal. I would again like to express our appreciation of the support offered by Bishop John during his time in Middlesbrough and we look forward to establishing a relationship with our new Bishop – Terence Drainey.
Within the Commission, as with many organisations, our challenge is to discover the most effective way to encourage, to raise awareness and to examine current issues which are central to our work. We continue to facilitate meetings which we hope will be of interest and will inspire others to get involved.
This month we welcome Alison Gelder – Chief Executive of Housing Justice to explore the Campaign: ‘Opening Doors, Opening Hearts’ – run jointly with Church Action on Poverty – to highlight the experiences of poverty and homelessness in Britain today. Other meetings during the year will focus on the environment (March) on nuclear issues with Bruce Kent (May); on the contribution to our society made by refugees and those seeking asylum in our communities (Sept); and on issues prioritised by young people in our youth forum (November). Our annual spirituality day in July will be in the form of a prayer walk in the Osmotherley area. The theme of Epiphany is encapsulated in the following – (from Wild Goose publications): ‘In the dark of the night, we have seen a strange sight Of a new star’s bright light – calling us to follow. Moving out each day on the unknown way…. From the old to the new, asking, looking, seeking.’ With all good wishes for 2008 Barbara.
About Homelessness Sunday Homelessness Sunday is an annual event which has been run by the Homelessness Sunday Partnership for over 15 years. It brings together thousands of churches drawing attention to the devastating effects of homelessness. Through prayer and reflection, Homelessness Sunday offers an opportunity to listen to what God has to say about homelessness, and to consider what action we are being called to take. Together, with faith, we can repair the hurt of homelessness and build both homes and lives. It is estimated that up to an extra three million homes will be needed in England in the next 20 years. In 2004, the Barker Review initiated by the Government indicated that house building was at its lowest since 1945 and recommended that between 70K and 120K new homes should be built each year to meet demand and bring down inflation. There are a number of factors contributing to this huge need for more houses: Under delivery of new homes In-migration of southern regions of UK People living longer and remaining in their own homes Growth of single households Second homes Little social housing being built House prices have risen significantly in most regions, making houses much less affordable for many people, especially for young adults and for locals in rural areas. The issues are considerable and affect nearly everyone. Source: Housing Justice
There are currently 87,124 homeless households trapped in temporary accommodation in England alone. This includes 125,429 children. Temporary accommodation has increased 108 per cent since 1997. In England, 526,000 households are overcrowded and 905,000 children live in overcrowded households. Almost one child in every 10 lives in overcrowded housing. In London, almost one child in three living in social housing lives in overcrowded conditions. Over 260,000 children in London live in overcrowded households. Black and minority ethnic (BME) groups are more than six times more likely than white households to be overcrowded. BME households account for nearly a third (32%) of overcrowded households.
Living in bad housing can ruin your health, education and future chances in life. Shelter’s own research has shown that children in unfit or overcrowded housing are almost a third more likely to suffer from respiratory problems, such as asthma and bronchitis, than other children.Children in unfit housing are more likely to attend Accident and Emergency than other children – one in four children living in unfit housing go to A&E in a year. Almost 310,000 children in bad housing in Britain are suffering long-term illness or disability. People who live in bad housing are almost twice as likely to suffer from poor health than people who don’t. Mothers living in bad housing are almost three times more likely to be clinically depressed – equivalent to more than 60,000 mothers in Britain.
In England, children in bad housing are twice as likely to leave school with no GCSEs. More than 40,000 young people aged 16-18 years living in bad housing in England have no GCSEs. Each year, more than 57,000 children living in bad housing in Britain are excluded from school. Children in bad housing are twice as likely to have been excluded from school. and twice as likely to be persistently bullied. During 10 years of Blair, less than half the number of social homes were built than during 10 years of Thatcher. The chronic lack of social housing across the country is at the root of the housing crisis. Not only have we not been building enough, but also the Right to Buy has removed millions of units that simply haven’t been replaced. There are 1,634,301 households on council house waiting lists – 60 per cent more than in 1997. Shelter predicts that council house waiting lists could soar to two million within three years. Source: Shelter
Letter to the Editor: With reference to the November/December 2007 newsletter item Cost of War, I think we have to keep it in mind that of the three conflicts causing over one million deaths since 1950, two – Cambodia and Rwanda – involved mainly knives, machetes, and other simple weapons, only the Iraq attack on Iran involved heavier weaponry. All three of these countries had rocketing populations – two of them, Iraq and Rwanda – still have. Providing effective family planning would be a much more certain way of preventing conflict than banning arm sales. Same goes for Afghanistan. “Population problems are of extreme importance…they have a vital bearing on world peace.” So wrote the future Pope Paul VI in 1953 in a letter to the Twenty-Sixth Italian Catholic Social Week. Most of the world agreed with this. Europe, Japan, China, most other countries in the Far East, and belatedly, most countries in Latin America have all acted to control their population growth. Slowly but surely prosperity and peace are spreading. In one region of the world population problems remain and world peace is threatened. This region is Africa and the Middle East to Pakistan. In 1950, according to the United Nations, the population of Africa plus the Middle East to Pakistan, leaving out Turkey, was 306 million. By 2000 the population was 1151 million. And by 2050, it is expected to be 2330 million. This unprecedented increase of 1000 million since 1950, with an estimated further 1000 million before 2050, inevitably causes widespread poverty and conflict, and world peace is threatened, as Mgr Montini predicted.
Unfortunately for this region and the world, this extremely important problem is virtually never discussed. The reasons for this semi-taboo can be found at my website www.gerrydanaher.com under The Consensus on Population. Cardinal Trujillo, President of the Pontifical Council for the Family writing in The Tablet of 8 April 2006 called upon us “to pay closer attention to the objective data given by the UN World Population Prospect.” Anyone concerned to bring prosperity and peace to Africa and the Middle East will become much more effective if they look up this data. It can be found at http://esa.un.org/unpp Dr Gerry Danaher Please …. If you find this newsletter of some use to you or your church perhaps you would consider sending a donation to the Treasurer: Nan Saeki 55 Moorgate York YO24 4HP. It would be very much appreciated.
Trident – a Theological approach A reflection by Dr Kenneth Greet, President Methodist Peace Fellowship Basic Facts: The British Trident Defence System consists of four nuclear submarines, each armed with 116 missiles. Each missile has between three and eight warheads. Each warhead has at least ten times the destructive power of the Hiroshima bomb that killed 100,000 people in 1945. One submarine is on station at all times ready for action. The system needs replacing between 2025 and 2030 but decisions need to be taken now because of the complex technicalities involved. The cost is presently estimated at between £25bn and £30 bn – enough to provide 120,000 newly qualified nurses every year for ten years. To replace or not is both a political and a moral question, but for the Christian it is also a theological question. Theology is essentially thinking about God and his purpose for the world. Church statements: The government called for an open debate and church leaders urged Christians to get involved in that debate. In his message for the Celebrations of World Peace Day [1 January 2006] Pope Benedict XVI described the policy of reliance on nuclear weapons as ‘not only baneful but completely fallacious,’ and called for ‘a progressive and concerted nuclear disarmament.’ In May 2006 the Church of Scotland and the Catholic and Episcopal Churches in Scotland signed a joint resolution:
“We urge the government of the United Kingdom not to invest in a replacement for the Trident system and to begin now the process of decommissioning these weapons with the intention of diverting the sums spent on nuclear weaponry to programmes of aid and development.”
In July 2006 a number of Anglican bishops wrote that ‘nuclear weapons challenge the very core of our faith.’ The historic peace churches – Brethren, Mennonites and Quakers – believe there is no ethical, practical or theological justification for nuclear weapons. Pacifist Christians in the other denominations take the same view. A number of church assemblies, including the Methodist Conference have registered their opposition to the replacement of Trident.
Legality, Morality and Practicality:
In 1996 the International Court of Justice re-affirmed the disarmament obligations of the nuclear states to undertake good-faith negotiations leading to ‘the cessation of the arms race at an early date and to nuclear disarmament’
[It is noteworthy that Article 6 obliges signatories to work towards the elimination of nuclear weapons. The US in particular is actively engaged in developing new nuclear weapons and has always blocked any attempt to press Israel to join the nuclear non-proliferation treaty. Ed.]
The traditional ‘just war’ doctrine has always been one of limitation. Modern methods of mechanized war and the use of weapons of almost unlimited destructive power could never be termed ‘just’ and it is beyond dispute that the traditional teaching of the church rules out the use of nuclear weapons. If it is wrong to do something it is also wrong to threaten to do it.
The deterrent value is fundamentally illogical. A weapon can only deter if it is recognized that it could be used. But if it were ever used it would not have deterred. The existence of nuclear weapons has not prevented wars for the past 50 years, nor has it prevented terrorist attacks – the main threat to our security today. The continued possession of nuclear weapons is an incentive to proliferation and the opposite to an aid to security.
[This is an edited version of Dr Greet’s paper]
Commission contacts
Barbara Hungin Chair 01642 784398
Sr Mary Walmsley CJ Secretary 01904 464919
Nan Saeki Treasurer 01904 783621
Chris Dove Editor 01947 825043
email: dove.whitby@phonecoop.coop
or 22 Blackburns Yard Whitby YO22 4DS
website:www.ayton.info/middlesbroughjp
A New Creed for a New Year
We believe in a community that opens its doors to people who flee war, hunger and poverty in search of a better life.
We believe in the power of love, not the power of violence.
We believe we are all called to share our lives so as to free each other from poverty, racism and oppression of all kinds.
We believe that the resources of the earth are to be shared among all people – not just the few.
We believe in a community that has as a priority a response to those who are denied basic human rights and dignity.
We reject a world where people are denied access to warmth, food, shelter and the right to live in peace.
We want to believe in justice, in goodness and in people.
We believe we are called to a life of freedom, of service, of witness, of hope.
We reject the idea that nothing can be done.
We believe that a time will come when all people will share in the richness of our world, and that all people will be truly loved and respected.
We commit ourselves in the name of God who created the world for all to share, of Christ who leads us to freedom, and of the Spirit who calls us to action.
Today we commit ourselves to work together to make this belief a reality.
Source: CAFOD from Entertaining Angels compiled by Geoffrey Duncan and published by Canterbury Press.
Editorial Peace Sunday, with the Pope’s message of “The Human Family, a Community of Peace” has passed. Hopefully your parish
Editorial Peace Sunday, with the Pope’s message of “The Human Family, a Community of Peace” has passed. Hopefully your parish made some reference to it. In is message the Pope wrote: “The countries of the industrially developed world profit immensely from the sale of arms. While the ruling oligarchies in many poor countries wish to reinforce their stronghold by acquiring ever more sophisticated weaponry. In difficult times like these, it is truly necessary for all persons of good will to come together to reach concrete agreements aimed at an effective demilitarization, especially in the area of nuclear arms. At a time when the process of nuclear non-proliferation is at a standstill, I feel bound to entreat those in authority to resume with greater determination negotiations for a progressive and mutually agreed dismantling of existing nuclear weapons.” We would do well to remind our government of their commitment to those negotiations. In this issue Barbara shares her thoughts at the beginning of a new year, and we have another Letter to the Editor from Gerry Danaher with a cogent argument for considering how the increasing world population is adding to the risks of conflict.
Poverty & Homelessness Action Week. 26 Jan – 3Feb 2008 asks: Are we deaf to the cry of the poor? Are we blind to their tears? Are we dumb when we should speak out on their behalf? A belated but no less sincere prayer that we will all have a happy and peaceful 2008. Chris Dove
Note: the views expresses in this newsletter do not necessarily coincide with those of the Commission
New Year Message from Barbara
At this time in January we have themes from Epiphany of light and stars alongside the darkness of the current outbreaks of violence in different parts of the world. Pakistan struggles to find the path to democracy and Kenya has become engulfed in tribal strife.
As we look forward to 2008 it makes our task even more urgent.
In 2007 we mourned the loss of one of our founder members – Fr. Tony Storey who was an inspiration to us all. In his memory we plan an annual ‘Anthony Storey Memorial lecture’ – the first of which will be held later this year in Hull.
The beginning of a New Year can be a time for change and renewal. I would again like to express our appreciation of the support offered by Bishop John during his time in Middlesbrough and we look forward to establishing a relationship with our new Bishop – Terence Drainey.
Within the Commission, as with many organisations, our challenge is to discover the most effective way to encourage, to raise awareness and to examine current issues which are central to our work. We continue to facilitate meetings which we hope will be of interest and will inspire others to get involved.
This month we welcome Alison Gelder – Chief Executive of Housing Justice to explore the Campaign: ‘Opening Doors, Opening Hearts’ – run jointly with Church Action on Poverty – to highlight the experiences of poverty and homelessness in Britain today. Other meetings during the year will focus on the environment (March) on nuclear issues with Bruce Kent (May); on the contribution to our society made by refugees and those seeking asylum in our communities (Sept); and on issues prioritised by young people in our youth forum (November). Our annual spirituality day in July will be in the form of a prayer walk in the Osmotherley area. The theme of Epiphany is encapsulated in the following – (from Wild Goose publications): ‘In the dark of the night, we have seen a strange sight Of a new star’s bright light – calling us to follow. Moving out each day on the unknown way…. From the old to the new, asking, looking, seeking.’ With all good wishes for 2008 Barbara.
About Homelessness Sunday Homelessness Sunday is an annual event which has been run by the Homelessness Sunday Partnership for over 15 years. It brings together thousands of churches drawing attention to the devastating effects of homelessness. Through prayer and reflection, Homelessness Sunday offers an opportunity to listen to what God has to say about homelessness, and to consider what action we are being called to take. Together, with faith, we can repair the hurt of homelessness and build both homes and lives. It is estimated that up to an extra three million homes will be needed in England in the next 20 years. In 2004, the Barker Review initiated by the Government indicated that house building was at its lowest since 1945 and recommended that between 70K and 120K new homes should be built each year to meet demand and bring down inflation. There are a number of factors contributing to this huge need for more houses: Under delivery of new homes In-migration of southern regions of UK People living longer and remaining in their own homes Growth of single households Second homes Little social housing being built House prices have risen significantly in most regions, making houses much less affordable for many people, especially for young adults and for locals in rural areas. The issues are considerable and affect nearly everyone. Source: Housing Justice
There are currently 87,124 homeless households trapped in temporary accommodation in England alone. This includes 125,429 children. Temporary accommodation has increased 108 per cent since 1997. In England, 526,000 households are overcrowded and 905,000 children live in overcrowded households. Almost one child in every 10 lives in overcrowded housing. In London, almost one child in three living in social housing lives in overcrowded conditions. Over 260,000 children in London live in overcrowded households. Black and minority ethnic (BME) groups are more than six times more likely than white households to be overcrowded. BME households account for nearly a third (32%) of overcrowded households.
Living in bad housing can ruin your health, education and future chances in life. Shelter’s own research has shown that children in unfit or overcrowded housing are almost a third more likely to suffer from respiratory problems, such as asthma and bronchitis, than other children.Children in unfit housing are more likely to attend Accident and Emergency than other children – one in four children living in unfit housing go to A&E in a year. Almost 310,000 children in bad housing in Britain are suffering long-term illness or disability. People who live in bad housing are almost twice as likely to suffer from poor health than people who don’t. Mothers living in bad housing are almost three times more likely to be clinically depressed – equivalent to more than 60,000 mothers in Britain.
