Issue 10 - The Pilgrim - October 2012 - The newspaper of the Archdiocese of Southwark

Issue 10 October 2012
Ministering
behind bars
Heaven on
earth
Canon Jim:
providing spiritual aid
Pages 6-7 Page 9 Page 12
The Year of Faith Begins
Bishops’ Catechesis
Greg Watts
In a video to mark the beginning of the
Year of Faith, which runs from 11 October
to 24 November, Archbishop Peter
has asked Catholics to make a difference
where they live.
“The Year of Faith is for the whole
Church, lay people, priests, religious
and deacons, to reflect prayerfully on
what our task is as disciples of Christ.
Because we are baptized we share in
the mission of Christ,” he said.
“In an apostolic exhortation in 1975
Pope Paul VI said that the best way to
evangelize is by the witness of our lives.
If we live an authentically Christian life,
we will have more effect than teachers.
Teachers will be effective if they are
also witnesses.
“Our task this coming year is for each
of us, individually, and perhaps together
in parishes, youth groups, schools, is to
ask ourselves the question: what does it
mean for me to be a disciple How do I
grow in my discipleship
“We need to ask: What is Christ asking
of me How can the Gospel help me to
make a better society and a better world”
The five-minute video was produced
jointly by Southwark Catholic Youth
Service and the diocesan Education
Commission. During the Year of Faith
they will be producing weekly videos for
use with young people in parish and
school settings.
The aim of the project is to inspire
and encourage young people in reflecting
on their own faith and life situations.
The videos can be viewed or downloaded
from video sharing website Vimeo:
vimeo.com/channels/inspiringfaith.
Archbishop Peter said the videos will
be a means to promote discussion and
reflection in youth groups, schools, colleges,
parishes and at home.
Tree Behrens, multimedia resources
co-ordinator of Southwark Catholic
Youth Service, said, “The Year of Faith is
important because it is an opportunity
to focus on our own faith, to explore
and deepen our relationship with God
and our church community.
“Faith is a very personal thing, but it’s
not meant to be private. We are all
called to be a witness of the Good News
and this means sharing our faith.”
Archbishop has invited each parish,
school, religious community and organisation
in the diocese to send two representatives
to this inaugural Year of Faith
Mass at 12.30 pm on Saturday 13 October
at St George’s Cathedral.
In Lent 2013 Archbishop Peter and the
area bishops will be presiding at special
liturgies of Reconciliation in each deanery,
with individual Confessions.
Copies of a diocesan Year of Faith
brochure will be sent to every parish in
the diocese by the first Sunday in October.
It will also contain a list of resources.
Fr David Gibbons, director of the Centre
for Catholic Formation said, “I encourage
every parish, school and community
in the diocese to do something
to mark the Year of Faith.
“Perhaps every parish could create a
Year of Faith committee or group, to do
these two things according to their particular
circumstances.”
Father David will be giving three talks
in the diocese to explain what the Year
of Faith means.
8 October, 7.30 pm, Alexander Hall,
St Raphael’s, Kingston-upon-Thames.
15 October, 7.30 pm St Teresa’s Hall,
Ashford.
22 October, 7.30 pm, Sacred Heart
Parish Centre, Camberwell.
Cardinal Godfried Danneels, emeritus
Archbishop of Mechelen-Brussels, who
To mark the Year of Faith, young people
are invited to an afternoon of prayer,
music, testimonials, and the opportunity
to ask the bishops questions.
For those confirmed in 2012, or to be
confirmed, 3.30 - 5.30 pm, Sunday 14
October, 2012, St George’s Cathedral.
Archbishop Peter:
3:00 – 5:30 pm Sunday 12 May 2013,
St George’s Cathedral.
Bishop John Hine:
3:00 – 5:30 pm Sunday 24 February 2013,
St Francis, Maidstone.
Bishop Paul:
2:00 – 4:30 pm Sunday 3 March 2013,
Sacred Heart, Wimbledon.
Bishop Pat:
2:30 – 5:00 pm Sunday 2 June 2013,
St Saviour’s, Lewisham.
attended the Second Vatican Council as an expert,
will deliver a lecture entitled “Vatican II:
the on-going Agenda” at 7:30pm
on Thursday 18 October at Amigo Hall,
St George’s Cathedral.
See page 5, What does the Year of Faith mean
Sacred Heart church,
Wimbledon, will hold
a catechesis by
Bishop Paul
New film tells story of
Opus Dei founder, page10
The inaugural Year of Faith Mass will take
place at 12.30 pm on Saturday 13 October at
St George’s Cathedral.

Editorial The Pilgrim October 2012
the
2012Pilgrim
50p
December 2011/ January The newspaper of the Catholic Archdiocese of Southwark, covering s
Release the writer in you
The Archdiocese of Southwark
Archbishop Peter Smith
020 7928-2495
archbishop@rcsouthwark.co.uk
www.rcsouthwark.co.uk
Area bishops
Kent
Bishop John Hine
01732 845486
jhine@absouthwark.org
South-West London
Bishop Paul Hendricks
020 8643 8007
bishop.hendricks@gmail.com
South-East London
Bishop Patrick Lynch
020 8297 9219
bishoplynch7@btinternet.com
The Pilgrim,
Archbishop’s House
150 St George’s Road
London SE1 6HX
Editor: Greg Watts
pilgrim@rcsouthwark.co.uk
Advertising: Mark Johnson
0161 214-1251
mark.johnson@totalcatholic.net
Distribution: Andrea Black
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Print management, design and
distribution by The Universe Media
Group Ltd
Greg Watts
Autobiography and memoir
have become one of the
biggest growth areas in publishing
in recent years. It
seems we have a huge appetite
for reading about the lives
of others.
