A new Marian Garden, funded by a donation, has opened to the public in the grounds of Ampleforth Abbey, North Yorkshire. The informal garden, approached via an avenue of cherry trees, includes a statue of the Virgin Mary surrounded by trees, flowers, and semi-closed seating with gates made from oak grown on the Ampleforth estate at the entrance to the garden. The monastic community gathered for midday Office in August, when Abbot Robert Igo blessed the garden. The Abbey is currently being renovated with a new visitor centre experience, tea room and gift shop opening next spring.
Nearly half the Catholic schools in England and Wales raised funds for Cafod in the last academic year, with around 44 per cent of them raising more than £610,000. Catholic schools donated more than £170,000 to emergency appeals including for victims of floods in Pakistan and the earthquake in Syria. In addition, 37 schools achieved the LiveSimply award over the same period, where schools commit to live simply, sustainably and in solidarity with the world’s poorest communities. There are also now 444 CAFOD clubs in Catholic Primary Schools, which help pupils put Catholic social teaching into action using Cafod resources.
Scotland’s First Minister has announced that Sciaf, the official Catholic aid agency of Scotland, will receive up to £8 million to support communities in Rwanda fighting the climate crisis. Humza Yousaf said last week that the Scottish government is committed to addressing climate issues. And the agency is asking the UK government to deliver new and additional cash to tackle food crises in East Africa, as well as using its aid budget to promote sustainable agriculture across the global south. Last year, Sciaf responded to 30 emergencies in 16 countries. It also spent more than £6 million on 101 projects, alongside 68 partners, in 26 countries.
Lord Bradley, former Labour prisons minister and now a member of the House of Lords, will be the keynote speaker at the Pact annual meeting and volunteer awards at London South Bank University. In 2009, Lord Bradley was appointed to lead an independent review of people with mental ill health and learning disabilities in the criminal justice system, resulting in the Bradley Report. His speech will reflect on the challenges facing the criminal justice system and what needs to be done to address them. The event is on 20 September, 4.30pm to 8pm.
The annual March for Life UK takes place in London on 2 September, starting at 1.30pm from the Emmanuel Centre after a morning of events including a Mass at Westminster Cathedral at 10.30am, and ending at 4.30pm at Parliament Square.
The Royal Mint has launched a £2 coin to commemorate The Lord Of The Rings author JRR Tolkien. The coin has the author’s monogram at the centre, encircled by a ring of runic patterns inspired by the writer’s love of Anglo-Saxon scripts. Around the edge are the words “Not all those who wander are lost”, a quote from the poem “The Riddle of Strider” in The Fellowship Of The Ring, the first volume of the novel set in Middle Earth. The coin, which was part of the Royal Mint’s 2023 set of commemorative coins, can now be bought individually and is being released to mark 50 years since Tolkien’s death.
The mystery of the Church and the mystery of the family go hand in hand, Archbishop Dermot Farrell said at a Mass to mark the fifth anniversary of the World Meeting of Families in Ireland in August 2018. In his homily at St Mary’s Pro-Cathedral, the Archbishop of Dublin described families as “good news” because “they are the place where God begins to reveal to us who we are, how we are, and what we are: that we are someone who is precious to others, that we need each othe, not just to survive, but to live.” He appealed to the faithful to learn to journey with each other, to trust each other more, so that we can become “more truly the family of God”.
The number of people who are homeless in Ireland rose again in July according to the latest figures which showed a record 12,847 people living in emergency accommodation, such as homeless hostels, family hubs, hotel rooms or bed and breakfasts. The Department of Housing figures showed homelessness increased across all cohorts: children, families and single adults. Responding to the figures the Jesuit Centre for Faith and Justice said that there were 4,119 fewer people in emergency accommodation when the Government was appointed in 2020, hat female homelessness rose by 57 per cent and homeless single parent families rose by 69 per cent.
One of the oldest and best-known Catholic secondary schools in the West of Ireland opened its doors this week to female students for the first time in its 223-year history. St Jarlath’s College in Tuam was founded in 1800 under the patronage of Archbishop Edward Dillon of Tuam. Initially it operated as a boarding school and was seen primarily as a preparatory college for the seminary in Maynooth. This week 30 girls were among the new batch of first year students following extensive research among parents and students. The majority indicated their preference for ending single-sex education for the 600 students attending the Co Galway school.
Tributes have been paid to Bishop Liam MacDaid who died last week aged 78. He served as Bishop of Clogher from 2010 until ill health forced him to stand down in 2016. The leader of the Irish Church, Archbishop Eamon Martin described Bishop MacDaid as “a gentle shepherd with a wealth of wisdom and pastoral experience” and he said he was “motivated by a warm concern for others”.
One of the highlights of Bishop MacDaid’s episcopal ministry was hosting Papal Legate, Cardinal Marc Ouellet in 2012 on the pilgrimage island of Lough Derg as part of the 50th International Eucharistic Congress. A ‘healing stone’ dedicated to those who have suffered abuse within the Church was unveiled
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