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St Francis Xavier 175th anniversary

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Welcome

New Year is always a time for reflection and every January we celebrate the World Day of Prayer for peace, a fitting start to the year, particularly this year as the war in Ukraine appears to be far from over. Pope Francis has said of Ukraine, ‘I think of the insane war - insane! - of which the tormented Ukraine is a victim, and of so many other conflicts, which will never be resolved through the childish logic of weapons.’ As we celebrate Peace Sunday on 15 January may we too pray for an end to such insanity, that dialogue may prevail to bring about peace in our world.

The Octave of Prayer for Christian Unity begins on Wednesday 18 January and concludes on the Feast of the Conversion of St Paul on Wednesday 25 January. The theme for this year’s octave is, ‘Be-Longing: Praying for Unity amidst Injustice’. Resources have been prepared by the Churches of Minneapolis exploring how the work of Christian unity can contribute to the promotion of racial justice across all levels of society. Let us pray for dialogue that the world may live in harmony.

From the Archbishop’s Desk

Most Rev Malcolm McMahon OP Archbishop of Liverpool

‘Watching from afar’ this is a phrase used in the Divine Office for the First Sunday of Advent at the beginning of the liturgical year. I think it also applies to the calendar year we have just begun. The verse continues, ‘I have seen the Lord coming in his might’.

Rather than looking backwards and forwards at the same time like the Roman god Janus, after whom January is named we should always look forward to the coming of the Lord. Taking the long view is a Christian way of viewing the future. The Lord is coming, not just in real time but at the end of time, and this should give us confidence about our own futures because God’s future is a future that comes to us. We often fall into the trap of thinking that the future lies in our own hands – and to some extent this is true. If we plan things and strive to do better, we can achieve much, or at least some of us can. Just think of all the new year’s resolutions that we have failed to keep already! Of course, we have to plan and prepare for what comes next, that is only sensible but at the same time we have to be aware that things don’t always turn out the way we expect them to. But if we take the long view and focus on Christ then we may find our futures to be more fulfilled and exciting, Christ will be with us in the here and now as well as in the future.

A very happy and blessed new year to all.

The Irenaeus Project

By

glory of God is a person fully alive’

Just after Covid struck in 2020 and all the churches in the Liverpool archdiocese were closed I received a phone call. The gist of the call was that the parish in which we live, St Thomas of Canterbury, was closing and we were offered the chance to take the buildings and turn them into a centre for spirituality and outreach.

Obviously, this required a huge amount of discernment and so I asked for a week to discern and to try and get the wisdom of God on the matter. I’m a great believer in ‘the body’ discerning so I got in touch with our intercessors and some other trusted people and asked them to pray and to come back to me within the week. It was unanimous – we should go ahead. This was tremendously exciting for us and offered a new development for St Thomas’ rather than it becoming another mothballed church.

So, what’s our history? The Irenaeus project began in 2002 when Archbishop Patrick Kelly released me from parish work. I can remember sitting in an empty house in Formby with all the packing boxes around me and wondering what have I done?

I‘d left a comfortable Parish with lots going on and lovely people all around me and here I was embarking on something that wasn’t neat and tidy and supportive. The only thing I knew was that I felt called to help people pray and explore the scriptures in a different way than I had before. So, the ‘lrenaeus’ project was born. Irenaeus was an early church Father who said the ‘glory of God is a person fully alive’.

For nearly seven years I had worked part time at Sandymount House of Prayer. The more I talked with people there, praying with them and sharing their stories, the more aware I became of the desperate need there is within people to find meaning in life. In Christian language we would say that there is an overwhelming desire to search for God and to explore what it means to be fully alive.

Our small team has worked, and works, all over the archdiocese and further afield to help people have opportunities to pray, explore the scriptures; reflect on what it means to be human and alive and to know the truth that God is with us. We have run parish missions, parish retreats, open retreats, weekends of reflection on the scriptures, weeks of guided prayer and a course in spiritual

Father Chris Thomas

‘Lots of times people have come along to an event that the team have been involved in and have said that their lives have been turned upside down.’

‘the

accompaniment as well as being invited to speak at various conferences. We also do a lot of spiritual accompaniment, so life was really busy even before we opened the centre.

One of the big events that the project has undertaken is the biennial Come and See Conference. We have always tried to bring to the conference keynote speakers who can both challenge and encourage participants. Gathering with large numbers of others enables people to see that they are not alone on the journey.

Lots of times people have come along to an event that the team have been involved in and have said that their lives have been turned upside down. People have talked of giving God ‘a last chance’ and have found new reasons for living and hoping. People have said that they have been challenged to change their ways of thinking and their ingrained attitudes.

People have gathered, explored, and find themselves enriched by the process.

We had always wanted a centre, so that our outreach could touch the lives of the poor and the needy. Suddenly, with the closure of St Thomas’ it was within our grasp. We set about fundraising and the money poured in as people caught our vision for a centre that would be open to whoever walked through its doors. Within 18 months we had raised £150,000. For two long years we have battled with workmen and enjoyed the support of the surveyors in the archdiocese. We have painted and plumbed and replaced boilers. We’ve hung acoustic curtaining and carpeted throughout so that we have a space that includes an oratory, a meeting room for 120, a smaller room for about twelve, a dining room that seats 40 and a drop in that will seat about 30 people.

The development of the Centre has enabled us to continue to offer short courses on methods of prayer and the scriptures and host renewal events. During the liturgical seasons of the year, we have offered evenings and days of prayer and retreats of various sorts. The Centre has helped us to continue to provide opportunities for spiritual

‘I felt called to help people pray and explore the scriptures in a different way than I had before’

accompaniment for anyone requiring it on a regular or ad hoc basis but all of this to larger numbers. This year we have spread ‘Come and See’ over twelve months, a day each month with well-known speakers coming to comfort and challenge and we haven’t had to leave home to do it.

Any reflection on the scriptures and any time spent in prayer has to have

now with the help of Sister Siobhan O’Keefe we also offer a service for carers to give them a safe place to come and share their needs. We are very aware that spirituality is about the whole person and so we offer, with the help of Liz, one of our volunteers, what we call movement for healing, gentle exercises that help those who struggle with mobility in any way, with or without dementia. Our drop in has welcomed those with mental health issues alongside people who simply want warmth and conversation. Some people come and just pick up a book and read for a while. Others come and visit our bookshop. New books are costly, but we have lots on sale and our second-hand range is proving very popular too.

Our immediate concern was to open a food cupboard for those in most need. The food cupboard has provided us with heartbreaking stories of people who are at the end of their tether, some of them ashamed to come and ask. For those people our volunteers are essential to make them feel comfortable and at ease.

We always hoped that the Irenaeus Centre would provide a safe haven for many vulnerable people and in the short time it has been open, it’s begun to do so. We have a knit and natter group which gathers people and gives them space to tell their stories. That finishes at 12 noon on a Tuesday and is immediately followed by a Godly play session led by Francesca who animates the knit and natter group. We are lucky to be gifted with a local artist, Maureen, who each week gives of her talents as she leads a paint and meditation session. Our beautiful oratory is open for prayer each day, a place to sit and be, as well as at times to celebrate the Eucharist.

So why not come along and visit us? Have you any suggestions about what more we can do? Can you help support us by donations of food or money? Or do you just want to come and see what we are about. You would be most welcome.

a concrete expression in the way in which we live our lives, in our desire for justice and our willingness to be open to otherness. Sister Helen Prejean who has been twice to ‘Come and See’ challenged us many years ago to reach out to the poor and broken and so the area we wanted to develop was our outreach. For several years we have run a dementia choir under the auspices of Sister Moira Meeghan, but

The Irenaeus Centre can be found at 32 Great Georges Road, Waterloo, Liverpool, L22 1RD. For further information contact jenny@irenaeus.co.uk Tel: 0151 949 1199 or visit www.irenaeus.co.uk

On a liturgical note

Have you ever thought it strange how many different ways there are in which we mark the passing of time –the days, the weeks, the months and the years?

In the civil calendar, New Year was the first day of January. In the tax year it is 6 April. In the Liturgical year, the calendar of the Church, the first day of the new year is always a Sunday, the first Sunday of Advent.

No matter how we mark its passing, time does inexorably fly by – as the saying goes, too slowly for the infant waiting for Christmas, too quickly for the adult with plenty to do , or as the author Bill Bryson put it: ‘Because time moves more slowly in Kid World ... it goes on for decades ... It is adult life that is over in a twinkling.’

These past two years seem to have gone on for ever – and certainly here at the Beda College we find ourselves saying that something happened last year, when in fact we find that it was in 2018 or 2019, before the world had ever heard of a pandemic called Covid! It is as if we have ‘lost’ two years and yet the lessons of the past years of sadness and suffering have all so soon been overtaken by news of armed conflict

Sunday thoughts

We welcomed a new priest to the Isle of Man recently. Father Peter Otuonkpaikhian CSSp is a member of the Spiritan Congregation, sometimes known as the Holy Ghost Fathers. He is on a two-year sabbatical from his parish in Nigeria. Fr Peter joins two other Spiritan priests on the island. Fr Brian O’Mahony is parish priest at Our Lady Star of the Sea and St Maughold in Ramsey, and St Patrick’s in Peel. Fr Joseph Kiganda is parish priest at St Mary’s, Castletown, and St Columba’s, Port Erin. Fr Peter will live in community with Fr Joseph in Castletown and has been assigned to serve as assistant priest at St Mary of the Isle, Douglas, and St Anthony, Onchan. The Spiritan congregation have been generous to the Archdiocese. Other Spiritan fathers are working in Newton-le-Willows and Warrington.

The formal agreement between the Spiritan congregation and the Archdiocese requires a period of orientation for Fr Peter. When I served in Peru with the LAMP project, a similar period of orientation was required. In one sense the Church is the same throughout the world. The main differences between churches

Canon Philip Gillespie

in Ukraine, famine and flood and earthquake in various parts of the world and dire financial, economic and human hardships all too close to home.