In England, children in bad housing are twice as likely to leave school with no GCSEs. More than 40,000 young people aged 16-18 years living in bad housing in England have no GCSEs. Each year, more than 57,000 children living in bad housing in Britain are excluded from school. Children in bad housing are twice as likely to have been excluded from school. and twice as likely to be persistently bullied. During 10 years of Blair, less than half the number of social homes were built than during 10 years of Thatcher. The chronic lack of social housing across the country is at the root of the housing crisis. Not only have we not been building enough, but also the Right to Buy has removed millions of units that simply haven’t been replaced. There are 1,634,301 households on council house waiting lists – 60 per cent more than in 1997. Shelter predicts that council house waiting lists could soar to two million within three years. Source: Shelter
Letter to the Editor: With reference to the November/December 2007 newsletter item Cost of War, I think we have to keep it in mind that of the three conflicts causing over one million deaths since 1950, two – Cambodia and Rwanda – involved mainly knives, machetes, and other simple weapons, only the Iraq attack on Iran involved heavier weaponry. All three of these countries had rocketing populations – two of them, Iraq and Rwanda – still have. Providing effective family planning would be a much more certain way of preventing conflict than banning arm sales. Same goes for Afghanistan. “Population problems are of extreme importance…they have a vital bearing on world peace.” So wrote the future Pope Paul VI in 1953 in a letter to the Twenty-Sixth Italian Catholic Social Week. Most of the world agreed with this. Europe, Japan, China, most other countries in the Far East, and belatedly, most countries in Latin America have all acted to control their population growth. Slowly but surely prosperity and peace are spreading. In one region of the world population problems remain and world peace is threatened. This region is Africa and the Middle East to Pakistan. In 1950, according to the United Nations, the population of Africa plus the Middle East to Pakistan, leaving out Turkey, was 306 million. By 2000 the population was 1151 million. And by 2050, it is expected to be 2330 million. This unprecedented increase of 1000 million since 1950, with an estimated further 1000 million before 2050, inevitably causes widespread poverty and conflict, and world peace is threatened, as Mgr Montini predicted.
Unfortunately for this region and the world, this extremely important problem is virtually never discussed. The reasons for this semi-taboo can be found at my website www.gerrydanaher.com under The Consensus on Population. Cardinal Trujillo, President of the Pontifical Council for the Family writing in The Tablet of 8 April 2006 called upon us “to pay closer attention to the objective data given by the UN World Population Prospect.” Anyone concerned to bring prosperity and peace to Africa and the Middle East will become much more effective if they look up this data. It can be found at http://esa.un.org/unpp Dr Gerry Danaher Please …. If you find this newsletter of some use to you or your church perhaps you would consider sending a donation to the Treasurer: Nan Saeki 55 Moorgate York YO24 4HP. It would be very much appreciated.
Trident – a Theological approach A reflection by Dr Kenneth Greet, President Methodist Peace Fellowship Basic Facts: The British Trident Defence System consists of four nuclear submarines, each armed with 116 missiles. Each missile has between three and eight warheads. Each warhead has at least ten times the destructive power of the Hiroshima bomb that killed 100,000 people in 1945. One submarine is on station at all times ready for action. The system needs replacing between 2025 and 2030 but decisions need to be taken now because of the complex technicalities involved. The cost is presently estimated at between £25bn and £30 bn – enough to provide 120,000 newly qualified nurses every year for ten years. To replace or not is both a political and a moral question, but for the Christian it is also a theological question. Theology is essentially thinking about God and his purpose for the world. Church statements: The government called for an open debate and church leaders urged Christians to get involved in that debate. In his message for the Celebrations of World Peace Day [1 January 2006] Pope Benedict XVI described the policy of reliance on nuclear weapons as ‘not only baneful but completely fallacious,’ and called for ‘a progressive and concerted nuclear disarmament.’ In May 2006 the Church of Scotland and the Catholic and Episcopal Churches in Scotland signed a joint resolution:
“We urge the government of the United Kingdom not to invest in a replacement for the Trident system and to begin now the process of decommissioning these weapons with the intention of diverting the sums spent on nuclear weaponry to programmes of aid and development.”
In July 2006 a number of Anglican bishops wrote that ‘nuclear weapons challenge the very core of our faith.’ The historic peace churches – Brethren, Mennonites and Quakers – believe there is no ethical, practical or theological justification for nuclear weapons. Pacifist Christians in the other denominations take the same view. A number of church assemblies, including the Methodist Conference have registered their opposition to the replacement of Trident.
Legality, Morality and Practicality:
In 1996 the International Court of Justice re-affirmed the disarmament obligations of the nuclear states to undertake good-faith negotiations leading to ‘the cessation of the arms race at an early date and to nuclear disarmament’
[It is noteworthy that Article 6 obliges signatories to work towards the elimination of nuclear weapons. The US in particular is actively engaged in developing new nuclear weapons and has always blocked any attempt to press Israel to join the nuclear non-proliferation treaty. Ed.]
The traditional ‘just war’ doctrine has always been one of limitation. Modern methods of mechanized war and the use of weapons of almost unlimited destructive power could never be termed ‘just’ and it is beyond dispute that the traditional teaching of the church rules out the use of nuclear weapons. If it is wrong to do something it is also wrong to threaten to do it.
The deterrent value is fundamentally illogical. A weapon can only deter if it is recognized that it could be used. But if it were ever used it would not have deterred. The existence of nuclear weapons has not prevented wars for the past 50 years, nor has it prevented terrorist attacks – the main threat to our security today. The continued possession of nuclear weapons is an incentive to proliferation and the opposite to an aid to security.
[This is an edited version of Dr Greet’s paper]
Commission contacts
Barbara Hungin Chair 01642 784398
Sr Mary Walmsley CJ Secretary 01904 464919
Nan Saeki Treasurer 01904 783621
Chris Dove Editor 01947 825043
email: dove.whitby@phonecoop.coop
or 22 Blackburns Yard Whitby YO22 4DS
website:www.ayton.info/middlesbroughjp
A New Creed for a New Year
We believe in a community that opens its doors to people who flee war, hunger and poverty in search of a better life.
We believe in the power of love, not the power of violence.
We believe we are all called to share our lives so as to free each other from poverty, racism and oppression of all kinds.
We believe that the resources of the earth are to be shared among all people – not just the few.
We believe in a community that has as a priority a response to those who are denied basic human rights and dignity.
We reject a world where people are denied access to warmth, food, shelter and the right to live in peace.
We want to believe in justice, in goodness and in people.
We believe we are called to a life of freedom, of service, of witness, of hope.
We reject the idea that nothing can be done.
We believe that a time will come when all people will share in the richness of our world, and that all people will be truly loved and respected.
We commit ourselves in the name of God who created the world for all to share, of Christ who leads us to freedom, and of the Spirit who calls us to action.
Today we commit ourselves to work together to make this belief a reality.
Source: CAFOD from Entertaining Angels compiled by Geoffrey Duncan and published by Canterbury Press.
NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2007
December 6th, 2007
Editorial Each year the Commission holds its November meeting at one of our colleges. We have visited
Editorial Each year the Commission holds its November meeting at one of our colleges. We have visited St Mary’s Hull, All Saints York and St Augustine’s Scarborough and this year we will be at St Mary’s Middlesbrough. We have always been impressed by the presentations which have shown considerable insight and knowledge of those aspects of justice and peace issues which resonate with young people. We look forward to another stimulating meeting. At this time of the year we think of Remembrance Day services. Bruce Kent asks: “How should we remember the horror as well as the courage of war? From cemetery to cemetery there would come only one answer from soldiers, sailors, airmen and civilians killed as a result of conflict. ‘If you want to honour our memory, work for the abolition of war.’” Win Logan from Middlesbrough, who does so much for the refugees and asylum seekers, writes of her first hand experience of how hard their lives can be. And we are very grateful to Anne Tracy, who teaches RE at All Saints, York for sending some of her students’ work. Chris Dove Note: the views expresses in this newsletter do not necessarily coincide with those of the Commission
“Befriend an Asylum seeker” On September 25th about forty of us, including twenty five young people from Carmel College, gathered at the Carmelite convent for one of our monthly vigils. The reason for our vigils, in a different place every month, is to show our solidarity with those seeking asylum, to remember those who have been detained or returned to dangerous situations, and to raise awareness of the number of people who await, with great trepidation, the early morning knock on the door which signals detention for them too. Many of these people are destitute and exist on handouts and help from sympathizers. Many people who have been refused asylum have been in Britain for a long time – in the case of my friend Joseph 14 years. A long time of uncertainty and stress, never being sure of what will happen to them. Some have ended their own lives rather than be sent back to the situation from which they fled. Fear has been their daily companion. Some asylum seekers with us at Carmel gave testimony about the reasons they fled from their homelands. It was very hard to hear – oppression, starvation, rape, torture, murder. Jean-Michel spoke of his longing for his five children and his extended family. “Why would I leave them to come here if I didn’t HAVE to?” he asked. Sadly when Jean-Michel arrived home that evening he received news from the Democratic Republic of Congo that his 17 year old son, Rudy, had been shot dead. One can only try to imagine Jean-Michel’s heartbreak. Although it has been declared that arbitrary detentions of children is wrong, it is still happening. In the past two years nine children have been detained who were pupils at Sacred Heart School, Middlesbrough. Six were returned, with their parents to unstable countries with appalling human rights records. Three of these children were only three years old. What can we do about it? Send an avalanche of letters, emails etc to Gordon Brown, the Home Office, our MPs, demanding action and compassion. Give generously to Justice First, a local charity set up to help asylum seekers who have exhausted all appeals and are at their most vulnerable. The Mary Thompson Fund also needs funds to help those whose housing and benefits have been withdrawn. Offer your friendship – as our friend Juste says, “Befriend an asylum seeker – you may change his life” You may also change your own. Win Logan
Study War No More It often feels there are no areas of life untouched by the corruption of multinationals and oppression in one form or another. This is especially hard for young people who are struggling with money, trying hard to make a living and get an education. An increasingly important question for young people today should be the ethics of their education. 2007 marked the launch of Study War No More, a project examining the influence military companies such as BAE Systems, QinetiQ, and Rolls Royce exert within university departments. The data reveals that 26 universities received funding from these companies. Many received high levels of funding for specialist areas, the majority going to departments of engineering, chemistry, physics and computer studies. The 20 universities belonging to the Russell Group boast of securing 65% (over £1.8billion) of UK Universities’ research grant and contract income in 2004/2005. Nottingham, one of these, for example, between 2001 and 2006, has received a minimum of around 40 different contracts for R&D development from military organizations. These contracts are for varying time periods, and values which range from £15,000 to almost £10 million. Are students and academics aware of how their research might be used? And, have they been made aware of, and therefore fully considered the moral basis of their work? In recent years, peace and security issues have moved to the forefront of people’s lives and concerns. The young especially, are starting to ask themselves what they can do to address these issues in their daily lives. It is hoped the project will continue to grow as the raw data is collected, thus becoming a self-updating record of military funding of research and development within UK universities. The aim of Study War No More is to contribute to the growing awareness and concern for transparency, honesty and accountability within research and development. Acting as a direct challenge to the secrecy which has traditionally surrounded military research and development, the report challenges future generations to make informed choices about their education, and how it is funded. Study War No More is a collaborative research project undertaken by the Fellowship of Reconciliation with the Campaign Against the Arms Trade. Visit www.for.org.uk for further information.
Is this “Joined up government”? The government has approved arms exports to 19 of the 20 countries it has identified as “countries of concern” for abusing human rights, according to the annual report on its weapons exports. These countries include Saudi Arabia, Israel, Colombia, China and Russia. Source: The Guardian Weekly 03.08.07
Aviation and climate change Another example of the disconnection between government departments is aviation. An article in the Fellowship of Reconciliation’s Peace by Peace for Autumn 2007, notes that the 2003 White Paper on Aviation planned a massive expansion in UK airport capacity to allow for doubling of the number of passengers between 2002 and 2020 along with a doubling of air freight between 2002 and 2010. This expansion was supported by a further Department of Transport report in 2006. At the same time the government is seeking to reduce the UK’s contribution to climate change. Since 1990 UK carbon dioxide emissions from aviation have increased by 125% and they are still increasing. A researcher for Friends of the Earth, Maud Grainger, investigated the connection between aviation and climate change. She found that the aviation industry is the fastest growing source of greenhouse gases. Aircraft emissions have a greater warming effect because they are released at altitude. Commercial aviation accounted for about 20% of total UK climate change. The military are large emitters of carbon dioxide, and according to a report from the Royal Commission on Environmental Pollution, military aircraft are likely to produce proportionately more emissions because of their special performance requirements.
Cost of war If you want to get some idea of what the war in Iraq is costing,[estimated $8 billion a month] have a look at these websites: www.costofwar.com. shows a counter like a taxi meter, with the numbers increasing every second. It is truly frightening. www. casualties.org gives the numbers of US military killed and wounded , which, as at September 2007, stood at 3,801 and 27,753 respectively. The numbers of Iraqi casualties is unknown but estimates can be found on: www.iraqbodycount.net Another way to count the cost of war is to note that, according to the UN Development Fund for Women, whereas in the 19th century civilian casualties accounted for 5% of the war dead, in World War I, the total number of civilians killed had climbed to 15% of total wartime casualties, in World War II, civilians made up 65% of the victims of war. By the mid-90s, civilians were over 75% of the war dead. And today, over 90% of those killed in war are civilians. I never hear our politicians or military chiefs acknowledging these facts.
Religion, War and Peace The reflections and poems below are by Year 10 students (age about 15 years) at All Saints School, York. We had just come to the end of a module on Religion, War and Peace for the GCSE RE course when the request for material arrived from Chris. They chose ideas and themes they wanted to share with a wider audience. I think you will agree that the young people impress by the insight and maturity of their writing. Anne Tracy Bethany Hoggarth Hall
If your dad killed, Would you? If your Granddad shot a child Would you? Just because other generations did things Should we? We are the next generation. We decide what happens now. It’s our choice. Let’s make the world greater than ever before, A place you would be proud for your children to live in. Let’s heal the wounds of previous wars, Stop the violence, the suffering, and the pain. Give the hungry food and the homeless homes. We have the power now Let our voices be heard And our actions be noted. Let no more die in war.
Sarah Mills
Jesus would never carry a gun. I think that no matter what the situation is, or what a so-called leader thinks, that war should never be the answer. All war does is cause damage, hatred and death. Face it, war is just another word for death. You see it all over the newspapers that another soldier has been killed, another village wiped out. Is it the public forcing the leaders or is it the leaders who just decide to go war without thinking about the consequences? Take for example the Iraq war. There was very little thought of what the consequences would be. There was just worry about weapons of mass destruction, even when they had already been searched for and not found. Jesus would never carry a gun. When the option of violence was put on the table Jesus said to turn the other cheek. But everyone seems to have forgotten.
