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Faith Primary School pledge to fix the food system
The Churches Together Friendship Group at Faith Primary School reflected on the information given by Cafod outlining the global food system and its waste and lack of sharing. The group shared the prayer of gratitude with the community at St Francis Xavier’s church and sent a ’Fix the Food System’ letter to the then Foreign Secretary, Liz Truss...reply awaited. The group agreed that they are ready to make their own changes especially with food waste.
The opening of the Irenaeus Centre
Over the two and a half years of lockdown things haven’t been quiet at Irenaeus. As well as teaching sessions and spiritual accompaniment taking place via Zoom, we have been preparing for the opening of the Irenaeus centre in the building of the now closed parish of St Thomas of Canterbury. We have worked with contractors, decorators, plumbers and surveyors until finally on Sunday 11 September we were ready to open our doors. It was wonderful to see people coming into our building with their mouths open and eyes wide with delight as they looked around. We listened as people shared words like ‘beautiful’ and ‘breathtaking.’ One woman said ‘this should be a model for what can be done with church buildings.’ The afternoon began with Mass and a letter from the Archbishop, who was unable to be with us, was read out. He immediately showed his support and encouragement for Irenaeus when he wrote; ‘At the time of much change in the Church and in society at large the need for the Irenaeus project becomes more necessary’. In his homily at the Mass Father Chris Thomas the director of the project for the last twenty years said ‘I think Pope Francis is trying to free us from being a stale bureaucratic institution obsessed with power and control and numbers, and property, rules, regulations, and move us towards being a spirit led church that talks more about mercy than sin, a church that is as Pope Francis says: a field hospital for sinners, not a museum of saints’. That’s what we hope this place will become. Yes, a place where people who want to, can come and pray and reflect and discover a God of ultimate mercy and compassion, but also a place where those who have experienced alienation and those to whom life has dealt a rough hand can come and be met with that same mercy and compassion.’ So we begin this stage of our work. Our doors open from 10 till 4 every day to anyone from 12 September. There is space to pray in our oratory. There is space to sit and be and have conversations and there is space to meet and have courses and experiences so please feel free to come along and spend some time with us.
news diary Walking the North Wales Pilgrim Walk for the SVP and Ukraine.
Deacon Dave Lawson from St Austin’s and St Teresa of Avila and the St Helens Deanery has recently completed the North Wales Pilgrim Walk for charity namely the Saint Vincent de Paul Society and also for Ukraine. Starting in March Deacon Dave walked mainly on Saturdays and completed 145 miles over twelve days recording his walk every day and uploading onto the give star webpage to record the event. Centuries ago, pilgrims in their thousands were finding their way to Bardsey Island, drawn there by stories of the special peace to be found at the edge of the western world and to the place of the setting sun, with only the vast ocean between them and the unknown. 1,500 years ago, St Cadfan had founded a Christian community there. In the Middle Ages, two pilgrimages to Bardsey were considered as good as one to Rome, and that sense of a sacred place draws pilgrims there still. Basingwerk Abbey, which served as a hospital to pilgrims going to Holywell in medieval times, marks the start of the Pilgrim’s Way. The route leads through woodland and over rivers, up mountains and along coast paths, through wilderness and into villages. The Pilgrim’s Way is a walking route of over 130 miles with tiny stone churches nestled into the hills providing shelter and rest along the way, much as they would have done in the past. Now the tradition of pilgrimage is being rediscovered and reinvented for a new age. Present day pilgrims have described the experience as ‘resetting the defaults’ as ‘time out’ and ‘a time to wander and wonder’. Joined by his 14 year-old son Matthew, and with the support of his wife Paula and his daughter Maddison in their back up car, Dave and Matthew finally completed the walk and arrived at Aberdaron at the beginning of July and were met by Sue Roberts from the Wrexham branch of the SVP. Dave said, ‘It has been incredibly humbling to walk and meet so many wonderful people as we have crossed Wales. I cannot thank the parishioners and so many people we met that gave their time and money towards the charity If you would like to donate or would like to watch the videos that we recorded then please email Dave at DaveL831@aol.com for further details.
