Westminster Record - November 2018 by RCWestminster

Te Deum Adoremus God save the King

Continued on page Continued page 75

Editorial

Westminster Record | Novemebr 2018

A firm belief in God’s grace

November is the month of Prayer for the Dead; that accords well with the foul weather and dark evenings. It is a sombre time, fitting for this most solemn of commemorations. But while we mourn the dead and grieve for our loved ones, our Catholic attitude to death

proclaims that we have a future together with those who have lost. We shall, in the words of the funeral rite, see them again and enjoy their company. It could not be otherwise, since at the heart of our faith is resurrection, a new beginning. What seemed desolation, loss, now springs forth with new life, new opportunities. If we place the Risen Lord at the centre of our lives, then we too will be people who are not trapped by the pain of loss, but who see even in disaster the possibility of a fresh start. That must be our attitude. We are not forlorn of hope, of possibilities, even in the most dire of crises. Cardinal Vincent’s moving article in this edition encourages us to hope, to look forward, even in these difficult times.

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This month we shall also celebrate the Armistice in a special way, recalling 100 years since the end of World War I, and marked with an article by Fr Nicholas Schofield. It was not a peace that was to last, and fresh horrors were to come. Looking around at the world, we have not learned the lessons of concord. Yet Christians do not give up hope, but seek new opportunities for allowing the peace of Christ to break through into our world. This is not foolish optimism, but a firm belief that God brings the most out of us when we live together in community, as brothers and sisters. It is how he made us to be.

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The annual Two Cathedrals Blessed Sacrament Procession took place on Saturday 29th September. Beginning at Westminster Cathedral, clergy and faithful made their way across Lambeth bridge to St George’s Cathedral, Southwark.

Produced by the Communications Office of the Diocese of Westminster. News and articles published in the Westminster Record do not necessarily represent the views of the Diocese of Westminster, unless specifically stated otherwise.

Make a stand for faith and freedom. Show your solidarity with persecuted Christians and those of other faith minorities worldwide this #RedWednesday, 28th November, by wearing a red item of clothing, or taking part in a red-themed event. This annual event is organised by Aid to the Church in Need, who would like to encourage everyone to get involved. For your nearest Red Wednesday event schedule or to create your own, visit acnuk.org/red-wednesday2018/find-your-nearestevent/. Page 2

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Westminster Record | November 2018

Bishop John Sherrington thanks altar servers for their witness At the National Mass for Altar Servers at Westminster Cathedral on 6th October, Bishop John Sherrington thanked altar servers for their ‘faithfulness, dedication, and the time that you give to serving at the altar and serving Christ’. He commended them for their witness in stepping forward to serve: ‘It is really important that others in your parish see you serving. It may inspire them to do the same.’ Recalling the ad limina visit of the bishops of England and Wales to Rome the previous week, he said that they had celebrated Mass at the Church of St Stephen of the Abyssinians in the Vatican: ‘we remembered St Stephen the first martyr and prayed for all the altar servers who are dedicated to his care’. During an audience with the Pope, the Holy Father had asked the bishops to relay his message to ‘be joyful in Christ’. Bishop John explained that joy

‘means that we trust in the love of God in every moment of life’ and that ‘the Holy Spirit stirs our hearts and that he will help us to pray and to be strong in the faith’. Like the joy radiated by St Stephen, the patron saint of altar servers, in the face of fierce opposition, ‘joy is deep seated within the heart’ and is evident ‘when we place our lives under God’s protection’. ‘Being joyful also means being strong witnesses, like St Stephen, and standing up for

your faith,’ Bishop Sherrington added. The annual Mass is organised by the Archconfraternity of St Stephen. It was attended by altar servers from several dioceses around England and Wales, who renewed their commitment to serving, promising to ‘do my best to serve regularly with reverence and understanding, for the glory of God, the service of his Church and my own eternal salvation’.

On Sunday 21st October, Bishop Paul McAleenan celebrated the annual International Mass at Westminster Cathedral. The Mass, organised by the Ethnic Chaplaincies, celebrates unity in diversity of the various ethnic communities, many of whom came dressed in traditional costume.

Our Lady of the Rosary parish in Staines recently marked the Feast of St Francis of Assisi by inviting some very special guests to Sunday Mass. While the rain poured down outside, it rained ‘cats and dogs’ indoors, as parishioners were invited to bring their pets with them, and so the congregation of over two hundred humans was swelled by guinea pigs,

bunny rabbits, cats, and rather a lot of dogs. At the end of the service, there was a blessing for all the pets, as well as a special blessing for sick animals. Regular attenders commented on how ‘well-behaved’ the animals were, and while the dogs got to know each other at coffee afterwards, everyone agreed that it should become an annual event.

On Sunday 16th September Bishop John Wilson presided at a special Mass to celebrate the 125th anniversary of Our Lady of the Rosary School, Staines. The parish and school community of Staines combined to celebrate a single Sunday Mass on the school playground. It was a wonderful occasion, attended by a huge crowd of

parishioners and school families, and was followed by a parish picnic on the playing field. The joy of this wonderful, sunny day, was further enhanced when Bishop John presented Annette Carney, a former teacher at the school, with a diocesan medal in recognition of her faithful and ongoing service to the Catholic community in Staines.

Red Mass: Serving justice, upholding dignity Bishop John Sherrington celebrated the annual Red Mass at Westminster Cathedral on the first day of the legal year, 1st October. Bishop John began his homily by outlining three modern day challenges to the dignity of the human person: the Nuremberg trials, the plight of the Rohingya people, and the treatment of asylum seekers in the UK. These challenges, he reflected, have no easy solution. Speaking directly to the legal professionals in the

congregation Bishop John told them that their contribution was ‘the establishment of justice founded in the dignity of the human person’. In our society ‘it is easy to lose sight of the dignity of each woman and man’ but ‘every citizen must take responsibility to speak the truth and act in justice.’ Noting with particular regard to the legal profession, ‘your vocation is to examine each case and take steps to serve justice so that the dignity of the person is protected and fostered’. To be able to do this we must rely on the gift of the

Holy Spirit, as Pope Francis explains: ‘To judge wisely [you] will need a deep motivation, an expression of a hidden wisdom, God’s wisdom; which can be received through the Holy Spirit.’ The intention of Red Mass is to call upon the Holy Spirit to guide the work of the judiciary and legal profession in the coming year. Over 120 legal professionals were in the congregation, including high court judges. Also in attendance at the Mass were representatives from the Anglican Church.

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Westminster Record | November 2018

Dialogue of faith between generations My memories of sunshine in August may now have faded, but the sense of shock and shame that marked that month have not. In many ways it has been the most disturbing of times in the life of the Church for 50 years. The reports and revelations of abuse and neglect, and the dispassionate descriptions of the awful abuse inflicted on so many children, are truly shocking. How could this happen? But it did; and it still does, in many places. It is right that these crimes are being brought into the clear light of public scrutiny. It is painful, but so necessary. My first thoughts go to those who have suffered. I know, even from my own limited experience, that every story of abuse refreshes the hurt, reawakens the wounds, of childhood terror in those who are victims or survivors of abuse. Their cry is a cry from the heart of Jesus, for they are his beloved and part of his Body. Their wounds mark the very flesh of our Lord. The devastating effect of childhood abuse is the hollowing out of a person’s capacity to trust another human being. Life without trust in another is a life robbed of so much quality and sustenance. It can be an empty shell. And when that abuse is inflicted by a person whose presence carries with it the sanction of the Church, who acts ‘in the name of God’, then the trust that is destroyed is trust in the Church, and in the ultimate source of all good, God. This summer has also revealed shameful behaviour on the part of those whose task is to care for and protect the household of the Church. Bishops, abbots and religious superiors have failed to be good shepherds, whether through ignorance, confusion, carelessness, misplaced loyalty or a sense of self-preservation. This, too, has damaged the trust that so many priests and lay people give to the Church, and has created an atmosphere of unspoken suspicion and guarded relationships. Page 4

A spirit of humble confession of fault and realism about our failures has marked the first days of the Synod of Bishops on Youth, Faith and Vocational Discernment, taking place in Rome. There is an undercurrent of anger, especially directed at us bishops, at the damage done to so many and dismay at the many ways in which this is seriously inhibiting the work of the Gospel. Hardly a session is completed without this crisis being brought to the fore, not because this is a Synod about abuse and cover-up in the Church, but because these selfinflicted wounds seriously undermine every aspect of ministry, especially ministry with and to young people. We are living through a period of great challenge and purification. In the work of the Synod, thus far, there is no pretence. Rather there is a sense of realism that words are not enough, that trust has to be rebuilt. As the saying has it, trust arrives on foot, but leaves on horseback. This is a humbler Synod than any other I have attended, a pondering on failure, weakness and repentance. Two points of light have begun to emerge, at least in my mind. After the formal openings, the first person to speak at the Synod was a young woman who told us about her journey through the years of her adolescence into a new maturity. Her testimony, together with many others heard both in our small group discussions and during Saturday evening’s Youth Festival, have described the vivid experiences of vulnerability and fragility that so often characterise periods of intense growth. This is often a key aspect of the existential experience of young people. And here young people and bishops began to find some common ground. At times, speeches in the Synod have been about young people; at times they have been addressed to young people; but in this theme of fragility and vulnerability, I have had a vivid

sense that we have been talking together. As young people listened to us bishops talk about how dismayed we are, how belittled by what has happened, how vulnerable and fragile we feel, they have understood. In some ways, in this experience of painful fragility, we are in the same boat. It’s a powerful image. The boat of the Church, in which we journey together, is going through stormy waters and there are anxious, frightened glances all round. What will happen next? What more is to confront us? Where do we find a safe harbour? The first disciples of Jesus lived that same experience, even when their Lord was asleep at the back of the boat. In moments such as these, I find myself recalling the words spoken by Pope Francis on his very first appearance at the window of the Apostolic Palace. He spoke of God’s mercy and of our need to receive that mercy before we can truly serve him. He said that unless we are first ‘caressed by the mercy of God’ then we shall not have the capacity to offer that same mercy to others. The invitation is clear. We are to turn to the Lord, implore him to wake up, and to caress us with his mercy that we may serve him in and through each other. As bishops we do so with humility and with an unaccustomed sense of vulnerability. This strips us of all sense of false superiority and entitlement. A second speck of light has also emerged for me. It is a tiny distant spot, but perhaps a great summons. The young people with whom we are engaged, either directly or through all the preparatory contributions, yearn for a world more marked by both justice and compassion. They are so keenly aware of the injustices and great wounds in the world around them. They long fiercely for justice to be done. They are also hugely generous and compassionate, wanting to express in practical ways the empathy they feel for those whose weakness is

by Cardinal Vincent Nichols

overwhelming them, for those who sink into crime and compulsive behaviour. I read these characteristics as an expression of a deeply Catholic axiom: that we are to hate the sin but strive to love the sinner. The speck of light I glimpse is the invitation from these young people to apply this ancient axiom to the response we make to the awful sins of abuse and neglect. To do so might be a powerful and radical witness to Gospel truth, in contrast to the ways of the world. I am very conscious that in our response to abuse and to the failures of leadership in the Church we have much to learn. There are two sources of learning which are shaping what we are doing at present: the lessons of the law and those of social work professionals. In some places, a confused Church leadership is handing over to a body of legal experts the task of responding vigorously to this crisis. In other places, we look more to the expertise of social services, their procedures and practices. As I say, there is much we have to learn. But there is also a unique contribution that must come from the Gospel. Professional responses often focus on awareness, detection, prevention and punishment. All are necessary for justice and for prudent vigilance. Yet, while certainly being necessary, I wonder if they are also sufficient, at least in terms of

the Gospel by which we try to live? The justice of God is always corrective, opening up a pathway of redemption to those who wish to take it, in penitence and self-knowledge. That is not the language we hear about those found guilty of child abuse. This week I have heard the compassion that moves God to tender mercy finding an echo in young hearts. Can it also find a place in our response to offenders? The hounding of sex offenders does not heal the hurt of those who have been abused. Is there not a better way to be found? This road, on which we may be guided by that speck of light, must have as its first steps the work of open and unambiguous justice for those who have been deeply offended and hurt. It must include protective vigilance at every moment against ongoing risk. It has to include every struggle to ensure that survivors are accompanied on their road towards stable living. Only then may the possibility of restorative justice emerge out of the deep mists of hurt and anger. This possibility, remote as it seems today, may be one of the emerging gifts of this dialogue of faith, marked both by vulnerability and hope, taking place here in Rome between the generations of the family of the Church. This article first appeared in the 13th October 2018 edition of The Tablet and is reprinted with kind permission.

