“…. AND IT’S GOODBYE FROM ME!”

CAFOD Diocesan Manager for Arundel & Brighton writes to tell us that after more than 30 years’ involvement with CAFOD, he has decided it is time to retire as the Manager for A&B. He says "I do this with some trepidation, as CAFOD has been such a major part of my life for so long."

Roger has spent 10 years employed with CAFOD in various capacities but he had long before that been active as a volunteer with CAFOD in Southwark Diocese as fundraiser, campaigner and parish contact. Roger has loved his time in Arundel & Brighton and says " It has been an enormous pleasure and privilege to have met and worked with all the CAFOD supporters in the Diocese and I owe you all a massive debt of gratitude for what you do."

To read the full story in the Lent edition of the A&B News

The photo shows Roger in Ndgir in Diocese of Marsabit, Kenya.
Photo credit Bridget Burrows/CAFOD

Arundel & Brighton Parish CD supports Hospice

The Schola of the church of Saint Peter and Saint John, part of Camberley and Bagshot Parish, recently teamed up with a recording studio to raise funds for the Phyllis Tuckwell Hospice, Farnham.

The result is a CD entitled Be Still for the Presence of the Lord – a collection of eighteen pieces including early motets as well as more recent compositions such as David J Evans’s hymn that lends its name to the album. Also featured is the first recorded performance of parishioner David Lloyd’s composition Just a Still Small Voice.

The CD includes a Holy Week sequence – seven pieces to aid reflection on the events of Palm Sunday, Holy Thursday. Good Friday and Easter Sunday.

Extracts from the recording and links to buy the CD can be found by visiting http://www.spjschola.org.uk/

For the full story see the Lent edition of the A&B News

Bishop Kieran returns from Ad Limina visit

Bishop Kieran meet with Pope Benedict recently when he was in Rome with the rest of the bishops of England and Wales in their visit Ad Limina Apostolorum. This is the meeting, which normally happens about every 5 years in which they meet with the Pope and the various other offices in Rome to speak about their work, joys and concerns in their dioceses and in the country as a whole. The visit also includes masses at the tombs of St Peter and St Paul, and it is from this that the visit gets its name - Ad Limina Apostolorum literally means 'to the threshold of the apostles'. Bishop Kieran is now back in the Diocese.

During the visit the Pope confirmed that he would be visiting Britain in the autumn though no dates have yet been officially confirmed. It is presumed that he will during his visit that the Pope will beatify Cardinal John Henry Newman (1801-1890). On their Ad Limina visit, the Bishop visited two places connected to the life of  Cardinal Newman : the “Capella dei Magi” (Three Kings Chapel) and the Cardinal Newman Chapel, both located at the “Palazzo di Propaganda Fide,” headquarters of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples and the International Secretariat of the Pontifical Mission Societies.

To read the Pope's address to the Bishops of England and Wales go to the Bishops' Conference website.

Picture Copyright Servizio Fotographico de L'OR

Brighton and Poverty and Homeless Week 31 January-7 February

The arctic weather conditions in Brighton during December and January have highlighted the daily hardship faced by homeless people. While severe weather shelters were opened to provide emergency beds for those without accommodation, rough sleepers also needed the support of day centre facilities more than at any other time to avoid the very real risk of hypothermia during the day time.

So it’s fitting that Poverty and Homelessness Action Week 2010, which runs from 31 January to 7 February, is highlighting the needs of homeless and vulnerably housed people with the challenge for everyone to take action to bridge the growing gap between rich and poor.

Young people are especially vulnerable to homelessness, its impact and consequences. One of the main reasons young people leave home is because they have fallen out with their families but many have also recently left care. When this happens, only a few have the skills, knowledge or resources to find and secure safe accommodation. A large proportion end up seeking support from the Council and homeless agencies, sleeping rough, squatting or sofa surfing. The impact of losing your home at this age is huge: young people lose the emotional, financial and practical support they get from their families. This makes them vulnerable to exploitation by older, more street-wise homeless people, sexual predators, and more at risk of alcohol and substance misuse.

The Clock Tower Sanctuary (CTS) is one of the city’s three day centres and provides support exclusively to young people six days a week. It supports up to 200 young people each year providing short-term information, advice and support to the newly homeless and long-term support to those who are insecurely housed to help them move onto independent living.

When Ben, a young homeless man who ended up living in a squat came to CTS for help, he not only had the chance to cook himself a hot meal, but he was signposted to agencies who could offer help with housing, given a crisis payment to buy a new pair of shoes and has taken up training courses through the Centre. Ben said: “The Clock Tower Sanctuary has helped me when I’ve been at my lowest. I’d have been stuck in the rain, hungry many times without it.”

