Catholic Pic October 2019

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Issue 181 October 2019

Our Synod 2020 Themes

INSIDE THIS ISSUE:

Congratulations Cardinal-elect Michael Fitzgerald

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contents Welcome As we begin the month of October, we take a significant step forward in our preparations for Synod 2020 with the publication of the Synod themes. Our main feature expands on the four themes of ‘All called and gifted by God’; ‘Sharing the Mission of Jesus’; ‘How we pray together’ and ‘Building community, nurturing belonging’. We also give the arrangements for our second Synod Sunday which will take place on 13th October, the day of the Canonisation of Blessed John Henry Newman. On that day the next stages of our Synod journey will be presented as we move forward to reflect on the themes and to make suggestions about proposals for action that could become part of what will be voted on in the Synod itself.

We also celebrate the appointment of Archbishop Michael Fitzgerald MAfr,as a Cardinal by Pope Francis. Archbishop Michael has been based at St Vincent de Paul in Liverpool for almost a year now and he is also a Synod 2020 member. We learn of his many years of work for inter-religious dialogue throughout the world. The Consistory will take place on Sunday 5th October in Rome and our congratulations, prayers and good wishes go with the Cardinal-elect.

Contents

From the Archbishop’s Desk

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Main Feature Synod 2020 Themes

By the end of this month the Prime Minister has vowed that the United Kingdom will leave the European Union with or without a deal. It is very hard for us not to feel passionate about this despite the years of wrangling that have taken place since the referendum which resulted in a vote to leave.

Furthermore, Church leaders are frowned upon if they express an opinion because that is mixing religion with politics and those two spheres of activity should be kept apart; at least that is what some people think. But Churches and their leaders exist to further the mission of Christ and that means to reach out to people in need and to persuade those who do not seem to care for others to think again and change their minds.

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News From around the Archdiocese

Whether we leave with or without a deal it does seem that there will be some disruption to our lives, and those who will be most affected are the poor. Every church I have visited in recent months is supporting a muchneeded local food bank. Our society is already tolerating a level of poverty which, though often hidden, is unacceptable for a developed nation like ours. Despite promises of more money for education and healthcare I know that these services are already stretched and will be hard-pressed to ride smoothly through Brexit. To stand up for justice in this situation is part of the mission of the church. If that is politics, then so be it. The coming weeks and months will require us to keep a level head at times but at all times to go out to those who are in spiritual and material need.

Most Rev Malcolm McMahon OP Archbishop of Liverpool

Copy deadline November 2019 Friday 4 October 2019

Editorial Catholic Pictorial Magazine Liverpool Archdiocesan Centre for Evangelisation, Croxteth Drive, Liverpool L17 1AA Tel: 0151 522 1007 Email: catholicpictorial@rcaol.co.uk

Publisher CPMM Media Group, Suite 4 Pacific Chambers, 11-13 Victoria Street, Liverpool L2 5QQ

Pictures: Cover, main feature and profile: Peter Heneghan

16 What’s On Whats happening in the Archdiocese 19 Profile Cardinal-elect Michael Fitzgerald Champion of inter-faith dialogue is new cardinal in our midst 15 Nugent News Light up a Life with Nugent 20 Animate Introducing Animate 19/20 25 Cathedral Record New beginnings 26 Pic Extras Mums the word News from the KSC 28 Pic Life Let the memory of our martyrs be an inspiration

Editor Peter Heneghan

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14 Sunday Reflections Liturgy and Life

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30 Justice and Peace Finding the right response to the wrongs of the world

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Synod 2020 Themes

by Father Philip Inch and Father Matthew Nunes Synod Moderators At the end of September 2019 all the Synod Members gathered at The Edge (Wigan) to receive the report from the listening stage of our Synod journey and to hear the announcement of the four themes that have emerged from all the listening that has taken place from February to July 2019. (The Isle of Man Synod Members will have their own special event on Saturday 12th October in Onchan.)

Over 20,000 people took part in the parish listening, in the online survey, in the schools and young people’s listening and in the many focus groups. All of the information was read and sent to Hope University and under the guidance of Father Peter McGrail this was presented to the Synod working party in August.

You can read his report on the Synod website after Synod Sunday (October 13th). On a three day retreat the Working Party prayed, they read, they shared, they discerned and eventually four themes emerged.

These four themes will give all of us the opportunity to listen some more, to reflect and eventually to make proposals for action to the Synod which will be voted on and which will guide the Archbishop in the writing of a Pastoral

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Plan for the Archdiocese.

The themes are: • • • •

All called and gifted by God Sharing the mission of Jesus How we pray together Building community, nurturing belonging

In Theme One: ‘All called and gifted by God’ we are invited to reflect on the vocation that God has given to each one of us. One of the priests in the listening for priests’ event said: ‘We are all called to be saints in the world today’. A Carmelite sister said: ‘Our vocation is to get to heaven ourselves and help others get there’. This theme invites us to reflect on some of these questions: • How do we live out our Baptismal vocation?

• How do we promote a culture of vocation and discernment?

• How do young people grow, contribute, and flourish as part of our communities?

• How can we make good faith formation available for all?

• How do we promote an understanding of leadership?

• How do we understand of the kind of leadership we need?

• How do we promote vocations to the priesthood and religious life?

In Theme Two: ‘Sharing the Mission of Jesus’ we are invited to hear again the

‘We are all called to be saints in the world today’

call to be sent out into the world to proclaim Good News to the whole of creation. In one of the school listening events a head of RE said: ‘The Church is the compassionate face of Jesus in the world today’. A Deacon said: ‘We must have greater courage in expressing our faith’.

This theme invites us to reflect on some of these questions: • How do we more effectively evangelise and lead people to a deeper relationship with Christ?

• How do we show the compassionate love of Christ in our work for justice, peace, and the integrity of creation, in our acts of charity, and our works of mercy?

• How can the parish rise to the challenge of sharing the mission of Jesus?

In Theme Three: ‘How we pray together’ we are invited to reflect on the place of prayer and worship in our Church. Someone who filled in the online survey said: ‘pray, and when you finish praying….pray some more’. Another online response said: ‘I fear a sacramentally starved, lonely, old age’. This theme invites us to reflect on some of these questions: • How do we help people engage more profoundly with the Sunday Mass?

• How do we deepen our understanding and appreciation of what full and active participation in the Eucharist means?

• How can our Church buildings be places of prayerfulness and peace in a busy world?

• How does prayer connect with our everyday life?

In Theme Four: ‘Building community, nurturing belonging’ we are invited to reflect on what it means to be a Church of discipleship and welcome. A young person in Lourdes who took part in a listening event said: ‘The Church can

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feature create experiences where strangers can become family’.

Another online suggestion was: ‘The Church buildings should be open all day so that we can make use of them for more than an hour a week’. This theme invites us to reflect on some of these questions: • How do we hand on our faith?

• How can we be welcoming and inviting?

• How can we support the home, school, parish partnership?

• How do we reach out to those who feel excluded, on the margins, weak, or vulnerable?

• How could parishes work together?

Synod Sunday 2019: 13th October 2019 has been designated as the 2nd Synod Sunday. This is also the day on which Pope Francis will declare Blessed John Henry Newman a saint of the Church. This seems hardly a co-incidence.

Cardinal Newman was a great scholar but also a great pastor.

He brought his many and varied gifts to the service of the Church in this country. First of all to the Church of England and then to the Roman Catholic Church.

Synod Listening at the Metropolitan Cathedral

Father Andrew Unsworth wrote this about Cardinal Newman: ‘He is often portrayed as a great defender of the role of conscience in the Christian life and so he was, especially as

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feature

Archbishop Malcolm interviewed about the Synod themes

conscience guides conduct. However, conscience must also be understood in the context of Christian obedience to the teachings of Revelation and the interpretations and judgements of the Church’s Magisterium. Cardinal Newman is often quoted as saying in connection with the need to consult the people of God: “I sought to hear the voice of God and climbed the topmost steeple, but God declared: "Go down again - I dwell among the people.”’

It seems right and fitting that this next part of our Synod journey, which will involve more listening and discerning, the Themes to Proposals stage, should be under the intercession of the soon to be Saint John Henry Newman.

What happens next?

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On Synod Sunday a leaflet will be given to every Mass goer describing the themes and the next stages of the Synod journey. With this is an

invitation to engage in reflecting on the themes and to make suggestions about proposals for action that could become part of what will be voted on in the Synod itself in October 2020.

There will also be a post card with the Synod prayer on it and the four themes.

Archbishop Malcolm: At the start of September this year Archbishop Malcolm was invited to go to the Vatican to give a talk to all the newly appointed Bishops from across the world on the importance of Synodality and on our Archdiocesan Synod. So Pope Francis has already heard something of what we have done, something of what we have said and the Archbishop has made a commitment to share with the Holy Father and all in the Vatican the outcome of these next stages of our Synod journey as we try to become the Church that God is calling us to be.

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Keep up to date with all the news from around the Archdiocese at: www.catholicpic.co.uk You can now follow us on twitter at: @PicCatholic

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profile

Cardinal-elect Michael Fitzgerald

Champion of inter-faith dialogue is new Cardinal in our midst

By Simon Hart For Archbishop Michael Fitzgerald, Sunday 1 September began with a visit to the Anglican parish of Our Lady and St Nicholas, just a stone’s throw from the Pier Head, to preach at a service for Merchant Navy Day. It was only on his return to St Vincent de Paul’s, the Liverpool parish he now calls home, that the news reached him that he had been made a Cardinal

by Pope Francis.

‘I came home and was welcomed by two members of my community,’ he recalls.

‘They embraced me, and I didn't know why. They then gave me the news which they themselves had heard from a neighbouring parish priest.’