St Francis Xavier church Ignatian picnic and tour
The Northern Jesuit churches, including St Francis Xavier’s church in Everton gathered at Stonyhurst College, Clitheroe, for a picnic and a tour of the ‘Hot Holy Ladies’ Exhibition on Sunday, 31 July 2022, the Feast of St Ignatius of Loyola. This day was to conclude the Ignatian Year (500 years ago when St Ignatius from soldier to pilgrim was seriously injured by a cannonball and his recovery led him to founding the Society of Jesus – Jesuits) The phrase ‘Hot, Holy Ladies’ was first used as a sarcastic insult in 1602, aimed at an impressive and effective group of strong-minded female supporters of the Jesuit Catholic mission. The colourful exhibition at Stonyhurst College shared the lives, circles and works of a selection of influential, educated Catholic women who carried out remarkable acts of creativity and subversion spanning the early Tudor pre-Reformation period into the George IV era of Catholic Emancipation. It featured a range of women from high-profile historical figures who shaped policy and national events to less well-known individuals who achieved extraordinary acts of religious defiance and cultural creativity in the shadows imposed by state-imposed religious intolerance and persecution. The online exhibition is presented by curator, Dr Jan Graffius and concludes with a 20 minute video allowing you to discover the remarkable story of Helena Wintour. Helena Wintour was a recusant Roman Catholic and a talented seamstress. https://www.stonyhurst.ac.uk/about-us/stonyhurst-collegehistoric-collections/exhibitions/hot-holy-ladies
‘Olivia’s beauty was there for all to see in her happiness, her kind nature, and the way she lived – she was loved and lovable.’ Words of Archbishop Malcolm McMahon preaching at the Funeral Mass for Olivia Pratt-Korbel at St Margaret Mary’s, Knotty Ash, on Thursday 15 September. He was paying tribute to the nine year old, who so tragically died in a shooting incident on 22 August. At the beginning of the Mass, celebrated by parish priest, Father Roy Cooper, Olivia’s mother, Cheryl Korbel said, ‘Olivia touched so many people’s hearts and was loved and adored by everyone…I will never say goodbye but what I will say is goodnight, love you, see you in the morning’. Also present at the Mass were Bishop Tom Williams, Auxiliary Bishop of Liverpool, and Bishop Beverley Mason, Bishop of Warrington. In his homily Archbishop Malcolm said, ‘We may ask ourselves why God has taken his beautiful gift back to himself – we may never know the answer to that question but in our lack of understanding we must give thanks for the joy of having her and knowing her for the years she was with us. And there is a very real sense in which she will continue her life deep in our hearts where she will be a daily presence to her parents and those who loved her.’ He concluded with an appeal for peace and justice, ‘So, in St Paul’s words let us comfort one another with words of faith - faith in each other, faith in God and faith in the belief that Olivia’s untimely death will lead to a community here in Liverpool without violence that it will become a place of peace and justice’. People also gathered outside the church as mourners were asked to wear ‘a splash of pink’ in Olivia’s memory while at Olivia’s school, St Margaret Mary’s Junior School, all 480 pupils made flowers in her memory.
Picture; Liverpool Echo
Congratulations Sister Zita
On 13 August, St Oswald’s Catholic Church, Old Swan, was host to Sister Zita’s celebration of 60 years as a professed Sister of Mercy. Bishop Tom Williams was the main celebrant, assisted by Father Liam Collister, parish priest of St Oswald’s and St Sebastian’s parishes. Sister Zita was joined by parishioners, family members, friends, well-wishers, colleagues, and Sisters from her Order, who all helped to make her jubilee special. During Mass, she stood in front of Bishop Tom, and renewed her promises to serve God, and the Order, faithfully. After Mass, Sister Zita was joined by her family and friends in a celebration buffet in the parish house. Father Liam said, ‘Sister Zita’s 60 years of dedication to the Church, her various ministries, and the Order of Mercy, is a real example of faith in the modern world’.