While the autobiographies
you’ll find in bookshops are
usually written by the famous,
memoirs are increasingly written
by ordinary people.
Put simply, the difference
between an autobiography and
memoir is that an autobiography
spans a whole life, while
a memoir takes just a part
of it.
For example, Frank McCourt
wrote a memoir about his
childhood in Limerick, Angela’s
Ashes, and then another,
Teacher Man, about the 30
years he spent teaching in New
York high schools.
Nick Hornby wrote a memoir
about being an Arsenal supporter;
Chris Stewart about
renovating an old farmhouse in
Spain; and Nigel Slater about
the food of his childhood.
With the arrival of print on
demand publishers, such as
Lulu.com, it’s now possible for
anyone to publish a book. The
only charge is for the cost of
each copy and the postage and
packing. You can print 10
copies or a 1,000.
And because of this, more
and more of us are publishing
our stories. We like reading
about others, but we also believe
that we too have a story
to tell.
But this isn’t surprising, because
the urge to produce
something creative is there in
all of us. It’s not about having
achieved success in some area
of life. It’s something spiritual.
In her book The Right to
Write Julia Cameron suggests
that creativity is something given
to us, not something to be
aspired to. “It is not an invention
of our ego. It is, instead, a
natural function of our soul.”
She says each one of us has a
poetic vision, pointing out that
in the word “heart” are the
words “art” and “ear”.
She sees writing is a form of
prayer. “It connects us to the
invisible world. It gives us a
gate or conduit for the other
world to talk to us, whether we
call it the subconscious, the unconscious,
the superconscious,
Frank McCourt’s first
book was published
when he was
sixty-six
the imagination or the Muse.
“Writing gives us a place to
welcome more than the rational.
It opens the door to inspiration.
It opens the door to God
or, if you would “Good Orderly
Direction”. Writing sets things
straight, giving us a sense of
our true priorities.”
So if you are finding it hard
to pray, maybe try writing.
Perhaps that will open an unexpected
channel to God.
Science fiction poses deep questions
Bishop Paul Hendricks
I recently went to see the film
Total Recall, which is based on
the idea that a person’s memories
could be replaced with false ones.
A man discovers that everything
he remembers has just been
planted in his mind. The film is
about how he gradually discovers
who he really is — and what he
decides to do once he finds out.
I’m sure that many people who
are not into science fiction would
say this is completely ridiculous.
What is the point of a story based
on something that will very likely
never be possible
One answer might be that
it’s just a bit of imaginative entertainment.
Who cares if it
could never happen in reality
After all, you can enjoy The
Woman in Black without believing
in ghosts.
But I would say that the film is
more than just a good yarn. It
raises important questions. What
makes me the person I am Am I
just the total of my memories, or
is there something deeper
The man in the film realises
that what we might call his original
self had set him up to do
something which he now regards
as evil, so he fights against it.
The suggestion is that my actions
make me what I am — perhaps
even more than my memories.
Does this apply in any way to
real life’ Well, there are many
who are confronted with rather
similar questions, when someone
they love is suffering from something
like Altzheimer’s Disease.
Is the person I love still in there
somewhere, even if he or she
doesn’t even seem to know who I
am I think the film also says
something about the possibility of
redeeming myself from the past
and making a new beginning —
not being totally defined by my
memories, true or false.
I’m not claiming that all science
fiction has a deep moral or
spiritual meaning. And yet, for
me at any rate, any good film has
to have some dramatic interest,
in terms of character and
moral choices.
The Star Wars series may seem
to be just about battles in space,
but there is also a deeper side.
The later trilogy explores how a
good man, through the choices
that he makes, can eventually become
the evil Darth Vader.
And this is relevant to us, because
we have to make similar
though less dramatic choices,
every day of our life.
One of the great science fiction
authors, Isaac Asimov, wrote a series
of stories about robots. He
invented three ‘Laws of Robotics’,
which any robot would have
to be designed to obey, in order
to be safe for humans.
By exploring the ways in which
these laws might apply in various
situations, in his very inventive
and ingenious stories, it’s as
though he held a mirror up to humanity
and helped us to see ourselves
more clearly.
Tolkien, author of The Lord of
the Rings, wrote a fascinating little
essay On Fairy Stories, which
applies equally well to science
fiction. He says that the author
creates an imaginary world, for us
readers to explore. There we see
the real world transformed and
(we might even say) enchanted.
We then return with our vision
refreshed, more ready and able
to engage with the issues and
moral choices which we face in
our daily lives.
There is rather a lot of science
fiction around these days, and no
doubt much of it is fairly trivial.
But the same could be said of
many other types of films or books.
I hope I may have persuaded you
that there is at least some of it
that is worth a second look.
Page 2

The Pilgrim October 2012
Olympic choir sing at
the cathedral
The Dockhead Choir, who sang at
the opening ceremony of the
Olympic Games, has sang at a
Mass of thanksgiving for the Paralympics
at St George’s Cathedral.
The 40-strong choir, made up of
children and teenagers from the
parishes of the Church of the Most
Holy Trinity, Bermondsey, and St
William of York, Forest Hill, performed
in the costumes they had
worn at the opening ceremony.
