Westminster Record - December 2014/January 2015

Westminster Record

December 2014/January 2015 | 20p

Schools Mark Remembrance Day

Advent Reflection

Concern for the Homeless

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Entering into Christmas Just recently I was in Bethlehem. I was there as part of the Diocesan Pilgrimage to the Holy Land. The pilgrimage was a wonderful experience, for during it we both followed in the footsteps of Jesus and came close to the Christian community in Palestine. Both experiences help us to live our faith more fully in the reality of every day.

The Church of the Nativity is at the heart of Nazareth. It is there that pilgrims flock, to see the place where Jesus was born and to kiss the silver star that marks the very spot. As we come to our celebration of Christmas itself, this is a memory to treasure!

The Church of the Nativity has its own story to tell. It is ancient. It is shared by different Christian traditions. In order to enter it, every person has to bend down really low because the doorway is so small. The crusaders built it like that to prevent aggressive or arrogant men from riding in on horseback! To come to the crib you have to come down off your high horse, as Pope Benedict memorably said. At this moment of its history the Church of the Nativity is full of scaffolding because the roof is being repaired. Entering the Church is like entering a building site.

So here we have a place where the great and wonderful mystery of the birth of Jesus is immersed, as it were, in the mucky business of everyday, practical living.

How appropriate!

Our faith is not a 'quiet zone', a hide-away from the demands of life. Rather it is an invitation to enter more whole-heartedly into that reality with the assurance that it is where the presence of Jesus is now to be found.

This was the constant theme of our pilgrimage: seeing how the events of Jesus' life and ministry cast such a new light on our own daily struggles: in the festivities of Cana, on the shores of the Sea of Galilee, in Nazareth, at the home of St Peter's mother-in-law, at the Jordan River in baptism, in the desert of the Good Samaritan and the Good Shepherd, in the events of his passion and death in Jerusalem itself.

He was there. But now He is not dead. He is with us in every moment, whether we are building, or salvaging, or seeking harbour, or heading out into fresh waters.

So when you go to the crib this Christmas do not leave anything of your life behind you. You may think that aspects of your daily struggles are unworthy to be in the presence of the Lord. But He thinks otherwise. Scaffolding does not put him off! Nor does all the mess of our daily efforts. Bring it all to Him. Lay it at His feet.

These are your best gifts to Him. Nothing can delight Him more than to be invited in, to become a part of your effort. Then, and only then, can He become your King!

A happy Christmas to you all.

Editorial Westminster Record – Contact us

Westminster Record | December 2014/January 2015

A Time for New Beginnings

Editor Bishop John Arnold Archbishop’s House, Ambrosden Avenue SW1P 1QJ Managing Editor Marie Saba 020 7798 9031 Inhouse writers Chris O’Callaghan & John Scott 020 7798 9030, Hannah Woolley 020 7798 9178 Design Julian Game Proofing John Scott To order copies contact Andrea Black 0161 214 1216 or email andrea.black@thecatholicuniverse.com

I know that I have written before about my liking for new Print management and distribution by The Universe Media Group Ltd. beginnings and that Advent has, for a long time, been a good moment for me to start again, usually with a resolution or two to concentrate my endeavours.

I had certainly not expected Editorial deadline: 12 January 2015 quite the new beginning that Listings email: communications@rcdow.org.uk awaits me this time. On the First News and stories call 020 7798 9030 Sunday of Advent this year Email: communications@rcdow.org.uk I leave Westminster after thirty-one years of priesthood to Advertising deadline: 19 January 2015 ‘begin’ my new role as Bishop To advertise contact Carol Malpas 0161 214 1244 of Salford. And there will or email carol.malpass@thecatholicuniverse.com indeed be a lot of newness about it all. Certainly, I will take Produced by the Communications Office of the Diocese of lots of experience of priesthood Westminster. News and articles published in the Westminster Record from Westminster but I shall do not necessarily represent the views of the Diocese of Westminster, have to be careful not to assume unless specifically stated otherwise. that what works well here, and

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what has been expected of me, will be the same in a diocese which has a different history, different challenges and experience. I should say that this new beginning is being made easier by the gracious warm welcome that is being extended by the priests and people of that diocese.

However, there is a great deal to learn about my new home. But the priority of responding to Pope Francis and his call to us all to be ‘missionary disciples’ will be the same in Salford as it is here. It will be the same Gospel that will challenge and the same Christ to be preached.

With this being my last edition, I would like to take this opportunity to say thank you for the kindness and generosity you have shown me throughout these thirty-one years. Please pray for me that I may be an ambassador for Christ and an instrument of His peace.

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Pack your PJ’s and Holy Pictures for Hospital

By Fr Peter Michael Scott Going into hospital in the new year? Fr Peter Michael Scott, the Cardinal’s Adviser for Healthcare Chaplains, provides some advice.

You might be one of those advent people slightly fearing Christmas because it brings you nearer to a planned hospital admission in the New Year. For the sake of your blood pressure, it is never a good idea to worry, but rather you should try to enjoy the wonderful festivities surrounding the birth of Our Saviour.

However, if you are getting your suitcase ready with your PJ’s or your nightdresses, remember to include a holy statue or picture to remind you that as well as sharing a ward with a few patients, you will be gazed upon by God, who will love you through your stay in Page 2

Hospital. The holy picture or statue displayed on your bedside cabinet, will also act as an invitation for a Roman Catholic chaplain to visit or pray for you when they come to your ward. Always remember to ask a nurse for a Catholic chaplain to visit when you are admitted. They will remind you of that loving gaze of God when they chat with you.

Hospital Chaplains are a bit like Father Christmas. They have to be in all sorts of places, very often at the same time. To help your local Roman Catholic Hospital Chaplain, you could ask your parish priest to hear your confession and to anoint you with the oil of the sick before you are admitted. If you take this resolution, please remind your parish priest to inform the Catholic chaplain.

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For now, take a few minutes to pray for those in Hospital over Christmas and the New Year. Remember to keep in your prayers our wonderful Catholic medical staff, so often pressurised, but thankfully, living their vocation to show the compassion and care of Christ Our King.

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News

Westminster Record | December 2014/January 2015

Cardinal Vincent dedicates St John Fisher Church and New Altar

F

riday 14 November 2014 was a momentous day in the life of the parish of St John Fisher in North Harrow. On that day, Cardinal Vincent visited the parish in order to dedicate the church and new altar. For the past ten months the church has been closed whilst major renovation and rebuilding work has taken place.

The first part of the church was started in 1938, and was designed by Thomas Henry Birchall Scott. Scott was responsible for many churches in the Diocese of Westminster during the 1930’s. Work on St John Fisher ceased with the

outbreak of World War II. After the war building materials were a precious resource and so the church was not completed until 1982.

Sadly, the ’82 scheme did not sit comfortably with the 1938 building and the ’82 sanctuary had begun to leak.

The parish community was faced with a choice; whether to try and work with the existing structure, or to embark on a major rebuilding. With great faith, the parish council opted for the more radical option.

The parish priest, Fr Shaun Middleton, was aware that Scott’s churches were based on a byzantine model. They were

long, rectangular and finished with an apse. Working with the architect Colin Smart and his team, Fr Shaun developed a scheme for the church. The interior gallery which cut across the side aisle arches would be demolished as would the square sanctuary. In its place, a curved domed apse would be built. To the side, a retro chapel would be constructed which faced towards the baptistery which would have the font at its heart. The vision was to regain the architectural harmony of the church that Scott had originally intended. However, it was also felt by the pastoral

council that provision should be made for the continuing catechetical work of the parish.

A new meeting room was developed out of the old sacristies.

The results have been spectacular. The church now has a noble simplicity and is a space which encourages prayerful devotion. The new Altar, Ambo and Tabernacle Plinth are made of Portland stone and are embellished with symbols taken from the Book of Revelation which speak of the mystical reality of Christ who dwells in the midst of his people.

In his homily, Cardinal Vincent Nichols, spoke of the Altar and made mention of the five crosses that were carved into it. ‘These’, he said, ‘remind us of the five wounds of Christ into which the oil of chrism will be poured’.

The Cardinal went on to talk of the action of the women parishioners who would then come to the altar to clean it and dress it with a cloth, ‘just like the holy women had done so long ago, when they prepared the body of the Lord for burial.’

Above the altar, suspended from an arch hangs a byzantine cross painted by the renowned iconographer Sr Petra Clare.

As the altar was being consecrated, the eyes of the congregation were drawn to the cross with its image of the Crucified Christ whilst the sixteen concelebrants looked to the image of the Mother of Sorrows which has been painted on to the back of the cross. Either side of Our Lady is painted with images of St

Margaret Clitheroe and St Anne Line, two female martyrs of the Reformation. Also inscribed along the cross is Cardinal Nichols’ motto: ‘Fortis est ut Mors Dilectio’ (‘Love is strong as death.’)

Fr Shaun remarked later, that the back of the cross was dedicated to the women of the parish. ‘Women,’ he noted, ‘just get on with things, the majority of what they do is hidden but without them nothing would happen.’

One touching story concerns the font. This is the gift of the children of the parish. As part of the fundraising effort, Fr Shaun gave every child in the parish a tube of Smarties. He invited them to enjoy the sweets and to fill the empty tube with 20 pence pieces. The children raised over £3,000 in their ‘Smartie People’ campaign, and it is wonderful to think that every child who receives the gift of the new life of baptism in that font will be linked in a profound way to that generation of children who made such an effort.

The parish of St John Fisher now has a church it can be proud of and it is the profound hope of Fr Shaun that, along with the physical renewal of the parish church, spiritual and pastoral renewal of the community will begin to take place. He recognises that although much has been done, there is still so much more to do.

Stanmore celebrates its Dominican roots The parish of St William of York, Stanmore recently unveiled two new icons in its sanctuary funded by the Growing in Faith initiative. The icons are of the Church’s namesakes, St William of York, and St Catherine of Siena, chosen to represent the historic links that the parish has with the Dominican sisters.

A dozen Dominican sisters from Bushey and other communities attended the dedication of the icons painted by Rachel Sim. As part of the service, Sister Raymunda Jordan OP spoke about the life and example of St Catherine as the inspiration for the order.

The mission in Stanmore was founded in 1938 but people first gathered for Mass in the local Dominican convent. As the congregation swelled in number, Sunday Mass had to be moved into the school next door which was run by the Sisters to the Convent. The completion of the ‘new’ church in 1960 established the modern day parish of St William of York.

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News

Westminster Westminster Record |Record DecemberSeptember 2014/January2011 2015

Grove Park and Kentish Town Celebrate Anniversaries

A packed church at Grove Park prepares to celebrate their Golden Jubilee

O

n 26 October, Cardinal Vincent celebrated a Mass at Our Lady Help of Christians in Kentish Town to conclude a week-long commemoration to mark the 150th

anniversary of the parish, which included liturgies, parties and an exhibition recounting the history of the parish.

Cardinal Vincent thanked God ‘for the gifts of the past

Parishioners perform during the anniversary Mass at Kentish Town

150 years of this parish and we look forward and ask His blessing in these next 150 year, that this parish will be known for its missionary endeavour, its outreach to those in need and to be faithful disciples of Jesus after the fashion of Our Lady Help of Christians.’

St Joseph’s in Grove Park also celebrated a significant anniversary on 8 November: the Golden Jubilee of the foundation of their church.

Festivities began with a Mass celebrated by Cardinal Vincent who said in his homily, 'As you leave the church after Mass, you too are flowing out in the world, bringing God's grace and healing to a world that needs to receive them.'

Although relatively small, the parish plays an important part in the community, with parishioners involved in charitable work both in the community and supporting those in need in other countries. Fr John paid tribute to his parishioners who, he says, are always keen to help others and together to build their community. This spirit of community was very evident on the evening, when parishioners took time to celebrate together.

Cardinal Vincent meets parishioners at Kentish Town

Cardinal Vincent meets parishioners from Grove Park

Bishop Nicholas Leads Symposium Day on Outreach to Non-churchgoing Catholics Bishop Nicholas Hudson led an Evangelisation Symposium day on 5 November 2014 at Vaughan House. Delegates from across the dioceses of England and Wales came together to discuss the challenges of ministering and reaching out to nonchurchgoing Catholics.

He spoke before the Symposium day about why this work has been done, how it has been conducted and gave a general overview. The discussions on the day followed the findings of the new research paper conducted

by Dr Ann Casson at the request of the Bishops’ Conference Department for Page 4

Evangelisation and Catechesis. The research has as its focus non-churchgoing Catholic parents who send their children to Catholic primary schools in England and Wales.