Church has a crucial role in ﬁght against human traﬃcking

Westminster Record | Novemeber 2018

In his intervention at the Synod on Youth, Faith and Vocational Discernment, Cardinal Vincent chose to address the ‘crushing poverty faced by young people in the world and the consequent dangerous journeys they undertake in search of prosperity elsewhere’. Noting that these pressures lead to the ‘horrific crime of modern day slavery and human trafficking,’ he explained that every country represented at the synod is ‘a country from which vulnerable people are taken into slavery and into which the victims of human trafficking arrive’. He said that the Catholic Church, as a ‘vast, international

network committed to all that is good and just,’ has ‘a crucial part to play’ in the fight against human trafficking. He paid tribute to all in the Church, ‘especially many, many religious women who risk their safety to work with the victims of human trafficking’. Sharing the work of the Santa Marta Group, which brings together the Church, governments and law enforcement agencies from around the world, the Cardinal explained that in all its work, ‘the victim is always at the centre of our efforts. So too are attempts to provide resources and opportunities that might prevent young people leaving their homeland and risking

slavery.’ Such initiatives include projects in education and agriculture in Edo State in Nigeria, launched in conjunction with Dioceses of Benin and Uromi. The Cardinal expressed the hope that ‘this topic of human trafficking, so crucial to millions of young people today, finds its place in our final [synod] document’. The German language group of synod delegates echoed that sentiment as they called for the text of the Cardinal’s entire intervention to be included in the final synod document. The full text of the intervention is available at rcdow.org.uk/cardinal

Gratitude, loyalty and respect for the Fallen

Ahead of the centenary of the Armistice, on 24th October, Bishop Nicholas Hudson presided at a service at Tyne Cot cemetery in Ypres to remember all those who died in the First World War.

I feel deeply moved to be with you in Tyne Cot because my grandfather, Eric Hudson, fought here in the Battle of Passchendaele and survived. We gather here in a spirit of what the ancient Romans called ‘pietas’. ‘Pietas’, for the Romans, meant gratitude, loyalty, respect. We gather indeed in gratitude, loyalty and respect for all those here who laid down their lives in order that we might be free. We pray that they may now rest in peace; we pray for peace across the whole continent of Europe. When we gathered, many of us, for the ‘Re-thinking Europe’ conference in the Vatican, the Holy Father urged all of us to ‘keep the human’ at the centre, at the heart of the European project. Tyne Cot is a place where we cannot but think of the human. For around us lie the remains of 12,000 men. The inscriptions chosen by their families to adorn the headstones are deeply poignant. ‘Greater love has no man than to lay down his life for his friends’; ‘Well done, dear husband and father, your noble duty done’. This is a place where we

remember the cost of war for both family and soldier alike. We remember what it is to be human; remember the sacriﬁce made by these men for their

fellow human beings. It is a place we should resolve never to forget; from the rising of the sun to its setting, always to remember them.

Continued from page 1 But the sense of loss watered down some of these scenes of joy. Many churches organised Requiem Masses for the fallen. At the London parish of Commercial Road a list of the 126 parishioners killed in action was already displayed in the porch and the parish priest, Canon Timothy Ring, said that he had known each one of them and feared there would be more, for many were still missing. Plans were already being made to perpetuate their memory in the form of Masses, memorials and even a scholarship. In the short term, Catholics were encouraged to show their gratitude to the Lord; after all, as the Cardinal later expressed in a Pastoral Letter, ’all who chose to think and reason were forced to acknowledge that victory was due to some power greater than mere human genius, skill or courage.’ In Westminster, every church was asked to offer a Mass of Thanksgiving, as well as ‘prayers to implore the grace of the Holy Ghost, whose wisdom and prudence are so much needed for the guidance of the statesmen of the world in the tremendous issues which will now call for decision.’ The Church is sometimes seen as a beneficiary of the war. Those who had served on the Western Front had encountered Catholic churches and populations, often for the first time, and came away with favourable opinions. Some churches, like that at Albert with its famous ‘leaning Virgin’, a statue that had been hit by a shell and hung precariously from the tower at a ninetydegree angle, had become iconic. Much sympathy was shown towards the sufferings of Catholic Belgium and the many

refugees who had come across the Channel. Stories of the heroism of Catholic chaplains, such as the Irish Jesuit Fr ‘Willie’ Doyle, were widely told and Catholics (many of them Irish) had proved themselves to be loyal and courageous soldiers fighting for King and Country. The mastermind behind the final allied offensive of 1918, Marshal Foch, was known to be a pious Catholic. Of those who came back from the Front, some returned with their faith in tatters, others were more aware of eternal questions. The war resulted in many conversions and a new-found confidence in British Catholicism. However, rebuilding the world after four years of deadly conflict and the collapse of four empires was full of pitfalls. There were challenges in the form of peace talks, economic hardship, unemployment and the Spanish Flu, which in the end claimed more lives globally than the war itself. In a Pastoral Letter of 11th May 1919, Bourne highlighted the many areas for concern. He asked his priests to publicly recite an Act of Consecration to the Sorrowful and Immaculate Heart of Mary: ‘In blessing our arms thou hast manifested thy power and thy justice. In delivering us from the terrible scourge of war thou hast shown forth thy love and thy mercy…intercede again for us with thy Divine Son that all dissensions may be banished from our country, and that he may establish therein true peace, based on those principles of faith which alone can secure the safety of mankind and the triumph of Holy Church.’ The journey ahead would be a long one – but that is another story.

No place for digital tribes in Church

In a recent homily, Cardinal Vincent addressed the growing problem of misuse of digital media: ‘To my mind one thing that disfigures the face of Christ in us today is the outpouring of bitterness, tittle-tattle, hostility and false witness that floods the digital world. People are regularly subjected to character assassination. How easily the internet reduces us to digital tribes, engaged in a kind of bitter conflict which somehow seems acceptable because it is ‘out there’ somewhere. Even if we do not contribute, and sometimes we are worse than others, far too easily we amuse ourselves at the discomfort of others. These things are a true disfigurement of the face of Jesus, the face of compassion and mercy and should have no place in our lives.’

This plaque at Our Lady of the Rosary, Marylebone commemorates prayers of the faithful to Our Lady for her help in the War in 1918. Follow us on Instagram at: @rcwestminster

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Westminster Record | November 2018

Heritage of education in 60 years of transformative witnessing at NCC St Charles Square by Daniel Coyle, Headteacher

St Charles Square has always been a focal point for education in North Kensington. Students have come and gone, passed through and moved on to the next chapter of their lives. However, on 14th September something momentous took place. North Kensington was celebrating the inauguration Mass for All Saints Catholic College, a new mixed secondary school for local children. All Saints has a rich history; successive schools have occupied the same site since before the Second World War, with the latest being Sion-Manning Catholic Girls School. Two years ago under the stewardship of Headteacher Andrew O’ Neill, plans to transform secondary education on the square began. To mark the change, Bishop John Wilson led a Mass in appreciation of this new beginning. To the sounds of Surrexit Christus, the

congregation filled the old school hall. Bishop John noted how this square had witnessed many changes, and indeed many challenges, but All Saints was a beacon for future generations. He spoke of God’s act of generosity in sending his only Son to the world. He explained that kindness should be the act of every human being. This is particularly important for the congregation, as school life is founded upon kindness and a generosity of spirit. The 150 boys and girls of Year 7 along with the rest of the school sang with gusto and reverence. Mass was concelebrated by Parish Priest Fr Peter Wilson who is a governor and regular visitor to All Saints. At the end of Mass, guests were invited out to the garden for light refreshments. The wild garden, as it is affectionately known, is yet another symbol of growth and rebirth on the square.

Pupils’ Passion for Pumpkins Feeds Homeless by Gail Hovey Pupils from St Gregory’s Catholic Science College turned pumpkins, grown in the school’s eco-garden, into a hearty soup for the homeless. The green-fingered pupils, who, earlier this year won the Royal Horticultural Society’s School Gardening Team of the Year award, grew the pumpkins from seed. As part of the RHS Big Soup Share, a campaign to get school children growing and cooking edible plants, the pupils added thyme (also picked from the school eco-garden) to the pumpkins and created pumpkin and thyme soup. The school’s cookery teacher, Damian Cullen, took the soup to Ealing Abbey Soup Kitchen, where over 150 nutritious portions were served up to grateful guests. Page 6

Andrew Mcleay, who coordinates the volunteers for Ealing Soup Kitchen, said, ‘It was really special that the soup was home-grown, homemade and served with love for those at the Soup Kitchen.’ St Gregory’s Headteacher, Andrew Prindiville, said, ‘I’m really proud of our pupils for sharing the fruits of their labours with those in our community who will benefit the most.’

Newman Catholic College, formerly Cardinal Hinsley High School, celebrated its 60th anniversary with a wonderful Mass at Westminster Cathedral on 10th October. Over 1,000 students and staff, past and present, were joined by old boys, governors, representatives from the diocese and Brent Local Authority, the Metropolitan Police and our MP Dawn Butler. Mass was celebrated by Bishop John Wilson and Frs Stephen Willis and Vincent Dike from the Shrine of Our Lady of Willesden in Harlesden. The celebrants were also joined by Fr Marcus Winter from the Carmelite Monastery in Ladbroke Grove and Fr Michael Donaghy (formerly a staff member at Cardinal Hinsley and now based at the cathedral). We filed inside to the beautiful sound of NCC’s steel pan band. Bishop John implored us to ‘be great’. We reflected on Blessed John Henry Newman’s ‘heart speaks unto heart’, a message that crosses the expanse of time and unites all of humanity.

The most powerful and inspiring words, however, were those of the students themselves. Following bidding prayers in the many languages of this proudly diverse school, a group of students spoke about how Newman Catholic College had supported them as immigrants and refugees from other parts of the world. Many of these young people were from Muslim or Hindu backgrounds and gave moving and compelling testimony to how the presence of God at

NCC had supported their development. The 60 years since 1958 have witnessed many changes in the Harlesden area. As a Catholic school community, it has often been challenging to adapt to these transformations. The magnificence of our celebration however gives us great confidence that we are on the right path and reminds us that, whatever the difficulties ahead, we can, in a spirit of love, joy and mutual respect, always prevail.

Award for St Gregory’s St Gregory’s Catholic Science College was recognised at the Schools for Success awards ceremony at City Hall for its achievements in supporting pupils needing extra help to fulfil their potential. Mayor of London Sadiq Khan said: ‘I’d like to congratulate St Gregory’s for the fantastic work of their staff and pupils. Our Schools for Success programme shows the significant difference that a supportive and inclusive teaching environment can make for all pupils.’ Headteacher Andrew Prindiville said: ‘This recognition is testament to the hard work and perseverance of the whole school community: parents, pupils, staff and governors.’ The Mayor’s programme aims to improve expectations and raise standards for London’s schoolchildren, regardless of their background. Follow us on Twitter at: twitter.com/RCWestminster

Westminster Record | November 2018

Celebrating the roots of the English College by Tom Blackburn Staff, students and friends from Allen Hall Seminary and St Edmund’s College travelled to Douai, France, on 29th September to mark the 450th anniversary of the founding of the English College by Cardinal William Allen in 1568. Archbishop Vincent Dollman of the Diocese of Cambrai celebrated Mass in the Collegiate Church of SaintPierre, as around 400 people gathered to give thanks for the lives of the 158 priests formed in Douai and later martyred in England between 1577 and 1680. Allen Hall and St Edmund’s were both involved with the liturgy and celebrations of the day, with music beautifully provided by the school choir, while the seminarians and students served Mass. The anniversary of the founding of Douai College was particularly pertinent for the seminarians from Allen Hall, the seminary being a direct descendent of the original seminary in Douai. While the climate of Catholicism in England has changed, the opportunity to be in Douai evoked a sense of the mission

for a living example of how the Archangels act in our lives. Cardinal William Allen was one of a small group of Catholic exiles from Elizabethan England where, in the heat of the Protestant Reformation, it was treason for Catholic priests to celebrate Mass. Allen, in communion with Pope Pius V, established a College at Douai, then in the Spanish Netherlands, so that English students could train for the priesthood. The Collège des Grands Anglais, as it became known, was key to the that every Christian has to English mission for the reshare the Good News with conversion of England. those who do not know Jesus Canon Roger Taylor, Rector Christ. of Allen Hall was honoured to At the back of the Collegiate Church of Saint-Pierre was the join in the Douai celebrations. ‘It was an enormous privilege reconstructed altar and to travel to Douai,’ he said. ‘We tabernacle (pictured) from the are most grateful to St original Douai College, at which many of the martyrs had Edmund’s College for making it possible for the entire celebrated the Eucharist, and during the Mass it was blessed seminary to be present. We are very conscious of our roots in a by the Archbishop. martyred Church, and of our On the Feast of the need in our own way to lay Archangels Michael, Gabriel down our lives.’ and Raphael, Archbishop Dollman spoke of our fight with Satan, and the work of the Photos from the pilgrimage are available at Archangels, evoking the flickr.com/catholicwestminster witness of the Douai martyrs

A packed audience gathered at Notre Dame University in London on 18th October to hear Baroness Nuala O’Loan, a crossbench peer and first Police Ombudsman of Northern Ireland, deliver the annual Catholic Union Craigmyle Lecture. Baroness O’Loan gave an uplifting address about faith and public life, beginning with Pope Francis’ observation that ‘you cannot be a part-time Christian’. She drew on her experience as a special envoy from the Irish Government to Timor-Leste (East Timor) in 2008 to say that, in situations of armed conﬂict, when the structure of the State has collapsed, the Catholic Church is often the last thing standing. She gave a moving account of the role of a local priest who had persuaded some of the last remaining ﬁghters to surrender because they trusted him and that trust was essential to faith.