Archbishop Peter presided at
the Mass and was joined by the
Archbishop Vincent Nichols of
Westminster and Bishop Thomas
Papal visit youth
leader to speak at day
of renewal
The young man who memorably
welcomed Pope Benedict to
Britain will be one of the speakers
at a day of renewal in Amigo
Hall at St George’s Cathedral.
Youth leader Paschal Uche,
23, addressed the Pope on the
piazza of Westminster Cathedral
with the words, ‘‘for many of us
before today you were a face on
television or a picture in a
church.
“But today we behold you face
to face, and on behalf of the
Catholic youth of this great nation
I would like to express my
profound and heartfelt gratitude
for your visit.”
The event, on September 29,
will also include talks by Fr Jim
McManus; a healing service; a
celebration of the sacrament of
reconciliation; and Mass.
The day begins at 9.30 am
with refreshments and ends at
4.45 pm.
McMahon of Brentwood and
about twenty clergy.
Canon Alan McLean, parish
priest of The Most Holy Trinity,
said: “The young people – and
their parents – are both delighted
and honoured to be taking
part in this special liturgy.
“Being a part of the Mass in
thanksgiving for the Paralympic
Games is equally as great an honour
for us all as being the first
voices to be heard at the opening
of the 30th Olympiad.
Singing in worship of God is what
the choir does best.”
Help for asylum seekers
A new project to provide asylum seekers with short-term accommodation
is being launched after a successful pilot in Brixton and Stockwell.
Jesuit Refugee Service UK aim to find individuals, families and religious
communities that will offer short-term accommodation and hospitality
to destitute asylum seekers.
The Jesuit community in Brixton and Sisters of the Holy Family of St
Emilie in Stockwell have piloted the project. The Jesuits provided accommodation
to a young man from Darfur, whose application for
refuge was turned down some years ago. And a Congolese woman was
provided with accommodation by the Holy Family Sisters.
“We recognise that opening your home or community to a person you
don’t know and who probably comes from a very different background
and culture may feel daunting,” said JRS-UK director Louise Zanré.
“But we hope that, with support, the experience can be rich and
rewarding. To help make it so, JRS researched existing schemes to
gather good practice; a procedure was devised to provide support at
every stage of the hosting, both to the host and to the guest.”
If you would like to find out more about the project,
email: uk@jrs.net or louise.zanre@btinternet.com
News
Deptford
thanksgiving Mass
The Parish of Our Lady of the
Assumption, Deptford, has celebrated
a Mass of thanksgiving to,
to mark 170 years since its
foundation.
Archbishop Peter presided at
the Mass and was joined by the
parish priest, Father Eustace
Durugbo, and assistant priests,
Fathers Ugochukwu Nnaji and
Joseph Udoh.
About a thousand parishioners
and friends attended, including
the Mayor of Southwark, Councillor
Althea Smith.
New scripture
resource
A new scripture resource is being
made available to schools and
parishes in Southwark diocese.
The Wednesday Word has been
produced as a colourful flyer and
also an interactive web site that
aims to help children, young people
and their families reflect on
the Sunday Gospel. The web site
is divided into four areas: parents,
schools, parishes and children.
• www.wednesdayword.org
New schools
Two news independent schools
with a Catholic ethos are to open
in south London in September
2013.
The schools, in Clapham and
Croydon, will both be single sex,
International celebration
Archbishop Peter joined parishioners at The Assumption and St Augustine,
Beckenham Hill and Bellingham, to celebrate their international
day. After Mass, parishioners enjoyed food, dance and music from
around the world.
HELP US SPREAD
THE WORD!
They say good news doesn’t sell
newspapers – but can you
If your church doesn’t sell The Universe could
you sell it in church for us and at the same time
boost your church’s income (a percentage of
every sale will be donated to your church).
If you would like to help please contact
Andrea Black on 0161 214 1216 at The Universe
for more details.
However you’ve supported CAFOD in the past, a gift in your will means your faith and values will
live on. You can supply clean drinking water, send children to school, provide healthcare to the
sick and dying; and give training and tools to people struggling to feed their families. When future
disasters strike, you could provide emergency aid and long-term support to families as they rebuild
their homes and lives.
For a free copy of our will-making guide or to discuss the difference your gift could make call
Heather on 020 7095 5367, email legacy@cafod.org.uk or write to Heather Vallely, CAFOD,
Romero House, 55 Westminster Bridge Road, London, SE1 7JB.
For more information visit: www.cafod.org.uk/legacy
Registered charity no: 285776 Photography: Ataklti Mulu
R39383
Page 3

The Pilgrim October 2012
News
Lisa shines as star
volunteer
School project boosts self-esteem
A project to help youngsters
grow in self-esteem has been set
up at St Mary’s Catholic High
School in Croydon.
Fifteen pupils at the school
have joined the Steer Right pilot
programme, run by Sister
Josephine Udie. The pupils have
attended self-esteem workshops
and had one-to-one sessions
with a personal lifestyle coach.
Each has been given a diary to
record their experiences and
taught IT skills.
Currently the project is funded
by the Big Lottery. If Sister
Josephine can secure additional
funding, she hopes to expand
the programme to include
other schools.
Icon arrives in Southwark
The Pax Christi peace icon is
visiting parishes in Southwark.
The icon, which is part of the
100 Days for Peace project,
linked to the Olympic and Paralympic
Games, has previously
visited parishes in Westminster
and Brentwood.
