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Hope in the Community
-1 Thessolonians 5:5, 11
The diocese is made up of many communities that keep the light of Christ aglow and offer hope to their members every day in all circumstances. Through parishes, chaplaincies, and other faith groups lay Catholics and clergy support, minister to, and become kindly lights to each other. Together they provide welcome to the strangers who come amongst them and reach out in partnership with ecumenical and interfaith communities to support the good of the wider society to which they belong.
Over 600 couples celebrating significant wedding anniversaries in 2019 joined Cardinal Vincent Nichols in June for the Annual Mass for Matrimony in Westminster Cathedral to renew their vows. The Mass is organised by the office for Marriage and Family Life who work to support married couples and those preparing for marriage.
© Weenson Oo/picture-u-net
Annual Migrants’ Mass celebrating the ethnic diversity and contribution to society of London Catholics. Many of these Catholics play an important part in providing care in NHS hospitals and the social care sector. Parishioners of Ss Michael and Martin, Hounslow and members of the Ghanaian Association in Hounslow are among the many groups attending in their national costumes.
© Mazur/CBCEW.org.uk
© Mazur/CBCEW.org.uk St John Henry Newman, the first English saint who has lived since the Reformation to be canonised, whose famous quote ‘God has created me to do him some definite service. He has committed some work to me which he has not committed to another,’ continues to inspire many Catholics in their efforts to care for others in their community.
World Day of the Poor and Mitzvah Day fall on the same day in November. On this day Catholics and Jews are particularly encouraged to undertake an act of charity. In 2019, 75 pupils from six Catholic and three Jewish schools in London joined forces to assemble 400 Vinnie Packs with essential winter items that were distributed by St Vincent de Paul volunteers to rough sleepers.
© Diocese of Westminster
Cardinal Vincent Nichols joined other London church leaders in Trafalgar Square in April 2019 for the Standing Together Against Knife Crime rally to call for an end to knife crime, to demand action and to stand alongside young people, families and communities affected by knife crime. Three parishes in the Diocese of Westminster have installed knife surrender bins, supplied and managed by Words 4 Weapons and supported by Caritas Westminster, to encourage young people to discard knives and other sharp weapons anonymously.
