Members of the Christian family mourning the fatal stabbing of 15-year-old Elianne Andam in Croydon, South London have spoken of their grief. “Our hearts are broken,” they said after Elianne was attacked on the morning of 27 September. A 17-year-old boy has been charged with her murder.
Family, faith leaders, and the local community gathered in a Croydon park last Sunday for a memorial service for Elianne Andam. The Anglican Bishop of Croydon, Dr Rosemarie Mallett, described Elianne as an “amazing young person” with a strong faith.
The Church of England launched a prayer for Black History Month on 1 October, urging generosity “in our love for others as we work towards ending racism and injustice”. The ecumenical Joint Public Issues Team said, “We give thanks for the impact of people of colour in society, culture and history in the UK and globally.”
The Soul Sanctuary Gospel Choir, in partnership with St James's Church Piccadilly, headlined last Sunday in “Soul at Saint James”. St Gerard’s Catholic Primary School in Birmingham offered new book recommendations including Hidden Figures, drawing attention to the contributions of African American women to the early US space program and a biography of black musician Stevie Wonder.
The Archbishop of Southwark, John Wilson will address a seminar on the need to promote racial and cultural inclusion in the archdiocese.
He said: “Discrimination tragically continues to cast an ugly shadow, not just overseas but also on our own doorstep. There is no place for racism in our world, our society or our Church because the fundamental, God-given dignity of every person is non-negotiable”.
The seminar, on promoting racial and cultural inclusion in parishes, schools and communities, is a free event and will be held at Amigo Hall, St George’s Cathedral, Southwark, from 9.30am to 4.00pm on Saturday 28 October 2023.
Bishop Richard Moth, Catholic Liaison Bishop for Prisons, has written to all parishes to urge support for Pact’s Prisoners’ Sunday, calling for support at this time of reflection, prayer and action.
Pact, the national charity that supports prisoners, people with convictions and their families, is supported by the Catholic community across England and Wales. Its prisoners’ Sunday pack offers information, biddings prayers and a message from Pact president, Cardinal Vincent Nichols. He said, “It is good to know that Pact is there for people of all faiths and none, supporting prisoners and their families on our behalf and with our help.”
The Archdiocese of Southwark will hold a Mass on Prisoners’ Sunday 8 October at St George’s Cathedral. The 10am Mass will be broadcast online by Radio Maria.
The Bishop of East Anglia has inducted Fr Robert Billing, a former priest of Lancaster Diocese, as Rector of the Catholic National Shrine at Walsingham in Norfolk.
Speaking at a Mass held on 24 September, the feast of Our Lady of Walsingham, Bishop Peter Collins prayed that Fr Roberts’s service to “God’s holy people” should “prosper a rich and abundant service”. Fourteen priests and the former Bishop of East Anglia, Alan Hopes, attended the Mass, alongside Bishop Emeritus Michael Campbell OSA and Revd Kevin Smith, administrator of the Anglican shrine at Walsingham.
The Diocese of Killaloe has launched a vocations drive involving a multimedia promotional campaign and parish visits to encourage men to consider joining the priesthood. Vocations director Fr Iggy McCormack said it was hoped that the three vocations recorded in Killaloe over the past year could be built upon.
Separately, Fr Pat O'Hagan, vocations director in the Diocese of Derry, has said 2023 has been “a great year” for vocations with three newly ordained priests, three seminarians in Rome and Maynooth and four beginning a propaedeutic year in Salamanca in January. Another ten men are discerning their vocation. Two deacons will be ordained for the Archdiocese of Armagh next weekend.
Irish police have sent 13 files to the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) following an investigation into allegations of clerical sexual abuse at Spiritan schools in Ireland.
The abuse was revealed in the RTÉ Radio 1 documentary Blackrock Boys with fresh allegations emerging following its airing. Almost 300 people contacted the congregation alleging abuse by 78 Spiritans and staff members, while 130 contacts were made with the police.
The DPP will consider whether there is sufficient evidence for a prosecution if the alleged perpetrators are still alive. The congregation, which runs six schools in Ireland, has spent more than €5m (£4.4m) in settlements since 2004.
The leader of the Irish Church was among those who expressed solidarity with the members of the Poor Servants of the Mother of God as the order leaves Rome after almost 140 years. A Mass of thanksgiving and farewell was celebrated in September by Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle, pro-prefect at the Dicastery for Evangelisation.
The three remaining sisters are to join communities in the UK or Ireland. The Mater Dei convent was a focal point for English-speaking pilgrims and seminarians from the Irish, English, Scots and Beda Colleges. It was established by Venerable Magdalen Taylor in 1885 at the request of Pope Leo XII to serve Rome’s English quarter.
“Change is inevitable, unavoidable and constant,” Sr Lynn Levo CSJ told 200 leaders of religious congregations who attended the Association of Leaders of Missionaries and Religious of Ireland conference and annual meeting in Tullamore, Co Offaly.
Speaking on embracing and accompanying change, she said they had a choice about how to respond to change. “Embracing change – not digging in, denying or resisting change – offers an opportunity to move beyond old patterns of seeing and acting, shifting how you think, know and act together with your members,” she said.
She urged them to both lead change and accompany members as they cope with personal and communal changes “with a renewed sense of purpose and hope”.
The Latin Mass Society has been informed that the sung Annual Requiem using the 1962 Missal that was scheduled at Westminster Cathedral on 4 November will not now take place. The 1962 Missal will continue to be used in the cathedral on first Saturdays at 4pm for Low Mass, including on 4 November.
The funeral has taken place of the former vice-president of St Patrick’s College, Maynooth and Rector of the Irish College in Paris, Mgr Brendan Devlin, who was 93.
A priest of the Diocese of Derry, the Irish and French language scholar served as Professor of Modern Languages at Maynooth from 1958-96. He wrote three novels in Irish, Néal Maidine agus Tine Oíche (1964), An Branar gan Cur (1979), and Sliocht ar Thír na Scáth (2018). He also translated French writers into Irish.
In 2001, he translated the Catechism of the Catholic Church into Irish and in retirement he translated conciliar texts and recent magisterial documents.
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