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For the Walsall-born 82-year-old, this elevation to the College of Cardinals – to be sealed in Rome on 5 October – marks the culmination of a rich life in the Church and reward for his significant role as a leading expert on Islam and Christian-Muslim relations.

‘I retired in 2012, and so I really thought the time had passed,’ he admits of an appointment that had seemed rather more likely when the then Pope, St John Paul II, made him President of the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue (PCID) in 2002. ‘It was expected that I would be made a Cardinal, but I was not among the 21 Cardinals created by the Pope in October 2003, and this was the last consistory of

his pontificate. In 2006 Pope Benedict appointed me nuncio in Egypt, and normally nuncios are not Cardinals.’

Instead, it has happened now.

Archbishop Michael’s age means he is

‘Christians and Muslims together make up about half of the world’s population. If we can live in peace and harmony together, then this will be a great gift for the world.’

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aroused tensions in the relations with Muslims, and for a long time I was practically a persona non grata to the government authorities in Egypt. Yet the work continued, and I did my best.’

not eligible to vote in a papal conclave and he says, humbly: ‘I really don't know what impact my being a Cardinal will have. I hope it will be a help and not a hindrance. We just have to wait and see, but by that I mean continue to work in the same way, with confidence, patience and perseverance.’

And he continues to do his best for what he considers a vital cause.

‘Christians and Muslims together make up about half of the world's population,’ he says. ‘If we can live in peace and harmony together, then this will be a great gift for the world.

Missionary of Africa These qualities have served him well on the long road travelled since his dream of becoming a ‘priest and a missionary’ led him to join the Missionaries of Africa, or White Fathers as they are otherwise known.

‘I had the privilege of being sent to Carthage, in Tunisia, for the study of theology prior to ordination,’ he explains of the catalyst for his interest in Islam.

‘Having lived in a majority Muslim country for four years, I volunteered for the apostolate among Muslims, mentioning Nigeria first and Tunisia second. I was in fact sent to Rome for further studies in theology, but eventually I was asked to join the staff of the institute our society had founded for training people for work among Muslims – what is now the Pontifical Institute for Arabic and Islamic Studies.’

Father Michael would serve as rector there from 1972-78, following spells lecturing in Rome and Kampala. He remembers: ‘Pope Paul VI, who guided the Second Vatican Council to its conclusion, in his first encyclical, ’Ecclesiam Suam’, had insisted that the Church must be in dialogue with all people. He set up the Secretariat for Non Christians in 1964 even before the declaration on the relations of the Church with the followers of other religions, ’Nostra Aetate’, had been promulgated. He welcomed the Institute for Arabic and Islamic Studies when it was transferred from Tunis to Rome. So there was great official backing for our work. Yet there was still much to do to convince Catholics that dialogue with people of other religions is in accordance with our faith in Jesus Christ.’

His CV underlines his place at the forefront of those efforts: he served on the General Council of the Missionaries of Africa from 1980-86 and then was appointed Secretary of the Secretariat for Non Christians – later to become the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue (PCID). In 1992, he was ordained as titular Bishop of Nepte in Tunisia while retaining his position as Secretary. Ten years later came his

‘There is also the fact that with today's mobility, there is hardly any region of the world where Christians and Muslims do not come into contact. It is important that we know one another, and respect one another, and that we work together to face up to the problems that exist in our world today. I am thinking of the attitude towards migration, the safeguarding of creation, the questions posed to us by advances in biotechnology, and so many other great matters of concern.’

appointment as PCID President with the consequent raise of rank to Archbishop.

Of his work at the Council he says: ‘Our role at the PCID was to stimulate good relations at the local level. Sometimes we had good responses from local hierarchies, but not always so one challenge was to keep going in our efforts to persuade people in authority, bishops and others, to engage in interreligious relations. To do this we had to give an example by organising meetings. Pope Saint John Paul II gave a great lead through the Meeting of Prayer for Peace, held in Assisi in October 1986.

‘A challenge for us is that the other religions are not organised in the same way as the Catholic Church, so there is not in each religion a hierarchy to which we can relate. There is rather a multiplicity of religious leaders. This meant multiplying the contacts, and with a limited staff, this was quite a strain for the council. Another challenge, of course, is prejudice, particularly against Muslims. We were always striving to overcome these prejudices.’

The timing of his posting to Cairo as Papal Nuncio in 2006 brought other challenges. ‘I must admit that Pope Benedict's speech in Regensburg in September 2006, and his discourse to the Diplomatic Corps accredited to the Holy See in January 2007 – a discourse which, I must add, was misinterpreted –

And for Archbishop Michael, Pope Francis – whom he will meet in Rome at the Consistory – provides an example to us all. ‘There is an extraordinarily positive attitude towards Pope Francis among religious leaders of the world, and indeed also among people who have little or no religious feeling,’ he affirms. ‘So Pope Francis is leading us and giving us courage to follow him along the path of dialogue.’

His own example, of course, as a decades-long advocate for dialogue is worth heeding too. And since arriving in Liverpool last year, he has carried it on.

‘I was happy to take part in the big Iftar at the waterfront during Ramadan,’ he says, ‘and look forward to many more contacts with the Muslim communities and with people of other religions.’ He regards Liverpool as a place which ‘makes the stranger, or the newcomer, more at ease’, and in this sense, it seems fair to say this new Cardinal and his new(ish) city are rather well suited.

‘It is important that we know one another, and respect one another, and that we work together to face up to the problems that exist in our world today’ Catholic Pictorial

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

Ministry Research Project The Archdiocese of Liverpool, in collaboration with Liverpool Hope University, has been successful in gaining funding from the Porticus Trust for a Ministry Research Project.

The aim of the project is to improve the strategic planning and evidence-based decision-making relating to the deployment of the rich resource of permanent deacons and to evaluate the Archdiocesan Pastoral Associates Pilot Project, which employs five full-time lay Pastoral Associates with a new model of support and formation. The research findings of the project will be related to the broader strategic questions that Synod 2020 is asking about the mission of this local church and how it can become more effective in carrying it out.

The Porticus Trust is an international charitable organisation whose aims are inspired by Catholic Social Teaching, and its funding will allow us to conduct this three

Father Peter McGrail and Deacon Paul Rooney 10

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year project to enhance the understanding and practice of ministry in these changing times and to plan more effectively for the future, making an important contribution to the Synod.

The project began last month and will run until June 2022, paralleling and informing the Synod and its implementation. It will address concerns about the depth of understanding of the permanent diaconate, how it is practised and how the deacons may be better formed and deployed to serve the Church’s mission in our dynamic social context. The research will also consider the place of the diaconate in the relation to the priesthood of all the faithful, the ministry of priests and bishops and the contribution of voluntary and employed lay workers.

It will use traditional social science methodologies from a theological perspective, such as questionnaire surveys and focus group meetings where topics are

discussed and explored by interested parties and will also break new ground by combining this with the use of geospatial technologies.

Rooted in the science of geography, geospatial technologies allow integration of many types of data and will provide a more robust evidence base for future decision-making in the archdiocese. Combining these two approaches will support evidencebased decision-making and future planning. They will help to make our church stronger and better placed (to quote our Synod prayer) ‘to respond to the challenges of our times in new ways’.

The innovative approach adopted in this project is made possible through Liverpool Hope University by an interdisciplinary collaboration between Father Peter McGrail, Subject Head in the School of Humanities (Theology, Philosophy and Religion) and Deacon Paul Rooney, Head of the Department of Geography and Environmental Science in the Faculty of Science, working with two research assistants.

The Steering Group and external advisers for the project include a wide variety of local, national and international experts. The core team at the archdiocese for this project is Veronica Murphy, Co-ordinator of the Pastoral Associates Pilot Project, Deacon John Traynor, former Chair of the National Diaconate Conference and Canon Chris Fallon, Director of the Permanent Diaconate and Chair of the Ministry Research Project Steering Group, who responded to the positive news of the grant saying, ‘I am delighted that after our initial approach to the Porticus Trust, a searching scrutiny process and the completion of a substantial application form, we have received funding for this three year Ministry Research Project.

‘Thanks are due to all the people who have contributed in different ways to the development of the project and especially to Father Peter McGrail and Deacon Paul Rooney at Liverpool Hope University who have worked really hard on refining the project and ensuring that we supplied Porticus with all the information and reassurance they required.

‘This is a fascinating and innovative project that will help to inform our Synod and deepen the understanding of ministry not only in our Archdiocese but also in the wider Catholic community.’

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A facelift for Holy Rosary Summer 2019 has seen some major changes at Holy Rosary, Old Roan. It all began with the problem of how to clean the huge curtain that was the backdrop of the sanctuary?

Following discussions with the parish council and a parish open meeting the conclusion was reached that the Church needed a facelift. After consultations with the Art and Architecture Department and the archdiocesan Surveyors a parish open meeting was held and the following was agreed.

A Calvary from St Hugh’s in Wavertree sculpted by the renowned artist Bainbridge Copnall was brought to Holy Rosary. It had hung in St Hugh’s since the end of the second world war and was left there when the church closed.

Archdiocesan surveyor, Kirk Williams, suggested it would be ideal for Holy Rosary Above: Holy Rosary after At the same time the Tabernacle was Below: Holy Rosary before moved from an obscure position where it couldn’t been seen from most of the church, to the centre and a new Tabernacle from St Pius X, Widnes was placed there.

There has been an amazing reaction to the changes from parishioners. ‘It is like coming to a new church’; ‘The church is alive again’, and ‘we have a worthy space in which to pray and celebrate.’

At the same time one of the goals of the parish is to be more welcoming, especially to families, so from part of the old baptistery (which was used as a Piety Shop) a children’s chapel has been created. A space where parents can take their children if they need a ‘time out’ and which says loudly, ‘we want you here and you are welcome as part of our parish’.