Ellie Brindle
As soldiers battle in Iraq they fear for their lives. Underneath a brave mask a young man cries inside. Their families back in England pray that they are safe, And hope their sons, brothers, dads, come home in haste.
But what we don’t think is that Iraqi families too Hope their friends will return among the merry few. Pacifists, Quakers pray for no more war That swords and bombs will be against the law. And I wish for the future, all warfare end, Iraq to be a peaceful place and all injuries to mend.
Patrick Murphy
Why does our world not live in peace? All these counties fighting each other While citizens cannot afford food. Adults and children dying every day Just because a country wants more territory. Lives being lost and people injured, Planes in the sky Guns held high Lives blown away. Countries keep fighting Why?
Elliot Purcell
The war against Iraq was just in my view, because although the Iraqis might not have had nuclear weapons it was still a dictatorship and Saddam Hussein killed and tortured his own people to get what he wanted. The population of Iraq was not free and should not have been threatened into voting for someone who was wrong for the country. Although there are no official numbers, the people who were being killed and tortured during the regime should have been enough to show something was wrong in the first place. Saddam also threatened neighbouring countries with war. So the war against Iraq was for the greater good. Some of the assaults on Iraq were unjust, such as the Shock and Awe tactics that were used, but it is difficult for a modern war to be a Just War. When Thomas Aquinas wrote his Just War Theory in the 13th century, there were no bombs. His ideas therefore can’t always be followed today.
Sarah Owen
The war against Iraq was unjust. I think this because it did not follow the rules stated by Thomas Aquinas in the just war theory. In it he says that war must be a last resort, which I do not think the war was. The war was started because Iraq was believed to be hiding weapons of mass destruction. I personally believe that a more thorough search could have been conducted before beginning a war. The just war theory also says that targeting civilians is not allowed. However, many innocent people were killed. Finally, there has to be a chance of peace after the war. However there does not seem to be much chance of this occurring in Iraq.
Peter Tasker
Nuclear weapons are evil and should be destroyed. You can’t limit the destruction that will occur when someone uses nuclear weapons. It is like a time bomb set up in the world, everyone living in fear, waiting, expecting, knowing that a nuclear bomb could be dropped anywhere in the world. Nuclear weapons cost millions of pounds to make and research. If everyone who has nuclear weapons disarmed then maybe this money could go to end hunger in poor countries. These things can all be achieved if there is worldwide nuclear disarmament. So why don’t the leaders of the world stop making these weapons, now?
Cluster bombs – yet again A new international treaty banning lethal cluster bombs is expected in the next 12 months. The government claims that some kinds of cluster bombs are safe but the evidence from Lebanon and Iraq shows this to be false. The UN team coordinating the clear-up of unexploded bombs said: We can categorically state that we are finding large numbers of unexploded M85 submunitions that have failed to detonate as designed and failed to self destruct afterwards. In effect these weapons are more dangerous than other types because the self destruct mechanism makes them more problematic to deal with. In August The Foreign Affairs Select Committee report on the Middle East said: We conclude that the failure rate of ‘smart’ cluster bombs could be as high as 10%, again significantly higher than the government’s estimate of 2.3%. The Quadripartite Select Committee stated in their report: …even ‘smart’ cluster bombs may have a failure rate which may be between 5% and 10%. The potential to inflict death and injury on innocent non-combatants entering the field after the engagement is therefore substantial. The UK used 2,100 artillery shells containing 102,900 M85 submunitions in Iraq in 2003. We need to tell the government that this is unacceptable. Please write to your MP, the Prime Minister or Foreign Secretary urgently. Source: Landmine Action Please …. If you find this newsletter of some use to you or your church perhaps you would consider sending a donation to the Treasurer: Nan Saeki 55 Moorgate York YO24 4HP. It would be very much appreciated.
Commission contacts Barbara Hungin Chair 01642 784398 Sr Mary Walmsley CJ Secretary 01904 464919 Nan Saeki Treasurer 01904 783621 Chris Dove Editor 01947 825043 email: dove.whitby@phonecoop.coop or 22 Blackburns Yard Whitby YO22 4DS website:www.ayton.info/middlesbroughjp Jan 19 “Opening Doors – Opening Hearts” English Martyrs, York
Diary 2008
A Prayer for Peace Living Lord, ignite in us a passion for justice and a yearning to right all wrong. Strengthen us to work for peace in the land we call holy: for peace among Jew, Christian and Muslim, for reconciliation between communities, for harmony between faiths. Inspire us to act with the urgency of your quickening fire, for blessed are the peacemakers, they shall be called children of God. Amen Ramani Leathard Pax Christi
Editorial Each year the Commission holds its November meeting at one of our colleges. We have visited
Editorial Each year the Commission holds its November meeting at one of our colleges. We have visited St Mary’s Hull, All Saints York and St Augustine’s Scarborough and this year we will be at St Mary’s Middlesbrough. We have always been impressed by the presentations which have shown considerable insight and knowledge of those aspects of justice and peace issues which resonate with young people. We look forward to another stimulating meeting. At this time of the year we think of Remembrance Day services. Bruce Kent asks: “How should we remember the horror as well as the courage of war? From cemetery to cemetery there would come only one answer from soldiers, sailors, airmen and civilians killed as a result of conflict. ‘If you want to honour our memory, work for the abolition of war.’” Win Logan from Middlesbrough, who does so much for the refugees and asylum seekers, writes of her first hand experience of how hard their lives can be. And we are very grateful to Anne Tracy, who teaches RE at All Saints, York for sending some of her students’ work. Chris Dove Note: the views expresses in this newsletter do not necessarily coincide with those of the Commission
“Befriend an Asylum seeker” On September 25th about forty of us, including twenty five young people from Carmel College, gathered at the Carmelite convent for one of our monthly vigils. The reason for our vigils, in a different place every month, is to show our solidarity with those seeking asylum, to remember those who have been detained or returned to dangerous situations, and to raise awareness of the number of people who await, with great trepidation, the early morning knock on the door which signals detention for them too. Many of these people are destitute and exist on handouts and help from sympathizers. Many people who have been refused asylum have been in Britain for a long time – in the case of my friend Joseph 14 years. A long time of uncertainty and stress, never being sure of what will happen to them. Some have ended their own lives rather than be sent back to the situation from which they fled. Fear has been their daily companion. Some asylum seekers with us at Carmel gave testimony about the reasons they fled from their homelands. It was very hard to hear – oppression, starvation, rape, torture, murder. Jean-Michel spoke of his longing for his five children and his extended family. “Why would I leave them to come here if I didn’t HAVE to?” he asked. Sadly when Jean-Michel arrived home that evening he received news from the Democratic Republic of Congo that his 17 year old son, Rudy, had been shot dead. One can only try to imagine Jean-Michel’s heartbreak. Although it has been declared that arbitrary detentions of children is wrong, it is still happening. In the past two years nine children have been detained who were pupils at Sacred Heart School, Middlesbrough. Six were returned, with their parents to unstable countries with appalling human rights records. Three of these children were only three years old. What can we do about it? Send an avalanche of letters, emails etc to Gordon Brown, the Home Office, our MPs, demanding action and compassion. Give generously to Justice First, a local charity set up to help asylum seekers who have exhausted all appeals and are at their most vulnerable. The Mary Thompson Fund also needs funds to help those whose housing and benefits have been withdrawn. Offer your friendship – as our friend Juste says, “Befriend an asylum seeker – you may change his life” You may also change your own. Win Logan
Study War No More It often feels there are no areas of life untouched by the corruption of multinationals and oppression in one form or another. This is especially hard for young people who are struggling with money, trying hard to make a living and get an education. An increasingly important question for young people today should be the ethics of their education. 2007 marked the launch of Study War No More, a project examining the influence military companies such as BAE Systems, QinetiQ, and Rolls Royce exert within university departments. The data reveals that 26 universities received funding from these companies. Many received high levels of funding for specialist areas, the majority going to departments of engineering, chemistry, physics and computer studies. The 20 universities belonging to the Russell Group boast of securing 65% (over £1.8billion) of UK Universities’ research grant and contract income in 2004/2005. Nottingham, one of these, for example, between 2001 and 2006, has received a minimum of around 40 different contracts for R&D development from military organizations. These contracts are for varying time periods, and values which range from £15,000 to almost £10 million. Are students and academics aware of how their research might be used? And, have they been made aware of, and therefore fully considered the moral basis of their work? In recent years, peace and security issues have moved to the forefront of people’s lives and concerns. The young especially, are starting to ask themselves what they can do to address these issues in their daily lives. It is hoped the project will continue to grow as the raw data is collected, thus becoming a self-updating record of military funding of research and development within UK universities. The aim of Study War No More is to contribute to the growing awareness and concern for transparency, honesty and accountability within research and development. Acting as a direct challenge to the secrecy which has traditionally surrounded military research and development, the report challenges future generations to make informed choices about their education, and how it is funded. Study War No More is a collaborative research project undertaken by the Fellowship of Reconciliation with the Campaign Against the Arms Trade. Visit www.for.org.uk for further information.
Is this “Joined up government”? The government has approved arms exports to 19 of the 20 countries it has identified as “countries of concern” for abusing human rights, according to the annual report on its weapons exports. These countries include Saudi Arabia, Israel, Colombia, China and Russia. Source: The Guardian Weekly 03.08.07
Aviation and climate change Another example of the disconnection between government departments is aviation. An article in the Fellowship of Reconciliation’s Peace by Peace for Autumn 2007, notes that the 2003 White Paper on Aviation planned a massive expansion in UK airport capacity to allow for doubling of the number of passengers between 2002 and 2020 along with a doubling of air freight between 2002 and 2010. This expansion was supported by a further Department of Transport report in 2006. At the same time the government is seeking to reduce the UK’s contribution to climate change. Since 1990 UK carbon dioxide emissions from aviation have increased by 125% and they are still increasing. A researcher for Friends of the Earth, Maud Grainger, investigated the connection between aviation and climate change. She found that the aviation industry is the fastest growing source of greenhouse gases. Aircraft emissions have a greater warming effect because they are released at altitude. Commercial aviation accounted for about 20% of total UK climate change. The military are large emitters of carbon dioxide, and according to a report from the Royal Commission on Environmental Pollution, military aircraft are likely to produce proportionately more emissions because of their special performance requirements.
Cost of war If you want to get some idea of what the war in Iraq is costing,[estimated $8 billion a month] have a look at these websites: www.costofwar.com. shows a counter like a taxi meter, with the numbers increasing every second. It is truly frightening. www. casualties.org gives the numbers of US military killed and wounded , which, as at September 2007, stood at 3,801 and 27,753 respectively. The numbers of Iraqi casualties is unknown but estimates can be found on: www.iraqbodycount.net Another way to count the cost of war is to note that, according to the UN Development Fund for Women, whereas in the 19th century civilian casualties accounted for 5% of the war dead, in World War I, the total number of civilians killed had climbed to 15% of total wartime casualties, in World War II, civilians made up 65% of the victims of war. By the mid-90s, civilians were over 75% of the war dead. And today, over 90% of those killed in war are civilians. I never hear our politicians or military chiefs acknowledging these facts.
Religion, War and Peace The reflections and poems below are by Year 10 students (age about 15 years) at All Saints School, York. We had just come to the end of a module on Religion, War and Peace for the GCSE RE course when the request for material arrived from Chris. They chose ideas and themes they wanted to share with a wider audience. I think you will agree that the young people impress by the insight and maturity of their writing. Anne Tracy Bethany Hoggarth Hall
If your dad killed, Would you? If your Granddad shot a child Would you? Just because other generations did things Should we? We are the next generation. We decide what happens now. It’s our choice. Let’s make the world greater than ever before, A place you would be proud for your children to live in. Let’s heal the wounds of previous wars, Stop the violence, the suffering, and the pain. Give the hungry food and the homeless homes. We have the power now Let our voices be heard And our actions be noted. Let no more die in war.
Sarah Mills
Jesus would never carry a gun. I think that no matter what the situation is, or what a so-called leader thinks, that war should never be the answer. All war does is cause damage, hatred and death. Face it, war is just another word for death. You see it all over the newspapers that another soldier has been killed, another village wiped out. Is it the public forcing the leaders or is it the leaders who just decide to go war without thinking about the consequences? Take for example the Iraq war. There was very little thought of what the consequences would be. There was just worry about weapons of mass destruction, even when they had already been searched for and not found. Jesus would never carry a gun. When the option of violence was put on the table Jesus said to turn the other cheek. But everyone seems to have forgotten.
Ellie Brindle
As soldiers battle in Iraq they fear for their lives. Underneath a brave mask a young man cries inside. Their families back in England pray that they are safe, And hope their sons, brothers, dads, come home in haste.
But what we don’t think is that Iraqi families too Hope their friends will return among the merry few. Pacifists, Quakers pray for no more war That swords and bombs will be against the law. And I wish for the future, all warfare end, Iraq to be a peaceful place and all injuries to mend.
Patrick Murphy
Why does our world not live in peace? All these counties fighting each other While citizens cannot afford food. Adults and children dying every day Just because a country wants more territory. Lives being lost and people injured, Planes in the sky Guns held high Lives blown away. Countries keep fighting Why?
Elliot Purcell
The war against Iraq was just in my view, because although the Iraqis might not have had nuclear weapons it was still a dictatorship and Saddam Hussein killed and tortured his own people to get what he wanted. The population of Iraq was not free and should not have been threatened into voting for someone who was wrong for the country. Although there are no official numbers, the people who were being killed and tortured during the regime should have been enough to show something was wrong in the first place. Saddam also threatened neighbouring countries with war. So the war against Iraq was for the greater good. Some of the assaults on Iraq were unjust, such as the Shock and Awe tactics that were used, but it is difficult for a modern war to be a Just War. When Thomas Aquinas wrote his Just War Theory in the 13th century, there were no bombs. His ideas therefore can’t always be followed today.
Sarah Owen
The war against Iraq was unjust. I think this because it did not follow the rules stated by Thomas Aquinas in the just war theory. In it he says that war must be a last resort, which I do not think the war was. The war was started because Iraq was believed to be hiding weapons of mass destruction. I personally believe that a more thorough search could have been conducted before beginning a war. The just war theory also says that targeting civilians is not allowed. However, many innocent people were killed. Finally, there has to be a chance of peace after the war. However there does not seem to be much chance of this occurring in Iraq.
Peter Tasker
Nuclear weapons are evil and should be destroyed. You can’t limit the destruction that will occur when someone uses nuclear weapons. It is like a time bomb set up in the world, everyone living in fear, waiting, expecting, knowing that a nuclear bomb could be dropped anywhere in the world. Nuclear weapons cost millions of pounds to make and research. If everyone who has nuclear weapons disarmed then maybe this money could go to end hunger in poor countries. These things can all be achieved if there is worldwide nuclear disarmament. So why don’t the leaders of the world stop making these weapons, now?
