Justice & Peace Commission

We, the Justice and Peace Commission of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Kingston and the Anglican Diocese of Ontario, united by the Holy Spirit in our common commitment to the social imperatives of the Gospel, promote the understanding and practice of Christian social teaching, as we work and pray for the coming of the Kingdom. 

Justice & Peace Commission: Anglican Diocese Website

Deacon Blaine Barclay, RC
Clergy Representative
[email protected] 

For more information about the Justice & Peace Commission please contact:  [email protected]  

Office Hours: Monday to Wednesday from 9am to 1pm (at 165 Ontario Street, Unit 4&5) . Thursday – 9am to 4pm (Remote/Virtual access only). 

Phone Number: 613 777 0538 

E-Mail Address: [email protected] 

DUE TO HIGH DEMAND, OUR 2025 WAITLIST IS NOW CLOSED. IF YOU CONTACTED US PRIOR TO MARCH 5TH 2025, YOU HAVE BEEN PLACED ON THE WAITLIST.

Good afternoon,

I want to take this opportunity to extend my warmest thanks for your contributions to the life of the Justice & Peace Commission.

Obviously, over the past 15 years, many who have been on the Commission have moved on to other things.  And in fifteen years, e-mails change, people have retired, etc.  If there is someone you know who was on the Commission, however briefly, please forward this to them.

The efforts and energies expended to work for peace and create change takes long term commitment.  I marvel at many of you for your convictions!  Thank you!

The Commission continues albeit with limited capacities this year.  In the Spring, we had planned an awareness and prevention workshop on Human Trafficking.  Today, Nov 17, 2020, we were planning an in-person social with a guest speaker and expert on Jewish-Christian relations.  I expect you, like me, will be ready for a resumption of activities that don’t involve zoom!

As we continue through this pandemic, we are aware that social, environmental and ecological issues continue.  Your on-going support and attention is important and valued.  The Commission’s Facebook page highlights some of those activities.  In your own ministries, outreach undertakings and expressions, I am reminded of Paul’s statement to the Phillipians, I can do all things through God who gives me strength.  (Phil 4:13)  This newsletter is both a thanks to God and  all of you for the ministries achieved these past number of years, and the Commission’s vision in 1987!

May God continue to strengthen and support you in your ministries.

I entrust the following messages from Archbishop Michael Mulhall (Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Kingston) and Bishop Michael Oulton (Anglican Diocese of Ontario).

Rev. Canon Valerie Kelly
Coordinator
Justice & Peace Commission
 

St. Elizabeth of Hungary, Religious
17 November 2020
 
Today, as the Justice and Peace Commission commemorate 15 years of service to the Church, I want to wish them a happy anniversary and blessings from the Lord.
 
While this Commission may have started from humble beginnings, it is amazing to see how it has brought together a faith community that touches lives near and far away. With each passing year, this Commission seems to not just grow older, but stronger in its outreach and more dedicated in its mission. Your tireless efforts to spread His Word through your actions has ministered to many in the prisons, various social groups and brought awareness to issues like human trafficking, refugees and Christian social teaching.
 
Thank you for being a leader in our faith community and for fulfilling your mandate to recognise and honour each person’s dignity as a child of God.
 
Again, congratulations on the fruit of your hard work for Jesus Christ.
 
With prayerful best wishes, I remain,
 
Sincerely yours in Christ,
 
+Michael Mulhall
Archbishop of Kingston
 
******

Blessings to the members of the Justice and Peace Commission as you mark the 15th anniversary of this important ecumenical undertaking between the Diocese of Ontario and the Archdiocese of Kingston. I am thankful for the faithful members of our two Churches who have continued to make common cause, especially on behalf of the most vulnerable within the communities we serve.
 
There are moments in time which cause me to rejoice in the existence of this Commission and give thanks for the work it undertakes. I will never forget the day when I attended the Commission meeting and heard the presentation on refugee support given by the late Debra Fieguth, offered in light of the horrific situation in Syria and the death of Alan Kurdi. 
 
