Westminster Record October 2016

Westminster Record

October 2016 | 20p

‘Ban the Box’

Reflections on Priesthood

Caritas Italy Visits Westminster

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Pages 9 – 12

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St Teresa of Calcutta On Sunday 4 September, Pope Francis canonised Mother Teresa of Calcutta in Rome.

Fittingly for one who devoted her life to the works of mercy, her canonisation took place during this Jubilee Year of Mercy at a Mass in St Peter’s Square attended by huge crowds who cheered when Mother Teresa was declared a saint.

On 16 September, Cardinal Vincent celebrated a Mass in Westminster Cathedral, providing an opportunity in our own diocese to gather to give thanks for the life and witness of Mother Teresa.

Sisters from the Missionaries of Charity, Mother Teresa’s order, were present in their distinctive habit.

Among the concelebrants was Canon Pat Browne, who had met Mother Teresa on several occasions and shared his memories of those encounters in his homily.

Accompanying her on a visit to Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, he recalled Mother’s discussion with Mrs Thatcher

about people sleeping outdoors in the cold in ‘cardboard coffins’, a term which was first coined during that visit to London. Questioned by the reporters waiting outside No. 10 after the interview about who was responsible for the numbers of poor in our streets, Canon Pat explained: ‘What a scoop they'd have if she blamed Mrs Thatcher! But Mother replied simply; “Who is responsible? You and me.”’

Speaking of Mother’s warmth, Canon Pat said: ‘She had an innocence and a simplicity about her that cut through all the nonsense that is spoken.’

After her death, when it was discovered that Mother Teresa had felt discarded, abandoned and ignored by God, Canon Pat added, ‘we realised, all of us, she is one of us. The same doubts, the same struggles, the same emptiness at times.

‘But she did not waver or give up on her beloved. That is what made her a saint. Even though she couldn't always feel his love or his presence, she was faithful to him and acted as if she could.’

It is this faithfulness which testified to her sanctity and which we can all learn to emulate on our journey towards God, he explained.

After Mass there was an opportunity to venerate the relics of St Teresa.

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Westminster Record | October 2016

Hope for the Future

Editor Mgr Mark Langham Archbishop’s House, Ambrosden Avenue SW1P 1QJ Managing Editor Marie Saba 020 7798 9031 Inhouse writers Hannah Woolley, Fr John Scott 020 7798 9178, and Martha Behan 020 7798 9030 Design Julian Game To order copies contact Andrea Black 0161 908 5301 or email andrea.black@thecatholicuniverse.com Print management and distribution by The Universe Media Group Ltd.

November publication dates Editorial deadline: 14 October 2016 Listings email: communications@rcdow.org.uk News and stories call 020 7798 9030 Email: communications@rcdow.org.uk Advertising deadline: 21 October 2016 To advertise contact Carol Malpass 0161 908 5301 or email carol.malpass@thecatholicuniverse.com Produced by the Communications Office of the Diocese of Westminster. News and articles published in the Westminster Record do not necessarily represent the views of the Diocese of Westminster, unless specifically stated otherwise.

Appearance of advertisements does not imply editorial endorsement.

I remember the former parish priest of Pimlico, Fr Alisdair Russell, telling me as a young priest how much fun priesthood is. He wasn’t being (wholly) flippant. He meant that the calling brings a deep joy, a sense of using all one’s gifts in the service of God. It was a great lesson after years of seminary training that seemed to focus exclusively on the perils and dangers, both internal and external, of priestly life.

This note of joy is very much taken up by Cardinal Vincent in his address on priesthood, which we reprint in full in this month’s Westminster Record.

While the speech is directed to priests working in parishes, it has a message for us all. I was

struck by the positive tone of the Cardinal’s words, and the hope he calls for in the future.

This is an important message for our whole diocese, and for every member of it. We can become pessimistic about the future; the Cardinal notes that the word ‘crisis’ has been used of the Church for centuries. What will happen to our Church, our parish, our community?

We are called to have confidence in that future, but also to play our part in creating it. Our life in the church is rarely only about other people: each of us bears a responsibility. I would suggest that all of us, lay and ordained, can read the Cardinal’s words with profit (and pleasure!) and take note of his three questions, applying them to our Christian life: How do we live as individuals? How do we relate to those for whom we have responsibility or to whom we must give account? How do we play a responsible role in the communities in which we live? If we respond positively, we shall ourselves become the hope for the future.

For more news from around the diocese throughout the month, please see

www.rcdow.org.uk where new stories are posted daily.

by Deacon Anthony Clark, Director of Permanent Diaconate

Ten men are beginning formation as permanent deacons this year. The accompanying photo is taken at St John’s Seminary, Wonersh of all the men in formation for the permanent diaconate for the diocese on induction day.

Formation lasts three years. The photo of the men and some of their wives identifies them by parish. Those who are in their Page 2

Photo: © Deacon Gordon Nunn

Ten Men Begin Formation for Permanent Diaconate (2 Clapton), Third Row Emma O’Reilly, Wayne O’Reilly (Fulham), Tony Barter (3 Radlett), Alex Burke (2 Ealing Abbey), Lucy O’Connor, Andrew Goodall (Ealing Abbey), Back Row Stephane de Joiris (3 Kensington), Jonathan Chappell (Tollington Park ) Liam Lynch (3 St Helens Watford), Colin Macken (2 Feltham), William Lo (Cathedral) and Paul O’Connor (St Albans).

second or third year are identified with a ‘2’or ‘3’ after their name,. Front Row (L to R) Paul Quinn (3 St Albans), Deacon Anthony Clark, Jose Peixoto (Portuguese Chaplaincy), Elisa Peixoto, Joseph Estorninho (St Margaretson-Thames, Twickenham), Second Row. Ian Coleman (North London), Jeremy Yates (3 Mile End), Kingsley Izundu

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Westminster Record | October 2016

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‘Ban the Box’ to Give Prison Leavers a Chance at Stable Employment, Says Cardinal Vincent

Cardinal Vincent told delegates at a conference on prison chaplaincy that employers should exclude the tick box on initial job application forms requiring a person who has completed a prison sentence to disclose their conviction.

The Cardinal suggests that banning the tick box and allowing people to discuss their conviction at a later stage in the recruitment process would give them the chance to 'put their past in context and show who they really are'.

'Of course convictions have to be disclosed and where necessary DBS checks undertaken,' he said. But people should not be 'written off without a hearing for actions in the past which may no longer have a bearing on their future.'

The Cardinal emphasised that prison leavers need stable employment and that true rehabilitation means not

defining people by their worst actions for the rest of their life: 'It is hard to envisage the crushing disappointment of someone who has worked hard to move away from crime and learn new skills, only to be rejected for job after job and never even given the opportunity to explain how he or she has changed since being convicted years before. That is not just devastating for the individual; it deprives employers of potentially excellent and able workers and denies society working taxpayers.'

Whilst stressing that all necessary steps must be taken to ensure that safeguarding is

Cardinal Vincent Ordains Bishop of Gibraltar On the Feast of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, 8 September 2016, Cardinal Vincent ordained Mgr Carmelo Zammit Bishop of Gibraltar in St Paul's Cathedral in Mdina, Malta.

Echoing the words of St Paul to Timothy, the Cardinal spoke of the gift of God given to the bishop through the laying on of hands 'as a summons to witness to Christ and to bear hardship willingly'.

'Let's be clear,' he continued, 'being a bishop is not a promotion, the consequence of success, but a gift, a calling, a new step on the pathway of holiness, given for God's own purpose and his own grace. Being a bishop is not a new opportunity to put one's own plans into action. It is a call to serve.'

The Cardinal referred to the Diocese of Gibraltar which is being placed in the care of the newly-ordained Bishop Zammit as a 'remarkable place', explaining that 'it is, in many ways, a microcosm of Europe with all the dramas, dangers and opportunities' which the continent presents.

paramount, Cardinal Vincent explained: 'Over the coming year I look forward to discussions about how the Church can ban the box in our own employment practices, while taking all the necessary steps to ensure that safeguarding is never compromised. I personally appeal to all employers to take this step and give people a fair opportunity that will benefit our society.'

In a wide-ranging speech, the Cardinal also discussed the acute need for prison reform and stressed that the Catholic Church is prepared to be an active partner in the process.

He had this message for government: 'We are ready to work alongside and support you in transforming prisons from places of despair to places of redemption. But I also urge you to be brave and go further than any government before: Make this the turning point where prison policy is built upon giving people the support they need to make amends and play a positive role in our society.

'It is widely accepted that effective change in our prisons

will also require tackling underlying factors. One of these is sentencing policy, which is inherently linked to the expanding and increasingly unmanageable prison population. This is a challenge but with courage and commitment it need not be an insurmountable one.'

The Cardinal made it clear that individuals need to be prepared to accept punishment, make amends and work towards a better future, but he identified the important role Catholic parishes can play to help people get their lives back on track: 'Our parishes are particularly well placed to welcome people and help them get back on their feet. I hope and pray that this Year of Mercy will be a rallying call for Catholics actively to reach out a hand of friendship and offer practical assistance to those leaving prison. For even the smallest actions can give someone hope and help them to stay on the right path.'

The conference was hosted at St Mary's University, Twickenham on Tuesday, 6 September 2016.

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Diocese of Malta

He added: 'To be bishop of such a place is, I believe, a privilege and a challenge. It is to be responsible for an outpost of Europe, a place where all that Europe strives to stand for is first to be met.'

Referring to recent events, the Cardinal said: 'It is more important than ever for the Church in Europe, and therefore in Gibraltar, to proclaim and practice those values and qualities that lie at the heart of European civilisation.'

He also called for the Church to 'live and proclaim

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deeper values' of 'the inalienable dignity of the person, from conception to natural death; the equality in dignity of every person; the freedom to live in truth and love'.

Recalling his visit to the Shrine of Our Lady of Europe in Gibraltar, 'standing literally at the edge of Europe', the Cardinal asked for her intercession for 'this precious continent and heritage, to which we are all committed, [that it] may not lose its way or cease to live by its finest values'.

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On Saturday 17 September Cardinal Vincent celebrated the annual Altar Servers’ Mass at Westminster Cathedral. The Mass is organised by the Guild of St Stephen and brings together altar servers that assist in parishes across England and Wales.

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Westminster Record | October 2016

Cardinal Vincent has joined calls for the international community to address the migration crisis urgently, as world leaders gathered in New York for the United Nations summit to address migrationrelated crises around the world.

In Europe, over 280,000 migrants have crossed the Mediterranean so far this year, with over 3,000 dying in the attempt.

Cardinal Vincent has called for international co-operation to help address the situations that force people to migrate in the first place, and to provide access to economic, political and social opportunities so that they might live in freedom and dignity.

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Migrant Crisis Should Be International Priority, says Cardinal

‘We need to look at what drives people from their homes,’ said Cardinal Vincent.

‘The international community needs to co-ordinate registration and welcome. The victims of this lack of coordination are the very people who have been forced to leave home and are in desperate circumstances.’

‘I believe that people in this country are instinctively generous and through the community sponsorship scheme, led by Churches and faith groups, pathways to ensure this generosity is channelled in the most helpful way are being established. And so refugees and migrants can be welcomed into our communities.

‘We pray that this summit, one of the most important of recent years, bears fruit for all of these people who need our help.’

On Saturday, 17 September a refugee’s welcome march took place through the centre of London, supported by CSAN and CAFOD, agencies of the Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales.

Message of Support for Polish Community

Following the recent spate violence against members of the Polish community, Cardinal Vincent and the Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, have written a joint letter to President Andrzej Duda of Poland reassuring him of their ‘shared commitment to tackling any signs of intolerance’ directed at Poles.

‘We will continue to oppose language or crimes motivated by antagonism or hatred towards the members of any community,’ they said.

‘We are of one mind that it is a duty of a prosperous state, especially one which rejoices in a strong Christian tradition, to be welcoming towards those who are in need and those who are ready and willing to contribute to the well-being of the country to which they have come.’

They praised the contribution of the Poles who have come to the UK for their significant contribution ‘to the vitality and health of our society, in the workplace and in our schools’.

They explained that, after each incident or threat of violence, the Polish community has reported that it ‘has been inundated with messages and acts of solidarity’. Working along with other religious and civic leaders, they added, ‘we will seek to build on this foundation of good will and encourage greater cooperation and integration between all those living in the United Kingdom’.

‘Poles living in Britain are our friends and our neighbours. We value their presence and contribution, as we do of all those who have migrated to the United Kingdom,’ they said.

Malta Day Mass The annual Malta Day Mass took place at Westminster Cathedral on 3 September to celebrate the Maltese faith and culture. Held for the past 15 years, the Mass focuses on the veneration of Il-Bambina, Our Lady of Victories. The Maltese feel a particular closeness to Our Lady of Victories after their triumph over two historical sieges.

The principal celebrant was the Archbishop of Malta, Charles Scicluna. The Mass began with a procession of banners into the cathedral including the national flags of the UK and Malta and the banner of the Ecumenical Order of St John of Jerusalem. These were followed by congregations of Maltese orders in the UK and members of the Order of Malta.

