Becca Long spoke to Columban Missionary Fr Ed O’Connell and Columban co-worker Ellen Teague about Vocation for Justice, the Columban newsletter which has been promoting justice and highlighting injustice for four decades.
If you’ve been a faithful reader of Vocation for Justice (VfJ) you won’t be surprised to hear that it was born 40 years ago this year out of concern over grave injustices – abuses of human rights, military dictatorships, and unbounded exploitation of people and the natural world.
After returning from Peru in 1985, Fr Ed O’Connell connected with Justice and Peace groups across Britain and worked alongside CAFOD, connecting with a growing national network of those concerned about justice and peace issues. Vocation for Justice became a means to maintain those contacts, raise awareness of global and local issues, and mobilise people for action.
In 1986 Fr Ed and Mike Kelly began to gather information, write articles and post them out as a newsletter. The circulation grew from a couple hundred to a thousand quickly as people saw the value of this resource for justice and peace work. The newsletter brought together Catholics’ longing for justice rooted in the ‘See–Judge–Act’ method of Catholic Social Teaching and it was shaped by global experiences. At this time Columban Missionaries Frs Frank Nally, Tony Burke, Ray Collier and Frank Regan were accompanying justice and peace groups and attending the events of groups like CAFOD.
Ellen Teague recalls Mike and Fr Ed’s first justice and peace conference where they sang the hymn, ‘I Pray That I May Never Be Indifferent’ during the liturgy. “It really summed up what we were trying to do – our aim was not to be indifferent to injustice around the world.” Ellen was invited to run the newsletter when Fr Ed returned to Peru in 1999. She aimed to produce a newsletter which provided information on justice and peace that wasn’t appearing elsewhere and that is a commitment she has continued to deliver on right up to today.
VfJ became a campaigning tool, addressing issues from interfaith and racial justice in East London, to debt, trade, and environmental concerns. Some of its first editions had articles from leading scholars within the Church like Albert Nolan, Gustavo Gutiérrez, and from beyond the Church, such as Aung San Suu Kyi. It was a bridge between these leading thinkers and parishioners in Britain.
The newsletter was not afraid of controversy such as publishing a statement on institutional racism in the Church. Recalling the coverage of the Congress of Black Catholics, Fr Ed comments, “The Columbans were quite prophetic in advertising issues that weren’t really appearing elsewhere … I’m very proud of that and of Ellen.”
Of many memorable editions over the years, Fr Ed fondly recalls the celebratory ten-year edition, which was introduced by Christine Allen and published contributions from people like Molly Somerville on racial justice, Kathy Piper, and Theresa Jackson, as well as Rosemary Read with Carol and David Cross writing on the See-Judge-Act principles as applied to unemployment in Middlesbrough. VfJ was really a gathering force as the whole Church moved towards taking the issues of justice and peace and care for creation seriously.
Ellen’s favourite issues were those where they really made a difference. She recalls the eventual promise of mining corporation Rio Tinto to withdraw from mining in the Philippines. The chief executive of Rio Tinto wrote to Columban Missionary Fr Frank Nally as a result of their campaigning pressure as part of the Working Group on Mining in the Philippines . “We were demonstrating outside the Rio Tinto offices up in the city and at lunchtime some of the workers came out and said, ‘Keep it up. You don’t even know half of what goes on,’” recalls Fr Ed.
The Columbans made a unique contribution because they often actually lived alongside some of the injustices that were being uncovered. They were some of the first to expose the toll of extractive industries and to get climate change on the agenda. They were influential in encouraging the Catholic Church to mark the Season of Creation in September.
VfJ promoted the ‘Hands around Birmingham’ campaign on debt in 1998 which became the first mass protest of Jubilee 2000, when 60,000 people showed up to demand debt cancellation for impoverished countries during the G8 summit in Birmingham.
So for the first 30 years, VfJ very much worked at grassroots, educating people, engaging them in events, giving them the social analysis skills and tools to reflect theologically, and helping them to work out plans of action. The last ten years sought to bring younger people onboard. As justice and peace workers lost diocesan funding there was a lack of training and formation for young people in these areas and very limited paid roles in justice and peace in the Church.
Noting that the Church focuses on its charitable wing, Ellen and Fr Ed regret that the focus on justice and peace has diminished. “But we have to carry on because marginalised people and poor communities have to carry on to survive, and we have to support them,” Ellen comments.
As VfJ is moving online from May 2026, the team must continue to reach people creatively. Distribution online will be different, but the mission remains. Ellen smiles as she remembers finding a copy of the newsletter in the Archbishop of Westminster’s house – the physical copy always reached interesting places!
The Columbans have been prophets for building Kingdom values, seeing mission not as coping with the decline of priests and parishes, but as keeping eyes open to see the signs of the times and standing in solidarity with the vulnerable – both people and the planet.
The hope for the newsletter as it goes online is that their readers will own it, embody it, distribute it and take responsibility to See-Judge-Act. “The Columban way is to go to the grassroots … I can’t see any other way forward.”
Becca Long is the 2025–2026 Columban Faith in Action Volunteer in Britain.
The very first digital edition of Vocation for Justice, titled ‘Seeking Sanctuary: Responding in Faith, Choosing Welcome’, in which we share powerful stories, lived experiences and reflections on the realities faced by people seeking sanctuary and those accompanying them is now available! See: https://columbans.co.uk/publications/vocation-for-justice/
