On Tuesday 24th June, Bishop Terry presided during the opening service of CAFOD’s Pure Gold? Photographic Exhibition at St Wilfrid’s Church, York. Over the two days that the exhibition was open to the public, around 500 people visited it and viewed pictures and artefacts from communities adversely affected by gold mining operations in Democratic Republic of Congo, Honduras and the Philippines.

Pupils representing all the Catholic primary schools in York and All Saints Comprehensive participated in the opening service by processing through the city centre with their gold chain petitions and presenting these to Bishop Terry at the doors of St Wilfrid’s. The service was also attended by The Lord Mayor of York, Councillor Brian Watson, and Sheriff of York, Alderman David Wilde. Around 200 people joined us, many staying on afterwards to visit the exhibition. All the parishes in the York area participated by saying a bidding prayer during the service.

The Choir from All Saints Comprehensive helped to create a prayerful and meditative atmosphere with some beautiful singing. This was added to by members of the Filipino community in York singing a song in their own language (Tagalog).

Mrs Carol Cross, CAFOD’s Diocesan Officer for Middlesbrough, spoke briefly about her recent visit to the San Martin gold mine in the Siria Valley, Honduras which is featured in CAFOD’s Unearth Justice Campaign. Carol told us:

“When we arrived we were warmly welcomed by the community and told to ‘feel at home’. They began to tell us about all that had happened to this once beautiful, fertile and life-sustaining environment since Entre Mares SA (a subsidiary of US/Canadian company Goldcorp) began mining for gold in the area in 2000.

“Since the mine opened, members of local communities have complained about depleted and contaminated water supplies. The government environment agency has found water sources near the mine were contaminated with cyanide and heavy metals. The mining company got approval to use water from six wells but this was not enough so they began to take water from the rivers. Eventually the community water supply began to dry up. Because of the process used to get at the gold, known as cyanide leeching, lead, mercury and arsenic drained off the land and into the rivers and contaminating them. Children and young people started losing their hair and having stomach and skin problems. There is scientific proof that some people living in the area have lead and arsenic poisoning.

“As we were leaving the community, Pedro Landa of CAFOD’s partner agency Caritas Tegucigalpa, pointed to where the mining company was spraying the land with cyanide to extract the last grains of gold. We could see steam rising from the earth. He told us that one drop of cyanide is enough to kill a person instantly and that inhaling the steam causes lung disease. At the same time this is happening, people are driving, walking past or on horseback so they are coming into contact with the steam. On hot days there is the scent of almond in the air. It’s the cyanide. In the United States or Canada where the company is based, such operations are carried out in a sealed environment to prevent evaporation of the cyanide into the atmosphere. Such care is not taken here.”

Bishop Terry brought the service to a close with a very thought-provoking homily an extract of which can be read below:

“For evil to thrive all it takes is for a few good people to keep silent! Today, we are concentrating on the exploitation of non-renewable resources such as oil, gas and gold. The question we are asking ourselves and anyone who will listen is: What have we done to the Earth? We have damaged the earth’s life-sustaining mechanisms; we have depleted the world’s natural resources; we have deprived the poor of the earth of their lands and their means of a viable livelihood; and we have disfigured the Earth by defacing and destroying so many areas of natural beauty.

“Gold is one of the world’s most prized commodities – a symbol of wealth and power – used in everything from jewellery to food, aircraft engines to computers and televisions to mobile phones. CAFOD is calling on High Street jewellery retailers in the UK to pressure suppliers to make sure the gold they sell is responsibly resourced. Each of us is invited to enter into this campaign. Remember, if good works do not go with faith it is quite dead. “If one of the brothers or one of the sisters is in need of food and has not enough food to live on, and one of you says to them ‘I wish you well, keep yourself warm and eat plenty’, what good is that?” Love means deeds not good wishes. Let us prove we have faith by showing our good deeds.”

You can help to change the plight of people affected by unethical gold mining practices. Many of the companies providing us with our pension plans are investing YOUR money in these mining companies. Unwittingly, YOUR investment could be fuelling conflict, environmental damage, water pollution and the destruction of people’s homes and lands. YOU can help prevent this by asking your pension company to press the mining companies to clean up their act.

TAKE ACTION TODAY. Visit www.cafod.org.uk/unearthjustice to e-mail your pension company direct.

David Cross

CAFOD Diocesan Manager