In attendance were Norman Hamilton, High Commissioner for Malta in the UK, Christopher Fearne MP, Maltese Minister for Health, and Councillor Steve Summers, Lord Mayor of

Westminster. The Director of Music was Dame Marie Thérèse Vassallo, whose father wrote the Mass setting.

The majority of the Mass was in Maltese, but Archbishop Scicluna preached his homily in English in which he explained the two historical sieges that affected Malta. He described Malta as ‘a Holy land, filled with faith and love for Christ’.

To close the celebration, Christopher Fearne MP noted that two of the most important things to Maltese people were faith and heritage, and how the presence of the statue of Our Lady of Victories was an excellent representation of what it means to be Maltese.

After Mass, the statue of Our Lady was processed out into the piazza at the front of the cathedral, to the accompaniment of singing and an amazing show of firecrackers, followed by a procession to the Sacred Heart Chapel on Horseferry Road.

In a homily given at the annual International Mass on 18 September in Westminster Cathedral, Cardinal Vincent spoke out against the murder of Arkadiusz Jozwik and the attack on two other Polish men in Harlow: ‘There is no place in our society for hatred or violence against people because of their nationality or race.’

He emphasised that ‘we all reject these actions and these sentiments against whomever they are aimed’, saying ‘they Page 4

disfigure our society’. ‘Be close to one another,’ he added, explaining that ‘this closeness needs to be extended’ especially to those who are newly arrived in this land. ‘Get beyond any arguments or divisions within your communities by looking outward at those who truly need your loving attention,’ he said.

He also encouraged everyone to ‘be constantly on the lookout for those who are brought to this country in the many forms of modern slavery’, to make contact

with them and to learn how to respond.

He called for ‘international cooperation in the registration, welcome and movement of so many people driven from their homes by violence, destitution or hopelessness’. He prayed that this cooperation might enable governments to make better use of the ‘wellspring of generosity that is to be found in the hearts of so many people who are willing to help’.

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‘No Place for Hatred or Violence’

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Westminster Record | October 2016

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Hampstead Parish Celebrates Bicentenary

Celebrating our Volunteers

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work in the great fields of mercy which, as Pope Benedict said so clearly, are an essential part of the mission of the Church, from its very beginning (Deus Caritas Est 32). He reminded us that the three essential actions of the Church are those of proclaiming the word of God, celebrating the sacraments and exercising the ministry of charity. Then he added: “these duties presuppose each other and are inseparable”.

(DCE 25)’ He went on to tell the congregation of volunteers from across the diocese about how giving love first means we must acknowledge the love of Jesus for us. Only then are we able to give generously to others.

'Anyone who wishes to give love must first receive love. Or, in other words, to become a source of love one must constantly drink anew from its true and original source. And that source is Jesus Christ, from whose pierced heart flows the love of God. (cf. John 19.34 and DCE 7)’

The Cardinal also spoke about the importance of this celebration happening so soon after the canonisation of St Teresa of Calcutta: 'Mother Teresa, as we may continue to call her, also taught us that Christ's love for us and our love for others are inseparable. When she insisted that service is the fruit of love, she was pointing first to the love of God. Love of God and love of neighbour are inseparable.’

He finished by explaining that the heart of the work of volunteers in the diocese is the Eucharist, quoting again from Pope Benedict XVI: '”It is, then, through the Eucharist that the works of charity and mercy find their true energy. Without the Eucharist we will not develop those deep roots that we need to sustain our work in its freshness and spontaneity. It will risk becoming routine and heartless.

Yet what those in need most truly need is not only effective help and support but love!” (cf. DCE 34)’

Consecration of Our Lady and St Michael’s

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Cardinal Vincent presided at a special mass at St Mary's church in Hampstead on Sunday 11 September to mark the bicentenary of the Church's foundation.

The church was filled to overflowing for the Mass which formed the climax of a year of special events commemorating the 200th anniversary of the church on Holly Place, which was established in 1816 by Abbé Jean-Jaques Morel, a French priest forced into exile after the French Revolution.

Amongst those concelebrating on Sunday was Abbé Julien Palcoux, the current parish priest of Verneuil, the small town in northern France which was the birthplace of Abbé Morel and to which group of St Mary's parishioners had made a pilgrimage earlier in the year as part of the bicentenary programme.

Mgr Phelim Rowland, who also marks his 10th year as Parish Priest of St Mary's, said:

On 10 September Cardinal Vincent celebrated the Mass for volunteers in Westminster Cathedral. Organised by Caritas Westminster, the Mass for volunteers and workers of mercy, was a response to Pope Francis' request that a jubilee for volunteers and workers of mercy be celebrated in this Year of Mercy. This Mass acknowledges the ways in which volunteers embody mercy in generously giving their time and energy.

In his homily, the Cardinal, echoing the words of St Augustine, said that workers of charity 'show forth the Trinity'.

'Every act of charity, understood 'Birthdays and anniversaries and seen in its deepest play an important part in dimensions, in its full beauty, peoples’ lives. Blessed and lays bare the plan, the mind of God our Father who, moved by dedicated 200 years ago, love, sends his Son into our St Mary’s is a very strong link world to bear our burdens.' with a Catholic community Quoting Pope Emeritus living and worshipping before Benedict XVI and his words on the Catholic Emancipation act of volunteers, the Cardinal said: 'I 1829. It was built, of course, for thank you all for your generous French political migrants in what was a small village five miles from London. Its construction was inspired by Abbé Jean Morel, a French Priest who had to leave his home town of Verneuil in Normandy in that terrible period of the Reign of Terror. He would be well pleased that his little chapel is now at the heart of a vibrant cosmopolitan Catholic community. We are so grateful for his courage, zeal and energy in building it.'

Following Mass, a reception was held at St Anthony's school in Hampstead.

On 15 September Cardinal Vincent consecrated Our Lady and St Michael’s Church, Garston. The church was blessed and opened by Cardinal Godfrey on 7 October 1958 but the consecration of a church can only take place once any debts have been cleared. In the altar, which was also consecrated, were placed the relics of St Teresa of Calcutta and St Dominic of Guzman. The consecration of a church consists in the anointing of twelve crosses on the inner walls of the church.

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Westminster Record | October 2016

Travelling Back in Time Children in Form 1 at St Benedict’s Junior School, Ealing, began the term with an exciting trip to the Forties Experience, Bushey. Everyone travelled back in time to the days of the Blitz, making a stunning start to this term’s World War Two topic, ‘We’ll Meet Again’. Class teacher Emma Kottler said: ‘There could be no better introduction to the language and themes of the topic they will be exploring over the coming weeks.’ The children saw a typical house from the period, complete with household luxuries such as a mangle and a wireless, and found out how people made the most of their food rations. They also huddled into an Anderson shelter, wore gas masks and had a lesson in gardening.

Gold Medallist Inspires Future Hockey Stars St Benedict’s School in Ealing struck gold with a visit from Dr Hannah Macleod who represented Team GB at the Olympic Games in London 2012 and Rio 2016. Hannah, a Forward in the Team GB Hockey squad, won Bronze in London and Gold in Rio. Hannah visited the school on Thursday 1 September to give the senior school girls an inspiring start to their academic year and forthcoming hockey season.

Director of Sport Nikki Woodroffe said: ‘Here at St Benedict’s we introduced hockey over six years ago and it has had a tremendous take off.’

Hannah took the students through a training session which included tips on the best way to attack; demonstrations on types of forward moves from the halfway line; and tactics on the

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‘golden shuffle’ (the move which won the team gold against the Dutch team in Rio).

Hannah has visited the school twice before. She said: ‘Today at St Benedict’s has been fantastic because when I came here in 2013, after winning bronze, there weren’t many hockey players at the school, so to see the numbers here today has been absolutely brilliant.

How they’ve taken on the information and put it into practice in such a short space of time is really promising.’

Emma Szlachetko, in Year 13, attended the training and said: ‘It has been really great having Hannah here today. It has been such a great start to our season.

Everyone has been really keen to turn up and support her and meet her; and it is so incredible for us to see someone who has gone so far in hockey.’

St Thomas More Pupils Cycle for Teach First On 31 July 2016, staff and pupils of St Thomas More Catholic School took part in one of Europe’s greatest cycling event, the Prudential RideLondon 2016. Participants represented Teach First, a charity that tackles educational inequality by placing inspiring teachers in challenging classrooms across England and Wales. This year’s event saw the introduction of a 46-mile route created specifically for newer and younger cyclists.

St Thomas More’s Acting Head of IT, Mr McStravick, who himself underwent the two-year Teach First Leadership Development Programme, rode the route alongside his students and now hopes that the Prudential RideLondon mentality of challenging oneself can be instilled in his students.

In total, eight students participated in the race from St Thomas More: Daniella Asare, Stephen Teodoro, Jastin Cabus, Carl Bile, Giovanny Teodoro, Tyler Mondesir Aourarh, Aaliyah Smith and Ralph Matira.

Daniella Asare insisted that it was by the will of the crowd that she made the finish line, ‘I felt so good knowing that I completed it, the hills were really tough particularly towards the end where they seemed to get steeper,’ she said. ‘There was so much support, the crowd were really good and shouted how many miles there were to go which really gave me that extra boost I needed. I’m immensely proud of myself, I felt really good but so tired!’

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Bishop Douglass School Converts to Academy Status On 1 September Bishop Douglass joined St George’s, Maida Vale and St Thomas More, Wood Green as copartners in a high-achieving triumvirate of Catholic Schools. Martin Tissot, newly appointed Headteacher of Bishop Douglass, said he was delighted with the seamless conversion to an academy.

Chair of Governors, Michael Veal said: ‘Bishop Douglass has improved rapidly in the last two years and, on the back of the bestever results this year, the school is ready to take its place as an equal partner in one of the most successful Catholic Academy chains in the country. As a governing body we are ambitious for our children and want to provide an environment that allows children to develop their potential.’

Director of Education for the diocese JP Morrison said: ‘The diocese is delighted and encouraged by the outstanding level of progress in academic performance achieved by Bishop Douglass Catholic School. This is testament to the hard work of the staff and students of the school. The move to academy status will benefit the community as will the other schools within the Cardinal Hume Trust by having Bishop Douglass join them. The diocese is very grateful and appreciative of the outstanding leadership offered

by Martin Tissot in achieving these results. This is a community the whole of Barnet should be proud of. The diocesan family of schools certainly are.’

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Imagine the Possibilities He said that we too need to pray and place our trust in the Lord as his stewards who carry out his work.

Referring to Jesus' words about placing new wine into new wineskins, echoing Pope Francis, he said: 'we need to allow time-honoured habits to be renewed by the Holy Spirit'.

By virtue of being gathered together for Proclaim 2016, he continued, 'what we're about is nothing if not inviting the Holy Spirit to renew our way of being Church; letting the new wine of the Holy Spirit course

once more through our veins so as to help us find new ways of bringing people to Christ.'

He encouraged the delegates to think of all the timehonoured ways of being parish.

'They don't necessarily need changing; but they may need developing,' he said.

'The message we need to hear,' he continued 'is that we must let [our evangelising activity] be renewed, developed, revivified, magnified by the Spirit' and he invited the delegates to imagine the possibilities.

Turning back to the example of the Apostles, he said, 'now, mysteriously, in these first decades of the third millennium, we find we have received something of the responsibility which they shouldered so effectively'.

Bishop Nicholas took part in Proclaim 2016 Conference in the Diocese of Broken Bay, Australia, in early September, where he gave one of the keynote addresses. This homily was given at a Mass celebrated for the delegates of the conference.

Diocese of Broken Bay

In a homily given at the Proclaim 2016 Conference Mass in Broken Bay Diocese, Australia, Bishop Nicholas encouraged delegates to use the conference to imagine the possibilities for evangelisation.

Taking the example of the 'motley group of disciples' that Jesus leaves behind after his Ascension, Bishop Nicholas explained that they learned their need to trust the Lord as the 'awesome reality' that they were his plan to evangelise the world dawned on them.

Diocese of Broken Bay

Radiating Christ with Mercy

by Bishop Nicholas Hudson What exactly do we mean by evangelisation? I would always want to stress that everyone is entitled to express it in their own way.

I like to suggest that evangelisation is, at heart, about the communication of a relationship, a relationship with Christ: in word and deed and in such a way that causes people to ask, ‘Who is this Jesus whom you love and worship?’

Viewing our evangelising work through the lens of the works of mercy reminds us evangelisation doesn’t need to be difficult. We can begin to evangelise just by doing it.

My father showed me at an early age how acts of mercy can become an ordinary part of family life. I take no credit for this story since I was simply doing as I was told.

My dad was a schoolteacher and, in those days, he taught on a Saturday morning as well as Monday to Friday. Then, on his return from Saturday school, and before going off to referee rugby, he’d say to me, ‘Come on, Nick, get the shepherd’s pie’; and we’d take it down the road to Mr Flood, with me sitting in the front of the car with a hot pie balanced precariously on my lap.

Mr Flood lived in the barest flat I’ve ever seen, either then or since. But his smile filled it. And we used to look out for that smile as he sat, day in day out, at his window, waiting to give me and my brothers the heartiest of waves as we wended our way to and from the sweet shop!

