Southwark Report Internals final single

IMPACT
REPORT
Commission for Racial Justice and Cultural Inclusion
There is always that sense of joy when we look back together on where our
journey has led us, and where we are going. So, it has been for us at the
Commission for Promoting Racial and Cultural Inclusion.
The Southwark Commission for Racial
Justice and Cultural Inclusion was formally
inaugurated on Friday 29 January 2021, and
as we come to the end of the year, we are
looking forward to celebrating Racial Justice
Sunday with Archbishop John Wilson in
early February 2022, alongside many of our
diocesan schools and parish communities in
St George’s Cathedral.
For the past year of our existence, we have
kept with our vision of seeking to ensure
that no one is left behind and that in all
aspects of our diocese, everyone feels
they are welcome and treasured as God’s
children. We have continued to emphasise
that there is no place for racism in the
diocese and we are all meant to experience
the inclusive love of God.
Our very first focused action in the past
year was to get in touch with all the
diocesan priests to evaluate their lived
experiences of racism and how it could
have affected their ministry and personal
lives. The feedback we received from the
questionnaires was humbling and thought
provoking. We hope to release the final
report in due course.
Fr Victor Darlington speaks about Racism in schools:
“
We cannot
tolerate or
turn a blind
eye to racism
and exclusion
in any form
and yet claim
to defend the
sacredness of
every human
life.” Pope Francis
This year we are moving forward to the next level of
our focused action plan by sending questionnaires to
parishes. This parish engagement would develop into
the creation of Parish Leads for Promoting Racial and
Cultural Inclusion.
So far, we have two success stories that have become
our flagship for racial justice engagement and cultural
inclusion awareness. The first took place on 16th
October 2021 when we had an event at Corpus Christi
Brixton, and on 19th March 2022, we had a second
event for the Sutton Deanery that brought together
representatives of parishes in the Deanery.
Looking ahead we hope to continue the visits to
parishes, deaneries, and schools, as we continue a
culture within the Archdiocese where we promote
Racial and Cultural Inclusion for all peoples.
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