Bishop Kenneth Nowakowski, head of the Ukrainian Catholic Eparchy of London responsible for Ukrainian Catholics in Britain and Ireland, presided at a Ukrainian Rite Solemn Liturgy in Liverpool’s Metropolitan Cathedral last Sunday, concelebrated by the Archbishop of Liverpool and other clergy.
The liturgy was offered for peace with justice in Ukraine and around the world and for God's blessing on the city ahead of the Eurovision Song Contest it is hosting on behalf of Ukraine.
The Metropolitan Cathedral has also been chosen to host the sculpture “The Need for Freedom” by contemporary Ukrainian artist, Dmytro Iv. The sculpture shows the figure of a chained but rising woman, representing Ukraine’s struggle for peace and freedom.
The Illegal Migration Bill cleared its final stages in the House of Commons on 26 April by 289 votes to 230, placing a legal duty on the home secretary to detain and remove those arriving in the UK illegally to Rwanda or another “safe” third country, taking legal precedence over the right to claim asylum.
It prompted outrage from Church groups. The network Together with Refugees which includes many Church organisations, said “this cruel law does not represent us”. The demonstration in London for International Workers’ Day on 1 May saw many “Refugees Welcome” banners displayed.
The next monthly vigil at the Home Office to pray for all refugees suffering hardship, and for the efforts of those who befriend them, will be on 15 May. Participants also pray for a change of policy, both in the UK and the EU, which has caused many deaths of people seeking sanctuary.
The Jesuit Refugee Service launched its new report on the Napier Barracks Detention Centre at Our Lady Help of Christians Church Hall in Folkestone on 27 April at an event titled “Inhumane Reality”. The report describes the human consequences of more than 300 people being placed in a dilapidated former barracks.
Dr Chijioke Nwalozie, the founding director of Prisons Support Services Nigeria, will deliver Pact’s Sir Harold Hood lecture on 24 May, on “The Church’s Participation in Prison Reform”. The event at Maria Fidelis Catholic School in London will include a panel discussion and music from the Soul Sanctuary Gospel Choir.
Last month, Pact expressed alarm at a report by HM Inspectorate of Prisons which found that staff shortages mean that 60 per cent of male prisoners spend at least 21 hours a day locked in their cells at weekends.
The charity’s chief executive, Andy Keen-Downs, warned this “can have a devastating impact on their health, putting lives at risk and hampering efforts to deliver prisons that are safe and decent”.
The Bishop of Kilmore, Martin Hayes, has expressed concern at the overcrowding in the Irish prison service and said the prison system is unable to rehabilitate prisoners and prepare them for re-entry to the world. The liaison bishop with Irish prison chaplains made his comments following a visit to Mountjoy Prison in Dublin.
In a statement, Bishop Hayes highlighted the “ease” with which drugs can be delivered into the prison and said drugs “hinder rehabilitation efforts”. Criticising instances of two prisoners occupying one cell, he said if a person sent to prison feels abandoned by society, the likelihood is that they will return to a life of crime.
The Church in England and Wales will mark the Day of Prayer for Victims and Survivors of Abuse on 9 May.
In Birmingham, St Chad’s Cathedral will host a LOUDfence display over the week, with colourful ribbons tied to its railings as a mark of solidarity with victims of abuse. The Isaiah Story, the bishops’ conference’s working group on pastoral support for victims and survivors, will launch a range of resources for parishes and communities on the day of prayer.
The Bishop of Argyll and the Isles, Brian McGee, is to be the new Bishop President of the Scottish Church’s aid agency Sciaf, taking over from Bishop Joseph Toal.
Chief executive Alistair Dutton said: “Bishop Brian has been eager to be involved with Sciaf’s work since he joined our board in 2016 and brings a new energy and passion for Sciaf’s cause.
“Keen to see our work first hand, he has visited our work with Caritas India and Caritas Lebanon, and most recently, he and I visited Ethiopia in February to express our solidarity with our partners who are coping with the very acute food crisis in the south and the consequences of the civil war which had raged in Tigray for more than two years.”
The UK’s oldest living convent has unveiled its restored eighteenth-century chapel built in secrecy when Catholicism was still illegal, where the relic of St Margaret Clitherow is housed.
The Bar Convent, home to the Congregation of Jesus, was established in 1686 and the hidden chapel opened in 1769 with a priest’s hole, eight exits for a quick escape and a domed ceiling undetectable from outside. The Chapel is free to visit and Mass is said on Fridays at noon.
The Institute for Jewish Policy Research has launched a new survey to give British Jews the opportunity to voice their views on antisemitism to help policymakers tackle the problem effectively. The 2023 Antisemitism in the UK Survey is aligned with a similar study across the EU to allow comparisons between Jews in the UK and other European countries.