The Symposium day saw a range of speakers who work to support local evangelisation and pastoral ministry in the service of families, parishes and schools share their insights and experience to help inform a practical response to the research’s findings.

Reflecting on the findings of the research and the importance of reaching out to non-churchgoing Catholic

parents ahead of the Symposium, Bishop Nicholas said: ‘I find that I am deeply touched by what I am hearing and I think that we need to ask more parents more directly what it is that is difficult about coming to Church and being involved in the life of the parish’.

Referring to one particular example of an answer given in the interviews conducted as part of the research, he continued: ‘We hear of parents saying “when I come up to the Church, I’m not sure which door to come in through and a part of me wonders if I’ll be told off on

the other side”. We need to communicate with parents that they can come as they are.’

‘I find myself wanting to affirm the dignity of the parents’ voices we are hearing; how the Church can communicate that we respect them for the life that they are living in their Catholic family and that we look on them with the same gaze of love as our Blessed Lord does’.

He concluded, ‘I want to listen more to parents, I want to talk to them about their experience of parish life and just see if there are small ways in which we can make them more welcome’.

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For more information about Bishop Nicholas’ reflection or Dr Casson’s work, please visit: http://rcdow.org.uk/ news/bishop-nicholasleads-evangelisationsymposium-day

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Schools Roberts House Raises Record Amount for Charity

Westminster Record | December 2014/January 2015

The Roberts House team

P

upils from Roberts House at St Benedict’s School, Ealing celebrated their feast day in honour of St John Roberts (1575-1610), just before halfterm. Each House Feast Day is an opportunity to raise

money for a chosen charity and the day finishes with a House Mass in Ealing Abbey.

Roberts House chose Meadow House Hospice, which is the centre for the Ealing and Hounslow Specialist Palliative Care

Service. At the morning school assembly, the Roberts House Captains and Representatives gave a presentation outlining the extremely important work carried out by Meadow House.

Chair Wins Outstanding School Governor Award

John Sloan, former Chair of Governors at St Margaret Clitherow School in Stevenage, has received an Outstanding School Governor Award from the Hertfordshire Association of School Governors. John was one of three winners, who received their award on 15 November.

John was nominated by Headteacher Jonathan White and current Chair of Governors Sally Curtis for changing the culture of governance into a critical friend role and encouraging all governors to take a strategic and active role in the

school, always asking the right questions with a view to helping the school go from strength to strength.

John is credited with helping the school in its drive towards an Ofsted ‘outstanding’ rating. As Jonathan White explains: ‘His aspirations for “outstanding” were paramount and he was never satisfied with a “very good is good enough” attitude.’

Taking a long-term view, John worked tirelessly to ensure that the school’s Governing Body rarely had a position vacant, with parents encouraged to step forward and foundation governors identified and prepared to take up their positions when asked by the Bishop.

He has also been leading a campaign to encourage other Catholics to become involved as Foundation Governors throughout Stevenage.

Adding his congratulations, Bishop John Sherrington said: ‘I thank John for his dedication to the good of pupils in Catholic schools.

As part of the Governing Body, Foundation Governors have a most important role in

oversight of the school, ensuring high standards and protecting the Catholic identity of the school.

Through their hard work, together with the Head and staff of the school, they seek to provide a place of learning so that every child becomes a friend and follower of Jesus Christ, loves the Church and develops his or her God-given gifts in their fullness. Children are prepared for that day when they will take responsibilities in society and be missionary disciples of Christ in the world.’

Realising his skills were required elsewhere, John planned a period of transition.

As his successor, Sally Curtis explains, ‘By his careful succession planning the governing body was afforded a smooth transition as I stepped up to the role as chair in September 2013. John’s continued involvement on the governing body since then has been key to our success.’

John has now left the Governing Body of St Margaret Clitherow to devote more time to the Governing Body at sister school St Vincent de Paul.

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Early in the morning cakes and biscuits began to arrive for the obligatory cake sale.

The Roberts students and their parents had risen to the occasion and the school office was inundated. All the goodies were laid out on tables in the Cloisters Hall and, at morning break, the whole school seemed to descend on the Cloisters for the cake sale. It took just 15 minutes to clear everything!

At lunchtime the Roberts girls set up a nail bar running the entire length of the Cloisters. Even some of the boys were persuaded to have a manicure. Another fundraiser was ‘pay and play’ table tennis, overseen by a team of Roberts Sixth Formers which proved extremely popular with all age groups.

There was also a ‘lucky dip’, a very successful sweet stall

and a raffle for a specially baked cake which was won by Deputy Head, Mr Allott.

By the end of the day Roberts House had raised £601. Housemistress Ms Gillian Comyn said: ‘This was the most we have ever raised on our House Feast Day. At the Roberts House Mass I felt very proud of all the pupils in my House and would like to thank every one of them, and their parents, for their fantastic support for such a worthwhile cause. It really was an excellent day!’

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Bishop John Blesses New Library and Statue at Oratory School

On 17 November, Bishop John Sherrington visited the London Oratory School to bless the new library dedicated to St Philip Neri and a new statue depicting Mary with a teenage Jesus.

Bishop John praised the 'creatively designed redevelopment and refurbishment of the Main Building' where the library is located.

Of the surroundings in the library, he noted: 'As we look around we see the depiction in art and focus on the virtues, the various quotations from the beatitudes, Cardinal Newman and other great Catholic and Christian writers.

These will help the pupils to be

imbued with the spirit of the school and deepen their knowledge of the classics of the Christian tradition.'

Turning his attention to the new statue, he said: 'It is unusual and creative and invites us into the relationship of Mary and Jesus as well as the relationship between mothers and their sons, especially in that stormy period of puberty when independence is sought and parents have to learn to give their children ever more freedom.'

Turning his attention to the students, Bishop John said: 'It is my hope that this statue will inspire deep meditation on the relationship between Mary and Jesus and ponder the enduring love between parents and their children which is at the heart of family life. I pray that it will inspire pupils to follow the example of Jesus in sitting, listening, and questioning their teachers so that learning may be deepened. As Jesus grows in conviction of his call and God’s Will, so may this statue inspire pupils to discover their vocation and the “definite service” into which God is calling them. I hope that it will provide consolation to mothers and parents who may not understand their children as they mature and become adults.'

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Schools

Westminster Record | December 2014/January 2015

Schools Mark Remembrance Day

Hand made poppies at St Paul’s library

Schools throughout the diocese organised special events to mark Remembrance Day and to keep the memory of those who lost their lives in World War I alive.

At St Paul’s Catholic College in Sunbury, the library has taken inspiration from the Tower of London for Remembrance. The librarian, Linda Endersby, asked all the students to make, draw or

decorate a poppy to dedicate to anyone who had died in or been affected by war, or simply to remember a loved one they had lost. The school ran the project alongside the Royal British Legion Poppy Appeal, collecting money in reception and the library.

‘I was thrilled with the response,’ said Miss Endersby.

‘We’ve had around 250 poppies, beautifully decorated

with some really touching dedications. The students have really thought about the devastating effect of war on communities around the world.’

Head Teacher Ceri Bacon said ‘It is so important for the children to keep remembering.

All the students took the project very seriously and I’m keen to keep it going next year and in the future.’

The staff and pupils at St Thomas More held a memorial service at 11am on 11 November in memory of those who lost their lives in World War I. The Head Girl and Head Boy led the Student Council and senior members of staff in a procession, carrying poppy wreaths and crosses. These were laid in the memorial garden and pupils from the rest of the school, as well as pupils from Earlham Primary School, who were invited to plant their poppies there.

The two minute’s silence was preceded with The Last Post and closed with The Reveille, both played by Miss Blake. It was a solemn and respectful service.

This service is part of the programme of activities that the school has arranged to commemorate the 100 years since the beginning of World War I. Pupils have been studying war poetry in their English lessons and have written their own poems imagining what life was like in wartime Britain. Outside school, staff and pupils enjoyed their visit to the Tower of London to see the ceramic poppies.

Pupils across a range of year groups will be visiting the battlefields of Northern France and Belgium to explore what life was like for the British soldiers in the trenches and to visit the war graves.

Head Girl and Boy lead the School Council in a procession to lay a wreath

St Vincent’s Celebrates Awards St Vincent’s school community are celebrating their welldeserved range of national acclaims and awards, of ‘Investor in People’ at Gold level, ‘Inclusion Quality Mark’ as a Flagship School, ‘Active Sports Mark’ at Gold level and ‘Sustainable Travel’ award, also at Gold level. These accolades complement the ‘Very Good’ Ofsted outcome, all at the end of a busy and exciting year, in July 2014.

The school celebrated with a Mass of Thanksgiving, on Friday 24 October 2014. This was led by Fr Chris Vipers, Episcopal Vicar, and concelebrated by members of the Sacred Heart Order in the Parish of Our Lady of Lourdes, Acton and St Aidan of Lindisfarne, East Acton.

The pupils, staff, governors and parents were delighted to celebrate the school’s achievement. They were joined Page 6

Fr Chris Vipers with pupils, staff and governers from St Vincent’s

by a range of local dignitaries, representing the Diocese of Westminster, Ealing Local Authority and Council, members of local religious orders, and professional advisors, supporting the school throughout the year. The celebration acknowledged the hard work, dedication and

commitment of everyone in the school community and beyond, to achieve these highly prestigious national awards.

Tina Cleugh, the Headteacher, warmly thanked all those who made it possible, particularly the pupils, as the school’s wonderful ambassadors, the dedicated and committed staff, the supportive

parents, and the excellent leadership and guidance from the Governing Body.

The school is now looking forward to completing their major building development with a new Hall, Kitchen, Teaching and Meeting rooms.

The celebration of this will coincide with the 50th Anniversary celebration of the

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school in September 2015. The original opening of the full St Vincent’s School, by the Sisters of St Jeanne Antide, to serve boys and girls from the local parishes, in 1965, was celebrated by Cardinal Carmel Heenan. The school will be preparing another very special Mass of Thanksgiving and celebration next year.

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Schools

Westminster Record | December 2014/January 2015

St Gregory’s Unveil New Mural S

tudents from St Gregory’s Catholic Science College in Kenton have responded to a request from local residents to help brighten up an area of Woodcock Park, by painting a vibrant mural on a 22-metre wall near their school.

Working to a brief from the Friends of Woodcock Park and the owner of the wall, Mr John Hutton, lower school pupils were asked to submit a design for the mural. The winning design, by Shaniah Da Costa in Year 8, was used as inspiration for the final mural artwork.

With funding granted from Brent Neighbourhood Fund, St Gregory’s Art Department enlisted the help of professional mural artists, Positive Arts, to train A Level students in this specialist art form and work with them, under the guidance of St Gregory’s staff, to create the mural.

Joy Rickman of The Friends of Woodcock Park said, ‘We are thrilled with the amazing mural produced by St Gregory’s students. It has totally transformed a previously dowdy area of the park and has created a talking point amongst dog walkers and other visitors to the park.

The mural situated in Woodcock Park. Below: Shaniah Da Costa and the Sixth Form students who created the mural

We are sincerely grateful to everyone who made this project materialise, in particular to the staff and students at St Gregory’s.’

St Gregory’s Headteacher, Andrew Prindiville, commented, ‘I am extremely proud of our students and staff, who worked through all weathers to complete this fabulous project. This is a fantastic example of our

young people working in partnership with the community to make a tangible improvement to our local environment.’

On 20 November, local residents, traders and Brent Councillors came to Woodcock Park to meet with St Gregory’s students and admire their colourful mural.

Councillor Ruth Moher, Lead Member for Children and

Young People at Brent Council said, ‘This is a great way that a public space can be transformed and enjoyed. It’s a good use of the Brent Neighbourhood Fund’s pot of money. It’s a win for all parties, the users of the park benefit from a vibrant mural, the students take part in a competition and get their creative juices flowing and the Council is able to use the

Neighbourhood Fund in this very positive way.’

Baroness Cox Visits St Benedict’s

Baroness Caroline Cox visited St Benedict’s School just before the half-term holiday to deliver the inaugural Orchard Lecture to a rapt audience of Sixth-Form students and staff.

Her presentation, 'The Pain and The Passion: The Privilege

of Making a Difference,' straddled the worlds of politics and medical and humanitarian aid. All who listened were moved by her courage and insatiable urge to put her Christian faith into action.