Cluster bombs – yet again A new international treaty banning lethal cluster bombs is expected in the next 12 months. The government claims that some kinds of cluster bombs are safe but the evidence from Lebanon and Iraq shows this to be false. The UN team coordinating the clear-up of unexploded bombs said: We can categorically state that we are finding large numbers of unexploded M85 submunitions that have failed to detonate as designed and failed to self destruct afterwards. In effect these weapons are more dangerous than other types because the self destruct mechanism makes them more problematic to deal with. In August The Foreign Affairs Select Committee report on the Middle East said: We conclude that the failure rate of ‘smart’ cluster bombs could be as high as 10%, again significantly higher than the government’s estimate of 2.3%. The Quadripartite Select Committee stated in their report: …even ‘smart’ cluster bombs may have a failure rate which may be between 5% and 10%. The potential to inflict death and injury on innocent non-combatants entering the field after the engagement is therefore substantial. The UK used 2,100 artillery shells containing 102,900 M85 submunitions in Iraq in 2003. We need to tell the government that this is unacceptable. Please write to your MP, the Prime Minister or Foreign Secretary urgently. Source: Landmine Action Please …. If you find this newsletter of some use to you or your church perhaps you would consider sending a donation to the Treasurer: Nan Saeki 55 Moorgate York YO24 4HP. It would be very much appreciated.
Commission contacts Barbara Hungin Chair 01642 784398 Sr Mary Walmsley CJ Secretary 01904 464919 Nan Saeki Treasurer 01904 783621 Chris Dove Editor 01947 825043 email: dove.whitby@phonecoop.coop or 22 Blackburns Yard Whitby YO22 4DS website:www.ayton.info/middlesbroughjp Jan 19 “Opening Doors – Opening Hearts” English Martyrs, York
Diary 2008
A Prayer for Peace Living Lord, ignite in us a passion for justice and a yearning to right all wrong. Strengthen us to work for peace in the land we call holy: for peace among Jew, Christian and Muslim, for reconciliation between communities, for harmony between faiths. Inspire us to act with the urgency of your quickening fire, for blessed are the peacemakers, they shall be called children of God. Amen Ramani Leathard Pax Christi
Anthony Storey 1919-2007
May 1st, 2007
RIP
This special newsletter was a collection of tributes to Fr Anthony Storey.
JULY/AUGUST 2007 Editorial Father Anthony Storey 1919-2007 RIP This special newsletter is a collection of tributes to Fr Tony Storey. His death came just as I was finishing the last issue and I had already decided to use this quotation from Oscar Romero as the Postscript.
A church that doesn’t provoke any crises, a gospel that doesn’t unsettle, a word of God that doesn’t get under anyone’s skin, a word of God that doesn’t touch the real sin of the society in which it is being proclaimed – what gospel is that? Very nice, pious considerations that don’t bother anyone, that’s the way many would like preaching to be. Those preachers who avoid every thorny matter so as not to be harassed, so as not to have conflicts and difficulties, do not light up the world they live in.
In retrospect the choice seems serendipitous: Tony loved to unsettle, get under our skin, and certainly, he lit up our world. I am most grateful to all who have contributed to this issue, and to Susan Frost who has the skills to turn it into a booklet. Should you want a further copy, please download it from our website: www.middlesbroughjp.org. Chris Dove
Tony Storey This issue of our newsletter is devoted to memories of Fr. Tony Storey. I want to pay tribute both to him and also to Bishop John as he steps down from the Diocese. To those of us who were present at Tony’s funeral mass it was obvious how loved and how treasured he had been. So many aspects of him – the curate, the parish priest, the university chaplain, the friend, the mentor, the campaigner, the nature lover and above all the inspirer. Issues of peace and justice were central to his life and with Mary Thompson he founded our Diocesan Justice and Peace Commission. He rarely missed a meeting. The combination of his wide knowledge, awesome intellect and passionate commitment enlightened and encouraged us all. He was able both to enthral and to disturb.
Somehow one always wanted more. He was at his best when striding over the moors, enlivening our walks with his recognition of birdsong, of plants and trees or when addressing topics from a historical, philosophical and spiritual perspective in a way that would both excite and fascinate his audience. Indeed, it was his homilies at Barmoor which ‘lit up our world’. I remember one particularly, when he spoke of us all as ‘children of God – eternally coming forth from the Father, as words of God expressing his mind and becoming co-creators with him, living in the love of his Spirit.’ We shall truly miss him. As mentioned later in the newsletter we are planning to dedicate an area of ancient woodland to his memory as a fitting tribute to him.
I would also like to express our appreciation and gratitude to Bishop John. We have been so fortunate in our Bishop. During his time with our Diocese he has been a bedrock of support, always committed to the work of the Commission – using his experience as CAFOD Bishop to advise and encourage, and helping us to raise awareness of peace and justice issues throughout the diocese. He was particularly enthusiastic about new initiatives – especially around the involvement of young people and would help us in any way he could. We are hopeful that recent appointments of a CAFOD regional officer, and of Youth and Adult formation teams with so many possibilities of working together will continue to enhance the initiatives which he particularly valued around the Diocese. Barbara Hungin The Child Two years ago I persuaded a slightly reluctant Fr Storey to record some reminiscences about his early life. Although he had some doubt about the project, the first tape duly arrived. On the cover he had written in his distinctive scrawl ‘Tony’s Story’ .Here are some of his memories. All the direct quotations are his. Tony was born on 6 March 1919 in the East Riding of Yorkshire, the sixth of seven children. His father was the estate manager of the Warter Priory Estate, then owned by Lady Nunburnholme, a descendent of the Duke of Wellington. The house, demolished in the early 1970s, was magnificent and the estate was huge – about 30,000 acres with over a thousand employees including a plumber, gamekeepers, grooms, woodmen and even a mole-catcher. The hierarchy was strictly enforced: Tony was taught to doff his cap to “Lady Nun” the estate workers doffed theirs to Tony’s family. Lady Nunburnholme employed a man called Tasker, a magician in the children’s eyes, to run a generator and to drive the Daimler; no-one else had electricity and most of the transport was horse-drawn, so Tasker’s skills were terribly exciting. Another important figure was the blacksmith, who mended the children’s hoops, skates and toboggans. Tony’s great love of trees must have begun at Warter, where he witnessed the woodmen and their team of shire horses drawing huge trees to the sawmill and distributing logs about the estate. The most important part of the woodman’s job was to keep the woods in “good fettle”. Tony’s father, a skilled horseman, had trained horses for the Great War and Tony learnt to ride on a “little yellow coloured Iceland pony” called Dickie “a stubborn little beast” and spent many hours riding and hunting. His father wrote to Tony at school that Dickie had gone “the way of all flesh”, an expression Tony needed a teacher to explain. He describes it as his first experience “of the death of some creature that I’d really loved and I wept at that”. The Storeys were the only Catholic family on the estate but Tony’s mother, “a wonderful Catholic lady”, saw no problem with this. But education was a difficulty and Tony regretted being parted from the village children when he was sent to a Catholic prep school, Freshfield, in Lancashire. Here he was known as Storey 3. The prep school was an austere crammer ruled over by two terrifying lady dons, one from Cambridge and one from Oxford. One night Tony’s friend set fire to the school because he hated it so much. Although he was discovered and expelled the boys met up again at Stonyhurst. Tony’s parents didn’t think he had a vocation like his brother Peter, but he was an altar server at Freshfield. One day he found himself under the piercing gaze of one of the Mill Hill Fathers who was saying Mass: “I realised I was somehow being told I had to become a priest… I hadn’t the slightest interest in…but somehow I felt, oh what the hell, as though I’d been caught and it bugged me”. From Stonyhurst, where he was very happy, Tony went aged 17 to the English College at Rome. Here the students conversed in Latin and Mussolini was at war with Ethiopia (Abyssinia). Tony recalled seeing lines of African prisoners in the streets. He also saw Hitler and Mussolini “funny little men they were”. When the college was evacuated Tony joined the Home Guard in the East Riding, learning to stick bombs to the side of tanks (substituted by tree trunks) and to fell trees in Dog Kennel Wood, near his old home, a job that both interested and saddened him. Then he continued training at Stonyhurst. He seems to have resisted his vocation in part at least right up until he was due to be ordained in 1943. His doubts stemmed in part from the fact that many of his friends were leaving to fight and also, perhaps, from an inner uncertainty and a sense of being outside the “clerical set”. During his final retreat, however, he had an experience that convinced him of his calling, so that “whether or not I wanted to be a priest or …had any inclination for it, or felt I belonged was irrelevant. I’ve never had any doubt whatever that that is what the Lord wanted me to be…I’ve often felt surprised that the church hasn’t kicked me out but it doesn’t worry me if it does; I’ve fulfilled what the Lord has asked”. Susan Frost
The Priest The following extracts are from Fr Peter Keeling’s Appreciation of Fr Anthony Storey given at his Requiem Mass on 9 May 2007 at St Charles, Hull:
It was only last Friday in our parish hall in Middlesbrough that a woman I thought I did not know said to me “Do you recognise me?” A dangerous question. Before I could think of a tactful answer, she rescued me by saying “We sat next to each other in the primary school of St. Joseph’s Middlesbrough”. Then we quickly reminisced about the teachers, Miss McElhatton, Miss Hardy and Sister Mary Baptist. She then added “and there was the curate Father Tony Storey who visited the school regularly and taught us religion”. Sixty years ago I sat at Tony’s feet in the primary school.
Fast forward now sixty years to the monks’ cemetery at Ampleforth, last year in June. On a beautiful day Tony and I are sitting on a bench. We are on retreat with our brother priests. The speaker during the retreat was the impressive Bishop Willie Walsh of the diocese of Killaloe in Ireland. He had given each of us an abridged version of the current Pope Benedict’s letter ‘Deus Caritas Est – God is Love.’ Tony had asked me to read it to him, because the onset of his macula degeneration, his increasing blindness, meant that he couldn’t read. After I finished reading to him, I looked up and there were tears in his eyes. But the reason why I was sitting next to him in 2006 was because I sat in front of him in St Joseph’s Primary School sixty years previously in 1946. He is a major reason why I am a priest.
In 1946 Tony arrived in the parish of St Joseph, Middlesbrough. He’d been ordained in 1943, was then sent to Cambridge University and arrived to his first parish appointment armed with a History degree to my family parish. At the same time there arrived an Irish priest Patrick McEnroe who had just graduated from Oxford University and was also taking up his first appointment. Later in life he was to be prominent in BBC religious broadcasting. The parish priest was a Scotsman called James McMullen. An Englishman, an Irishman and a Scotsman. The Scotsman said to the Englishman, Tony Storey, “So you have a degree from Cambridge?” to the Irishman, Paddy McEnroe, “and you have a degree from Oxford?” “Yes, Father”, they formally replied. Then said the Scotsman “well you‘ll have no difficulty selling these raffle tickets…”
Though amusing in many ways it is an instructive story, a parable, because the institutional Church never really took Tony’s intellectual prowess seriously. It was never given the recognition, the honour and respect it deserved. The institution was frightened of it.
So he is in his first parish. Mainly working class and council estate. Plenty of unemployment and poverty, just after the war. He set about visiting families in their homes and found a warm welcome. He recounts that they used to say “why are you knocking on the door, it’s always open.” You would be taken into the front parlour and when they warmed to you would be invited into the kitchen where the real life was and you’d be offered a jam sandwich. It was a world of dripping sandwiches and cocoa. And he loved it.
At that time my father was an out of work steel worker. He told me of a time Tony came round and said “Mr. Keeling you haven’t put your name down for the Men’s weekend Retreat I’ve organised with the Jesuits at Sunderland. “No”, said my father and then with some embarrassment added, “I’m not working at the moment so I can’t afford it. “ “Yes, I know” replied Tony “that’s why I‘ve paid for you.” He became a legend not only in my family but far and wide for this sort of generosity, compassion and sensitivity. My mother told me that when Mrs.Savage, a neighbour living opposite, was ill he used to go round early in the morning and put her fire on, clean out the ashes, assemble the sticks and paper, fetch the coal, then light it and go back to celebrate the early morning Mass.
But there were tough times as well. He tells of the time his colleague Paddy McEnroe was manhandled in one house by a giant of a man. So Tony said he would go round and talk to him and with his rugby background he was confident he could counter any such manhandling. He knocked on the door and the giant of a man opened it and said “Not another one” and promptly threw Tony into next door’s garden. Tony’s reflection was “it wasn’t that the man didn’t love the Lord. He just didn’t love the institution.”
In mentioning his rugby background I must mention that he was captain of Christ College when he was at Cambridge. He played for Middlesbrough and had a trial for Yorkshire. This explains why he often celebrated Sunday Mass sporting a black eye or having an arm in a sling or carrying a heavy limp. He was also a good cricketer, played for a local league team and formed a parish team. My brother Michael played for this team and it gave him an enthusiasm for the game for the rest of his life.
He regularly visited our house and had meetings in our back kitchen with young workingmen, including one of my brothers Tom who had started work on the railway. When I was older I discovered that these had been Young Christian Worker meetings. This movement was very strong in the heavily industrialised Middlesbrough. Most parishes had a YCW group set up by the priest, supported by the priest but led and run by a young worker. This was an important element, because one aim was to produce leaders for society and the movement did in fact produce many MPs and trade union leaders. Sometime in the sixties the movement went into decline and I once asked Tony the reason for this. He gave one of his typical answers. “Oh” he said “the clergy took up golf.”
With his background how did Tony adapt so well to a working class town? An experience he had in a mental hospital answers this. He used to regularly visit St Luke’s Mental Hospital in Middlesbrough. There were many locked wards and some of the treatment seems primitive now. He determined to treat every patient with the utmost respect and sensitivity. These were Gospel imperatives. One day he was giving the last rites to a particularly deranged, but dying patient. When he had said the words “May the Lord bless you and lift you up and bring you fullness of life”. the patient, in a moment of lucidity, looked at him and said “Thank you for treating me with respect. Even though I was deranged I always heard you. Thank you.” And died.
He believed in treating every person as of absolute worth and with the utmost respect. Aristocrat or peasant, sane or insane made no difference to him. The only rule was to treat all as of absolute worth. He acted as though boundaries did not exist. Like Christ he was a free person. The word Catholic, which means universal, for him, meant that no one was excluded. He had risen above denomination. As a consequence he was frequently invited to speak to other Christian denominations. He would be invited to lead their ministers in days of reflection. Not surprising that he was invited to be the first RC priest to preach in York Minster, since the Reformation. Quakers would attend his Masses at the University Chaplaincy and out of respect for their emphasis on silent worship, after Communion there would be an extended period of silence. He loved using Buddhist meditation techniques and practised yoga.
His interests and influence stretched far and wide. He visited prisoners and corresponded with them. He had a particular empathy for people suffering anxiety and depression. Despite his vitality and optimism, he had bouts of depression and understood how people suffered. Sunshine and clouds were the stuff of his life. He was concerned for the excluded and marginalised. His was a gospel of Justice and Peace. With Mary Thompson he set up the Justice and Peace Commission of the Middlesbrough diocese. On our way here today, Mary’s sister, Trudie, described him very well. She said “Tony Storey never diminished.” He was one of a few priests who actively supported Justice & Peace matters.
He spent many years in Hull and Cottingham. He was here at St Charles for 7 years and at the Hull University Catholic Chaplaincy for 11 years and Holy Cross, Cottingham for 15 years and then 10 years retired in St Vincent’s parish, where he helped out.