The new Children’s Chapel

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news diary

Remembering the Liverpool priest who perished after D-Day The ripples reached the Archdiocese of Liverpool when the citizens of the Belgian town of Geel commemorated the 75th anniversary of their liberation from Nazi occupation on Saturday 21 September.

After all, one of the Second World War dead remembered was Father Gerard Barry, a Liverpool priest who had taken part in the Normandy landings three months earlier.

Assigned to the 8th Battalion, The Royal Scots shortly after arriving in France, Fr Gerard was one of over 200 casualties suffered by the regiment during the Battle of the Geel Bridgehead in September 1944. He was only 33 and the Liverpool Echo’s report on his death quoted a letter sent to Archbishop Richard Downey by Monsignor Coghlan, Roman Catholic Vicar General to the forces, in which he said: ‘You have lost a great priest. I lost a great chaplain.’

Fr Gerard entered the world with his twin brother, Francis, on 29 March 1911 and grew up in St Michael’s parish in Liverpool. He studied at Upholland Seminary, where he directed dramatic productions and edited the in-house magazine. Following his ordination in May 1937, he served as curate at St Mary Magdalen, Penwortham, before moving on to All Souls in the Vauxhall district of Liverpool and then to St Aloysius, Roby.

During his brief time at All Souls, he had the role of offering guidance to children being evacuated. At St Aloysius, meanwhile, he acted as scoutmaster of the local Boy Scout troop and was a pioneer of the Young Christian Workers’ Association in the area.

His humour and good nature with young people is remembered by Peter Tennyson, a former St Edward’s College pupil, who as a boy met Fr Gerard at a wedding reception in 1943 and recalls ‘how his jokes 12

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made us laugh’. By that stage, having played his part in the evacuation programme, he had enlisted as an army chaplain.

His six brothers all served in the forces and in the wake of the D-Day landings, there was a brief reunion with his twin, Francis, during the Royal Scots’ push across France. It would be their last encounter. On 14 September 1944, he was killed in a mortar attack on the advanced aid post he was in.

Prior to his death, a local priest, Fr Jan Van Alphen, had seen Fr Gerard administer the last rites to a dying soldier and invited him to his presbytery for a meal. It was Fr Van Alphen who arranged the Liverpool priest’s burial in the graveyard of the local parish, St Dymphna (his remains were later reinterred in the military cemetery), and wrote a letter of condolence to his mother, Bridget.

Back at St Aloysius parish church, Fr Gerard’s younger brother Thomas – later a monsignor and secretary to two archbishops – said a Requiem Mass with full military honours for his sibling.

If a plaque in his honour was eventually lost from St Aloysius during renovation work, the white headstone bearing his name still stands in Geel Military Cemetery – and his sacrifice has not been forgotten. Among the relatives of British and Canadian soldiers at the commemorative ceremony was his youngest niece, Helen Barry, together with four of her cousins, one of whom had travelled over from Canada.

Others keep his memory alive too. Last year St Mary Magdalen Catholic Primary School in Penwortham had a commemorative statute dedicated to their parish’s one-time curate. This year, it will form part of the school’s Remembrance Day display. As head teacher Diane Gallagher said: “We will always remind them of our own St Mary Magdalen’s hero.”

• With thanks to Helen Barry, Gil Geerings and Peter Tennyson for their research.

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Formation Fund grant for SFX

by Debbie Reynolds, Pastoral Assistant at SFX Following a grant from the archdiocesan lay formation fund parishioners from Saint Francis Xavier’s church took part in a Retreat at St Beuno’s Jesuit Spirituality Centre, Tremeirchion on ‘The Psychology of Flourishing: Life before Death’, we arranged for different groups within the spiritual and social life of the parish to make time to visit and reflect on their own faith journey and their future having been part of the listening and discernment groups for Synod 2020.

A minibus took parishioners to Stonyhurst, Clitheroe enjoying a short visit to the newly refurbished museum before celebrating the feast of St Ignatius Loyola and the ‘Monday Crew’ visited Father Graeme Dunne formerly Parish Priest at St Sylvester’s for a reflective afternoon over a shared table of delicious treats.

The Christian Life Community (CLC) is a network of lay people who gather in small groups to understand and follow Ignatian Spirituality in their everyday lives. The CLC group from the parish organised their annual Day of Reflection at St Beuno’s.

CLC Group at St Beuno’s

A few that regularly meet at SFX were welcomed for a full day retreat guided by Brother Alan Harrison SJ in a meditative presentation on ‘Consolation and desolation’. The illustrated talk suggested inspirational words and images that would have helped each one to consider their future commitment with CLC and the way of gathering in an Ignatian way.

His presentation reminded everyone that our relationship with God through

Jesus can bring strength and assurance when there is fear and anxiety.

Without funding from the archdiocesan lay formation fund we would not have been able to provide transport at reduced costings for all those who took part in the summer events. For more information about any aspect of the fund, please contact the Pastoral Formation Department Tel: 0151 522 1040.

...and at Our Lady of the Assumption, Gateacre

by Father Stephen Pritchard.

The newly established Lay Formation Fund enabled a group of people to take part in an event in London examining parish renewal. Thirteen people from Our Lady’s, Gateacre visited the Parish of Our Lady of Walsingham (POLOW) in Docklands in the heart of the East End of London.

The event was an ‘Open House’ opportunity to see some of the mistakes, learnings and fruit in POLOW’s effort to be a Catholic community that makes a difference. The ‘Open Door’ conference day drew people from different parts of the United Kingdom as well as Germany and even South Africa.

‘The Open House event was really inspiring. It was a thoughtprovoking day and I am excited to try some new things in our parish’, said Sally Green who on her return has gathered young people who play music to pray and share together.

The day was led by the Parish team of POLOW which covers two worship sites in the East End of London. Workshops during the day covered three ‘keys’. One being parish culture, seeing what the soil is like in the parish, where is there rocky ground and where are areas of growth. How parish culture can change from maintenance to mission. The second key examined the Sunday experience. What do new people encounter when they come through the door of a local parish? POLOW shared where they have come from and where they would like to be. The third key was seeing how Alpha can be a non-threatening environment to invite new people to. How Alpha can form relationships, conversations, stimulate questions and ease people into the Sunday experience.

Sylvia Cawley reflected. ‘I felt the day energised me. The welcome made me feel that they really wanted us there. Listening to people’s stories 14

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and how the church community helped them. But I think for me most of all was the diversity of ages and how they all seemed to work together each doing their own tasks and united in the church community.’

The welcome that was experienced was a true model of what a Catholic community can be. This was echoed by Sean Keyes, ‘The welcoming that we received left a glow in my heart feeling really valued and important.’

For Shirley Green it was the ‘candidness’ that people spoke about their experience that she was taken aback with, ‘There was no hiding from the challenges and the difficulties they have faced. I was taken more with their wanting to share and celebrate all the good things that are happening.’

Since coming back the group have met on a number of occasions and have a list of actions points that are being worked on. They have spoken at Masses to share their experience with the rest of the parish. Those that went are meeting with other parish groups in the North West in November to move the journey forward. The Lay Formation Fund enabled this experience to happen and for so many people to take part.

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news diary

Liverpool Seafarers Centre named world’s best A Liverpool ecumenical charity has been named as the world’s best seafarers’ centre in an awards ceremony as part of London International Shipping Week.

The Liverpool Seafarers Centre (LSC) was singled out by the International Seafarer Welfare Awards for providing a “home from home” at its bases in Crosby and Eastham on the Wirral, and as a result earned selection ahead of centres in the United States, Australia and New Zealand.

The Seafarer Centre of the Year is voted for by seafarers, thousands of whom use the centre’s services in Liverpool each year – services offering emotional support, including the provision of a clinical psychologist, and practical assistance such as access to wi-fi, money exchange and a physical base on land.

LSC chief executive John Wilson, who collected the award in a ceremony at London’s Inmarsat Building on 11 September, said: “We’ve performed consistently in this category for a number of years so to be named the winner after 10 years of services to the Liverpool area is a fitting achievement and a testament to the hard work of all our volunteers. It is their caring approach, the support they offer more than 50,000 seafarers every year and the calibre of our facilities that have assisted in our success so far.

Our volunteers always go the extra mile to ensure seafarers who need our support are given the proper care and follow-up action, including liaising with seafarer centres in other ports, should they require it.”

Seafarers’ nominations noted the centre’s early opening and late finish and their “fantastic and friendly” staff. LSC, which is now opening a new centre in Garston, is a partnership between the Catholic Apostleship of the Sea and the Anglican Mersey Mission to Seafarers. To donate or become a volunteer, contact John Wilson on 0300 800 8085 or via admin@Liverpoolseafarerscentre.org.

The Tiger and the Kid

by Neil Sayer - Archdiocesan Archivist Archbishop Downey was concerned. How could he ensure that Liverpool’s black Catholics were welcomed into the Church and kept safe from worldly temptations? His answer, in 1932, was the appointment of an enthusiastic and energetic Irishman to found a church and club that could provide for their needs, both spiritual and social.

At this time, it was estimated that there were about 600 black people in Liverpool. Some of these were sailors, temporary residents in the city through its importance as one of the major ports of the British Empire. The Elder Dempster Line, for instance, was one of several Liverpool-based companies trading to West Africa. Many black crewmen of cargo and passenger vessels, finishing their voyages in the city, made it their home.

As they inter-married with local girls, families and communities grew. Although some of the black sailors were from the West Indies, most were thought to be from West Africa, so it was perhaps natural that in appealing to the Catholics among them, Archbishop Downey should seek help from the African Missionary Society.

One of their members, Father Patrick Cullen, was appointed to develop links with the 250 or so black Catholics in the city. Born in Cork, he had worked for five years as a missionary in Nigeria.