Time flies, the world changes rapidly and we need to change and adapt and cope with such a shifting reality. And yet there is a constant, an unchanging reality, which we have so recently proclaimed at Christmastide: ‘When the appointed time came, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born a subject to the Law, to redeem the subjects of the Law so that we might receive adoption as sons and daughters’ (Galatians 4:4).

Saint Paul, whose conversion we celebrate on the 25th of this month, writes not only to the Church in Galatia but also to you and to me in this Year of Our Lord 2023, inviting us to reflect upon our redemption and that close bond of love with the Father which we know and experience as our adoption as His sons and daughters. That is a work for this and every new year.

20 – C.M.B. – 23 May the Lord bless our homes, this year as in every year

sunday reflections

God of the new beginnings

Here we are at the start of a new year, a time that always fills me with new hope. What will this year bring? Where will I meet God?

Many years ago I met a young guy called John. John had lived a pretty tough life. Virtually on the streets from a young age, he had learned how to survive. He had been in prison and when I met him he was due to go down again for fraud. I remember saying to him, ‘John, ask God to help you.’ He looked at me with a tear in his eye and said, ‘I am too bad for your God’.

I watched this young man, whose life was such a mess, break down and weep. He was unable to hear the call he was being given to trust God with the mess of his life. He felt too bad about himself and that was the biggest barrier to opening up to love which could transform him.

Mgr John Devine OBE

are cultural rather than doctrinal. But every local church is different.

Even within our own Archdiocese parishes differ. The Isle of Man is not Warrington. Nor is Warrington the Isle of Man. The expectations of parishioners vary from parish to parish.

Archbishop Worlock once described culture as ‘the way we do things round here’. Fr Peter has been shadowing me for several weeks. Many things are new to him, just as they were for me when I first went to Peru. The liturgy in Nigeria is vibrant. There is dancing as well as singing. Mass here is subdued by comparison. Sunday Mass takes longer in Nigeria. The congregation on the Isle of Man gets restless if Mass lasts longer than 50 minutes on a Sunday, and much less during the week.

In Peru I learned to drive on the righthand side of the road. On the Isle of Man Fr Peter is learning to drive on the left. Ministering abroad taught me to respect different ways of doing things. I came home with more than I gave. My hope is that Fr Peter will find his time with us as enriching as I did when I went to Peru.

There is nothing in our lives that is a barrier to keeping God away unless you allow things to be a barrier. God is simply waiting for us to open ourselves to the power of love and to stop pushing God away. God is waiting for us to realise that He never gives up on us. There is always another chance. That is the Good news. Jesus has shown us the heart of God – compassion, mercy, love flowing out towards us, made flesh in the body of Jesus so that we can look and say, ‘That is who you are, you are the God who transforms the messiness of human life through the power of love.’ All it takes is that we trust and believe in it.

Sadly, we think it is about what we do and how good we are. But in reality, it is all about the goodness of God and not about our pathetic attempts to be worthy. The 12-step processes understand it. It is faith in God that makes real God’s saving power in our lives. The challenge is never to wait until you have got it all together before you let God in but simply to know that, in your mess and with your mess, God can do anything.

So the kingdom is about life in the here and now. It exists in so far as we are willing to allow a revolution to take place within us. It exists in so far as we are prepared to stop being religious people, with our temptation towards self-righteousness and intolerance, and become like Jesus, prepared to give everything away for the sake of others. It exists when we know in the depth of our being that God is the God of the new beginnings, the second chance, the allembracing forgiveness that knows no end.

Father Chris Thomas

from the archives

Changing the world at once

by Neil Sayer, Archdiocesan Archivist

The New Year message from our Auxiliary Bishop makes for stark reading.

‘We have little ground for rejoicing’, he says. ‘Gloomy forecasts are made which predict mass unemployment, a lowering of our living standards, and a general depression on a scale equivalent to that experienced in the immediate post war period

It might surprise you to find that these words were not written by either of our Bishops Tom about the coming year of 2023; they came from the pen of Bishop Joseph Gray and they form part of his New Year message for 1975.

Bishop Gray was born in Ireland and trained for the priesthood at St Mary’s College, Oscott, spending his first years of ministry in the Archdiocese of Birmingham. He came to Liverpool in 1968, at the age of 49. Archbishop Beck was not in the best of health at that time and had requested the assistance of a second auxiliary to help in the administration of the country’s largest diocese.

Bishop Augustine Harris, auxiliary since 1966, may have become worn down by his exertions connected with the opening of the Cathedral in 1967. In any case, another Auxiliary was deemed necessary, and Canon Gray of Birmingham was nominated for the role. On 16 February 1969 he became the first Bishop ordained in the new Cathedral. Given responsibility for the pastoral care of the five deaneries in the east of the Archdiocese, he lived in Wigan and undertook many parish visitations and confirmations, serving also as Vicar General. He was vastly interested in people, always willing to listen and possessed of a firm handshake and a great memory for names and faces. It seems the warmth was reciprocated: when asked about his arrival in Liverpool, he said that ‘I could not have asked for a warmer reception from priests and people’. He continued to assist Archbishop Worlock after Archbishop Beck’s retirement, until in 1980 he was appointed to his own diocese when he became Bishop of Shrewsbury.

In his New Year message published in the Catholic Pictorial in January 1975 Bishop Gray was in fact trying to paint a positive picture. The previous year had certainly been challenging.

Following the global oil crisis of 1973, the British government introduced a three-day working week to conserve fuel supplies. For the darkest two months of 1974, as electricity blackouts took effect, the country worked largely by candlelight and huddled under blankets for warmth. In the middle of a deep recession, inflation was into double figures and youth unemployment was rising. It took two general elections that year to establish a workable government. Meanwhile American politics had been tainted by the Watergate scandal, which had forced Richard Nixon to resign as President, and Turkey’s invasion of Cyprus was one of many international flashpoints.

Bishop Gray attempted to put things into perspective. ‘Modern discoveries in science and technology have made the world a small place. Not only can we travel to any part of the earth at almost the speed of sound and receive instantaneous news coverage of events from any part of the globe, but man is also able to move outside the earth and view this planet from space’. And our place in that world is very fortunate. If ‘the energy crisis is forcing many people to be satisfied with less’, then maybe restraint isn’t such a bad thing: ‘It is a very effective way of learning the lesson that we have been living too well in this part of the world and times have caught up with us. We have forgotten that while we have enjoyed a comparatively high standard of living, two thirds of the world has not had subsistence standards.’

With time to reflect, according to the Bishop, we need to remind ourselves ‘that we are all members of one great family, and that we can no longer continue to ignore the plight of our brethren in need’. Bishop Gray’s New Year’s resolution is to make ‘a genuine re-appraisal of my life and my relationship with God and my fellow-men’. Responding to this call, he feels, can lead to ‘a renewal from within’. Hope, confidence, ‘rejoicing’, all will follow, despite the reservations with which he began his address. ‘We will not change the whole world at once, but we will have begun in the place where we can have the greatest influence – our own lives’. Happy New Year.

Pic cartoonist, Bernard Atherton, reflecting on New Year 1975

Bishop Gray (centre) at the 150th anniversary of St Bede’s, Clayton Green, in September 1974

Volunteer with Nugent

We

Volunteer with Nugent and see how your time can make a positive impact in people’s lives within your local communities.

Alice returns to Malawi

To mark the 10th anniversary of Network for a Better World (N4BW), its founder, Alice Davidson, OBE aged 85 years, a parishioner from Old Swan in Liverpool, took a visit to Malawi to reflect on the work undertaken and to plan for future projects. During her stay in Sitima in July, she visited Kachere School to view the near completion of a new classroom block, the eighth school block built by N4BW. She then went to Mikundi School to plan the construction of three new classrooms there.

Schools work involves a lot of ongoing teacher training and during Alice’s recent stay the focus was on assessment, using different tools and applying a range of methods to monitor the progress of the learners. Latterly disability awareness training has been delivered to teachers along with supplying necessary resources for children.

Much of the training provided by N4BW with both teachers and pupils, explores ways of mitigating the effects of climate change. An example was seen at Namisunju School where the vegetable gardens have developed, both as a learning project and to provide extra nutrition in the form of vegetables for the children.

Alice revisited the adult literacy group where the newest initiative the women have engaged in is a sewing project and they were very happy to show Alice the blouses and skirts they had made. One of the ladies who has recently learned to read proudly told Alice how she can now read stories to her grandchildren

Lots of conversations took place between Alice and local community groups to consider ways in which N4BW can support

the community during the next 10 years. Education remains high on the agenda along with projects that aid self-sufficiency.

Alice says, ‘The idea for the charity might have been mine in the first place but its success is due to the imagination, enthusiasm and hard work of those people who support N4BW both in UK and in Malawi. Those people come from all walks of life and kindly give in many ways, from acting as trustees, volunteering in Malawi and donating money.’

To find out more about the work of N4BW visit www.n4bw.org.uk or email: enquiries@n4bw.org.uk

have been caring for, educating, protecting and inspiring those in need for over 140 years.

We have a range of volunteering opportunities available across our services to suit everyone, no matter how much time you have to give or what experience you have.

Alice and the Mikundi School Committee agreeing how to build the next three classrooms

News diary 175 years of ministry at St Francis Xavier

If you’ve got any news from your parish that you’d like featured e-mail us with the details at: catholicpictorial@rcaol.co.uk

Celebrations for the patronal feast of St Francis Xavier church in Everton and for the beginning of the 175th anniversary of the church took place on Saturday 3 December when Archbishop Malcolm celebrated Mass. However, celebrations took on something of a bittersweet nature when it was also announced that the Jesuits would be leaving the parish shortly after Easter 2023.

