11,000 Catholics mark 50 years of Arundel and Brighton

THE CHURCH exists in a society that some would say has lost sight of its Christian foundations, according to the new Bishop of Arundel and Brighton.

But without those foundations, our wider society would not be as it is, Bishop Richard Moth told an 11,000-strong congregation gathered at a football stadium in Brighton on Sunday to mark the fiftieth anniversary of the creation of his diocese.

“As Christians, as Catholics, we are challenged when the values of marriage and family are rejected; when the dignity of the human person and the right to life is devalued or even denied; when the resources of the world are wasted; when humanity’s capacity for love is lost in violence and hatred,” said Bishop Moth.

But these hardships also brought opportunities to fill the emptiness in the hearts of so many, he said, adding: “It is incumbent upon us to take that love into the darkest places of our society.”

A sense of mission, said Bishop Moth, had to be the driver to everything a Christian does and include parishes, schools and the Church’s structures.

“The Christian must strive so that message of salvation may more and more reach all people of all times and all places,” he said.

Former Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan, now Lord, Williams, who also attended the anniversary celebration, said Christians should “pull together” to tackle society’s challenges, adding that Catholics might say they had the comprehensive truth about God and Christianity, but that did not mean they had an answer to every crisis facing it.