An African Mission House was established on Ullet Road, in the parish of St Clare’s. Father Cullen then rented premises in Upper Hill Street, Toxteth, which he adapted to use both as a chapel and a hall. Mass was celebrated weekly, with a children’s choir to accompany worship. He also founded a club to provide

sporting and social opportunities for his congregation. While ladies were offered sewing and fretwork, and an early version of the ‘Knit ‘n’ natter’ sessions found in parishes today, the boys and young men could make use of recreational facilities such as billiard tables. Father Cullen is pictured here watching boxing practice in January 1933.

The club didn’t survive the upheavals of the Second World War. I like to think the community spirit lived on, and perhaps it laid the foundations for the welcome Toxteth provided to at least two wellknown black boxers of the future. Hogan ‘Kid’ Bassey and Dick Tiger, both born in Nigeria, settled in Liverpool in the 1950s.

Here, they trained and fought with enthusiastic support from the people they lived amongst, and both went on to become world champions in their weight division.

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what’s on Tuesday 1 October ‘Season of Creation’ led by Donna Worthington Presentation, discussion, and liturgy, with reference to the Cosmic Christ, and Christ, the Tree of Life. 10.00 am - 3.30 pm at St Joseph’s Prayer Centre, Blundell Avenue, Freshfield, Formby, L37 1PH, including lunch.

Donations welcome. Bookings: Tel: 01704 875850 or 07712 178670. Email: theprayercentre.stj@psmgs.org.uk Website: www.stjosephsprayercentre.com ‘Catholicism in Post-Modernity: Challenges and Opportunities’ An evening talk by Michael Dopp, Mission of the redeemer Ministries.

7.30 pm at Theodore House, Stonyhurst, College, Clitheroe, BB7 9PT. Details: www.christianheritagecentre.com Admission £5 at the door, students free. Tel: 01254 827329.

Wednesday 2 October ‘Witness and Challenge: Evangelisation Today’ A day with Michael Dopp, Mission of the redeemer Ministries. 10.00 am at Theodore House, Stonyhurst, College, Clitheroe, BB7 9PT. Cost £20 per person. Details: www.christianheritagecentre.com.

Tel: 01254 827329.

‘Songs we Remember.’

Singing and enjoyment for anyone who likes to sing but particularly geared towards those living with dementia and their carers. 2.00 pm to 3.30 pm at St Thomas of Canterbury Parish Hall, Great Georges Road, Waterloo, L22 1RD. Details: Irenaeus Tel: 0151 949 1199. Email: m.knight@rcaol.co.uk

Novena to Our Lady of Perpetual Help 'Undoer of Knots' Led by Father Joe Kendall. 7.15 pm at St Edmund of Canterbury, 62 Oxford Road, Waterloo, L22 8QF. Come and find out how Family Groups can support the Ministry of Welcome in your parish Listen to people who have had experience in setting up and who are involved in leading Family Groups.

Hear what the rewards and challenges have been. Find out how to get going.

7.30 pm at LACE, Croxteth Drive, Liverpool L17 1AA. Refreshments provided.

Thursday 3 October Classical Guitar Concert by John O’Connell 1.00-2.00 pm in the Metropolitan Cathedral of Christ the King.

Admission free.

Friday 4 October Roman Catholic Mass Celebrated at 1.05 pm in the Parish Church of Our Lady and St Nicholas, Old Churchyard, Chapel Street, Liverpool, L2 8TZ. First Friday Mass 7.30 pm at St Joseph’s Prayer Centre, Blundell Avenue, Freshfield, Formby, L37 1PH. Saturday 5 October First Saturday to Our Lady led by Father Michael McCormick Adoration, confession, rosary, Mass, followed by soup and refreshments.

10.45 am at Sandymount, 16 Burbo Bank Road, Blundellsands, L23 6TH. Details: Tel: 0151 924 4850 Email sandymountcrosby@montfort.org.uk Sunday 6 October Rosary Sunday 59th St Helens Annual Family Rosary Procession led by Bishop Tom Williams 3.00 pm from St Helens Town Centre concluding with Benediction at St Mary’s, Lowe House.

Liverpool Bach Collective Johann Sebastian Bach Cantata 76 Part 1: ‘Die Himmel erzahlen die Ehre Gottes’. (‘The heavens declare the Glory of God.’) 6.30 pm at St Monica's Church Fernhill Road, Bootle, L20 9GA. Singers and Players directed by Philip Duffy. www.liverpoolbach.com Email: liverpoolbach@icloud.com Monday 7 October 2019 Synod 2020 Talk: The Quiet Revolution of Pope Francis: A Synodal Catholic Church Father Gerry O'Hanlon SJ. 7.30 pm in Hope Chapel at Liverpool Hope University (entrance by Chapel or Gateway Building). Tea and coffee available from 7.00 pm and optional Night prayer follows at 9.00 pm.

Tuesday 8 October Time Out on Tuesdays 10.00 am to 4.00 pm at the Cenacle, Tithebarn Grove, Lance Lane, Liverpool L15 6TW. An opportunity for quiet time, away from the daily rush of life.

Offering £10 per person (bring your own lunch). For further details contact: Sister Winifred. Tel: 0151 722 2271, Email: winniecenacle@mail.com Wednesday 9 October Novena to Our Lady of Perpetual Help ‘Undoer of Knots’ led by Father John Cullen 7.15 pm at St Edmund of Canterbury, 62 Oxford Road, Waterloo, L22 8QF. Friday 11 October Roman Catholic Mass Celebrated at 1.05 pm in the Parish Church of Our Lady and St Nicholas, Old Churchyard, Chapel Street, Liverpool, L2 8TZ. Come to the CeiIidh 7.30 pm at St William of York Parish Centre, L23 4TG. Hotpot, Irish Dancing Display, Irish Bingo and Raffle.

Tickets £8 from St William of York church Tel: 0151 931 4993 and St. Helen's church Tel: 0151 924 3417 or e-mail: pemacdonald@btinternet.com Proceeds in aid of SPUC.

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october ‘Manor Disco’ a place where people with various learning and physical needs and their carers can come together 7.30 pm at Our Lady of Walsingham Club, Stand Park Avenue, Netherton, L30 3SA. Entrance: £1.50.

Saturday 12 October to Sunday 13 October Come and See Conference 2019 Keynote Speaker: Peter McVerry SJ. Workshops led by Steve Atherton, John Bell, Amy Cameron, Maureen Roche, Louise Swanson, Jean Washbourne and Michael Winstanley SDB. Saturday evening with Anthony Gielty, author of ‘Out of the Darkness’.

Music and Prayer led by Jo Boyce and friends with Steve Murray. Christ the King High school, Stamford Road, Southport, PR8 4EX. Suggested donation £40 (concessions available on request). Details and booking: www.irenaeus.co.uk Tel: 0151 949 1199 or send a stamped addressed envelope to: Irenaeus, 32 Great Georges Road, Liverpol, L22 1 RD. Kerygma Bible Retreat at Theodore House, Stonyhurst, College, Clitheroe, BB7 9PT Details: www.christianheritagecentre.com Bookings: bookings@christianheritagecentre.com Tel: 01254 827329.

Sunday 13 October to Saturday 19 October Week of Prayer for prisoners and their dependents.

Thursday 17 October ‘A study of the people journeying through Exodus.’

Scripture Morning, 10.30 am at lrenaeus, 32 Great Georges Road, Waterloo, L22 1RD. Details Tel: 0151 949 1199. Email: jenny@irenaeus.co.uk Website: www.irenaeus.co.uk

Church of Our Lady and St Nicholas, Old Churchyard, Chapel Street, Liverpool, L2 8TZ. Saturday 19 October Healing Service 3.00 pm in the Metropolitan Cathedral of Christ the King. Speaker: Eddie Stones, a gifted speaker who ministers through the charism of healing. Followed by Mass, Celebrant: Father Peter Morgan.

Sunday 20 October World Mission Day Tuesday 22 October Distinguished Lecture: ‘Christian Faith in the City over 175 years Is it “Better Together” or getting worse?’ by Bishop Tom Williams, Auxiliary Bishop of Liverpool. 5.30 pm in the Senate Room at Liverpool Hope University Hope Park Campus, L16 9JD. Details and booking: rectorate@hope.ac.uk Wednesday 23 October ‘Missionary Disciples.’

A day, including Mass, led by Bishop John Arnold, Bishop of Salford. 10.30 am - 3.30 pm at St Joseph’s Prayer Centre, Blundell Avenue, Freshfield, Formby, L37 1PH. £20 including lunch. Bookings: Tel: 01704 875850/07712 178670. Email: theprayercentre.stj@googlemail.com Website: www.stjosephsprayercentre.com Thursday 24 October ‘A study of the people journeying through Exodus.’

Scripture Morning, 10.30 am at lrenaeus, 32 Great Georges Road,

Waterloo, L22 1RD. Details Tel: 0151 949 1199. Email: jenny@irenaeus.co.uk Website: www.irenaeus.co.uk Friday 25 October Roman Catholic Mass Celebrated at 1.05 pm in the Parish Church of Our Lady and St Nicholas, Old Churchyard, Chapel Street, Liverpool, L2 8TZ. Testimony and Mass with Bishop Tom Williams 7.00 pm followed by refreshments at Sandymount, 16 Burbo Bank Road, Blundellsands, L23 6TH. Details: Tel: 0151 924 4850 Email sandymountcrosby@montfort.org.uk.

Saturday 26 October Quiet Day 10.30 am to 4.00 pm at the Cenacle, Tithebarn Grove, Lance Lane, Liverpool L15 6TW. Time to be quiet, reflect and pray. Offering £10 per person (bring your own lunch). No booking required. For further details contact: Sister Winifred. Tel: 0151 722 2271, Email: winniecenacle@mail.com Sunday 27 October ‘Pause for Hope’ Service 3.00 pm in the Metropolitan Cathedral of Christ the King.