After making the announcement Archbishop Malcolm said, ‘The Jesuits have served this parish for 175 years ministering to the people of Liverpool and, in its heyday, there were 15,000 people at church here every Sunday. The numbers are very much reduced now but the impact that this parish has on the area is still very significant not just by its imposing building with its wonderful spire which gives hope to people, but also by the work done hand in hand with the Church of England through Faith Primary School and the Whitechapel Centre. Our social outreach will continue as will the worship, we want to continue to keep this wonderful parish going in the Jesuit tradition.’

Parish priest, Father Denis Blackledge SJ said, ‘I’ll be 80 at Easter and move into whatever “retirement” might mean. The privilege of being parish priest at SFX for these past seven years has provided me with some of the best moments of my priestly ministry. I love the people to bits, and they’ve given me far more than I could ever give them. I’ve been part of a wonderful team amidst wonderful people, and just wish I were 20 years younger to be able to stay on with them. I’m going to miss them terribly.’

The Provincial of the Jesuits, Father Damian Howard SJ said in a statement, ‘Although there is sadness in saying farewell, it’s only because there has been so much affection between the people of the parish and the Society of Jesus. The Jesuits have been privileged to share the lives of the people of Everton for so long and we will always keep the memory of our association with them alive in our hearts.’

Brother Ken Vance SJ was brought up in the parish and described the announcement as being ‘very sad and a bittersweet moment.’ However, the celebrations for the 175th anniversary, launched at the patronal Mass, continue and Brother Ken went on to say, ‘I am looking forward to celebrating a year of events leading up to the 175th anniversary of the opening of St Francis Xavier’s church on 3rd December 2023. It’s an added delight that we will be starting with several fundraising events for the Whitechapel Centre for the Homeless, Liverpool’s leading homeless charity’.

The first of the events, ‘No room at the Inn’ was opened by award winning writer, Jimmy McGovern on the evening of Tuesday 6 December, and is a free exhibition of over 20 nativity scenes

provided by the local community and different organisations in support of the Whitechapel Centre. The displays include a crib of recyclable refuse, an ‘edible’ gingerbread crib as well as the inn keeper at the church door. The free exhibition runs until Friday 6 January and the church will be open from 9.00 am to 1.00 pm every day.

On Friday 16 December the church hosted a Christmas Carol Concert and over £5,500 was raised - the final amount will be known after 6 January with more events planned during the coming year.

Parish Priest, Father Denis Blackledge, Archbishop Malcolm, Brother Ken Vance

The innkeeper at the church door

Hope’s Christmas Gift Drive

Liverpool Hope’s Catholic Society spearheaded a University wide Christmas Gift Drive in support of the L6 Centre in Everton. The idea came from students who wanted to do something tangible to help children at this difficult time. Niamh Newton the President of CathSoc was delighted with the response, she commented ‘on behalf of CathSoc I would like to thank staff and students for their support. Their donations of toiletries, toys and children’s pyjamas have made a huge difference to families in our community this Christmas.’

The University Chaplain, Father Stephen Pritchard said, ‘the initiative was run by students and is a fruit of our Sunday Mass. It is from Eucharist that love and charity flow. The L6 centre is close to the University’s Creative Campus and so it is good that staff and students are making a positive difference to families nearby.’ Over the Christmas season the L6 Centre put together hundreds of parcels to help families during the cost-of-living crisis and to support residents physical and mental wellbeing.

Light up a Life at St Joseph’s Hospice

St Joseph’s Hospice in Thornton held its annual Light up a Life service on Sunday 4 December. The service included readings and prayers from Bishop Tom Neylon, and the Lord Lieutenant of Merseyside, Mr Mark Blundell, as well as the hospice’s chief executive, Mike Parr with children from St Mary’s Preparatory School, Crosby singing carols.

During the service, the hospice also switched on the lights of its Light up a Life Christmas tree, with each light dedicated to the memory of someone special.

Light up a Life isn’t just for families who have lost loved ones at the hospice but is for anyone who would like to remember the special people they have lost and to celebrate their lives, or to say thank you or mark a special occasion or birth. It is a very personal Christmas service, which always takes place at dusk on the lawn in front of the hospice.

Maxine Armstrong, head of fundraising at St. Joseph’s Hospice, said: ‘Our Light up a Life service is very popular with local families, and it was a wonderful way to mark the start of the festive season here at the hospice. We were delighted to welcome everyone into our woodland gardens for the service and to see the Christmas lights being switched on.

‘For all those families who make a generous dedication to Light up a Life, they are not only remembering their loved ones but are also helping to support and fund all the good work the hospice does within the community.’

The Hospice opened its doors in 1974 and has held a special place in the heart of the local community ever since. Today it offers high-quality, professional nursing care within a peaceful, home from home environment surrounded by 12 acres of beautiful woodland gardens.

Caring for around 200 people every year the hospice’s nurseled service is supported by a community-based palliative care consultant, a visiting GP and a local network of specialist clinical support. As well as caring for patients a range of support services are provided to care for the needs of families and loved ones.

Mike Parr, Mr Mark Blundell and Bishop Tom Neylon

Legion of Mary celebrates 50 years in Penketh

The Legion of Mary in St Joseph’s, Penketh celebrated their 50th anniversary with Mass celebrated by parish priest, Father John Schofield, followed by a celebration in the parish centre.

The first meeting of the Legion took place on 2 November 1972 and while the membership has changed over the years the group are still active in the parish including founder members, Philomena and Peter Harvey who were presented with a Papal Blessing during the celebrations for the 40th anniversary held in 2012.

Parishioner, Michelle Harrison, together with Legion secretary Patricia Parry, created a display for the anniversary including a photo of the two founders, Philomena and Peter and Philomena’s sister Mary Croughan taken with Frank Duff the original founder of the Legion of Mary in Dublin.

The group, which was not able to meet during covid, regrouped in Spring 2022. When unable to visit the sick and housebound, communication was maintained by phone calls. Home visits are now possible but visits to care homes are limited and controlled to prevent any spread of the still lingering covid. After regrouping, an as always, well attended Mass for the Sick and Housebound was held for the first time since lockdown.

A new initiative undertaken by the Legion in Summer 2022, was to present year 6 pupils in St Joseph’s and St Vincent’s primary schools with a miraculous medal to accompany them on their journey into secondary education. This was undertaken in line with theme three of the Summary Proposals of Synod 2020 on Schools and Young People and was made financially possible by the generosity of the parish pantomime group. It is hoped to continue this project to continue the work of spreading the love, faith and kinship of the parish community.

A special award for John

John Tickle from St Theresa of the Child Jesus church in Sutton Manor, St Helens, has been presented with a Benemerenti medal by Bishop Tom Williams for 60 years of service to the parish. For forty of those sixty years he has been sacristan and Master of Ceremonies as well as tending the church gardens, cleaning the church and organising flower displays.

On the day of the presentation the church was full, including John’s sister and guests, many from the world of poultry. John is an accomplished award-winning poultry breeder and has organised the poultry section of the Royal Cheshire County Show for the last fifteen years. He is also an experienced judge of poultry and is on Panel B of the Poultry Club judges panel.

Bishop Tom Williams, John Tickle, Parish Priest - Father Philip Swanson

Obituary of John Cotter

Right To Life UK trustee and UK pro-life veteran, John Cotter, died peacefully following a short illness on Friday 2 December 2022.

John was born in Newarthill, Glasgow on 13 April 1951 and married Marilyn in 1975.

His journey to becoming involved with the pro-life cause began in 1981, whilst he was working in Toronto, when his eldest son, John Jnr, was born and had to be nursed in the special care baby unit. It struck John that whilst their son was receiving the best possible care to enable him to live, just a few floors away in the hospital, babies were having their lives deliberately ended through abortion, and he was determined to do something about this injustice.

In 1983 John and his family returned to live permanently in the UK. He had not forgotten his vow to dedicate his life to fighting for the right to life of the unborn child, and all vulnerable human life from conception to natural death.

In the years that followed, he went on to help to run a number of grassroots and political campaigns. John was also one of the key people who founded and ran a pregnancy support service that helped a large number of women facing unplanned pregnancies over the years. Dozens of children who have gone on to be adults are here today because of the help their mothers received from the service.

Although the formation of such a charity was already being planned, the push to launch the charity earlier than anticipated came during a Mass that was held for the unborn in a Liverpool church - the main celebrant was Archbishop Emeritus Patrick Kelly. At the end of the Mass, a nun approached John and said, ‘All very well, but babies are still dying. What are you going to do about it?’

Seafield Reunion

Over 35 former students of the class of 1972 had a nostalgic visit to Sacred Heart Catholic Academy – which in their day as students was Seafield Convent Grammar school Great Crosby. ‘It was a very special day’ said Pat Murphy who had organised the visit. ‘John Pye, Assistant head teacher, certainly did us all proud with his knowledge of the history of the building, and taking us around our old class rooms and areas of what was the old convent, where no one previously dared to enter’.

Former students had travelled far and wide for the special reunion, including one former student visiting from Brisbane Australia. Not even the planned train strike stopped some students from travelling, and last minute arrangements being made. It was very much a day to remember as the former students visited the old art room, biology labs, the gym and indeed their old classrooms. Interestingly a couple of the class year actually returned to teach and work in the school, others had not been in the building since the day they left. Everyone was very impressed by the newly refurbished library, especially dedicated in the memory of Sacred Heart former head teacher John Summerfield and enjoyed the Harry Potter theme area. Memories of the school chapel and the

John was instrumental in working with the founder of Right To Life UK, Phyllis Bowman, to set up the charity Right To Life UK and was a trustee of the charity from its inception through to his death. Most recently he has been working directly with the charity, giving hours of his time to support the work of the organisation’s leadership team as they have rolled out a major transformation and growth programme at the Charity.