In her lecture, she invited the audience to 'travel' with her NGO HART (Humanitarian Aid Relief Trust) to meet inspirational partners on the front-lines of faith and freedom around the world, including Sudan, South Sudan, Armenia, Nigeria and Burma. Her work has taken her to countless conflict zones, allowing her to obtain first hand evidence of the human rights violations and humanitarian needs that exist.

Baroness Cox is a frequent contributor to Lords debates on Sudan, India, Nigeria, Uganda, and (Myanmar) Burma.

Daniel Soars, who organised the lecture and is a Religious Studies teacher,

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said: ‘St Benedict’s students and staff were privileged to spend an evening with someone who has made it her life’s mission to provide ‘a voice for the voiceless’ – someone whom many regard as no less than a contemporary prophet.

Baroness Cox spoke with genuine passion and humility, always crediting any achievements or breakthroughs to the many local people she introduced in her talk.’

As part of a drive to stimulate faith-based reflection and to raise awareness of the importance of Theology as an academic discipline, the Religious Studies Department at

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St Benedict’s School is putting on a series of lectures from eminent speakers in academe and public life. They are named in honour of Dom Bernard Orchard, a former monk of Ealing Abbey and biblical scholar. Future speakers include Fr Ashley Beck on ‘Benedict XV and World War 1’ (Wednesday 12 November) and Lord David Alton on ‘Paying a Price for Faith’ (Tuesday 25 November).

Caroline Cox is a crossbench member of the House of Lords and founder of the Humanitarian Aid Relief Trust. A nurse by training, Baroness Cox is also an honorary fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons.

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Advent

Westminster Record | December 2014/January 2015

Waiting and Watching In this reflection, Fr Allen Morris considers the two Prefaces for Advent and how they can help us enter more fully into the season.

T

he season of Advent is one of the most beautiful of the Church's year. The secular world has seized on Christmas as an opportunity for celebration and excess of expenditure and consumption.

But it has, with the exception of chocolate Advent calendars, rather left Advent alone.

It is worth resisting the brighter lights and dazzle of Christmas and Winterval in order to experience the season of Advent, and to allow it to do its work of learning afresh the reason that Christmas is good news and Gospel.

The Lectionary for Advent is a rich resource. Christians hear again the words of Isaiah which spoke first of the exile of Israel and its return to the Promised Land, and also of the coming Kingdom and the Lord who would win back people from slavery to sin, saving us from ever-lasting death.

We Christians, restored to life by the grace of God, begin a new Church Year on the first Sunday of Advent, a new year of the Lord’s favour. We are perhaps more conscious of the

drawing to a close of the civic year. Beginnings and endings have this in common. They are apt for taking stock, of considering where we are coming from and heading to.

At Easter we identify Christ as the key to all time, the meaning of time and life.

'Christ yesterday and today, the Beginning and the End, the Alpha and the Omega. All time belongs to him; and all the ages. To him be glory and power for all the ages and for ever. Amen.' To the accompaniment of these words our Paschal Candle is prepared and blessed, bearer of the light that darkness cannot overcome.

As the nights of the year wax and our days wane, we prepare to celebrate the first birth of that light in human form in the babe of Bethlehem.

But it is no mere birthday celebration that we ready ourselves for. It is the recovery of purpose, point and direction. We re-boot, refresh and revive, remembering the love of God that calls us on and will bring us home.

Advent has two parts. The first comprises the days

between the First Sunday of the season and December's 17th day, and the second from that 17th day to the night of the 24th, Christmas Eve. The distinctive quality of each part is captured by the Advent Prefaces which are presented elsewhere on this page.

In the first, for Advent's earliest days, we are reminded of our continued waiting for the Day of Days when Christ will come again, and all can finally and ultimately be at one with him.

So in these earliest days we look to our manner of life and its aptness for the Kingdom: we seek again to turn from sin and turn to life, to Christ.

In the second, now at least to some extent in ourselves prepared, we are reminded that even now we must ready ourselves to receive Christ in the mystery of Christmas and its liturgy. This time, these solemn rites, this Christmas, were called a sacrament by St Augustine, so intimate, so truly real is the presence of Christ here, and the communion of the faithful with the living Lord.

The commercialism of Winterval is no substitute for the loveliness of Christmas, but let the lights of high streets and shopping centres remind of the light greater and yet more subtle by far for which we wait. And if your Advent calendar each day offers a chocolate, share, if you can, and, if not, enjoy in anticipation of the greater sweetness that it anticipates.

First Preface: The two comings of Christ It is truly right and just, our duty and our salvation, always and everywhere to give you thanks, Lord, holy Father, almighty and eternal God, through Christ our Lord.

For he assumed at his first coming the lowliness of human flesh,and so fulfilled the design you formed long ago, and opened for us the way to eternal salvation, that, when he comes again in glory and majesty and all is at last made manifest, we who

Page 8

watch for that day may inherit the great promise in which now we dare to hope.

And so, with Angels and Archangels,with Thrones and Dominions,and with all the hosts and Powers of heaven, we sing the hymn of your glory, as without end we acclaim: Holy, holy, holy...

we sing the hymn of your glory, as without end we acclaim: Holy, holy, holy...

Second Preface: The twofold expectation of Christ It is truly right and just, our duty and our salvation, always and everywhere to give you thanks, Lord, holy Father, almighty and eternal God, through Christ our Lord.

For all the oracles of the prophets foretold him, the Virgin Mother longed for him with love beyond all telling, John the Baptist sang of his coming and proclaimed his presence when he came.

It is by his gift that already we rejoice at the mystery of his Nativity, so that he may find us watchful in prayer and exultant in his praise.

And so, with Angels and Archangels,with Thrones and Dominions,and with all the hosts and Powers of heaven,

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Parish Profile

Westminster Record | December 2014/January 2015

Letchworth: The ‘Garden City’ ideal

By Chris O’Callaghan

Sited on a green opposite North Herts College, the new church is of Art Deco design itting on a train into from plans drawn up in 1938.

Hertfordshire I remember how large this Cardinal Heenan did comment that it has a cathedral feel diocese is, with Letchworth when he opened it in 1963 Garden City just as much a because of its exterior height. part of it as the central The interior is mostly plain London churches. My destination was the third most brick, except for white square pillars and the sanctuary. northerly parish in the Above the altar hangs a diocese (only Royston and Baldock are further north) and roundel 16 foot in diameter which depicts the Crucified the first ‘Garden City’ in the world.

Lord flanked by angels on a Founded as a Quaker golden backdrop with God the colony by Ebenezer Howard in Father sending down the Holy 1903, Letchworth was built on Spirit from above. It is a greenbelt land with a social remarkable piece of art structure strongly influenced designed by Stephen Foster by the social thinker John and dedicated in 2007 when Ruskin. It was a place to Bishop George Stack escape from the city, yet close consecrated the Church. In his enough to be able to reach it. homily, he spoke of Adrian The Quakers had a ‘broad Fortescue ‘tugging at my outlook’ towards other sleeve. Enough words. Allow religions and welcomed them the actions we are about to to the new town. Letchworth perform speak to people in the was thus mission territory for silence of their hearts.’ the Church, and the parish was The Church was still filled founded in 1907 by Fr Adrian with handmade poppies left Fortescue. A renowned scholar over from Remembrance and linguist, he spoke 11 Sunday, which brought dashes languages, wrote a number of of red to the otherwise simple books and delivered many interior. public lectures. The money he The parish seems to reflect made from these enterprises its surroundings; tranquil but was put towards building the not silent, a peaceful place, first church, which was worthy of Ruskin’s ideals. completed in September 1908 West Londoner Fr Jimmy and dedicated to St Hugh, a Garvey has been Parish Priest Carthusian monk who became in the Garden City for the last Bishop of Lincoln in 1186. two years, having previously When it was built, served at Heathrow Airport. photographs show the church The tranquillity and calm of and presbytery standing next Letchworth make it a place for to fields; a far cry from the ‘staying people’; many go urbanisation of the town today. there in retirement or have This original church has since lived there throughout their been converted into Fortescue lives and it is not difficult to Hall honouring the parish’s see why. He told me of the charismatic founder.

Polish migrants who settled in the town in the 1950s to work in the Bedfordshire brickworks and how they are now so numerous that they have their own Sunday Mass. More recently the town has seen an influx of young professionals and young families, many of whom work locally rather than commute. Fr Jim describes the town as a ‘good place to bring up children’, who attend St Thomas More Primary School and then go to John Henry Newman Secondary School in Stevenage. He would not describe it as sleepy St Hugh of Lincoln

S

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The interior of the church and the roundel of the Crucified Lord designed by Stephen Foster

countryside though, and was keen to stress that there has always been activity in the town, even from its foundation. Fr Jim also praised his parishioners for their humility, reflected in the social action they perform: ‘it is more a case of parishioners putting

The newer, Art Deco style church

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the Gospel into action their own way quietly and in their own time, such as helping at the Garden Hospice within the parish’. Despite being a fairly affluent area, there are some pockets of poverty which the parish is working to eradicate through the ecumenical group

‘Churches Together’, in Letchworth, a continuation of the Quakers’ ‘broad outlook’ over a century ago.

I walked back to the station from the presbytery with Fr Jim as he was on the way to town. He pointed out the College and the Anglican Church which face the Church across the green, the Town Hall ‘which finally has the correct time on its clock’ and the polished shops along the pedestrianized and well-kept high street. I sensed real enjoyment in his posting to this part of the diocese and a comfort around its people. ‘I bump into parishioners all the time just walking through town’, he told me nonchalantly.

Even a hundred years on from its foundation, I still felt that the town witnesses to many of the ideals envisaged by the Quaker founders. Not a place for unworldly escape, but one for tranquillity and calm.

Founded: 1907, 1963 Consecrated: 2007 Mass Times: (Sat 7pm), 8, 9.30, 11.30, 1pm (Polish) Address: 84 Pixmore Way, Letchworth Garden City, SG6 3TP Telephone: 01462 683504 Website: parish.rcdow.org.uk/ letchworth Page 9

Westminster Record | December 2014/January 2015

Director’s Spotlight

As we head towards 2015 I guess our attention turns to the infamous new year resolutions that generally involve increased abstinence, higher levels of activity and a sense that what went before should act as a springboard to what will happen in the future.

Or, what we could have done better and what we should change or improve.

Over the years I’ve contemplated all sorts of nonsense and have rarely been able to keep to my over-ambitious resolutions!

On reflection, my resolutions rarely have a proper sense of purpose and tend to be a bit self-indulgent. Maybe I need to think about what I should do in 2015 to help me better serve those around me and those who support me. I am lucky to be surrounded by wonderfully kind friends.

These thoughts remind me of this short well-known piece called ‘Footprints’ that I seem to be tripping over a lot just now. Perhaps this is a hint for me to think about 2015 and my role.

So, it’s going to really simple in 2015; I’m having just two resolutions.

My first resolution is to be there for those around me, ready to help and support when it’s needed; kindness is free and it’s not a tough ask.

My second resolution is to have a ten-minute nightly examination of conscience to help me reflect on the day ending and calibrate my heart for the following day.

I suppose I should also think about reducing my food and wine intake and increase my fitness levels but I’ll concentrate on my love for others in 2015, a far more worthy and achievable resolution.

Love one another.

Lectio Divina It can be hard to find time to speak to God when your day is full of work, family and the pressures of daily life. It is with this in mind that we feel that the time is right to build on our previous successful prayerful experiences at the Centre for Youth Ministry and re-launch a Lectio Divina programme aimed at Westminster’s young adult community. One of our Allen Hall seminarians, Trevor Ferros, will lead the evenings and we hope that this programme develops into a regular weekly evening.

Lectio Divina is a dynamic way of reading the Holy Scriptures which has been around since AD 300. It invites you to savour and mull over God's words quietly, slowly and intently until you begin to hear what God is saying to you, and how you may be called to

SPEC Moves to New Premises

JANUARY 2015 Fr David Reilly, Diocesan Youth Chaplain

The season of Christmas, including the celebration of New Year, is marked by a great prayer for peace. The message brought by the angels was one of peace to people of good will.

Likewise, in recent times, we have kept a World Day of Prayer for Peace on 1 January.

These times in which we live are marked by a distinct need to renew the commitment to and need for peace. At the end of this year, I am conscious that we have also celebrated the canonisation of two great men of peace: Ss John XXIII and John Paul II. Pope John is perhaps most remembered for his greatest encyclical ‘Pacem in Terris’. Even his motto ‘Obedientia et Pax’ was to demonstrate the personal commitment needed from Page 10

each person towards peace.