Earlier surveys by JPR and the international research agency Ipsos took place as part of broader studies under the auspices of the European Union Agency for Fundamental Right but since the UK is no longer part of the EU and thus not included in the latest of these surveys, JPR is running its own to ensure that the situation in the UK is tracked and can be compared with other countries.
The Church of the future in Ireland will be composed of “small little groups that come together to pray, to celebrate the Eucharist together, and to reach out to those in need,” Fr Peter McVerry has said.
The Jesuit, who is renowned for campaigning on behalf of the homeless, made his comment after speaking to members of the Association of Catholics in Ireland on the subject, “Where Have All the Young People Gone?”
He said young people need to see the Church proclaiming a God of compassion and “reaching out to those on the margins.” He warned that the days of “big Sunday Masses” are over.
Over twenty former pupils of a boarding school for girls in Cameroon run by Irish missionaries flew into Ireland last week to thank to their former teachers for “uplifting their dignity as women”. The class of 1986 from Our Lady of Lourdes College in Mankon now includes doctors, accountants and scientists in Ireland, UK, USA, Switzerland and Cameroon.
The Holy Rosary Sisters, the women said, provided love, care as well as educational excellence. They paid special tribute to 90-year-old Sr Mary Neville who was principal of the school.
Praxedes Banseka told The Tablet, “We give so much value to what the Sisters did – they changed so many lives.”
The Archdiocese of Southwark has announced that the diocesan shrine of St Oscar Romero at St George’s Cathedral has been elevated to the status of a National Shrine for England and Wales.
Following a petition to the bishops’ conference by Archbishop John Wilson, the bishops gave their unanimous approval to the new National Shrine at their Spring plenary meeting in Leeds. Archbishop Wilson said the National Shrine will now be “for the benefit of people across our dioceses”.
After the success of the Warm Welcome campaign, it has been announced that 72 per cent of Warm Welcome spaces will remain open beyond the winter and continue to offer social support to local communities. They have been found to reduce social isolation, improve mental health and wellbeing, and save energy bills.
Set up by ChurchWorks, a network of churches working with the government, charities and community partners, the campaign went beyond simply meeting the practical need for providing warmth. It has strengthened community belonging.
An external audit of the Warm Welcome initiative by Eido Research found that there were 2,400,000 visits to 4,200 Warm Welcome Spaces over the winter. 150,000 people visited them each week.
Homeless campaigners have expressed concern at the government’s proposal to replace the nineteenth-century Vagrancy Act with legislation that could punish homeless people even more.
Under the 1824 Act, it is a crime to sleep in a doorway or beg. The government has now unveiled their new “anti-social behaviour plan” which consists of proposals for new powers for local authorities and the police to move, or issue more fines, to homeless people “causing nuisance”.
Fr Dominic Robinson SJ, chair of Westminster Diocese Justice and Peace Commission, said that, “the government’s proposals to replace the archaic Vagrancy Act with yet more punitive measures against those forced by abject poverty to sleep rough or in temporary and substandard accommodation is an affront to civilised society.” He said the homeless should not be “demonised as criminals” and driven further into the margins of society.
Caritas Westminster said: “As we approach the Coronation of King Charles III, we urge the authorities to work closely with homeless services to ensure that those experiencing street homelessness are not simply asked to move on, as part of a ‘clean-up’, but are instead provided with longer term support to help them to move off the streets, like we experienced during the ‘everyone-in’ campaign in the pandemic.”
Laudato Si’ Week on 21-28 May, the eighth anniversary of the ecological encyclical, takes the theme “Hope for the Earth; Hope for humanity”.
Many parishes have organised community screenings of the film The Letter, which tells the story of four people affected first-hand by the climate crisis who travelled to Rome to meet Pope Francis. Special diocesan masses and school assemblies using Cafod resources will take place.
Columban missionaries are celebrating by following in the footsteps of St Columba and walking part of the Columban Way in Cornwall. They will walk from Padstow to Fowey over 24-27 May, in partnership with St Mary’s parish and primary school in Bodmin and Plymouth diocesan representatives from Cafod, Caritas and the Youth Ministry.
The Scottish Laity Network’s fourth talk in its online Pentecost programme on 25 May is titled, “Embracing the Cosmic Christ in Creation and in the Eucharist”.
The annual celebration of Laudato Si’ has become a way for all Catholics to unite and rejoice in the progress made in bringing the encyclical to life and to commit to further prayer and action for “our common home”. There is more information at laudatosiweek.org.
Loading ...