Thursday 31 October ‘A study of the people journeying through Exodus.’

Scripture Morning, 10.30 am at lrenaeus, 32 Great Georges Road, Waterloo, L22 1RD. Details Tel: 0151 949 1199. Email: jenny@irenaeus.co.uk Website: www.irenaeus.co.uk

Friday 18 October Roman Catholic Mass Celebrated at 1.05 pm in the Parish

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sunday reflections On a liturgical note At the beginning of this month we held the day of thanksgiving and prayer for the gift of creation and the part we play at its heart.

Many of us will also have shared in the Family Fast Day organised through Cafod and it begs a question: why do we fast when we are actually giving thanks for the abundance of God’s good creation?

Surely we should be enjoying that abundance, not fasting from it.

I think the answer is that we want to show we take nothing for granted and that when we read in the Book of Genesis that we are ‘to subdue the earth and conquer it’, this doesn’t mean we are to exploit or damage it but that we are to tend it, care for it, and generally be good stewards of creation.

When we open the newspapers or watch the television and we see the natural world being exploited and spoiled – be it by wild fires, forced labour in mines searching for minerals, or the discarded plastic in

Sunday thoughts McDonald’s invites us to ‘go large’ for an extra 40p. Supermarkets encourage us to ‘buy one and get one free’. Highly paid and underperforming chief executives demand outrageously inflated bonuses.

On 1 October, we celebrate the feast of St Teresa of Lisieux, the ‘Little Flower’. Her discreet sanctity went unnoticed by many of her fellow religious sisters. In her writings she describes her Little Way as ‘doing little things with great love’.

Three days later, on 4 October, is the feast of St Francis of Assisi. His father was a wealthy cloth merchant who ensured that his son wore the finest clothes. Having tasted the good life, Francis underwent conversion. He stripped himself naked in public and returned his extravagant wardrobe to his father.

This public and provocative action was a powerful rejection of all his father stood for. The fancy outfits were the symbol of the fashionable and frivolous lifestyle he wished to

Canon Philip Gillespie

our rivers and seas – I am reminded that Pope Francis wrote in his encyclical Laudato Si’ (May you be praised, O God, in all your creation) that we share a ‘common home’ and that we abuse it at our peril – and not just our peril but that of the generations who follow us.

So when in October, this month of mists and mellow truthfulness, you keep a harvest thanksgiving – be it in your home, your school or your parish – or when you next make a donation to your local foodbank, be grateful for that which we can so easily take for granted and in that way we can affirm our belief in our common home and make a prayer that we will always cherish all those things which, somewhere along the production line, are always ‘fruit of the earth and the work of human hands’.

Mgr John Devine OBE

walk away from.

In the time of Francis it was assumed that the earth’s resources were there to be exploited. Even then, however, doing with less was recognised as benefitting the poor and essential for human flourishing and spiritual health. But Francis took things further. He personalised the universe and its ecosystems. In speaking of Brother Sun and Sister Moon and literally preaching to the birds, he anticipated today’s concerns over climate change, the depletion of rainforests and endangered species.

The readings for Sunday 6 October reinforce the theme that less is more. Paul describes faith as an insignificant and fragile gift that can be fanned into a flame. In the Gospel, Jesus describes how faith as small as a mustard seed can produce a tree strong enough to dislodge the stubborn roots of the powerful mulberry tree.

Weekly Reflections are on the Archdiocesan website at www.liverpoolcatholic.org.uk/reflection

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Bread broken for a better world Just recently a woman called Betty came to see me. She was a lovely person, who almost immediately began to tell her story. It was as though the pain of years burst forth like a dam that had been breached.

She had had a very hard life, from her birth as an illegitimate child and the stigma that came with that in the 1940s, through her mother’s marriage to a man who hated Betty and beat her regularly.

She then had to cope with her mother’s early death and her subsequent ejection from the family home.

She described the breakdown of her two marriages, the death of her daughter at the age of 20 from drug abuse. She talked of her son’s mental-health issues and the loneliness of her life.

At some point on her journey, though, she encountered God and began to recognise that nothing in her life was wasted and that she could use what had happened to her for the sake of others. While living in the midst of all this brokenness, she qualified as a teacher. She started to work in her spare time with homeless young people to give them a chance. She took on the pain of others and walked alongside them.

I love Matthew’s story of the feeding of the 5,000.

He uses Eucharistic terms to point us to the meaning of the story. He took the bread, gave thanks and handed it; very Eucharistic terms. A reminder that what we are given is to be shared.

Ronald Rolheiser in one of his reflections on Eucharist says this: ‘It is a call to move from worship to service, to take the nourishment, the embrace, the kiss, we have just received from God and the community and translate it immediately and directly into loving service of others.’

Eucharist is about service and becoming the presence of Christ for the world. We are to be compassion, love, mercy, forgiveness, acceptance, understanding. There can be no room in our hearts for bitter attitudes or for self-righteousness towards others. We are one body. Even those on the edges of society who, for whatever reason, experience alienation or isolation are our brothers and sisters. We are family.

The Eucharist binds us together and invites us to become like the master. What have we done? We have taken this incredible gift, the very presence of Christ, and many of us have worshipped it rather than allow it to transform our hearts and our minds so that we become what we receive. Eucharist invites us to do what Jesus did and get down on our knees and wash the feet of those around us.

The only way that the world is going to believe in this God who is good and loving is if they see, in the lives of believers, real and loving service; if they see within us attitudes of love, compassion and mercy to all people. My prayer is that we will become what we receive and allow our hearts and minds to be transformed for the sake of the world Fr Chris Thomas

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Light up a life with Nugent Normandie Wragg Chief Executive Nugent

I made it…

I recently spend some time with colleagues discussing purpose. We conducted a verbal exercise entitled ‘I made it’. t may only be autumn but one Liverpool charity has already begun planning for Christmas – with a particular focus on helping those among us who have suffered a bereavement.

Nugent’s ‘Light up a Life’ service offers an opportunity to remember and celebrate the lives of people who are no longer with us, be it family members, friends or others who may have inspired and supported us.

The annual remembrance service will be led by Bishop Tom Williams and will take place on 4 December at the Metropolitan Cathedral. Owing to the increased popularity of ‘Light up a Life’, there will be a second service this year at St Teresa’s Church in Upholland.

The service is an opportunity to pray for

I

loved ones and dedicate to them a light on the Christmas tree. All those people who dedicate a light will receive a star which they can hang on the tree with a personalised message.

To remember a loved one, we ask for a suggested donation of £5 per dedication with all funds going towards Nugent’s Christmas Appeal. For more information or to make a dedication, please contact the fundraising team on 0151 261 2000.

Services: Wednesday 4 December 2019 – 12.30pm at the Metropolitan Cathedral, Liverpool; led by Bishop Tom Williams.

Sunday 8 December 2019 – 3pm at St Teresa’s Church, Upholland; led by Father Philip Kehoe.

St Edward’s Old Boys planning get-together

A reunion of St Edward’s College old boys from the 1950s is taking place at the Pen Factory on Hope Street in Liverpool on Thursday 17 October. The ‘1953 Scholarship Lads’ will be meeting from 2pm and Phil Traynor, the organiser, would like to pass on the invitation to any contemporaries who may be Pic readers.

The exercise starts by imagining a conversation at the end of your career where you are sharing with the people you love, the reasons why in your life, you felt you had ‘made it’. No mention of money, cars, or material matters were brought up. The common denominator was about the legacy that one could contribute to in their lifetime.

The impact they could positively have on another’s life, experience or health.

How one could contribute and engage within their communities, with their neighbours, or with people that needed company. It was so inspiring to hear the synergy in the conversations.

On October 1st, I will celebrate six years with Nugent - four years as the charity’s Chief Executive. It has been my privilege to serve. In looking back over the years, were there moments I would choose to make a different decision or take a different course of action? Of course. Did I learn from each and every occasion? Absolutely.

I still have many years to go before retirement beckons, however until that time I will continue to ensure that I stay on my path, so that I can say at the end of my career, that ‘I made it’.

Everything that I do, that the charity does, is in the best interest of those that we serve.

Thank you to all of you who regularly support Nugent – past, present and future.

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education news Two new appointments at All Saints Multi Academy Trust All Saints Multi Academy Trust has appointed a new CEO and the Academy of St Francis of Assisi has welcomed a new head of school.

Patrick Ferguson (above left), formerly of Hope Academy, will take the position of CEO at the trust whilst Kevin Maddocks (above right), also from Hope Academy, will join the senior leadership team at ASFA as head of school.

Patrick Ferguson has had a long, successful career in education, achieving his first post as a headteacher in 2002 at De La Salle School in Liverpool.

In 2010, Patrick became a National Leader of Education and has supported a number of schools in the North West region which have found themselves in difficulties, bringing about vast improvements.

Patrick has also served as executive headteacher of a Liverpool primary school and an executive principal of De La Salle for more than a year after he left.

In January 2015, Patrick joined Hope Academy as principal, and employed the same focused drive for improving standards that he had used at previous schools; building.

Speaking about his new role, Patrick said: “I am thrilled to have joined All Saints Multi Academy Trust and I am looking forward to working closely with all three schools to continue to drive improvements.”

Kevin has worked in education for the last 17 years and most recently was vice principal at Hope Academy in St Helens. As part of this role, Kevin was seconded to St Francis Xavier’s College,

Woolton, as head of school where he had a significant impact in a relatively short space of time.

Kevin said: “My educational philosophy is simple; as educators, we have a duty to place our students at the heart of everything that we do.

This belief fully aligns with the ethos of ASFA and following its ‘good’ Ofsted inspection earlier in the year, I am excited to build upon the excellent work that has been done to transform the Kensington academy.”