Pope John Paul lived in the heart of the twentieth century behind the Iron Curtain. His life was marked by a commitment to peace having lived under the Nazi and Communist dictatorships. As we move forward into the future, we thank God for their outstanding witness to peace in the world.

We recently returned from our pilgrimage with young adults in the Holy Land. That troubled land has, at its heart, a city whose name means ‘Vision of Peace’ – Jerusalem.

There were remarkable scenes as our young pilgrims clearly began to reflect on the vocation of that holy but conflicted place, called by God from eternity, to become not only a witness to peace today but the sign of God’s heavenly homeland. Young Christians are called to be the most profound agents of peace. Not held back by the grudges and bitterness of life, they demonstrate to each of us that inner freedom and radical dedication to the Gospel by which peace can be born in the heart. When joined with justice in troubled places, they can truly establish ‘peace of earth.’

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respond. The evenings tend to last for a couple of hours, during which we have time with one another and time for prayer and contemplation.

Lectio Divina can help us to pull apart the stories we know so well to see how God is calling us each individually.

Lectio Divina helps you build a vital bridge between your encounters with God and the joys, noise and challenges of everyday life.

The next Lectio Divina evening is on 9 December; starting at 7.30pm from Centre for Youth Ministry, Euston. We look forward to welcoming you.

Architectural drawings of SPEC’s new residential retreat block

The last few years for SPEC have been years of change and also years of blessings. Since January 2011 we have been preparing, and waiting, for our move to new premises at Waxwell Farm in Pinner, which finally happened in March this year. During those three years we have sought, through prayer, discernment and action, to develop our community life from being somewhat ‘accidental’ towards being ‘intentional’. We hope to provide an environment where the community, in particular the volunteer missionaries, can be formed in faith and supported in their journey to holiness. This has, in turn, fed into our ministry both through the retreats we run but also the witness of young adults striving to live, with joy, an authentically Catholic life as

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brothers and sisters in Christ.

Blessings indeed.

Having settled into our new home, we now look ahead to

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the next stage of the journey.

Spring 2015 should be marked by the breaking of ground and the laying of the physical foundations as the building of our new residential retreat block begins. Thus we hope to recommence residential retreats

by September 2016, always remembering the truth that we ‘are God’s building…….Everyone doing the building must work carefully. For the foundation, nobody can lay any other than the one which has already been laid, that is Jesus Christ.’

(I Corinthians 9-11)

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News

Westminster Record | December 2014/January 2015

Cardinal Vincent Visits Gaza

D

uring the diocesan pilgrimage to the Holy Land, Cardinal Vincent took a detour on Sunday 23 November to visit the Catholic parish of the Holy Family in Gaza. He celebrated Mass and met parishioners in Gaza City.

On this, his first trip to Gaza, Cardinal Vincent expressed his shock at the extent of the damage. He said, 'I was told that more or less 50% of homes have been damaged or destroyed.'

The Cardinal also expressed his dismay at the 'endemic poverty of the people'.

Prior to the Mass, the Cardinal visited an orphanage run by the Sisters of Charity of Blessed Teresa, who care for 38 children and babies. He also visited the Rosary School, run by the Sisters of the Rosary, for approximately 800 pupils, most of whom are Muslim.

During the homily, Cardinal Vincent conveyed to the parishioners in Gaza the greetings and support of Pope Francis. He also told them of the support and prayers of all the pilgrims who had accompanied him

to the Holy Land, along with the prayers of all those in English and Wales.

The Cardinal acknowledged, 'I see how difficult life is, how hard it is to maintain your dignity, your family life. I do want you to know that you are not forgotten, that this reality is understood and is a source of great sadness, especially for those who share our Christian faith.'

He went on to say, 'At the heart of our Christian faith is the virtue of hope. Our hope comes from our sure knowledge that Jesus is our Lord and leads us to a future peace. It is a hope for peace that never dies in our hearts.'

He then added, 'I would like to thank you for the witness of your kindness to your neighbours during August when you welcomed them into this place. What you do is a testimony to Christ, the Prince of peace.'

In a reflection which he recorded during the visit, Cardinal Vincent asked all to 'please keep the people of Gaza very much in your minds and prayers.'

St Joseph’s and St Dominic's Work Together

Book Review: Dead Gorgeous

by Elizabeth Flynn

DT and Art students from St Dominic’s Catholic Sixth Form and children from St Joseph’s Primary school came together in the Summer term to work on a mural based on the theme 'family of faith'. The project was designed to link all levels of Catholic education in the local area and includes the crests from St Joseph’s, Salvatorian, Sacred Heart and St Dominic’s.

This gave them an excellent opportunity for leadership as well as giving something back to the community. The students did this project outside of their curriculum and in their free time.

The mural designs were inspired by the St Joseph’s Parish Church altar backdrop.

Dead Gorgeous is the second in a series of DI Angela Costello mysteries by Elizabeth Flynn, who is well known to many of the regular pilgrims who join the annual diocesan pilgrimage to Lourdes.

DI Costello may seem to be a somewhat unusual 21st century fictional detective. In a context that is largely secular, she is overtly Catholic. The portrayal of her family life contrasts sharply with the hedonistic and empty lives of the victim and her associates who move about in the fashion world.

As the team investigates the murder of Kirsty Manners, Costello shows a quietly confident leadership style that demonstrates empathy and caring for her team. Her interviews with suspects are polite and measured, rather than the more belligerent approach we have become accustomed to seeing in fictional detectives. She makes it clear to them that she sees the individual behind the mask they choose to wear, which in some instances disarms them into revealing more than they had planned.

This is not to suggest that the novel offers heavy psychological analyses; rather,

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it takes a lighter and sometimes more humane approach to seeing people as they are.

The climax even features an unusual plot twist where Costello’s faith ‘saves’ her.

There is no preaching anywhere; just the lived example of a Catholic doing her best to live her professional vocation.

After the excesses of the holiday have set in, if you’re

looking for an engaging diversion from the usual Christmas repeats, Dead Gorgeous offers one alternative.

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Holy Land

Westminster Record | December 2014/January 2015

Holy Land

Westminster Record | December 2014/January 2015

Cardinal Leads Pilgrims in Jesus’s Footsteps

I

n November, Cardinal Vincent led the diocesan pilgrimage to the Holy Land. Now in its fourth year, the pilgrimage visited all the major sites associated with Jesus and his ministry. The main pilgrimage was this year joined by a parallel Youth pilgrimage. Although they visited most of the same sites, the Youth pilgrims also took time out to visit Yad Vashem, the Holocaust memorial in Jerusalem, with the Cardinal.

The pilgrimage began with a boat trip on the Sea of Galilee, the scene of first encounter

Mass at the Mount of the Beatitudes

Yad Vashem

Mass in Church of St Catherine between Jesus and His Disciples, followed by a trip to the Mount of the Beatitudes, and then a visit to Taghba and the Primacy of Peter.

The second day saw the pilgrims heading to Nazareth to visit the Church of the Annunciation and then on it was to Mount Tabor, scene of the Transfiguration. Fr John Farrell OP, who gave daily reflections, remarked that it was here that Jesus’s ministry took a different direction as He mentioned His Passion for the first time.

The day ended memorably

with a visit to Cana, scene of Jesus’s first miracle. The married couples renewed their marriage vows and the pilgrims prayed for those among the group who were widowed and the loved ones they had lost.

With a slight alteration of the itinerary, the third day saw the pilgrims visit Jerusalem to visit some of the sites associated with the Lord’s Passion. On this day, the Youth pilgrimage, led by Cardinal Vincent, went separately to visit the Holocaust memorial of Yad Vashem in what was for all a very solemn and poignant afternoon.

The following day, there was an interlude took the pilgrims into the Desert, with a visit to the Dead Sea and to the Jordan River where everyone renewed their Baptismal promises.

The pilgrims then returned to Jerusalem to continue their journey with Jesus on the Way of the Cross and stopping to visit the site of the Crucifixion and Jesus’s burial.

Whilst the pilgrimage then proceeded to Bethlehem, Cardinal Vincent stayed in Jerusalem in preparation for his first visit to Gaza on Sunday to celebrate Mass with Holy

Cardinal blesses pilgrims with water from Jordan

Family Parish in Gaza City.

Meanwhile, on Sunday, each of the pilgrimage groups was hosted by a parish in Bethlehem: the main pilgrimage was welcomed by Beit Jala parish, whilst the Youth pilgrimage celebrated Mass with parishioners at Beit Sahour.

Whilst in Bethlehem the pilgrims also visited the places associated with Jesus’s birth.

They also took time out to find out about the work of Friends of the Holy Land as well as visit with Christians of the Holy Land.

Cardinal kneels at the altar of the Grotto of the Annunciation

Gethsemane Page 12

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Page 13

Holy Land

Westminster Record | December 2014/January 2015

Holy Land

Westminster Record | December 2014/January 2015

Cardinal Leads Pilgrims in Jesus’s Footsteps

I

n November, Cardinal Vincent led the diocesan pilgrimage to the Holy Land. Now in its fourth year, the pilgrimage visited all the major sites associated with Jesus and his ministry. The main pilgrimage was this year joined by a parallel Youth pilgrimage. Although they visited most of the same sites, the Youth pilgrims also took time out to visit Yad Vashem, the Holocaust memorial in Jerusalem, with the Cardinal.

The pilgrimage began with a boat trip on the Sea of Galilee, the scene of first encounter

Mass at the Mount of the Beatitudes

Yad Vashem

Mass in Church of St Catherine between Jesus and His Disciples, followed by a trip to the Mount of the Beatitudes, and then a visit to Taghba and the Primacy of Peter.

The second day saw the pilgrims heading to Nazareth to visit the Church of the Annunciation and then on it was to Mount Tabor, scene of the Transfiguration. Fr John Farrell OP, who gave daily reflections, remarked that it was here that Jesus’s ministry took a different direction as He mentioned His Passion for the first time.

The day ended memorably

with a visit to Cana, scene of Jesus’s first miracle. The married couples renewed their marriage vows and the pilgrims prayed for those among the group who were widowed and the loved ones they had lost.

With a slight alteration of the itinerary, the third day saw the pilgrims visit Jerusalem to visit some of the sites associated with the Lord’s Passion. On this day, the Youth pilgrimage, led by Cardinal Vincent, went separately to visit the Holocaust memorial of Yad Vashem in what was for all a very solemn and poignant afternoon.

The following day, there was an interlude took the pilgrims into the Desert, with a visit to the Dead Sea and to the Jordan River where everyone renewed their Baptismal promises.

The pilgrims then returned to Jerusalem to continue their journey with Jesus on the Way of the Cross and stopping to visit the site of the Crucifixion and Jesus’s burial.

Whilst the pilgrimage then proceeded to Bethlehem, Cardinal Vincent stayed in Jerusalem in preparation for his first visit to Gaza on Sunday to celebrate Mass with Holy

Cardinal blesses pilgrims with water from Jordan

Family Parish in Gaza City.

Meanwhile, on Sunday, each of the pilgrimage groups was hosted by a parish in Bethlehem: the main pilgrimage was welcomed by Beit Jala parish, whilst the Youth pilgrimage celebrated Mass with parishioners at Beit Sahour.

Whilst in Bethlehem the pilgrims also visited the places associated with Jesus’s birth.

They also took time out to find out about the work of Friends of the Holy Land as well as visit with Christians of the Holy Land.

Cardinal kneels at the altar of the Grotto of the Annunciation

Gethsemane Page 12

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Page 13

Social Action

Westminster Record | December 2014/January 2015

Cardinal calls on Parliament to take a lead from Catholic social action

C

ardinal Vincent addressed the CSAN Parliamentary Reception on 5 November 2014 in the Terrace Pavilion in the House of Commons. The annual event was this year hosted by Eric Ollerenshaw MP with addresses from the Cardinal and the Rt Hon Eric Pickles, Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government and Minister for Faith. It was attended by over 170 parliamentarians and representatives from leading Catholic charities and faithbased agencies.

In his address, the Cardinal called on MPs and Lords to learn from the Church’s handson approach to tackling the reality of poverty in the UK through its many charities, such as CSAN, the SVP and the Cardinal Hume Centre.

He said: ‘A crucial part of serving society, whether

Page 14

through the calling of politics or through the Church, is to face the reality before us. This is where rhetoric ends, where philosophy gives way to reality, where dogmatism gets its hands dirty. For us this is what being a Church of the poor and for the poor really means. Our self-awareness is sharp; our sense of purpose is clear. Perhaps governments could take a lead from this too.’