How can we ever forget that photo of Alan Kurdi which galvanized the world. The Commission became the place where our two Churches worked together in support of refugee resettlement through the Diocese of Ontario Refugee Support Committee (DOORS). First Debra and then Mimi Merrill have worked with parishes and community groups to settle numerous new Canadians in a new home, free from the violence they fled. I am so thankful for the shared support of our two Churches in this work. We can truly say that lives were saved.
 
Blessings as you carry on into the future and be assured of my prayers that the Spirit will continue to provide us with opportunities to serve and bring the Great Commandment and the Great Commission to life in all that we undertake together.
 
Yours in the Service of the Mission of Christ,
 
The Rt. Rev. Michael Oulton
 

The foundation of all Catholic Social Teaching is the inherent dignity of the human person, as created in the image and likeness of God. The Church, therefore, calls for Integral Human Development, which concerns the wellbeing of each person in every dimension: economic, political, social, ecological, and spiritual.  We all have a right to those things which are required by Human Dignity. Rights arise from what we need to live as God intended us to. These are innately linked with our responsibility to ensure the rights of others – that we do not take more than is needed to fulfill our rights at the expense of another’s.

The Justice and Peace Commission of the Archdiocese of Kingston was established in 1987. The inaugural meeting was held on 17 November 1987. In the early 1990s John Gomes, Coordinator, was instrumental in obtaining the approval of the Catholic Archbishop and the Anglican Bishop to have representatives from the Anglican Church sit on the Catholic Archdiocesan Commission. After several years of working together, the relationship of the two faiths became more formalized when Bishop George Bruce, Anglican Diocese of Ontario, agreed to become an ex officio member of the Commission in 2003. Formal recognition of the relationship of the two faiths on the Commission was confirmed in 2005, when Archbishop Meagher, Catholic Archdiocese of Kingston and Bishop Bruce, Anglican Diocese of Ontario accepted the adoption of the Mission Statement of the Justice and Peace Commission.

• Kingston Police (613-549-4660)

• Kingston Police Path of Strength Smartphone App

• Kingston Interval House

• Kingston Sexual Assault Centre

• Resolve Counselling Services Canada 

• KFACC (Kingston Frontenac Anti-violence Coordinating Committee)

• Victim Services of Kingston and Frontenac (613-548-4834) 

• Addiction & Mental Health Services – Kingston Frontenac Lennox & Addington

• Ministry of the Attorney General – Violence in the Family 

• Ministry of the Attorney General – Victim Services Directory 

• Ontario Network of Sexual Assault/Domestic 

• Violence Treatment Centres 

• Canadian Centre for Men and Families

• WHERE TO TURN – PLACES IN KINGSTON THAT OFFER ASSISTANCE (FOOD & SHELTER)

As Christians, we are called “to accept the world as a sacrament of communion, as a way of sharing with God and our neighbors on a global scale. It is our humble conviction that the divine and the human meet in the slightest detail in the seamless garment of God’s creation, in the last speck of dust of our planet.”
(Pope Francis, Laudato Si’ 14)

• Development & Peace
 • Primates World Relief and Development Fund
 • Prison Ministry (Sharon Dunlop)
 • DOORS: Diocese of Ontario Refugee Support (Bronek Korczynski)
 • Roman Catholic parishes liaison (Rev. Blaine Barclay)
 • Kingston Faith and Justice Coalition (Leigh Smith)
 • Green Group (Leigh Smith)
 • Religious Education (Mary-Jo McKinnon Simms)ackinnon-Simms)
• Human Trafficking (Rev. John vanStone)

• Affordable Housing
 • Journeys to Justice Panel Discussion (Nov 2018)
 • Prison Farms advocacy
 • DOORS: Refugee Sponsorship events and support
 • Correctional Services of Canada Chaplaincy advocacy
 • KAIROS: blanket exercise
 • Green Group: supporting events
 • Human Trafficking