Our new campaign: Fix the Food System

 We’ve launched our new campaign, Fix the Food System. The way we produce food isn’t working. Giant corporations put profits before people, and most of the 800 million people who don’t get enough to eat are small farmers. The global food system is also one of the biggest drivers of climate change. We need ways of producing food that protect people and the planet, and we need your parish to get involved to help bring about change.

Our activity for groups in parishes is called Fix the Food System: a 7 station journey. Based on learning and discussion, the activity suits groups of any size, although 10-30 people would be ideal. It lasts around one hour.

If you are the Campaign Volunteer in your parish you should have received a small pack of resources in the last week or will do this week. There’s a leader’s guide, and a leaflet for each participant. Please order the number of leaflets you need by visiting the CAFOD online shop. If you didn’t receive a pack in the post, you can order both the guide and the leaflet.

For more information about the campaign, see here. And do join us on Wednesday 11 May at 7pm for an online talk about our campaign. Sign up here.

Family Fast Day and Walk Against Hunger in Lent

Thank you so much for all your efforts this Lent. We were delighted to see so many parishes taking collections for Family Fast Day again after a couple of challenging years.

You helped us raise over £300,000 by taking part in the Walk Against Hunger.

There were nearly 1,500 schools, communities and individuals joining in the fun.

Thank you for your continuing commitment and support for the 200 million children around the world who are at risk of malnutrition.

Every £1,000 raised through Walk against Hunger means that a climate-resistant greenhouse can be built in a remote community facing the worst of the climate crisis.

It can also help to teach local school children how to grow highly nutritious, healthy vegetables all year round.

Special mention to the Star Walkers and friends from Our Lady Star of the Sea, Mumbles who raised £2760! St Richard Gwyn Chaplaincy team, Barry: £1595; St Teilo & St Bride’s, Tenby: £1405. Huge thanks to everyone who took part, either as an individual walker or as part of your parish Community walk. This is a tiny snapshot of walks around the dioceses.  You are all stars!

Thank you for everything you did to raise funds for and awareness of our DEC Ukraine Humanitarian Appeal during Lent and for your continued support for the people affected by the war in Ukraine.  We’ve raised over £2.7 million for the Appeal so far.

You can read about how Caritas organisations and other CAFOD partners are responding on our Ukraine humanitarian crisis news webpage.

You know, I am sure, that CAFOD is one of 15 member agencies of the DEC (Disasters Emergency Committee).  Here in Wales, CAFOD works in coalition with DEC Cymru, which brings together six leading aid charities in Wales in times of crisis to collectively raise money to reach those in need quickly.  An incredible £12.2M has been raised so far. Thank you to everyone who made this possible.

We will soon be sending out a short article to parishes to ask them to include it in their newsletter. This month we focus on the new campaign mentioned above. We are emailing parishes to ask for the following:

 The paradox of abundance

Over 800 million people go hungry each day. Yet the world produces over 4 billion tonnes of food and we only need 3.7 billion tonnes to feed everyone. From all this food produced, a third is wasted. St John Paul II called this ‘the paradox of abundance.’ Clearly the currently global food system is not working. But as Pope Francis said, “Each of us has a role to play in transforming food systems for the benefit of people and the planet.” Let’s respond to his call! CAFOD’s new campaign is called Fix the Food System. See www.cafod.org.uk/food for more information, including an invitation for parish groups to learn about the impact of our food with our Fix the Food System: a 7-station journey resource.

Please get in touch if you would like us to help facilitate this in your parish.

Online Events

Fix the Food System Join us on 11 May at 7pm to hear what CAFOD’s new campaign, Fix the Food System is all about and how you can be part of it. Click here to register.

Settler violence and Corporate Complicity in the occupied Palestinian territory  Thu 12 May @ 11am

The CIDSE working group on the occupied Palestinian territory and Israel would like to invite you to our webinar, with our partners Sarit Michaeli (International Relations officer of B’tselem), Basel Adraa (A-Tuwani based reporter) as well as Wesam Ahmad, (Human Rights advocate at al-Haq).  During this meeting our partners will shed light on the expansion of the illegal Israeli settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, settlers’ violence, the complicity of private entities in the settlement expansion and their impacts on Palestinians. Register here.

Encounter and Listening: A Synodal Journey with CAFOD  Tue 7 Jun @ 7pm 

Join us online for a special inter-generational Synodal conversation for CAFOD volunteers and friends. Pope Francis has called us to journey together, to discern how we continue to be prophetic witnesses for justice, embracing the entire family of humanity. We are taking this moment as part of our 60th anniversary year at CAFOD to unite as volunteers and friends across the generations, to encounter and to listen to one another and to the Holy Spirit. Your voices will form part of CAFOD’s response to the synod. Register here.

60^th Anniversary Mass Join us to celebrate the 60th Anniversary of CAFOD. We will mark this occasion with a special Mass on Friday 10th June at 12.30pm live streamed from St. George’s Cathedral in Southwark, London. Mass will be celebrated by Bishop Stephen Wright from Birmingham. We are pleased to announce that the acclaimed London Community Gospel Choir will be leading the singing. We will joyfully give thanks for our global partner organisations, our volunteers, supporters and staff past and present.

Register to watch here.

you care for your children,

who are poor in wealth and poor in spirit,

who hunger for food and hunger for love.

Pray for us that, in this month of May,

we may grow in compassion and solidarity

and reach out in love to our global family.

Amen.

Thanks to Rosie Byrne, CAFOD Volunteer, for this prayer.