As well as addressing the wider concerns, the Cardinal also spoke of the impact of zero-hour contracts, the limitations of a minimum wage and the discrepancy between incomes and basic living costs, stating that work must be properly paid if families are to find a way out of poverty.

He finally thanked CSAN and its partners for the ‘extraordinary work’ that they

do across England and Wales to improve the lives of many thousands of people.

Eric Pickles told attendees that it is important for charities to challenge politicians on issues of social injustice. He said: 'It is good for us, it is good to have the challenge, it is good to be continuously tested – as you’ve tested us on foodbanks, as you’ve said various things on the spare room subsidy... The voice of the Catholic Church for people who are on a lower-level of income than any of us would want, is a powerful voice that I would encourage.'

Praising Catholics for their roles in British society, he continued, 'it is impossible, utterly impossible, to think about Great Britain today without a vibrant, prominent Catholic community...Catholics in this country make Great Britain what it is.'

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The Cardinal’s address can be read at: http://rcdow.org.uk /att/files/cardinal's+csan+ad dress+nov+'14.pdf

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News

Westminster Record | December 2014/January 2015

Parishioners Sleep out for Homeless Charity For the second year, parishioners from Catholic Churches in Westminster Diocese joined other faiths, politicians, socialites and local residents to sleep out on 10 October in Duke of York Square. The ‘Sleep Out’ raised over £115,000 to keep West London Churches Homeless Concern operating the largest chain of night shelters in London. These shelters are provided at two different Churches each night of the week throughout winter. An open door policy is central, so no referral from Councils or Government is needed. The

The Shelter Project Hounslow

By Paola Greco As the cold weather sets in and the winter chill descends, the people who experience most the harshness of the drop in temperature are the homeless. Around this time of year, there are cases of cold-related illness such as hypothermia and even death.

The Shelter Project Hounslow (TSPH), an ecumenical collaboration, is just one example of concern for the homeless during the increasingly harsh British winters. It ran for the first time from 8 January to 31 March 2011, a particularly harsh winter with snow and severe weather conditions.

Over those 80 nights, 46 male homeless guests from 10 different nations were able to sleep in a warm and safe environment.

TSPH aims to deliver winter night respite to the homeless who are found sleeping rough in our neighbourhoods. The scheme involves seven or more

Christian churches opening their doors one night per week each to offer food and overnight accommodation. Only guests who are referred by established agencies, such as St Mungo’s Ealing and Acton Homeless Concern, who work with the homeless are accepted. TSPH especially welcome those with no recourse to public funds who are destitute and potentially vulnerable, The shelter work is entirely carried out by volunteers from the participating churches and as well as neighbouring parishes who may not have the required facilities to host a night shelter. Last year, some 200 volunteers gained first-hand experience working in the shelter, which they will share with newcomers to the project this year.

The shelters are open from 8pm each evening, with three shifts of volunteers offering a hot supper, overnight accommodation and breakfast the next morning before guests

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shelters take homeless of all faiths and no faith.

Daniel Kaminski, from Our Lady of Victories Church, Kensington, formed a group of ten parishioners to take part in the sleep out.

Everybody remarked afterwards what an insight it gives about the difficulties of sleeping rough – the weather, the hard pavements, the eternal noise and the rejection by many ordinary people.

Please support WLCHC by donating online at http://www.wlchc.org

Silver Jubilee Concert for Westminster Lourdes Pilgrimage

depart by 8 am with a bus pass to enable them to go from one shelter to the next. A cleaning team then moves in to tidy up and prepare church facilities for their services and other activities.

In 2013 six churches opened their doors as a shelter in the scheme. To date, an additional three churches have joined those six and it is hoped that a further two will confirm their involvement as venues. In June 2013, the project was nominated for and won the Hounslow Charity of the Year award, along with a cheque for £2,000, which will be put towards the ongoing work of the shelters.

Participating Churches: St Paul’s Parish Church, Brentford (Anglican) St Michael’s & St Martin’s RC Church, Hounslow Christ Church Turnham Green, Chiswick Our Lady of Grace RC Church, Chiswick St John the Baptist Church, Isleworth (Anglican) Hounslow Evangelical Church Hounslow Methodist Church Brentford Free Church Holy Trinity Church, Hounslow (Anglican) St Michael’s Sutton Court, Chiswick (Anglican)

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The Silver Jubilee Concert for Westminster Lourdes took place at Our Lady of Victories Church, Kensington, on Friday 21 November. The concert was in aid of the Westminster Annual Diocesan Pilgrimage to Lourdes, which will take place next year from Sunday 26 July to Saturday 1 August.

The UCLU Music Society, conducted by Charles Peebles, performed pieces by Franz Schubert and James McMillan.

The highlight of the evening came when the Symphony Orchestra and Chorus joined together to perform Schubert’s Mass No. 6 in E Flat Minor D950.

Bishop John Sherrington attended the concert and thanked all those that had

supported the concert and made it possible. He reminded us of the value of the pilgrimage for all who attend: ‘For those who come to walk with the malades, it is often they who are served and receive far more than they give. For the malades it is a time of being with the Lord and knowing the assistance of Our Blessed Lady who asks her Son to help them.’

The funds raised in support of the Pilgrimage will enable the neediest in our diocese to experience Lourdes in our care.

The concert has raised £5,000 for the pilgrimage so far, but it is still possible to make a donation by contacting: geralddaly@rcdow.org.uk Page 15

CAFOD The Philippines – One year on from Typhoon Haiyan

T

yphoon Haiyan hit the Philippines in the early hours of 8 November 2013 with winds of up to 170mph, affecting 14 million people. 6,000 people lost their lives, five million people lost their homes and 33 million coconut trees were destroyed – the main source of income for many.

Over £670,000 was given to CAFOD’s Philippines Typhoon Appeal in the Diocese of Westminster alone.

This has helped provide food, water, sanitation, permanent homes and fishing boats, as well as helping people who lost everything make a living again in the year since the storm struck.

CAFOD’s Philippines Typhoon Appeal raised £5.4 million in total, and by working alongside local partners, the Catholic charity has reached more than 135,000 people so far.

Westminster Record | December 2014/January 2015

Dates for your Diary Saturday, 6 December – Nativity Run - CAFOD have teamed up with Innovation Sports to hold our annual Nativity Run.

One of the affected families was that of Prospero and Elena Abuama, who live on the Guiuan peninsula, the first place to be hit by the typhoon.

Elena said: ‘We were so scared.

There was a terrifying noise, like a whistling and then boom, our roof fell down on the kitchen table where we were hiding and rain was pouring in. The storm lasted six hours.

We thought we were about to die.’

Thanks to donations to CAFOD, Prospero and Elena have moved into a new home, specially designed to withstand future typhoons. Prospero said: ‘Our new house is better than our old house. I helped design it and I wanted it to be simple and strong. It’s a good house and we’re happy. My message to people who donated is simply, thank you.’

Find out more at cafod.org.uk/philippines

Join us for 5k, 10k or a festive toddle around Clapham Common dressed as Mary, a Shepherd, an Angel, or any other nativity character, before warming up with a mince pie and fairtrade hot drink!

To book, go to cafod.org.uk/nativityrun

Saturday, 24 January 2015 – Understanding CAFOD Day – CAFOD’s annual day for anyone wanting to learn more CAFOD and how to get involved. Held in Amigo Hall, London SE1.

Romila, 37, was eight months pregnant when the typhoon hit. When her house began to collapse, she and her husband raced through the storm to take shelter in the local church. All they had left was the towel she was holding, some wet clothes and one pot.

Book online at ucd2015.eventbrite.co.uk

St Patrick’s, Wapping, celebrate the tenth year of their kitchen garden

Honey, pumpkins and hot pumpkin soup on sale at the last weekly kitchen garden sale of the year at St Patricks, Wapping. ©Lance Lawlor Smith

Page 16

The parishioners at St Patrick’s, Wapping, are continuing their incredible work supporting CAFOD, as their kitchen garden enters its tenth year. The garden enjoyed a bumper harvest this year, with the bees performing especially well.

Lance Lawlor Smith, who helps run the garden, said: ‘Our bees have produced about 240 jars of delicious raw honey which has then been triple filtered to give a rare clarity and has, by the way, an exquisite taste! (To put this in context, last year we produced just 21 jars of honey). The recent very mild weather has kept them out and about, when they should be settling down for hibernation.’

Far from resting on their success, the group is already working hard to prepare for the New Year, tidying, sweeping leaves, mulching

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vegetable beds and sowing new garlic, onions and broad beans before November is out and the weather turns.

A kitchen garden is an excellent way for church communities to live simply.

To find out more ways in which your parish can live simply visit livesimplyaward.org.uk Get ready for Christmas with CAFOD’s World Gifts As we enter the season of Advent, it is the perfect time for us to be thankful for all that we have. CAFOD’s World Gifts help make a real difference to people living in developing communities around the world.

Go to worldgifts.cafod.org.uk to find out more.

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CAFOD

Westminster Record | December 2014/January 2015

Bishop John visits Cambodia and Palestinian Territories with CAFOD In October, Bishop John Arnold visited Cambodia and the Palestinian Territories to observe the work of CAFOD and in its partners in the regions.

In excerpts from his journal, Bishop John shares some of his experiences: mineral extraction and deforestation.

The contrasts to be seen These are the problems that here in Phnom Penh are at make up the chorus in just once both fascinating and about every country I visit distressing. The new wealth with CAFOD. What gives me has clearly transformed the hope is that at least these lives of, say, 20% of the problems are now being population. For the rest, life is recognised, measured, lived on the streets, from the discussed and addressed. It countless eating places, to shops that spill out their goods will take time but the direction onto the pavement down to the is right.

A visit with the Apostolic destitute who beg and sleep Vicar for Phnom Penh, there. emphasized the missionary While the default character of this country. There expression is a broad smile, are just 70 secular priests, of there is plenty of evidence of which only five are native civil unrest. Even while I have Cambodians.

There are now been in the city there have five Cambodian seminarians been demonstrations about beginning studies this year, land concessions, the and 20,000 Catholics in the minimum wage and housing. country, 80% of whom are The peace so badly needed Vietnamese. here is fragile.

On the fourth day, it was on There is good news, too.

The economy is booming at an to Siem Reap, the ancient capital founded on the site of average growth of 7% per Angkor. The temples are all annum. The challenge is to that remain. The city has the make sure that the boom highest average wealth of improves everyone's lives.

Cambodian cities but its The rights of the provincial inhabitants are the indigenous are being poorest. recognised but, for the Our first call was to a moment, the process of CAFOD partner which works recognition is too costly and in rural areas for women's cumbersome for most groups. education, rights and There is an awareness of the development. need to protect the In the countryside we environment but that conflicts with the legal demands of land stopped at a large field which a concessions already granted to particular group of women had purchased (with help from multi-nationals and the CAFOD and partner). The difficulties of monitoring

Cambodia

women have been taught simple intensive farming methods, which they use to produce crops of vegetables which they trade in local markets.

We heard stories about how their lives are improved. One of the women has made US$160 for herself and her family this year - a princely sum. Her husband’s pay is at subsistence level so this extra cash makes a world of difference.

The following day I met my host Red, a man who lost both legs from an anti-personnel device, a land mine. He now works with amputees and disabled people. The Khmer Rouge left mine fields in vast numbers and people are still losing limbs to undetected mines, 101 so far this year.

We went on to the militarized zone near the Thai border to visit one of his districts which has 900 amputees. The military have offered no compensation and these amputees live with their families in poverty. Red's work is to supply toilets and wheelchairs and to help them to develop a livelihood.

We arrived back to visit the Centre for Reflection, used for reconciliation, peace-building and interfaith understanding.

There were several little 'shrines' where statues depict biblical scenes and invite thought and discussion. The one I found most moving was the figure of Christ kneeling before an amputee who is saying ‘I have no foot for you to wash’. Given what I have seen today, it took my breath away.

Palestinian Territories

Cambodian women sharing farming success stories

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It is the first time that I am visiting CAFOD work in a place that I have been several times before, as a tourist and a pilgrim. I have, of course, known about the political tensions and the tragic history but I did not have any real experience of what is going on.

Our host on the first day was a Palestinian Catholic who Follow us on Twitter at: twitter.com/RCWestminster

Life in Gaza in the aftermath of the conflict

works to defend victims of human rights and legal violations. The present problems are mostly concerned with the withdrawal of residency rights to Palestinians living in Jerusalem, the demolition of Palestinian houses in the greater Jerusalem area, the refusal or delays in permits for construction, and the expulsion of peoples, notably the Bedouin, from Israeli occupied zones.