Kevin Maddocks - head of school at ASFA

Inspiring children with the Maritime Project Pupils from All Saints Roman Catholic School in Bootle were treated to a full day of activities in the ‘Sea to Store Challenge’, run by trainee teachers from Liverpool John Moores University (LJMU).

The Daniel Adamson Trust approached LJMU’s Maritime SuperSkills Project back in 2018 wanting to offer a combined nautical adventure for primary school children; a trip on the ‘The Danny’ (the Daniel Adamson steam tugboat) followed by a visit to the maritime simulators at the University.

A new relationship was born, and the involvement of the LJMU primary education team resulted in opportunities for trainee teachers to put their theory into practice.

The children in each class made working models to represent the journey taken 20

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by cargo from sea to store; floating, loading, driving and hoisting. Developing practical skills whilst understanding the logistics involved in these global journeys made for a fun-packed day!

Building on the success of the venture, LJMU student interns from the Primary Education Department extended the event to year five pupils, guiding the children through various simulator activities and producing resources for the day, which will be a legacy of the project.

Vicky Carlin, deputy head at All Saints, Bootle, said: “We have been studying trade as a geography theme, looking particularly at the Liverpool Docks and the part they have played in worldwide trade. Students from LJMU visited school and the children were supported

to design and make structures to load and unload container ships and transport the goods to the shops.

“Visiting the ship simulators at the university gave the children an insight into driving a ship. They also

learned how drones are being used in the maritime industry and what opportunities there are for studying this technology.

“It has certainly planted seeds in their minds for future careers”.

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education news Bellerive begin bicentenary celebrations with ‘International Day of Kindness’ Pupils at Bellerive FCJ Catholic College in Sefton Park have taken part in an ‘International Day of Kindness’ to mark the beginning of a special year of celebrations.

With 2020 marking the 200th anniversary of the founding of the Faithful Companions of Jesus (FCJ) in northern France, all pupils at FCJ schools around the world were invited to show kindness in their school and home on Friday 20 September – the first event of a busy bicentenary programme. At Bellerive, the activities included pupils serving afternoon tea to a group of elderly visitors, and teachers handing out gift bags and cake to their students.

The FCJ celebrations officially run from 21 September – birthday of the foundress of the congregation, Marie Madeleine d’Houet – until the Feast of Christ the King in November next year, and one publicly stated priority for the sisters in Europe is the environment, with a pledge made to plant 10 trees in their local areas, as well as offering financial support for an alternative energy project.

In the FCJ Area of Europe Bicentenary Commitment, the congregation underlined their wish to respond to the ‘climate emergency’ and ‘make a positive contribution to our local environment’. They added: ‘We will plant 10 trees per community and/or group in 2020 and endeavour to divest all our FCJ communities and homes of single-use plastics.’

At FCJ schools including Bellerive, there will be a year-long programme of workshop resources and daily prayers, as well as a specially composed new song.

Other activities include the staging of a theatre production based on the life of Marie Madeleine and the expansion of the society she founded, with performances planned in the UK, Ireland and other English-speaking locations.

The story of a woman who took inspiration from her namesake Mary Magdalen is certainly worth retelling. After the early death of her husband, while she was pregnant with their son, Marie Madeleine was 38 when she opened her first school in Amiens in 1820. By the

time of her death in 1858, there were FCJ schools and orphanages not only in France, but also in England, Switzerland, Italy and Ireland.

Today the society has a footprint on six continents and is responsible for a range of institutions, including centres for women and refugees, schools and centres of spirituality. It has four schools in England, including Bellerive and Upton Hall School in Birkenhead.

ASFA students become Language Ambassadors A select group of students from the Academy of St Francis of Assisi (ASFA) have been given the important role of Language Ambassadors this academic year.

15 students from years 9, 10 and 11 will offer students in years 7 and 8, whose first language isn’t English, any additional support they may need when it comes to speaking, reading and writing in English.

The Language Ambassadors team will be led by Roj Al Joul Bek - a year 11 student originally from Aleppo in Syria. Roj wrote about her story in the May issue of the Catholic Pic describing how she fled Aleppo as a young child, moved to Turkey, before finally settling in Liverpool in 2017.

Roj’s first language is Arabic and recently celebrated achieving an A in AS-level Arabic in the summer. She also speaks Turkish, Kurdish and English.

ASFA’s vibrant and multicultural community, means that English isn’t the first language for a number of students at the academy.

Together with staff, the Language Ambassadors, who between

them speak 13 different languages, will help students in years 7 and 8 overcome language barriers by hosting fortnightly reading clubs, translating school work and also attending events that their fellow peers may require assistance with.

The ambassadors’ first official engagement will be providing support to prospective students and families at ASFA’s open evening on Wednesday 25 September. They will wear badges with the languages they can each speak so visitors can approach them for help.

Roj said: “When I first came to Liverpool, I was a little overwhelmed with the English language but with the right support from the teachers at ASFA, I soon became confident when reading, writing and speaking it.

“Myself and other students now want to offer this support to the younger year groups who are also getting to grips with English as a second, or even, third language, as we know firsthand how daunting it can be.

“I am currently translating the ASFA form time journal into Arabic to help other students understand the values of the school. Staff have bought me an Arabic computer key board which is really helpful.”

Head of School, Kevin Maddocks said: “The Academy of St Francis of Assisi is continuing to go from strength to strength.

With over 47 languages spoken at the academy support like this is vital and the fact it is being provided by other students is fantastic.

“Students with English as an additional language made fantastic progress in their GCSE studies last year and I know the Language Ambassador programme will develop this even further.”

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CATHOLIC PIC EDUCATION FEATURE

Primary Schools

Catholic primary school education in the Liverpool Archdiocese There are many Roman Catholic (RC) primaries in Liverpool with an obtainable Ofsted rating but the benefits of RC schooling go far beyond impressive academic performance.

RC schools offer children a nurturing, spiritual environment to begin their educational career, rooted in the principles of the church.

A strong RE focus Catholic primaries in Liverpool follow the ‘Come and See’ religious education programme for Foundation and Key Stages 1 and 2, as recommended by the Archdiocese of Liverpool.

The Bishops of England and Wales require that 10% of the total curriculum time is allocated to RE. This valuable teaching will enhance your child’s knowledge and understanding of the Catholic faith and his/her ability to engage in reflection upon religious belief and practice.

Catholic values For parents who want their child to have to a solid religious grounding at school, the benefits of a Catholic primary are obvious.

A good Catholic school will be a place where the teachings of Christ are made as relevant to each child’s experience as possible.

Christ’s example of love and compassion will be encouraged through every facet of school life and developed alongside the local parish, parents and the wider community.

With strong links to their parish church, Catholic schools often have a community feel. Many children will go on to sing in the choir or serve during mass as well.

Sacramental preparation For practicing Catholics, one of the obvious benefits of sending their children to a Catholic primary school is the Sacrament of Initiation programme.

Year 4 pupils are invited to begin preparation for First Reconciliation and First Holy Communion through the school’s local parish.

Undertaking these important acts with the support of their teachers and classmates can make the process a more comfortable and pleasant experience for your child.

Collective worship Whilst all local authority maintained schools are required to offer a Christian act of collective worship everyday, the practice goes far beyond merely a statutory requirement at any Catholic primary.

Collective worship is central to a Catholic school’s ethos and is crucial to its spiritual life, and to the pupils’ personal development.

In addition, regular time spent at mass helps to instil a discipline within each child, and also a calmness that can aid their academic performance.

Picking a Catholic primary Choosing a Catholic primary school for your child can be difficult, especially with such an abundance of quality options across Liverpool.

Following these five simple steps can make the process easier to navigate and mean you can rest assured you're making the right decision for your child.

1. Meet the headteacher - A good head should be able to easily explain the school’s philosophies and Catholic ethos.

2. Take a tour - Organise a trip around your prospective primary during a normal school day.

3. Ofsted ratings - Don’t discount a school which ‘requires improvement’.

4. Check social media - Twitter can give you a valuable insight into a Catholic school’s day-to-day and religious life.

5. Examine extra curricular - Any Catholic primary that offers a strong selection of after-school clubs is well worth a second look.

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St Margaret Mary’s Catholic Infant School Pilch Lane, Huyton L14 0JG Contact Details: 0151 228 4024 Email: Stmargaretmary@knowsley.gov.uk We offer: 30 hours free Nursery provision for 3 & 4 years 15 hours free Nursery provision AM & PM sessions for 3 & 4 years Breakfast Club from 8.00am After-School Club until 5.30am Flexible nursery hours offered including wraparound hours

A warm, welcoming friendly environment We pride ourselves on being a family community

Our Lady of the Assumption Primary School and Nursery “Where everyone is a friend.”

OFSTED 2014. ‘This is a good school.’

‘The curriculum is rich in opportunities for pupils to widen their experience, practise key skills and develop their talents.’

Visits to the school are welcome please phone or email the school for an appointment:

0151 487 9301 Ourladyp-ao@ourlady-pri.liverpool.sch.uk www.ourladyoftheassumption.co.uk or you can follow our school on twitter @OLA_LIVERPOOL “Our Lady of the Assumption Primary School is a community based on the teachings of Jesus, where everyone is valued and encouraged to achieve their full potential.”

Faith Primary School Prince Edwin Street Liverpool L5 3LW T: 0151 233 5092 E: d.cunningham@faithprimaryschool.co.uk Faith is a happy, safe and welcoming Christian school where all our work is focused on the child and based on the values of the Gospel.

We strive to know our children well and are committed to providing an outstanding education for them.

‘Loving and Learning in the Light of the Lord’

Much Woolton Catholic Primary School

With Jesus we love, learn and grow

Open day for 2020 intake October 24th 1-30pm until 3pm then 4.30pm- 6.00pm All children and parents interested in joining our thriving school community in September 2020, or before, are warmly welcome to view our school.