I realise now that he radiated Christ.

Of course, it’s only the Lord who knows the number of families in our parishes who are meeting Christ in similar ways through living out such corporal works of mercy. They will say, if asked, that they receive more than they give to such lonely housebound people.

What Pope Francis tells us is, ‘Yes; and let’s do more of it.

Let’s organise ourselves to do more of it.’

Pope Francis is clear that we are about radiating Christ, because the face of God is mercy, and Christ is that face.

When he calls us to be missionary disciples, he means we should be missionaries of mercy.

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Through the works of mercy, we meet Christ and proclaim Christ.

When I reflect on all of those years when Dad and I took shepherd’s pie to Mr Flood, I wonder if he knew we were Christian. I believe we met Christ in Mr Flood and that he met Christ in us.

It seems a shame we never spoke to him about our faith. It takes us back to the question of what evangelisation is about.

If it’s about communication of a relationship in word and deed, don’t we need to focus a little more on the words too?

Pope Francis is keen for us to take this on board. That’s why he gives a significant part of Evangelii Gaudium to discussion of how we communicate who we understand Jesus to be. Telling people who the Lord is for us is vital, too, if we wish to be parishes which radiate Christ.

I don’t believe we even said grace with Mr Flood. I would now. I’d begin with that, and see his reaction.

What I’d say next would depend on the way he responded. If he joined in, I might ask him if he’d like to pray a little more. If he didn’t join in, I might ask him if he minded us praying.

Either way, we could begin a gentle conversation: never to proselytise, but to enquire lovingly and perhaps provoke questions.

This is an excerpt from the keynote address given at Proclaim 2016 conference in Broken Bay, Australia.

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Westminster Record | October 2016

An Encounter with the Living Christ

by Bishop John Sherrington

I visited Brazil in September in response to La Palavra Viva’s invitation to teach for a week in their School of Evangelisation in Curvelo. My theme, which was to be developed during the week was Evangelisation and Virtue, which would examine the response to the encounter with the living Christ who is merciful, loves, saves and walks with us.

Attending the sessions were about 100 young people (18 25), who have committed one year of their lives to a course on formation which includes a number of mission experiences during which they spend a week in schools and parishes in Minas Gerais. They share their faith with other young people and tell of the hope that is in their hearts because of their faith in Jesus Christ. For each student, an experience of encounter with Christ leads them to commit this year to Christ. For some it is an experience of evangelisation; for others, more one of deepening catechesis and formation.

Pope Francis tells us that evangelisation begins with the joy of grateful remembrance of meeting Christ (Evangelii Gaudium 13) and that the Church grows ‘by attraction’ to Christ (EG 15). The Pope said to the bishops gathered in Brazil for World Youth Day 2013, ‘On the streets of Rio, young people from all over the world and countless others await us, needing to be reached by the merciful gaze of Christ the Good Shepherd, whom we are called to make present.’

These students are inspired by his words and wish to make Christ present to others. It is this deep experience which the students seek to explore and to Page 8

deepen so that they may share their faith with others. During this year at the school, their faith is nurtured not only by the classes but also by the liturgy with its very charismatic music and by the consecrated members of the community, including priests, consecrated laity and married members. A discipline of prayer, Eucharistic adoration and the Rosary builds up a life of prayer and community.

Over 12 seminars and daily Masses, I explored the theme with special emphasis on Laudato Si’ and Amoris Laetitia.

The focus on the virtues helped the students to understand themselves better in the light of the gift of the theological virtues of faith, hope and charity, as well as the cardinal virtues of justice, prudence, temperance and courage. The virtues enable the students not only to keep the rules given by Christ but more deeply to grow in goodness and holiness to become conformed to Christ. As St Gregory of Nyssa wrote, ‘The goal of a virtuous life is to become like God’ (Catechism of the Catholic Church 1803). The saints are witnesses to the life of virtue and so the course has provided the opportunity to reflect on the lives of saints, including St Teresa of Calcutta,

The School of Evangelisation

St Thomas More, Blessed Oscar Romero, as well as patrons of the community St Francis of Assisi and St Thérèse of Lisieux.

Laudato Si’ offered a particular opportunity to reflect on the virtues of justice and temperance whilst Amoris Laetitia offered the opportunity to explore the meaning of Christian love, chastity and relationship in Christ. By understanding that the virtuous life leads to holiness, the virtues offer an understanding of the new life in Christ and can be the means of evangelisation of young people and families.

Bishop John with members of the Palavra Viva community

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Palavra Viva: Proclaiming the Living Word The community of La Palavra Viva (http://palavraviva.home) was founded in 1995 by Alysson Norberto da Costa and 12 others in Curvelo, a small town of about 80,000 residents in the large province of Minas Gerais in Brazil. Its charism was to proclaim the gospel, renew the faith of the people, witness and be committed to the work of evangelisation. Today, the permanent community includes six priests, about 200 consecrated people across Brazil and Europe and other young people in temporary vows as well as enquirers seeking to deepen their life in Christ and share it with others.

The community has houses in Lugano and Palastrina in Italy, Périgueux, Lyon, Bayonne, and Avignon in France, as well as eight houses in Brazil.

In Curvelo, I visited the church of St Anthony, the site where a group of young people originally met to discern a response to St John Paul’s invitation to new forms of consecrated life with priests, consecrated laity, and married people, and which resulted in the formation of the community and the blessing and support of the bishop. From a first small rented house to a second, and now to the present three-storey recently built house, the buildings alone demonstrate growth, confidence and trust in the Lord.

An afternoon visit to the newly bought land for a City of Mercy reinforced this view. Two sites have been purchased on the edge of the city for expansion. The site for the men’s monasteries and school of evangelisation is 107,000 square metres and for the women’s houses, 280,000 square metres. Ambitious and trusting in God’s providence, a massive building project is under way. The community will have houses for 12 consecrated people with a chapel of adoration, refectory, kitchen and meeting area.

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Westminster Record | October 2016

Hope and Memory Reflections on Priesthood

by Cardinal Vincent Nichols

torch from your grandfather and your grandmother, or if they are already in heaven, talk with the elderly. Ask them.

They are the wisdom of a people.

‘Second condition. If you are to be hope for the future and have memory of the past, then what about the present? What must you do in the present?

Have courage, be strong, don’t be afraid.

‘Is all this clear? Good.’ (To volunteers 31 July) So I thank Judith Champ for her work and her latest book (The Secular Priesthood in England and Wales: History, Mission and Identity, Oscott Publications, 2016) which is at the heart of this day. She is enabling us to remember, to talk to our grandparents in the priesthood, to our greatgrandparents, indeed to our great-great-grandparents, back through many generations. It is from them that we learn the great virtues of priestly hope and of courage.

In her book Champ suggests that there are three key questions that can frame our reflections as we try to allow our history to strengthen our present. They are:

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I started serious preparation for this talk at the time of the Feast of the Assumption and l begin with a quotation from that Office of Readings, from the Letter to the Ephesians: 'I have never stopped thanking God for you. I remember you in my prayers ...

I ask that your minds may be opened to see his light, so that you will know what is the hope to which he has called you, how rich are the wonderful blessings he promises his people, and how very great is his power at work within us who believe.'

(Eph 1.16-18).

St Paul's emphasis on hope and on 'the power at work within us' caught my eye. Our priesthood is, I believe, an expression of that hope and an experience of the power of God's blessings and grace among so many people.

During the summer I attended the World Youth Day in Kraków. One of the themes explored by Pope Francis was that of hope. As you might expect, he took a rather original line.

Speaking to the World Youth Day volunteers just before leaving Poland he said: 'Do you want to be the hope for the future or not? There are two conditions.

‘The first condition is to remember. Trying to understand where you come from: the memory of your people, your family, your whole history. Memory of the path you have taken, memory of everything you have received from those who have gone before you. A young person who cannot remember is no hope for the future. Is that clear?

‘So how do you go about remembering? First, talk to your grandparents. Because if you want to be hope for the future, you have to receive the

i) How the individual priest lives his life ii) How he relates to his brother priests and bishops iii) How he leads the community placed in his care For each of these we can call on a rich historical content and a wealth of personal experience. i) How do we lead our individual lives?

Let me begin with two quotations. Both describe aspects of our daily lives as priests. The first, from the early

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1630s, emphasises ‘simplicity of life, obedience, chastity and sharing of spiritual resources' (Henry Gilmet, p 47) adding that work among the poor is the apostolic mission of the secular clergy.

A century later, Bishop Challoner issues his manifesto for the daily living of the priest: daily mental prayer, annual retreat, the work of catechesis with the young, well-prepared

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preaching, being available to receive people in the evening, care for the poor, and keeping out of the many London pubs.

Two centuries later (1998) and into our own day, this description of the priests is offered: 'The diocesan priest is a private man, genuinely classless, magisterial in the sense of speaking on behalf of the authority of the Church, ... dealing with failure, including

his own and at the same time witnessing to the great and miraculous joy among ordinary people ... a diocesan priest has an innate wisdom, learnt of experience ... He needs a mixture of maturity, generosity and awareness' (p 106), words of Mgr Tony Philpot, whose work was so much appreciated by many and who died in July.

May he indeed rest in the peace of the Lord.

Page 9

Westminster Record | October 2016

Westminster Record | October 2016

Page 10

We know only too well, as have all our brothers of ages past, that we are men who face every temptation, who know every weakness that characterises our humanity and our age: the difficulty of sustaining faithfulness in the commitments we have given; the difficulty of handling all relationships with integrity and openness; the challenges of social media and their addictive power; the dangers of misinterpreting anger or praise or indifference. The list is as complex as our common humanity. Yet the Lord has chosen us. Day by day we can rejoice in that choice, in the utterly astonishing fact that we are bound to him forever and that he chooses to use our hands, our words, our hearts to accomplish the most sublime work of his grace. The gift unfolds in so many ways, but especially, I suggest, in the way so beautifully expressed by Tony Philpot, in our witnessing and sharing in 'the great and miraculous joy' in the lives of so many ordinary people. That indeed is the stuff of our daily living! ii) How the priest relates to his brother priests and bishops.

Now the second question on which we are to ponder is this: how do we priests relate to our brother priests and to our bishop? This is, indeed, a rich vein of our history and one from which, in my view, we have inherited a great deal.

In the centuries since the Reformation, one consistent theme emerges: a concern for the cohesiveness of the body of priests, often spoken of as priestly fraternity. This concern has at times been expressed by those who had oversight,

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whether in Rome or locally, whether apostolic vicars or bishops; it has been expressed by groups of priests and by leading individuals. The concern has given rise to many different initiatives, from the late 17th century Institute for the Secular Clergy based on the work of Holzhauser, which became the formative influence in Oscott College, or the inspiration of Francis de Sales and Vincent de Paul in the St Sulpice movement which shaped the life of Wonersh in the 19th century, through to the priests' support movements of the last decades: the Ministry to Priests Programme and the Emmaus Programme. Many other expressions of this desire for fraternity emerge and play their part: Jesus Caritas, Third Order confraternities, dining circles, golfing groups. All have contributed. Not all have enjoyed lasting success. The challenge remains.

Modern culture obviously has its contribution, with its strong individualism reinforcing our desire to get on with our own tasks and cherish an independence of action. The weight of diverse responsibilities we each carry can make expressions of fraternity seem like a luxury for which we can barely afford the time. Yet perhaps there are deeper roots to this matter which are helpful to understand.

In the decades following the Acts of Supremacy, the experience of the Catholic priest was one of profound isolation.

He had no settled home, no church from which to minister.

He was dependent for his life and work on the network of people, local knowledge and personal commitment. This was no brief interlude. Indeed, as Champ puts it, 'The habit of independent, self-determined action became automatic, accompanying the isolation in which most of them lived.' She continues, 'This unique formative experience lasted through generations, for over two hundred years, and became part of the way in which secular priests saw themselves. It became fundamental to the identity of the secular priesthood in England and Wales' (p 39).

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exaggerating if I say that this 'habit of independent, selfdetermined action' is part of the DNA of our priesthood, even to this day. It is one of our great strengths, yet having its downside too. At least Bishop Ullathorne found it so when, in the 1880s, he commented: 'The clergy are so fond of independence. One is obliged to think a great deal about their feelings to save a great deal of difficulty!'

During the two centuries which laid down this foundation, it is not as if the clergy were of one mind. Our story is also one of constant conflict within the presbyterate.

This includes, of course, the early conflicts with our Jesuit brothers, which resulted in the complete institutional separation of their mission from ours by Papal decree in 1602.

Even this intervention did nothing to settle the deep divisions among the secular clergy over the pattern of oversight, or episcope, which was required. The first PostReformation bishop was appointed only in 1623, working closely with a chapter of senior priests, which was also a point of conflict. That appointment was not a success.

Great uncertainty remained for the rest of that century and throughout the next, to be brought to a close only in 1850 when diocesan structures were put in place. By then some deep-seated patterns had been established and old habits die hard.

Not surprisingly, then, a constant appeal of the first diocesan bishops, emphasised by both Wiseman and Manning, was that priests foster 'a love for their diocese and loyalty to their bishop'.

