Prioritise the young in 2022, say Church leaders

Governments should see the funding of education and training of our young people not as an expenditure, but as an investment, the head of the Irish Church has said.

In his message for the New Year, Archbishop Eamon Martin referred to Pope Francis’ criticism of the “significant reduction worldwide in funding for education and training” while military expenditure has increased “beyond the levels at the end of the Cold War” and is growing “exorbitantly.”

The Primate of All Ireland said a fitting New Year’s resolution for the Church and society would be to “invest more of our time and resources, listening, dialogue and prayer in our young people who are already making it clear that they see themselves not simply as our future, but also as essential and creative contributors to our present”.

Referring to Pope Francis’ message for World Day of Peace, Archbishop Martin noted that the Pontiff had suggested that one of the ways to build peace is by promoting dialogue between the generations, “between the keepers of memory – the elderly – and those who move history forward – the young”.

“Young people need the wisdom and experience of the elderly, while those who are older need the support, affection, creativity and dynamism of the young,” he said.

He also noted Pope Francis’ praise for young people for speaking about the global climate crisis and for seeking a more just world. “The voices of young people were loud and clear at the COP26 conference in Glasgow in October,” Archbishop Martin underlined. 

The Primate of All Ireland said the importance of intergenerational partnership and dialogue on the island of Ireland came home to him last October when he joined other Church leaders at a Service of Reflection and Hope to mark the centenary of 1921. 

“During the service I expressed a personal sense of sadness and loss at the partition of Ireland and, with my fellow religious leaders, I acknowledged that perhaps we in the Churches could have done more to deepen our understanding of each other and to bring healing and peace to our divided and wounded communities.” 

Paying tribute to the young people who made a “refreshing and positive contribution” to the Service in Armagh, he said they were “full of confidence and hope that they can be the ones to help to build the bridges necessary to overcome the mistrust and divisions of our past”.

Elsewhere in his message, Archbishop Martin appeared to criticise the UK government’s controversial proposals to end Troubles-related prosecutions and prevent future inquests and civil actions.

“Victims have spoken about the importance of continued access to justice, together with meaningful opportunities for truth and information recovery,” he said.

He added, “Clearly, the issues of legacy and the reality of trauma experienced by many families here must be included and handled sensitively.”

The beginning of a new year, the Primate said, is always a good time for both looking back and for expressing hopes and dreams for the future. Conversations, he said, are already taking place about what constitutional change and greater sharing on this island might look like.

While there was “clearly much work to be done in exploring and building a unity of hearts and minds towards a shared vision for our future in this island”, he said intergenerational dialogue had much to offer these conversations, balancing reflection on the past with hope for the future. 

The Prince of Wales remembered “the many people around the world who are standing up for freedom and human rights”. 

In his new year message, Prince Chalres highlighted how in places such as Afghanistan, Syria and Myanmar, “the threats and reality of political and religious persecution and insecurity are coupled with an increasingly dire humanitarian situation”.

The prince said that in the face of such adversity, “incredibly brave individuals, local communities and international organisations are responding to great needs by providing vital assistance”.

Praying for a peaceful resolution to these conflicts, he also prayed, that “we might all be blessed with the courage to support those in need, wherever they may be.”

Two of the charities with which the Prince of Wales is connected are the International Rescue Committee and the British Red Cross. Both work with communities displaced by war or conflict.

In 2006, the Prince of Wales founded Turquoise Mountain which has since built more than 50 small businesses in Afghanistan, Myanmar, and the Middle East, supporting a new generation of artisan entrepreneurs who will not only drive economic development, but also preserve their unique cultures and traditions.

Pope Francis said Christian hope grants those who suffer the assurance that God does not abandon his people in their time of need. 

“Problems do not vanish, difficulties and worries are not lacking, but we are not alone; the Father 'sent forth his son' to redeem us from the slavery of sin and to restore our dignity as children,” the Pope said.

To mark the end of 2021, Pope Francis took part in an evening prayer service in St Peter’s Basilica, led by Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re, dean of the College of Cardinals.