Our guide took us into the Old City, with all the excitement of narrow streets bursting with shops and tradesmen. At the intersection of the Jewish, Moslem and Armenian quarters, it was very clear to see the new buildings of the Jewish quarter - built after widespread and controversial demolition of streets near the Wailing Wall of the Temple Mount. About 100 yards into the Moslem quarter, on the roof of other buildings, a new housing project was in progress, clearly for settlers.

The process of housing 'creep' was there in front of our eyes.

The following day we met with representatives of Yesh Din, an organization of men and women, both Palestinians and Israelis, which provides civilian oversight over law enforcement in the Occupied Territories. Its work deals with the issues such as due process rights for Palestinians and the Israeli Military courts, and improving Palestinian access to privately-owned land. They also deploy civilian volunteers to monitor and document abuses, advocacy, litigation and the publication of reports based on their hands-on experience.

We went to three different homes in the occupied territories near Hebron where we heard some difficult stories, the content of which made for a very depressing day. The remarkable people of Yesh Din and those who told us their stories displayed no anger, just a determination and a hope that things will change.

The following day it was on to Gaza, where we saw some of the worst bomb-damaged areas of the Old City. Gaza is 26 miles long and just seven miles wide at its broadest and three miles at its narrowest.

Two million people live here, with 70% being under 25.

The poverty of the extensive, long-term refugee camps emphasises the sense of a continuous struggle just to get by. The estimates are that, at the current rate, the rebuilding of Gaza after the war will take at least fifteen years.

On our last day, in Taybeh, we visited Michel Sabah, the retired Latin Patriarch. It was apparent to us all that we were in the presence of a holy man.

He admitted all the difficulties and the obstacles to peace but he is quietly confident that peace will come.

Now back home, I realise how very different the two parts of the trip have been.

There is so much to be done in Cambodia and the peace is fragile; but there is an energy of change and progress. It did not feel like that in the Occupied Palestinian Territories. I can only admire the people that we meet for their determination despite the lack of progress – and indeed, the setbacks of the war.

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Social Action Million Minutes launches programme to welcome youth

C

aritas Westminster is working with Million Minutes to launch their new Courtyard programme to help young people who are at risk of falling between the cracks and are at risk of social exclusion.

At the heart of the programme is the belief that God creates every human being with a holy purpose and that the Catholic Church exists to help people discover their purpose. A complete Catholic understanding of youth work

needs to engage young people who live beyond the visible community of the church, addressing their real needs and helping them realise their dignity and God-given potential. Courtyard invites young people to an encounter with the Church without any expectation that they join or make an open-ended commitment. It will enable young people to use their own experiences and talents to devise the right project for them so they become the principle means of transformation in their own lives.

Why does such a project need to happen? Over 15% of all 16-24 year olds in the UK are currently NEETs (not in education, employment or training). That percentage equates to nearly a million young people who are currently missing out on growing towards their full potential. When education or

employment opportunities are not an option for so many young people, there is a real danger that they will lose hope and stop actively participating in society. The Church is present in every neighbourhood and each parish has the potential to transform young people's lives by supporting them as they discover a sense of purpose.

If the programme is adopted widely, Million Minutes believe there will be immeasurable benefits. In each of the three pilot parishes in the Dioceses of Westminster, Southwark and Salford, the youth workers will work with a minimum of 16 young people and train eight volunteers. This will involve more young people through activity that the core group creates whilst educating those attending Mass about the importance of accompanying the young.

Westminster Record | December 2014/January 2015

Connect@ Brings Caritas St Joseph’s to Hounslow Nearer to home there is marginalisation and sometimes exclusion of individuals from full participation in society and the life of the Church. This is sadly a common experience for people with intellectual disabilities. The Work of Caritas St Joseph’s (formerly known as St Joseph’s Pastoral Centre) is well known throughout the Diocese for providing a vibrant activity centre, outreach and sacramental preparation support to those with intellectual disabilities and their families.

A significant milestone in this important area of outreach is the development of a Connect@ Centre in Hounslow Parish Centre

scheduled for launch in early 2015. As a satellite centre of Caritas St Joseph’s, it will offer local people with intellectual disabilities access to courses and workshops for lifelong learning. The Connect@ Centre is holding a jamboree on the 10 January to showcase the workshops that will be offered.

Gail Williams, the Centre Manager at Caritas St Joseph’s ‘The Connect@ Centre will offer the wider community an opportunity to walk with people with intellectual disabilities along the path to reaching their full potential, and so help them to find their unique place in the society.’

Caring for Victims of Human Trafficking

© Mazur/catholicnews.org.uk

For more information please contact Gail on gailw@stjoseph.org.uk

Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe signs the Santa Marta commitment to combat human trafficking

The offensive attack on human dignity in our society through the scandal of human trafficking is something Caritas Westminster is at the forefront of addressing.

Caritas Westminster together with the Bishops’ Conference and the Metropolitan Police, have started a new initiative to create a support centre in London. Caritas Bakhita House will offer support to victims of human trafficking and their families to help them to Page 18

rebuild their lives. It is planned that the centre will open next year with a focus on pastoral care, education, reintegration and prevention. This initiative follows the Santa Marta commitment to prioritise efforts to combat human trafficking made by the Pope and international police chiefs in April.

Commenting on the initiative, John Coleby, Director of Caritas Westminster said ‘By working together we can get support to

victims at the earliest possible point. In turn this will help the police to identify and prosecute more perpetrators because victims are being safely supported. By working with international, national and local Catholic networks, police forces, parishes , Caritas organisations, NGO’s and religious congregations- this project will make visible the universal dimension and solidarity which exists among Catholics and other people of goodwill who wish to rid the world of this crime.’

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Social Action

Westminster Record | December 2014/January 2015

Everyone is called to Justice and Peace

By Jenna Colaco Year 10, Our Lady’s Convent High School The Justice and Peace Commission visited Our Lady’s Convent in Hackney on 2 October. One student writes: On Monday, the whole of Year 10 took part in various

workshops ranging from issues connected to climate change, human trafficking, homelessness and asylum seekers, Pax Christi, Catholic Workers and Fairtrade. These workshops challenged us as Christians to think of ways that we can help others who are in need.

Catholics Workers is an organisation that has houses of hospitality that can give 25 homeless people a place to stay, many of whom are very lonely and have nowhere else to go. Unpaid volunteers help these people, knowing their only reward is the satisfaction of knowing that they have

helped someone.

We learnt about asylum seekers and how they do not have many rights in this country e.g. cannot work, buy or rent a home and even marry. We discovered that when it comes to all the foods we eat, many are imported from other countries where

people are not paid a fair wage. For example, a banana costs 30p in the UK. The farmer who works for 12-14 hours and works with pesticides that can cause cancer is only given 1p of that money.

Overall, these workshops taught us that there is injustice and unrest all over the world and as fellow humans, we have a call to help the people that are most vulnerable. Like all the volunteers from all the various workshops, they spend their time dedicated to making a difference. As St Paul says: ‘We are all part of the one Body of Christ so we must not ignore the needs of others who require our support.’ Maybe we should all aspire to be a generation that cares for those around us.

Justice and Peace organises these days as requested in schools. Contact justice@rcdow.org.uk

Missio and Pan Africa Catholic Community in solidarity with Ebola sufferers

Justice and Peace has a new Youth Worker

Many members of the Pan Africa Catholic Community have family and friends in Africa who know first-hand the daily struggle against Ebola. At the end of their recent Mass, celebrated by Bishop Patrick Lynch SSCC, they had a spontaneous collection to raise funds to support communities in Africa. They raised over £600, which they have asked Missio, the Pope’s official charity for overseas mission, to ensure gets to those who need it.

Sierra Leone relies on the Church as a major provider of health services. Bishop Henry Aruna, National Director of Missio in Sierra Leone, says, ‘The Mission Hospitals are overwhelmed by the sheer volume of sick and dying people arriving every day. It is not only the sick and the dying who need our assistance, but the children who are orphaned and the elderly who have no one to care for them.’

Another major issue is that bodies have to be cremated.

This is counter-cultural, and Bishop Henry explains that

Dervila McMorrow joined the Justice and Peace Commission at the beginning of October to further their work in schools and youth groups. From Donegal in Ireland, Dervila spent last year working with the Vincentians in homeless projects in Salford, and has a vision of how young people can contribute to making their world a better place through practical schemes such as Fairtrade, and service projects.

With an MA in Pastoral Administration from All Hallows College, Dublin, Dervila has witnessed the ‘Francis effect’ on young people, and is keen to turn Catholic Social Teaching into a reality for them. Already we hear her frequent mantra ‘I like to keep busy!’ In 3 weeks she has visited 3 deaneries, helped with one schools’ day and attended a national Fairtrade conference.

If you would like to arrange for her to give talks and workshops in schools or youth and confirmation groups, please contact: justice@rcdow.org.uk

Representatives of the Pan African Catholic Chaplaincy presenting Canon Cronin with a cheque for Missio’s work in Makeni Diocese, Sierra Leone.

the Church has a major role in reassuring relatives that this process is proper in such circumstances.

‘The major factor of the escalation of the infection is ignorance and denial. We are using our Missio-funded station, Radio Maria, to inform people of the facts about Ebola and how to prevent it. We are also teaching classes via Radio

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Maria for children whose primary and secondary schools have had to close to avoid the spread of the disease.’

Two missionaries in Bishop Henry’s diocese of Makeni, a Priest and a Brother of the Nursing Order of St John of God at the Mission hospital in Lunsar, have died, contracting Ebola in the course of their missionary service.

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Bishop Henry asks that the Catholic community continues their support: ‘The diocese and the country need all the support we can get to continue our work of giving hope and addressing the Ebola crisis. Thank you for your continued support.’

Donations can be made by calling 020 7821 9755 during office hours, or via www.missio.org.uk

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Marriage and Family Life

Westminster Record | December 2014/January 2015

Meet Maria O’Brien

Considering Pyschology from a Catholic Perspective Jane Deegan, a team member from the ‘Smart Loving’ marriage enrichment programme, describes the growing importance of understanding psychology from a Catholic perspective.

In October I attended the Annual Catholic Psychotherapy Association (CPA) Conference in the USA. Both the Office for Marriage and Family and St Mary Moorfields parish (where my husband and I facilitate marriage preparation) sponsored my attendance so that cutting edge thinking and insights on psychology from a Catholic perspective can enhance our ongoing work with engaged and married couples. I was very impressed by the staff I met at the Institute of Psychological Sciences (IPS).

The conference, on the theme of ‘Witnesses to Hope: Catholic Anthropology as the Foundation for Psychological Practice’, began with a day of prayer and a tour of the beautiful Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington DC, where the opening Mass was celebrated

by Bishop Paul Loverde of Arlington Diocese. Each day began with the Rosary and

opportunities for Mass and Confession.

With great skill, both from a practical and clinical perspective, the speakers provided useful insights. I am not a psychotherapist; my background is in law and theology, with particular emphasis on marriage and family work, but I found the presentations interesting and inspiring. The human person is a very complex being, as are all interpersonal relationships, particularly those of marriage and family. To love and help married couples and families, it is crucial to have an

understanding of the human person within the Catholic anthropological worldview and to understand how the truth of revelation can inform the sciences and vice versa. It is important to consider therefore all dimensions: the spiritual, the psychological, the emotional, the physical and biological, and the social. For too long the norm has been to study each in total isolation, with many psychological theories lacking in their methodology the central reference point of God as Creator and Father, and the

reality of human nature as created, fallen, and yet redeemed. Redressing this imbalance is the particular mission of the IPS and the Catholic Psychotherapy Association.

The Holy Spirit, as ever, seems to have gone ahead of the Synod at a grass roots level.

It was not by chance either, that my first day of travel coincided with the first feast day of St John Paul II who, many years ago, called upon Catholic scientists, psychotherapists, and theologians to begin and further such an enterprise. The volunteer organisers of the CPA worked tirelessly to make the event the success and blessing that it truly was. I was struck and humbled by the strong sense of discipleship among the psychologists and psychotherapists I met.

The 2015 conference will be in Nebraska, with a specific focus on the family. For more information on the IPS, go to www.ipssciences.edu

Meet Mary McGhee

Cardinal Vincent Addresses CMA Conference for Healthcare Students

The inaugural Catholic Medical Association Conference for Healthcare Students took place at Westminster Cathedral Hall on 8 November. The opening address was given by Cardinal Vincent who spoke on the new evangelization, following the example set by Pope Francis in Evangelii Gaudium.