Thankfully, in my experience, that appeal has always elicited a rich and fruitful response and this sense of loyalty is strong today for the most part. But renewal is always needed.

The renewal of these relationships has to be more than a matter of expediency. It must be clearly rooted in its source and foundation. It must be based on that same sense of the privilege of sharing together in the priesthood of Christ. As we all know, the institutional aspects of these relationships, whether between

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too want to bring that dedication to the moment of our death.

There is so much more we can draw from our history, from many other shining examples of priesthood who emerge in the darkness of cruelty and human sinfulness. They are our brothers and they enrich us in our own striving and service.

So what is it that binds us together, across the centuries and the great diversity of experience? For me, the most appropriate word, the only word that takes us to the heart of priesthood is that it is a gift.

Priesthood is a gift given by the Lord to us in our daily unworthiness, entrusted to these vessels of clay, unfolding in responsibility, in opportunity, in a flow of trust, respect, affection that we do not deserve but which is given solely in the light of the office, the gift, we have received. Sometimes we have mistakenly thought that this gift bestows a personal superiority over others, or that it is a source of personal privilege setting us above others. How wrong that is, yet how beguiling: that we mistake for personal honour the respect and esteem that belongs solely to the gift of being a priest of Jesus Christ.

There is a deeper sense of gift here too. We can rightly say that the call to priesthood is given by the Father. It is given because the Father wants to give companions to his Son. Just as the Father sent his Son, so too he chooses and sends us priests to be his Son’s companions. We are, then, the Father’s gift to Christ, to share in the mission given to Christ by the Father. I may say, then, that from all eternity the Father has seen and intended that I would be a companion, in priesthood, of his Son, a gift given out of his love.

priests or with their bishop, are fraught with tensions, mutual demands springing from the legal structures of both Church and civil responsibilities. So pinpointing the source of our fraternity is very important.

Only when we are rooted in that shared awareness, convinced of the transforming significance of the person of Jesus in our history, and conscious that each of us stands in this company only because he has chosen to send us out to do his work, does our sense of fraternity find its true expression.

Presbyteral fraternity has its diocesan characteristics and culture. Each diocesan presbyterate has its own collective memories, its own jokes, its own heroes and villains. In a time in which a presbyterate is made up from an increasing number of different sources, and in which the formation received by its priests is no longer shared or uniform, the need to get together, both to share that culture and to contribute to it, is as important as ever, always welcoming the newcomer whose road to priesthood may have been very different to one's own.

In my view, a good and simple test of this fraternity is the attendance of priests at the funeral of a brother priest. We do not go to a priest's funeral because he was a friend, or because he shared our views.

We go because he is a brother.

In the unforgettable words of Ronnie Knox, a great blessing of being a diocesan priest is that 'your brethren will bury you cheerfully’!

Divisions among priests inevitably arise. They may be over practical matters, over strongly held preferences in aspects of ministry. Mostly you know how to deal with them.

But there is one fatal disease

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that can infect a presbyterate.

Diocesan fraternity becomes impossible if we are the kind of people who take offence at the words and deeds of other priests, or deacons or bishops, and decide to freeze them permanently out of our lives with a hardness of heart. Then our presbyterate does not stand a chance. Nor too does our mission.

In these relationships we bishops have our part to play.

Here too, Pope Francis had some telling words when speaking to the Polish Bishops in Kraków. In response to a question he was speaking of pastoral closeness. To us bishops he said this: 'I think I must speak to you of the most important closeness: that closeness with priests. The bishop must be available for his priests. When I was in Argentina, I heard many, so many times, from priests, when I went to give the Exercises. I said: “Speak with the bishop about this …” “Oh, I called him and the secretary said to me: ‘No, he is very, very busy, but he will receive you in three months.’” But this priest feels himself an orphan, without a father, without closeness, and he begins to go down. A bishop who sees messages from a priest, in the evening when he returns, he must call him immediately that same evening or the next day.

“Yes, I am busy, but is it urgent?” — “No. No, but let’s come to an agreement …” The priest must feel he has a father.

If we take paternity away from priests, we cannot ask them to be fathers. And thus the sense of God’s paternity is removed.

The Son’s work is to touch human miseries: spiritual and corporal. Closeness. The Father’s work: to be father, a bishop-father.'

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iii) How the priest leads the community placed in his care.

A priest's paternity is, of course, expressed in his mission. So now we turn to the third point: how the priest exercises his mission, how he leads the people entrusted to his care.

There are many ways in which priests exercise their ministry, but in my view the parish remains the core and essential element of that ministry. Some more words of Pope Francis, again, in his unscripted response to the Polish bishops: 'I would like to stress one thing: the parish is always valid!

The parish must remain: it’s a structure we must not throw out the window! In fact, the parish is the house of the People of God, the one in which it lives.

The problem is how to build the parish! ... There are parishes with closed doors. But there are also parishes with the doors open, parishes where, when someone comes to ask, one says: “Yes, yes … make yourself comfortable. What is the problem?” And one listens with patience, because to take care of the People of God is exhausting, it’s exhausting!’

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Over the centuries of our history, huge differences are to be seen in the lives of priests in England and Wales, from their being at the centre of the social networks in Pre-Reformation England to being hunted criminals, a man alone in fear of his life not for what he did but for who he was (p 34), then being the gatherers of a scattered flock, to the role that first emerged in the late 19th century as builder, fundraiser and entrepreneur, a role that still is to be seen today.

But beneath, or within, these differences, there is without doubt a strong bond of continuity which we can recognise. We share the same dedication, daily discipline, basic loyalty which enable us to recognise all who have gone before us as our brothers, holding them in affection and love, and draw from them, despite profoundly different circumstances and challenges, vital inspiration for our own hope and courage.

Many identities have been given to the Catholic priest in England and Wales. We can cherish Challoner's insistence on the priest as martyr, on the heritage of the martyr priests.

From his day, this became part of the identity of English Catholics and differentiated them from the other varieties of religious life in England that were emerging in the 18th century, the first real age of English religious pluralism (p 57). Then, a century later, there is Ullathorne's insistence on the identity of the diocesan priest as missioner, a title which he truly esteemed and believed had to be earned.

Both of these are surely true for us today: missioners and successors of the martyrs, men who lived by an unshakeable hope in the promises of the Lord

and in the work of the Holy Spirit in their daily lives. These are the dimensions of our priesthood that I treasure most, even in this age, when we have such strong rights of settlement, such a thorough academic training and accepted place in society, though not without being the focus of a new and, for the most part, healthy and open criticism.

Just a few weeks ago, on a drive down France, I went to visit the church where Fr Jacques Hamel was brutally killed. The town, or suburb, of Saint Etienne-du-Rouvray, is a small, quiet place beside the railway tracks, south of Rouen.

The church was still closed, surrounded by barricades. There was a small, moving and tiredlooking array of flowers, cards, mementos and tributes.

We are told that Fr Hamel died with these words on his lips: 'Go away Satan.' It is not clear what he meant. Journalists said it was directed at those who came at this throat with their knives. Or did those words point to a deeper struggle? I have pondered on these words as the utterance of a man of peace and a priest. His 'Satan' could have been the fear gripping his heart, or a despair that all was about to be lost. His 'Satan' may well have been anything that could have made him lose trust in Jesus at this hour of his death, the radical temptations urging him to abandon the very foundation on which he had built his whole life. He was, evidently, a man of peace, refusing a commission in the French Foreign Legion during his years of service because it would have meant giving orders to kill. He had built a life of daily peacefulness and his struggle may well have been in maintaining that stance, his radical decision of heart, of spirit, until the last moment of consciousness. The witness of his daily life as a priest, I suggest, is summed up in the manner of his death: on his knees, before the altar, the very position he had taken when he was ordained.

Our struggles are different but we too have to fight, each day, to keep fresh the original call and inspiration which brought us to our knees at the moment of our ordination. We

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Continued from page 9

And then: 'We bishops must ask the priests this: “How is your parish doing? And do you go out? Do you visit prisoners, the sick, little old ladies? And what do you do with the children?

How do you help them play?

How are persons received?

How are they heard? Is there always someone in the confessional?” If there is a confessional with the light on, especially in city parishes, the people always go to confession, always! It's a welcoming parish.

'There are those that say that the parish is no longer useful, because now is the time of movements. This isn’t true! The movements help, but the movements must not be an alternative to the parish: they must help in the parish, carry the parish forward.

'Should one seek novelty or change the parish structure?

The parish (as such) must not be touched: it must remain as a place of creativity, of reference, of maternity and all these things.

'Invent, seek, go out, seek the people, engage in the people’s difficulties. If you don’t go to seek the people, if you don’t approach them, they don’t come. And this is a missionary disciple, the outgoing parish. Go out and seek, as God did who sent his Son to seek us' (Kraków, 27 July 2016).

There is a strong echo in these words of much that is to be found in our traditions and daily ministry. These words can inspire our leadership in a parish. But what is more our own history also helps to make this leadership more specific, more indigenous to England and Wales.

Continued overleaf Page 11

Westminster Record | October 2016

Westminster Record | October 2016

Page 10

We know only too well, as have all our brothers of ages past, that we are men who face every temptation, who know every weakness that characterises our humanity and our age: the difficulty of sustaining faithfulness in the commitments we have given; the difficulty of handling all relationships with integrity and openness; the challenges of social media and their addictive power; the dangers of misinterpreting anger or praise or indifference. The list is as complex as our common humanity. Yet the Lord has chosen us. Day by day we can rejoice in that choice, in the utterly astonishing fact that we are bound to him forever and that he chooses to use our hands, our words, our hearts to accomplish the most sublime work of his grace. The gift unfolds in so many ways, but especially, I suggest, in the way so beautifully expressed by Tony Philpot, in our witnessing and sharing in 'the great and miraculous joy' in the lives of so many ordinary people. That indeed is the stuff of our daily living! ii) How the priest relates to his brother priests and bishops.

Now the second question on which we are to ponder is this: how do we priests relate to our brother priests and to our bishop? This is, indeed, a rich vein of our history and one from which, in my view, we have inherited a great deal.

In the centuries since the Reformation, one consistent theme emerges: a concern for the cohesiveness of the body of priests, often spoken of as priestly fraternity. This concern has at times been expressed by those who had oversight,

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whether in Rome or locally, whether apostolic vicars or bishops; it has been expressed by groups of priests and by leading individuals. The concern has given rise to many different initiatives, from the late 17th century Institute for the Secular Clergy based on the work of Holzhauser, which became the formative influence in Oscott College, or the inspiration of Francis de Sales and Vincent de Paul in the St Sulpice movement which shaped the life of Wonersh in the 19th century, through to the priests' support movements of the last decades: the Ministry to Priests Programme and the Emmaus Programme. Many other expressions of this desire for fraternity emerge and play their part: Jesus Caritas, Third Order confraternities, dining circles, golfing groups. All have contributed. Not all have enjoyed lasting success. The challenge remains.

Modern culture obviously has its contribution, with its strong individualism reinforcing our desire to get on with our own tasks and cherish an independence of action. The weight of diverse responsibilities we each carry can make expressions of fraternity seem like a luxury for which we can barely afford the time. Yet perhaps there are deeper roots to this matter which are helpful to understand.

In the decades following the Acts of Supremacy, the experience of the Catholic priest was one of profound isolation.

He had no settled home, no church from which to minister.

He was dependent for his life and work on the network of people, local knowledge and personal commitment. This was no brief interlude. Indeed, as Champ puts it, 'The habit of independent, self-determined action became automatic, accompanying the isolation in which most of them lived.' She continues, 'This unique formative experience lasted through generations, for over two hundred years, and became part of the way in which secular priests saw themselves. It became fundamental to the identity of the secular priesthood in England and Wales' (p 39).

I do not think I am Follow us on Twitter at: twitter.com/RCWestminster

exaggerating if I say that this 'habit of independent, selfdetermined action' is part of the DNA of our priesthood, even to this day. It is one of our great strengths, yet having its downside too. At least Bishop Ullathorne found it so when, in the 1880s, he commented: 'The clergy are so fond of independence. One is obliged to think a great deal about their feelings to save a great deal of difficulty!'

During the two centuries which laid down this foundation, it is not as if the clergy were of one mind. Our story is also one of constant conflict within the presbyterate.

This includes, of course, the early conflicts with our Jesuit brothers, which resulted in the complete institutional separation of their mission from ours by Papal decree in 1602.

Even this intervention did nothing to settle the deep divisions among the secular clergy over the pattern of oversight, or episcope, which was required. The first PostReformation bishop was appointed only in 1623, working closely with a chapter of senior priests, which was also a point of conflict. That appointment was not a success.

Great uncertainty remained for the rest of that century and throughout the next, to be brought to a close only in 1850 when diocesan structures were put in place. By then some deep-seated patterns had been established and old habits die hard.

Not surprisingly, then, a constant appeal of the first diocesan bishops, emphasised by both Wiseman and Manning, was that priests foster 'a love for their diocese and loyalty to their bishop'.