It icon began its journey in
Southwark in September at
Aylesford Priory before going
on to St Francis de Sales, Hartley,
and St Peter the Apostle,
Woolwich.
In October it will be visiting
St Edmund of Canterbury,
Beckenham; St John the Baptist,
Purley; and Our Lady Immaculate,
Tolworth.
It will end its journey at St
George’s Cathedral Cathedral,
where a Mass to mark the end
of the 100 Days for Peace at 3
pm on Sunday 28th October.
The icon was made at the
Melkite Catholic Monastery of St
John outside Jerusalem. It depicts
the stories of peacemakers
throughout the ages as well
as presenting passages from
Scripture that teach about inclusiveness
and reconciliation.
A parishioner of St
Joseph’s Church in
Bromley has won a
£3,500 prize for her
volunteer work from
the RBS Community
Star Awards.
Lisa Hodson spends
15 hours a week as a
volunteer with local
charity Living Amicably
Together in Caring
Home (LATCH).
The charity supports
homeless 16-25 year
olds in their efforts to
find work, training and
independent accommodation.
Lisa, a barrister who
handles high value motor
and personal injury
claims, began volunteering
for LATCH
three years ago, as the
charity’s legal expert.
Cafod pilgrimage
She now does everything
from organising
social events and
fundraising, to checking
the accounts and
developing an interview
skills clinic.
Chair of LATCH Deacon
Duncan Aitkins,
also from St Joseph’s,
said “We are all very
proud of the work that
Lisa has achieved for
the charity and with
her husband Jack who
is also a trustee and
responsible for all the
IT services for the
LATCH Office and the
website.
“It just goes to prove
that young people
recognise the Gospel
values by helping the
vulnerable and those
on the margin.”
Cafod is holding a pilgrimage to reflect on those who go hungry in the world.
The four-mile pilgrimage takes place on October 13 and will begin at St Francis de Sales
Church, Hartley, at 11 am. There will be five stops along the way, including at the parish
churches of St Mary’s, Fawkham and All Saints, Hartley, to pray and reflect.
Docks
visit
Councillor Pat
Coleman, the
former mayor of
Dartford, made
a visit to Sheerness
docks to
learn about how
Apostleship of
the Sea helps
seafarers. He
was given a tour
by port chaplain
Daniel Mulcahy.
Pictured:
Port chaplain
Daniel Mulcahy
St Gregory’s plan celebrations
St Gregory's Catholic Comprehensive School in Tunbridge Wells is asking
former pupils for old photos and stories it can use in its 50th anniversary
celebrations.
Chatham children
to perform at Royal
Albert Hall
Children from St Benedict’s Primary
School in Lordswood, Chatham, are
to sing in a concert at the Royal
Albert Hall. They will be part of a
choir of 1,000 children who will be
performing with the Cross Border
Orchestra from Ireland in the
London Peace Proms on October 12.
New head for college
St Thomas the Apostle College in
Nunhead has appointed a new head,
Eamon Connolly, the former viceprincipal
at Mossbourne Community
Academy in Hackney.
Page 4
Riverside pilgrimage
The John Paul II Walking Pilgrimage
along the Thames will take place on
Sunday October 28th. The chaplain
will be Father Simon Heans of the Ordinariate
of Our Lady of Walsingham.
The 20-mile Pilgrimage is a reunion
for all those who took part in
the Walking Pilgrimage to Walsingham
in August, and is also open to
anyone and everyone who wants to
take part.
The walk will start after the
10.30 am Mass at Westminster
Cathedral, following the river to
Teddington. The day will finish the
Evensong, Benediction, and tea.
For more information contact
Joanna Bogle at
auntiejoanna@yahoo.co.uk

The Pilgrim October 2012
Features
My children don’t take my
grandchildren to
Mass.What can I do
Fr David Gibbons, director of the Centre for Christian Formation,
considers a common complaint.
At one level your options are limited:
you can’t lead other people’s
lives for them or impose the faith
on them. However, there are some
things you can do to help pass on
the faith to the next generations.
First of all, all parents can give
their children a good foundation.
By being fervent in bringing up
children to pray, to perform good
deeds, and to attend Mass every
Sunday, your children will at least
have their lives based on the
teachings of Christ, even if they
don’t realise it and even if they reject
Him later in life.
When later on something happens,
such as a bereavement or
even wanting a place in a Catholic
school, they may return to the
practice of the faith.
Secondly, you can show by your
own lifestyle what the faith means
to you. If you are casual in your
Mass attendance, if you appear
mean-spirited, if your faith seems
more of a burden than a joy, young
people will be quick to spot the apparent
hypocrisy.
If on the other hand they see
that your faith is firm, and that it
gives you a serenity amidst the
troubles of life, they may begin to
think that there is something in
Christianity after all.
As Jesus says, “In the same way,
your light must shine before men
so that they may see goodness in
your deeds and give praise to your
heavenly Father.”
Of course, thirdly, there is always
prayer. Quietly, without too
much fuss, let them know that you
pray for them. Do not provoke arguments
by criticising the way others
bring up their children; that
will be counter productive.
One thing you might do, if the
grandchildren live near you, is to
offer to take them to Church every
Sunday. If your parish is welcoming –
What does the Year of Faith mean
Molly Styant, adult formation adviser for Kent at the Centre for Catholic Formation,
explains what the Year of Faith means for parishes and schools in Southwark.
The Year of Faith is an ongoing opportunity to
value, reflect upon and witness to our rich
Catholic faith.