Paying tribute Lord Alton of Liverpool said, ‘John was one of those deeply committed people who quietly get on with whatever needs to be done without seeking the limelight for themselves or expecting recognition. He would undoubtedly have said that the best tribute we can now give him is to persist in his life-saving and life-affirming work.’

His Funeral Mass was celebrated on Friday 23 December at St Lewis’ Church, Croft.

many services attended, silence on the corridors, and cloakrooms with indoor and outdoor shoes.

‘We were in school for over two and a half hours, and it certainly was not long enough’, says Pat, ‘I had to persuade everyone to leave to travel on the Royal Hotel Waterloo where we continued our day together with a buffet lunch and a very much long overdue catch up with each other. Lots of promises to keep in touch and not leave it to special reunions to see each other again.’

Seafield Convent was previously the home of the order of the Sacred Heart of Mary sisters, who retired to Warren Road Blundellsands.

what’s on January

Sunday 1 January

Solemnity of Mary the Mother of God

Daily to Friday 6 January

‘No Room at the Inn’

A cavalcade of Nativity scenes at St Francis Xavier church, Salisbury Street, L3 8DR. Scenes will be displayed throughout the church in aid of the Whitechapel Homeless Centre Christmas Appeal. The church will be open daily from 9.00 am to 1.30 pm (until noon on Sundays).

Space for Prayer. 2.00 pm-3.30pm at The Cenacle, Tithebarn Grove, Lance Lane, Liverpool, L15 6TW. Tel: 0151 722 2271.

Saturday 14 January

Space for Prayer. 2.00 pm-3.30pm at The Cenacle, Tithebarn Grove, Lance Lane, Liverpool, L15 6TW. Tel: 0151 722 2271.

Sunday 15 January

Day of Prayer for Peace. Solemn Mass. 11.00 am at the Metropolitan Cathedral of Christ the King. Celebrant: Archbishop Malcom McMahon OP.

Liverpool Bach Collective. Johann Sebastian Bach Cantata 123 ‘Liebster Emmanuel, Herzog der Frommen. (‘Dearest Emmanuel, Lord of the faithful.’) 6.30 pm at St Giles church, Aintree Lane, Aintree L10 8LE. Singers and Players directed by Philip Duffy. www.liverpoolbach.com Email: liverpoolbach@icloud.com

Wednesday 25 January

Space for Prayer. 2.00 pm-3.30pm at The Cenacle, Tithebarn Grove, Lance Lane, Liverpool, L15 6TW. Tel: 0151 722 2271.

Looking ahead

Wednesday 1 February

Space for Prayer. 2.00 pm-3.30pm at The Cenacle, Tithebarn Grove, Lance Lane, Liverpool, L15 6TW. Tel: 0151 722 2271.

Wednesday 8 February

Hotpot Supper and Film Night – ‘The Hiding Place’ – The life story of Corrie Ten Boom. 6.00 pm at the Irenaeus Centre, 32 Great Georges Road, Waterloo, Liverpool, L22 1RD. Bookings: email: jenny@ irenaeus.co.uk Tel: 0151 949 1199.

Thursday 5 January

Agape Mass. 7.00 pm at the Irenaeus Centre, 32 Great Georges Road, Waterloo, Liverpool, L22 1RD.

Friday 6 January

Solemnity of the Epiphany of the Lord –Holyday of Obligation

Saturday 7 January

‘Come and See’ Day. 10.00 am to 4.00 pm at the Irenaeus Centre, 32 Great Georges Road, Waterloo, Liverpool, L22 1RD. ‘Called to be a healing Church.’ Speaker Russ Parker. Bring a packed lunch – tea and coffee provided. Suggested donation £10. Details - email: jenny@irenaeus.co.uk Tel: 0151 949 1199.

Sunday 8 January

Epiphany Carol Service. 3.00 pm at the Metropolitan Cathedral of Christ the King

Wednesday 11 January

‘Songs we remember’ sing along. 2.00 pm to 4.00 pm at the Irenaeus Centre, 32 Great Georges Road, Waterloo, Liverpool, L22 1RD. (Dementia friendly.)

Wednesday 18 January to Wednesday 25 January

Octave of Prayer for Christian Unity

Saturday 21 January

Space for Prayer. 2.00 pm-3.30pm at The Cenacle, Tithebarn Grove, Lance Lane, Liverpool, L15 6TW. Tel: 0151 722 2271.

Sunday 22 January Day of the Word of God Unity Service. 3.00 pm at Liverpool Anglican Cathedral with the Choir of Liverpool Cathedral and the Choir of the Metropolitan Cathedral of Christ the King.

Wednesday 15 February

Space for Prayer. 2.00 pm-3.30pm at The Cenacle, Tithebarn Grove, Lance Lane, Liverpool, L15 6TW. Tel: 0151 722 2271.

Sunday 19 February

Liverpool Bach Collective. Johann Sebastian Bach Cantata 199 ‘Mein Herze schwimmt im Blut’. (‘My heart is bathed in blood.’) 6.30 pm at St Mary’s church, Back Lane, Little Crosby L23 4UA. Singers and Players directed by Philip Duffy. www. liverpoolbach.com Email: liverpoolbach@ icloud.com

Saturday 25 February

Space for Prayer. 2.00 pm-3.30pm at The Cenacle, Tithebarn Grove, Lance Lane, Liverpool, L15 6TW. Tel: 0151 722 2271.

Wednesday 22 February to Monday 27 February

‘Come into the Quiet.’ An individually directed silent retreat by Father Chris Thomas and Sister Moira Meeghan from 6.00 pm on Wednesday 22 February to 10.00 am on Monday 27 February at the Irenaeus Centre, 32 Great Georges Road, Waterloo, Liverpool, L22 1RD. For more information and to book a place contact jenny@irenaeus.co.uk Tel: 0151 949 1199.

School Singing Programme launched

by Dr Christopher McElroy Director of Music, Liverpool Metropolitan Cathedral

Cathedral Record

Canon Anthony O’Brien –Cathedral Dean

The Christmas season continues on into January with the Feast of Mary the Mother of God on New Years Day and then the celebration of Epiphany on Friday 6 January. In recent years we have also held an Epiphany Carol Service on the Sunday nearest to the Feast, incorporating a variety of festive choral music and readings appropriate to the visit of the Magi and its significance. This will be at 3.00 pm on Sunday 8 January.

The Archdiocese of Liverpool School Singing Programme launched in February 2022, and today the programme partners with 13 schools in the archdiocese on a weekly basis, leading around 1450 children a week in developing a wide variety of skills through singing. The weekly sessions in schools are delivered by archdiocesan choral directors Danny Townley and Joe Watson, under the direction of the Director of Music.

Using a bespoke scheme of work which follows both the National Curriculum and integrates with the archdiocese RE ‘Come and See’ curriculum, sessions take place on a weekly basis in each partner school, with the children singing both sacred and secular repertoire. Through these weekly sessions our choral directors seek to unlock the musical potential of the children and develop a lifelong love of music and singing.

Music, and singing are primary means of evangelisation. How many of us older people can remember the songs and hymns we sang as children? These words (and melodies) remain with us for a lifetime. By singing stories of our faith, our culture, our history, the children become a part of the living tradition. By singing sacred/ liturgical music, as well as secular songs, we seek to enrich the liturgical life of our schools and parishes.

Singing in a group isn’t simply about music. Children develop a wide variety of skills including problem solving, communication and collaboration, creativity, perseverance, exploration and performing. Group singing has also been shown to improve our sense of happiness and wellbeing, an important

factor in the lives of children emerging from the difficult years of Covid.

Currently the Archdiocese of Liverpool Schools Singing Programme works with schools in Knowsley and Liverpool, but has plans to expand into further areas of the archdiocese in the near future. In addition to weekly sessions in schools, we are beginning to create a network of ‘after-school’ choirs for children who would like to develop their singing further. The first of these choirs is the Knowsley Catholic Children’s Choir, which in its first sixth months has sung at a civic event in Knowsley, Mass at St Columba’s Church for Youth Sunday and at a concert at the Metropolitan Cathedral.

Since the launch of the programme children from our partner schools have sung at a wide variety of different liturgical events across the archdiocese, including First Holy Communion Masses, the Good Shepherd Mass and Schools Advent Service (both with a combined choir of over 700 children) and non-liturgical performances of which the highlights have been singing at Anfield and in a concert with members of the Glyndebourne Opera company.

Feedback from schools has been very positive: ‘We have been thrilled to see our hymns really take off again and both your considerable energy and enthusiasm in each weekly session has had such a positive impact on the children and staff too. The learning opportunities you have provided have been of the highest quality as well as being thoroughly enjoyed by all. Please keep up the excellent work.’

Archbishop Malcolm will preside at the 11.00 am Mass the following week for Peace Sunday and members of Pax Christi will have a stall in the Cathedral entrance with information and materials related to their activities. We then begin the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity the following week. There will be a joint Unity Service involving both Cathedral Choirs at Liverpool Cathedral on Sunday 22 January at 3.00 pm – the theme for our prayer this year is ‘praying for unity against injustice’.

Throughout the first few weeks of the month the Crypt Halls will be in constant use with John Moores University first year students sitting exams. At the end of the month the remaining graduands from Hope University will have their degrees conferred at a Winter Ceremony in our Cathedral on 26 January. With the recent retirement of Professor Gerald Pillay we may have the first chance to meet the new Vice Chancellor of the University, Professor Claire Ozanne.

2022 saw the launch of an exciting new musical venture within the archdiocese whereby archdiocesan staff work together with schools to develop a lifelong love of music and singing.

Pastoral ponderings The Year of Jubilee

by Hugh Donleavy

by M.C. Benitan

Hugh Donleavy, one of our students for the priesthood, shares his experiences while on pastoral placement at St Charles and St Thomas More, Aigburth.

