Everything Under the Cross

Domestic abuse is the difficult subject we're tackling in this month's 'Social Justice Matters' podcast. One in four women and about one in six men suffer from domestic abuse in their lifetime. Two women are killed every week in England by a partner or ex-partner. Back in June 2019, we held a panel discussion looking at what we can do to positively change the culture on domestic abuse in families, at work, and in our churches. Listen to the full discussion.

More and more people are struggling to cope with their mental health. We face rising rates of depression, anxiety and self-harm - especially in young people. The Catholic Bishops of England and Wales have a Mental Health Project that aims to increase spiritual and pastoral support in our communities for those with mental health challenges, their families and carers. For today's 'Social Justice Matters' podcast we caught up with Dr Simon Hewitt from the School of Philosophy, Religion and History of Science at the University of Leeds. Simon has an academic interest in psychiatry but, on a personal level, was diagnosed with Bipolar disorder six years ago. Also, as is quite common with the condition, he has lived with depression. It's a condition that can be completely disabling if untreated. Simon talks candidly to us about Bipolar disorder and we cover a lot of ground including support groups, labels and language, dos and don'ts when you're accompanying a friend with a mental health condition and much more.

What's the Catholic Church's position on blood and organ donation? A law change will come into force in England in 2020 whereby the system will change to 'opt out' or 'deemed consent'. This means that every patient who dies is considered a potential organ donor if they are eligible. In this first ever 'Social Justice Matters' podcast, we discuss the law change, what we'd encourage you to do and speak to the remarkable Mary Adeturinmo who has sickle cell anaemia and needs blood transfusions on a regular basis to cope with episodes of extreme pain and to ease the symptoms of the condition.