After my 10 years in this city of Hull I said to him that I had found the Hull people so warm and friendly. He gave one of his typical answers “Well you see, Pete, most of them are pagans and have never been messed about by the churches. “ For his dedicated work in St Mary’s College, Hull, a building was named after him. For his contribution to university life as catholic chaplain he was awarded an honorary degree. When I succeeded him as catholic chaplain I followed Tony’s advice and immediately went to introduce myself to Sir Brynmor Jones, the Vice Chancellor, who at the end of our conversation said to me “You will never be able to fill his shoes, but that’s your challenge.”
He would want me to thank the staff of Castle Hill hospital who cared for him in his last illness. And thanks to his friends, who supported him so well in the end, symbolised particularly by Marian Hall. Towards the end he said to her “I’ve decided to give in”. “Give in?” she asked. “Give in to the Almighty who loves me”, he said, then after a pause, “not to the Trinity, I’ve never understood that.” He also said “I am going to the Glory”. If that was his last word it was fitting, because St. Irenaeus of Lyons in the second century said, “The glory of God is a person fully alive” Tony Storey was such a person – fully alive. We will miss him. Peter Keeling
The Friend From William Fitzpatrick (aged 16) I first properly met Tony when I was about 8 on a trip to Barmoor with Justice and Peace. Tony always struck me as a very honest, charismatic and clever man, and was always very full of life at every visit to Barmoor. Even though I was 8 it was obvious that he enjoyed spending time with me and my friend Nathan (who also came to Barmoor) and would always join in when Nathan and I were playing games or having the annual water fight. The most memorable occasion was when Tony jumped onto a rope swing and insisted that we pushed him. Even though I was 8, and church wasn’t very exciting for me, Tony’s masses would always be very peaceful and interesting, and they always were throughout each year. Tony had a wide knowledge, and always seemed to know everything. When we went on walks with him he would always enlighten Nathan and me with new facts. I will never forget walking through a field of cows, and him telling me how to defend yourself against a bull attack. Even in old age Tony was extremely active and would always accompany us on walks, he would always be able to tell us the name of the bird that would be calling or the names of different trees. Tony had a very good sense of humour. One year at Barmoor, all he referred to Nathan and me as was “The Beverley Vandals”. One year on a walk, Tony and I thought we had found a hand grenade, he found it hilarious when it turned out to be just an old, empty jar of Marmite someone had left in the field we were walking through. I am proud to have known Tony, it was a delight and he will always remain an influence.
From Canon David W. Smith : Rector of Whitby I know that I am one of many, many clergy and ministers who have valued the love and friendship that Tony Storey gave. I was serving my title in the Anglican Parish of Stokesley in the early seventies when he arrived as the Parish Priest. I was never allowed to walk past the Presbytery but he insisted that I had to call in and say hello, pass the time of day and regale him with any gossip that he didn’t already know! Over the next few years I grew to regard him as not only a brilliant Parish Priest but also as a confidant and friend. If I had time on a Sunday between services I would go and listen to Tony’s sermons. They were always ‘filled with good things’ and the Love of God always shone out of both him and his words. I remember going into his church after the liturgical changes due to Vatican 2 were about to take place. Tony was telling his congregation that, “from next Sunday we are all going to pass the peace to each other. This is very easy and best done with a smile and a handshake.” Then, eyeballing some of his more elderly and holy ladies he said with a twinkle in his eye, “of course, if you think the person sitting next to you is a bit of a bastard, don’t bother!” At that point I decided to leave before Anglican/ R C relations took a dive through my laughter. Over my thirty-five years of ministry, those values of God’s love and friendship which he shared have always remained with me. May he rest in peace.
From Nathan Smith (aged 16) I thought Tony was an inspirational person to be around. I firmly hold the belief that it was impossible to be around him without a smile on your face, due to the wittiness and kindness of him. He seemed to become more and more boisterous in his old age. I remember the time where Tony, Will, his dog (at the time) Shiny and I went up onto the top of a hill near Barmoor. On the way up, it seemed to be a race between Shiny and Tony. Will and I were stranded, out of breath slowly climbing up whilst Tony seemed to walk up effortlessly. At the top of the hill were the ruins of what looked like an old village. Tony was amazed by it, and passed on his knowledge of old burial rituals. He loved the wildlife on the top of the hill, and the enormous view. Tony felt like someone to aspire to, naturally a loving person with what seemed an infinite amount of knowledge.
From Ann Tracy I think of him best sitting on the grass at Barmoor one warm summer’s evening, celebrating Mass with us. We were singing ‘Laudato si’ and it was one of those times when everything seemed to come together – the daisies and the bread and wine, the singing and the circle of friends, and Tony in the centre of it all, delighting in life. And igniting the same joy in those around him.
The Campaigner From Martin Foreman Tony joined Amnesty International soon after its foundation in 1962, and remained a lifelong member. With the winding-up of Hull’s Amnesty group in the early 1980s, Tony convened a small band from Cottingham’s Holy Cross Church to carry on their work. At first meeting in private homes, by 1986 it was robust enough to take on the long-term ‘adoption’ of an individual prisoner’s case. The first adopted prisoner was Albert, a Jehovah’s Witness whose objection to compulsory military service under the USSR had earned him two years in prison. On Albert’s release, the group was allocated the case of Dr U Tin Myo Win. A colleague of Aung San Su Ky, the Nobel laureate and president-elect of Myanmar (Burma), he was released after a petition signed by every member of Hull’s City Council was delivered to the embassy in London. There followed a long campaign on behalf of 10 members of Syria’s Committee for Democratic Freedoms detained under President Assad. They, too, were released. Topical campaigns were also taken up. From 1988, work on behalf of refugees and asylum-seekers gathered pace. In his own right, Tony assisted non-persons washed up on his doorstep by policy towards ‘refused asylum-seekers’. The Urgent Action scheme, with a focus on individuals in desperate need, was another favourite. He also welcomed Amnesty’s highlighting violence against women, appalled that in Britain today two women a week are put to death by their partners. Letter-writing – Amnesty’s basic method – was supplemented by events to broaden public awareness. From 1987 to 2007, Tony promoted an annual concert at Hull’s Ferens Art Gallery. Civic links also led to the institution, from 1995, of the Wilberforce Lecture. This gives a platform for activists of the calibre of Wole Soyinka, Clare Short and Desmond Tutu to address human rights issues. This ‘Wilberforce tradition’ is flowering with commemoration of the abolition of the slave trade. Tony was saddened by aspects of Amnesty’s rise to become the world’s largest mass-membership campaigning organisation. As it turned to address broad human rights issues, he felt a vital focus on individual people was blurred. Tension between women’s rights and the rights of the unborn child is now debated by members, while enthusiastic fund-raising could displace the personalised activism of earlier years. Yet, to a priest and historian, this was a familiar tale of an organisation wrestling with the consequences of success; Tony never made frailty a reason to abandon a friend. The Hull Amnesty Group ceased to meet in April 2007. The author is keen to hear from any who might help its revival.
My most vivid memory of Tony is when he and I visited an old lady high in the mountains in Gran Paradiso, Italy. She had been at the Mass he said in a tiny unused hamlet chapel – he and I in walking gear (no vestments) in fluent Italian and ‘parte Inglese’ for my benefit (I ‘served’). After Mass she talked to him, and it turned out she had a pet chamois so we went to see it. She was ancient, bent and creased – but I will never forget her eyes as she talked to him, they were green and really sparkled. As we were leaving the village he chatted with an old man who told him that she was a recluse who ‘never talked to anyone’. Tony did that to everyone! (including me). John Blatchford
The Historian I first met Tony Storey at a J & P meeting in York more than 20 years ago. I had recently moved to North Yorkshire and when he learned that I was working at the County Record Office I was immediately enlisted to help his researches into the history of Mount Grace Priory and the Lady Chapel. I soon discovered that he and his brother Peter had been interested in the Lady Chapel since the 1940’s and that Tony followed carefully the archaeological investigations which preceded the restoration of the Chapel after the site was purchased in 1952. Little was known about the foundation of the Chapel and the excavations raised more questions. Tony wanted to find the truth behind the traditions and legends associated with the Chapel, which had remained a place of pilgrimage throughout the centuries when Catholics in England were forbidden to practise their religion. As well as strong faith and deep devotion to the martyrs he brought to the task an infectious enthusiasm and the keen mind of a trained historian (he read history at Cambridge) able to track down information and subject it to critical analysis. He could only pursue his research intermittently, when his many other commitments allowed, but he returned to it in so-called ‘retirement’, determined to put together the information he had gathered, so that it would not be lost, and to tell as much of the story as he could, although many questions remained. In June 2001 he gave a talk at the York Catholic History Day entitled ‘Mount Grace Lady Chapel, An Unfinished Quest’. His booklet, Mount Grace Lady Chapel: An Historical Enquiry, was published later that year and is a fitting epitaph for Tony, the historian, who wrote to me after its publication “I’d love to know…. Why the place seemed so important. Perhaps the quest will be triggered by this” Let’s hope it will be. Judith A. Smeaton
Teacher and Chaplain All of us at St Mary’s College have wonderful memories of Fr Tony Storey. He loved teaching and, despite many other commitments, used to come in to teach when St Mary’s was a High School. He was the VIth Form Chaplain at the College from 1988 until his retirement and the talks he gave to the students were truly inspirational. He was a deeply learned, spiritual man and spoke beautifully on just about any subject. He was able to make even the most difficult topics enjoyable and accessible and was able to speak in a language that the VIth formers could understand. Despite his years, he was eternally young and spoke to them on their level. He was passionate about social justice and the work of Amnesty International and this endeared him even more to the students. We were blessed to have him as Chaplain. After his retirement, he kept in contact with the College and loved coming in to celebrate Mass with the whole school community on the major feast days and equally with small groups during the lunch hour. He never turned down a request to help out. He enjoyed the company of young people and they thought the world of him.
He has planted innumerable trees and shrubs in the College grounds and until very recently one could meet him every week tending to the gardens. He was so alive and energetic that it is hard to believe that he is no longer with us.
His spirit and the legacy he has left will never be forgotten. The recently built VIth Form Centre is named after him: a fitting, if inadequate tribute to a great teacher, a great priest and a great man. C. J. Cuthill, St Mary’s College Chaplaincy, Hull.
The Gardener “The two most important things in life are to love – and to plant trees.” Anthony Storey, Priest.
From Trudie Thompson From my many memories of Tony I recall one typical event which showed his love of the land and people. He had asked me to sketch the Lady Chapel at Osmotherley for the history he was writing. We invited him for lunch and afterwards we planned to drive to Osmotherley so that I could make sketches and take photographs of the chapel and Mary and Tony could check the progress of the trees he had planted up there. Before we left I took Tony round our garden to enjoy and profit from his knowledge. “What should I do with this woody caryopteris which isn’t flowering very well?” “Dig it out!” he said. “How old do you think this Bramley apple tree is?” “Maybe 100 years, but you’ll have to cut it down to be sure!” Then I proudly pointed to my young oak tree grown from an acorn, sitting in a beautiful 12” hand-thrown pot from Whitby’s potter in Blackburn’s Yard. Tony’s face took on a horrified look. “How long have you had it?” he asked me. “Ten years,” I said. He groaned – then he offered to plant it for me near the Lady Chapel. I’ve regretted ever since that I didn’t accept his offer immediately. Now perhaps if we get a plot of land with trees in memory of Tony my oak tree can be released and Tony can rest in peace! PS Linda Chetham (nee Allan), tells me that in 1948, when her mother was carrying her, Tony used to go round each week to hang out the washing for her.
The University Chaplain Anthony Storey was chaplain at Hull University when I arrived there in Autumn 1968 – coming in on the tail end of a tumultuous summer, when students everywhere were in revolt and Hull students had staged a sit in at the university. The chaplaincy was an easy-going, warm, welcoming place and most Catholic students tended to gravitate towards it. We must have been a dull, unresponsive lot for Storey, now I come to think about it. Here was a man, a scholar, a man with roots in historical, philosophical and theological abstractions from centuries beyond our ken, a man who never lost his intellectual curiosity and passion, who was eternally interested in the great moral questions of justice, peace, personal morality. He enjoyed being part of an academic community and it gave him the opportunity to engage with like minds that he did not find often within the Church – but those minds were not, on the whole, those of us students. We brought him the perennial everyday dilemmas – ‘can I make my grant last, my parents just broke up, what do I do, I feel depressed and suicidal, I am pregnant ‘– of youth in turbulent times. He didn’t always get his responses right, for he was a man of his times – but most ex-students of Hull will remember him for his wonderful ability to combine intellectualism with zaniness and a difficult celibate life with an amazing capacity to love and give. He was far more than a chaplain. He was, by the end of his tenure, in danger of being burned out from all the demands of being a 24/7 social worker without the usual protections. He didn’t just respond to students but opened his door and his heart to every hard luck case who reached the doorstep, some of whom lived with him on and off or who went away filled with half Storey’s dinner, pockets filled with part of his stipend and wearing his clothes. Anthony Storey was a great priest but, above all, he was a lovely man. Maria Brenton
If ever there was a “human being fully alive” it was Tony. He was an impressively wise and holy man, but also fallible and funny. He once drove us round Hull on a joyful but terrifying journey as he enthusiastically pointed out his beloved landmarks, at the same time failing to notice when the traffic lights were red. Another time, when he was 87 and nearly blind, I was walking with him when we came to a tall ladder stile. Rather nervously I asked, “Will you be OK with this, Tony?” whereupon he ran up the steps and took a giant leap to land safely on the other side. I don’t know whether Tony was born on a Friday, but he had an enormous capacity for loving and giving. Anthea Dove From Kathy Smith See you at the end, pilgrim. I am grateful to have walked a little way with you and hold your words of wisdom, earthly and heavenly, in my heart.
From Nan Saeki: As Parish priest of Cottingham, he had care of the retirement home “Magnolia House”, which had been our family home from 1939 till 1953. Apart from J&P our shared interest was in trees and when he reported that our very old beech tree from that house had been cut down – it was at least 300 years old, he said – he promised to plant another in its place. I was touched by his already growing row of saplings in the presbytery garden. I treasure so many of his words, his meditations, his expositions and was often quite carried away by his talks. His letters, usually brief, ending ‘life, love and peace’ were privileged one-to-one conversations.
Memories from Cottingham Peter Watts writes: “My favourite memory of Fr. Tony goes back to when I was in the Police Force. At the time I was a Police Patrol Driver and about 10.00 a.m. one fine Sunday morning was driving along Nornabel Street in Hull towards Holderness Rd. As I approached the junction with the main road, a car shot past the end of Nornabel St towards the city boundary. I thought, ‘He’s going a bit fast.’ So I drove onto Holderness Rd. and followed him at a safe distance. His speed was a constant 40mph in a 30mph area. Now in those days, it was the custom to warn anyone driving at a speed of up to 40mph and report them for a speed in excess of 40mph. I thought, well he must see me, I’m in a marked police car… but he didn’t. Blue light and siren on, I overtook him. As I was doing so, I saw it was Fr. Tony. He didn’t know me – but I knew him. My thoughts were, ‘I’ve always wanted to do this.’ I pulled up in front of him, went back to his car and said, ‘Father, for doing 40mph in a 30mph zone, for your penance say three Our Fathers and three Hail Marys.’ Then I made the sign of the cross over him and said, ‘Ego te absolvo!’ ‘I’ll say them,’ he said. And you know, he did!”