Page 20

As a first step, he encouraged them to maintain a life of prayer and contemplation: ‘As healthcare students, you can certainly be contemplatives, your gaze fixed adoringly on the face of Jesus; yet that doesn’t mean your contemplation follows the pattern or a Carthusian monk or Carmelite nun.’

The Cardinal acknowledged the challenges they face: ‘As evangelists in the world of healthcare you confront incredibly complex ethical questions. You need to give strong and courageous witness to the inviolable and intrinsic worth of every human life from conception to natural end. You will, and already do, face determined and sometimes aggressive opposition. Never let this deter you from engaging in debates about euthanasia, abortion, fertility, the just provision of care for all irrespective of financial means, age, or illness.’

He also spoke about the need to proclaim joy in sadness: ‘You will encounter people enduring great suffering. Here your privileged vocation is to manifest “the Gospel radiant with the glory of the Cross”: the Cross that bestows joy by effecting a healing beyond any purely physical cure.’

‘As Christians in healthcare, be the healing touch of Jesus.

Release from captivity the sick who can suffer an acute sense of loneliness, even when surrounded by hospital staff and fellow patients. The way you relate to those in your care is extremely important. Love your patients. It’s never just some body before you with whom you tinker as if a crashed computer. Rather always before you is someone, a person, body and soul, made in God’s image.’

He concluded by pointing to ‘the constant need for evangelists to encounter Jesus afresh, to be ceaselessly evangelised by him. Yes, we are to be the presence of Christ for those suffering sickness.

However, in them we also encounter and tend Jesus’ wounds: though we may not always realise it!’

A transcript of the Cardinal’s address can be found at: http://rcdow.org.uk/cardinal /the-new-evangelization-therole-of-the-healthcarestudent/

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Maria O’Brien is the new Assistant in the Office for Marriage and Family Life.

Maria has always had an interest in theology, which she had studied at St Andrews University before working at Downside School where her husband was a teacher. More recently, for the past eight years, she has been raising three young children who are now all at St Vincent de Paul Primary School in Westminster.

Maria explains, ‘As a wife and mother, faith and family are at the centre of my life. I pray that God will make use of the talents he has given me to help support married couples and families throughout the diocese in their special vocation. The Church’s teachings on marriage and family life are beautiful and I am very grateful for the opportunity to return to work in such an exciting area at such a vital time. I hope that, through my new role, I can contribute positively to the Church’s mission.’

Mary McGhee has recently been appointed as the Local Development Officer for ‘Explore’, the charity that promotes marriage to secondary school students.

She’ll be working with schools and parishes across the Diocese to encourage more students and volunteer couples to take part in the programme.

The main purpose of ‘Explore’ is to offer them the real hope of a long-lasting, committed relationship in their future. Married couples volunteer to speak about their marriage in response to questions from the young people. For many young people, this is their first opportunity to ask questions about marriage.

For the couple it is an affirmation of their commitment and the work they put into their relationship. The feedback from students is always overwhelmingly positive and the schools that have participated in this programme are delighted with the response. To reach as many young people as possible, we need more volunteer married couples and other volunteers to help facilitate the sessions. If you would like to be involved or have any questions please contact: marymcghee@rcdow. org.uk or 07786737437.

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Vocations

Westminster Record | December 2014/January 2015

Sisters Hospitallers Celebrate Centenary of St Benedict Menni’s Death

O

n 25 October 2014, the Sisters Hospitallers of the Sacred Heart celebrated the centenary of the death of St Benedict Menni who founded the order. The Mass was celebrated by Bishop Nicholas at Our Lady of Dolours, Fulham Road.

In his homily, Bishop Nicholas reflected on the work of the order: 'I must say, I’m deeply touched to encounter the story of St Benedict Menni and of the Sisters and Brothers who have been inspired to follow him in the 20th and 21st centuries. It seems to me your story has extraordinarily prophetic value for our times.

St Benedict and Sister Josefa understood the need to care lovingly for people with dementia more than a century ago, while the rest of the world

By Rev Antony Curran So, did you already know the information above? If you didn’t, you might ask how did we find out this information? The answer to that question is easy: we asked a catechist. Parish catechists are called by God to make the Good News of Jesus known and to share the teachings of the Church with everyone in our parish communities. They are trained to help young and old to deepen and live their faith according to each person’s ability. Do you think you might like to train to be a volunteer parish catechist to help deepen your knowledge of the faith and also help others to know their faith?

Contact us to find out about the training and formation courses on offer to become a catechist: Agency for Evangelisation - Email: catadmin@rcdow.org.uk Tel: 020 7798 9150

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of healthcare for, and social exclusion of, the mentally ill of that period. Their work would combine two fundamental aspects: charity and science.

They formed the founding group that dedicated their lives to provide an answer for a profoundly neglected sector of society: the mentally ill. The Congregation’s mission embodies and expresses the charism of hospitality.

The Sisters Hospitallers devoted themselves to continue with Jesus’ mission to care for the mentally ill and the physically and mentally handicapped, with special attention for the poor, who are still forgotten and neglected. At present the Congregation is present in 27 countries, Europe, South America, Africa and Asia.

Religious Prepare for Year of Consecrated Life

I Never Knew That...

There are many Catholics who say that they do not know much about their faith or about the history of the Church to which they belong.

As you read this you might be thinking that you or someone you know are definitely in this category. For example, did you know…

• The word “Catholic” was first used by Ignatius of Antioch around the year A.D. 110. It is from the Greek word katholikos, which means “toward the whole.” Ignatius was suggesting that the Church is a gift offered by Christ to all people.

• Christian communities were united in one Church for the first 1,000 years. Formal schisms began to appear with the East-West Schism in 1054, and yet another divide took place in 1517 with the Protestant Reformation.

• The first printed Bible was printed under the supervision of the Catholic Church. It was printed by the Catholic inventor of the printing press: Johannes Gutenberg.

is only now waking up to this reality.'

Recalling the suffering and humiliation that St Benedict endured in his lifetime, Bishop Nicholas said, 'He offered them to the Lord for the salvation of souls. His whole life he made a consecration of the order to God, setting the Hospitaller project at the foot of the Cross.

And what a grace it has been for the world, for both the members of the order and for so many who have received help from its members.'

The Congregation of Sisters Hospitallers of the Sacred Heart of Jesus was founded in Ciempozuelos-Madrid (Spain) on 31 May 1881, by St. Benedict Menni, Priest of the Order of St. John of God, María Josefa Recio and María Angustias Giménez, who were chosen by God to provide a solution for the lack

On Saturday 15 November fifty Religious from various Congregations of the Westminster and Northampton Dioceses assembled at the Niland

Centre in Bushey to prepare for the celebration of the ‘Year of Consecrated Life’.

The theme for the day was ‘Untying the Knots and travelling onwards with The Joy of the Gospel’. The opening liturgy reflected on the untying of the knots that Pope Francis had to do. Each Religious then reflected on untying the knots in their own lives in preparation for the journey onwards.

The speakers were Father Gabriel Zsidi who reflected on Evangelii Gaudium and Sister Raymunda Jordan OP who reflected on Rejoice.

A special feature of the day was the presence of seven Daughters of St Paul who proactively are working with the Dominican Sisters at Bushey in recognition of their associated charisms: preaching the Word.

It was a lively and enjoyable day. One of the outcomes was that a core group of Religious was set up to reflect on and plan the next steps emerging from the day for the ongoing celebration of The Year of Consecrated Life within the Dioceses of Westminster and Northampton.

For more information on vocations please contact Fr Richard Nesbitt richardnesbitt@rcdow.org.uk or 020 7349 5624 If you have a story or an event you would like to have featured on this page, please contact communications@rcdow.org.uk or 020 7798 9030

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Page 21

Saints & Obituaries

Westminster Record | December 2014/January 2015

Cathedral or Mosque?

As we were going to press a story emerged that really tickled us. Westminster Cathedral has been mistaken for a mosque on the social networking site, Twitter.

The Cathedral, which appeared as a backdrop in a political programme, was mistaken by one viewer, who was connected with a political party, for a mosque. A kerfuffle ensued on Twitter, resulting in a series of postings with the hashtag ‘ThingsThatAre NotMosques’. I don’t think John Francis Bentley, the architect of Westminster Cathedral, ever imagined that his Byzantine-influenced Cathedral would have been mistaken for a mosque!

St Gregory Nazianzen: 2 January

© Fr Lawrence Lew, O.P

St Gregory Nazianzen was born in 329 and was consecrated to God at birth by his mother. He is known for being a skilled orator and theologian who contributed greatly to the development of early Trinitarian theology. In recognition of his contribution to theology, he is both a Father and Doctor of the Church, and is known as one of the Cappadocian Fathers, alongside brothers St Basil the Great and St Gregory of Nyssa.

He was made Bishop of Caesarea by St Basil the Great, and was later appointed Patriarch of Constantinople at the Second Ecumenical Council in 381.

St Gregory was educated in Caesarea, where he met Basil, who became a close friend Page 22

throughout his life and would later become known as St Basil the Great. He was somewhat reluctant to become a priest, knowing that he would later become a Bishop.

He was reluctant to take on the greater duties of pastoral care, knowing that these would mean he would be unable to be absorbed in pure meditation as much as he liked.

This desire for deep meditation and contemplation as a way of being united to God was central to his life and theology. He wrote that ‘Nothing seems to me greater than this: to silence one's senses, to emerge from the flesh of the world, to withdraw into oneself, no longer to be concerned with human things other than what is strictly necessary…truly to be a perfect mirror of God and of divine things.’

St Gregory Nazianzen spent much of his life combating heresy within the Church. In particular, he spoke out against Arianism, which denied the full divinity of the Son. St Gregory delivered his famous ‘Theological Orations’ in 380 to defend the Trinitarian faith and to make it intelligible to the laity. In fact, he was one of the first theologians to emphasise the divinity of the Holy Spirit and to articulate the full doctrine of the Trinity.

Throughout his whole life, St Gregory keenly maintained the importance of the mystery of religion, arguing that ‘faith is that which completes our arguments’. Although St Gregory Nazianzen is best known for his theological writings, it is important for us to remember that this academic achievement was rooted in a persevering relationship with God through a life of prayer and holiness.

In Memoriam: December

In Memoriam: January

3 Fr Harold Purney (1983) 4 Fr John Simcox (1972) Fr Peter Allen (1978) Fr Benedict Westbrook (1989) Mgr Wilfred Purney (1987) 6 Fr John Harper-Hill (1998) Mgr Alexander Groves (1998) 11 Fr Dalton Haughey (1991) 12 Fr Laurence Kingseller (1975) 13 Fr Jeremiah Daly (1974) 14 Deacon Michael Bykar (2008) 15 Fr Francis Donovan (1983) 16 Mgr George Tancred (2002) Fr John Donlan (2006) 18 Canon Bernard George (1980) 19 Canon John Shaw (1981) Fr Edward Gwilliams (1981) Fr William Campling (1996) Fr Edward Scanlan (1992) 21 Fr Clive Godwin (1974) 23 Fr Ian Dickie (2012) 24 Fr Manuel Gomes (1989) 25 Deacon Ron Saunders (2007) 26 Fr Alan O’Connor (1992) Fr Bernard Lavin (1999) 27 Fr Andrew Morley (1993) 28 Mgr Canon Joseph Collings (1978) Fr Gerard Mulvahey (1996) 29 Fr Robert Bradley (1976) 30 Canon Alexander Stewart (1976) 31 Fr Wilfrid Trotman (1976) Fr Stephen Rigby (1978) Fr George Swanton (1979) Fr Dennis Skelly (1996) Fr Michael Ware (1998)

1 Cardinal Francis Bourne (1935) Fr Brendan Soane (2000) 2 Fr Sidney Dommersen (1970) Fr Alexander Wells (1970) Fr Cyril Wilson (1988) 3 Fr Donald Campbell (1985) Fr Denis Cantwell (1995) 4 Fr Bernard Canham (1990) Fr William Brown (2001) 6 Fr Thomas McNamara (1976) Fr Thomas Anderson (1974) Mgr George Leonard (1993) 7 Fr John T Carberry (1988) 8 Fr John Kearsey (2004) 10 Mgr Ernest T Bassett (1990) Fr William Kahle (1993) Fr Patrick Nolan (2014) 11 Mgr Eustace Bernard (1972) Fr Mark Connigsby (2014) 12 Fr Arthur P Mintern (1993) 13 Fr Francis Dent (1963) 14 Cardinal Henry Manning (1892) Fr Peter Lyons (1998) 15 Canon James Hathway (1976) Fr Anthony Busuttil (2013) 16 Fr Edward Hinsley (1976) Canon Frederick Smyth (2007) 17 Fr George O’Connor (1989) Fr Edward Dering Leicester (1977) 18 Fr Gerry Ennis (2000) Fr Robin Whitney (2012) 19 Fr Oldrich Trnka (2003) 20 Mgr George Leonard (1993) Fr Thomas Gardner (1995) Fr Stephen Bartlett (2012) 21 Preb Ronald Pilkington (1975) 22 Cardinal William Godfrey (1963) 23 Fr Derek Jennings (1995) 25 Canon William Heffernan (1965) Fr Bernard Fisher (1990) 26 Bishop Patrick Casey (1999) 29 Fr Frederick Vincent (1973) 30 Fr Joseph Fehrenbach (1985) Fr Patrick Howard (2000) Fr Philip Dayer (2005)

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Events & Calendar

Westminster Record | December 2014/January 2015

Liturgical Calendar - December & January Other regular Masses

REGULAR EVENTS If you have an event, please email: communications@rcdow.org.uk

3 Wed

Prayer Groups

7 Sun

+ 2nd SUNDAY OF ADVENT

8 Mon

THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION OF THE BLESSED

S UNDAYS Taizé at St James, Piccadilly W1J 9LL every third Sunday 5pm. Call 020 7503 5128 for details.

