To: The Faithful of the Diocese of London
Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
Development and Peace – Caritas Canada is the official international solidarity organization of the Catholic Church in Canada. At the heart of Development and Peace’s transformative work over the past 55 years are the education, action, and fundraising campaigns that have invited Catholics in Canada to come together and respond to the needs of people who live in poverty. Your generous response has given them hope.
Working with its partners, Development and Peace has chosen Create Hope as the overarching theme for the next five years. The particular theme this year, Stand for the Land, calls us to stand in solidarity with those men and women and those communities that desperately want to protect their land, water, and forests as well as their culture, history, and identity.
I invite you to stand in solidarity with them by:
- Giving generously to Share Lent on Solidarity Sunday, 26 March 2023, the 5th Sunday of Lent. Your contributions are a sign of solidarity with communities in the Global South who are defending life and their land to ensure a future of justice, dignity, respect, peace, and harmony for their families.
- Learning about why it is important to Stand for the Land to ensure that the voices of the poorest and most marginalized people in the Global South are being heard and that steps are being taken to create positive change.
Our Lenten journey prepares us to celebrate and proclaim our Easter hope: Christ is Risen. Our voices and actions should reflect this Easter hope and lead us to cultivate fraternal love and to respond to the cry of the poor and the cry of the land.
Create Hope by supporting Development and Peace’s campaign this year Stand for the Land: “So let us not grow weary in doing what is right, for we will reap at harvest time, if we do not give up. So then, whenever we have an opportunity, let us work for the good of all” (Gal 6:9-10).
Sincerely yours in Christ,
Most Rev. Ronald P. Fabbro, CSB
Bishop of London