It begins on 11 October, the 50th Anniversary of
the opening of the Second Ecumenical Vatican
Council; and also the 20th anniversary of the promulgation
of the Catechism of the Catholic Church.
It will close on 24 November 2013, the Solemnity of
Christ the King.
The Year of Faith also coincides with the gathering
of bishops from across the world in Rome for
the synod themed, “The New Evangelisation for the
Transmission of the Christian Faith.”
In the Year of Faith we are invited to consider the
variety of methods we use to transmit our faith;
through witness in our homes, schools, workplaces
and community.
How do we nurture and celebrate our own personal
faith in Jesus Christ And then how do we do
the same with others
The pastoral recommendations for the Year of
Faith invite us to reflect on: the Nicene Creed, the
key documents from Second Vatican Council, the
Catechism of the Catholic Church, new evangelisation
and many other aspects of our faith including
the saints and the blesseds, who are authentic witnesses
of the faith.
It is a wonderful opportunity for parishes, catechism
groups and schools to explore not only their
local saints but all the saints in their deanery, For
example, Southwark has a splendid history of men
and women who promoted our faith.
Parishes might be involved in any of the diocesan
initiatives or may be preparing something on their
own or in the local deanery.
Our Mass and prayerful liturgies continue to witness
to the faithfulness of the community, which
could be articulated and affirmed.
Archbishop Peter will mark this Year with an
Inaugural Mass in St George's Cathedral on Saturday
13 October.
Each of the diocesan agencies is developing ideas
and activities. For example, the Southwark Catholic
Youth Service is producing weekly videos for use
with young people in parishes and schools.
The videos, a form of social media mentioned in
the pastoral recommendations, can be downloaded
and used in discussion groups. They offer testimonies
from young people about their faith and
life situations.
And at the Centre for Catholic Formation we
will be offering courses for catechists and sessions
on the impact and documents of the Second
Vatican Council.
The Year of Faith is not meant to be a year of doing
new and unusual activities but rather one where
we focus on what we, as a Church, already do and
strengthen those things.
with a good children’s liturgy of the
Word, lots of young families at
Mass, and nice cakes or biscuits afterwards
with somewhere for small
children to run around – your grandchildren
will enjoy going to Mass.
As they get older, they will enjoy
being taught about the Mass and
about what is happening at each
stage. If you explain it carefully,
they will even learn to be quiet
and reverent at Mass.
If your parish is not so welcoming
to families, get some fellow parishioners
together and discuss with
the parish priest how to make it so.
This is the much awaited ninth volume
of From the Archives and this year,
in order to commemorate the
60th anniversary of the Queen’s Accession
to the throne we have dedicated half of
the volume to a collection of rare
photographs of British and foreign
Royalty dating from Queen Victoria’s
Diamond Jubilee in 1897 through to our
current Queen’s coronation. As well as
photographs of the young Queen we
have also included images of the old
“extended royal family” who added
such a colourful,
dignified and
sometimes eccentric presence.
The photographs in this
collection aim at capturing the
The other thing we might do is to
find out why some people are
dropping off from the faith. Without
appearing to be the Spanish Inquisition,
gently enquire about the
values your children are passing on
to their children.
Don’t be afraid to introduce the
subject, but do respect their opinions.
Begin by asking, not telling.
Equally, don’t be shy of carefully
explaining the Church’s teaching,
especially on the moral issues of the
day. If you are too vague or wishywashy,
it will not be convincing.
Above all, do everything in love.
From the Archives
Volume 9 – Diamond Jubilee Special
ONLY
£5 . 00
INC. P&P
spirit of those days, and breathe some life into these
now almost forgotten figures.
Alongside the Jubilee special images we have
retained the Catholic nostalgia for which the
volumes have become prized and once again we
invite you to glimpse a lost world and
see the thousands of people who devoted their
lives to the service of Holy Mother Church.
To order you copy call Andrea Black on
0161 214 1216 or visit
www.thecatholicuniverse.com/store/
Page 5

Behind the scenes The Pilgrim October 2012
Giving hope to prisoners
Permanent deacon
John Letley is the
Catholic chaplain
to HMP Swaleside
on the Isle of
Sheppey, He tells
Greg Watts what
it’s like ministering
behind bars.
“I like to feel that I, along
with chaplains of other religions,
make HMP Swaleside
place of healing and hope. I
say healing because we are receiving
prisoners from such
broken and damaged histories.
“And the hope I’m talking
about is not just for release
but a real hope that life can
change and have meaning and
purpose away from the negativity
of indecency, violence
and crime,” says John.
Swaleside, one of three prisons
on the Isle of Sheppey, is a
category B prison with a capacity
for around 1100 inmates.
John sees his role as making
the Church present for the
men, in the same way that it
would be if they were not
in prison.
He admits that before becoming
a chaplain he had seen prison
simply as a place of punishment.
Now he believes that it can be a
place where some people grow
and turn away from crime.
“Although I am a permanent deacon,
and I spend a lot of time explaining
the differences between a
priest and what I can do, I think
the men do see me as their priest.
“However they do understand
what I am able to do sacramentally
and what they have to wait
for a priest to confer.
One of his main tasks is to provide
Mass on Sundays and holy
days of obligation, usually celebrated
by Fr Richard Hearn, the
Catholic chaplain at neighbouring
HMP Elmley. If he is unavailable,
then John holds a service of Word
and Communion.