news diary Nugent Celebrates over 140 years of care in the community
This year we are launching our annual Gala. Kicking off with celebrating over 140 years of educating, protecting and caring for the most vulnerable in our communities. The origins of Nugent date back to Victorian Liverpool and the pioneering work of our founder Father James Nugent (1822-1905), who witnessed first-hand the suffering caused by poverty and the poor welfare of children and took action to remedy the situation. By the time of his death, Father Nugent had given homes and valuable skills to thousands of children and laid the foundations for the work currently undertaken by everyone in Nugent today. As a charity we aren’t beholden to investors or shareholders, meaning we can focus on what really matters: serving the most vulnerable and at risk in our community. At the heart of the organisation is a mission to improve quality of life, health, life chances, and levels of achievement; reducing poverty and increasing safety for all. Although we have now been serving our communities for 141 years, we are launching the Nugent Gala with a celebration of our 140th milestone. Due to disruptions from the Covid-19 pandemic, our plans for Nugent’s 140th birthday have been postponed, making the inaugural Gala celebration a year later than intended. On Thursday 3 November we will be celebrating this momentous milestone whilst raising funds to continue Father Nugent’s good work. The evening will feature a short presentation and thank you by Nugent CEO, Normandie Wragg, followed by music and entertainment that promises to provide an unforgettable evening for all, and raise much needed funds to aid our continuing mission. If you would like to join us in celebrating, you can purchase your tickets and find out more about the event at: www.wearenugent.org/ fundraising/gala
The life-changing role for big-hearted people that needs no experience
In 1978 flares were the height of fashion; the Bee Gees were playing on the radio, and here at PSS, we were busy creating one of the fastest-growing models of care in the UK: Shared Lives. Shared Lives is a little bit like fostering, but with the big difference that it’s for adults who need some support to live as independently as possible. It’s about providing warmth and guidance whilst giving someone the choice to live life how they choose to. Shared Lives carers like ex-firefighter Darren, who lives in Liverpool, support people to live their best lives, while the people they support live at home with them. ‘Having the person you support living with you sounds like such an unusual concept at first,’ says Darren. ‘But actually, it feels like Jim, the guy I support, has been part of my family forever. He’s got a learning disability and needs a bit of support to feel confident making decisions and getting to grips with a few life skills, but since he’s been here with my family his confidence is growing by the day.’ Our PSS Shared Lives carers support people from all different backgrounds with all different goals. Someone might need support with the daily bits and bobs like personal care and taking medication, through to baking, gardening, and applying for their dream job - the possibilities are as unique as the people we support. ‘I didn’t know how much Shared Lives would help me’, says Jim. ‘I love living with Darren and Clare. ‘I’ve learned how to count my money for the bus, how to cook and how to iron my shirts for work. I’ve got a job in the supermarket and have made lots of friends there. I’m so happy.’ Being a Shared Lives carer is about doing something truly amazing for another person. It’s about offering your heart, as well as your home to support someone to live life independently. Our carers are self-employed (but we’re with them every step of the way) and can choose the type of support they want to give to people, and the hours they work. It fits around family life perfectly. Our carers don’t need experience – at PSS we train big-hearted, professional, genuine, determined and open-minded people to be the best carer they can be. If you’d like to know more head to www.sharedlivescarers.com for more information.