A short presentation will be held at the start of both sessions in the school hall.

Mr M White Headteacher Watergate Lane, Liverpool, L25 8QH 0151 428 6114 www.muchwoolton.co.uk

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cathedral New beginnings

by Dr Christopher McElroy Director of Music, Liverpool Metropolitan Cathedral

September sees the return of the Cathedral Choirs and the resumption of daily sung choral services. There is lots happening this term, but two (hopefully interesting) bits of news to begin the academic year!

New Organ Scholar We are delighted to welcome James Todd as our new organ scholar. James hails from Crewe where he recently completed his A-levels. A Catholic, he has played the organ regularly in several local parishes and annually on the Shrewsbury Diocese Pilgrimage to Lourdes. He started playing the organ at age 11 and confesses that it has slowly taken over his life. In addition to playing the organ James also plays the Piano and Trombone, having recently achieved an ARSM in the Piano.

James will serve as organ scholar at the Cathedral for one year, and he hopes to study Music Performance at a conservatoire with the Organ as his principal instrument from September 2020. Whilst at the Cathedral, James will get involved with all aspects of music department life from playing the organ, to training the choristers and typesetting music. The organ scholarship is very much an ‘apprenticeship’ for working in a Cathedral music department, and we encourage a hands-on approach.

Grants from the FCM A choristership for a boy or girl allows them to live and breathe the liturgical life of the Church. On a daily basis they participate in the liturgical rites and sing its music. Their understanding of liturgy and music comes from their participation in it, not just from reading or learning about it. As well as forming our choristers as liturgical musicians, we also place great emphasis on training them as musicians, equipping them with the skills not just for their singing in the Cathedral, but indeed for what will hopefully be a lifetime of musical engagement.

Choristers musical skills are learned primarily through three overlapping routes: by singing music, by learning music theory and by playing instruments. Put simply, the better the theoretical knowledge and the more advanced the instrumental capabilities,

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Cathedral Record Canon Anthony O’Brien – Cathedral Dean

the more effective each individual choristers musical skills will be.

We are delighted to have recently received £25,000 worth of grants from the Friends of Cathedral Music to support our choristers. One grant will allow all of our boy and girl choristers to have access to industry leading software specialising in music theory.

This means that the children can solidify and practice the skills they learn in choir whilst at home using a computer or tablet.

Secondly, we have received an endowment grant of £20,000 to support the costs associated with our girl choristers having instrumental lessons.

We are very proud of our girl choristers, who recently celebrated ten years since they sang their first service and who today, are still the only RC Cathedral choir in the UK (and possibly the world!) that rehearses and sings on a daily basis. Instrumental lessons tend to be given on a one to one basis on a weekly basis. With the decline in the priority of arts subjects in schools today, the cost of these lessons falls to parents. It is very much our belief that all choristers should have the opportunity to have instrumental lessons, thus our desire to establish a fund to support this. I would be delighted to hear from any individuals or organisations that would like to make a contribution themselves into our girl choristers instrumental tuition endowment fund so that we can enable this funding to benefit as many of our girls as possible.

I can be contacted at music@metcathedral.org.uk

On Sunday 5 October Archbishop Michael Fitzgerald, resident at St Vincent de Paul and one of our deanery priests, will receive the red hat from Pope Francis.

In fact, not only does he receive the hat of a Cardinal but also a new ring and is assigned a titular church in Rome which he will have to take possession of during the few days following the ceremony. The link with the titular church is generally only an honorary designation, although in cases of Cardinals who hail from wealthy countries, they would be expected to provide some means of financial support for the Roman church. The weekly collection at St Vincent’s wouldn’t stretch to this. We offer him our congratulations and best wishes on receiving such an honour.

There are a considerable number of concerts and events in the Cathedral during the month of October which can be found on the website, I have just concentrated this month on referring to extra services taking place at the Cathedral.

Sunday 13 October as well as being the day of Canonisation of Blessed John Henry Newman is also the memorial of St Edward the Confessor and we will be joined at our 11.00 am Solemn Mass by staff, parents and pupils of St Edward’s College. This year the Annual Healing Mass will take place on Saturday 19 October from 3.00 pm until 6.30 pm. Father Peter Morgan will preside at the Mass followed by a talk by Eddie Stones prior to the opportunity for prayer and healing ministries. The ‘Pause for Hope Annual Service’ for those who have been affected by cancer is on Sunday 27 October at 3.00 pm.

We will be having a joint two Cathedral celebration of the Canonisation of Blessed John Henry Newman on Thursday 7 November. This will take the form of a joint Choral Evening Prayer at 6.00 pm followed by a joint lecture at 7.00 pm given by Monsignor Rod Strange and Canon Rod Garner on Newman’s influence on both the Anglican and the Catholic Church. This will take place at our Cathedral and we would be grateful if you could register online for the talks (the event is free) so that we have an idea of numbers.

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youth ministry

Introducing Animate 19/20

By Sarah Beatty Another year has begun here at Animate Youth Ministries. This year, we have four new gap-year team members who have moved into Lowe House, completed their period of induction, and begun to work with Year 7 pupils from across the Archdiocese.

All four of our new team members are from within the Archdiocese and cannot wait to share their faith with the young people we will be working with over the course of the 2019/20 school year.

This year’s Gap Year Team are as follows: Amy My birthday is: 26 October I am from: St Peter’s, Warrington My favourite piece of scripture is: 1 John 3:11 An interesting fact about me: I know all the words to the film Mean Girls from start to finish.

I joined the Animate team because: I want to deepen my own faith and be

Amy

Peter

Jonathon

Ellie

able to share it with young people.

Peter My birthday is: 26 January I am from: St Wilfrid’s, Liverpool My favourite piece of scripture is: Luke 23:40-43 An interesting fact about me: I’m the bassist in an Alt-Rock band called RIVIA. I joined the Animate team because: My life took quite a ‘shocking turn’ a few months prior to joining, which gave me a lot of time to think about what comes next ... I thought that joining a Catholic community, where my faith could grow and be supported, would be a good step to take.

Jonathon My birthday is: 26 July I am from: St Teresa’s, Upholland My favourite piece of scripture is: Jeremiah 29:11 An interesting fact about me: I once shared a meal with Gordon Ramsay I joined the Animate team because: I feel like working with over 10,000 young people is going to be inspiring for me and for my faith and I would like to be able to share this with school pupils across our diocese.

Ellie My birthday is: 21 April I am from: All Saints, Golborne My favourite piece of scripture is: Psalm 46:1-2 An interesting fact about me: I’ve been in a band’s music video I joined the Animate team because: Since high school I have wanted to join Animate. I would like to inspire other young people, just like I was. I want to explore and deepen my own faith and grow in confidence.

Returning to the Leadership Team for 2019/20 are Sarah, Lauren and Tom along with Father Simon Gore, and they are looking forward to getting back down to work with Animate and seeing the gap-year team develop in their faith and abilities throughout this year.

Please remember the team in your prayers.

Dates for the diary 1 October – Lourdes 2020 application forms Download your application form from 9am from www.animateyouth.org. A deposit of £50 must be sent in with your application.

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Pic extras

Mums the Word You may remember that some time ago I mentioned the highly unusual event of a husband and wife being canonised at the same time – Saints Louis and Zelie Martin, the parents of St Theresa of Lisieux, the ‘Little Flower’, whose feast day is on 1 October.

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

Raising money, step by step

Theresa Martin was born in 1873. At the age of 16, she entered the Carmelite convent in Lisieux, Normandy. She became known through her autobiography, ‘The Story of a Soul’, which told of her utter devotion to God and of doing ordinary, simple things with extraordinary love. Following her death at the age of just 24 in 1897, she was canonised by Pope Pius XI in 1925. Pope John Paul II declared her a Doctor of the Church in 1997 ‘in tribute to the powerful way her spirituality has influenced people all over the world’.

Looking through my Catholic Mothers’ Diary, I notice that October is also the month that we celebrate the feast day of St Teresa of Avila – in her case, on the 15th. Born on 28 March 1515, she entered the Carmelite Order at 16 but did not find it particularly pious or reverent. Subsequently she founded a ‘reformed’ Carmelite convent where she was able to develop her devotion to God and the religious life and to writing books meditating on God's word.

She founded convents throughout Spain before her death in 1582 at the age of 67.

Forty years later Pope Gregory XV canonised her, and in 1970 Pope Paul VI conferred on her the honour of Doctor of the Church, making her one of the first women to be awarded this distinction.

How wonderful to be celebrating two female Doctors of the Church, both very different characters, in one month. Shall we ask them especially to pray for our troubled world this October?

• I hope to see many of you at the UCM business meeting on Saturday 19 October in the Gibberd room of the Metropolitan Cathedral (1-3pm).

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The Annual Steve Dooley and Pat McGann Memorial Sponsored Walk – and accompanying fundraising effort – came around once more in September. The walk was instigated nearly 20 years ago and over time, thanks to the generosity of parishioners, we have raised thousands of pounds for a variety of charities including the Handicapped Children’s Pilgrimage Trust, Nugent Crisis Fund, and Children With Cancer Support Group Liverpool.

This year’s walk took place on Sunday 15 September along the usual waterfront route from Albert Dock to Liverpool Cricket Club and was undertaken in support of Zoe’s Place Liverpool and the Sisters of Charity, who provide education and support for underprivileged children in Mukuru, Kenya. We are again grateful for the permission of parish priests to distribute sponsorship envelopes after Masses at their parish churches in south Liverpool and for the generous support that parishioners continue to give to these worthy causes.

Our photo shows the walkers as they prepared to set off from Albert Dock.

A full report on the walk and the total raised will follow next month.

