The title of a July Catholic People’s Week at a Lancashire Monastery next week is “Bringing Francis into the parish”. Since becoming Pope, Francis has issued Evangelii Gaudium (the “Joy of the Gospel”) and Laudato Si’ (“On the Care For Our Common Home”). He says: “An authentic faith, which is never comfortable or completely personal, always involves a deep desire to change the world” (EG183).

The Catholic People’s Week will explore how this is realised in parishes. Another laity-led initiative with a focus on the mission of Pope Francis will also take place this month – the 2017 annual conference of the National Justice and Peace Network with the theme, “A Sabbath for the Earth and the Poor: The challenge of Pope Francis”. This time the inspirational quote comes from Laudato Si’: “Sunday, like the Jewish Sabbath, is meant to be a day which heals our relationships with God, with ourselves, with others and with the world” (LS237