East Lancashire bishops to march against poverty

7:45pm Monday 21st July 2008

Comments (0)   Have your say »

EAST Lancashire’s two bishops will be marching through London to campaign against poverty.

The Bishops of Blackburn, Rt Rev Nicholas Reade and Burnley, Rt Rev John Goddard, and their wives, will walk past London landmarks with the 600 bishops from around the world on Thursday.

The walk aims to maintain the pressure on global leaders to keep their promise to cut poverty by 2015.

The march, following a banner pleading ‘Keep the Promise- Halve Poverty by 2015’, will conclude with a rally at Lambeth Palace, the London home and office of the Archbishop of Canterbury.

The bishops are also calling on their respective governments to ensure that funding priorities are met, and policies put in place to reduce global poverty.

The Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, said: “This walk will be a poignant public act of commitment by the Anglican Communion and other faith groups to continue to put pressure on those who have the power and resources to help end extreme poverty across the globe.

“It will be about pledging, as a Church, to play our part in continuing to develop lasting solutions.

"It will also be a walk where we will be in step with those who know at first hand the impact that the unfair distribution of the world’s resources can have on daily living and life opportunities.”