Baroness O’Loan pointed to Pope Benedict’s speech in Westminster Hall in 2010 on the right relationship between faith and reason: they ‘need one another and should not be afraid to enter into a profound and ongoing dialogue, for the good of our civilisation’. She referred to the increase in the number and scope of abortions since the 1967 Act and to the need for better protection of conscientious objection for medical practitioners which is the subject of her Bill in Parliament. The Bill has reached its Committee Stage in the House of Lords but is unlikely to become law. Speaking of her time as Ombudsman in Northern Ireland, she said that there was a duty to give eﬀect to the truth. The level of shootings and assaults showed that the Troubles were not yet over and the trauma of violence is passed down the generations with the

Keeping Faith in the Public Square

injuries of parents and grandparents being absorbed by the children. She lamented that there were so many families waiting for inquests on their loved ones who wanted to know why and where they had died. She mentioned the ‘profoundly difficult’ problem of child sexual abuse in the Church and the responsibility of the laity to help put things right. She also noted the work being done to combat human trafficking and to care for victims through the Santa Marta group, an example of the Church’s influence for good in the public square. The Catholic Union was founded in 1870 and is the voice of lay Catholics in public life. It makes representations to Parliament, the government, regulatory bodies and the media. The Craigmyle Lecture is given annually in honour of Donald, Lord Craigmyle, a former President of the Catholic Union.

Search for unity between Catholics and Methodists by Bishop John Sherrington

The Joint International Commission for Theological Dialogue between the World Methodist Council and the Roman Catholic Church met in Hong Kong from 12 to 19 October, hosted by the World Methodist Council with support from the Methodist Church in Hong Kong. The commission’s first engagement on arrival was to share in evening prayer in the Sky Chapel on the 22nd floor of Wesleyan House, with its panoramic views of the Hong Kong skyline. In this second plenary meeting of the present round of conversations, the commission continued its theological dialogue on the subject of reconciliation as this relates in particular to the unity of the Church. A number of papers addressing specific aspects of reconciliation had been commissioned at our meeting in 2017. These papers were presented and discussed and the commission agreed the outline structure of our report, which bears the working title God in Christ reconciling. Members of the commission were assigned to produce preliminary drafts of each chapter for presentation and discussion at next year’s plenary meeting. The final report will be presented to the World Methodist Council meeting in Gothenburg in 2021. Each day, we commenced our work by sharing together in devotions led alternately by Methodist and Catholic members of the commission. The official Catholic Mass was held on Saturday evening at the nearby Our Lady of Mount Carmel Catholic Church. Thanks to the generous hospitality of Parish Priest Fr Thomas Law, Follow us on Instagram at: @rcwestminster

Catholic members of the commission were also able to celebrate daily Mass. On Sunday, members of the commission attended worship at the Methodist International Church, led by Rev Eden Fletcher. In its final session, the commission shared together in the official Methodist celebration of Holy Communion, fittingly held in the Sky Chapel where we had begun our meeting. The Methodist co-chair, the Rev Dr David Chapman, presided and Prof Lilian Siwila preached a sermon. At this concluding service, the commission was joined by several local Methodists. The joint commission hosted a dinner attended by representatives of the Catholic Diocese of Hong Kong’s ecumenical commission and the Methodist Church in Hong Kong, during which we heard of the important work being done among the Christian churches. On our final evening, following a dinner hosted by the Methodist Church in Hong Kong, the co-chairs of the joint commission led a well-attended seminar for local Methodists and Roman Catholics on the subject of Methodist-Roman Catholic dialogue. The co-chairs presented copies of The Call to Holiness: From Glory to Glory (Houston, 2016) to representatives of the Catholic Diocese of Hong Kong and the Methodist Church in Hong Kong. The joint commission will next meet at the Mariapolis (Focolare) Centre in Nairobi from 11th to 18th October 2019, hosted by the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity. Page 7

St Oscar Romero: A prophet of hope for the oppressed In anticipation of his canonisation on Sunday 14th October, the parish of St Ignatius, Stamford Hill held a Novena of intercession to Blessed Oscar Romero. The Novena opened with Mass on Friday 5th October, celebrated by Bishop John Sherrington, and closed with a Mass celebrated by Bishop Paul McAleenan on Saturday 13th October. At the opening Mass, Bishop John reflected on the life and witness of Blessed Oscar, ‘a man, a priest, an Archbishop who was “filled with the Spirit”, and spoke like Jesus and his truth, and so the crowds began to gather around him’. He was martyred while celebrating evening Mass on 24th March 1980, having been shot during the consecration. As Bishop John explained: ‘In the Mass, Blessed Oscar Romero entered into the offering of Christ and his suffering. He offered the suffering of his people to Christ on the cross. He did so in hope knowing that it was Christ alone who could bring the gift of peace into the lives of the suffering of God’s holy people. In the act of supreme self-sacrifice, he gave his life for the gospel. He witnesses to martyrdom and is a prophet of hope for people who suffer violence and exploitation.’ Bishop John spoke of the friendship between Bl Oscar and Fr Rutilio Grande SJ, who was himself murdered for speaking out ‘against the exploiter and the powerful who oppressed the poor. He became a target for assassination by the powerful

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forces at work in El Salvador. He was a priest who was passionate for the good of the poor and worked for change through building peace with justice.’ Speaking of the influence that Fr Rutilio had on his friend, Bishop John echoed the words of Pope Francis who recently affirmed that Romero is Rutilio’s ‘great miracle’. From Rutilio’s example, Blessed Oscar ‘knew that he must preach and live more deeply the violence of love: “the violence we preach is not the violence of the sword, the violence of hatred. It is the violence of love, of brotherhood, the violence that wills to beat weapons into sickles for work.”’ Commemorating this friendship, a new painting, 'The Great Amen' (pictured) by Peter Bridgman, was unveiled and blessed during the Mass, and has been installed in the church. At the Mass at the closing of the Novena, Bishop Paul spoke of Blessed Oscar offering himself up to the gaze of God which sees parts of us that no one else can see, after the shooting of

Fr Rutilio. After celebrating Mass at his deceased friend’s parish, Oscar spent many hours in prayer, not only looking at God, but allowing God to look at him, prompting him to ‘get up and begin to love the poor’, an act which ended with his martyrdom. Bishop Paul reminded the congregation that we should not forget that Blessed Oscar Romero stood up for the oppressed and marginalised when it was difficult and unpopular. We should follow his lesson of always being on the side of the oppressed not the oppressor. Just as Jesus himself was a ‘threat to selfishness’, Oscar Romero was a ‘threat to power’. This is something we should not forget; we should not ignore injustice in the world because it is difficult to face, or because no one else cares. Referring to the words ‘my sacrifice and yours’ said by all priests during the Mass, which would have been said countless times by the Archbishop, Bishop Paul said Blessed Oscar made them real when he was martyred while celebrating Mass in 1980. He gave everything he had, including his life in sacrifice for the Lord. Bishop Paul called all clergy to remember this sacrifice when they say these words. The Mass was followed immediately by a short liturgy for the unveiling and blessing of a bust of Oscar Romero, and an extract was read from one of his homilies preached in 1978 exhorting that ‘greatness and authority should be demonstrated by service and simplicity, by being the first to offer oneself’.

Westminster Record | November 2018

Monsenor Romero de las Americas by Barbara Kentish

‘Decernimus’ or ‘we so decree’, said Pope Francis, concluding the surprisingly simple ritual which added Oscar Romero, Pope Paul VI and five others to the canon of the saints of the Catholic Church on 14th October. Seventy thousand people were in Rome to witness the canonisation. Mass would begin at 10.15am, but we were on a coach at 6.45am, heading for St Peter’s Square while Rome was still dark. Once through security, we raced to the front, and though certainly not the ﬁrst, we secured seats promising a wonderful view of the proceedings, then waited in the chilly morning air. The ceremony began with music and a recital of each saint’s biography. The Pope declared: ‘After due deliberation and frequent prayer for divine assistance and having sought the counsel of many of our brother bishops we declare and deﬁne Blessed Paul VI, Oscar Arnulfo Romero Galdamez, Francesco Spinelli, Vincenzo Romano, Maria Katharina Kasper, Nazaria Ignacia of St Teresa of Jesus, and Nunzio Sulprizio to be saints venerated by the whole Church.’ The high point of the Mass that followed was, of course, the inclusion of the new saints in the Eucharistic prayer. Latin Americans represented a large component of the St Peter’s Square crowd, there to celebrate ‘Monsenor Romero de las Americas’, and were a massive majority the next day in the vast Vatican Audience Hall, where the canonisation of St Oscar Romero was marked with a Mass celebrated by Cardinal Gregorio Rosa Chavez of El Salvador. The tiny British presence included members of

the Archbishop Romero Trust, CAFOD and Justice and Peace. The joyous atmosphere peaked in the late morning with the appearance of Pope Francis, who came down the main aisle shaking hands and greeting the crowds. There were chants of ‘Viva Francisco, viva il Papa’ and ‘Francis, good shepherd, come to El Salvador’. Westminster Justice and Peace had visited the Sant’Egidio community earlier in the year and had arranged to revisit this humble but astonishingly far-reaching community in Trastevere on this occasion. San Bartolomeo Church on the Isola Tiberia honours the ‘memory of women and men of the 20th century, killed because they were Christians’. On the altar of the Latin American martyrs, we saw the missal and stole of St Oscar Romero, and remembered that Pope Francis had worn his bloodstained cincture at the canonisation. This quiet moment brought us full circle to what had brought about the canonisation in the ﬁrst place. In this spirit we went on to the Sant’Egidio soup kitchen close by, where over 50 volunteers a day serve meals to up to 700 homeless men and women from the Roman streets. Carlo who welcomed us has a special responsibility for the homeless around St Peter’s Square. At one of these meals the Pope just ‘dropped in’, asking Carlo to introduce him to the guests. As we left the drop-in centre, a group of young Salvadoreans, members of a Sant’Egidio youth group from San Salvador, in Rome for the canonisation, had gathered outside. The spirit of St Oscar Romero has borne, and continues to bear, so much fruit.

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‘Candle of Hope’ for Middle East Christians by Fr Richard Andrew On Friday 12th October Holy Trinity Church Brook Green hosted ‘A Candle of Hope’, an inspirational concert, directed and organised by parishioner Laurence Carroll. Involving five local choirs, including the parish’s Family Mass choir, the resident Syriac Catholic Church choir, the choirs of Catholic primary schools of St Mary’s and Larmenier & Sacred Heart, and the Brook Green Sinfonia, it was the first ever performance of its kind in aid of persecuted Christians in the Middle East, tracing a journey from war to peace. As Pope Francis’ words on the programme reminded us: ‘A tiny flicker of light that feeds on hope is enough to shatter the shield of darkness.’

The ambitious repertoire included extracts from the celebrated composer Karl Jenkins’ The Armed Man, Caccini’s Ave Maria, traditional Iraqi pieces, the theme from Schindler’s List, Gustav Holst’s Planets, and other musical delights, from Dvorak’s Going Home to Annie Lenox’ Catholic inspired Into the West from the Lord of the Rings soundtrack. Poet Sarah De Nordwall recited Wilfred Owens’ Anthem for Doomed Youth, and West End actor Alessandro Gruttaduria provided a gripping account of the struggles of persecuted Christians. Neville Kyrke-Smith, National Director of Aid to the Church in Need, described the charity’s work in the Middle

East supporting persecuted Christians, and introduced Dominican Sister Luma Khuder, who works with Iraqi refugees. Monsignor Nizar Semaan, resident in the presbytery, and chaplain to the Syriac Catholic Community which worships at Holy Trinity, described his project to provide equipment for a medical centre in his home town of Qaraqosh in Iraq, to help returning Christians as they rebuild after the devastation of the three-year ISIS occupation. The combination of readings and music created a reflective ambience, punctuated by a moment when the church was plunged into darkness and incense was brought up to the altar while bells tolled from the tower above: a moving moment of recollection while our prayers were lifted up to the Almighty in heaven. Bishop John Wilson along with a young parishioner read

Praying for Seafarers

an adapted dialogue from the Book of Job on where to find wisdom, followed by a reflection. Towards the end another young parishioner read Psalm 84, which expresses hope that justice and peace will embrace, and that God will bless his land. Local MP Andy Slaughter’s presence also highlighted the special nature of the occasion, and parishioner Kasia Madera from BBC World News, who compered the event, invited the audience to donate to the retiring collection, which along

with subsequent donations, has so far raised £14,000. It is still not too late to add your support. Should you wish to join our efforts in helping our Christian brothers and sisters in the Middle East please visit our website at https://www.holytrinityw6.or g/ and follow the instructions on how to make a financial contribution to our relief efforts. The money raised will be split equally between Aid to the Church in Need and Monsignor Nizar Semaan’s project.

Growing in generosity on World Day of the Poor

AoS Parish Contact Clifton and Elva Springer with Bishop John Wilson and Fr David Burke.

