Bishop Richard Moth of Arundel and Brighton, liaison bishop for prisons, has said that Prisoners’ Sunday on 9 October is “a wonderful opportunity for us all to direct our thoughts to the needs of prisoners and their families, and to all who work in and are affected by the criminal justice system”. In a letter to parishes, he says the work of Pact, the Prison Advice and Care Trust, is a vital element in Catholic outreach to prisoners and families. He encourages use of a pack provided to give ideas for prayer and for organising a retiring collection for the work of Pact. “Pact’s work is rooted in Catholic Social Teaching,” he says, and “it brings hope into the prison environment, where men and women experience isolation and long periods confined to their cells, and serves families, especially children, who experience prolonged separation from loved ones”.
Cafod marks its “harvest family fast day” on 7 October with an appeal to Catholics in England and Wales to help the millions of people globally struggling with food security. Cafod’s local staff are working hard to provide emergency food supplies to families in the worst affected countries in East Africa and say the suffering is amongst the worst in living memory. Around 20 million people are affected in that region, facing climate change impacts on food production as the conflict in Ukraine causes food prices to increase. Cafod asks that Catholics offer prayers, solidarity, and promote the harvest appeal in parishes and schools.
A former headmaster of Glenstal Abbey School in County Limerick has been appointed to the Vatican's Dicastery for Promoting Christian Unity. Fr Martin Browne OSB will take over the work of Fr Anthony Currer as Catholic co-secretary to the Anglican-Roman Catholic International Commission, and will be responsible for ecumenical relations with the Anglican Communion. He joined Glenstal Abbey in 2001, and was headmaster of its school from 2009 to 2014, and again from 2019 until the beginning of this year when he became the school's president, responsible for the link to the monastery and the Benedictine tradition. Fr Currer will return to his diocese of Hexham and Newcastle later this month, as the parish priest of St Augustine's, Darlington.
A Catholic primary school in the Wirral will not close after a successful six-month campaign against its amalgamation with another school. Wirral Council dropped its proposal to merge St Paul’s Catholic Primary School with St Peter’s Catholic Primary School, along with another school merger, after the Diocese of Shrewsbury put forward alternative plans to secure the school’s long-term viability. The council’s plans were opposed by teachers, parents and local residents in the Beechwood area, a housing estate west of Birkenhead which is one of the poorest areas in the Wirral.
The former prime minister Gordon Brown has praised the role of churches in supporting households through financial hardship. Writing in the Church Times, he described “announcement after announcement by faith groups of practical help for families facing almost unpayable gas and electricity bills” – bills which he said would leave families dependent on Universal Credit £1500 worse-off a year, following real-terms cuts to benefits. He noted that families with more than two children were particularly hard hit. Mr Brown said that support from churches would help rebuild fractured communities: “it is by recognising the importance of the words of the Sermon on the Mount – and acting on them – that we make our country fairer and stronger.”
The Conference of Religious, the office of the leaders of religious congregations in England and Wales, is seeking volunteers to develop its digital and social media profile. The conference specifies an enhanced presence on Twitter, Instagram, TikTok and Youtube, with volunteers available one or two days a week over three to six months. The advert describes the job as “an exciting opportunity to develop the profile of a diverse membership organisation”, which “offers the chance to build a portfolio of work to show potential employers and display creativity and technical knowledge”. Expressions of interest to communications@corew.org.
Amri, the representative association for religious and missionaries in Ireland, has launched a new five-year strategic plan charting the future for religious and missionary life at a time when congregations are becoming smaller and the number of members over age 70 is increasing. At a gathering in Tullamore almost 200 religious sisters, brothers and priests from leadership teams of 155 religious and missionary congregations unveiled the plan, “A future with hope”. Abbot Brendan Coffey OSB, president of Amri, said. “The plan is an exercise in discernment as we listened to the concerns, hopes and dreams for the future of religious and missionary life in Ireland.” The plan calls for the deepening of the culture of child safeguarding, ongoing commitment to healing services for survivors and to listen respectfully to survivors’ voices. David Rose, secretary general of AMRI, explained. It also has a strong focus on social justice with those on the margins of society and commits members to promoting care of creation.(four possible pix of the Amri conf by John McElroy in production.)
Bishop John Sherrington celebrated Mass at an event at St Dominic's Priory in London for the new London studio of the not-for-profit Catholic radio station, Radio Maria England, based in Cambridge. Nigel Parker, director of the Catholic Union, was invited to pray a decade of the rosary live on air.
Former Archbishop of Dublin, Diarmuid Martin, has paid tribute to working class Dublin mothers whose children were the victims of clerical abuse as the catalyst for his tough stance on abuse. In an interview with RTE Radio’s Brendan O’Connor Show, the Archbishop Emeritus, who retired over 18 months ago, talked about his arrival in Dublin in 2003. He revealed that the Vatican wrote to him following his inaugural address as Coadjutor Archbishop of Dublin in the Pro Cathedral telling him that as archbishop he should not be saying the things he said about abuse and change in the Church. He said that in tacking the abuse issue his overriding emotion was anger at what had been done not just to the victims but to their families as well. “You couldn’t but be angry.” “It was good, honest working-class Dublin mothers who came to me and to my predecessor particularly and said, ‘I don’t want what happened to my child to happen to anybody else. That’s all I want. I don’t want money or anything else.’ And nothing was done. That is what annoyed me more than anything else.” The retired archbishop, who now works in an inner city Dublin parish acknowledged: “huge progress has been made” on safeguarding and that “the Church in Ireland has led the way in many ways”.
Parishes in the Archdiocese of Dublin will lead sacramental preparation of children in the future shifting preparation away from the current school-based approach. Under the proposed reform, parents will be required to register directly with their local parish in order for their children to receive sacraments such as First Communion and Confirmation. The new proposal on sacramental preparation emerged following an online survey of 1,800 people including parents, priests and school principals. In September 2018 a sacraments’ review group was set up to consult widely and make practical recommendations on future practice around Baptism, First Reconciliation, First Communion and Confirmation. Archbishop Dermot Farrell said this consultation had shown “a clear desire for substantial change and innovation”.
The most senior peer of the realm and the most prominent Catholic aristocrat in the country has been awarded a knighthood for his services organising the late Queen’s funeral. The accolade, given to Edward William Fitzalan-Howard, 18th Duke of Norfolk on September 18, is believed to have been the first knighthood of King Charles’ reign, coming just ten days after his accession. Although the honour had been announced in the June honours list of this year, knighthoods can only be conferred by the reigning monarch in person.
Two Catholic Bishops were among those who last weekend celebrated the restoration of St Machar’s Cathedral’s historic wooden roof. The roof, built in 1520 by Bishop Gavin Dunbar, features 48 coats of arms including that of Pope Leo X, King James V of Scotland, Henry VIII of England and many of the royal houses of Europe. Careful renovation work and new lighting costing 2 million in total will allow visitors to the cathedral, built in 1131, to view the ceiling with unprecedented clarity, according to organisers. Bishop Hugh Gilbert of Aberdeen and Bishop Brian McGee of Argyll and the Isles were amongst the dignitaries who attended an ecumencial service on Sunday 2 October, at which new pieces of music by James MacMillan and Paul Mealor were performed.
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