news diary That Majestic Assembly
by Neil Sayer, Archdiocesan Archivist
This month marks 60 years since the opening of the Second Vatican Ecumenical Council, on 11 October 1962. This was noted in the pages of the then recentlyestablished Catholic Pictorial as an ‘Epoch-making event’, and as ‘One of the greatest moments in modern history’. Among the first acts of his papacy, Pope John XXIII had announced the convening of the council in 1959, so the event was three years in the planning. Some 2500 cardinals, bishops and heads of religious orders made their way to St Peter’s Basilica in Rome. Among those attending the opening sessions were four Archbishops of Liverpool: Archbishop Heenan had been involved in the preparations for the Council; Cardinal Godfrey had been at Liverpool until his appointment as Archbishop of Westminster in 1956; Bishop Beck, who succeeded Archbishop Heenan in 1964, was at this point Bishop of Salford; and Derek Worlock, who followed Archbishop Beck at Liverpool, was a lowly Monsignor, attending the council as Cardinal Godfrey’s secretary. Archbishop Heenan’s involvement in the planning does not seem to have given him much of an insight into the Council’s likely debates, at least not that he could tell parishioners in his Pastoral Letter issued just before his departure from Liverpool Airport. ‘What will the Vatican Council decide?’ he asks. ‘That we cannot say. We have been told some of the things which the Council will discuss. But nobody knows more than that.’ Some of the problems facing the bishops, as reported by the Pic, seem relevant today. The Catholic Church is a worldwide church in which the influence of the west is diminishing: in 1962, as today, issues included ‘the de-Christianisation of the West, the just needs of the people who are starving, the peace of nations, the role of lay people in the Church, the unity of Christians’. Archbishop Heenan was very well aware that the church wasn’t just about the Pope and the bishops meeting at the Council. ‘Not everyone’, he wrote, ‘can attend the Council but everyone can enter into the spirit of the Council. It is as if the Catholics of the world were beginning a retreat.’ The Pic, reporting the opening session of the Council, sensed ‘a most impressive feeling of joy and hope’. The Council was expected to finish around Easter 1963, but it seems that progress was slow. Pope John, reviewing ‘that majestic assembly of bishops which impressed us so deeply’, noted that, ‘In those first weeks, by means of exchanges of doctrinal explanation and pastoral experience, and also by means of open and respectful discussion, we worked out a definite “modus procedendi”, which will help our future business to be dealt with more quickly and easily’. Sadly, Pope John XXIII, ‘Il Papa Buono’, died in June 1963. It was left to his successor, Pope Paul VI, to oversee the continuation of the council until its final session in December 1965. In addition to the papers of our Archbishops in the Archdiocesan Archives, a memento of the opening of Vatican II can be found in a local church. At the time of the opening of the Council, a mural was commissioned for St Anthony of Padua in Mossley Hill. The painting by Father Giovanni Lerario OFM (Conv) features Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception surrounded by members of the Council.
PIC Life
Minding your own business
By Moira Billinge
It is impossible to listen to the radio without being aware of what seems to be a constant diet of traffic and travel reports warning of long queues and advising drivers to use a different route to avoid being caught up in them. Unfortunately the bulletins all too often confirm what we already know as we sit in our cars, resigned to being rooted to the same spot for the next few hours surrounded by a sea of vehicles whose occupants are destined to share the same fate. The faces of the trapped drivers wear those pained expressions reserved for just such occasions. It is very frustrating to be in a traffic jam caused by road works, with rows of mocking cones stretching to the horizon without much evidence of work actually in progress. But, more often than not, the queues of static vehicles are the result of collisions caused by dangerous or careless driving. To make matters infinitely worse, the traffic on the opposite road or carriageway invariably slows down as drivers attempt to get a really good look at the aftermath of a crash. It is called ‘rubbernecking’, a term dating back to the early 20th century when tourists riding in custom-made carriages around New York craned their heads to absorb the views along 44th Street in Midtown. (Locals even referred to that area of Manhattan as ‘Rubberneck Row’.) Curiosity – or nosiness – is a natural human instinct and it is understandable to want to find out what is going on when we spot something different or unusual happening. A television programme, however, revealed that drivers are not only slowing down to gawp at a collision; some are actually taking photographs of the carnage with their mobile phones to post them on social media. Surely this is taking nosiness to a new low, even by today’s standards. We have gone from being the occasional ‘curtain-twitchers’, whose activities in the past were largely restricted to the confines of their local community, to an unashamed and unfettered voyeuristic society, obsessed with examining the minutiae of the lives of others.