Thankfully, in my experience, that appeal has always elicited a rich and fruitful response and this sense of loyalty is strong today for the most part. But renewal is always needed.

The renewal of these relationships has to be more than a matter of expediency. It must be clearly rooted in its source and foundation. It must be based on that same sense of the privilege of sharing together in the priesthood of Christ. As we all know, the institutional aspects of these relationships, whether between

Mazur/catholicnews.org.uk

too want to bring that dedication to the moment of our death.

There is so much more we can draw from our history, from many other shining examples of priesthood who emerge in the darkness of cruelty and human sinfulness. They are our brothers and they enrich us in our own striving and service.

So what is it that binds us together, across the centuries and the great diversity of experience? For me, the most appropriate word, the only word that takes us to the heart of priesthood is that it is a gift.

Priesthood is a gift given by the Lord to us in our daily unworthiness, entrusted to these vessels of clay, unfolding in responsibility, in opportunity, in a flow of trust, respect, affection that we do not deserve but which is given solely in the light of the office, the gift, we have received. Sometimes we have mistakenly thought that this gift bestows a personal superiority over others, or that it is a source of personal privilege setting us above others. How wrong that is, yet how beguiling: that we mistake for personal honour the respect and esteem that belongs solely to the gift of being a priest of Jesus Christ.

There is a deeper sense of gift here too. We can rightly say that the call to priesthood is given by the Father. It is given because the Father wants to give companions to his Son. Just as the Father sent his Son, so too he chooses and sends us priests to be his Son’s companions. We are, then, the Father’s gift to Christ, to share in the mission given to Christ by the Father. I may say, then, that from all eternity the Father has seen and intended that I would be a companion, in priesthood, of his Son, a gift given out of his love.

priests or with their bishop, are fraught with tensions, mutual demands springing from the legal structures of both Church and civil responsibilities. So pinpointing the source of our fraternity is very important.

Only when we are rooted in that shared awareness, convinced of the transforming significance of the person of Jesus in our history, and conscious that each of us stands in this company only because he has chosen to send us out to do his work, does our sense of fraternity find its true expression.

Presbyteral fraternity has its diocesan characteristics and culture. Each diocesan presbyterate has its own collective memories, its own jokes, its own heroes and villains. In a time in which a presbyterate is made up from an increasing number of different sources, and in which the formation received by its priests is no longer shared or uniform, the need to get together, both to share that culture and to contribute to it, is as important as ever, always welcoming the newcomer whose road to priesthood may have been very different to one's own.

In my view, a good and simple test of this fraternity is the attendance of priests at the funeral of a brother priest. We do not go to a priest's funeral because he was a friend, or because he shared our views.

We go because he is a brother.

In the unforgettable words of Ronnie Knox, a great blessing of being a diocesan priest is that 'your brethren will bury you cheerfully’!

Divisions among priests inevitably arise. They may be over practical matters, over strongly held preferences in aspects of ministry. Mostly you know how to deal with them.

But there is one fatal disease

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that can infect a presbyterate.

Diocesan fraternity becomes impossible if we are the kind of people who take offence at the words and deeds of other priests, or deacons or bishops, and decide to freeze them permanently out of our lives with a hardness of heart. Then our presbyterate does not stand a chance. Nor too does our mission.

In these relationships we bishops have our part to play.

Here too, Pope Francis had some telling words when speaking to the Polish Bishops in Kraków. In response to a question he was speaking of pastoral closeness. To us bishops he said this: 'I think I must speak to you of the most important closeness: that closeness with priests. The bishop must be available for his priests. When I was in Argentina, I heard many, so many times, from priests, when I went to give the Exercises. I said: “Speak with the bishop about this …” “Oh, I called him and the secretary said to me: ‘No, he is very, very busy, but he will receive you in three months.’” But this priest feels himself an orphan, without a father, without closeness, and he begins to go down. A bishop who sees messages from a priest, in the evening when he returns, he must call him immediately that same evening or the next day.

“Yes, I am busy, but is it urgent?” — “No. No, but let’s come to an agreement …” The priest must feel he has a father.

If we take paternity away from priests, we cannot ask them to be fathers. And thus the sense of God’s paternity is removed.

The Son’s work is to touch human miseries: spiritual and corporal. Closeness. The Father’s work: to be father, a bishop-father.'

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iii) How the priest leads the community placed in his care.

A priest's paternity is, of course, expressed in his mission. So now we turn to the third point: how the priest exercises his mission, how he leads the people entrusted to his care.

There are many ways in which priests exercise their ministry, but in my view the parish remains the core and essential element of that ministry. Some more words of Pope Francis, again, in his unscripted response to the Polish bishops: 'I would like to stress one thing: the parish is always valid!

The parish must remain: it’s a structure we must not throw out the window! In fact, the parish is the house of the People of God, the one in which it lives.

The problem is how to build the parish! ... There are parishes with closed doors. But there are also parishes with the doors open, parishes where, when someone comes to ask, one says: “Yes, yes … make yourself comfortable. What is the problem?” And one listens with patience, because to take care of the People of God is exhausting, it’s exhausting!’

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Over the centuries of our history, huge differences are to be seen in the lives of priests in England and Wales, from their being at the centre of the social networks in Pre-Reformation England to being hunted criminals, a man alone in fear of his life not for what he did but for who he was (p 34), then being the gatherers of a scattered flock, to the role that first emerged in the late 19th century as builder, fundraiser and entrepreneur, a role that still is to be seen today.

But beneath, or within, these differences, there is without doubt a strong bond of continuity which we can recognise. We share the same dedication, daily discipline, basic loyalty which enable us to recognise all who have gone before us as our brothers, holding them in affection and love, and draw from them, despite profoundly different circumstances and challenges, vital inspiration for our own hope and courage.

Many identities have been given to the Catholic priest in England and Wales. We can cherish Challoner's insistence on the priest as martyr, on the heritage of the martyr priests.

From his day, this became part of the identity of English Catholics and differentiated them from the other varieties of religious life in England that were emerging in the 18th century, the first real age of English religious pluralism (p 57). Then, a century later, there is Ullathorne's insistence on the identity of the diocesan priest as missioner, a title which he truly esteemed and believed had to be earned.

Both of these are surely true for us today: missioners and successors of the martyrs, men who lived by an unshakeable hope in the promises of the Lord

and in the work of the Holy Spirit in their daily lives. These are the dimensions of our priesthood that I treasure most, even in this age, when we have such strong rights of settlement, such a thorough academic training and accepted place in society, though not without being the focus of a new and, for the most part, healthy and open criticism.

Just a few weeks ago, on a drive down France, I went to visit the church where Fr Jacques Hamel was brutally killed. The town, or suburb, of Saint Etienne-du-Rouvray, is a small, quiet place beside the railway tracks, south of Rouen.

The church was still closed, surrounded by barricades. There was a small, moving and tiredlooking array of flowers, cards, mementos and tributes.

We are told that Fr Hamel died with these words on his lips: 'Go away Satan.' It is not clear what he meant. Journalists said it was directed at those who came at this throat with their knives. Or did those words point to a deeper struggle? I have pondered on these words as the utterance of a man of peace and a priest. His 'Satan' could have been the fear gripping his heart, or a despair that all was about to be lost. His 'Satan' may well have been anything that could have made him lose trust in Jesus at this hour of his death, the radical temptations urging him to abandon the very foundation on which he had built his whole life. He was, evidently, a man of peace, refusing a commission in the French Foreign Legion during his years of service because it would have meant giving orders to kill. He had built a life of daily peacefulness and his struggle may well have been in maintaining that stance, his radical decision of heart, of spirit, until the last moment of consciousness. The witness of his daily life as a priest, I suggest, is summed up in the manner of his death: on his knees, before the altar, the very position he had taken when he was ordained.

Our struggles are different but we too have to fight, each day, to keep fresh the original call and inspiration which brought us to our knees at the moment of our ordination. We

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Continued from page 9

And then: 'We bishops must ask the priests this: “How is your parish doing? And do you go out? Do you visit prisoners, the sick, little old ladies? And what do you do with the children?

How do you help them play?

How are persons received?

How are they heard? Is there always someone in the confessional?” If there is a confessional with the light on, especially in city parishes, the people always go to confession, always! It's a welcoming parish.

'There are those that say that the parish is no longer useful, because now is the time of movements. This isn’t true! The movements help, but the movements must not be an alternative to the parish: they must help in the parish, carry the parish forward.

'Should one seek novelty or change the parish structure?

The parish (as such) must not be touched: it must remain as a place of creativity, of reference, of maternity and all these things.

'Invent, seek, go out, seek the people, engage in the people’s difficulties. If you don’t go to seek the people, if you don’t approach them, they don’t come. And this is a missionary disciple, the outgoing parish. Go out and seek, as God did who sent his Son to seek us' (Kraków, 27 July 2016).

There is a strong echo in these words of much that is to be found in our traditions and daily ministry. These words can inspire our leadership in a parish. But what is more our own history also helps to make this leadership more specific, more indigenous to England and Wales.

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Westminster Record | October 2016

In the 1550s, the ambition of Mary I and Cardinal Pole was to build up an educated, resident, pastoral and preaching body of priests. Their ambition actually took shape after their deaths, in the College at Douai. There in the 1580s, Cardinal Allen was already giving our ministry a particular shape. He insisted that the objective of the mission in England and Wales had to be more pastoral than evangelical, not so much conversion but the reconciliation of fearful or timid Catholics (Champ, p 33). He wanted priests to transform careless Catholics into conscientious and courageous witnesses and in this work he urged priests not to be too rigid in their approach to the demands of the public repudiation of Catholic faith.

Rather he urged priests to be gentle and balanced in their approach, a 'subtle and supple approach', so as not to drive people away (p 41).

This emphasis has endured.

For a long time we have focussed on the existing Catholic community, in its strengths and weaknesses, in its needs and expectations. We have been less focussed on the out-going work of direct evangelisation, even as current research suggests (cf Stephen Bullivant, Contemporary Catholicism in England and Wales: A Statistical Report, Benedict XVI Centre, St Mary’s University, pp 11-13). The building up of the Catholic community, in its position as a minority, has been our experience and tradition.

What we see today, in our very changed circumstances, is the need for this minority to find a confident voice at every level, in putting forward the truths of faith in a culture that has lost much of its nerve in asserting fundamental human and humanising principles of meaning and action.

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One further point: In commenting on the disintegration and reconstruction of Christian life brought about by the Reformation, Champ points out that the abandonment of the Sacrament of Reconciliation contributed to the breakdown of the pastoral bond between the priest and the people in his care.

In her words, 'The penitential cycle, which tied priests and people is a close bond, was largely broken’ (p 41). Today it is the experience of many that when this cycle is re-established then the vitality of Christian living is restored. It is surely a paradox of our age that just as objective truth is culturally outlawed the processes of confession of faults are as popular as ever, evidently as TV entertainment, aggressively in investigative journalism and, thank God, fruitfully in the Sacrament of Reconciliation.

There is so much healing to be done.

Let me return to Fr Jacques Hamel. His life did not include 'important' or 'prominent' roles, but was spent serving in four parishes within his diocese. It obviously brought him deep satisfaction as, at the age of 85, he continued to serve as a curate in the parish where he had been parish priest. He was wellknown and well-loved among the people. They attended his funeral Mass in huge numbers.

That put me in mind of the funeral of Blessed John Henry Newman. As you know, the streets along the seven-mile route from the Oratory to Rednal, taken by his funeral cortège, were lined with up to 30,000 people. I am sure that most of them had never read a book or a letter written by the Cardinal. But they knew him as a loving and pastoral priest, who had attended them in their times of need.

Herein, most surely, lies the heart of our pastoral ministry, the witness that we are to give.

Everything else stands or falls on this: our closeness, a favourite word of Pope Francis, to those whom we serve. That closeness has changed in character over these centuries, but in essence it remains the same, just as the human quest for God remains the same and the struggles of every person to respond to the

unchanging and endless mercy of God remain, in essence, the same. The cost of our priesthood also remains unchanged: it costs everything. Of course the ways in which that gift is made change age by age: no longer crucifixion, as embraced by our Master; most infrequently among us but not elsewhere by violent death; more likely the slow, daily downpayments of a generous response to each person who makes a request of us, the effort of yet another homily, or personal interview, or casual conversation turned beyond chatter into a moment of true evangelical exchange.

There are no headlines in this talk, just as there are, usually, few headlines in the life of the faithful priest. Most headlines tend to be an exaggerated generalisation as can be seen in the writings of many commentators on the life of priests. Nor do I use the word crisis, even though it is a word constantly used about the priesthood in England and Wales, right back to the ‘crisis’ of the corruption of late mediaeval clergy. In the light of better research, that crisis, like many others, proved to be largely insubstantial. But here we are, largely in good spirits, always in need of encouragement, and, in my view, never lacking inner resources and strong desire to respond to the Lord and to the tasks he gives to us.