It’s now been two and a half years since Covid struck. I don’t know about you, but it feels like much longer to me. So much changed, and then we got used to it, and now we’ve pretty much moved on, with just a few changes in how we do things. It’s also been just over three months since I moved into the presbytery at St Charles. Again, it seems like it’s been much longer. There are a lot of things I’ve learned, people I’ve got to know, things I’ve got used to.

We’ve all pretty much got used to living here, with each other, and it almost feels like we’ve been here forever. Whenever you start something new it always seems like there’s a steep learning curve at the beginning. But then you fall into patterns and ways of doing things.

It’s been my first time on placement in a parish for Christmas for a couple of years – mostly in seminary we get Christmas itself off, which is a luxury priests obviously don’t have. It’s always a hectic time, and it’s easy to get distracted from the things that are actually important. Unfortunately, Christmas is a particularly busy time for the clergy, but I suppose part of life is doing your best to make the most of the situation you’ve been given. That being said, although it can be hard to prepare and have a prayerful Christmas, I’ve just tried to do my best, accept that Christmas is never really perfect for anyone, and offer it up.

I’m not really one for New Year’s resolutions, but I can see the advantage of having a look back at how the year has gone and seeing what you want to change. I think personally I’m going to make more of an effort to make a good examination of conscience every night, that way, hopefully it won’t be a whole other year before I get round to making some more resolutions - a stitch in time and all that.

In any case, after all the presents, and chocolate ice cream, perhaps it’s time to turn to something more edifying, and, at the risk of throwing in another cliché, think about the real meaning of the season, and what better way to do that than to get ready for Christ’s return visit.

Pope Francis has invited the Church on a new Jubilee Journey. We start now, and head towards the Jubilee Year 2025 with the motto ‘Pilgrims of Hope’. Our last Jubilee Year was extraordinary: The Year of Mercy in 2015; while the last ordinary Jubilee Year took place in the year 2000. So, perhaps it is timely to remind ourselves what exactly a Jubilee Year is meant to be before we set off on this pilgrimage.

In the Old Testament, any Jubilee Year was a special year of God’s mercy; an extra Year of Sabbath reflected in human release, reset and revival. It would happen approximately every 50 years (Leviticus 25:8-13) and impacted family lives, management of land, and private ownership. Any Jubilee Year would start with the sound of a loud trumpet on the Day of Atonement. With a real trumpet blast of liberty, prisoners and slaves would be set free, debts would be zeroed out, land would return to its original owners. So, if somebody was kept as a slave, they could go home. If somebody lost their ancestral land, they regained it. If somebody owed money or goods, these debts would be forgiven. And if somebody was locked up, they got an amnesty. In short, an invitation to do something about slavery, poverty and inequality had to be heeded.

Yet, such a year was not all celebration and dance. It posed real survival risks as people were not allowed to sow or harvest during the previous Sabbath Year (precisely because it was a Sabbath Year), nor during the consequent Year of Jubilee (because it was an extra special Sabbath Year). For an agrarian nation, it took real faith in God to abandon all pretences of control and trust there would be enough. Equally, if someone grew reliant on a piece of land that was not ancestral, they would lose that provision. This year, in essence, was also a year of shaking up and remodelling the society, and a year of profound trust. Perhaps these dimensions are also good to remember on our pilgrimage towards 2025.

As the Vatican has announced, our first step in 2023 will be our rediscovering of the Second Vatican Ecumenical Council (1962-65). We will focus on the four main documents called the Constitutions. The second year of preparation (2024) will be dedicated to prayer, and we will focus on Our Father, the Scripture, Holy Spirit, Prayer of Silence, and Our Lady. Although many people will travel to Rome in 2025, dioceses are encouraged to prepare their own local pilgrimages, so we will be only too happy to hear your suggestions.

The return of the Schools Advent Carol Service

Wednesday 7 December saw the return of the Advent Carol Service for Schools at the Metropolitan Cathedral, the first time it has taken place since 2019.

Over 1,500 attended from schools across the archdiocese, many involved with the archdiocesan schools singing programme launched earlier this year. There was a presentation of the nativity by Cathedral staff and pupils from the St Nicholas Academy including a real live baby. Baby Theodore played the baby Jesus, with parents, James and Beth Luxton, also starring in the nativity. James is the

assistant director of music at the Cathedral and Beth sings with the Cathedral Choir.

The theme of this years’ Service was ‘God is with us - everywhere’ with the story of the nativity being presented in five parts. Since the early days of the then Schools’ Carol Services schools have brought gifts which the children bring to the sanctuary and present for distribution by Nugent to those who will have very little at Christmas. This year was no exception with the area in front of the altar left covered in gifts – a reminder that ‘God is with us - everywhere.

All Saints Multi Academy Trust appoints trust education director

Former headteacher of Halewood C of E Primary School, Dave Smith, has been appointed as the Trust Education Director at All Saints Multi Academy Trust.

The trust is a joint faith multi academy trust in Liverpool. Mr Smith began his teaching career in 1994 at a Church of England school in Halton.

In 2005, Mr Smith successfully applied for the headteacher post at Halewood C of E Primary School and was instrumental in gaining consistent outstanding Ofsted judgements. Dave Smith said: “I worked as a headteacher in a very successful school amidst all the changes that come and go in education. I have engaged with many schools in the capacity of executive headteacher and understand how to strengthen and support leaders.”

Mr Smith’s role will oversee the growth of primary schools and the development of the multi academy trust. He added: “I am really excited to join All Saints Multi Academy Trust. I love the vision and the values that the trust stands for and my experience to date, during the recruitment process, confirms that the organisation lives these out. The central team are very experienced and offer so much to schools which takes away from headteacher workload. I can see how the systems we have in place will enable headteachers to focus on their core purpose.”

Staff wellbeing is a must at Maricourt

Jackie talked staff through the stress response system and how this can be controlled among staff and young people. Staff could then choose to take part in a planned activity, like yoga or playing football.

The secondary school started the academic year with introducing eight trained staff mental health first-aiders and two staff mental health ambassadors. Rachel Burke and Kerry Sloan completed their two days training in the summer and have brought their passion and ideas back to school.

Some staff attended a menopause talk with counsellors Positive Harmony. This session gave support and advice to women experiencing symptoms of menopause. It also provided them with strategies and comfort. Staff from Maricourt’s feeder primary schools also attended.

Danielle Lawler, deputy headteacher of Maricourt Catholic High School, said: “I wanted to do something outside the box. “There are a lot of women in education experiencing the challenges of menopause and just getting on with it. I feel it is important that women feel empowered and free to talk about their experiences...”

Maricourt also held a staff wellbeing day on 2 December. The school’s parish deacon, Keith, from St George Roman Catholic Church, reminded staff of their service and that God’s work is never done. He said that staff are preparing young people each day to be part of that bigger picture.

Staff also attended trauma-based training with Jackie Lunt from the Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service (CAHMS) team in Alder Hey Children’s Hospital.

Eddie Varey, acting headteacher of Maricourt, said: “We want staff to cherish their time together as we prepare for Christmas and build our energy together, so we can best prepare our young people.”

Heather Duggan, CEO of All Saints Multi Academy Trust, said: “We are thrilled to welcome Dave Smith to our central team as the trust education director for primary schools.

“As a multi academy trust, we are going through an exciting period of growth and this strategic appointment will ensure we are in the best position possible when new primary schools come on board and join the All Saints Multi Academy Trust family.”

Maricourt Catholic High School has been focusing on the wellbeing of its staff.

Faith Primary Academy celebrate new beginnings

A primary school in Everton, Liverpool, celebrated the start of a new chapter by hosting a special service in its local church.

Faith Primary Academy, located on Prince Edwin Street, is an inclusive, joint denominational school which has 204 pupils and 35 members of staff. The school has recently joined All Saints Multi Academy Trust and is the first primary school to join the trust’s inspiring family of schools.

The trust is jointly sponsored by both the Diocese and Archdiocese of Liverpool and is inspired by the ecumenical vision of Bishop David Sheppard and Archbishop Derek Worlock of how communities are ‘stronger and better together’. To celebrate the new partnership, All Saints Multi Academy Trust and the school held a special service at St Francis Xavier’s Church.

Pupils and staff walked to the church and were led by Fiona the donkey. The procession symbolised Mary and Joseph preparing for Jesus’ birth.

Sarah Williams, headteacher of Faith Primary Academy, said: “It has been such a special day and we are blessed to be able to celebrate new beginnings...”

Over 200 children joined in with hymns. Students and staff from other academies within the trust also were in attendance and warmly welcomed a new school community into the family. At the end of the service and to mark the new beginnings at Faith Primary Academy, everyone came together and said the trust’s very own prayer.

CEO of All Saints Multi Academy Trust, Heather Duggan said: “We are pleased to welcome Faith Primary Academy into our family of schools.”

Education Matters by Satis Education

A Career In Governance? Sounds interesting…

Effective governance is a key to ensuring strong leadership in any school or multi academy trust. The National Governance Association (NGA) has recognised this and published a career pathway for governance professionals working in schools and trusts. The pathway is a free online resource hosted on NGA’s website.

It contains information to support individuals as they enter the profession and help them make progress in their careers, regardless of the level they work at. It highlights different governance professional roles, the individual requirements and the earning potential attached to them.

The resource also contains a directory of professional development, advice on where to find governance professional roles and careers insight from established governance professionals. Along with governance professionals, the pathway also serves as a useful resource for governing boards, schools, trusts and service providers who employ and manage governance professionals.

Governance professionals make an invaluable contribution to our schools’ system and the more than twenty thousand governing boards serving schools and multi-academy trusts. The majority serve as clerks, which every board is required to have. Different school and governance structures, however, have led to a much broader profession and roles with varying responsibility, accountability and pay attached to them. The pathway explains this and highlights the increased opportunities for governance professionals to work in different contexts.