Newspapers, magazines and reality TV programmes like ‘Big Brother’ or ‘I’m A Celebrity…’ encourage us to feel that we have an innate right or entitlement to focus on banalities. They blur our boundaries as we happily – and with a sense of impunity – feed off people’s mistakes and misery, caring little about whether or not we have their permission. Pope Francis had wise words to say about our preoccupation with prying into other people’s affairs, saying that ‘gossip is a sin and a slap in the face of Jesus, and those who claim to be followers of the faith should stop being nosey and mind their own business.’ Perhaps, as we pick over the detritus of people’s lives, we can add: ‘There but for the grace of God go I.’
This month, take a trip to Yorkshire and visit one of very few medieval churches with a worshipping community, writes Lucy Oliver. Saint Leonard and Saint Mary’s Church in Malton, is a real hidden gem. Founded in 1190 by the Gilbertine canons, the church is situated just over a mile away from Malton Priory, in Old Malton, where the monastery of the Gilbertine order was founded. Parishioners of Saint Leonard and Saint Mary’s believe theirs is probably the oldest Roman Catholic church still in use in England, with features such as the font dating from the 1100s. In 1972, the 12th century church was restored to Catholic use, although the parish is also a lead in ecumenical worship. It has stood for over 800 years as a testament to the glory of God and as a witness to the faith of many generations of Christians from a wide parish including over 40 villages and hamlets. Sunday Mass is celebrated at 9.00 am. Don’t leave Malton without visiting Malton Museum, on Yorkersgate. This local history trove is run by volunteers and boasts unique collections dating from the Roman occupation. Call 01653 691262 to check visiting hours. Lucy Oliver
St Mary’s, Chorley – Friday 16 September
A visit to St Bernadette
Among the many schools visiting the relics was St Bernadette’s Catholic Primary School, Shevington, Headteacher, Mrs Helen Crowder and School Governor, Mrs Chris Mason, write: The St Bernadette Relic Tour this autumn has allowed the children, staff and parishioners from St Bernadette’s Catholic Primary School in Wigan, the unique opportunity to put their faith into action and experience the special gifts of Lourdes. The beautiful church of St Mary’s, Chorley was a perfect stopping place for the relics of St Bernadette and so on Friday 16 September, the school community from St Bernadette’s Catholic Primary School in Shevington, Wigan, took the opportunity to make a pilgrimage, to visit the relics of their special school saint. The Key Stage 2 pupils together with staff, governors and parishioners travelled together, to pay witness, to reflect and to pray together. It was a privilege and honour for the school to sit directly in front of St Bernadette’s reliquary, at the very front of the church. Here, the children saw, the richly decorated reliquary, illuminated in the glow of candles. They observed, with quiet reverence, as members of the congregation made personal visits to the shrine. They watched, with respect as prayers were made and waited patiently for their turn. Mass was celebrated by Father Peter Crowther, whose homily spoke directly to the children. They listened carefully, as he told the story of St Bernadette and the Immaculate Conception. Father Crowther helped everyone to understand the meaning and relevance of the relics. He explained that a relic is, ‘like a keep sake - we have kept St Bernadette close, because she was close to Our Lady’. To share in the Eucharist and to receive a blessing, with the sprinkling of holy water from Lourdes, were indeed great gifts to receive, in the presence of St Bernadette. After the Mass, pupils processed, slowly past, each one touching the relic case with wide-eyes and amazement at the beauty of the gold reliquary. There was a shared appreciation of the importance of the moment and the enormity of the opportunity to be close to their school saint. It was a spiritual and moving experience, which will be remembered, re-lived and shared again as St Bernadette’s school community follow their Mission to: ‘Grow together in faith, love and learning’.
Mass and Torchlight Procession – St Mary’s, Chorley
Metropolitan Cathedral Torchlight Procession – Saturday 17 September
Torchlight Procession in Chorley
Torchlight Procession in Chorley Archbishop Malcolm celebrates Mass with the relics
Sunday Mass – 18 September
Mass with the Anointing of the Sick – Sunday 18 September
The relics leave the Cathedral
Bishop John Rawsthorne celebrated the Mass with the Anointing of the Sick
Early in the morning on Tuesday 20 September there was a final opportunity to venerate the relics of St Bernadette before they left the Metropolitan Cathedral to continue their journey across the country.