• It is with great pleasure that we report that Archbishop Malcolm McMahon, ecclesiastical adviser to the KSC nationally, arranged for our supreme knight, Bro Bertie Grogan, and deputy supreme knight, Bro Harry Welsh, to travel with him to Rome to meet Pope Francis on behalf of the order. The audience took place on 18 September.

• We are now reaching the end of our centenary year, which concludes with Mass at St Andrew’s Cathedral, Glasgow on 5 October. For the Liverpool knights, our final shared act of celebration was a pilgrimage to Scotland, with over 50 members and their families and friends making a visit to Iona in honour of our patron, St Columba, on 1 October.

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

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McCallum & Tritton & Sons Independent Family Funeral Directors

0151 931 2002

www.mccallumandtritton.co.uk Catholic Pictorial

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PIC Life Let the memory of our martyrs be an inspiration

By Moira Billinge I had the joy of going to the Ladyewell shrine in Fernyhalgh, Preston, recently, with a lovely group of people from my parish. Our day began with Mass, celebrated in the chapel within the grounds of the house. We were serenaded throughout by the sound of the torrential rain as it beat, relentlessly, against the glass partitioning.

Later, I was able to spend some quiet time in the reliquary, the stillness and silence of the room offering a wonderful opportunity for prayerful exploration among the relics of some of our beloved martyrs, such as St Thomas à Becket and St Margaret Clitheroe.

The Burgess altar, built in 1560, at which St Edmund Campion, St Edmund Arrowsmith and Blessed John Woodcock actually celebrated Mass, is included in the exhibition. Designed to fold away to look like a sideboard, it opens out to become an altar and has a secret drawer in which the priest’s vestments were

hidden.

Decades ago, like most Catholic schoolchildren, I was no stranger to the lives and terrible deaths of the martyrs.

There was the Friday morning diet of Schuster’s Bible History and the Friday afternoon curriculum often included the latest edition of Jambo, a children’s magazine about the ‘foreign missions’.

Most of us didn’t realise that we were learning about role models who could become lifelong inspirations.

There was, for instance, the little Chinese girl, Li, who was shot dead by Communist soldiers as she reverently consumed the consecrated hosts that had fallen to the ground from a desecrated tabernacle: Li’s parish priest, who was held prisoner in the sacristy, witnessed her execution.

Even children could be role models for the rest of the world.

One of my sisters is a nun who, from very early childhood, has had a massive devotion to the martyrs. If I returned home from my RE lessons with any blanks in my knowledge about them, she would happily fill in the gaps from her huge

Greeting Cards from Carmel If you haven’t already visited Maryton Carmel in Allerton - do put it on your ‘to do’ list. There are beautiful greeting cards for all occasions, prayer cards and medals on sale in the shop, excellent quality and inexpensive.

Contact the Sisters at Maryton Grange, Allerton Road, L18 3NU. Telephone the card office on 0151 724 7102 or Email the Sisters at marytoncards@outlook.com

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repertoire of stored information.

Learning about the martyrs as we did – and reinforced in my case by the extra-curricular instruction provided by my sister – was a good thing, even if today some of the more horrific details might be toned down for the sensibilities of the modern audience.

Remembering the incredibly brave men and women who died for their faith during the Reformation and beyond, and through whom we are – at least in this country – able to go to Mass and receive our Sacraments without fear, is so important. They are a part of our precious Catholic history and must never be airbrushed out of it: ordinary people who would give up their lives rather than their faith. (And, lest we forget, Christians in some countries continue to suffer the most brutal persecution and deaths for their beliefs.)

Honouring our martyrs doesn’t set us against other faith communities, but it does emphasise how treasured the Mass and all the Sacraments could and should be to us all. The excruciating torments, of past and present-day martyrs, cannot be overestimated. Courage and belief provide no analgesia to the agonies of martyrdom.

As we approach All Saints’ Day on 1 November, may we remember the martyrs with gratitude and pray that their influence will inspire our increasingly secular society, that there will be a sustained growth of vocations to the priesthood and the religious life, and that Christians across the world will be able to practise the ‘Faith of our fathers’ in freedom.

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Catholic PIC retreats and away days Catholic Pic Retreat Days Summer 2019 We have enjoyed two wonderfully spiritual retreat days this summer, the first to Ladyewell Shrine near Preston were we were warmly welcomed by administrator Sue and the Ladyewell volunteers who looked after us so well.

We explored the lovely house and reliquary and marvelled at the wonderful relics on display in this peaceful prayerful place. Fr Ferdinand van Campen led our day and celebrated Mass and Benediction giving a beautiful talk, which enthralled us all.

Fr Peter Morgan led our visit to Pantasaph in July were Brother Michael (guardian) gave us a fantastic welcome. Fr Peter’s inspiring talk touched us deeply and we all felt renewed, we had a lovely time exploring the church and grounds of Pantasaph and our day ended with a beautiful Mass celebrated by Fr Peter. Thank you so much to all the wonderful volunteers at Ladyewell and Pantasaph who made our day so special, we are very grateful.

Worth a visit - Charlestown A visit to Charlestown in St Austell Bay, Cornwall, is rewarding at any time of year, writes Lucy Oliver.

The Charlestown Shipwreck and Heritage Centre draws visitors to explore the history of a town recognisable to many from film and television programmes – from the adaptation of Daphne du Maurier’s novel Rebecca to Poldark, where it serves as the 18th century Truro harbour with its idyllic setting between a row of pastel cottages and the Cornish shoreline.

The Georgian harbour is imposing, with tall ships on display including the wooden Norwegian trading vessel Kajsamoor which visitors can board. Inside the Heritage Centre, artefacts have been reclaimed from over 150 shipwrecks, and the chilling stories of these misadventures off the peninsula and around the Isles of Scilly are retold through the display.

A 15-minute drive towards Mevagissey offers a different perspective on the Cornish landscape. The Lost Gardens of Heligan is a restoration project of gardens lost to neglect during World War One but now reopened for walks among natural woodland, intriguing carved sculptures and a jungle

featuring tropical plants and a Burmese rope bridge. Complete your visit in picturesque Mevagissey where you can stop at the Harbour Aquarium or enjoy refreshments at Tea on the Quay.

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Letter from Oscott

justice & peace Finding the right response to the wrongs of the world

by Peter Ross I was thrilled to be asked earlier this year, to contribute to the ‘Catholic Pic’ in the form of a ‘Letter from Oscott’ for 2019/20. I’m conscious that Peter Murphy did an exceptional job last year and I will do my best to keep that standard up. To start, I think it right that I should properly introduce myself.

I’m 24 and when not at Oscott I live at home with my mum, dad, and two younger brothers.

I’m from St Margaret Mary’s Parish in Liverpool and I attended St Edward’s College. It was during my time at school that I first became aware of a calling to the priesthood, and so I began attending discernment events and getting involved with other events for young Catholics to assist my discernment. After finishing my ALevels, I began studying Applied Youth and Community Development at the University of Derby.

Upon completing my degree, I applied for Seminary and Archbishop Malcolm sent me to the Royal English College, Valladolid to experience the Propaedeutic Year. After my year in Spain, I received the great news, that I was to join the community at St Mary's College, Oscott in Birmingham. I arrived at Oscott in August 2018 and I am now at the beginning of my second year at Oscott and my third overall year of formation.

This September saw the arrival of eight new men from various parts of the UK. This means that Oscott is still the biggest seminary serving England and Wales, with a total of 46 seminarians. 2019/20, is poised to be a particularly important year, as Blessed John Henry Newman, a man closely associated with Oscott, is due to be canonised by Pope Francis on 13th October. Blessed John Henry knew the College well and received the Sacrament of Confirmation in our Chapel. For all of us here, it serves as a special blessing and aid to prayer, to know that he walked our corridors.

Aside from the upcoming canonisation celebrations, there is much else to be optimistic about this year at College. I am studying many new subjects, including Christian Spirituality and Homiletics. Also, I’m due to start a new placement at a secondary school in Birmingham, which I’m very enthusiastic about.

Let's all pray for each other.

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By Steve Atherton, Justice & Peace fieldworker Can you still get angry? If you’re at all like me, you’ll probably get annoyed more than angry and it will be about things like traffic jams, late trains or cancellations. Maybe you can get angry over domestic mishaps such as no milk for your breakfast cereal or heaps of washing-up left in the sink.

Maybe you can get angry with your own failings, especially if you keep on making the same mistakes!

But what about serious issues?

When did you last get angry about the proliferation of nuclear weapons, about the fact that our country sells weapons to dictators knowing they’ll use them to abuse their own people, about government and industry’s refusal to act urgently on climate chaos, about the destruction of the Amazonian rainforest?

I’m afraid that my answer is that I don’t get angry at all. I’m cross with myself for only being disapproving which is even weaker than being annoyed. We’ve had Gospel readings recently where Jesus told us that He didn’t come to bring peace and He certainly got very angry about the stalls in the temple.

Maybe it’s time to be moved by people’s suffering and even

to join the people on the barricades. The Extinction Rebellion movement has brought climate issues into the news.

Locally, we have a strong Pax Christi group in the diocese. They take to the street several times a year to protest against injustice and to witness that Christian values should change the way we think and act. We have had visitors from West Papua over the years and they are still being denied nationhood. In the last few weeks many more of their people have been callously murdered.

So what do we do? Protest, of course, isn’t usually enough to bring about change. Violence is never the answer. Being wellinformed is an essential. Prayer seems very quiet. But, in the face of evil, it may well be the best response.

G

B

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Catholic Pic Pilgrimage to the Holy Land 2020 To take place on Thursday 8 October to Thursday 15 October Leader to be confirmed Cost: ÂŁ1295 sharing ÂŁ1545 single room Please call 0151 733 5492 for brochure and booking form

Galilee

Bethlehem

Jerusalem

Gethsamane

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