ponderings Living Catholic Social Teaching though Care for Creation

First of all, Happy Easter, although it’s already been at least three weeks now since Easter Sunday.

This month marks a major transition for me, as I approach ordination as a deacon on the 26th. Before ordination there are, of course, many stages to go through, but recently I’ve been completing some of the final few immediate precursors. One of these is going on retreat - I was lucky enough to be able to get away just after Easter for a private retreat. It was great to have a break after a very busy period, and to be free to just pray. Although I found silent retreats very daunting at first, throughout my time in seminary I’ve grown to appreciate them more and more.

Then, later on this month I will be making my profession of faith and oath of fidelity. This involves reciting the creed and professing my belief in everything that the Church teaches, followed by a promise to remain in communion with the Church, both in what I say and in the way I act. It’s an important oath, which has to be taken prior to making the lifelong commitment which comes with ordination.

Another recent event, which was not directly part of preparation for my diaconal ordination, but was significant, was the Chrism Mass. At the Mass, I was given the honour of carrying up the Chrism for the Archbishop to consecrate. This Chrism is, God willing, the oil with which my hands will be consecrated at my priestly ordination, so it was particularly meaningful.

It might have something to do with the busyness of all the preparations, but my time here in the Parish of St Charles and St Thomas More has gone very quickly so far. It seems like ages ago since I first started my placements in the hospital and at Hope University. At the time I was particularly nervous of the different situations that I might come across in the hospital, but I’ve found it to be very enjoyable, if quite challenging sometimes. My experiences in the hospital chaplaincy have been one of the things that make me look forward to being a priest.

Please pray for me as I approach diaconal ordination this month.

Pablo Guidi, Catholic Social Action Coordinator

‘This area in front of you is going to be transformed.’ As I stand in front of a piece of crumbling tarmac at St Edmund of Canterbury, Waterloo, Anthony passionately tells me about turning this wasteland into a haven for wildlife.

Anthony and his wife Rachel are volunteer leaders, who have been trained by the archdiocese Care for Creation programme. Both were part of the first group of 15 leaders, trained by the Pastoral Development Team, who will run workshops at a parish level. This workshop aims to re-connect us with the awe of nature, whilst grounding us in our Catholic faith which inspires us to take action on climate crisis.

Pope Francis picks up this theme in his Encyclical, ‘Laudato Si’. The title is in Italian and translate as ‘praise be to you’. These words are part of a quotation from St Francis of Assisi’s ‘Canticle of the Creatures’ which opens the encyclical in which the Saint praises God by meditating on the goodness of sun, wind, earth, water, and other natural forces. In this document, the Pope writes ‘human life is grounded in three fundamental and closely intertwined relationships: with God, with our neighbour and with the earth itself. According to the Bible, these three vital relationships have been broken, both outwardly and within us. This rupture is sin.’

Pope Francis asks us to transform the way we have viewed our relationship with the earth. Commentators suggest this represents a move from a stewardship, or dominion over the earth, to kinship model of being an equal and integrally linked to the living world. This principle of kinship with the earth has been embedded into the Care for Creation workshops.

‘Get involved.’ That is Anthony’s key message, whether its ‘recycling, a gardening project, or doing an energy audit’. Meeting Anthony, Rachel and the Care for Creation team at St Edmund’s church in the parish of St Oscar Romero was inspiring and demonstrated what a transformation the Care for Creation workshops can have. If you would like to find out more about the environmental plans for the archdiocese, please attend the Social Action Network event on May 24th. In this online session will discuss everything from the Care for Creation workshops to investment in fossil fuels. Contact Pablo for further details p.guidi@rcaol.org.uk

‘It’s the personal journey of leaving a school as a boy, having massively performed below expectations, and then coming back as the headteacher.’

With these words David Hayes offers the Pic a concise summary of what it means to him to be headteacher at Saint Francis Xavier’s College in Woolton.

When David, who turned 50 this year, left SFX aged 16 in 1989, he did not even bother turning up to collect his GCSE results. The fact that 32 years later, in April 2021, he headed back through the SFX gates as headteacher provides a striking story arc.

It is a story which highlights the importance of resilience and determination, and a story which began with a huge trauma. David was in his fourth year at SFX when he suffered the sudden loss of his father. Liam Hayes, a teacher in Walton prison, passed away after suffering a brain haemorrhage while at work. It left David reeling. ‘Nowadays there would be a whole raft of counselling support but then it didn’t happen,’ he remembers. ‘I fell increasingly behind and lacked confidence. That built up and ultimately I left having underachieved.’