NGA developed the pathway in response to repeated calls from governance professionals to raise their profile and create a vehicle to support their development, which relates to different roles and remuneration. The career pathway was created with hundreds of governance professionals involved in the development phase as part of focus groups.

The NGA has committed to continually refreshing the career pathway to reflect developments in the profession. They welcome the involvement of governance professionals and other interested parties in this process and are always keen to hear first hand accounts from people undertaking the role.

The team at Satis Education are delighted to have supported a number of trusts with the appointment of their Lead Governance Professional. If a career in governance is something that interests you why not contact the team at admin@satiseducation.co.uk

Lord Mayor of Liverpool, Roy Gladden (centre) with the CEO of All Saints Multi Academy Trust, Heather Duggan (left) and Sarah Williams, headteacher of Faith Primary Academy (right).

(John 1:5)

On Christmas Eve I lit a candle and placed it in the front window of my home. For some readers will be aware that this is an Irish tradition going back many centuries. The origins of the tradition go back to a time when Ireland was under severe penal laws and the practice of Catholicism was forbidden. Many people believed it was a way of letting a priest know that he was welcome into the house and welcome to say Mass or bless the household. The President of Ireland continues with the tradition at his place of residence but uses it to signal to the diaspora that they are welcome home.

Most people light the candle to welcome Jesus, Mary and Joseph to come and stay in the home at Christmas.

During the season of Advent, I witnessed the tremendous kindness and generosity of our school communities. So many charity initiatives and acts of kindness to mention that leaves me very hopeful for the future. I have also seen the imaginative ways in which the holy season of Advent was celebrated with constant focus on prayer and reflection. Thank you to the staff and governing bodies of our schools for ensuring these activities take place. Thank you to our clergy for their continued for their support too.

When I lit my candle on Christmas Eve I was signalling my wish for Jesus, Mary and Joseph to enter my house. I also lit it to give thanks for everyone in our schools who welcome Jesus with open hearts every day of the year. I give thanks to the schools who continue to be safe places for strangers from different lands.

I hope everyone had a happy and peaceful Christmas and every good wish for 2023.

Joan McCarthy Director of Education Archdiocese of Liverpool

St Joseph Catholic Multi Academy Trust primary schools

St Joseph Catholic Multi Academy Trust is incredibly proud of its primary provisions. Its primary schools are filled with enthusiastic pupils who love to learn through the Gospel principles of Jesus Christ.

Holy Family Catholic Academy

With an ethos of ‘Love. Live. Learn.’, Holy Family is a school filled with caring and committed staff. The academy provide a high-quality learning environment that allows all pupils to develop and succeed. Its exciting outdoor provision takes learning outside of the classroom and helps pupils to progress.

Holy Spirit Catholic Academy

‘We’re transforming’ – a key message and ethos for Holy Spirit. As a school, they develop excellence by giving every child high-quality education and opportunities. The academy build strong communities by delivering support to its families and parishes, especially those that need it most.

St Ambrose

At St Ambrose, mental and physical health go together. Its curriculum ensures pupils gain a wide range of learning to help them progress and develop. Its outdoor play and learning provision play a crucial part within the wider curriculum, meaning every child has an amazing hour of high-quality play every day.

The Trinity Catholic Academy

‘Good things happen here’ – a strong message from pupils at The Trinity. With its fantastic facilities and exciting outdoor areas, pupils here have the right learning environment to help them progress and succeed. With strong faith and dedicated staff, The Trinity is on an impressive journey.

St Nicholas’ Catholic Academy

Situated in the centre of Liverpool, St Nicholas is a bright and enthusiastic place of learning. The academy provide its children with an amazing learning experience right in the heart of the city. St Nicholas offers pupils a wealth of opportunities to enrich their learning, including visitors to the school and trips to local places of interest.

‘The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.’

Anna Sweeney, Catholic Life Leader, St John Bosco Arts College

Anna Sweeney has been a religious education teacher and subject leader at St John Bosco Arts College since 2006. Her own faith and passion for catholic education has formed a new role as the school’s Catholic life leader.

The position will see Anna support the whole school community and help point students in the right direction as they navigate their education and their Catholic faith.

Anna said: “We really are passionate about our faith as a Catholic Salesian school and with the changes coming in through the Religious Education Curriculum Directory and following the pandemic where we were away from one another at certain times and not able to celebrate our faith like we used to, we feel it is the perfect time to have a Catholic lead in school.

“Catholic life is everyone’s responsibility but as a leader I can help point people in the right direction, help them with language and their own understanding. It is also about formation and helping our staff and students feel confident in explaining why we do certain things because of our Catholic faith and having pride in that.”

Having recently reinvigorated its mission statement, vision and values, the college wants everyone within the St John Bosco family, to go cheerfully into the world, sharing love, knowledge & kindness.

Anna explained: “Everything we do comes back to our mission statement ‘Together we inspire each other to flourish in faith, hope and love’ and this comes from Catholic life whether that’s the curriculum, experiences in school and knowing that they are loved here and that there is a strong sense of family at St John Bosco. “It all comes back to them achieving and being the best versions of themselves, together with great memories and that sense of belonging in their Catholic faith.”

“We want to be part of the triangle where children’s faith comes from home, parish and school, so that when they leave we will still be part of their faith because the foundation and grounding is already there. The ultimate goal for St John Bosco is for everything they do is to always be Christ centred.

She added: “Every single decision we make, every policy we write is rooted in Catholic teaching. We’re confident that our students and staff will be able to articulate why we do it as this is what drives us and gives us purpose.”

The role of a Catholic lead will help St John Bosco reenergise its Catholic identity so that it is a centre point and brings a much needed focus.

An arts showcase to remember

St John Plessington Catholic College in Bebington recently held its Winter Arts Showcase 2022, a free event hosted by its drama department that celebrates students’ hard work throughout the term.

The event welcomed over 200 performers, parents, carers, staff, family, and friends and consisted of 26 separate acts by students from all year groups.

Performances included a variety of exciting drama pieces, music, dance routines, and other media which were all created in class and in extracurricular clubs.

Some of the plays that students performed included Romeo and Juliet, Blood Brothers and Grease the Musical.

Musical acts showcased a large variety of styles, demonstrating the vocal and instrumental abilities of students. Many of the performers sang and played their own accompaniment.

An original piece created by Year 12 students for the Holy Family Catholic Multi-Academy Trust creativity conference called ‘Learn to Fly’ was delivered on the night too.

Students were also responsible for the technical support of the showcase with a team of sixth formers taking the lead on this.

The evening provided an opportunity for the school community to come together in appreciation of the arts and talents of the school’s students and served to develop their confidence.

Acting Head of School at St John Plessington Catholic College, Mr Peadar McLoughlin, said: “Myself and the rest of the school are incredibly proud of all students that took part in this year’s Winter Arts Showcase, whether that was on the stage or behind the scenes, everyone did a fantastic job.

“At SJP, we are dedicated to providing opportunities for our performing art students to flourish in their creativity and enhance their confidence and teamwork skills in significant settings with real audiences.”

Local academies take part in Nugent’s ‘Light Up a Life’ service

Two secondary schools from All Saints Multi Academy Trust performed at Nugent’s ‘Light Up a Life’ service on 16 December.

The Academy of St Nicholas and The Academy of St Francis of Assisi came together for the service at the Metropolitan Cathedral, led by Bishop Tom Williams, alongside other schools from the Archdiocese of Liverpool.

Light Up a Life provides individuals the opportunity to remember loved ones and reflect on happy memories by dedicating a light on a tree as a gift for someone who may be away from home this Christmas, or in memory of someone.

Year 11 student, Codie Mathews from The Academy of St Francis of Assisi sung ‘Don’t Worry About Me’ by Frances, with The Academy of St Nicholas’ chaplain, Sarah-Joy Gillard, joining her on piano.

Later on during the service, Liverpool singer songwriter, Rob Vincent, performed his song ‘Light of the Stars’ with Codie. Both schools brought students who have recently suffered bereavements to allow them to take part in the service and remember their loved one in a special way.

Speaking about the service, Sarah-Joy Gillard, said: “It has been a great honour to work with other chaplains from local schools to deliver the musical interludes for Nugent’s Light Up a Life service.”

St Mary’s College holds carol concert for the first time in three years

St Mary’s College in Crosby held its traditional carol concert for the first time since 2019.

Staff, pupils and their families gathered at SS Peter and Paul Church on Liverpool Road to enjoy the atmospheric service in the 120-year-old building.

The ‘Message of Christmas’ concert featured a selection of readings, carols and instrumental and choral performances co-ordinated by the school’s director of music, Andrew Byers, assisted by music teacher Colin Johnson and head of religious studies Kate Gavin.

The programme included both traditional songs and more modern festive favourites, with contributions from the school’s symphony orchestra, chamber choir and lower school choir.

Highlights of this year’s concert included Amelia Orford’s solo performance during Once in Royal David’s City.

At the end of the service the evening continued with servings of mulled wine and mince pies back at the school.

St Mary’s College principal, Mike Kennedy, commented: “The carol concert has traditionally been a very popular event with families, and a really enjoyable way to mark the start of the Christmas season.

“So, after a three-year break because of the pandemic, it was good to be able to stage the event again, and it was definitely very much worth the wait thanks to the many excellent performances from students during the evening.

Mr Kennedy added: “I would like to pay tribute to all the pupils and staff whose hard work and talent helped to make the service such a first-class musical evening, and wish everyone a merry Christmas and a healthy and peaceful new year.”

Headteacher of The Academy of St Francis of Assisi, Jo Leech, said: “Well done to Codie for her incredible rendition of ‘Don’t Worry About Me’. It was a brilliant accompaniment to the service.”

‘Carols by Candlelight’ for over 450 parents as Holy Family Catholic Multi Academy Trust hold carol service

The Holy Family Catholic Multi Academy Trust community came together in December to perform a carol service that celebrated Christmas.