Tyburn Benedictines Monastic afternoon Every first Sunday 2-5pm Martyrs’ Crypt, Tyburn Convent, 8 Hyde Park Place W2 2LJ. Westminster Cathedral Young Adults meet socially after the 7pm Mass on Sundays and then at the nearby Windsor Castle pub. For further details please contact: westminsteryoungadults@gmail. com.

M ONDAYS Mothers’ Prayers at St Dominic’s Priory, Haverstock Hill NW5 4LB Mondays 2.30-3.30pm in the Lourdes Chapel. All are welcome.

T UESDAYS Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament. Tuesdays 6-9pm concluding with Benediction at Newman House, 111 Gower Street WC1E 6AR. Details 020 7387 6370.

Prayers for London at the Shrine of Our Lady of Willesden. Tuesdays 7.30pm.

Organised by the Guild of Our Lady of Willesden, Nicoll Road NW10 9AX. Vocations Prayer Group Second Tuesday of the month 8pm at 47C Gaisford Street NW5 2EB. Taizé at St. James’, Spanish Place, W1U 3UY. Every 1st Tuesday of the month. Email: penny28hb@aol.com or just come along.

W EDNESDAYS Wednesdays on the Wall (WOTW). Every first Wednesday 6pm at All Hallows on the Wall,

St Francis Xavier, Priest

4 Thu Advent feria or St John Damascene, Priest & Doctor 6 Sat Advent feria or St Nicholas, Bishop

83 London Wall EC2M 5ND. A short service of prayer and reflection at 6pm, coffee at 6.45pm followed by discussion.

Corpus Christi Contemplative Prayer Group for Young Adults Wednesdays from 7pm at Corpus Christi, Maiden Lane WC2E 7NB. For further details please contact corpuschristipg@yahoogroups. co.uk.

Evangelisation prayer group for young adults meets from 7pm on Wednesdays at Notre Dame de France, 5 Leicester Place WC2H 7BX. For further details please contact Armel at apostles.jesus@yahoo.co.uk.

T HURSDAYS Jesus Christ the Fullness of Life Every first Thursday of the month. Young adults from all Christian denominations pray and share a meal. Details www.jcfl.org.uk.

Soul Food A Catholic charismatic prayer group for young adults meets Thursdays 7-9pm at St Charles Borromeo, Ogle Street W1W 6HS. Details at www.soulfoodgroup.org.

St John Paul II Prayer Group Every second Thursday of the month 7-8pm, Mass, Adoration and Prayer at Corpus Christi, Maiden Lane WC2E 7NB.

VIRGIN

MARY, Patron of the Diocese

9 Tue

Advent feria or St Juan Diego Cuauhtlatoatzin

11 Thu

Advent feria or St Damasus I, Pope

13 Sat

St Lucy, Virgin & Martyr

14 Sun 21 Sun 23 Tue 24 Wed

+ 3rd SUNDAY OF ADVENT (Gaudete Sunday) + 4th SUNDAY OF ADVENT Advent feria (St John of Kanty, Priest) Advent feria (am); CHRISTMAS EVE (pm)

25 Thu

+ THE NATIVITY OF THE LORD (CHRISTMAS)

26 Fri

ST STEPHEN, The First Martyr

27 Sat 28 Sun

ST JOHN, Apostle & Evangelist + HOLY FAMILY OF JESUS, MARY AND JOSEPH

29 Mon 1 Thu 2 Fri

ST THOMAS BECKET, Bishop & Martyr SOLEMNITY OF MARY, THE HOLY MOTHER OF GOD Sts Basil the Great and Gregory Nazianzen, Bishops & Doctors; Friday abstinence Christmas feria or Most Holy Name of Jesus

3 Sat 4 Sun

+ EPIPHANY OF THE LORD

7 Wed

Christmas feria or St Raymond of Penyafort, Priest

11 Sun

+ THE BAPTISM OF THE LORD; Christmas time ends

12 Mon

feria, Week 1 of Year 2 or St Aelred of Rievaulx, Religious

13 Tue

feria or St Hilary, Bishop & Doctor

17 Sat

St Anthony, Abbot

18 Sun

+ 2nd SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME

19 Mon

feria, Week 2 of Year 2 or St Wulstan, Bishop

20 Tue

feria or St Fabian, Pope, Martyr, St Sebastian, Martyr

21 Wed

St Agnes, Virgin & Martyr

22 Thu

feria or St Vincent, Deacon & Martyr

24 Sat

St Francis de Sales, Bishop & Doctor; Anniversary of the Episcopal Ordination of Cardinal Vincent Nichols

F RIDAYS

25 Sun

+ 3rd SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME

Association of Divorced and Separated Catholics Every third Friday of the month.

All divorced and separated Catholics are welcome. Call Frank or Christine 020 8422 1591.

Divine Mercy Prayers and Mass Every first Friday 2.30-4.30pm at Our Lady, Mother of the Church, 2 Windsor Road W5 5PD. Westminster Cathedral Charismatic Prayer Group Every Friday 7.30pm Prayer, Praise and Teaching. First Friday is a healing Mass.

Details: 020 8748 2632.

26 Mon

Sts Timothy & Titus, Bishops

S ATURDAYS

Free Catholic Tours. ‘Saints and Scholars’ walk first Sunday of the month, including Mass. Contact Peter on 07913904997 or circlingthesquaretours@hotmail.co.uk.

Taizé at Notre Dame de France 5 Leicester Place WC2H 7BX 7.15pm Call 020 7437 9363

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27 Tue

feria, Week 3 of Year 2 or St Angela Merici, Virgin

28 Wed

St Thomas Aquinas, Priest & Doctor

31 Fri

St John Bosco, Priest; Friday abstinence

Praying with Pope Francis December 2014 Universal Intention: That the birth of the Redeemer may bring peace and hope to all people of good will.

For Evangelisation: That parents may be true evangelisers, passing on to their children the precious gift of faith.

January 2015 Universal Intention: That those from diverse religious traditions and all people of good will may work together for peace. For Evangelisation: That in this year dedicated to consecrated life, religious men and women may rediscover the joy of following Christ and strive to serve the poor with zeal.

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Deaf Community Mass First Sunday of the month 4.30pm, Westminster Cathedral Hall, Ambrosden Avenue SW1P 1QW. Young Adults Mass Will now be held on every Sunday, 114 Mount Street W1K 3AH. Quiet prayer 7.15pm, Mass 7.30pm. Social gathering afterwards. Contact: team@fsplus.info or visit www.fsplus.info.

Mass at Canary Wharf Held on Tuesdays at 12.30pm at 2 Churchill Place E14 5RB. Organised by Mgr Vladimir Felzmann, Chaplain to Canary Wharf Communities. Details www.cwcc.org.uk.

St Albans Abbey Fridays at 12 noon. Mass in the Lady Chapel of St Albans Abbey AL1 1BY. LGBT Catholics Westminster Mass 2nd & 4th Sundays 6.15pm, Church of the Immaculate Conception, 114 Mount Street, W1K 3AH. Contact: lgbtcatholicswestminster@gmail. com EXTRAORDINARY FORM MASSES Sundays: Low Mass 9.30am, St James Spanish Place W1U 3QY. Low Mass 9am, The Oratory, Brompton Road SW7 2RP. Low Mass 5pm, St Bartholomew, St Albans AL1 2PE. Low Mass 5.30pm, Shrine of Our Lady of Willesden, NW10 9AX. Mondays: Low Mass 8am The Oratory, Brompton Road SW7 2RP Mass 6.30pm Corpus Christi, Maiden Lane, WC2E 7NB. Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays: Low Mass, 8am The Oratory, Brompton Road SW7 2RP. Fridays: Low Mass 7.45am St Mary Moorfields, 4/5 Eldon Street EC2N 7LS. Low Mass 8am The Oratory, Brompton Road SW7 2RP. Low Mass 6pm St Etheldreda, Ely Place EC1N 6RY. First Friday.

Low Mass 6pm St John the Baptist Church, King Edward's Road E9 7SF. First Friday only.

Low Mass 6.30pm Corpus Christi, Maiden Lane WC2E 7NB. Second Friday only.

Saturdays: Low Mass 12.15pm, St Wilfrid’s Chapel, The Oratory, Brompton Road SW7 2RP. Low Mass 4.30pm, Side Chapel, Westminster Cathedral SW1P 1QW. Second Saturday only.

Page 23

Spotlight

Westminster Record | December 2014/January 2015

We Remember the Holy Souls

A packed Cathedral for Mass on Remembrance Sunday

T

hroughout the month of November, Masses have been held in Westminster Cathedral to remember those who have died.

Members of the Catholic Police Guild gathered for the 92nd Annual Solemn Requiem Mass for deceased police officers on 5 November at Westminster Cathedral. The principal celebrant was the Rt Rev Richard Moth, Bishop of the Armed Forces.

At the start of Mass, a Police Headdress, carried by Chief Inspector Graham Price of the Metropolitan Police, was processed and presented to Bishop Richard and placed in the sanctuary for the duration of the Mass as a reminder of the ultimate sacrifice made by officers in the line of duty.

In his homily, Bishop Richard paid tribute to the work of the officers. He spoke particularly about the faith of the Guild members as it sustains them and informs their response to the people and situations they

encounter, witnessing to the call to bring Christ to all whom they encounter.

Over 100 priests from across the Diocese gathered on 6 November at Westminster Cathedral to celebrate the annual Mass for Deceased Clergy. Bishop John Arnold was the principal celebrant and was joined by Cardinal Cormac and Bishop John Sherrington.

The homily was given by Abbot Aidan Bellenger OSB, who placed this annual memorial in the context of a society that is increasingly more 'inimical to Christian traditions of our country.' He said, 'When we remember those who have gone before, we remember their fidelity and we remember in them our communion and our solidarity. Our memories and our prayers build up a community which is a real expression in this city of London and in this country of the presence of the Living Christ.'

On Remembrance Sunday, 9 November, parishes throughout the Diocese held

The Police Headdress was a reminder of those who lost their lives in service. Police cadets wait to process in.

Requiem Masses to remember all those who have died in war. At Westminster Cathedral, Canon Christopher Tuckwell was the principal celebrant at the Requiem Mass.

Opening the Mass, Canon Christopher said, 'We come to remember all who have died in war: those who have gave their lives for their country as well as those who were victims of war. In this year marking the centenary of the start of the Great War, we remember especially those who died in the two World Wars. We also remember those who have died more recently, especially in Iraq and Afghanistan.'

Fr James Caulfield, Principal Roman Catholic Chaplain of the Royal Air Force, gave the homily in which he invited the congregation to consider how we honour the dead. 'The best way to honour the dead is to take care of the living,' he said.

Commandant-General of the Royal Marines Martin Smith joins other Servicemen after Mass on Remembrance Sunday

RAF servicemen and women attend Mass on Remembrance Sunday

The Paschal Candle and Book of the Dead Priests gather to celebrate the Mass for Deceased Clergy Page 24

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Published by The Diocese of Westminster, Archbishop’s House, Ambrosden Avenue, London SW1P 1QJ. Printed by NWN Media Limited, Mold, Flintshire. All rights reserved.

Sounding the Last Post

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