The Archdiocese of Wellington Ecology, Justice and Peace Commission (EJP) meets bi-monthly to contribute to and participate in work for justice and peace inspired and informed by Catholic social teaching. The Commission’s key responsibilities are:
- Supporting the communities of the Archdiocese and wider community to hear and actively respond to the cry of the earth and the cry of the poor;
- Scrutinising all issues and institutions in society and in the Archdiocese in the light of Catholic social teaching; encouraging and enabling the people of the Archdiocese to collectively deepen their understanding of the “peripheries” in order to respond and take action for change.
The work of the Commission is based on Catholic social teaching, which centres on the love of Jesus for the poor and excluded in the Gospel.
In 2019, following reflection on the 2017 Archdiocesan Synod recommendations and Pope Francis’ teaching on caring for creation, the Commission was given a new name, mandate and structure.
The Chair of the EJP Commission is Jim McAloon.
Members
Commission:
Jim McAloon (Chair), Adrienne Gallie (Deputy), Deirdre Meskill (Community Engagement Lead), Alfred Tong, Christine Ammunson, Gerard Burns, John Kennedy-Good, Tom Rouse
Social Equity Committee:
John Kennedy-Good (Convenor), Bella Espiritu, David Wootton, David Gillmore, Georgia Collins, Jacob Bang, Michling Werder, Ruth Coleman, Tom Rouse
Integral Ecology Committee:
Adrienne Gallie (Convenor), Alfred Tong, Henry Morse, Peter Healey, Stephanie Clarke
Bicultural Relationships Committee:
Christine Ammunson, Gerard Burns (Co-convenors), Carolyn Carr, Edna Bell, John Sullivan, Robert Oliver
Committees
The Commission has three Committees:
Social Equity Committee
The Social Equity Committee focuses on the 2017 Archdiocesan Synod recommendation 1: Go, you are sent to the peripheries of society. Activities of the Committee have included scrutinising legislation from the perspective of how government decisions affect the poorest, joining the Living Wage Movement, convening a Catholic Housing Forum and reaching out to organisations of the Archdiocese to better understand the reality of poverty in our communities.
The Social Equity Committee Convenor is John Kennedy-Good.
Bicultural Relationships Committee
The Bicultural Relationships Committee focuses on the 2017 Archdiocesan Synod recommendation 5: Go, you are sent to deepen your bicultural relationship. Activities of the Committee have included organising hui for communities to form a deeper understanding of te Tiriti o Waitangi and for increased bicultural practice within parishes, and making a submission on the Treaty Principles Bill.
The Bicultural Relationships Committee Co-convenors are Monsignor Gerard Burns and Christine Ammunson.
Integral Ecology Committee
The Integral Ecology Committee focuses on the 2017 Archdiocesan Synod recommendation 8: Go, you are sent to care for creation. Activities of the Committee include supporting parish formation on Pope Francis’ encyclical Laudato Si’ and exhortation Laudate Deum, considering and responding to government proposals regarding the environment, and organising a Penitential Liturgy at a Landfill, which local communities can use and adapt, to mark the tenth anniversary of Laudato Si’.
The Integral Ecology Committee Convenor is Adrienne Gallie.
Contact
Deirdre Meskill
Community Engagement Lead
Ecology Justice and Peace Commission
Email: d.meskill@cadw.nz
Mobile: 021 221 3944