A Mass organised by Catholic seafarers’ charity Apostleship of the Sea (AoS) was celebrated by Bishop John Wilson to pray for seafarers and to commemorate the feast of Our Lady Star of the Sea at Our Lady of Victories Church on 2nd October. AoS trustees, port chaplains, parish contacts, volunteers and supporters came together to pray for seafarers who bring up to 95 percent of goods into the UK, from the clothes we wear to the foods we eat. Prayers were also offered for the ministry of AoS which provides spiritual and practical support to seafarers.

by Sr Silvana Dallanegra ‘Let us love not in word or speech, but in deed and in truth’ (1 John 3:18).

With these words Pope Francis launched the first World Day of the Poor last year. To be kept annually on the 33rd Sunday of the liturgical year (which this year falls on the 18th November), this is an opportunity for us all to bear witness to Jesus’ love for the poor and vulnerable among us, through focused prayer and almsgiving or some service. By now, our shops are full of Christmas gifts, food and drink; our screens bombard us with enticing adverts; and plans for parties, family get-togethers and festive meals are in full swing. Coming in the midst of all this, World Day of the Poor invites us to remember a different reality: that of hardship and deprivation, and the poverty that comes from loneliness. It also reminds us that next month we will celebrate God’s Incarnation as a

helpless baby, born in a makeshift shelter, in poverty and insecurity. If for no other reason World Day of the Poor is important because it keeps us anchored in these realities, and gives us the opportunity to pause, take stock and offer something of ourselves in prayer and service. In his letter for this year’s World Day Pope Francis acknowledged this, saying that last year: ‘Many people encountered the warmth of a home, the joy of a festive meal and the solidarity of those who wished to sit together at table in simplicity and fraternity. I would like this year’s, and all future World Days, to be celebrated in a spirit of joy at the rediscovery of our capacity for togetherness.’ Caritas Westminster is inviting parishes, schools and other Catholic communities to pray, discern and find ways to put their faith and love into action, on or around this World Day. For some this might mean Follow us on Instagram at: @rcwestminster

supporting a local foodbank or other project, for others a collection or event to raise funds for a charity such as Mary’s Meals, or something which enables people to reach out to those around them who are poor, lonely or vulnerable. For ideas, contacts and resources for prayer and reflection, visit our website at www.caritaswestminster.org.uk However we mark this and future World Days of the Poor, we hope it will enable us all to grow in awareness, generosity and an active love. In the words of Pope Francis: ‘On this day, may all of us feel that we are in debt to the poor, because, in hands outstretched to one another, a salvific encounter can take place to strengthen our faith, inspire our charity and enable our hope to advance securely on our path towards the Lord who is to come.’ Sr Silvana Dallanegra is a member of the Caritas Westminster Development Team. Page 9

by Fr David Stewart SJ

On 14 October the Brazilian Chaplaincy celebrated their Patronal Feast of Our Lady of Aparecida. Bishop Paul McAleenan, who has pastoral responsibiity for Ethnic Chaplaincies, and Fr Paulo Bagini, Principal Chaplain, with a statue of Our Lady of Aparecida. th

Praying for the Protection of Our Lady of Willesden by Fr Stephen Willis

Despite all that Storm Callum could throw at us some 200 pilgrims gathered at the National Shrine of Our Lady of Willesden on Sunday 14th October for the 116th Torchlight Procession. The storm may have aﬀected both the numbers attending, and challenged our ability to keep our candles alight, but it could not subdue the intensity of the prayer we oﬀered for the Church in these times. After gathering in the Shrine Church the procession formed up as we sang the Litany of Loreto, with both the image of Nossa Senhora Aparecida (from the Brazilian Community that meets here) and the processional image of Our Lady of Willesden. We made our way around a grid of local streets trying to keep our lamps lit whilst we prayed the Holy Rosary and sang Marian hymns, and wherever a house displayed an image, icon or

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crucifix, the home was blessed. Returning to the Shrine Church, Fr Stephen Morrison O Pream, of the Norbertine Priory of Chelmsford was our preacher. He reflected firstly on how Marian devotion was part of his own vocation, and of his family’s life. He told us that as we accompanied Mary with our lights we were not only seeking her protection for these few streets, but for the whole of this city in which we are set, and how at this time we need that cleansing light to shine into the heart of the Church. Noting with delight the sight of the altars that parishioners had made that we might bless their homes as we passed by, he asked that we might also ask Mary’s prayers for those darkened windows where curtains had twitched and eyes peered out, and the congregation readily agreed to pray the Rosary for those who do not yet know the Lord Jesus. After a period of Adoration, Solemn Benediction was given, with music sung by the Shrine Schola and Children’s Choir, and the pilgrimage concluded with a visit to the Shrine Chapel to greet the image of the Black Madonna, Our Lady of Willesden, with the singing of the Salve Regina, and an Act of Consecration to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. Next Street Procession will take place at 3.30pm on Sunday 12th May 2019.

tIn early October, Pope Francis gave the Church an urgent new mission encouraging the faithful to pray every day the Holy Rosary with the intention that the Virgin Mary help the Church in these times of crisis, and to pray each day to St Michael the Archangel that he defend us against the attacks of the bad spirit. During these last years and months, we in the Church have lived through difficult situations, brought about by shocking abuses of sex, power and conscience on the part of clerics, consecrated persons and lay people. Added to these are internal divisions in the Church. Certainly these are abetted by the evil spirit: ‘the mortal enemy of our human nature.’ (Spiritual Exercises of St Ignatius Loyola 136) We should be aware, or remind ourselves anew, that evil manifests itself in diverse ways and the Church’s mission of evangelisation is made more difficult, even discredited. The Church is all of us, the people of God, and all share this evangelising mission, while those who are called to be leaders have a particular responsibility. Part of this is our own responsibility for having let ourselves be drawn by passions which do not lead us to true life, such as: riches, vanity, and pride. As St Ignatius saw, these are the stages by which the evil seducer seeks to draw us away, bringing first good thoughts and intentions, little by little drawing persons to his perverse intentions (discord, lies, etc). The ‘father of lies’, or Lucifer, desiring only to sow discord, often presents himself as an angel of light, under a cloak of good, leading into deceit, shame and confusion. Pope Francis sees this happening in and among the people of God at this historical moment. During the month of October, therefore, the Holy Father invited us to pray every day the Holy Rosary with the intention that the Virgin Mary help the Church in these times of crisis, and to pray each day to St Michael the Archangel that he defend us against the attacks of the Devil. According to

spiritual tradition, Michael is the chief of the celestial armies and the protector of the Church (Revelation 12:7-9). Pope Francis invited us to pray at the conclusion of the Rosary that most ancient invocation to the Holy Mother of God, Sub Tuum Praesidium as well as the traditional prayer to St Michael ascribed to Pope Leo the XIII: Under your protection We ﬂy to thy protection, O holy Mother of God; Do not despise our petitions in our necessities, but deliver us always from all dangers, O glorious and blessed Virgin. Amen. St Michael prayer St Michael the Archangel, defend us in battle. Be our defence against the wickedness and snares of the Devil. May God rebuke him, we humbly pray, and

do thou, O Prince of the heavenly hosts, by the power of God, thrust into hell Satan, and all the evil spirits, who prowl about the world seeking the ruin of souls. Amen. Pope Francis reminded us in his Letter to the People of God of 20th August 2018, citing St Paul (1Cor 12:26), that ‘If one member suffers, all suffer together with it.’ When we experience the desolation which these ecclesial wounds produce in us, it serves us well to be with Mary ‘to insist more on prayer’ (St Ignatius Loyola, Spiritual Exercises 319), seeking to grow all the more in love and fidelity to the Church.’ Adapted from the worldwide message of International Director Fr Frederic Fornos SJ, with Fr Luis Ramirez SJ, International Assistant, and the international team of the Pope’s Worldwide Prayer Network

‘Pray the Rosary often’

Westminster Record | November 2018

At a Mass in honour of Our Lady of the Rosary on 7th October at the Rosary Shrine, Haverstock Hill, Bishop John Wilson encouraged the faithful present to ‘pray the Rosary often’, echoing the words of St Pio of Pietrelcina. ‘As the beads move through our fingers, we pray with Mary as she shows and leads the way to Christ. Moving through the scenes of salvation, Mary guides us into tender intimacy with Jesus,’ he said. ‘We come as students to the school of Mary to be taught to pray,’ he explained. ‘Our Blessed Lady shows us how to live according to God’s promise. She witnesses how to receive Jesus into our lives and hearts. She mirrors how to follow him as faith-filled disciples. ‘Through our prayerful repetition Mary, who received Christ within her womb, invites us to enthone him in our heart. The Rosary is the remembrance of God’s promise’, a ‘lavish promise, cast out from the cross into human history and beyond.’ He added: ‘No matter how spiritually firm or flimsy we might feel, we continue, with Mary, as the pilgrim people of God’s promise.’ Speaking of the recent ad limina visit of the Bishops of England and Wales, Bishop John explained that he had asked Pope Francis about his devotion to Our Lady, Untier of Knots. In response, the Holy Father ‘spoke movingly about

his simple trust in the power of Our Lady’s prayers to untie the knots of life, the difficult situations that affect the world, the Church, other people and ourselves. “To some it may sound naïve,” he said, “but I pray.”’ Reiterating the Pope’s request to the faithful, Bishop John said: ‘if you take away one thing today, it is this: pray the Rosary often,’ a message which he repeated again at the end of Mass, before he blessed roses that were distributed to everyone present. Concelebrating the Mass were Fr Thomas Skeats OP and Fr Oliver Oliver Keenan OP. At the end of Mass, Fr Thomas announced plans for a new Rosary Garden of the Luminous Mysteries to be built on derelict land behind the Lady Chapel. The garden will complement the traditional fifteen decades of the Rosary that are represented in each of the Shrine chapels. It will feature a Rosary-shaped path, encircling artistic representations of the Mysteries of Light, plants in honour of Mary, and a newlycommissioned statue of Our Lady. It is hoped the garden will be opened on the feast of St Dominic, 24th May 2019. Speaking of this latest development, Fr Thomas explained: ‘As we are now in our second year as the Diocesan Rosary Shrine, we are looking for appropriate ways to develop the Shrine and to welcome ever more people.’

Praying the Rosary for the Church

Westminster Record | November 2018

Rosario Cantada and Living Rosary by Fr Lawrence Lew OP

London is home to Catholics from all over the world. The diverse cultural expressions of our Catholic faith that the various ethnic communities bring with them to this city enriches our diocese by giving us a vivid sense of the catholicity of the universal Church. We feel rooted in our common apostolic faith, and we rejoice to see that the command to ‘make disciples of all nations’ has resulted in beautiful examples of an inculturated faith that is full of devotion, warmth, and deep spiritual joy. This is what I experienced on Saturday 20th October when the Filipino community, including a representative of the Philippines Ambassador, gathered in force at the Diocesan Shrine of Our Lady of the Rosary in Haverstock Hill to honour ‘Mama Mary’ in the month of her Holy Rosary. The Philippines, which is Asia’s only Catholic country, has a particularly ardent

devotion to Our Lady and a great love for music and singing. In the past year the Filipino community have held monthly sung Masses in St Dominic’s Priory (the Rosary Shrine church). They have been drawn to London’s largest Marian Shrine by Our Lady, particularly by the gleaming presence of the statue of Our Lady of the Rosary of Manaoag. The original miraculous statue is enshrined in the much-visited Basilica of Manaoag in Pangasinan, in the north of the Philippines. London’s Rosary Shrine houses the only authorised replica of Our Lady of Manaoag in the United Kingdom, a gift from the Dominican friars who serve the Manaoag Basilica. The Filipino community in London organised the ﬁrst procession of this statue recently, and the occasion was marked by two other unique ways of praying the Rosary. Firstly, a giant Rosary formed from lanterns was constructed and it was carried in the torchlight procession, with one person holding each lantern-bead of this so-called ‘Living Rosary’. As Our Lady of Manaoag was taken in procession around the Rosary Shrine church, passing each of 15 separate Rosary chapels and altars in the church, the Living Rosary followed behind together with hundreds of pilgrims holding candles. The Joyful Mysteries of the Rosary were prayed during this procession, with each individual person in the Living Rosary leading the appropriate prayer. I was especially moved to hear the diﬀerent voices of our parishioners and pilgrims, successively saying the Hail Mary, decade after decade. The various intonations and accents added colour and life to the

praying of the Rosary, emphasising once more the diversity of the Catholic Church, and yet showing our union in devotion to the Mother of God, united in following her Son, represented by the Crucifix carried at the front of the procession. Secondly, the decades of the Rosary were punctuated by a Spanish song, Virgen Divino which is part of a cycle of prayers and songs in Tagalog, Spanish, and Latin performed during and after the praying of the Rosary. It is called the Rosario Cantada, and this is the first time it has been sung outside the Philippines. Lesther Encarnación, the ethnomusicologist who led the singing, explains: ‘the music and performance of Rosario Cantada serves as a reminder of our unique Filipino cultural and musical identity. It defines our devotion to the Divine and at the same time it represents us: the community, the Filipino diaspora, in multicultural London’. When Cardinal Vincent inaugurated the Rosary Shrine in his diocese, he gave the shrine the mission of promoting the Rosary, and he prayed that ‘all who come on pilgrimage to this place may be drawn deeply into the mysteries of our salvation’. These distinctly Filipino ways of praying the Rosary that we participated in, and the Filipino community’s deep devotion to God and Our Lady of the Rosary, which was evident on this occasion, surely fulfilled the Cardinal’s prayers. We look forward to next year’s processions, and to the other Filipino celebrations coming up in the Rosary Shrine including the Simbang Gabi novena of Masses (16th - 23rd Dec, 7:30pm nightly). Page 11

by Fr David Stewart SJ

Praying for the Protection of Our Lady of Willesden by Fr Stephen Willis

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‘Pray the Rosary often’

Westminster Record | November 2018

Praying the Rosary for the Church

Westminster Record | November 2018

Rosario Cantada and Living Rosary by Fr Lawrence Lew OP

Westminster Record | Novemeber 2018

Inside the hospice: Help in the month of the Holy Souls

Adoremus: A Priest’s Perspective

by Fr Peter-Michael Scott

In the second of three parts, Fr Mark Vickers reviews the events of Congress Day, which took place on the second day, pointing out the many riches explored in the keynote addresses, testimonies and liturgies.

