Cardinal opens evangelisation centre

Cardinal George Pell will be in Britain next week to mark the official opening of a centre of new evangelisation, writes Joanna Moorhead.

The School of the Annunication, situated in the grounds of Buckfast Abbey, will run a two-year, part-time diploma course as well as short summer courses. More than 30 students have so far signed up for the diploma course and, says academic director Dr Andrew Beards, more may still come forward. “We set a target of 20 students which we thought was aiming high, so this is a great start,” he said. There were also plans to eventually develop the diploma into a degree. Among those teaching on the course are those who had worked for the Maryvale Institute, Birmingham.

Australian Cardinal Pell, who was appointed by the Pope to be prefect of the Vatican’s Secretariat for the Economy, is a member of the council of cardinals appointed by Francis to help him reform the Church.

Dr Beards said students who had enrolled on the diploma course wanted to communicate their faith more effectively. The summer school, which will be run again in July and August 2015, offered five four-day courses.