The Pope delivered a brief homily reflecting on the recent celebration of Christmas and highlighting the amazement, wonder and contemplation of the shepherds who received the announcement of Jesus’ birth.

Christmas, he said, is celebrated with amazement and not just a superficial sentiment connected with the externals of the feast, or worse yet, with the frenzy of consumerism.

“If Christmas is reduced to this, nothing changes,” the Pope said. “Tomorrow will be just like yesterday, next year will be like last year, and so on. That is like warming ourselves for a few seconds by a straw fire rather than exposing our entire beings to the power of the event, not grasping the heart of the mystery of Christ's birth.”

The Archbishop of Canterbury highlights the threat posed by climate change to biodiversity with one fifth of the world’s plant species at risk of extinction.

Hundreds of millions of people are already suffering the impacts of a rapidly warming planet – extreme weather, droughts and famines, and conflicts intensified by competition over natural resources, he says in his new year message, to be broadcast on BBC1 at 13.15 today with a repeat on BBC2 at 16.25

While it was tempting to despair, the Archbishop emphasises that there are real reasons to hope.

Delivering his address from the Royal Botanic Gardens in Kew, he notes that coffee is the world’s most valuable traded commodity after crude oil, and supports farmers from Africa to Latin America.

It is also a crop that is highly vulnerable to climate change.

However, Kew scientists have rediscovered a wild coffee species in West Africa that thrives in warmer conditions than the now-threatened Arabica plant. This knowledge could help to protect the incomes of millions of families, the Archbishop of Canterbury says.

In Kew’s tropical nursery, over 10,000 plant species – including some of the world’s rarest plants – are being studied and nurtured, preserving them for generations to come.

The Archbishop recalls how last year, faith leaders representing three-quarters of the world’s population stood together at the Vatican and called for definitive action on climate change.

“People of every background are campaigning and working for justice. Important steps were taken at the COP26 summit. World leaders recognise the problem. Now they must agree and implement a fair solution for everyone,” he says.

“When we plant a seed, we don’t see the fruit immediately. But under the surface, God is working with what we have planted. In the birth, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, I see that God turns all endings into new beginnings, and death into life. God invites us to be part of this story – to be people who bring hope, healing and renewal to our world,” he says. 

He concludes his message by urging people to “keep planting those seeds” and “keep moving forward in hope”.

Bishop William Nolan of Galloway, president of Scottish bishops’ Justice and Peace Commission, calls on Catholics to “recognise the dignity of our fellow human beings, particularly those who are strangers to us” in his annual letter to parishes for the Day of Prayer for Peace.

In his letter, Bishop Nolan contrasted the vast sums spent on military spending with the millions of displaced people facing persecution and poverty.

In the letter, to be read in parishes this weekend, Bishop Nolan warns that much of the environmental crisis is caused by misuse of the world’s resources, the pollution of the air and the seas, and exploitation of the earth without a concern for the consequences.

“And in so many countries we see the suffering caused by warfare and violence. Is it not strange that we human beings spend over $1.9 trillion every year in global military spending? So much money spent defending ourselves from our fellow human beings! What does that say about the state of our humanity?” he challenged. 

Bishop Nolan noted that the number of forcibly displaced persons totals 82.4 million people worldwide.

These are people who have had to leave their homes and move elsewhere, often to other countries, as a result of persecution, conflict, violence, human rights violations or climate change.

“Hardly surprising that some of these people try to reach our shores. Hardly surprising that those fleeing oppression or poverty take the risk of travelling in flimsy boats across the Channel longing to get here, to what they hope is the Promised Land.”

He urged people to pray fervently not just today but every day, “so that the message of Jesus Christ, the Prince of Peace, will touch human hearts; so that we will recognise the dignity of our fellow human beings, particularly those who are strangers to us, particularly those who are poor, particularly those who call out to us for help.”

“May our prayer go hand in hand with our actions so that justice and peace may no longer be just a dream but become a reality in our world, in our lives and in the lives of our fellow human beings.”