On Saturday 18th April, AMRI hosted a Justice Conference at Kimmage Manor Parish Hall focused on Advancing Justice, Peace and Care for Our Common Home. The event was attended by around 70 people from various Congregations, lay organisations and NGOs. The event built on last year’s Justice symposium, the Conference gathered together AMRI members, colleagues and partners to explore faith-based collaboration to key social and ecological justice issues.
CEO of Trócaire, Sean Farrell, gave the keynote talk which was followed by a moderated panel discussion featuring guest speakers, Ambassador David Donoghue, former Permanent Representative of Ireland to the UN in New York and co-facilitator of the intergovernmental negotiations on the 2030 Agenda; Dr Kevin Hargaden of the Jesuit Centre for Faith and Justice and Roisin Marham from the Irish Doughnut Economics Network.
Participants were given the opportunity to present some of the key social and ecological justice work that their congregation and organisation are supporting, including: Eco-Congregations Ireland, Belonging Without Boundaries, SafeBirth4All, Africa Europe Faith and Justice Network Ireland, Act to Prevent Trafficking, Schools of Sanctuary, Social Impact Investing, Vita Impact, Laudato Si Animators, Social Justice Ireland.
Led by Róisín Markham and Lara Kelly, in the afternoon, participants were invited to ‘step into the Doughnut’ to explore the human and planetary boundaries of our current economic model and explore the ways in which a new model might be possible.
The conference concluded with attendees making commitments to carry forward the energy of the day by increasing their collaboration, being courageous, speaking up and acting in solidarity, to name but a few.
The event was covered by The Way, The Tablet and Intercom.
The keynote talk was delivered by Sean Farrell, CEO of Trócaire. His central message was continuity: today’s humanitarian and development work builds directly on the legacy of earlier missionaries reminding us that the Catholic Church is the second largest deliverer of humanitarian aid in the world and that “needs to be celebrated”:
This was followed by a panel of distinguished speakers:
- Ambassador David Donoghue, former Permanent Representative of Ireland to the UN in New York and co-facilitator of the negotiations on the UN 2030 Agenda, who explored human flourishing at the centre of sustainable development and what next for Agenda 2030.
- Róisín Markham from the Irish Doughnut Economics Network, who outlined the ways in which the concept of Doughnut Economics is essential in reimaging a sustainable future – ‘We are at a moment in time where we need a ‘radical transformation …that is moral, social and cultural’.
- Dr Kevin Hargaden of the Jesuit Centre for Faith and Justice, who approached the agenda through the lens of Dilexi te (Apostolic Exhortation by Pope Leo XIV) and the role of civil society and faith-based organisations in working together to respond to what Pope Francis called ‘the cry of the earth’ and ‘the cry of the poor’.
Click HERE for the powerpoint presentation by Dr. Kevin Hargarden
Click HERE for the Press Release
Click HERE for more information
Participant Commitments shared at the end of the conference towards “making our world a better place” through “commitment, energy, awareness and vision”:
- To gather and share the light
- From local to global thinking
- To act globally
- To reflect through better listening, with gratefulness
- To be courageous
- To share positive hope
- To pray
- To engage more
We can do this through networking, collective collaboration, solidarity, outreach and taking action:
- Reconnection and collaboration with other groups especially the newly formed groups like Belonging Without Boundaries
- Speaking up and becoming the ‘voice of the voiceless’
- Support the development and promotion of social impact investing
- Share ‘inputs’ with our community, associates and others
- To be better informed and up-to-date with relevant world news
- To promote the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)
- To support Social Justice Ireland
- To begin conversations about a better future with people who are ‘in the hole’ (in the Doughnut as illustrated through Doughnut Economics) and who are falling short of the necessities of life
- ensure my pension is ethical
- To choose more intentionally and ethically and to find supports to do this
- To promote solidarity around Catholic Social Teaching
- To care for mother earth today: plant more trees – even small ones; promote green spaces; encourage our community in Ireland to discuss and choose one action to protect our environment; explore solar power for house; awareness of composting and soil health; conduct an Eco audit; invite Eco-Congregations Ireland to my local parish to speak; to not waste water/food; continue to speak with enthusiasm re care for creation; spend more time in the natural place I love
To learn more about some of the AMRI collaborative justice, peace and ecology projects or to get involved:
Trocaire Laudato Si – contact roisin.pye@trocaire.org
Social Justice Ireland – contact secretary@socialjustice.ie
Belonging Without Boundaries – contact justice@amri.ie
SafeBirth4All – contact safebirth4all@gmail.com
APT-Act to Prevent Trafficking – contact act2preventtrafficking@gmail.com
AEFJN (Africa Europe Faith and Justice Network) Ireland Antenna – contact aefjnireland@gmail.com
Schools of Sanctuary – contact info@cityofsanctuary.org
Social Impact Investing – contact justice@amri.ie
For any other information contact: justice@amri.ie