Two evenings a week are set
aside for Catholic activities,
which include Rosary and Benediction,
or Lectio Divina and,
during Lent, Station of the Cross.
“The rest of my time is spent
working pastorally with prisoners
and staff. I am involved in a number
of prisoner facing committees,
including those covering diversity
and safer custody.
“We are charged with the care
of prisoners who at risk of suicide
or self-harm, and we perform this
role in a multi-disciplinary way.
“We help prisoners maintain
ties with their family and friends
and for those close to release
with their home parish. Families
are normally directed first to a
chaplain when there is some
news good or bad to be passed
on,” he says.
His statutory duties include
meeting all new prisoners within
24 hours of arrival, visiting those
in the healthcare centre and segregation
unit and those prisoners
who have specifically asked to
see him.
The hardest part of the job, he
says, is passing to an inmate the
news of the death or serious illness
of a relative.
“Even after performing this
role for six years you never know
what kind of reaction you are going
to get from the prisoner.
“It is at these times you really
get to see what kind family
man the prisoner is. I suppose
in most cases there is a kind
of helplessness.
“They need to be able to support
their family but they just
cannot because of the restriction
placed upon them by their
custodial sentence. It is
my job to help them get
through that feeling.”
He says his greatest
satisfaction is bringing to
or bringing men back to
the Church. “I am not
permitted to proselytise,
so it has to start
from the inmate. I use
a version of the RCIA
programme adapted to
suit the individual prisoner.
“I am lucky because most men
spend around three years at
Swaleside so we can explore what
it is they are searching for rather
than just bring them straight into
communion.”
Nowadays prison chaplaincies
are multi-faith. At Swaleside
Muslims make up the largest religious
group.
“I work alongside chaplains
from many different faiths. We
share lunch, good works and
problems. Christian chaplains at
Swaleside pray together whenever
the opportunity arises.
“The chaplaincy is much more
effective when we are able to
work closely together as a team.
Even as a Catholic chaplain I find
myself having to facilitate the
practice of non-Christian religions
such as Judaism, Hinduism,
Buddhism and Paganism, just to
mention a few.”
Before becoming a prison chaplain,
John worked for the Prison
Service as a human resources
manager. After he was ordained
to the permanent diaconate in
June 2004 it was suggested that
he get some experience of
chaplaincy work and
the only place that offered him
an opportunity was at Swaleside
He spent two days a week
working with Fr Malcolm Smeaton
and began to feel that God might
be calling him to prison ministry.
He was appointed chaplain at
Swaleside in 2006.
John is disappointed that while
other Churches attract volunteer
prison visitors, so far no Catholics
have come forward. He is currently
working with the Prison
Fellowship to encourage lay people
from the local Chatham deanery
to give a few hours a month.
“I have found it very humbling
and rewarding to work with men
who often can't even look themselves
in the eye because of what
they’ve done and where they
find themselves.
“There is now – and in my opinion
more than ever before – a
need for faith in our prisons. The
men and women who are held in
custody have the same physical,
emotional and spiritual needs as
everyone else, as well as a legal
right to practise their faith whilst
in prison.”
Page 6

The Pilgrim October 2012
Do you want to help prisoners
The Prison Advice and Care Trust
(PACT) has launched Just People,
an initiative to provide free
training and support to people
from parishes who are interested
in working to support prisoners
and their children and families,
or ex-offenders.
PACT will provide a two-day
training course at its centre in
Vauxhall, along with help getting
the necessary vetting and reference
checks for a placement.
It provides services at
Wandsworth, Brixton and Maidstone
prisons, and across London.
The charity was founded in
1898 under its original name The Catholic Prisoners Aid Society, and for many years was
called The Bourne Trust.
PACT chief executive Andy Keen-Downs said, “We have a wonderful mix of volunteers
from different ethnic and national origins. We have everyone from graduates looking to develop
a career to retired people who just want to give something to their local communities.
“We welcome interest from people who may have a criminal record in their past, but who
have moved on in their lives.”
The next Just People training is on October 31 and November 1. To find out more, contact
PACT on 0207 735 9535.
Key facts
• The prison population in England and Wales stands at 86,000, with 82,000 of inmates
male and around 4,000 female.
• There are fifteen prisons in the Diocese of Southwark, five in south London and ten
in Kent.
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• The first official prison chaplaincy appointments were made in 1773 when clergy were
employed to care for the sick and those about to be executed.
• In 2011-12, 200,000 children were affected by the imprisonment of a parent.
• Prisoners who maintain contact with their families are 39% less likely to commit crime
on release than those who don’t get prison visits.
• In one study, 6 out of 10 boys with a father in prison went on to offend in later life.
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Page 7

Features The Pilgrim October 2012
So what does a Paralympic chaplain do
James Parker
Page 8
“So, what does a chaplain actually do”
This was the resounding question I faced
many times a day as I embarked upon being
the first ever Catholic lay chaplain to
the Paralympic Games.
My areas of responsibility came to include
the Aquatics Centre and the Basketball
Arena within the Olympic Park. Not exactly
a hardship, you might say!
One of the first questions that began to
rise within me was: how does a parish
priest split his time and service between
two parishes, especially when both may be
such a distance apart
Although not exhaustive, I nevertheless
found myself needing to walk several miles
a day just to be present in each venue at
different times. I already began to feel
slightly split, and even disabled, as I embarked
on being a chaplain.
A second question that arose was: what
difference and authority can a lay person
have as a chaplain to such large numbers
Surely, I had thought, a priest, or a religious,
would be better suited for the role.
