Social Justice Committee

Based on Christ's injunction to "love your neighbour" and on the Church's teachings of justice for all, our purpose is to raise awareness, in our group, in our parish and the wider community. Our purpose is also to encourage action and to provide an avenue for parishioners to address social injustice. If you are interested in this ministry, please contact the parish office 905-881-2786 .
 
The Committee is putting its focus on the following areas.

1. Canadian Catholic Organization for Development and Peace
Development and Peace is the official international development agency of the Canadian Catholic church in Canada. Development and Peace was founded in 1967 by the Canadian bishops, upon their return from Vatican 11, to fight poverty in the countries of the South, and to promote greater international justice. Inspired by gospel values, particularly the "preferential option for the poor", the goal of Development and Peace is to support initiatives by the people of the global South to take control of their lives. The goal is also to make Canadians more aware of the root causes of poverty and to mobilize actions for change.

Development and Peace also responds immediately when people are caught in natural disasters like floods and earthquakes, or human made disasters like war and civil unrest.

Canadians consume more than a billion bottles of water every year, even though the vast majority of Canadian municipalities offers affordable public access to drinking water. In past years the Development and Peace campaign has raised  awareness around the issues of bottled water as well as the issue of privatization of water. For more information please visit the Development and Peace web site www.devp.org.

2. Environmental Issues
Climate change represents one of the most graphic illustrations of the disruptions caused to God's creation. To address the threat that climate change poses, we must reduce greenhouse gases by changing our lifestyles and lessening our consumption of fossil fuels.

St. Luke's Social Justice Committee works to raise awareness of what we can do to address the various environmental issues by marking Earth Day in some way.

St. Luke's has had an Energy Audit and we worked implement the suggestions.
We have also had Solar Panels installed on the church roof.

3. First Nations Initiative:  The conclusion of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) and the release of its report calls on  Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples in Canada towards a new relationship built upon mutuality and respect.  The TRC Calls to Action emphasize the importance of education as a key to walking the journey of reconciliation, our own education of the history and issues and the education of the next generation.   To this end St. Luke’s has fundraised and establish an annual  bursary to be awarded to a First Nations Student at the University of Nipissing.