Mrs. Rosetta Binu: “During the short time I looked after you at the Intensive Care Unit, I came to know that you were a great man, loved and well known. You had a smiling face always and radiated grace. God bless.” Jim and Irene O’Donaghue: “Lots of great memories from our families including walking from Hull to Walsingham and sleeping in haystacks. God love you.”
“The Elysian Fields need care and cultivation, Storey, You’re the man for the job! You left us with such gifts and happy memories. Love Biggsy.”
“Father, thank you for giving me the Last Rites in 1989. You will be forever in my prayer. Pauline.”
“Thank you, Fr. Tony. When I first came to this parish of yours, it was a marvellous revelation of what a real lively loving parish should be.” (Tony Woods-McConville)
“Our friend, Fr. Tony. The most profound human being our family have had the privilege of knowing.” (The Sande Family)
“Tony, you were and continue to be an inspiration. Your outstretched arms, big open hands, clear voice and ability to get to the heart of things will stay with me. I am deeply grateful to have had the privilege of knowing you and being touched by you. Thank you.” (Edwina Parker)
“We shall always remember that day in York when the Pope came. We all had a wonderful day together. You were an inspiration and such a joy to be with. We thank you for your guidance when the children were growing up.” (Teresa and Les Ulyatt)
“Along with my parents, you shaped my faith and were responsible for my sense of justice. I thank you.” (Monica Kent nee Priest)
Father Pat writes: When the news of Tony’s death hit the parish I said, ‘Don’t be sad but rather be glad that you had the special privilege of knowing him. Most people in the diocese and beyond never had that opportunity!’ The names Fr. Storey and Cottingham go together, and not just the Catholic community but the whole community of the village. Tony was so loved by everyone in Cottingham. The first card of condolence came from the community at Zion Church in the village. That says something! His fifteen or so years as Chaplain to Castle Hill Hospital in the village touched so many people too, staff and patients alike. And the care they gave him during his final couple of months there was indescribable! He was truly loved by them all and five of the nurses helped lay him out after he died, they all wanted to be with him and do something for him. When I arrived in the diocese thirty years ago I heard about Fr. Storey, described as a bit of a strange priest, a bit of a ‘looney’. Would that we had more of his type around today! God probably broke the mould when he created Tony! What did he do for me? He set me free to do what I thought to be right and not always to be looking over my shoulder to see what others might be thinking. He always took risks, even here at Holy Cross in his early days when he turned the church round sideways, with lots of opposition from the parish. Now we can’t imagine it any other way! He always was a man of vision, seeing things that the rest of us couldn’t see and maybe still can’t see! He was also the first priest I heard swearing from the pulpit (and getting away with it!). With his ‘posh’ voice it didn’t sound that bad! [Those bastard Pharisees doing those terrible things to Jesus!]. It just wouldn’t sound the same in an Irish accent! Tony dug the ground here at Holy Cross, he planted the seed and all I have to do is to reap the harvest! May you rest in peace, Tony. Thanks for every thing!
From Tom McAlindon For those fortunate enough to have known him, Father Anthony Storey, who has died aged 88, will always be remembered as a uniquely inspiring and gifted individual. The intellectual and scholarly bent of his many-sided nature found much satisfaction during his ten years as chaplain to the University of Hull and as part-time teacher of history and religion at St Mary’s College. Later he became sixth-form chaplain at the College. Father Storey had a natural empathy with the young, a willingness to listen to their troubles, and an infectious enthusiasm in all his undertakings that won him countless life-long friends among his students. The University duly honoured him for his work with an honorary degree, while at St Mary’s the building which houses the Sixth Form, and the history thas been named in his honour ‘The Storey Centre’. After Hull, he was appointed parish priest successively at Stokesley, Richmond, and Bedale, doubling up in these years as chaplain to the RAF at Catterick and Leeming. He then returned in 1981 to the Hull area as parish priest at the Church of the Holy Cross in Cottingham, where he would remain until his retirement in 1996. Here his congregation soon doubled, due in no small measure to his spiritual intensity and the remarkable variety and richness of his eloquent sermons. His great humanitarian instincts found expression in these years in his role as the driving force in the local Amnesty group whose members were both Catholic and Protestant, theist and atheist, and as founder of the charitable Freetown Project for Sierra Leone. He thought this latter project would last about three years, but in fact it is now twenty years old and as provided a parish in that war-torn and desperately poor country with a church, a pre-school centre, a primary school, a vocational school, a bakery, and a clinic with a generator. His compassion is widely known among the poor and unfortunate in Hull, where destitute refugees from many countries found their way to the door of his little retirement house in Goddard’s Avenue. A tall, rangy man with a powerful physique, Anthony was both a natural athlete and a great lover of nature and the outdoors. He captained his college’s rugby team at Cambridge (turned down an offer of a trial for Yorkshire) and was a keen mountaineer (reached 15,000 feet on Mount Kenya, conquered Mount Mormolada in the Dolomites). He became a lively member of the Woodland Trust, tirelessly planting trees in every appropriate spot in North Yorkshire. Despite failing eyesight, he retained his strength of body, vigour of mind, and extraordinary range of interests until the last year of his long life. He was great company, a great human being, a credit to the priesthood. His death leaves a void in the lives of his man, many friends.
When I asked Tom McAlindon for permission to use that part of his obituary, he asked me to add the following:
The obituary was written before the requiem mass in St Charles’, Hull’s city-centre and largest church, an event which I found staggering. This was a mass in memory of an elderly and professionally obscure man, Father – not Monsignor, not Canon, not Bishop – Storey, a parish priest who retired ELEVEN years ago. But the church was packed literally to overflowing: ten minutes before Mass began it was impossible to find even standing room in any part of the church, and the crowd flowed from the packed aisles out into the porch, down the steps and on to the street. Obviously no one, but no one, attended out of respect for ecclesiastical rank, or out of respect for the Church, or because it was in any sense the proper thing to do. They were there because of the extraordinary, intrinsic goodness of a priest whom his church, for no doubt ‘sound’ reasons, felt unable to honour. We knew he had many friends, had touched the lives of countless. But this was beyond our imagining. What about all those people in different parts of the country who would like to have attended but could not? People who knew and loved Tony may like to know that they can buy 3 CDs which he made with Val Goldsack and others, and which are very moving and beautifully put together. Each is a compilation of Tony’s words with appropriate songs on different themes. Val told me that Tony recorded the first-Always with us- in 1998 then in 2001, Hear my Prayer, and finally Loving God made last autumn/winter “when Tony was already ill, but quite adamant that this work, this ministry of prayer must be completed. He must have used the words “this is very important work a dozen times!” The quality of the recordings is first class. Val has added some fine photos of Tony to her website www.valgoldsack.co.uk/tonypage.htm the discs are available at £8 each from JHN Liturgical Music, 3 Poplars Road, Linthorpe, Middlesbrough TS5 6RL
Tony on CD
Commission contacts Barbara Hungin Chair 01642 784398 Sr Mary Walmsley CJ Secretary 01904 464919 Nan Saeki Treasurer 01904 783621 Chris Dove Editor 01947 825043 email: dove.whitby@phonecoop.coop or 22 Blackburns whitby Yard Whitby YO22 4DS website: www.middlesbroughjp.org Please note NEW web address
DIARY Sept 15 Prisons and Prison Justice St Francis Middlsbrough Nov 17 Youth Forum Middlesbrough
In Memoriam Readers are invited to help the Diocese of Middlesbrough Justice and Peace Commission dedicate an area of ancient woodland to the memory of Father Tony Storey, through the Woodland Trust. We can choose a wood in Yorkshire, somewhere significant to Tony, helping the Trust to maintain and preserve it for future generations. Depending on the amount received we will be able to dedicate up to an acre of trees, with a commemorative plaque or even a bench. All donations, however small, will be greatly appreciated. Donate online at www.dedicatetrees.com (select search funds and enter “Fr Anthony Storey”), by phone:0800 026 9650 or in writing to Group Funds The Woodland Trust Autumn Park Dysart Road Grantham Lincs NG31 6LL. For more details, or to request an official form, contact Susan Frost on 01904 638836 or email frost.susan@gmail.com
An Epitaph “He was a sage, a friend, a rock and a towering tree….......... He cared so much about future generations.” Dr Jackie Lukes. Hull Interfaith.
RIP
This special newsletter was a collection of tributes to Fr Anthony Storey.
JULY/AUGUST 2007 Editorial Father Anthony Storey 1919-2007 RIP This special newsletter is a collection of tributes to Fr Tony Storey. His death came just as I was finishing the last issue and I had already decided to use this quotation from Oscar Romero as the Postscript.
A church that doesn’t provoke any crises, a gospel that doesn’t unsettle, a word of God that doesn’t get under anyone’s skin, a word of God that doesn’t touch the real sin of the society in which it is being proclaimed – what gospel is that? Very nice, pious considerations that don’t bother anyone, that’s the way many would like preaching to be. Those preachers who avoid every thorny matter so as not to be harassed, so as not to have conflicts and difficulties, do not light up the world they live in.
In retrospect the choice seems serendipitous: Tony loved to unsettle, get under our skin, and certainly, he lit up our world. I am most grateful to all who have contributed to this issue, and to Susan Frost who has the skills to turn it into a booklet. Should you want a further copy, please download it from our website: www.middlesbroughjp.org. Chris Dove
Tony Storey This issue of our newsletter is devoted to memories of Fr. Tony Storey. I want to pay tribute both to him and also to Bishop John as he steps down from the Diocese. To those of us who were present at Tony’s funeral mass it was obvious how loved and how treasured he had been. So many aspects of him – the curate, the parish priest, the university chaplain, the friend, the mentor, the campaigner, the nature lover and above all the inspirer. Issues of peace and justice were central to his life and with Mary Thompson he founded our Diocesan Justice and Peace Commission. He rarely missed a meeting. The combination of his wide knowledge, awesome intellect and passionate commitment enlightened and encouraged us all. He was able both to enthral and to disturb.
Somehow one always wanted more. He was at his best when striding over the moors, enlivening our walks with his recognition of birdsong, of plants and trees or when addressing topics from a historical, philosophical and spiritual perspective in a way that would both excite and fascinate his audience. Indeed, it was his homilies at Barmoor which ‘lit up our world’. I remember one particularly, when he spoke of us all as ‘children of God – eternally coming forth from the Father, as words of God expressing his mind and becoming co-creators with him, living in the love of his Spirit.’ We shall truly miss him. As mentioned later in the newsletter we are planning to dedicate an area of ancient woodland to his memory as a fitting tribute to him.
I would also like to express our appreciation and gratitude to Bishop John. We have been so fortunate in our Bishop. During his time with our Diocese he has been a bedrock of support, always committed to the work of the Commission – using his experience as CAFOD Bishop to advise and encourage, and helping us to raise awareness of peace and justice issues throughout the diocese. He was particularly enthusiastic about new initiatives – especially around the involvement of young people and would help us in any way he could. We are hopeful that recent appointments of a CAFOD regional officer, and of Youth and Adult formation teams with so many possibilities of working together will continue to enhance the initiatives which he particularly valued around the Diocese. Barbara Hungin The Child Two years ago I persuaded a slightly reluctant Fr Storey to record some reminiscences about his early life. Although he had some doubt about the project, the first tape duly arrived. On the cover he had written in his distinctive scrawl ‘Tony’s Story’ .Here are some of his memories. All the direct quotations are his. Tony was born on 6 March 1919 in the East Riding of Yorkshire, the sixth of seven children. His father was the estate manager of the Warter Priory Estate, then owned by Lady Nunburnholme, a descendent of the Duke of Wellington. The house, demolished in the early 1970s, was magnificent and the estate was huge – about 30,000 acres with over a thousand employees including a plumber, gamekeepers, grooms, woodmen and even a mole-catcher. The hierarchy was strictly enforced: Tony was taught to doff his cap to “Lady Nun” the estate workers doffed theirs to Tony’s family. Lady Nunburnholme employed a man called Tasker, a magician in the children’s eyes, to run a generator and to drive the Daimler; no-one else had electricity and most of the transport was horse-drawn, so Tasker’s skills were terribly exciting. Another important figure was the blacksmith, who mended the children’s hoops, skates and toboggans. Tony’s great love of trees must have begun at Warter, where he witnessed the woodmen and their team of shire horses drawing huge trees to the sawmill and distributing logs about the estate. The most important part of the woodman’s job was to keep the woods in “good fettle”. Tony’s father, a skilled horseman, had trained horses for the Great War and Tony learnt to ride on a “little yellow coloured Iceland pony” called Dickie “a stubborn little beast” and spent many hours riding and hunting. His father wrote to Tony at school that Dickie had gone “the way of all flesh”, an expression Tony needed a teacher to explain. He describes it as his first experience “of the death of some creature that I’d really loved and I wept at that”. The Storeys were the only Catholic family on the estate but Tony’s mother, “a wonderful Catholic lady”, saw no problem with this. But education was a difficulty and Tony regretted being parted from the village children when he was sent to a Catholic prep school, Freshfield, in Lancashire. Here he was known as Storey 3. The prep school was an austere crammer ruled over by two terrifying lady dons, one from Cambridge and one from Oxford. One night Tony’s friend set fire to the school because he hated it so much. Although he was discovered and expelled the boys met up again at Stonyhurst. Tony’s parents didn’t think he had a vocation like his brother Peter, but he was an altar server at Freshfield. One day he found himself under the piercing gaze of one of the Mill Hill Fathers who was saying Mass: “I realised I was somehow being told I had to become a priest… I hadn’t the slightest interest in…but somehow I felt, oh what the hell, as though I’d been caught and it bugged me”. From Stonyhurst, where he was very happy, Tony went aged 17 to the English College at Rome. Here the students conversed in Latin and Mussolini was at war with Ethiopia (Abyssinia). Tony recalled seeing lines of African prisoners in the streets. He also saw Hitler and Mussolini “funny little men they were”. When the college was evacuated Tony joined the Home Guard in the East Riding, learning to stick bombs to the side of tanks (substituted by tree trunks) and to fell trees in Dog Kennel Wood, near his old home, a job that both interested and saddened him. Then he continued training at Stonyhurst. He seems to have resisted his vocation in part at least right up until he was due to be ordained in 1943. His doubts stemmed in part from the fact that many of his friends were leaving to fight and also, perhaps, from an inner uncertainty and a sense of being outside the “clerical set”. During his final retreat, however, he had an experience that convinced him of his calling, so that “whether or not I wanted to be a priest or …had any inclination for it, or felt I belonged was irrelevant. I’ve never had any doubt whatever that that is what the Lord wanted me to be…I’ve often felt surprised that the church hasn’t kicked me out but it doesn’t worry me if it does; I’ve fulfilled what the Lord has asked”. Susan Frost
The Priest The following extracts are from Fr Peter Keeling’s Appreciation of Fr Anthony Storey given at his Requiem Mass on 9 May 2007 at St Charles, Hull:
It was only last Friday in our parish hall in Middlesbrough that a woman I thought I did not know said to me “Do you recognise me?” A dangerous question. Before I could think of a tactful answer, she rescued me by saying “We sat next to each other in the primary school of St. Joseph’s Middlesbrough”. Then we quickly reminisced about the teachers, Miss McElhatton, Miss Hardy and Sister Mary Baptist. She then added “and there was the curate Father Tony Storey who visited the school regularly and taught us religion”. Sixty years ago I sat at Tony’s feet in the primary school.