Now a final word of challenge: In one of his many Catholic sermons, Cardinal Newman spoke of us emerging into a wider world in which, I quote, ‘we shall be so large that our concerns cannot be hid and at the same time so unprotected that we cannot but suffer’. Our only protection, he insisted, was a strong body of priests who had received a solid spiritual and theological formation in the seminary, who were united in fraternity with their bishop and with one another (cf Champ, p

75). In this he was surely correct, although he may not have known the kinds of pressure that we are actually under or the radical changes with which we live.

I believe that what is required of us today is a genuine development of the independence of action that has served the pattern of priesthood well, into a network of willing interdependencies such as we have not before fully achieved.

The immediate postReformation mission in England and Wales demonstrated the power of a local network of interdependence without which the local church in this country would not have survived or flourished (cf p 140), but today something more complex, more overt, more embracing, subject to scrutiny, is required. The networks of interdependence, which may well be the key to our mission and to the witness we give, include all those we have been briefly exploring: a willing and full interdependence between priests and with their bishops, especially in the leadership of parishes in processes of change; genuine interdependence between parishes in the use of resources and sources of inspiration; sustained and ready interdependence with the service offered by the diocese and in meeting the requirements that can only be fulfilled at that level.

These interdependencies have to become second nature to us, balanced with the continuing characteristic of self-reliance and self-motivation. It is a sobering yet crucial thought that no true renewal in the history of the Church in England and Wales has come about through centralised, overarching plans or declarations. We are a Church which flourishes on individual, courageous, leadership, most often exercised at local level. Yet we cannot pretend that in today's interdependent world

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such leadership is now sufficient.

It is not. We have to be and to be seen as one body, coherent in vision, intent and knitted together in mutual cooperation and shared responsibility.

And this spirit and pattern of interdependence should carry us beyond the Catholic community too, in a willingness to pursue every good cooperation with those who share our social concerns. As Catholics we should be skilled and alert in recognising the marks of the 'seeds of the Word' wherever they are to be found and ready to work with others, even with the most unconventional of bedfellows.

I would like to think that if St John Southworth were here today he would recognise among us, and rejoice in, the same spirit and love of the Lord that inspired him. He may even be astonished at the perseverance shown by so many today in the face of difficulties that he would surely find baffling. I think, too, of Cardinal Manning who came on a pathway that many of you share.

He too would rejoice in this company. I am sure, too, that if Bert Haines, and others like him, were with us, he would nod approvingly although not without some perceptive remark.

Jim O'Brien would quietly rejoice, perhaps with a cup of cocoa, and Cardinal Hume would undoubtedly say 'But, dear Father...' and add his luminous comment. So many great priests are among our inheritance and we know that even now they stand at our shoulders, a second squadron of guardian angels, guiding and encouraging us with their prayers.

To return to the words of St Paul: 'I have never stopped thanking God for you. I remember you in my prayers ...

I ask that your minds may be opened to see his light, so that you will know what is the hope to which he has called you, how rich are the wonderful blessings he promises his people, and how very great is his power at work within us who believe' (Eph 1.16-18).

Thank you.

HE Cardinal Vincent Nichols Archbishop of Westminster

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Westminster Record | October 2016

Chaplain’s Corner Want to be a Young Ambassador

Fr David Reilly, Diocesan Youth Chaplain ‘Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy’ (Mt 5:7). These words of Jesus were the theme for the recent World Youth Day in Poland. This great ecclesial event took place in the heart of the Year of Mercy, celebrated as the central jubilee event for the young people of the world.

Poland gave us a magnificent welcome! The country was beautiful and full of faith. The Catholic people of that great land cherish their faith and culture with intensity and generosity. Yet the visit of Pope Francis to Auschwitz was a stark reminder of the disturbing history of that rich and stunning land. In the midst of great faith, there is a strong memory of the

Director’s Spotlight Phil Ross, Youth Ministry Director

What a Summer.

Breathless.

It was wonderful having the opportunity to lead the diocesan pilgrimage to Poland for World Youth Day and I was blessed to have such a kind and generous group of young adults to support me. It’s hard to know where to start with the thanks; it’s safe to say that Fr David Reilly and his clergy team, Rebekah and the Youth Team, Carl and his Medics, Colette and Danica and the Music Team, James and Hannah and the Communications Team, they all just delivered every day.

We are completely indebted to all the group leaders who worked tirelessly each and every day to serve their groups; they were immense.

My wife Ann, who was with us in Poland, was so patient. I will say no more!

We have our reunion on 19 November so keep your eye on our website and social media for details of this event.

Having departed Poland I headed to Pinner to take up residence as Director of SPEC and I’m indebted to the team at SPEC too. They have been very welcoming and both Ann and I feel very much at home.

The new residential complex is looking good and we are all very proud of what is being developed at SPEC and in the wider Westminster Youth Ministry Team.

If you want to know more about SPEC and our plans or our outreach work with Parishes just drop us a line: spec@rcdow.org.uk or youth@rcdow.org.uk

To find out more about the Youth Ministry and experiences of our young people at: dowym.org.uk.

for Christ?

by Fr Joshan Rodrigues Right through history, being an Ambassador for your country has been one of the most cherished postings in the Foreign Office. Your country sees you fit to represent its ideals, ethos and interests in another country, to another people. How about trying to be an Ambassador for someone much greater than every sovereign on earth? How about being an Ambassador for Christ? St Paul tells us that we are already Christ’s ambassadors, but most of us are probably more potential ambassadors than actual ones.

What’s SPEC and how will that help me become a Youth Ambassador for Christ? There comes a time in each one’s life when they pause and wonder: ‘Now what do I do with my life?’, ‘What is God calling me to do?’ Some take a year off to try their hands at many different things to feel what suits them; others take a trip around the world.

But sometimes what’s missing is a strong place deep inside oneself which can be a starting point for a life lived through the eyes of God. If you have ever felt the need to search for yourself, to serve God, and to work for the community, there’s no better place than spending a year as a Volunteer Missionary at SPEC. SPEC is the Diocese of Westminster’s residential retreat centre for young people. You can read everything about SPEC on the website, but what you may not know is that you can spend a year full-time at SPEC as a Volunteer Missionary joining the core resident family at SPEC. Every year, a group of young adults aged 18 to 25 are invited by the SPEC community to spend a year at their campus at Pinner. Not only do they journey towards holiness individually and communally, but they witness to and accompany hundreds of children and youth who arrive at SPEC each year.

As a young person, if you’ve felt closeness to Christ through the local parish community, if being around and working with young people has usually brought joy to your heart, then

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© Fr Joshan Rodrigues

worst of human suffering and sin. In the twentieth century, Poland, Germany and the whole of Europe were places in desperate need of divine mercy.

Perhaps once again, the world is in need of mercy. Many countries throughout the world are experiencing the effects of sin and suffering, from the borders of Europe and North Africa to the heart of the Middle East. In London too we see signs of the need for reconciliation. In Poland, almost two million young people defied expectations and pessimism, and turned out to hear the message of mercy, celebrating their trust in the merciful love of Jesus who reaches out to humanity.

Pope St John Paul II, once the bishop of Krakow, entrusted the future of the world to the young people of the Church.

Later, Pope Benedict XVI said that, ‘the Church is alive and the Church is young because she holds within herself the future of the world.’ The young people of Christ, including those who travelled from London, have the power, through mercy, to become heralds of hope and mercy for a new generation.

Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy…mercy for the whole world.

come and spend a year at SPEC. The greatest happiness is achieved in bringing others closer to God, in helping them find themselves in the process.

At World Youth Day in Poland, Pope Francis told the young people gathered there: ‘Today’s world demands that you be a protagonist of history because life is always beautiful when we choose to live it fully, when we choose to leave a mark…the Lord wants to work one of the greatest miracles we can experience; he wants to turn our hands into signs of reconciliation, of communion, of creation. He wants your hands to continue building the world of today.’

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At SPEC, you will have a chance to understand your own faith, journey towards God and the foundations of your life to come – a foundation based on love, inner joy and satisfaction. If you’re still unsure, come and see for yourself. Invite yourself to SPEC for a day and see what it feels like.

I’ll let Pope Francis have the final word again: ‘He (the Lord) wants to make you see that, with you, the world can be different.

For the fact is, unless you offer the best of yourselves, the world will never be different. This is the challenge.’ The challenge begins at SPEC! Fr Joshan is in youth ministry in the Diocese of Bombay, India and is currently studying in Rome.

See photos of youth events at: http://flickr.com/ photos/catholicwestminster

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Westminster Record | October 2016

From the 12th to the 15th centuries, England enjoyed an international reputation for the quality of its luxury embroideries, often referred to as Opus Anglicanum (English work). Sought after by kings, queens, popes and cardinals from across Europe, most were made by professional craftspeople in the City of London.

An exhibition at the Victoria and Albert Museum provides a rare opportunity to see surviving examples alongside paintings, illuminated manuscripts, metalwork and stained glass which will explore the world within which these exquisite works were created.

The objects on display include some of the earliest depictions of the martyrdom of St Thomas Becket, and one of only two English sets of vestments known to have survived from before the Reformation. Nine of the great English medieval embroidered copes have been brought together for the first time in one exhibition, including those from the Vatican, Bologna, Madrid, Vic and Toledo Cathedral.

by Elizabeth Uwalaka Pilgrimage Administrator

The exhibition takes place from 1 October 2016 to 5 February 2017. For further information and to book, please visit vam.ac.uk/opus.

The Steeple Aston Cope 1330-40 (detail). The Rector and Churchwardens of St Peter, Steeple Aston, Oxfordshire.

On long term loan to the Victoria and Albert Museum, London.

Inside the Hospice: Elephants and Detectives

A well-known inspirational quote states that ‘a journey of a thousand miles begins with one single step’. This rings true for the many journeys made in the course of a lifetime. We are all soldiers for Christ in the battle that is life. When our bodies fail, God does not. In moments of deep reflection and prayer He finds a way in to touch our soul and heals us, leading us in the true way of Christ.

The diocesan pilgrimage to St Albans on Saturday 8 October commemorates the life of Britain’s first Christian martyr and brings together the Catholic and Anglican churches, culminating in ecumenical Evensong and veneration of a relic of the Hertfordshire saint. The final moments of his life draw parallels with our Lord’s final hours. Those laboured steps on Holywell Hill towards his death were taken in total and humble sacrifice. It is fitting that in this Year of Mercy, parishes across the diocese take the opportunity to participate in one of its closing pilgrimages by paying tribute to the humility of St Alban.

Throughout the year, pilgrims have made journeys to Lourdes, Walsingham,

© Lawrence Lew OP

Opus Anglicanum: Masterpieces Walking in the of English Medieval Embroidery Footsteps of St Alban

Aylesford, Fatima, Krakow and Rome. In Lourdes, volunteers generously gave their time so that fellow pilgrims in need of their support and care might receive the graces that prayerful pilgrimage provides. Although miracles are not always visible or instantaneous, the spiritual transformation that many receive on pilgrimage shapes our lives more profoundly than we realise. Both our Lord and St Alban gave the same message to their friends: ‘Do not be afraid’.

Those who walk with the Lord have nothing to fear.

The values of the gospel carve the paths of our daily life and nourish us in pilgrimage and through life itself. It is in going some distance away in pilgrimage that we enable ourselves to draw near to Christ.

by Fr Peter-Michael Scott At the moment St Joseph’s has a competition. Patients and staff have been asked to find painted elephants that have been hidden around the hospice. It has meant that we have all turned into private detectives, hunting and searching, because whoever finds the elephants wins a mysterious prize.

God is like an elephant in the room, and chaplains are compassionate detectives, quite an unusual combination! When I approach a patient for the first time, we might not chat about faith or religion, but they know by my uniform and title that I am accompanied by a majestic, Page 14

strong and gentle entity. I then wait to see if they wish to talk about God and if they do not, and I sense they are carrying a burden, I will put on my sleuthing hat and use anything that they have talked about or what surrounds their hospice bed to introduce the Lord.

At times we all carry heavy burdens and being ill or unwell is the perfect time to let them go.

The role of the chaplain is not to increase or add to a patient’s burdens; rather, we gently detect them. Once the burden has been revealed, it is wonderful to be able to introduce the tenderness or mercy or strength of God. Their burden is then loaded onto

his shoulders ready to be carried away.

Being a non-judgemental, compassionate detective are the qualities of a good chaplain. I am walking in the footsteps of many great and talented predecessors: Fr Michael, Fr Brian, Sr Marie and Fr Gerry, and I work with a very able and gifted colleague: Sr Florence.

If you are admitted into hospital or a hospice ask for your chaplain to come and visit you. They come in all shapes and sizes, and bring with them the love and closeness of God. Please pray for the patients, staff and volunteers of St Joseph’s Hospice.

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Westminster Record | October 2016

Commemorating Centenary of Fatima Apparitions

by Donal Anthony Foley Nearly one hundred years ago, from May to October 1917, Our Lady appeared to three young shepherd children, Jacinta and Francisco Marto, and Lucia dos Santos, at Fatima in Portugal.

This year is the centenary of the apparitions of the Angel of Peace to the children in 1916, in the spring, summer and autumn.

In his first apparition, the Angel taught them to pray, ‘My God, I believe, I adore, I hope and I love you! I ask pardon of you for those who do not believe, do not adore, do not hope and do not love you.’ In his last and most important apparition, the angel appeared with a Host and chalice, which he left suspended in mid-air.

