Ukrainian churches in the UK welcomed large congregations of refugees to celebrate Christmas on 7 January, in accordance with the Julian calendar.
The quartet VIVO sang at the divine liturgies at London’s Cathedral of the Holy Family in Exile, with further fundraising carol concerts planned to support the work of the Ukrainian Welcome Centre.
In Northern Ireland, a community centre in north Belfast hosted 600 people for a Christmas concert on Sunday, which organisers said was also a “thank you” to the people of Northern Ireland for their support.
A substantial proportion of Catholic schools will benefit from funding in the government’s school rebuilding programme, announced in December.
The Catholic Education Service (CES) welcomed the award of funds to 26 Catholic schools out of the 239 which will receive funding for renovation projects as part of the ten-year programme. The CES noted that Catholic schools make up 11 per cent of the total, though only nine per cent of educational establishments are Catholic.
Its director Paul Barber said that this was “welcome recognition from the government that Catholic education is a sound investment for the future”.
When it comes to understanding what it really means to be a deacon or a priest, parishioners will often be your best teachers, Bishop Kevin Doran told two deacons as he ordained them at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in Sligo.
Deacons Conrad Forzeh and Frankline Nkopi, both of the Diocese of Kumba in Cameroon, were ordained on the Feast of the Epiphany after almost four years of formation at St Patrick’s College, Maynooth and working in the Diocese of Elphin. They were sponsored through a mission agreement between Elphin Diocese and the Diocese of Kumba, which is just six years old.
“You have many gifts, but no priest or deacon has all the gifts that are required. So focus on walking with people and, whenever possible, helping them – women and men, young and old - to bring out the gifts that God has given them,” Bishop Doran told them. The congregation included two priests of the Diocese of Kumba, Frs Evaristus Nkede and Willibrord Sakwe, who represented Bishop Agapitus Nfon. Both priests currently minister in the Diocese of Elphin.
The Bishop of Derry, Donal McKeown, has urged people to challenge political leaders to learn the lessons of the last few “very difficult” years.
In his homily for World Day of Peace, the bishop warned, “Mere competent penny pushers will never inspire or create hope,” adding, “We have to do more than berate [those] who would seek to manage the country.”
Speaking about the Church’s efforts to renew itself for mission in a rapidly changing world, he added, “We are tempted to do things the way that suits us rather than allowing ourselves to be led by the Holy Spirit into uncomfortable places.”
He said Pope Francis does not want people to remain weighed down by the constant diet of bad news but invites people to reflect on whether they will emerge from these difficult years stronger or none the wiser.
“Will crises drive us into our self-protective bunkers, stockpiling everything for ourselves – or can we recognise, as Pope Francis writes, that the many moral, social, political and economic crises we are experiencing are all interconnected, and what we see as isolated problems are actually causes and effects of one another?” he asked.
“War, famine, disease and social breakdown are all interlinked. We can do better than merely try to be the winners in a heartless rat race.”
A Catholic primary school in Surrey has launched a campaign to persuade the government to provide fairtrade bananas in all schools.
In a video, members of the International Club at St Peter’s Primary School in Leatherhead, point out that, every day, around 2.3 million children aged 4-7 in state-funded UK schools receive a free piece of fruit through the school fruit and vegetable scheme, funded by the Department of Health. But none of the bananas included in the scheme are Fairtrade, which means there is no guarantee that people who harvest them are paid adequately or work under fair conditions.
The International Club has written letters to local MPs urging them to act on this issue. The school has also set up a petition, asking the government to make sure all bananas provided in schools are Fairtrade.
Speaking in Oxford this week at the Oxford Real Farming Conference, international environmentalist Dr Vandana Shiva said faiths have a big role in promoting a sustainable future. This means addressing climate change, corporate control of land, food, and seeds.
Five young people from Bury St Edmunds completed a 20-mile walk last month to raise funds so that they can attend this summer’s World Youth Day 2023 in Portugal.
Sent off from St Edmund King and Martyr parish by parish priest Fr David Bagstaff, they took seven hours to reach Suffolk’s Clare Priory. They hope to be part of a group from East Anglia Diocese which will attend World Youth Day, hosted by Pope Francis,1-6 August in Lisbon.
Clifton, Salford, Leeds, Nottingham, Portsmouth and Plymouth are among the dioceses of England and Wales bringing groups and calling for young people to register. Jesuit Young Adult Ministries is taking names for its trip to Lisbon.
The head of the Maronite Church began his first visit to the UK on 7 January. The Patriarch of Antioch and All the East, Cardinal Bechara Boutras Al-Rai, arrived on Saturday and was due to visit London’s Maronite parish, headquartered at the Church of Our Lady of Lebanon in Paddington.
He was to celebrate Mass for the Feast of the Epiphany according to his Church’s Syriac Liturgy of St James at Ealing Abbey on Sunday 8 January.
Lord Camoys, the former lord chamberlain, has died aged 82.
Born Ralph Thomas Campion George Sherman Stonor, he was the heir of one of England’s chief recusant families and the first Catholic in centuries to become head of the royal household. After a successful career in the City, he was appointed lord chamberlain in 1998, retiring in 2000 due to ill health.
He also acted as a “consultor” on the finances of the Holy See, 1991-2006, and was for some years the chair of the Tablet Trust.
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