I am always grateful for help. I remember a while ago, in the first few months of my appointment, trying to visit a Catholic patient in her twenties who could not sum up the courage to meet me because she thought I represented death. A marvellous healthcare assistant tried to coax her, but she refused. The healthcare assistant went away and thought about what she could do and came back the next day with some special rosary beads. She went into the patient and told her that she understood how frightened she must be, but the chaplain was bringing her a wonderful, precious gift. She then gave the patient her special rosary beads saying that they were the most precious possession she had because they had been given to her by the Holy Father St John Paul when he visited England. The patient asked why she was giving her such a special present and the healthcare assistant said that when Pope John Paul II spoke to her he said she was incredibly important to God and would never be abandoned, and by giving her these rosary beads she wanted her to know that the same was being said to her. However, if she agreed to see the chaplain, he would be saying the same but would also be giving her the better gift of God’s Son. I believe both of them cried and the patient sent for me straight away. The young woman died a few days later in total peace, having received the Lord many times in Holy Communion. We can all do with some help, and in this month of the Holy Souls, we are reminded to pray for those who are on their way into God’s eternal love. They may need to jettison some baggage, and it is with our prayers they are encouraged to do so, to not be frightened and to accept God’s invitation to receive his wonderful gift of eternity. Please pray for the patient, staff, volunteers and Sisters of St Joseph’s Hospice. Page 12

The second day was the Congress Day. It was an early start for Morning Prayer and Mass at the Metropolitan Cathedral celebrated by Bishop Richard Moth. A quick stop for breakfast, and it was down the hill through the ubiquitous rain. No chance this morning of a front row seat. Thousands of Catholics filled the Echo Arena. Again we were welcomed by Bishop Robert Byrne and Archbishop Malcolm McMahon. This time also by the Apostolic Nuncio, who read Pope Francis’s letter of greeting reminding us of our martyrs’ witness in their devotion to the Mass. Encouraging us that ‘past glories are a beginning not an end,’ the Holy Father urged us to be faithful to the Mass and in our practical service of the needy. Given his international apostolate, Bishop Robert Barron required no introduction. The Mass, he reminded us, is the privileged encounter with Jesus Christ. Yet more than 80% of Catholics stay away from the Mass, and many Mass-going Catholics fail to appreciate the great treasure which is ours. And so, the Bishop walked us through the Mass. No part of the Mass is superfluous or without meaning. The Liturgy of the Word: God is a Person who speaks to us. The narrative of modernity is that the only story we have is the one we make up for ourselves. If this were true, how sad and diminishing it would be. Infinitely more interesting, we are part of God’s great story of creation and salvation. In the Liturgy of the Word, let us converse with the Word of God. We moved on to the Liturgy of the Eucharist. The Bishop reminded us that God does not need sacrifice. Rather, by acts of

sacrifice, we become rightly ordered, and how necessary that is. We are the ones who benefit from worship. No one in Scripture encounters God without subsequently being sent. That is true of the Mass: being ‘Christified’ in the Mass, we are sent out to ‘Christify’ the world. We are told no one today can focus on the spoken word for more than a few minutes. Bishop Barron spoke for an hour, and everyone was willing him to continue. It was a hard act to follow, but Youth 2000 rose to the challenge. No one present in the Echo Arena remained unmoved by the joyful testimonies of these young people as they told how their lives had been transformed by encountering Christ in the Eucharist. It was the experience of being ‘met with total love’ which led to the ‘desire to be saints.’ If we had wanted Bishop Barron to continue before lunch, our wish was granted in the afternoon. His second talk dwelt on sanctity, the practical path to holiness. Captivated by his compelling mix of image, anecdote and humour, we appreciated why Bishop Barron is one of the great communicators of our age. Philosophy, St Thomas Aquinas and the Beatles were all placed at the service of the Gospel. That path to sanctity is threefold: finding Christ as the centre of our life; knowing that we are sinners; and realising that our life is not about us. All of us can benefit from listening (again) to Bishop Barron’s talks (the link is given below). Next, an hour of drama, testimonies and talks. Again, much to reflect upon. I found most poignant the input from Magnus Macfarlane-Barrow, founder of Mary’s Meals. Does Adoration have any practical application? Magnus recalled how his parents, after a pilgrimage to Medjugorje, turned their home into a Catholic retreat centre and were given permission to reserve the Blessed Sacrament. It was the experience of regular Adoration and Mass which transformed lives and enabled him and others

to develop the charity which today feeds 1.2 million children around the world. He recounted too how often he sees Adoration sustaining those on the frontline in difficulty and danger. The world needs Adoration. There had been a lot of talking, so much to absorb. It was with relief, therefore, that we came to Vespers, silent Adoration and Benediction. The whole hierarchy processed on to the sanctuary. So too did the statue of Our Lady of Walsingham on this, her birthday. The Cardinal drew us into prayer with his reflection, not shying away from referring to the pain caused by the abuse scandals. Before the Blessed Sacrament, he pleaded: ‘I come as a beggar seeking forgiveness.’ He exhorted us: ‘There is no true mission in the Church which does not start here in prayer before the Lord.’ And so he led us into the purpose of the Congress, loving Adoration of our Saviour. Simultaneously with the main event, the Adoremus Youth Congress ran elsewhere in the Convention Centre. The Archdiocese of Liverpool also put together over the weekend a Parallel Programme of events across the city. Such was the intensity of the schedule, however, I wondered how many delegates were able to take advantage of this. I could only attend ‘Nightfever’ in the Blessed Sacrament Shrine facilitated, among others, by the team from St Patrick’s, Soho Square. Here was further proof, if needed, that Adoration is neither the preserve of the elderly nor an irrelevant devotion: a church packed to overflowing with the young, praying and singing in the presence of Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament. Those engaged in street evangelisation brought in a continual stream of passers-by, many of them wounded by the misfortunes of life. Immediately, I was grabbed to hear Confessions, many of them very powerful. There could be no better ending to the day. Here was the practical face of Adoration: the mercy of Jesus encountered in the Eucharist.

The role of a priest is to help people come closer to the knowledge and love of God, but always remembering that we are his instruments and that it is God who brings about the growth of love in people. It has been the experience of many that Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament outside of Mass is powerful. The word ‘Adoration’ comes from the Latin root ‘ad ora’ which means ‘to the mouth’ and as a doctor (before becoming a priest) this brings to my mind the image of mouth to mouth resuscitation, so breathing the breath of life into us. My experience of bringing the Blessed Sacrament into the school was profound. I had never imagined that a whole primary school could be in total silence for 20 minutes. And looking at the children’s faces, most with eyes tightly shut, they were no doubt experiencing true communication with their loving Heavenly Father. I am now convinced, more than ever before, that this needs to be incorporated as a regular form of worship in the school. Previously, I thought that young children could not concentrate or sit still for any significant length of time, but the workshop at the Adoremus Congress on ‘Teaching children to pray before the Eucharist’ showed me that with preparation this was a realistic possibility. The teachers prepared the children and the results showed me that what was said at the Congress was truly achievable. (Father Michael Jarmulowicz)

Our Blessed Sacrament celebration took place in our school hall. It felt like we were even closer to God! We closed our eyes and visited Jesus in our minds. We got a chance to say several prayers as we reflected on Adoremus. It made me feel pleased to be learning more about Adoremus because it reminds us now that God loves us and that we adore him! I think it brought joy and pride to our Catholic school. (Y5 pupil, Our Lady of Dolours Primary School)

You can listen to most of the talks given at the Eucharistic Congress at http://catholicnews.org.uk/Ho me/Special-Events/AdoremusNational-Eucharistic-Pilgrimage

Westminster Record | November 2018

Pope Francis to young people: You are priceless When I received a WhatsApp message asking if ‘you want to go to Rome and see the Pope’, initially I thought no; I would have to fly out at short notice, find accommodation and pay for it all. Then I came to my senses and quickly retracted my initial answer! I was lucky enough to be offered tickets and lucky enough to be able to afford flights and accommodation for the weekend. The Pope, after the presynod meetings, thought it was important that the Synod Fathers also heard the voices and experiences of young people to aid them in their discussions. He invited young people to the Vatican for an evening meeting with him on 6th October and the Synod Fathers called ‘NOI PER – Unici, solidali, creativi,’ roughly translated as WE ARE FOR: uniqueness, solidarity and creativity. Before I left, people kept asking me if I was excited and my honest answer was ‘yeah, kind of’, which continued until Saturday afternoon. When I gave the address to the taxi driver and he said ‘that’s in the Vatican’, to my great joy I was able to say ‘YES! I am going in the Vatican!’ From that moment when I exited the taxi and joined loads of excited young people in the security queue I was full of anticipation which soon turned to confusion when I realised I had to find the rest of my group. Our organiser, Theresa Carvalho (Home Mission Officer at the Bishops’ Conference), had managed to get seats all in a row, but I had difficulties navigating the hall and explaining to the stewards that I wanted to sit in a different section, and, quite honestly, finding my friends in a sea of other young people who were all waving at each other. Our seats were near the main aisle, where we were sure the Pope was going to walk. About an hour before the event the Synod Fathers began to arrive, greeted with cheers. We began to question our own knowledge of Cardinals before

by Martha Behan

realising that no one really knew who they were; we were just happy to see them. It was a good start to the event, I think, for the Synod Fathers to know that we were glad they were here to listen to us, to understand our problems and most importantly recognise that the work of the Synod should not be distanced from young people! The whole atmosphere felt like a gig or a festival. Chants of ‘Papa Francesco’ echoed through the crowd, people jostled to get to the barrier. Fortunately, being 5’0” meant no one begrudged me a space at the front. With two minutes to go, a fanfare played and the Pope entered. Disregarding any dignity, we may have had, we all crammed along the barriers desperate to see or touch the Holy Father as he walked down the ‘catwalk’ to his seat. It was quite overwhelming to see him walk past, to be able to reach out and touch him. (I have the holiest hand in North London now.) Once he was seated, the event began with a dance performance. Throughout the evening we heard testimonies from young people interspersed with a range of musical performances, hosted by what we can assume was a charismatic host. We were listening to the English translation through the Vatican Audio app which meant that some of the finer points of his chat were lost. After the testimonies, the young people on the stage read out a list of questions that they wanted to ask the Synod Fathers, ranging from questions of migration to deeper questions on discernment. I certainly felt they were all things that I had thought about before and was happy they we being brought forward by others.

The translators informed us that the Holy Father did have a prepared address that he chose not to read, instead responding directly to the questions raised by the young people. This again showed us that we were being taken seriously, and that our voices were not being ignored and passed over but merited a response from the Hoy Father himself. He was keen to acknowledge however that the answers would come from the Synod Fathers. In his address he focused on the importance of finding a concrete path, one that was consistent with firm roots. This can be achieved, he said, through learning from the Beatitudes. We should also be sure that when we are looking forward, we are looking at the horizon and not in the mirror. I would like to quote more extensively from the speech, but it was an off-the-cuff response to us and is not available in English yet. One thing that has stuck with me is something that he made us repeat back to him. He told us we are priceless. This is a direct contrast to the demanding commercial culture that many of us live in. To be told we are priceless, that we should not allow ourselves to be bought and sold is a powerful counter to the rhetoric of modern society that we are worth what we are paid and nothing more. He urged a rejection of this, of populism, and everything that brings us away from our concrete paths. In doing this, for me, he came to the heart of why so many people are willing to engage with this Synod: because we know the Church can offer us this concreteness, this consistency and means to build the foundations of a Christian life.