Then before he gave them Holy Communion he bowed down and taught the children a profound prayer of adoration in which Jesus, ‘present in all the tabernacles of the world’, is offered to the Most Holy Trinity in reparation for the sins by which he is offended. The deep sense of the presence of God imparted to the seers by the apparitions of the angel prepared them for their first encounter with Our Lady on 13 May 1917.

In 2017 the World Apostolate of Fatima (WAF) in England and Wales will be promoting the centenary of the Fatima apparitions through a programme of visitations by the National Pilgrim Virgin Statue of Our Lady of Fatima, and relics of Blessed Jacinta and Francisco. This will start with a visitation of the statue and relics to Westminster Cathedral on Saturday 18 February 2017, with Cardinal Vincent presiding at Mass, and will continue throughout the year with visits to the majority of the cathedrals in England and Wales. For details about these visitations go to: http://www.worldfatimaenglandwales.org.uk/visitation .html It is also hoped to have Fatima parish visitations in the London area in the run up to next year’s events. Please contact Oliver Abasolo, the WAF Southwark representative, for more details at: oliver.abasolo@worldfatimaenglandwales.org.uk or 07782 661922.

For more information about the World Apostolate of Fatima in England and Wales please visit: http://www.worldfatima-

Small Groups: Living Jesus Inspired by Pope Francis’ references to the universal call to holiness and the writings of his recent predecessors, Living Jesus will explore how our vocation to holiness is rooted in the merciful love of the Father, Christ’s saving ministry and the work of the Holy Spirit within each one of us.

Reflecting on Holy Scripture, the booklet encourages the reader to consider how baptism underpins our life in Jesus and impels us to cultivate consciously an intimate personal relationship with him through prayer and the sacraments to become intentional disciples.

Comprised of six sessions, Living Jesus is suitable for small group reflection or personal meditation. Each session includes prayers, a passage of Scripture, a reflection and questions for discussion. In

addition, a work of art is a key feature of each session, lifting up the beauty of our faith.

The book will be available at local Catholic bookshops and also can be ordered by emailing smallgroups@rcdow.org.uk or by calling 020 7798 9152.

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© World Apostolate of Fatima

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Sharing Gospel Joy: Perspectives on Mission in Today’s World The Columban Missionaries are hosting a conference on mission and the joy of being a missionary disciple, on Saturday 22 October from 11am to 4.30pm at Maria Fidelis School, 34 Phoenix Road, NW1 1TA. Fr Tom O’Reilly SSC will give the keynote address, followed by workshops on ‘care of creation’ (Ellen Teague), ‘outreach to migrants’ (Mauricio Silva), ‘building missionary parishes’ (Fr Chris Vipers) and ‘perspectives on mission’ from different people engaged in Columban mission.

CAFOD, Pax Christi and Westminster Justice and Peace representatives will provide practical ideas and resources.

Lunch is provided and the day will conclude with Mass celebrated by Bishop John Sherrington. For more details or to book a place, visit http://www.columbans.co.uk /news/sharing-gospel-joy-22october-2016/ or email sharinggospeljoy@columbans. co.uk.

THE WEEKLY NEWSPAPER FOR THE CATHOLIC COMMUNITY ACROSS THE UK

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Westminster Record | October 2016

CAFOD: The Power of Volunteering Sister Carmel Ring, an exmissionary and teacher from Our Lady of Muswell parish, reflects on her experiences as a volunteer for CAFOD. A long time before I came across CAFOD, I was already living by CAFOD’s values of Just One World and Make Poverty History. I have been fortunate to visit communities as a missionary and to see how overseas work makes a difference. But, as Pope Francis constantly reminds us, charity starts at home. CAFOD is a living case of how we are all members of one human family and our neighbours are not just next door but across the world.

I worked for four years as a missionary in Cameroon, Africa. Here we used to grow our own coffee beans in the convent so we could employ our village neighbours but when we sold the produce we had to sell it for a fraction of its value. This gave me a small insight into the struggles of our neighbours who worked hard to scrape a living.

CAFOD was a way for me to put my faith into action and the possibilities are endless. If you are good with young people then you could speak about CAFOD’s work in schools or at confirmation groups. Are you a team player? Perhaps you could help organise fundraising

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events in your parish or workplace.

Are you loud and passionate about something?

Are you willing to stand against something you don’t agree with? Join our campaigning events and lobby your MP to take action on climate change.

Fundraising of course is pivotal for CAFOD, but so are the volunteers prepared to speak up against poverty.

CAFOD started with just five women who wanted to make a difference and now we raise over £50million a year to help people all over the world.

CAFOD is brilliant at

working with local communities to help people help themselves, instead of relying on foreign aid.

CAFOD promotes human dignity through education, training and the development of skills appropriate to what is needed in any given situation.

This allows everyone we encounter maintain dignity throughout their lives, even in the face of disaster, poverty or tragedy. CAFOD treats everyone as part of our global family and that is why volunteering for CAFOD feels like an integral part of me.

We work as a team and there is a lovely atmosphere,

people split themselves with laughter and we thrive on being and working as happy people.

In terms of practicalities you are never dropped in the deep end; you’ll be invited to an Understanding CAFOD taster day, which talks about CAFOD’s work, then you can choose the type of

volunteering you want to do, e.g., in schools, parishes, campaigning work, etc.

We invite you, with your talents and skills, to become a volunteer for CAFOD, and rest assured in the knowledge that Jesus told us (Mat. 25:37-40), that ‘whatever we do to the least of these his little ones, we do it unto him’.

Real Advent: Preparing for Christmas

The time leading up to Christmas is often one of stress, buying presents and preparing homes for visitors.

In the midst of this, it is easy to forget what is at the heart of Christmas, and many in our society simply do not know the story of Christ.

The Real Advent Calendar is a way to bring Christ back into the preparations for Christmas. Each calendar includes a 28-page illustrated copy of the Christmas story, 24 Fairtrade chocolates. From the charitable donations, the calendar has helped equip a baby clinic in Kenya and supported charities such as Traidcraft Exchange and the Children’s Society.

David Marshall, from the Meaningful Chocolate Company which makes the calendars, said: ‘Three years ago we saw survey results

which showed that knowledge of the Christmas story was fading. Among fiveto seven-year olds, 36% didn’t know whose birthday was celebrated at Christmas.

Among adults, less than 12% knew the full Nativity story and 51% said that the birth of Jesus was irrelevant to their Christmas. As a result of this survey we launched the Real Advent Calendar, hoping to help adults and children engage with the Christmas story for the full 24 days of Advent.’

Delivery is free on orders of at least one case of 18 calendars made by 1 November. Schools receive a 10% discount for each case ordered in October. Free resources for schools and churches are also available online at www.realadvent.co.uk.

Are you called to Carmel?

Spend a day finding out at the ODC Carmelite Priory, London W8.

Saturday, 1st October, 10.00-4.00 Open to men & women.

No upper age limit.

If interested please contact johnmcgowan50@gmail.com

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Westminster Record | October 2016

© Mazur/catholicnews.org.uk

Supporting Ex-Offenders: Looking to the Future

Alice was recently befriended by one of Pact’s Basic Caring Communities, a group who befriend an ex-offender for the first three months after their release from prison.

Here Alice who has been in and out of prison for the past few years speaks of her experience of being part of a Basic Caring Community and her hopes for the future.

How did you find out about Pact’s Basic Caring Communities?

While in prison I got to know the Chaplains and Pact’s Family Engagement Workers, both were so important to me while I was inside.

Approaching the end of my sentence Nina, Pact’s Family Engagement Worker, introduced me to a project called Basic Caring Communities. At first I was a bit reluctant, I didn’t

understand, or believe people were doing this just to help people like me out. Nina, gave me a leaflet with a bit more information and when she came to my cell a few days later I decided to go for it. This time I am adamant I won’t be going back to jail.

What are the main challenges now you are out of prison?

The thing I find hardest is keeping busy. I’m looking for work but haven’t found a job yet. This is why being part of a Basic Caring Community has been so helpful, having a group of people that I can keep in touch with keeps me sane!

On the occasions I get worried about going back to prison, the group helps me to remember that it doesn’t need to be this way.

What do you do talk about with the volunteers?

Day to day stuff really. How I’m feeling, what I’ve been up to that day or week. The volunteers aren’t a team of councillors or professionals whose job it is to help me find work etc. They are a group of people offering me friendship. That’s what I need most; some of my friends in the past led me to crime, and so to have a group of people who

Celebrating All Saints Preschool © Caritas Lodigiana

On Friday 15 July, the All Saints’ Kenton Preschool closed its doors after almost 50 years having provided a muchneeded parish-based, safe and loving environment for younger members of the parish and local community. The

current leader, Anna Alvin, and her staff, worked hard to make All Saints’ a vibrant and welcoming place for children.

St Bernadette’s School will be opening a nursery facility in September in the parish centre at All Saints’ Church, Kenton.

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want only what’s best for me helps me keep on the right track.

We normally meet up once a week as a group for coffee and then the volunteers take turns to telephone me every day.

Why do you think this work is important?

It’s hard coming out of prison, just like it’s hard being in prison.

So often the people I met in prison were not helped by the friends they kept, or just didn’t have many friends wishing them well. These people only offer friendship, walking with me during these vital first few months after release.

PACT is a national charity which supports people affected by imprisonment. Pact’s Basic Caring Communities project runs across London and Bristol.

To find out more, or to make a donation, please visit www.prisonadvice.org.uk/getinvolved or call Tom on 020 7735 9535.

Caritas Westminster and the Prisoners Charity PACT are holding a prison volunteers event for National Prisoners Week. From 6-8pm on 11 October in Cathedral Hall SW1P 1QW, there will the opportunity to talk to exprisoners, chaplain and families and find out how you can get involved. For more information and to RSVP please email caritas@rcdow.org.uk.

Have you been inspired by Laudato Si’?

Saturday 15 October is the last chance to come to a Laudato Si’ workshop run by Westminster CAFOD, Caritas and Justice and Peace. At the event there will be discussion of the global impact of climate change and ways we can implement the teaching of Pope Francis in our own parishes.

It will be held on from 10:30am to 1:30pm at Our Lady of Victories, Kensington.

For more information and to RSVP please email Barbarakentish@rcdow.org.uk

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Caritas Lodigiana Visits Westminster Caritas Westminster recently hosted a team from Caritas Lodigiana. They spent time learning about the work that Caritas Westminster does in terms of direct service provision, fundraising and support of parish-based projects.

The group was made up of three students and a member of the Caritas Lodi team, Luca Servidati.

The trip was organised by Caritas Lodi to learn about the wide ranging work of Caritas Westminster and ti gain valuable insights that they can take back to their work in Italy.

While in London, Christina,

a student, was surprised with how supportive people were of the work of Caritas Westminster ‘I could not imagine that Londoners would pay so much attention to those who are less fortunate than they are and that there would be so many volunteers in a big city’ She went on to talk about how much closer people living in London are to the issue of migrants.

The group visited several social action projects throughout the diocese such as the Cardinal Hume Centre and the Note Dame Refugee Centre as well as the direct Caritas service of Bakhita House.

Northern Star Travel

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4* Hotel Olympic Rome. Cost includes, flights, B&B, guiding in Rome. £399 per person sharing. £450 in single room.

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Departs 6th December.

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Christmas in Lourdes by coach 6 days by coach.

Departs 22nd December.

No overnight travel. £390 per person sharing. £450 in single room.

Group bookings now being taken for 2017 Call now for a free quotation, Fatima, Holy Land, Rome, Lourdes, Knock, Walsingham, Assisi, Santiago de Compostela, Padua or any other destination.

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Page 17

Westminster Record | October 2016

© Lawrence Lew OP

Our Lady of the Rosary: 7 October

Page 18

The month of October traditionally turns our attention to the Holy Rosary and encourages us to be faithful to this form of prayer. By origin the feast of Our Lady of the Rosary was known under a different title, having been established by Pope Pius V after the Battle of Lepanto. To modern readers the story of the Battle may seem strange. The Ottomans were invading Europe, so a coalition of Catholic nations created the Holy League, to defend both their borders and their faith.

They were facing defeat in a naval battle at Lepanto when the Pope called on the faithful across Christian Europe to pray the Rosary alongside all of the crew members on the vessels. The Holy League triumphed against great odds, and Pope Pius V named the day in honour of Our Lady of Victories. That title which is

well-known to us in the diocese through the church in Kensington, once the proCathedral, that still bears the name. However, the day has now become universally known as the Feast of Our Lady of the Rosary.

This month we also celebrate the feast of Pope St John Paul II on 22 October, only recently canonised on 7 April 2014. ST John Paul offers much wisdom on Our Lady in his 1984 encyclical Redemptoris Mater. In this he writes about the enduring importance of the Mother of God for the modern Church.

We all turn to Our Lady in times of trouble to seek the assistance and assurance of the Mother of the Church, and he explores why we hold Mary so dear, the woman who believed and obeyed Christ, and who fulfilled the work of God entrusted to her.

