The Charles Plater Trust awarded half-a-million pounds in grants to charitable projects at a ceremony in London on Wednesday 25 May. The Bishop of Arundel and Brighton, Richard Moth, the chair of the trust, was the chief celebrant at a Mass at Allen Hall in London, and presided with Cathy Corcoran, chair of the grant-making committee, at the awards ceremony. Nine small grants of under £5,000 went to charities including Catholics for AIDS Prevention and Support and the Vincentian Volunteers, while recipients of large grants of up to £60,000 included DePaul UK and Soundabout – an inclusive choir for those with profound and severe learning difficulties, which provided the music at the Mass.
Ofsted has made three alterations to its inspection report on Ampleforth College from February, although its “inadequate” judgment remains in place. Following appeals from the school, the inspector removed two words from its report, so that sexual activity between two pupils is no longer described as “penetrative” and an intoxicated pupil found in the grounds is not described as “unconscious”. The inspector also altered its description of the relationship between the school and Ampleforth Abbey, having expressed concern that the headmaster had lost a veto on which monks were permitted to live in the abbey.
New figures on school leavers in Northern Ireland indicate Catholics are significantly more likely to head to university after school, but much less likely to go to a university outside Northern Ireland. 50.6 per cent of school leavers from a Catholic background were departing to attend a university course as opposed to 44.8 per cent of school leavers from Protestant backgrounds. Catholics were substantially less likely to go to university on the British mainland, however, with 19 per cent of Catholics studying at institutions of higher education on the island of Great Britain, compared to 31 per cent of Protestant school leavers. In general the figures show a marked rise in the number of school leavers heading to university, with more than 50 per cent doing so, the highest proportion on record.
The demolition of two historic Catholic Churches in Oldham has been delayed to enable further surveys to be taken of the buildings. Plans were submitted by the Diocese of Salford on May 4 to knock down two Oldham churches, stated to have fallen into “dilapidated and derelict state of late due to vandalism”. Original estimates that the demolition of St Mary’s and Sacred Heart would be complete in August and November this year respectively have been thrown into doubt. When contacted by The Oldham Times, a spokesperson for the Diocese of Salford said: “The notice of demolition has been temporarily removed so some additional environmental surveys can be undertaken.” St Mary's, constructed in 1839, was designed by Matthew Ellison Hadfield, who was also the architect of the Catholic Cathedrals of Sheffield and Salford.
The final online session of the Scottish Laity Network Pentecost 2022 series was held on Thursday 2 June with a talk by Tom O’Loughlin, professor of historical theology at Nottingham university, on the Eucharist as an act of political subversion. In England, Loretto London is this weekend due to will be host “Pentecost22” at St Mary's University, Twickenham. Scheduled speakers include Magnus MacFarlane-Barrow, founder of Mary’s Meals and Pete Wynter, director of Leadership College, London.
A decision has been made to proceed with the new National Maternity Hospital on land owned by St Vincent’s Hospital Dublin, founded by the Religious Sisters of Charity. The national directors of midwifery in Ireland had called for the hospital to go ahead, along with the director and senior clinicians at the National Maternity Hospital which is currently located on Holles Street, Dublin and is regarded as not fit for purpose. While the State will not own the land at St Vincent’s, the hospital will be in State ownership for the next 300 years at a cost of €10 a year. It will provide all legally permissible services, including abortions. Opposition to the proposed co-location was led by a former Master of the NMH in Holles Street, Dr Peter Boylan, who said the new hospital should not go ahead until all Vatican correspondence regarding the role, ethos and ownership of the new hospital at the St Vincent’s campus be released for public scrutiny. He told the Oireachtas Health Committee that Vatican permission was conditional on the Sisters of Charity observing certain specified canon laws and insisted that the new maternity hospital would be subject to a "catholic ethos".
Benedictine monks and nuns returned to St Edmundsbury in Bury St Edmunds for the first time in more than 500 years as part of the cathedral's 1000-year celebrations in mid-May. They came from across the UK as well as countries including Belgium and Ireland and spent the weekend exploring how the wisdom of St Benedict applies to the 21st century, particularly life after the coronavirus pandemic. The last time the Benedictines joined in prayer at St Edmundsbury was just before Henry VIII’s Commissioners dissolved the abbey in 1536, leaving it in ruins.
Former Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, was a speaker. Abbot Geoffrey Scott, of Douai Abbey in France, became the first Benedictine Abbot to speak at the site for centuries. The event closed with dramatic sung vespers and a procession through the streets of Bury St Edmund’s to the crypt, beneath which countless pilgrims would once have venerated the martyred body of St Edmund, an Anglo-Saxon king killed by the Vikings who became England’s first patron saint.
A Catholic education trust in the north of England has been awarded more than £500,000 as part of a government “decarbonisation” project. Bishop Hogarth Catholic Education Trust was awarded £509,645 through the public Ssector decarbonisation scheme, the Department for Business, Energy, and Industrial Strategy announced. The money will be used for the “decarbonisation” of St. Gregory’s Primary School, located in Stockton-on-Tees and Carmel College, in Darlington. The Scheme aims to reduce emissions from public-sector buildings by 75 per cent by 2037, from a 2017 baseline. Both schools will receive air source heat pumps and Carmel College will install LED lighting, insulation, and energy efficient ventilation fans.
The Bishop of Derry, Donal McKeown, has welcomed alterations to controversial legislation on the prosecution of historic crimes related to the Troubles. Rather than a general amnesty on crimes committed during the Troubles in Northern Ireland, the new Northern Ireland Troubles (Legacy and Reconciliation) Bill proposes an Independent Commission for Reconciliation and Information Recovery. which would be able to grant immunity from prosecution in exchange for providing reliable information to the relatives of victims. Speaking to The Irish Catholic, McKeown said that the changes to the bill was a “huge step forward” from previous government plans, which proposed a general amnesty, but warned it must be aimed at survivors and victims of violence rather than British army veterans.
Million Minutes, the youth social action charity, has announced that its new chief executive officer is Anita Motha. She comes to the post after 14 years of experience working and volunteering within Catholic youth ministry and international development. Among her first tasks is overseeing this year’s “celebrating young people” awards. Nominations closed two weeks ago for awards for young people aged 11-25 and awards for adults empowering young people in their community. Judging panels have been meeting to assess entries for each award. (Pic of Anita Motha in production, credit Million Minutes.)
St Paul’s Cathedral is marking Mental Health Awareness Week with an event on recovering after the pandemic on 7 June. Sponsored by CCLA Investment Management, the event is chaired by Bishop of London Sarah Mullally and speakers include Deborah Bull, vice president of Communities and National Engagement, Stephanie Flanders, senior executive editor for economics at Bloomberg News and Victor Adebowale, chair of Social Enterprise UK. Free tickets are available via the link here.
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