Fast forward now sixty years to the monks’ cemetery at Ampleforth, last year in June. On a beautiful day Tony and I are sitting on a bench. We are on retreat with our brother priests. The speaker during the retreat was the impressive Bishop Willie Walsh of the diocese of Killaloe in Ireland. He had given each of us an abridged version of the current Pope Benedict’s letter ‘Deus Caritas Est – God is Love.’ Tony had asked me to read it to him, because the onset of his macula degeneration, his increasing blindness, meant that he couldn’t read. After I finished reading to him, I looked up and there were tears in his eyes. But the reason why I was sitting next to him in 2006 was because I sat in front of him in St Joseph’s Primary School sixty years previously in 1946. He is a major reason why I am a priest.
In 1946 Tony arrived in the parish of St Joseph, Middlesbrough. He’d been ordained in 1943, was then sent to Cambridge University and arrived to his first parish appointment armed with a History degree to my family parish. At the same time there arrived an Irish priest Patrick McEnroe who had just graduated from Oxford University and was also taking up his first appointment. Later in life he was to be prominent in BBC religious broadcasting. The parish priest was a Scotsman called James McMullen. An Englishman, an Irishman and a Scotsman. The Scotsman said to the Englishman, Tony Storey, “So you have a degree from Cambridge?” to the Irishman, Paddy McEnroe, “and you have a degree from Oxford?” “Yes, Father”, they formally replied. Then said the Scotsman “well you‘ll have no difficulty selling these raffle tickets…”
Though amusing in many ways it is an instructive story, a parable, because the institutional Church never really took Tony’s intellectual prowess seriously. It was never given the recognition, the honour and respect it deserved. The institution was frightened of it.
So he is in his first parish. Mainly working class and council estate. Plenty of unemployment and poverty, just after the war. He set about visiting families in their homes and found a warm welcome. He recounts that they used to say “why are you knocking on the door, it’s always open.” You would be taken into the front parlour and when they warmed to you would be invited into the kitchen where the real life was and you’d be offered a jam sandwich. It was a world of dripping sandwiches and cocoa. And he loved it.
At that time my father was an out of work steel worker. He told me of a time Tony came round and said “Mr. Keeling you haven’t put your name down for the Men’s weekend Retreat I’ve organised with the Jesuits at Sunderland. “No”, said my father and then with some embarrassment added, “I’m not working at the moment so I can’t afford it. “ “Yes, I know” replied Tony “that’s why I‘ve paid for you.” He became a legend not only in my family but far and wide for this sort of generosity, compassion and sensitivity. My mother told me that when Mrs.Savage, a neighbour living opposite, was ill he used to go round early in the morning and put her fire on, clean out the ashes, assemble the sticks and paper, fetch the coal, then light it and go back to celebrate the early morning Mass.
But there were tough times as well. He tells of the time his colleague Paddy McEnroe was manhandled in one house by a giant of a man. So Tony said he would go round and talk to him and with his rugby background he was confident he could counter any such manhandling. He knocked on the door and the giant of a man opened it and said “Not another one” and promptly threw Tony into next door’s garden. Tony’s reflection was “it wasn’t that the man didn’t love the Lord. He just didn’t love the institution.”
In mentioning his rugby background I must mention that he was captain of Christ College when he was at Cambridge. He played for Middlesbrough and had a trial for Yorkshire. This explains why he often celebrated Sunday Mass sporting a black eye or having an arm in a sling or carrying a heavy limp. He was also a good cricketer, played for a local league team and formed a parish team. My brother Michael played for this team and it gave him an enthusiasm for the game for the rest of his life.
He regularly visited our house and had meetings in our back kitchen with young workingmen, including one of my brothers Tom who had started work on the railway. When I was older I discovered that these had been Young Christian Worker meetings. This movement was very strong in the heavily industrialised Middlesbrough. Most parishes had a YCW group set up by the priest, supported by the priest but led and run by a young worker. This was an important element, because one aim was to produce leaders for society and the movement did in fact produce many MPs and trade union leaders. Sometime in the sixties the movement went into decline and I once asked Tony the reason for this. He gave one of his typical answers. “Oh” he said “the clergy took up golf.”
With his background how did Tony adapt so well to a working class town? An experience he had in a mental hospital answers this. He used to regularly visit St Luke’s Mental Hospital in Middlesbrough. There were many locked wards and some of the treatment seems primitive now. He determined to treat every patient with the utmost respect and sensitivity. These were Gospel imperatives. One day he was giving the last rites to a particularly deranged, but dying patient. When he had said the words “May the Lord bless you and lift you up and bring you fullness of life”. the patient, in a moment of lucidity, looked at him and said “Thank you for treating me with respect. Even though I was deranged I always heard you. Thank you.” And died.
He believed in treating every person as of absolute worth and with the utmost respect. Aristocrat or peasant, sane or insane made no difference to him. The only rule was to treat all as of absolute worth. He acted as though boundaries did not exist. Like Christ he was a free person. The word Catholic, which means universal, for him, meant that no one was excluded. He had risen above denomination. As a consequence he was frequently invited to speak to other Christian denominations. He would be invited to lead their ministers in days of reflection. Not surprising that he was invited to be the first RC priest to preach in York Minster, since the Reformation. Quakers would attend his Masses at the University Chaplaincy and out of respect for their emphasis on silent worship, after Communion there would be an extended period of silence. He loved using Buddhist meditation techniques and practised yoga.
His interests and influence stretched far and wide. He visited prisoners and corresponded with them. He had a particular empathy for people suffering anxiety and depression. Despite his vitality and optimism, he had bouts of depression and understood how people suffered. Sunshine and clouds were the stuff of his life. He was concerned for the excluded and marginalised. His was a gospel of Justice and Peace. With Mary Thompson he set up the Justice and Peace Commission of the Middlesbrough diocese. On our way here today, Mary’s sister, Trudie, described him very well. She said “Tony Storey never diminished.” He was one of a few priests who actively supported Justice & Peace matters.
He spent many years in Hull and Cottingham. He was here at St Charles for 7 years and at the Hull University Catholic Chaplaincy for 11 years and Holy Cross, Cottingham for 15 years and then 10 years retired in St Vincent’s parish, where he helped out.
After my 10 years in this city of Hull I said to him that I had found the Hull people so warm and friendly. He gave one of his typical answers “Well you see, Pete, most of them are pagans and have never been messed about by the churches. “ For his dedicated work in St Mary’s College, Hull, a building was named after him. For his contribution to university life as catholic chaplain he was awarded an honorary degree. When I succeeded him as catholic chaplain I followed Tony’s advice and immediately went to introduce myself to Sir Brynmor Jones, the Vice Chancellor, who at the end of our conversation said to me “You will never be able to fill his shoes, but that’s your challenge.”
He would want me to thank the staff of Castle Hill hospital who cared for him in his last illness. And thanks to his friends, who supported him so well in the end, symbolised particularly by Marian Hall. Towards the end he said to her “I’ve decided to give in”. “Give in?” she asked. “Give in to the Almighty who loves me”, he said, then after a pause, “not to the Trinity, I’ve never understood that.” He also said “I am going to the Glory”. If that was his last word it was fitting, because St. Irenaeus of Lyons in the second century said, “The glory of God is a person fully alive” Tony Storey was such a person – fully alive. We will miss him. Peter Keeling
The Friend From William Fitzpatrick (aged 16) I first properly met Tony when I was about 8 on a trip to Barmoor with Justice and Peace. Tony always struck me as a very honest, charismatic and clever man, and was always very full of life at every visit to Barmoor. Even though I was 8 it was obvious that he enjoyed spending time with me and my friend Nathan (who also came to Barmoor) and would always join in when Nathan and I were playing games or having the annual water fight. The most memorable occasion was when Tony jumped onto a rope swing and insisted that we pushed him. Even though I was 8, and church wasn’t very exciting for me, Tony’s masses would always be very peaceful and interesting, and they always were throughout each year. Tony had a wide knowledge, and always seemed to know everything. When we went on walks with him he would always enlighten Nathan and me with new facts. I will never forget walking through a field of cows, and him telling me how to defend yourself against a bull attack. Even in old age Tony was extremely active and would always accompany us on walks, he would always be able to tell us the name of the bird that would be calling or the names of different trees. Tony had a very good sense of humour. One year at Barmoor, all he referred to Nathan and me as was “The Beverley Vandals”. One year on a walk, Tony and I thought we had found a hand grenade, he found it hilarious when it turned out to be just an old, empty jar of Marmite someone had left in the field we were walking through. I am proud to have known Tony, it was a delight and he will always remain an influence.
From Canon David W. Smith : Rector of Whitby I know that I am one of many, many clergy and ministers who have valued the love and friendship that Tony Storey gave. I was serving my title in the Anglican Parish of Stokesley in the early seventies when he arrived as the Parish Priest. I was never allowed to walk past the Presbytery but he insisted that I had to call in and say hello, pass the time of day and regale him with any gossip that he didn’t already know! Over the next few years I grew to regard him as not only a brilliant Parish Priest but also as a confidant and friend. If I had time on a Sunday between services I would go and listen to Tony’s sermons. They were always ‘filled with good things’ and the Love of God always shone out of both him and his words. I remember going into his church after the liturgical changes due to Vatican 2 were about to take place. Tony was telling his congregation that, “from next Sunday we are all going to pass the peace to each other. This is very easy and best done with a smile and a handshake.” Then, eyeballing some of his more elderly and holy ladies he said with a twinkle in his eye, “of course, if you think the person sitting next to you is a bit of a bastard, don’t bother!” At that point I decided to leave before Anglican/ R C relations took a dive through my laughter. Over my thirty-five years of ministry, those values of God’s love and friendship which he shared have always remained with me. May he rest in peace.
From Nathan Smith (aged 16) I thought Tony was an inspirational person to be around. I firmly hold the belief that it was impossible to be around him without a smile on your face, due to the wittiness and kindness of him. He seemed to become more and more boisterous in his old age. I remember the time where Tony, Will, his dog (at the time) Shiny and I went up onto the top of a hill near Barmoor. On the way up, it seemed to be a race between Shiny and Tony. Will and I were stranded, out of breath slowly climbing up whilst Tony seemed to walk up effortlessly. At the top of the hill were the ruins of what looked like an old village. Tony was amazed by it, and passed on his knowledge of old burial rituals. He loved the wildlife on the top of the hill, and the enormous view. Tony felt like someone to aspire to, naturally a loving person with what seemed an infinite amount of knowledge.
From Ann Tracy I think of him best sitting on the grass at Barmoor one warm summer’s evening, celebrating Mass with us. We were singing ‘Laudato si’ and it was one of those times when everything seemed to come together – the daisies and the bread and wine, the singing and the circle of friends, and Tony in the centre of it all, delighting in life. And igniting the same joy in those around him.
The Campaigner From Martin Foreman Tony joined Amnesty International soon after its foundation in 1962, and remained a lifelong member. With the winding-up of Hull’s Amnesty group in the early 1980s, Tony convened a small band from Cottingham’s Holy Cross Church to carry on their work. At first meeting in private homes, by 1986 it was robust enough to take on the long-term ‘adoption’ of an individual prisoner’s case. The first adopted prisoner was Albert, a Jehovah’s Witness whose objection to compulsory military service under the USSR had earned him two years in prison. On Albert’s release, the group was allocated the case of Dr U Tin Myo Win. A colleague of Aung San Su Ky, the Nobel laureate and president-elect of Myanmar (Burma), he was released after a petition signed by every member of Hull’s City Council was delivered to the embassy in London. There followed a long campaign on behalf of 10 members of Syria’s Committee for Democratic Freedoms detained under President Assad. They, too, were released. Topical campaigns were also taken up. From 1988, work on behalf of refugees and asylum-seekers gathered pace. In his own right, Tony assisted non-persons washed up on his doorstep by policy towards ‘refused asylum-seekers’. The Urgent Action scheme, with a focus on individuals in desperate need, was another favourite. He also welcomed Amnesty’s highlighting violence against women, appalled that in Britain today two women a week are put to death by their partners. Letter-writing – Amnesty’s basic method – was supplemented by events to broaden public awareness. From 1987 to 2007, Tony promoted an annual concert at Hull’s Ferens Art Gallery. Civic links also led to the institution, from 1995, of the Wilberforce Lecture. This gives a platform for activists of the calibre of Wole Soyinka, Clare Short and Desmond Tutu to address human rights issues. This ‘Wilberforce tradition’ is flowering with commemoration of the abolition of the slave trade. Tony was saddened by aspects of Amnesty’s rise to become the world’s largest mass-membership campaigning organisation. As it turned to address broad human rights issues, he felt a vital focus on individual people was blurred. Tension between women’s rights and the rights of the unborn child is now debated by members, while enthusiastic fund-raising could displace the personalised activism of earlier years. Yet, to a priest and historian, this was a familiar tale of an organisation wrestling with the consequences of success; Tony never made frailty a reason to abandon a friend. The Hull Amnesty Group ceased to meet in April 2007. The author is keen to hear from any who might help its revival.
My most vivid memory of Tony is when he and I visited an old lady high in the mountains in Gran Paradiso, Italy. She had been at the Mass he said in a tiny unused hamlet chapel – he and I in walking gear (no vestments) in fluent Italian and ‘parte Inglese’ for my benefit (I ‘served’). After Mass she talked to him, and it turned out she had a pet chamois so we went to see it. She was ancient, bent and creased – but I will never forget her eyes as she talked to him, they were green and really sparkled. As we were leaving the village he chatted with an old man who told him that she was a recluse who ‘never talked to anyone’. Tony did that to everyone! (including me). John Blatchford
The Historian I first met Tony Storey at a J & P meeting in York more than 20 years ago. I had recently moved to North Yorkshire and when he learned that I was working at the County Record Office I was immediately enlisted to help his researches into the history of Mount Grace Priory and the Lady Chapel. I soon discovered that he and his brother Peter had been interested in the Lady Chapel since the 1940’s and that Tony followed carefully the archaeological investigations which preceded the restoration of the Chapel after the site was purchased in 1952. Little was known about the foundation of the Chapel and the excavations raised more questions. Tony wanted to find the truth behind the traditions and legends associated with the Chapel, which had remained a place of pilgrimage throughout the centuries when Catholics in England were forbidden to practise their religion. As well as strong faith and deep devotion to the martyrs he brought to the task an infectious enthusiasm and the keen mind of a trained historian (he read history at Cambridge) able to track down information and subject it to critical analysis. He could only pursue his research intermittently, when his many other commitments allowed, but he returned to it in so-called ‘retirement’, determined to put together the information he had gathered, so that it would not be lost, and to tell as much of the story as he could, although many questions remained. In June 2001 he gave a talk at the York Catholic History Day entitled ‘Mount Grace Lady Chapel, An Unfinished Quest’. His booklet, Mount Grace Lady Chapel: An Historical Enquiry, was published later that year and is a fitting epitaph for Tony, the historian, who wrote to me after its publication “I’d love to know…. Why the place seemed so important. Perhaps the quest will be triggered by this” Let’s hope it will be. Judith A. Smeaton
Teacher and Chaplain All of us at St Mary’s College have wonderful memories of Fr Tony Storey. He loved teaching and, despite many other commitments, used to come in to teach when St Mary’s was a High School. He was the VIth Form Chaplain at the College from 1988 until his retirement and the talks he gave to the students were truly inspirational. He was a deeply learned, spiritual man and spoke beautifully on just about any subject. He was able to make even the most difficult topics enjoyable and accessible and was able to speak in a language that the VIth formers could understand. Despite his years, he was eternally young and spoke to them on their level. He was passionate about social justice and the work of Amnesty International and this endeared him even more to the students. We were blessed to have him as Chaplain. After his retirement, he kept in contact with the College and loved coming in to celebrate Mass with the whole school community on the major feast days and equally with small groups during the lunch hour. He never turned down a request to help out. He enjoyed the company of young people and they thought the world of him.