He spent the next three years working in the kitchen at the Mere Golf and Country Club in Knutsford – the consequence of a City and Guilds course in professional cookery – and then moved on to the Grosvenor Hotel in Chester until one May day in 1993, not long after his 20th birthday.

‘I was chopping parsley and doing a lot of thinking. I’d always wanted to go into education and so I put my knife down and went into the head chef and said, “I’m really sorry to let you down but I want to go back to college”.

‘I got myself on a course at Liverpool Community College for access to higher education. It meant doing the GCSEs and A Levels that I required in one year. I passed with distinction.’

He then qualified as a PE teacher at IM Marsh College in south Liverpool, profiting from life lessons gained from ‘working 18hour days, six days a week – hard work in team environments with high expectations. It shaped my whole future. It was a great preparation for teaching and has served me well in headship.’ And does his experience offer a lesson about second chances for pupils today? He admits it has influenced his ‘pastorally driven approach’, adding: ‘It’s better to get your path determined as best you can and as early as you can, but that said, if it doesn’t work out first time round, it’s not the end of the world. It’s about what you want to do and your inner belief.’ That and ‘other people showing you belief’ and he has not forgotten the support of teachers at Brookfield High School in Kirkby – notably then head Pam Jervis and deputy Linda Thurlow, both of whom passed away recently. They were ‘great mentors and guides and an inspiration. They developed me at a young professional age.’

After a year at an international school in Hong Kong, he worked as a school sport partnership manager for Knowsley, then stepped into a manager’s role with the Youth Sport Trust nationally. Next, supported by the Future Leaders programme, he became deputy principal at the Oasis Academy Media City before moving on to the Oasis Academy in Oldham, first as deputy then principal.

He returned to Liverpool in 2016 as principal at De La Salle Academy. ‘It was a really challenging context,’ he recalls. ‘Bar when I worked at Brookfield, I’d never worked more in an environment where you could see so clearly the dedication and vocational aspect of our role by everyone working there. We were operating on the slimmest resources but made up for that with heart, determination and enthusiasm.’

Then, in 2021, came the opportunity for this father-of-three to complete that story arc at SFX. He found his alma mater ‘a school in transition’ after a series of leadership changes following the retirement of long-serving former head Mr Ripon. ‘It was an unsettled place but I was met with warmth and enthusiasm and when staff were talking to me about the history and context of the school I could talk with authenticity as I was part of that too as a pupil.’

And two years on, his own enthusiasm is undimmed. ‘This isn’t just a headship for me. I am from the area and my family still live in the area. This is a personal matter for me.’ A story, in short, that’s not over yet.

of Norwich

The exam season is fast approaching and for many it can be a time of stress, anxiety and fear for students, staff, families, and friends.

We live in a society which seems to be built on the idea of success coming from academic achievements, wealth, celebrity and winning. Our young people are constantly bombarded with these images and messages every minute of the day. Our staff in schools will tell you that many young people are becoming increasingly afraid of failure and of things going wrong. Schools are teaching children to be more resilient and to understand that it is normal for things to go wrong in your life.

Exam season has the potential to be challenging for our young people. It is important that all of us help and support our young people during this exam season. What can we do to help them?

1. Look out for signs.

Keep an eye on them and look out for the signs of stress. Be aware of your own stress triggers too.

2. Support

Avoid placing unnecessary expectations and be always supportive. Make sure they, have a support system in place, in the form of family and friends, so that their needs are well taken care of.

3. Relax

Relaxing during the exam period should not be seen as a taboo. Encourage them to take a break from their studies and go outside for a walk or some form of exercise.

4. Pray

Please pray for them and encourage them to do so. When all is done, it is important that we put our trust in God. By offering ourselves in prayer, we surrender our anxieties and fears, reminding ourselves that God’s ways are above our ways.

We are all familiar with the phrase ‘It takes a village to raise a child’ so I ask that you keep our young people in your prayers this exam season. For their teachers and all who support them I pray the words of Julian of Norwich ‘all shall be well, and all shall be well and all manner of thing shall be well’.

Good luck to everyone.

Joan McCarthy Director of Education Archdiocese of Liverpool