I then recalled Pope Benedict XVI’s recent
words that the laity should be seen as truly
“co-responsible” for the Church, and not
just “collaborators” with the clergy.
He went on to say that “co-responsibility
requires a change in mentality, particularly
with regard to the role of the laity in the
Church.”
No, I cannot celebrate Mass, but I could
strive to “be courageous and a credible
witness in every sphere of society” – Paralympics
included.
A third question was: how could I best
serve the officials, athletes, staff, volunteers
and spectators at each venue, especially
given that I now had access to the
equivalent of a reasonable sized town of
over 28,000 people
The answers to all these questions arose
as I came to understand that what a chaplain
“does'” and how a chaplain merely
“is” makes all the difference between effective
and inadequate chaplaincy.
Before each shift, I prayed that God
would open the doors to the people he
wished me to meet that day. What I then
experienced was nothing short of remarkable.
My approach at each venue was to try
to meet briefly with each of the staff members
and volunteers on duty, to greet them
with the words “I am your venue chaplain. I
am just wondering how you are doing today,”
and to then shut up and listen.
At times I met with a brick wall. For
many people, however, especially those of
other faiths and of no faith, they were inquisitive
as to what a chaplain might actually
do.
A tailored response was often necessary.
And yet openness had been presented to
share and dialogue in response to a valid
question about the powerful role that
faith, and for me Christ himself, can have
in our lives.
In providing people with the opportunity
to just talk and be heard, I found myself
becoming an outlet where volunteers
would share the deep joy they were feeling
through being of service to others.
For some, the chaplain clearly represented
the trusted other to talk with about
concerns left behind at home.
Seeing often profoundly disabled
people compete in elite sport was also impacting
on many people – and challenging
Nana Anto-Awuakye
their misperceptions and prejudices.
These thoughts and feelings all needed a
sufficiently safe place to be verbalised
and owned.
What best summed up the chaplain’s role
for me when a father burst into the Aquatic
Centre to see his disabled son compete,
only to discover that, having been given
the wrong time, the heats had already taken
place.
The blood ran from his face and he began
to cry. Beneath his sobs, he murmured
I loved my school dinners, especially
liver and bacon, which I
cook to this day. I’m lucky
enough to have a husband who
loves his liver as well.
Sadly my son Matthew hasn’t inherited
our love of liver, but he
does love his food. His latest
phrase when sitting down to eat is:
“I’ll still be hungry even after eating
this!” It feels like we need a
second mortgage to keep him fed.
I was brought up the old fashioned
way. My parents didn’t ask
me what I wanted to eat for lunch
or dinner. I was simply told to eat
what was put in front of me, and
to be grateful for it, as there were
others all over the world not fortunate
to have three meals a day.
And there was no leaving the
table until everything was
eaten up. My parents live locally,
in Crofton Park, and we often
drop in on a Friday after school to
say hello. Matthew always gets his
plate of Joloff rice and chicken.
My Dad tells him stories about
“scrumping” plantains on his way
to school and how the farmer
chased him and his school friends
off the land.
Matthew loves hearing these
tales and my parents love feeding
him and telling him that he’s
growing into a big strong boy.
Food is at the heart of all cultures
and dominates our lives. We
sow the seeds, we grow fruit and
veg, we eat the produce, share it
with family and friends and for
some of us with an entrepreneurial
streak, what we have left over
we sell.
I can’t imagine wondering when
I might next have enough food to
feed my family. Yet on the many
visits to Africa I’ve made for
Cafod, I’ve seen that this is the
daily reality for families.
I’ll never forget my visit to
Dhirihori primary school in
Marondera, Zimbabwe, in 2009.
The school looked deserted until
from nowhere, like a scene from
the Pied Piper of Hamlin, children
came running out of dilapidated
buildings, clutching rusty
enamel plates, and then queued
up ready to receive a lunch of
maize porridge.
The headmaster told me at the
glowingly of the belief and passion he has
for his son.
Some minutes later he had composed
himself and turned to leave. Glancing
backwards, he uttered the words “Thank
you. I really needed that” and off he went.
Job well done I don’t know. All I did was
to be there for him. In fact, I had been rewarded
with reflecting on God’s belief and
passion for me and all those he has created.
Maybe, just maybe, that is what chaplaincy
is all about.
And these thy gifts which
we are about to receive
time that he delighted in this
sight, as he explained that only a
few months earlier there was an
eerie silence from the children as
most of them were too weak to
play or speak, with many fainting
in school from hunger.
More recently, the story that
remains with me from the East
Africa drought of last year was
that of great-grandmother Ayapan
Aribokin in northern Kenya,
who tied a rope around her stomach
to stave off hunger pangs.
The golden summer is over and
harvest is now upon us a time of
year when we reflect on the
meaning of sharing what we have
with those less fortunate.
Harvest reminds us that God
created the world with enough
food for all to share, but yet so
many people, are still going hungry.
This is not right.
We are called to reach out to
ensure that Ayapan and her
grandchildren are able to get
their fair share of the food God
has given for us all.
I’m working on instilling this
concept of “sharing what you
have” with Matthew. But he said
to me the other day, “I know,
Mummy, why don’t we send the
poor children my vegetables”
Yet another one of his dastardly
plans to avoid eating broccoli.

The Pilgrim October 2012
Features
What will Heaven be like
John Pridmore
As human beings nothing ever
completely satisfies us. We might
think it will, but when we get it,
we found out that it doesn’t.