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Westminster Record | November 2018

Youth Director’s Spotlight

Andrezj Wdowiak Director of Youth Ministry

Pope Paul School in Potters Bar, the only school in England to be named after him, celebrated the canonisation of Pope Paul VI with a week of learning about their patron saint. The week ended with an arts and crafts day, with a special Fairtrade break time before 12 doves of peace were released to symbolise the school continuing Pope St Paul's legacy of peace and justice.

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With autumn arriving here at SPEC, we are once again delighted to welcome school groups for newly themed retreats. We strive to give them a chance to experience something different and spiritual. Having welcomed a certain number of groups to the centre, it is interesting to observe their attitude towards retreats. For some, it is a school outing; for others it is school but somewhere else; and for yet others it is actually a place where an encounter with God can happen. In many ways these attitudes reflect our own attitude towards faith and our own encounter with God. In our daily life, how many of us actually think about taking time out to pray and reflect, or just be in the presence of God, not to mention taking time to go on a pilgrimage or retreat? Do we get as excited about sending our children on retreat as we would be about sending

them to an amusement park or a party? Experience of a residential retreat gives children and young people a unique opportunity to immerse themselves into a different dimension of life, and develop a sense of belonging and community with each other and with God. It is a spiritual encounter that contributes to their formation as future adult Catholics. We have seen time and again how meaningful this can be for young people. We strongly encourage schools and parents to give their children the opportunity to go on a residential retreat every year. Deciding whether to send children on a residential retreat is often not easy in the world of competing options. We want only the very best for our children and, I would hope, this would also apply to their faith and spiritual needs. While making these decisions, perhaps this would also be a good opportunity for us as adults to reflect on our own attitude towards faith and our relationship with God. If you are interested in knowing more, please do contact us. If you are a parent of a child in a Catholic school, you may like to ask the school about attending retreats at SPEC. Our children and young people are the future of the Catholic Church and it is our responsibility to prepare them for this.

Youth Chaplain’s Corner

Fr Mark Walker, Youth Chaplain November is traditionally the month of the holy souls, when we pray in particular for those who have died and are undergoing their final purification in purgatory to prepare them to enter into the fullness of God’s love in heaven. As a communion, all of us in the Church, alive and dead, continue to be linked and can therefore support and assist each other with our prayers. It’s a comforting thought that when the holy souls in purgatory become saints in heaven, they will in turn intercede for us before God’s heavenly throne. Of course, those of us still on earth have already begun this process of ‘purgation’, as we work towards ever greater holiness, to free ourselves from the entrapments of sin and open ourselves up to God’s love, thereby, in a way, conditioning ourselves to experience God’s love in heaven. Our life on earth flows into our life after death. To help us in our mission to get ready for heaven, the Church offers us the example of the saints. Last month Pope Francis notably gave us two further examples in St Paul VI and St Oscar Romero. As a pope and a bishop, they might not necessarily be particularly relatable to the lived experience of most of us! Nevertheless, we can all think of saints whose example we can follow. The saints are those who stayed true on the quest for holiness on earth, who have undergone the purification of purgatory as holy souls, and have thus been prepared to gaze upon God’s glory for eternity. May St Paul VI, St Oscar Romero and all the saints be beacons for us to follow in our own lives and remind us to pray for the holy souls who are on their own journey to the Lord, to help them as they prepare to be numbered among the saints in heaven.

An invitation to belong

Westminster Record | November 2018

by Deacon Adrian Cullen, Evangelisation Coordinator

gave witness about their own ministry, which found a resonance in all of us. Some of the catechists gave their own responses to the day: ‘Bishop John’s presentation on prayer and friendship with the Lord gave us much to ponder. With Adoration and prayer it was an oasis, a mini retreat. It was good to meet with other catechists in the area and hear about the wonderful catechesis taking place in other parishes. Like the apostles on the Mount of Transfiguration, it was good to be there!’ ‘The creator of the universe calls me his friend; what a great comfort to know this truth. When life’s challenges hit me, I know that I can lean on my friend Jesus and choose faith over fear.’ ‘I have realised that I really need to do more to provide opportunities for my catechists to deepen our relationship with God. Maybe a good way would be to gather together once a month to pray and be in the presence of God, as a great way to create a stronger and authentic bond between us.’

It is usually pleasing to receive an invitation to a special event. It could be a party, a wedding or the opening night of new show. Whatever the event, it is nice to know that someone has been thinking of you and wants to include you in their celebration. In some way, the person who has invited you feels they have a connection with you. In some little way, you belong to them and they belong to you. That connection, that belonging, can sometimes be forgotten, even when people are close to each other. It often seems to be the case that family or friends who live nearby are perhaps invited less or receive fewer visits than those who live a long way away. It’s not intentional; it’s just an oversight, perhaps a certain amount of ‘taking for granted’; those we treasure most are sometimes the people we consider less often, because they are always there. And when people are missed off the list, when we seem to have been forgotten, it can be disappointing, causing loneliness, a sense of not belonging. Sometimes, we long to be invited; and others too, especially at Christmas. As the shops make preparations, so too for parishes. You may know people in the parish who, due to family commitments, pressures of work, or a loss of interest, have not been active in their

A number of diocesan priests have been making an annual walking pilgrimage along the Via Francigena, the ancient pilgrimage route that connects Canterbury to Rome. They have been walking the Italian part from the Swiss border to Rome, for one week every year in September. So far they have completed five stages. This year they walked from Lucca to San Gimignano in Tuscany. Pictured after celebrating Mass

at the Church of San Domenico in San Miniato, they are from left to right: Canon Gerard King (Highbury), Fr Robert Pachuta (Edgware), Fr John Deehan (Kentish Town), Fr Stepen Willis (Willesden), Canon Peter Newby (St Margarets-on-Thames), Fr Antonio Serra (Italian Mission), Fr John Farrell OP (retreat giver), Monsignor John Conneely (Judicial Vicar) and Fr Sławomir Witon (Enfield).

Catechists of the West: ‘I call you friends’ by Mary Crowley ‘The Lord calls me his friend! Wow!’ This was the reaction of one of the 61 catechists of the parishes of the West of the diocese who gathered with Bishop John Wilson at the parish of the Sacred Heart, Ruislip on 6th October. Bishop John’s desire to meet with catechists in his pastoral area was the impetus for a day of catechesis, prayer and reflection. He called us to ponder the words of Jesus: ‘I call you friends.’ (John 15:15), moving one catechist to remark, ‘I was reminded that

my walk with God is a relationship and not just a religion.’ Bishop John said that Jesus calls but we each have to respond and this response leads us to prayer. He led us in a guided meditation, a time of stillness and prayer for ourselves, but at the same time an experience which we could use with others as an encouragement to find the time we need for God. Catechists had the opportunity to share their own experiences, the joys and the challenges. Three catechists

Bishop Paul McAleenan visited Our Lady and St Joseph, Kingsland on Sunday 14th October to join clergy and faithful from Africa to welcome Archbishop John Baptist Odama of Gulu Diocese, Uganda in a celebration of the centenary of the martyrdom of Blessed Daudi and Blessed Jildo, two young Ugandan catechists. Mass was attended by over 500 people and was enriched by African music and procession.

The Secular Institute of Saint Boniface in Willesden Green celebrated 50 years of service in the community on Saturday 29th September. It has run the Lioba House hostel for young women alone in London since 1968, and continues to develop outreach and training programmes in faith. Members of the Institute pictured are (left to right): back row - Barbara Von Alten, Brigette Kuluka, Giselle Gramatka, Agnes Payoncek, Maria Lohre; front row - Ute Von Oy, Eva Roettgers, Verena Von Gleichenstein Follow us on Facebook at: www.facebook.com/diocese.westminster

faith for some time. They may be members of your own family whom you long to see more often at church, or students returning from college. How can they be made to feel welcome this coming Christmas? Many people make an effort to come to church at Christmas. How might we invite them so they feel a belonging that makes them want to come to church more often and explore anew their faith?

Welcoming is key. Are the signs for the church bright and cheerful? Does the entrance encourage visitors to step across the threshold, to be greeted by ‘welcomers’ with a smile? Welcoming could be a task for those preparing for Confirmation, or maybe those preparing for First Holy Communion with their families. Encouraging regular parishioners to watch out for new faces and to give a friendly greeting will be as important as a special welcome to visitors from the priest. A greeting and a smile will go a long way to making a stranger, and even the regular parishioner, have a sense of belonging. It is a good time of year to plan other events that reach out to the community, to welcome new people, to offer a new sense of belonging. An Advent or Carol Service with seasonal refreshments may be the start of a range of events that involve all the parishioners. Activities and liturgies for children who will respond with excitement and involve their parents and carers, helping to refresh their spirits and make them feel more at home in the parish, are also worth considering. And for yourself, a time to take stock and renew your belonging with Christ through prayer and meditation, perhaps taking time through Advent and beyond to explore the Scriptures, so, as Pope Francis says, to ‘be constantly nourished by the Word of God’. Try visiting www.wordonthego.org a resource for busy Catholics. Page 15

Westminster Record | November 2018

Pope’s Prayer Intention: November by Fr David Stewart SJ One of our innovations, as we have been redeveloping the Pope’s personal Prayer Network (the Apostleship of Prayer, as it was known), is our hugely popular Click-toPray online service. It’s the Pope’s app that connects your prayer with the world. Thousands, even tens of thousands, all people of good will, have downloaded our Click-to-Pray app to their phones or tablets while others visit the website daily to ‘Pray with the Pope’, as we’re always inviting you to do. Each day, the app offers a different set of short and accessible prayers. The first is to start off the day, as we pray to make ourselves available for Christ’s mission; a second one, very brief and focused, is for at least once during the day, to help us recall the offering we made. Then the third, later in the evening, is a look back over the day, following the advice we get from St Ignatius of Loyola, in which we ask God’s Spirit to show us how we responded to God’s invitation in the day just ending. When we make that Morning Offering, whether in the much-loved traditional form or in one of the new ways proposed on the Click-to-Pray site and app, we are uniting our offering with the Pope’s Intention for the month. It has been part of the mission of this Network, the world’s largest, to spread the word of the Pope’s Intention for the challenges that face humanity and the mission of the Church. By uniting our prayerful selfoffering to the concerns that are in the Pope’s heart, we are in fact drawing together in prayer with the whole Church, the whole People of God. In this month of November, the Holy Father’s invitation is a heart-felt prayer that ‘the language of love and dialogue may always prevail over the language of conflict’. So many parts of our world are burning up with conflict today; rage is everywhere you look. The language of conflict is everywhere, every day, Page 16

reflecting the deepening polarisation that is a feature of our fevered times. Many of us appear to have forgotten how to listen. Dialogue has listening at its heart, listening for the best in what the other person might be saying rather than listening only for error or for an opportunity to attack, to condemn. Famously, when St Ignatius of Loyola sent a small band of the early Jesuits to the Council of Trent (another divided, febrile period in our history), he gave them strict instructions to deal respectfully with their opponents: ‘Be slow to speak,’ he advised them, ‘and only after having first listened quietly, so that you may understand the meaning, leanings, and wishes of those who do speak’. In our time, also among the people of God, that false kind of listening, which of course is not really listening at all, has increased, while looking for the good in the other has decreased if not vanished. In this month’s Living Prayer booklet of the Pope’s Prayer Network in the UK and Ireland, we have a great reflection on this month’s intention from the General Sectary of Pax Christi, Pat Gaffney. She increases our understanding of ‘the language of love and dialogue’ that the Pope mentions. If we’re looking, as surely we should, for deep, lasting peace with justice, we need ‘deep listening even with a perpetrator or ‘enemy’. We want to appeal to the other to make better choices that will affirm the humanity of all those involved’. We appeal; we don’t demand or enforce. We remember to recognise that common shared humanity. When we do so, we have drawn ourselves away from anger and hatred, and begun to see the good in the other and in what they say ... and we draw away from the condemning, hate-filled language of conflict. We will have begun, properly, deeply, to listen. Dialogue, love and peace with justice will then flow, and perhaps even change our world.