What follows reveals to us a very important truth about

our understanding of Mary and her closeness to us. Jesus is found apparently distancing himself from the praise offered to his mother, deflecting it rather to those who receive and keep the word of God. St Luke’s gospel records the moment when a woman in the crowd explains to the Lord: ‘Blessed is the womb that bore you.’

Pope St John Paul II says: ‘Is not Mary the first of "those who hear the word of God and do it?” Had she not said from the very beginning: "Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word"?’

He speaks of Mary being ‘full of grace’, and through that fullness able to give it abundantly to those who are devoted to her Son. This knowledge of the relationship between the Redeemer and his mother offers a new dimension to the prayer. Our Lady of the Rosary accepts and believes in her Son without questioning and so offers herself as a model of faith. On this feast we can ponder this teaching, of St John Paul which offers us a way to be closer to Mary our Mother. Through faith and devotion to Christ she is enabled not only to stand at the foot of the cross, but also to share fully in the joy of the resurrection, becoming the Mother who draws the Church’s faithful into the divine light and life which her Son has won and opened up for us. Pope St John Paul II saw the rosary as the ultimate expression of love for her.

Through praying it we show our commitment to the path of Christ that Mary so diligently trod. Praying the rosary should not be seen merely as an acknowledgment of the vital importance of Mary. It is the recognition of her way of discipleship, which informs our mission to heed the teachings of her Son.

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In Memoriam: October 2 5 6 7 8 10 11 12 14

16 18

19 21 22

23

24 25 26 27 29 30 31

Canon Des Sheehan (2004) Fr John Fleming (1974) Fr Walter Meyjes (1987) Fr Denis Murphy (1999) Fr Thomas Daniel (1984) Canon Peter Phillips (2014) Fr Thomas Allan (1982) Fr Norman Fergusson (1986) Fr Arthur Moraes (2008) Fr Joseph Davey (1970) Fr James Finn (1977) Canon John P Murphy (1989) Fr Henry Bryant (1972) Fr John Woods (2002) Fr Barry Carpenter (2012) Mgr Canon Terence Keenan (1984) Fr John Eveleigh Woodruff (1976) Fr John Murphy (2005) Fr John Farrell (1983) Fr Richard Berry (1989) Fr David Cullen (1974) Fr Herbert Keldany (1988) Fr Ben Morgan (2005) Fr Joseph O’Hear (1970) Fr Joe Gibbons (2002) Fr Dermot McGrath (2012) Fr John Halvey (1990) Fr Ken Dain (2010) Fr Andrew Moore (1994) Fr John Kearney (2007) Fr John Clayton (1992) Fr George Talbot (2004) Fr Colin Kilby (1985) Canon Leo Ward (1970) Fr Joseph Eldridge (1993) Canon William Gordon (1976) Fr William Dempsey (2008)

Fr Patrick David O’Driscoll RIP Fr David O’Driscoll died on 16 September. He was born in April 1925 and was ordained by Blessed Pope Paul VI in Rome on 25 January 1967. He served as a Cathedral Chaplain, Army Chaplain and was Curate at Warwick Street and Spanish Place before his appointment as Parish Priest of Cranford and subsequently Gunnersbury.

For more news from around the diocese throughout the month, please see

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Events & Calendar

Westminster Record | October 2016

REGULAR EVENTS

Liturgical Calendar - October

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

Prayer Groups SUNDAYS Taizé at St James, Piccadilly W1J 9LL every third Sunday 5pm.

Call 020 7503 5128 for details.

Our Lady, Untier of Knots, Prayer Group of Intercession meets every third Wednesday at St Anselm & St Cecilia, Lincoln’s Inn Fields. Parish Mass at 6pm followed by Prayer Group until 8.45pm. Rosary, Adoration, silent prayer and Divine Mercy Chaplet. Email: Antonia antonia4161@gmail.com.

1 Sat

St Therese of the Child Jesus, Virgin & Doctor

2 Sun 3 Mon

+27th SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME Feria, Twenty-Seventh Week of Year 2

4 Tue

St Francis of Assisi

5 Wed

Feria

6 Thu

Feria or St Bruno, Priest

7 Fri

Our Lady of the Rosary; Friday abstinence

8 Sat

Feria or Blessed Virgin Mary on Saturday

9 Sun 10 Mon 11 Tue 12 Wed

+28th SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME Feria, Twenty-Eigth Week of Year 2 or St Paulinus of York, Bishop Feria or St John XXIII, Pope Feria or St Wilfrid, Bishop

13 Thu

ST EDWARD THE CONFESSOR

14 Fri

Feria or St Callistus I, Pope & Martyr; Friday abstinence

15 Sat 16 Sun

St Teresa of Jesus, Virgin & Doctor

17 Mon

St Ignatius of Antioch, Bishop & Martyr

18 Tue 19 Wed

TUESDAYS

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.

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

ST LUKE, Evangelist Feria, Twenty-Ninth Week of Year 2 or Ss John de Brebeuf and Isaac Jogues, Priests, and Companions, Martyrs or St Paul of the Cross, Priest Feria Feria; Friday abstinence

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.

22 Sat

Feria or St John Paul II, Pope or Blessed Virgin Mary on Saturday

23 Sun

+30th SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME

24 Mon

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.

FRIDAYS

Feria, Thirtieth Week of Year 2 or St Anthony Mary Claret, Bishop

Divine Mercy Prayers and Mass Every first Friday 2.30-4.30pm at Our Lady, Mother of the Church, 2 Windsor Road W5 5PD.

25 Tue

Feria

26 Wed

Feria or Ss Chad and Cedd, Bishops

27 Thu

Feria

Vocations Prayer Group Second Tuesday of the month 8pm at 47C Gaisford Street NW5 2EB.

Westminster Cathedral Charismatic Prayer Group meet every Friday 7.30pm prayer, praise and teaching.

First Friday is a healing Mass. For details, please call 020 8748 2632.

28 Fri

SS SIMON and JUDE, Apostles; Friday abstinence

29 Sat

Blessed Martyrs of Douai College

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

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

All are welcome.

Taizé at St James’, Spanish Place, W1U 3UY every first Tuesday of the month at 7pm. Email: penny28hb@aol.com or just come along.

WEDNESDAYS Wednesdays on the Wall (WOTW) Every first Wednesday of the month. 6pm at All Hallows on the Wall, 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.

THURSDAYS Jesus Christ the Fullness of Life Jesus Christ the Fullness of Life (JCFL) provides a space for Christians of different traditions to join together in prayer and friendship. Details at www.jcfl.org.uk.

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

St Francis of Assisi Catholic Ramblers’ Club meets every Sunday for walks around London and the Home Counties.

Contact by email: antoinette_adkins2000@yahoo .co.uk, call 020 8769 3643 or check out the website: www.stfrancisramblers. ukwalkers.com

20 Thu 21 Fri

+29th SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME

30 Sun

+31st SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME

31 Mon

Feria, Thirty-First Week of Year 2

Praying with Pope Francis - October 2016 Universal Intention: Journalists: That journalists, in carrying out their work, may always be motivated by respect for truth and a strong sense of ethics.

For Evangelisation: World Mission Day: That World Mission Day may renew within all Christian communities the joy of the Gospel and the responsibility to announce it.

At Our Lady of Lourdes Church, Acton, the Queen of Peace prayer group meets every Friday evening after 7pm Mass.

The evening consists of Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament, a homily, recitation of the Holy Rosary and the Chaplet of Divine Mercy. All welcome.

Benedictine Institute Events The Rules of St Basil for All: This two-day course will take place on 14 and 15 October, and will be led by Fr Ephrem Carr OSB. Accommodation is available for male monastics in Ealing Abbey and for all others in the Ealing Abbey House for Guests.

New Monasticism and the Search for Meaning: This study day will take place on Sunday 16 October from 10.30am to 4.30pm led by Fr Michael Casey OCSO. For more information call 020 8862 2156, email info@benedictineinstitute.org or visit http://benedictine-institute.org.

Celebrate: an informal family faith conference will take place 29-30 October at Nicholas Breakspear School, St Albans, AL4 0TT. For more information and to register, please visit www.celebrateconference.org/weekends/stalbans

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Other regular Masses Deaf Community Mass First Sunday of the month 4.30pm at Westminster Cathedral Hall, Ambrosden Avenue SW1P 1QW. Young Adults Mass with an Ignatian twist Every Sunday at 7pm. Church of the Immaculate Conception, 114 Mount Street W1K 3AH. Contact: yam@mountstreet.info or visit www.pathwaystogood.org 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. Members of the Westminster LGBT Catholic Community are specially welcomed at the following Sunday Mass at the Church of the Immaculate Conception, Farm Street, and invited to our parish hall afterwards for tea/coffee, when there is also an opportunity to learn of pastoral help available: 2nd and 4th Sundays of the month, 5.30pm.

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 only.

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.

Taizé Chants There will be an evening of prayer with Taizé chants to celebrate the Year of Mercy at St Peter’s Italian Church on 12 October at 8pm. There will be song practice at 7pm before prayers begin. For more information contact peterkingsley@rcdow.org.uk or andrea.fulco@gmail.com.

Page 19

Westminster Record | October 2016

Fauré’s Requiem: ‘A Happy Deliverance’ © Mazur/catholicnews.org.uk

by Peter Stevens, ‘It has been said that my Requiem does not express the fear of death and someone has called it a lullaby of death.

But it is thus that I see death: as a happy deliverance, an aspiration towards happiness above, rather than as a painful experience… I wanted to write something different.’

Page 20

Written between 1887 and 1890, Gabriel Fauré’s Requiem is among the best loved pieces in the entire choral repertoire.

Its contemplative, soothing atmosphere contrasts with many dramatic settings of the Requiem Mass, and as he explains, the composer’s own feelings on death are reflected

throughout the work. Fauré’s talent as a composer of songs is evident in the long, eminently singable melodies of the Requiem; as a result, it remains a staple of the repertoire, popular with both amateur choral societies and professional choirs, and frequently heard in a liturgical context.

Gabriel Fauré was born in Pamiers, Ariège, in the south of France, in 1845. His talent was recognised at an early age, and he was sent to Paris aged nine to train as an organist and choirmaster. After graduating, he took up a post as a church organist in Rennes, where he had an uneasy relationship with the parish priest; he was often seen leaving the organ loft for a cigarette during the sermon, and was finally asked to resign after arriving one Sunday morning in his evening clothes, having spent the previous night at a ball.

However, he quickly found a job in Paris, and after being awarded the Croix de Guerre in the Franco-Prussian War, he was appointed choirmaster at St Sulpice in 1871. From 1874, Fauré spent much of his professional life at the church of La Madeleine in Paris, where he served first as assistant organist to his old teacher, Camille Saint-Saëns, who described him as ‘a first class organist when he wanted to be’! He succeeded Théodore Dubois as choirmaster at the church in 1877, following Dubois’s appointment as organist, and in the same year he wrote a Libera me for baritone solo; a decade later, a reworked version of this piece was to find a place in the Requiem.

Work on the Requiem began in earnest in 1887, but was not prompted by any specific event; as Fauré explained in a letter, ‘My Requiem wasn't written for anything – for pleasure, if I may call it that!’

The Introit and Kyrie, Sanctus, Pie Jesu, Agnus Dei, and In Paradisum were first performed at La Madeleine on 16 January 1888 at the funeral of an architect, Joseph Le Soufaché.

The choir of the church, consisting of men and boys,

Published by The Diocese of Westminster, Archbishop’s House, Ambrosden Avenue, London SW1P 1QJ. Printed by Trinity Mirror, Hollinwood Avenue, Chadderton, Oldham OL9 8EP. All rights reserved.

was accompanied by the organ, timpani, and a small string orchestra. The following year, Fauré began to produce a version for more elaborate funeral liturgies, adding the Hostias, expanding the Offertorium, and including the 1877 Libera me. The orchestration was made more colourful with the addition of bassoons, horns, trumpets and trombones. The work proved extremely popular, to the extent that a third version of the piece, with full orchestral accompaniment, was produced in 1900, and performed during the Paris World Exhibition in July of that year.

Perhaps the most striking aspect of Fauré’s composition is his choice of text. Fauré described his Requiem as ‘dominated from beginning to end by a very human feeling of faith in eternal rest’, and Fauré set only the texts that were in sympathy with this vision of peace and reassurance.

The long Dies irae sequence so beloved of romantic composers such as Verdi, with

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its vivid depiction of the Day of Judgement, is almost entirely omitted; only the final verse, the famous Pie Jesu, found a place in Fauré’s setting. The only hint of anything apocalyptic is found in the Libera me, but even there the storm soon subsides. He also included the In Paradisum, perhaps the most popular movement of the whole piece, which is technically a part of the burial service, rather than the Requiem Mass itself. Its gentle harp arpeggios, luminous string writing and treble solo paint a radiant picture of the heavenly Jerusalem.

Peter Stevens is Assistant Master of Music at Westminster Cathedral.

Westminster Cathedral Choir and Orchestra, conducted by Martin Baker, will perform Fauré’s Requiem on Wednesday 9 November at 7:30pm in Westminster Cathedral.

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