The Trust-wide carol service, Carols by Candlelight, was held at St Michael and All Angels Church in Woodchurch, Wirral.

In the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, Holy Family Catholic Multi Academy Trust had to host its previous two Christmas services online and bring the community together virtually. This year, however, students were able to share the stage together, in person.

Students of all ages from all schools performed in front of the packed church which consisted of over 450 parents in attendance.

A wide variety of songs were performed including ‘Mary Did You Know’, sang by Year 3 from Our Lady of Pity RC Primary School and ‘Love Shone Down’ by Team 4 from St Bernard’s RC Primary School.

The audience were also treated to St Joseph’s Catholic Primary School’s joyous cover of ‘Mary’s Boy Child’, St Mary’s Catholic College’s very own choir singing a ‘spine-tingling’ version of ‘You Got the Love’ and a gospel version of ‘O Holy Night’ performed by St John Plessington Catholic College.

Audience members were left feeling inspired and entertained, with some even taking to social media to express their enjoyment of the event.

The celebration reinforced the Trust’s mission of ‘building strong communities with Gospel Values at the heart’, as the event ensured to shine a light on Our Lady, as it was also the day of the feast of the Immaculate Conception.

Laurie Smith, director of music at Holy Family Catholic Multi Academy Trust, said: “Our Carols by Candlelight service was such a wonderful and collaborative evening. Being able to hold the service in person rather than virtually made the event even more special. Music is a hugely important aspect of school life in our Trust, and it was great to highlight the amazing singing that has been taking place across our schools this term.”

St Cuthbert’s Christmas Cheer for All to Hear

The service took place on Thursday 1st and Friday 2nd December and was the first ‘Christmas Sing’ event that the St Helens Music Service has put on since 2019.

The St Cuthbert’s choir sang alongside more than 350 students from primary, secondary and SEND schools from across the St Helens Borough.

They performed an array of traditional carols in front of family and friends, as well as the mayor of St Helens.

Mrs Dixon, curriculum leader for music at St Cuthbert’s, said: “It’s brilliant to come together with the rest of the St Helens community!

“I am so proud of the performances from our students, they did a superb job and should be very proud of themselves and all of their hard work and efforts in the lead up to the evening.”

St Cuthbert’s Catholic High School helped to create a festive atmosphere with their singing voices, along with schools from across St Helens, as they sang seasonal carols at the annual ‘Schools’ Christmas Sing’ back in December.

THE ST CUTHBERT’S VISION

Come and see us. We welcome visits at any time. Get in touch to arrange your visit. Find out more at stcuthberts.com

St Cuthbert’s Catholic High School showed their true vision and why they are more than a school, over the festive period, helping those in need and celebrating as a community.

The Academy of St Nicholas students develop their culinary skills with MasterChef: The Professionals star

During December, Year 11 food technology students at The Academy of St Nicholas spent the afternoon with a local, wellknown Italian chef to prepare for their coursework.

As part of their GCSE coursework, students were tasked with planning, preparing, cooking, and presenting a final menu to meet the needs of a specific context. To do so, they have to use appropriate technical skills and processes to create three to four Italian dishes, showcasing their culinary skills.

For support in further developing the necessary skills required for this part of the course, the academy asked chef Gabriella Margiotta to host a workshop with the class who were incredibly excited to learn from a professional.

Chef Gabriella Margiotta is a sous chef at her family’s restaurant, Cucina di Vincenzo, located on Woolton Road, Liverpool. Her experience includes running a small business with a friend in Manchester, selling street food, and working in numerous restaurants as well as going to catering college.

Gabriella’s talent as a chef has been recognised through awards such as Cuoco of the Year 2019, amassing an Instagram following of over 18,000 and most recently her success in reaching the semifinals of MasterChef: The Professionals 2022.

During the workshop, students worked with Gabriella in preparing, cooking, and presenting a classic Italian homemade mini cannoli with a sweetened ricotta. They received top tips on how to present Italian dishes and advice on flavour combination as well as complex, highlevel dishes.

The class were able to talk to Gabriella about her career and hear more about her own carefully crafted recipes.

Armand, a student that participated in the workshop, commented: “It was a workshop I will never forget. I can’t wait to do my GCSE practical exam and put all the passion that Gabriella has given me into my food. I am now considering a job as a chef and will hopefully get to MasterChef: The Professionals like Gabriella who inspired me.”

Miss Bell, head of design technology at the academy said: “My Year 11 class were so excited for the Italian workshop ran by Gabriella. As soon as she started the workshop, the students were engrossed and her passion for Italian cookery really shone through. She shared her own experiences and catering journey with students, encouraging them to ask further questions on what it takes to become a chef. We are so thankful she spent her time with us sharing her journey and passion.”

The Academy of St Nicholas continually strives to provide its students with unique and fulfilling learning opportunities, driven forward by the academy’s core values of respect, ambition, resilience, and compassion.

Making Christmas special for Merseyside’s struggling families

The Satis Education team were thrilled to provide essential items and much needed Christmas gifts for children to some of Merseyside’s most vulnerable families.

The items were donated to the St Helens Christmas Gift Appeal.

The Satis Education team said they hoped to help make these families’ Christmas a little more special.

Helen Stevenson, founding director of Satis Education, said: “This is the third year we have supported disadvantaged families in our community, and we have been overwhelmed by the support our partners have provided.

“We hope in our own small way we have helped to make Christmas a bit more special for children and young people who need it most.”

Satis Education is a specialist education and consultancy business providing staffing solutions and support services to schools, colleges and nurseries and multi academy trusts nationally.

Preparing for all that a new year brings

Taking time to stop and think can do you the power of good, writes Father Simon Gore of Animate Youth Ministries.

By the time you read this, Christmas will be a distant memory and the new year will have begun. But as I type this, it is still early in the Advent season and we are thinking about the last retreats of the year and looking ahead to a whole school mission in the week before the holiday begins. It promises to be quite a hectic lead-in to Christmas.

In among all we have planned, and all we have to do before we finish for Christmas, I think there will be a tendency in the next few weeks to tick off the jobs we have on the ‘to-do’ list and almost count down the days until we finish for the Christmas break. I know the temptation is there for me currently – and I guess you may have had that same temptation a few weeks ago too … making sure the food is bought, the presents wrapped, the cards written, and all the other little

jobs that we all know we have to do. Yet as much as I know the temptation will be there, I hope that I can avoid it and take some time to reflect more on what makes Advent such a special season. Perhaps it is just me, although I doubt it, but we seem to jump from poppies at the Cenotaph in November straight into Christmas without stopping to catch our breath.

As we know, that is what Advent should be all about. But we all live in the world and it can be so easy to get caught up with what is happening around us.

I know, though, that if I do manage to take some time to think about what Advent means, it will help me celebrate Christmas in a far more meaningful way. The day will mean a lot more – and if I miss out a few things from my ‘to-do’ list in order to

find that time then maybe it will be worth it to have that more meaningful a Christmas.

I think anyone reading this will know it already, of course – and if you have continued to read up to this point you may well now be asking, ‘Why is he writing about Advent and Christmas when he knows very well this will be read in January?’.

Well, I think that sense of peace we might hope to find in Advent can set us up for the new year, for where we are when this will be read in January. The early weeks of January can be a little like ‘after the lord mayor’s show’. Homes seem emptier without the decorations, the weather is cold and there are no Christmas markets to lighten the mood. The year stretches ahead of us.

And if we have not had that time that the Church offers us in Advent, it can seem like we are back on the treadmill of life. I do hope that this is not the case for you.

And I hope that you did take some time in Advent to take stock, breathe and remind yourself of your own relationship with God. That it was a time of renewal.

If you did, I am sure that this new year will be something to be faced with the confidence of knowing that the Lord is there with us; that no matter what may happen in this year ahead, we will know that we are never alone – the Lord will share all of our joys and sorrows.

I think we would all say that Advent is a season of preparation. But it can be more than a season of preparation for Christmas and could be seen as a preparation for the year ahead as well. But what if you did fall into those temptations I mentioned earlier?

What if Advent was not a season of preparation and reflection and the new year has started and you are back on the treadmill?

Well, it is not for me to tell anyone what to do but maybe you could try to carve out a mini-Advent in the new year? There may be no chocolate calendars around – no wreath, no trees, no tinsel – but some time with the Lord is never a wasted time. A little bit of preparation for the new year, even in this new year, might be just the way to face all that 2023 will bring.

God bless.

Mums the Word

May I begin by wishing a happy new year to you all. Before looking forward, though, I would like to reflect on the year just passed – a busy time for the Liverpool UCM.

Our activities were varied, from bring-andbuys to raffles to Macmillan coffee mornings. We went on trips together. We held a party for the late Queen’s Jubilee. One of our members, Margaret McDonald, was invested with the Pro ecclesia et Pontifice Cross by Archbishop Malcolm McMahon at St George’s, Maghull.

On a sad note there were four foundation closures in the past year so let us hope that the new year will bring in new members who, in turn, will open more foundations.

Looking ahead, the members of the World Union of Catholic Women’s Organisations (WUCWO) have been invited to an audience with Pope Francis and a Thanksgiving Mass on Saturday 13 May. It will take place in the Pope Paul VI audience hall at the Vatican. From there they will travel to their general assembly in Assisi, scheduled from 14-20 May.

Mrs Val Ward, a former national president, is our representative for WUCWO and she has replied on our behalf to commit 2,000 Masses and Rosaries to the Spiritual Bouquet for Pope Francis’ intentions. We have approximately 2,000 members in the UCM. That means we are asking all of our members to dedicate one of their Masses and say one Rosary for Pope Francis. To get in touch about this, contact wucwo2023assembly@gmail.com.