THREE INVITATIONS, or CHALLENGES, FOR NOVEMBER: 1. Reflect: What are the people and situations that need reconciliation in your heart? Where is there a need for deeper listening? Offer forgiveness to those who have hurt you, with concrete words and gestures. Even a tiny gesture or single word can be enough! 2. Make a resolution to cultivate dialogue, reconciliation and mutual understanding in any situations of conflict and rupture in your own community. Make a real effort to build bridges and promote peace, one person at a time! 3. Organise or plan with your group or parish a moment of prayer in your community that might help people abandon disinterest and to begin to sympathise with the realities of conflict and violence that the world is experiencing. PRAYER MOMENT FOR NOVEMBER: Traditionally, in this month, we remember those who have died, those who have gone before us marked with the signs of faith. So many of those have died brutally and tragically in situations of war and conflict. As you reserve a special place in your November prayers this year, take some moments to pray for those who have lost their lives because the

language of conflict had expelled that language of love and dialogue. ‘Eternal rest grant unto them, O Lord …’ A suggested daily offering prayer for this month: Lord Jesus, Prince of Peace, In a world torn by conflict and violence, I often feel lost and insensitive to the suffering of so many brothers and sisters. I ask you to touch my heart to be a builder of dialogue and peace, beginning with those whom I must forgive and ask for forgiveness. Send, Lord, your Spirit to the hearts of those who make war, may they feel moved to dialogue and away from conflict. Grant me always your peace, and the grace to transmit it to my brothers and sisters. CLICK TO PRAY: Log on to our website www.clickto-pray.org and download the app. (on App Store, iTunes and Google Play) to pray with the Pope, and hundreds of thousands of Christians around the world. This app connects you with all who pray with the Pope in a quick, easy and creative way. And in the evening, the Ignatian review of the day helps you to notice God’s presence in your day, to recognise where the Good Spirit has been prompting you and offering you opportunities to practice the language of dialogue and love. It involves a moment of repentance if we realise we have followed a less loving path and invites us to begin to pray for the next day, that we offer ourselves anew and become more open the Giver of all good gifts. Follow us on Instagram at: @rcwestminster

Our Living Prayer 2019 booklets are now in-stock and available to order (U.K. nations only) for £1.75 + £1.20 P&P from our London office. A special twin-pack, including the 2019 Sacred Heart wall calendar (A4), usually £2.20, and a selection of prayer-cards, is available for only £3 plus £1.50 P&P while stocks last – a lovely Christmas present, perhaps? Order with delivery details from prayernetwork@jesuit.org.uk or by text to 074 3259 1117. See also http://bit.ly/ popesprayernetwork

Review: Christian Café dating website

Westminster Record | November 2018

by Martha Behan I am no stranger to dating apps. I am single, 24, and I live in London, very much the target audience. I am also a Catholic who has only ever used secular dating apps. So when my friend and sometime colleague asked me to review a Christian dating app for her I agreed immediately. I am outgoing and chatty and had enjoyed a number of fun and interesting conversations with dates I had met through the secular apps, and I saw no reason for a Christian one to be any different. I thought this would therefore be a good excuse to dip my toe into the world of Christian dating. Before I go any further, I don’t want my experience to put you off. I would recommend online dating to anyone: I have had a wonderful, positive experience that has taught me a lot about myself. However, I would not recommend Christian Café. When my friend first gave me the name ‘Christian Café’ I opened up the app store and typed in the name, only to realise that it was not an app, but an actual website. I would have to log in on my browser, which is unfamiliar territory for a millennial. This was the first sign that perhaps CC wasn’t for me. The site offers a seven-day free trial, with an extra three days free if you upload a photo. Plenty of time for me to explore using it without getting tied into a subscription, the cheapest of which was $30 for a month, all the way up to $99.95 for six months. The first thing the site asks is if I am free to be in a relationship, that is, not still married to someone else. Then I would be allowed to upload photos, which can’t show too much skin or imagery and have to be moderated before they are added to my profile. Previously when filling in profiles I have had a lot of fun, answering questions and thinking about the kind of person I am. On Christian Café it felt a bit more like talking to a prospective mother-in-law. How tall are you? How many children do you want? What do you earn? A favourite was the ‘what is your fashion sense’ question, which according to the handful

of people I asked is best described as ‘funky’, something that I was not willing to put on this profile. (In the end I settled for ‘depends on my mood’.) After that there were several long-answer questions, which ranged from the normal what is your ideal date to the intrusive why did your last relationship break down. I filled in enough information to give potential matches a feel for my personality, without disclosing my whole life. Then I began to explore what, I felt sure, would be the plethora of young Christian men on this site. Alas, there were four aged 25-31 in the whole of the Southeast of England. The site offers me the choice of ‘winking’ at them or emailing them. I wink at all four and call it a day. One of the things that the site boasts is its international appeal (CC is based in USA), bringing Christians together from across the world, and this certainly was true of my inbox the next day. Some wellintentioned and ultimately harmless middle aged men, and older, from all over the world had either ‘winked’ at me, or left me a message detailing how they thought I looked like a ‘charming young woman’ and would be delighted if I gave them the ‘privilege of getting to

know you better’. This became a theme. It took five days for me to get a message from someone in the UK. The site offers very little in the way of filtering. I could not filter who sees my profile and the site did not make it easy for me to narrow down who I wanted to see and it certainly did not do it automatically. One useful feature was that it shows when people were last online. However, for me this meant I could see when the four people I had wanted to reach out to had read my messages and not replied. The messaging function itself worked fine, once I realised I couldn’t swear or give away any personal information. I did begin talking to a guy from Winchester, and we have moved on to email, which I would consider a success. I am relieved, as halfway through I was beginning to think that Russell, 73, from Nevada would be my only ‘match’. Christian Café felt like a website from 2002, and most people on the site looked as though they would be more at home on a website from 2002. It had little to offer me as a young woman, either in the way of dates or an enjoyable user experience.

Award for Peace Sr Elizabeth O’Donohoe HC, who has been a loyal and committed member of the Westminster Interfaith team for many years, recently received an award for furthering the cause of peace through interfaith dialogue and collaboration. She was one of three recipients of an award of £500, presented by the organisers of the Week of Prayer for World Peace. The award was presented at an interfaith gathering held in the Quaker Meeting House.

Sr Elizabeth will use the money from the award to edit and reprint a book by Br Daniel Faivre SG, who died in 2007. Br Daniel worked for 28 years in Southall to promote harmony and understanding among different faith groups.

Cry of the Earth, Cry of the Poor

On a cloudy autumnal day Sr Clara, a Sister of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary, brightened the spirits of nearly sixty people from across the diocese, when she addressed a meeting at the Church of Christ the King in Cockfosters, CAFOD’s base in the diocese. Speaking with great warmth and clarity and thanking CAFOD volunteers, she painted an inspiring picture of the transformation the agency had made possible in the lives of thousands of poor people in her home country, Zambia. Her account was one of deep faith and courage in going against the grain, in confronting immense problems, and in succeeding beyond all expectations. In the 1980s when challenged by the calamities of the AIDS epidemic and rapid climate change, her sisters had tended the sick and dying. In the early 1990s, and with CAFOD’s help, they built a community school for orphans and other vulnerable children to teach them practical skills. Now grown up, these children are able to support themselves and their families, and to continue their education. More recently, with the introduction of life-saving retroviral drugs, CAFOD has supported projects in Zambia which help her sisters to restore to people with HIV/AIDS self-esteem and confidence through training. Sr Clara said that her order had a record of tackling problems that others would not. They had been the first to provide schools for girls in Zambia in the 1950s. Then they had gone against the mindset of the times by opening schools for children with special needs whom many in rural Zambia regarded as cursed. With the help of CAFOD, they are giving hope, employable skills and confidence in the future to many.

The Church in Zambia, rooted in the lives of the poor, was one of the first voices to raise alarm about climate change. Before 2003, the vital rains came to Zambian farmers precisely on 24th October every year. Since then, there has been no pattern in the timing or the quantity of the rain, and last year the late arrival of floods ruined the harvest. With CAFOD’s help Zambian farmers have been switching from growing maize to growing pumpkins, which are better suited to the new conditions. The inspirational account given by Sr Clara and the great warmth of her gratitude to the CAFOD volunteers was the perfect feedback to all who support CAFOD’s twice-yearly Family Fast Days. Tony Sheen, the Community Participation Coordinator, told the volunteers that the magnificent sum of £4.274 million raised from the Lent appeal is being used to bring relief to people affected by Typhoon Ompong in the Philippines, the floods in Kerala and tsunami in Indonesia. CAFOD is also using a matching sum provided by the British Government to combat child malnutrition in Zimbabwe.

On Saturday 20th October, Bishop Paul McAleenan conferred the Ministry of Acolyte on Westminster seminarians Axcel Soriano and Tim Mangatal at Allen Hall. Please pray for them as they continue their formation for the priesthood. Page 17

Westminster Record | November 2018

Saint of the Month: St Elizabeth of Hungary

St Elizabeth of Hungary manifested such great love for the poor and the suﬀering that she is known as the patroness of Catholic charities and of the Secular Franciscan Order. Daughter of King Andrew II, Elizabeth was born into nobility in Hungary in 1207. While she was very young, her father arranged for her to be married to Ludwig IV of Thuringia, a German nobleman. Because of this, at the age of four she was sent to the court of the Landgrave of Thuringia to be educated.

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Elizabeth’s mother Gertrude was murdered when she was only six years old. This was a dramatic event in the young girl’s life and she started turning to prayer for solace. She discovered happiness when at the age of 14 she was formally married to Ludwig. Elizabeth and Ludwig loved each other very deeply. Together they had three children, one of whom became the abbess of a German convent. Although the wife of a king, Elizabeth chose to live a simple and austere life and used her royal position to advance her works of charity. When, in 1223, Franciscan friars arrived in Thuringia, Elizabeth learnt for the first time of the principles of St Francis of Assisi, and from then on, she decided to live her life according to these principles. In 1226, floods struck Thuringia and disease soon followed. Elizabeth set about caring for the sick and suffering. She helped to build a hospital and is said to have provided food and clothing to almost a thousand poor people daily. She sold her personal possessions, jewels and royal garments to use the money help feed the poor. Such was her piety, she asked her servant to wake her up every night so she can pray. Once, when Elizabeth was so engrossed in prayer, she was unaware that her clothes had caught fire. Her servant quickly put out the flames. Miraculously, Elizabeth was unhurt. Although Ludwig was supportive of Elizabeth’s holy and prayerful ways, on one

occasion, to put to rest the complaints of the royal court, he tried to stop her from giving a basket of bread to a poor woman who had come begging. As Ludwig demanded to see the contents, he was astonished to find the basket filled with roses. Elizabeth once brought a leper to the castle and placed him in her husband’s bed. Ludwig was furious when he heard, but, on entering his bedroom, was astonished to see the figure of the crucified Christ instead of the leper. Ludwig never again questioned Elizabeth and supported her with doubled zeal. When, in 1227, Ludwig died, Elizabeth was devastated and vowed never to remarry. In 1228, Elizabeth joined the Third Order of Franciscans and built a hospital in Marburg, Germany with funds from her dowry and inheritance. Elizabeth spent the final years of her life spinning wool for a living and serving the needy at Marburg hospital. She had stripped herself of all material possessions and had attained true poverty. Aged just 24, Elizabeth died of poor health on 17th November 1231, which is celebrated as her feast day. After her death, a miraculous healing took place at her graveside near the hospital, and, on 27th May 1235, Pope Gregory IX canonised Elizabeth. St Elizabeth is the patron saint of bakers, beggars, brides, charities, homeless people and hospitals. She is often depicted in paintings with a basket of bread to show her devotion to the poor and the hungry.

Fr Richard George Dangerfield RIP Fr Richard George Dangerfield was born on 26th April 1932 in Kenton. He was ordained to the priesthood by Cardinal Griffin on 27th May 1956. Fr George began his priestly ministry as Assistant Priest at Swiss Cottage. In 1958, he was appointed Assistant Priest at Isleworth where he remained until 1964, when he moved to Stoke Newington for a few months before being appointed to Burnt Oak. By 1968 Fr George became the Director of Pueri Cantores boys’ choir at Burnt Oak. He continued in this role until 1977. In 1972 he was also appointed to Hendon, and then Stonebridge in 1974. From 1972, he taught music at a succession of schools: St Gregory’s School, Kenton, Cardinal Hinsley School, Harlesden, Cardinal Wiseman Secondary School, Greenford, Douay Martyrs School, Ickenham, and St George’s School, Maida Vale. Fr George regularly took part in ‘A Day with Mary’ on Saturdays in churches around the diocese. He also served as National Director of the World Apostolate of Fatima in England. From 1989 to 1999, he served as Chaplain to the Bridgettine Sisters at Iver Heath. He retired in 1999, but in February 2000, he sent a written request to the Archbishop expressing his desire to return to supply ministry and teaching. He retired in 2012 amid concerns for his health. He moved to Whitby Dene Care home in Ruislip in the summer of 2017, where he died on 6th October, aged 86. May he rest in peace.