He has planted innumerable trees and shrubs in the College grounds and until very recently one could meet him every week tending to the gardens. He was so alive and energetic that it is hard to believe that he is no longer with us.
His spirit and the legacy he has left will never be forgotten. The recently built VIth Form Centre is named after him: a fitting, if inadequate tribute to a great teacher, a great priest and a great man. C. J. Cuthill, St Mary’s College Chaplaincy, Hull.
The Gardener “The two most important things in life are to love – and to plant trees.” Anthony Storey, Priest.
From Trudie Thompson From my many memories of Tony I recall one typical event which showed his love of the land and people. He had asked me to sketch the Lady Chapel at Osmotherley for the history he was writing. We invited him for lunch and afterwards we planned to drive to Osmotherley so that I could make sketches and take photographs of the chapel and Mary and Tony could check the progress of the trees he had planted up there. Before we left I took Tony round our garden to enjoy and profit from his knowledge. “What should I do with this woody caryopteris which isn’t flowering very well?” “Dig it out!” he said. “How old do you think this Bramley apple tree is?” “Maybe 100 years, but you’ll have to cut it down to be sure!” Then I proudly pointed to my young oak tree grown from an acorn, sitting in a beautiful 12” hand-thrown pot from Whitby’s potter in Blackburn’s Yard. Tony’s face took on a horrified look. “How long have you had it?” he asked me. “Ten years,” I said. He groaned – then he offered to plant it for me near the Lady Chapel. I’ve regretted ever since that I didn’t accept his offer immediately. Now perhaps if we get a plot of land with trees in memory of Tony my oak tree can be released and Tony can rest in peace! PS Linda Chetham (nee Allan), tells me that in 1948, when her mother was carrying her, Tony used to go round each week to hang out the washing for her.
The University Chaplain Anthony Storey was chaplain at Hull University when I arrived there in Autumn 1968 – coming in on the tail end of a tumultuous summer, when students everywhere were in revolt and Hull students had staged a sit in at the university. The chaplaincy was an easy-going, warm, welcoming place and most Catholic students tended to gravitate towards it. We must have been a dull, unresponsive lot for Storey, now I come to think about it. Here was a man, a scholar, a man with roots in historical, philosophical and theological abstractions from centuries beyond our ken, a man who never lost his intellectual curiosity and passion, who was eternally interested in the great moral questions of justice, peace, personal morality. He enjoyed being part of an academic community and it gave him the opportunity to engage with like minds that he did not find often within the Church – but those minds were not, on the whole, those of us students. We brought him the perennial everyday dilemmas – ‘can I make my grant last, my parents just broke up, what do I do, I feel depressed and suicidal, I am pregnant ‘– of youth in turbulent times. He didn’t always get his responses right, for he was a man of his times – but most ex-students of Hull will remember him for his wonderful ability to combine intellectualism with zaniness and a difficult celibate life with an amazing capacity to love and give. He was far more than a chaplain. He was, by the end of his tenure, in danger of being burned out from all the demands of being a 24/7 social worker without the usual protections. He didn’t just respond to students but opened his door and his heart to every hard luck case who reached the doorstep, some of whom lived with him on and off or who went away filled with half Storey’s dinner, pockets filled with part of his stipend and wearing his clothes. Anthony Storey was a great priest but, above all, he was a lovely man. Maria Brenton
If ever there was a “human being fully alive” it was Tony. He was an impressively wise and holy man, but also fallible and funny. He once drove us round Hull on a joyful but terrifying journey as he enthusiastically pointed out his beloved landmarks, at the same time failing to notice when the traffic lights were red. Another time, when he was 87 and nearly blind, I was walking with him when we came to a tall ladder stile. Rather nervously I asked, “Will you be OK with this, Tony?” whereupon he ran up the steps and took a giant leap to land safely on the other side. I don’t know whether Tony was born on a Friday, but he had an enormous capacity for loving and giving. Anthea Dove From Kathy Smith See you at the end, pilgrim. I am grateful to have walked a little way with you and hold your words of wisdom, earthly and heavenly, in my heart.
From Nan Saeki: As Parish priest of Cottingham, he had care of the retirement home “Magnolia House”, which had been our family home from 1939 till 1953. Apart from J&P our shared interest was in trees and when he reported that our very old beech tree from that house had been cut down – it was at least 300 years old, he said – he promised to plant another in its place. I was touched by his already growing row of saplings in the presbytery garden. I treasure so many of his words, his meditations, his expositions and was often quite carried away by his talks. His letters, usually brief, ending ‘life, love and peace’ were privileged one-to-one conversations.
Memories from Cottingham Peter Watts writes: “My favourite memory of Fr. Tony goes back to when I was in the Police Force. At the time I was a Police Patrol Driver and about 10.00 a.m. one fine Sunday morning was driving along Nornabel Street in Hull towards Holderness Rd. As I approached the junction with the main road, a car shot past the end of Nornabel St towards the city boundary. I thought, ‘He’s going a bit fast.’ So I drove onto Holderness Rd. and followed him at a safe distance. His speed was a constant 40mph in a 30mph area. Now in those days, it was the custom to warn anyone driving at a speed of up to 40mph and report them for a speed in excess of 40mph. I thought, well he must see me, I’m in a marked police car… but he didn’t. Blue light and siren on, I overtook him. As I was doing so, I saw it was Fr. Tony. He didn’t know me – but I knew him. My thoughts were, ‘I’ve always wanted to do this.’ I pulled up in front of him, went back to his car and said, ‘Father, for doing 40mph in a 30mph zone, for your penance say three Our Fathers and three Hail Marys.’ Then I made the sign of the cross over him and said, ‘Ego te absolvo!’ ‘I’ll say them,’ he said. And you know, he did!”
Mrs. Rosetta Binu: “During the short time I looked after you at the Intensive Care Unit, I came to know that you were a great man, loved and well known. You had a smiling face always and radiated grace. God bless.” Jim and Irene O’Donaghue: “Lots of great memories from our families including walking from Hull to Walsingham and sleeping in haystacks. God love you.”
“The Elysian Fields need care and cultivation, Storey, You’re the man for the job! You left us with such gifts and happy memories. Love Biggsy.”
“Father, thank you for giving me the Last Rites in 1989. You will be forever in my prayer. Pauline.”
“Thank you, Fr. Tony. When I first came to this parish of yours, it was a marvellous revelation of what a real lively loving parish should be.” (Tony Woods-McConville)
“Our friend, Fr. Tony. The most profound human being our family have had the privilege of knowing.” (The Sande Family)
“Tony, you were and continue to be an inspiration. Your outstretched arms, big open hands, clear voice and ability to get to the heart of things will stay with me. I am deeply grateful to have had the privilege of knowing you and being touched by you. Thank you.” (Edwina Parker)
“We shall always remember that day in York when the Pope came. We all had a wonderful day together. You were an inspiration and such a joy to be with. We thank you for your guidance when the children were growing up.” (Teresa and Les Ulyatt)
“Along with my parents, you shaped my faith and were responsible for my sense of justice. I thank you.” (Monica Kent nee Priest)
Father Pat writes: When the news of Tony’s death hit the parish I said, ‘Don’t be sad but rather be glad that you had the special privilege of knowing him. Most people in the diocese and beyond never had that opportunity!’ The names Fr. Storey and Cottingham go together, and not just the Catholic community but the whole community of the village. Tony was so loved by everyone in Cottingham. The first card of condolence came from the community at Zion Church in the village. That says something! His fifteen or so years as Chaplain to Castle Hill Hospital in the village touched so many people too, staff and patients alike. And the care they gave him during his final couple of months there was indescribable! He was truly loved by them all and five of the nurses helped lay him out after he died, they all wanted to be with him and do something for him. When I arrived in the diocese thirty years ago I heard about Fr. Storey, described as a bit of a strange priest, a bit of a ‘looney’. Would that we had more of his type around today! God probably broke the mould when he created Tony! What did he do for me? He set me free to do what I thought to be right and not always to be looking over my shoulder to see what others might be thinking. He always took risks, even here at Holy Cross in his early days when he turned the church round sideways, with lots of opposition from the parish. Now we can’t imagine it any other way! He always was a man of vision, seeing things that the rest of us couldn’t see and maybe still can’t see! He was also the first priest I heard swearing from the pulpit (and getting away with it!). With his ‘posh’ voice it didn’t sound that bad! [Those bastard Pharisees doing those terrible things to Jesus!]. It just wouldn’t sound the same in an Irish accent! Tony dug the ground here at Holy Cross, he planted the seed and all I have to do is to reap the harvest! May you rest in peace, Tony. Thanks for every thing!
From Tom McAlindon For those fortunate enough to have known him, Father Anthony Storey, who has died aged 88, will always be remembered as a uniquely inspiring and gifted individual. The intellectual and scholarly bent of his many-sided nature found much satisfaction during his ten years as chaplain to the University of Hull and as part-time teacher of history and religion at St Mary’s College. Later he became sixth-form chaplain at the College. Father Storey had a natural empathy with the young, a willingness to listen to their troubles, and an infectious enthusiasm in all his undertakings that won him countless life-long friends among his students. The University duly honoured him for his work with an honorary degree, while at St Mary’s the building which houses the Sixth Form, and the history thas been named in his honour ‘The Storey Centre’. After Hull, he was appointed parish priest successively at Stokesley, Richmond, and Bedale, doubling up in these years as chaplain to the RAF at Catterick and Leeming. He then returned in 1981 to the Hull area as parish priest at the Church of the Holy Cross in Cottingham, where he would remain until his retirement in 1996. Here his congregation soon doubled, due in no small measure to his spiritual intensity and the remarkable variety and richness of his eloquent sermons. His great humanitarian instincts found expression in these years in his role as the driving force in the local Amnesty group whose members were both Catholic and Protestant, theist and atheist, and as founder of the charitable Freetown Project for Sierra Leone. He thought this latter project would last about three years, but in fact it is now twenty years old and as provided a parish in that war-torn and desperately poor country with a church, a pre-school centre, a primary school, a vocational school, a bakery, and a clinic with a generator. His compassion is widely known among the poor and unfortunate in Hull, where destitute refugees from many countries found their way to the door of his little retirement house in Goddard’s Avenue. A tall, rangy man with a powerful physique, Anthony was both a natural athlete and a great lover of nature and the outdoors. He captained his college’s rugby team at Cambridge (turned down an offer of a trial for Yorkshire) and was a keen mountaineer (reached 15,000 feet on Mount Kenya, conquered Mount Mormolada in the Dolomites). He became a lively member of the Woodland Trust, tirelessly planting trees in every appropriate spot in North Yorkshire. Despite failing eyesight, he retained his strength of body, vigour of mind, and extraordinary range of interests until the last year of his long life. He was great company, a great human being, a credit to the priesthood. His death leaves a void in the lives of his man, many friends.
When I asked Tom McAlindon for permission to use that part of his obituary, he asked me to add the following:
The obituary was written before the requiem mass in St Charles’, Hull’s city-centre and largest church, an event which I found staggering. This was a mass in memory of an elderly and professionally obscure man, Father – not Monsignor, not Canon, not Bishop – Storey, a parish priest who retired ELEVEN years ago. But the church was packed literally to overflowing: ten minutes before Mass began it was impossible to find even standing room in any part of the church, and the crowd flowed from the packed aisles out into the porch, down the steps and on to the street. Obviously no one, but no one, attended out of respect for ecclesiastical rank, or out of respect for the Church, or because it was in any sense the proper thing to do. They were there because of the extraordinary, intrinsic goodness of a priest whom his church, for no doubt ‘sound’ reasons, felt unable to honour. We knew he had many friends, had touched the lives of countless. But this was beyond our imagining. What about all those people in different parts of the country who would like to have attended but could not? People who knew and loved Tony may like to know that they can buy 3 CDs which he made with Val Goldsack and others, and which are very moving and beautifully put together. Each is a compilation of Tony’s words with appropriate songs on different themes. Val told me that Tony recorded the first-Always with us- in 1998 then in 2001, Hear my Prayer, and finally Loving God made last autumn/winter “when Tony was already ill, but quite adamant that this work, this ministry of prayer must be completed. He must have used the words “this is very important work a dozen times!” The quality of the recordings is first class. Val has added some fine photos of Tony to her website www.valgoldsack.co.uk/tonypage.htm the discs are available at £8 each from JHN Liturgical Music, 3 Poplars Road, Linthorpe, Middlesbrough TS5 6RL
Tony on CD
Commission contacts Barbara Hungin Chair 01642 784398 Sr Mary Walmsley CJ Secretary 01904 464919 Nan Saeki Treasurer 01904 783621 Chris Dove Editor 01947 825043 email: dove.whitby@phonecoop.coop or 22 Blackburns whitby Yard Whitby YO22 4DS website: www.middlesbroughjp.org Please note NEW web address
DIARY Sept 15 Prisons and Prison Justice St Francis Middlsbrough Nov 17 Youth Forum Middlesbrough
In Memoriam Readers are invited to help the Diocese of Middlesbrough Justice and Peace Commission dedicate an area of ancient woodland to the memory of Father Tony Storey, through the Woodland Trust. We can choose a wood in Yorkshire, somewhere significant to Tony, helping the Trust to maintain and preserve it for future generations. Depending on the amount received we will be able to dedicate up to an acre of trees, with a commemorative plaque or even a bench. All donations, however small, will be greatly appreciated. Donate online at www.dedicatetrees.com (select search funds and enter “Fr Anthony Storey”), by phone:0800 026 9650 or in writing to Group Funds The Woodland Trust Autumn Park Dysart Road Grantham Lincs NG31 6LL. For more details, or to request an official form, contact Susan Frost on 01904 638836 or email frost.susan@gmail.com
An Epitaph “He was a sage, a friend, a rock and a towering tree….......... He cared so much about future generations.” Dr Jackie Lukes. Hull Interfaith.
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