• Our next Bi-monthly Mass is on 18 January at St Gregory the Great, Lydiate. Please make every effort to attend as we will be presenting charity cheques for the Priests’ Training Fund and the Whitechapel Centre.

Wishing you all good health for the year ahead,

Maria Pimblett Media Officer

A century of service News from the Liverpool Province of the Knights of St Columba

Welcoming two new members

Now that the Covid pandemic has thankfully subsided and life has returned to something near normal, it is pleasing to note that the Order is getting back to recruiting new members locally.

We had the great pleasure recently of welcoming Philip Higgins and Terry Hulme as new members of Council 18 in Widnes. Their installation took place during 11am Mass at St Bede’s in Appleton Village, Widnes, on Sunday 30 October. They are seen in the photo on the front row wearing their purple collarettes.

• Every three years the Order choses what is known as its National Action Project which raises funds for a deserving cause. Over the last three years the beneficiary was a home for deprived children in India and for which thousands of pounds were raised. That project has now ended and will be replaced by Let the Children Live, a cause described as a charity of last resort for children from the streets and shanty towns of Colombia, based in Medellin, the country’s second-largest city. We will be letting you know more about this in due course and how you can contribute. For information about the charity, visit the website: www. letthechildrenlive.org

• The KSC continues to use digital technology to connect members to services nationally and there were weekly rosaries conducted online throughout October and a special Rosary was transmitted nationally on 24 November for the 55th anniversary of the Abortion Act.

Websites: www.ksc.org.uk www.kscprov02.weebly.com Email: dpokeane@aol.com

Help Make a Difference, Volunteer with Nugent

As we start the New Year, many of us are creating New Year’s resolutions, why not make a resolution that will help your local community?

We have a range of volunteering opportunities available across our services to suit everyone, no matter how much time you have to give or what experience you have. We have people from all walks-of-life, contributing to the lives of others, giving up their time, and bringing energy, dedication, compassion and dignity to the work they do.

Here are some of the volunteering opportunities we have available:

Volunteers are an essential part of Team Nugent, by donating your time, skills and experience you are making our services possible, enabling us to extend our support and giving individuals a much-needed voice. Volunteers help bring a wealth of different experiences and ideas to Nugent and the people who receive our services.

Volunteers are a vital part of helping us continue our good work in your communities. Here are some of the things accomplished by the wonderful Team Nugent during 2021/2022:

- Supported 2,386 people through our Nugent Pantry (run by our volunteers)

- Provided pastoral support to 68 Deaf individuals

- Helped with the resettlement of four refugees through the Community Sponsorship Programme

- Provided special education for 56 young people with behavioural difficulties

- Placed 13 children with 9 families through Nugent Adoption

If you would like to help us continue our mission to care for, educate, protect and inspire those in need, and you think that volunteering is for you, we’d love to hear from you.

Get in touch with our HR team to see what local volunteering opportunities are available to you. You can reach our HR department by emailing hr@wearenugent.org

Normandie Wragg Chief Executive Nugent

Happy New Year to all of our friends and supporters.

The start of 2023 brings us new challenges to face and indeed difficult times. I don’t think there is one amongst us that could say that they have not been affected by energy costs, the costs of inflation and the economic worry that comes with this.

In a period of great apprehension, Nugent’s colleagues and volunteers have continued to deliver indispensable support to those most in need of our help, at a time when it could not be more important.

As the spiralling cost-of-living crisis has spread across our country, which has led to more people living in poverty within our communities, Nugent is supporting CSAN’s Cost of Living Campaign. The campaign invites everyone in the Catholic community to write to their MP to amplify the ‘asks’ of government issued by the Bishops’ Department of Social Justice. As we are heading into another time of worrying austerity, it is vital that we act now to raise a prophetic voice in the public arena. To find out more and to download a template to write to your MP, visit www.csan.org.uk/cost-ofliving-crisis/

At Nugent, we strive to love one another as God has taught us to and show care and compassion for others. This is a quality that we are proud to uphold, and at a time of hardship showing compassion and acts of kindness are crucial to help families in crisis survive another difficult year ahead. The Good Shepherd Appeal, one of our oldest appeals, has been running for over 120 years and helps to provide these vital acts of kindness.

This year’s Good Shepherd Appeal begins on Ash Wednesday, 22 February, and runs to Easter Sunday, 9 April. We collaborate with schools and parishes and actively engage young people to work together to help us continue the essential work started in our archdiocese by Father Nugent.

As we move forward with a feeling of uncertainty, Nugent will continue to care for, educate, protect, and inspire those in need.

Marian, a new volunteer from St Anne’s parish with Nugent’s Sharon Deverdie

Dialogue and Unity

Gerald Pillay – our ecumenical educationalist

an Anglican/Catholic partnership (unique in Europe) seeing links with Anglican and Catholic schools as partners and supporters, forging international links via Global Hope with Christian Universities around the world (notable is the outstanding support for the De La Salle University in Bethlehem) creative initiatives like the Desmond Tutu Centre for War and Peace Studies and, recently, the creation of the Hope Ecumenical Network launched with a high-level international conference in early November.

Hope’s beautiful campuses with fine gardens exemplify its commitment to ‘Truth, Beauty and Goodness’ and a rounded education.

Professor Gerald Pillay, OBE, DL is a man who when you meet him oozes warmth and friendship. Very quickly you discover his deep Christian faith, his academic skills, and his profound commitment to Justice and Peace. He finishes as Vice Chancellor of Liverpool Hope University this Christmas.

Professor Pillay was born in Natal in South Africa. His forbears had come from India to the then British colony of Natal. He grew up in Durban under the appalling apartheid system. He is an Anglican and speaks movingly of the great anti-apartheid fighters like Archbishop Trevor Huddleston and Archbishop Desmond Tutu.

Professor Pillay is married to Dr Nirmala Pillay who lectures at Leeds Beckett University in International law with a special interest in philosophy and International Human Rights Law. They have two sons, Kirubin and Sudershan.

Gerald holds the following degrees: Bachelor of Arts, Bachelor of Divinity, and Doctor of Theology (DTheol) in philosophical theology, and Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) in 1984 in historical theology.

He lectured at the University of DurbanWestville, then became Professor of Ecclesiastical History at the University of South Africa from 1988 to 1997. He has lectured in the US where he was Visiting Professor at Northwestern University, Illinois, Research Fellow at Princeton Theological Seminary and Visiting Professor at the Associated Mennonite Biblical Seminary (AMBS), Indiana.

In 1997, he became Foundation Professor of Theology at the University of Otago, New Zealand then in 1999, was appointed Head of the School of Liberal Arts within that University.

On 1 September 2003, he was appointed Rector and Chief Executive of Liverpool Hope University College. Higher Education in England was changing dramatically with a period of expansion, the introduction of tuition fees for universities and Hope’s quest for full university status and research degree awarding powers. He accepted a great challenge.

Gerald Pillay speaks forcefully and proudly of the origins of Liverpool Hope: St Katharine’s College opened for Anglican women in 1844; then Notre Dame College opened by the Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur in 1856 (at the encouragement of Monsignor James Nugent) and, finally, Christ’s College opened in 1964 directly opposite St Kaths. ‘Our origins are of two founding colleges committed to opportunities for higher education when women, Catholics and Jews could not attend University’. He has been at pains to remind audiences of what university life looked like in the 1840s.

Gerald Pillay’s vision has expanded as has the size of the institution. He relished the fact that in 2005 Liverpool Hope received its University title from the Privy Council. This expansion of the academic vision is demonstrated by the variety of the subjects taught and the high standards Hope promotes. More important to Gerald is the commitment to Christian values – an accessible campus,

Monsignor John Devine OBE, Ep Vic who served as Pro Vice Chancellor and Chair of the University Council says of Professor Pillay: ‘As Chair of Governing Council, I worked alongside Professor Pillay for nine years. He had a clear understanding of the role of religious faith in the life of Liverpool Hope. He compared this to the Incarnation. Not obvious or confined to chaplaincy and the theology department, but to be found wherever academics and their students seek truth, whatever their discipline. In addition to his clarity of vision, Gerald ensured that the University paid its way. We never borrowed a penny.’

He was invested with the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in 2021 for his contribution to Higher Education.

Gerald Pillay said: ‘My many travels and work in four continents was capped by these 20 happy years here in Liverpoolmy city and home. It has been a privilege to be part of this great ecumenical experiment that makes a real difference for good. My colleagues and our graduates have done so much to be proud of. The University has flourished despite all the political and economic sidewinds. We have so much for which to be grateful. What a joy it has all been.’

Gerald Pillay has recently been appointed the International President of Initiatives for Change (previously known as Moral Rearmament, which is an international Swiss charity committed to peace and reconciliation). He will continue as a Deputy Lieutenant of Merseyside. So, he will be busy in retirement alongside his lifelong passion for gardening.

Professor Pillay with Archbishop Patrick Kelly and Cardinal Walter Kasper

New for 2023! Better Bosco Breakfast Club

- A warm welcome for all students and staff

- Doors open from 7.45am

- Free unlimited fruit, bagels and cereal

- Sometimes free tea, coffee and hot chocolate

A number of Archdiocesan ‘Warm and Cosy’ centres are open in our local area. There will be free tea, coffee, biscuits and free Wi-Fi.

Our Lady Queen of Martyrs & St Swithin’s, Croxteth Wednesdays 1pm-3.30pm

Holy Name, Fazakerley Wednesdays 1pm-3.30pm

St Cecilia, Tuebrook Wednesdays 1-3pm

Our Lady of Sorrows, Walton Thursdays 1-3pm

Holy Rosary, Old Roan Fridays 12pm-2pm with a warm lunch provided free of charge.

May Faith, Hope and Love be your treasures in 2023. Search for St John Bosco Arts College to find out more.

Telephone: 0151 330 5142 www.stjohnboscoartscollege.com Storrington Avenue, Liverpool L11 9DQ