In Memoriam: November 1 Fr Horace Tennant (2000) 2 Mgr Canon George Tomlinson (1985) Fr Terence Brady (1989) 5 Fr Eric Chadwick (1993) 6 Fr Peter Geraerts (1980) 7 Cardinal John Carmel Heenan (1975) Canon Charles Carr (1985) Fr Raymond Geraerts (1995) 8 Fr Jeremiah Ryan (2001) 9 Fr George Barringer (1978) Fr James Ethrington (1981) 10 Fr Richard M Sutherland (1974) Fr John Spencer (1980) 11 Fr Gerald Freely (2013) 12 Fr James R Coughlan (1974) Fr Peter Johnson (2000) 14 Fr Maurice Ryan (1983) Canon Louis Marteau (2002) 15 Fr James Stephenson (1970) 16 Fr Ian Dommerson (1996) 17 Fr Samuel Steer (1996) 22 Mgr Reginald Butcher (1976) Fr Christopher Fullerton (1980) 24 Canon Edmund Hadfield (1982) 25 Fr Joseph Doyle (1978) Canon Joseph Geraerts (1979) Fr John Galvin (2010) Fr John Formby (2015) 26 Fr James Woodward (1976) Fr William Wood (1986) Fr Anthony John Cooke (2007) 27 Fr Joseph Scally (1995) Fr Peter O’Reilly (2005) 29 Fr Christopher Hamilton-Gray (2012) Fr Brian Nash (2014) 30 Canon Arthur Welland (1978)

REGULAR EVENTS

Events & Calendar

Westminster Record | November 2018

Liturgical Calendar - Novemeber

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

Prayer Groups SUNDAYS

Adoration at Holy Ghost & St Stephen, Shepherd’s Bush on Sunday, 28th October, 25th November and 16th December, 5pm to 6pm Taizé at St James, Piccadilly W1J 9LL every third Sunday 5pm. Call 020 7503 5128 for details. Tyburn Benedictines Monastic afternoon Every first Sunday 2-5pm Martyrs’ Crypt, Tyburn Convent, 8 Hyde Park Place W2 2LJ. Westminster Cathedral Young Adults meet socially after the 7pm Mass on Sundays and then at the nearby Windsor Castle pub. For further details please contact: westminsteryoungadults@gmail.com

MONDAYS

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

TUESDAYS

Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament Tuesdays 6-9pm concluding with Benediction at Newman House, 111 Gower Street WC1E 6AR. Details 020 7387 6370. Prayers for London at the Shrine of Our Lady of Willesden Tuesdays 7.30pm. Organised by the Guild of Our Lady of Willesden, Nicoll Road NW10 9AX. Our Lady of Walsingham Prayer Group First Tuesday of the month 2.30pm to 4.15pm in the Chapel of St George and the English Martyrs in Westminster Cathedral. Details: antonia@walsingham.org.uk Vocations Prayer Group Second Tuesday of the month 8pm at 47C Gaisford Street NW5 2EB. Taizé at St James’, Spanish Place W1V 3QY every first Tuesday of the month at 7pm. Email: penny28hb@aol.com or just come along. NFG Prayer Group weekly at 8pm for praise & worship followed by a social. Held in St Mark’s Room, Christ the King Church, Cockfosters N14 4HE. Contact Fr Christophe: christophe.brunet@cheminneuf.org.

WEDNESDAYS

Corpus Christi Contemplative Prayer Group for Young Adults Wednesdays from 7pm at Corpus Christi, Maiden Lane WC2E 7NB. Contact corpuschristipg@yahoogroups. co.uk Our Lady, Untier of Knots, Prayer Group of Intercession every third Wednesday at St Anselm & St Cecilia, Lincoln’s Inn Fields WC2A 3JA. Mass at 6pm followed by Prayer Group. Rosary, Adoration, silent prayer and Divine Mercy Chaplet. Email Antonia antonia4161@gmail.com.

Gregorian Chant Explore the riches of the Gregorian chant tradition every Wednesday 6.30pm to 8pm, Bulbeck room, Ealing Abbey parish centre. New members welcome. For details, email gregorianchantealing@gmail.com

THURSDAYS

Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament for young professional at St Thomas More, Swiss Cottage. Begins at 7.30pm, with Confession from 7pm to 8.30pm. The next two dates are 22nd November and 13th December. Sodality of the Blessed Sacrament first Thursday of the month, Mass 6:30pm at Corpus Christi, Maiden Lane WC2E 7NB followed by Adoration and Benediction. www.sodality.co.uk Jesus Christ the Fullness of Life (JCFL) provides a space for Christians of different traditions to join together in prayer and friendship. For further details please visit www.jcfl.org.uk. Soul Food A Catholic charismatic prayer group for young adults Thursdays 7-9pm at St Charles Borromeo, Ogle Street W1W 6HS. Details www.soulfoodgroup.org. St John Paul II Prayer Group Every second Thursday of the month 7-8pm, Mass, Adoration and prayer at Corpus Christi, Maiden Lane WC2E 7NB

FRIDAYS

Divine Mercy Prayers and Mass Every first Friday 2.30-4.30pm at Our Lady, Mother of the Church, 2 Windsor Road W5 5PD Westminster Cathedral Charismatic Prayer Group every Friday 7.30pm Prayer, Praise and Teaching. First Friday is a healing Mass. For details, call 020 8748 2632. Queen of Peace Prayer Group at Our Lady of Lourdes, Acton W3 8AA. After 7pm Mass, Exposition, a homily, Holy Rosary and Chaplet of Divine Mercy. Friday prayer meeting 1:30pm to 3pm with Adoration in St Matthew's Hall, Northwood, Middx HA6 1DW except 1st Friday. Summer break- August. Contact Patricia 07918128248

1 Thu

+ ALL SAINTS

2 Fri

THE COMMEMORATION OF ALL THE FAITHFUL DEPARTED (ALL SOULS’ DAY) Friday abstinence

3 Sat

Feria or St Winifride, Virgin or St Martin de Porres, Religious or Blessed Virgin Mary

4 Sun

+ 31st SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME

5 Mon

Feria, Thirty-First Week of Year 2

6 Tue

Feria

7 Wed

Feria or St Willibrord, Bishop

8 Thu

Feria

9 Fri

+ THE DEDICATION OF THE LATERAN BASILICA; Friday abstinence

10 Sat 11 Sun 12 Mon 13 Tue

St Leo the Great, Pope and Doctor + 32nd SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME St Josaphat, Bishop & Martyr Feria, Thirty-Second Week of Year 2

14 Wed

Feria

15 Thu 16 Fri

Feria or St Albert the Great, Bishop & Doctor

17 Sat

Feria or St Hilda, Abbess or St Hugh of Lincoln, Bishop or St Elizabeth of Hungary, Religious or Blessed Virgin Mary

Deaf Community Mass First Sunday of the month 4.30pm at Westminster Cathedral Hall, Ambrosden Avenue

Young Adults Mass with an Ignatian twist

Every Sunday at 7pm. Church of the Immaculate Conception, Farm Street Contact: yam@mountstreet.info or visit www.pathwaystogood.org

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

St Alban’s Abbey Fridays at 12 noon. Mass in the Lady Chapel of St Albans Abbey AL1 1BY.

St Edmund of Abingdon, Bishop; Friday Abstinence

18 Sun

+ 33rd SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME

19 Mon

Feria, Thirty-Third Week of Year 2

20 Tue

Feria

21 Wed

The Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary

22 Thu

St Cecilia, Virgin & Martyr

23 Fri

Feria, or St Clement I, Pope & Martyr or St Columban, Abbot; Friday abstinence

24 Sat

St Andrew Dung-Lac, Priest and Companions, Martyrs;

25 Sun

+ OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST, King of the Universe

26 Mon

Feria, Thirty-Fourth Week of Year 2

27 Tue

Feria

28 Wed

Feria

29 Thu

Feria

30 Fri

ST ANDREW, Apostle, Patron of Scotland; Friday abstinence

Pope’s Prayer intention for Novemeber: In the Service of Peace: That the language of love and dialogue may always prevail over the language of conflict.

EXTRAORDINARY FORM MASSES

Sundays: Low Mass 9.30am, St James Spanish Place W1U 3QY.

Low Mass 5pm, St Bartholomew, St Albans AL1 2PE. Low Mass 5.30pm, Shrine of Our Lady of Willesden, NW10 9AX.

Mondays: Low Mass 8am The Oratory, Brompton Road SW7 2RP Mass 6.30pm Corpus Christi, Maiden Lane WC2E 7NB.

Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays: Low Mass, 8am The Oratory, Brompton Road SW7 2RP.

Fridays:

Low Mass 8am The Oratory, Brompton Road SW7 2RP. Low Mass 6pm St Etheldreda, Ely Place EC1N 6RY. First Friday only. Low Mass 6pm St John the Baptist Church, King Edward's Road E9 7SF. First Friday only.

Taizé at Notre Dame de France 5 Leicester Place WC2H 7BX at 7.15pm. Call 020 7437 9363. Carmelite Spirituality Group meet first Saturday at St Joseph’s Church, Bunhill Row EC1Y 8LE. 11.30-15.30 for prayer and reflection. Enquiries: Sylvia Lucas 07889436165. Holy Cross, Parsons Green first Saturday of every month. Mass at 9.30am followed by Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament for one hour concluding with Benediction.

Members of the Westminster LGBT Catholic Community are specially welcomed on 2nd and 4th Sunday of the month for Mass at the Immaculate Conception Church, Farm Street at 5.30pm, and invited to the parish hall afterwards for tea/coffee, where there is anopportunity to learn of pastoral help available.

Low Mass 9am, The Oratory, Brompton Road SW7 2RP.

SATURDAYS

Other regular Masses

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

Saturdays: Low Mass 12.15pm, St Wilfrid’s Chapel, The Oratory, Brompton Road SW7 2RP. Low Mass 4pm, Lady Chapel, Westminster Cathedral SW1P 1QW. Second Saturday only.

Page 19

Westminster Record | November 2018

by Jo Siedlecka

Eighteen pilgrims took part in this year’s Farm Street Camino, walking the route St Ignatius Loyola took in 1522 from his home town of Loyola in the Basque Country across northern Spain to Montserrat and Manresa in the east. Our own 200km Camino followed the final part of this ancient trail, through Catalunya. Led by Fr Dominic Robinson SJ, our group included two Episcopalian couples from Oklahoma, an Anglican priest, three Filipino-Canadians, as well as Australian, Scottish, Irish and English parishioners, reflecting the international outreach of Farm Street. Fr Dominic Robinson told us: ‘It is a different way of making a retreat. Some find it easier to come closer to God in silence and with an individual prayer guide. Others prefer to do something physical and in companionship. Walking in the steps of St Ignatius is a very special way of connecting with

Page 20

the Spiritual Exercises. As a group we will reflect on St Ignatius’ teachings. It’s a bit like the Canterbury Tales: as we journey, we talk, we sing, we pray, we eat and drink together and we share where we are on our faith journey.’ We began our trek in the ancient town of Verdu, staying in a pilgrim hostel at the birthplace and shrine of St Peter Claver, the 17th century Jesuit priest who ministered to slaves in what is modern-day Colombia. The opening Mass and morning prayer were dedicated to victims of human trafficking. From here we set off on our 16km walk to Cervera, on the Cami Ral, the route St Ignatius travelled on a donkey. On this beautiful, rugged trail through farmland and ancient villages, accompanied by the sound of crickets, we passed a ruined church, a hermitage and an old castle. On that first day it was pretty hot. Fr Dominic led the way and I stayed at the back making sure we kept together. By late afternoon as we walked along a steep hillside, three of us at the end realised we had run out of water and were really starting to feel thirsty. Suddenly, three leather-clad motorcyclists roared up beside us. It turned out they were from Toulouse. They asked how we were and gave us some water. The kindness of strangers was something we were to experience many times more on our Camino. Our next stop was Igualada, where St Ignatius bought his pilgrim robe and staff. Once a

busy textile town, there is some unusual old industrial architecture: chimneys that resemble lookout towers from a Tolkien story, combined with modern sculptures and outside escalators. We stayed in the Moly Blanc hotel, a beautiful converted mill, and attended Mass in Catalan at the modern Church of the Holy Family. The next leg of the journey was exciting, as the steep path took us along hairpin bends and curves up and up the mountain to the Benedictine monastery of Santa Maria de Montserrat tucked underneath huge outcrops of rock that looked like lumbering giants. From the top there were

magnificent views of Catalan landscape. It was here that St Ignatius came and prayed for three days and nights before the Black Madonna of Montserrat, patron saint of Catalonia. One morning we took a cable car up the mountain and walked to the hermitage of St Jerona. It was quite a stiff climb on the designated footpath, but we saw several young people equipped with rock-climbing ropes and tackle taking more adventurous routes, abseiling up the sheer rock faces. The path out of Montserrat next day was very steep, but eventually it levelled out and took us through woods at the bottom of a long valley. At a place called Castellgali we came across a sad monument to two nuns, Sr Regina and Sr Rosa, who were shot here, in July 1936, during the Spanish Civil War. We continued along through fields and vineyards, until we reached an ancient winery where we stopped to eat our sandwiches. Nearby there was a Roman road marker pointing towards Manresa, which Ignatius would have seen on his journey. He would probably have recognised Manresa today too. The tall gothic church on a hill and the ancient bridge over the River Cardoner were already old in his time. We stayed at the Jesuit centre here, built over the

small cave where Ignatius lived for eleven months and wrote his Spiritual Exercises. It’s now a chapel with a beautiful baroque altar. Engraved in the stone wall are two small crosses said to have been carved by the saint. During our stay we visited several of the places where St Ignatius worked and prayed. With our Camino ended, we took a coach to the beautiful city of Barcelona, home to St Ignatius for several years. We stayed in the Spiritual Exercises Centre for a time of prayer and relaxation, visited some of the sites associated with St Ignatius and went sightseeing around the city: to Gaudi’s Sagrada Familia and up to Tibidabo, a small mountain overlooking the city with a Salesian church that was visited by St John Bosco. The hardest part was saying goodbye on our last day. In two weeks we had become good friends. We will be keeping in touch, and many of us will be back on the Ignatian Camino again next year.

The Camino in the Footsteps of St Ignatius