For more information see: www.theclocktowersanctuary.org.uk/ and http://www.actionweek.org.uk/

Arundel & Brighton Diocese helping in Haiti

Fr Ian Doyle, a priest of Arundel & Brighton Diocese writes to inform us that he has been asked again to assist in another International medical mission . He previously went to assist in Gaza after the Israeli bombardment. He shall be flying to London on February 6th for a briefing meeting and then on to Miami, Florida on February 9th. Thereafter he is to collect supplies and fly to Haiti.

He shall be in Haiti for 20 days (approximately). He will then be back in the UK for de-briefing for a few days. After that he is back to the clinics in South Africa where he currently works. He said "This year sees my five year contract finish with the clinics in South Africa. So hopefully, I shall be back in A&B for a period of time with all my dear friends."

We wish him well and pray for the success of his work Haiti and in South Africa. For anyone who would wish to donate to the Catholic agencies, CAFOD or Missio for their emergency work in Haiti then please go to their websites http://www.cafod.org.uk/ or http://www.missio.org.uk/

Apologia: Hard Questions – Catholic Answers

We are pleased to pass on the information about a new book produced by an Arundel and Brighton priest, Fr Andrew Pinsent.

He has just published Apologia, an excellent pocket sized compilation of 88 challenging questions and answers about the Catholic Faith. Apologia responds positively to questions about the existence of God, about science and faith, the Bible, the Church and the Sacraments and morality, setting out a reasoned defence of the truths of Faith that lead us to true happiness. The booklet, printed in full colour, includes many beautiful and insightful images, such as pictures of Mgr Georges Lemaître, the Catholic priest who invented the ‘Big Bang’ theory, and Fr Gregor Mendel, the monk who invented genetics.

Apologia has been written by Fr Marcus Holden and Fr Andrew Pinsent. Fr Pinsent works part time at the parish of St Joseph’s, Epsom, and is also Research Director of the Ian Ramsey Centre for Science and Religion at the University of Oxford. He has also co-authored, with Fr Holden, the Credo pocket catechism and the Evangelium course which have already sold over thirty thousand copies worldwide. The Evangelium course was specifically recommended for parish renewal by Bishop Patrick O'Donoghue in Fit for Mission?

Pope Encourages Priest to go Digital

The Vatican's Council for Social Communications recently announced the Holy Father's Message for the forty-fourth World Day of Social Communications, which will be celebrated on 24 May and has as its theme: "The priest and pastoral ministry in a digital world: new media at the service of the Word".

Excerpts from the English-language version are given below:

"Church communities have always used the modern media for fostering communication, engagement with society and, increasingly, for encouraging dialogue at a wider level. Yet the recent, explosive growth and greater social impact of these media make them all the more important for a fruitful priestly ministry.

"Priests can rightly be expected to be present in the world of digital communications as faithful witnesses to the Gospel, exercising their proper role as leaders of communities which increasingly express themselves with the different 'voices' provided by the digital marketplace. Priests are thus challenged to proclaim the Gospel by employing the latest generation of audiovisual resources".

"Our pastoral presence in that world must thus serve to show our contemporaries, especially the many people in our day who experience uncertainty and confusion, 'that God is near; that in Christ we all belong to one another'. Who better than a priest, as a man of God, can develop and put into practice, by his competence in current digital technology, a pastoral outreach capable of making God concretely present in today's world?"

"At the same time, priests must always bear in mind that the ultimate fruitfulness of their ministry comes from Christ Himself, encountered and listened to in prayer; proclaimed in preaching and lived witness; and known, loved and celebrated in the Sacraments, especially the Holy Eucharist and Reconciliation. ... May the Lord make all of you enthusiastic heralds of the Gospel in the new 'agora' which the current media are opening up".

Mgr Paul Tighe, the Secretary of the Council said "The Pope invites priests, and by implication all believers, to use the web to create a space of dialogue where Christians, believers of other religions and non-believers can encounter each other in a respectful search for truth and wisdom." Referring then to specific initiatives in the digital field - such as the website of the Congregation for the Clergy dedicated to the Year for Priests: http://www.annussacerdotalis.org/ - the secretary of the Pontifical Council for Social Communications noted how "around the world the new technologies are being used to promote the ongoing theological and spiritual formation of priests. ... In addition, there have been many worthwhile personal efforts by individual priests, often supported by lay people with developed technical proficiencies and media competencies, to use the new technologies to give a new dimension to their pastoral mission".