I found this out through the
drugs I took and all the wads of
money I earned when I was a
gangster. I ended up feeling
empty and thinking there had to
be more to life. Jesus rose from
the dead to offer us the chance
of a new life here and in heaven.
I believe that Heaven will be
total fulfilment and euphoria. In
Heaven we will be completely
and utterly satisfied in every way,
and we’ll overflow with joy. This
is what I live for.
A man once described to me
how he felt when he held his
new-born baby son in his arms for
the first time. Grinning, he said
that he felt a joy he couldn’t express.
This kind of joy must be a reflection
of what Heaven is like.
But I believe that it still doesn’t
come close to describing it.
Yet many people try and create
Heaven on earth. Money, money,
money, sang Abba. We live in a
world where we’re told that the
more money we have, the happier
we will be. But we won’t. As
the Prayer of St Francis of Assisi
says, it’s in giving that we receive.
In the book The Final Quest by
Rick Joyner one of the characters
is shown Heaven and then returns
to earth. He sees all these people
at the bottom of the mountain
who are being shot to pieces by
demons. He asks Jesus why
they’re standing there being shot
when they could climb the mountain.
“They’re stupid,” he says.
Jesus answers, “They’re not
stupid. These are the evangelists
and the prophets. They’re more
concerned about getting others to
the top of the mountain than getting
there themselves. These are
the most important people in
Heaven because they are willing
to sacrifice their own lives for
others.’
In Heaven we’ll experience a
joy beyond our wildest dreams.
Nothing we experience now will
compare with it.
St Paul says of Heaven, “What
no eye has seen and no ear has
heard, what the mind of man cannot
visualise; all that God has
prepared for us.”
We should never try to create
Heaven on earth, but be prepared
to give everything up that gets in
the way of Heaven. It’s worth
selling everything we possess and
giving God everything for it.
One of my favourite stories is
about a rich woman who arrives
at the gates of Heaven.
“You’re very rich, aren’t you,”
said St Peter to her.
“Yes,” she replied.
“Well, you’re lucky. You’ve just
got in. Follow me. I’ll show you
where you’ll live.”
He then takes her to a street of
beautiful mansions.
“This is great!” she enthused.
But St Peter then took her to a
field with a hut made of corrugated
iron standing in it. “This is
where you’ll live,” he told her.
“You must be joking,” she said.
“I lived in much better places
than those mansions when I was
on earth.”
“Well, I’m sorry”, replied St
Peter, “but this is the best we
could do with what you sent up.”
The point of this story is to remind
us that the more we do for
God on earth, the more treasure
we will store up in Heaven.
But we shouldn’t be discouraged
by our failures. As St Paul says, we
all fall short of the glory of God.
We must never forget that no matter
what we may have done, or
not done, God wants each of us to
be with him in Heaven.
Looking forward to the Year of Faith
Take up your cross and follow me
I remember a well-known
Pentecostal bishop in Nigeria
who lived in great affluence and
had many followers who
were wealthy.
This bishop used to say, “My
God is not a poor God. If you experience
Him and worship Him,
you will find great wealth and
riches for yourself and death will
not be your portion”.
I always wondered how those
who were struggling to survive
felt each time they heard this
message, and how a church
could be made of exclusively of
rich people.
Most importantly, how can a true Christian
not understand that death is part and parcel of
our faith We are born to die, and death is the
pathway to eternity.
Jesus gave us an emphatic condition for discipleship
when he said: “Anyone who wishes to
be a follower of mine, must renounce himself,
take up his cross and then follow me.”
The Christian vocation is a vocation of the
cross. Many people still interpret the cross as
some burden they must carry in their lives. This
might be when there is a strained relationship,
a physical illness, or great disappointment.
At such moments we still hear some people
say, “This is my cross, and I have to carry it.”
But understanding the cross in this way is not
what Jesus meant.
When Jesus carried his cross to be crucified, I
am sure that no one was considering the cross
as symbolic of a burden to carry in life.
Someone who lived in the first century must
have considered the cross as a piece of timber,
representing the most painful and humiliating
death anyone could undergo.
Over the centuries, Christians
deduced so many lessons from
the cross as a cherished symbol
of atonement, forgiveness, and
the sacrifice of love. Each time I
remember those powerful words
of Jesus from the cross I feel,
they are directed to me, especially
at tough moments, when I
struggle with letting go of hurt
and when the tendency to revenge
tend to weigh me down.
In 2008 Jimmy Mizen, a young
practising Catholic, was murdered
in a bakery in Lee. His mother
found strength in the cross and
her faith. She said, “Anger breeds
anger and bitterness will destroy my family, if I
am not careful. I will not let this happen.”
Anger and bitterness of sinful humanity led
Jesus to the cross, but he did not allow that to
blur his vision. He looked beyond and forgave
them all.
As we prepare for the Year of Faith, the message
of the cross, echoes again, and invites us
to engage with it and to see a new meaning in
Jesus’ invitation to “Take up your cross and follow
me”.
The proof of our discipleship will be is rooted
in our dying to self. The embrace of the cross
calls us to a total surrender.
It invites us to put Christ first before anything
else. For whoever wants to save his life
will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my
sake will save it.
This is not easy. The Pentecostal interpretation
of the Christian message, with its stress on
prosperity, can seem much more appealing.
But although the message of the cross is
tough, the reward is beyond any material
wealth. And God’s grace is there for us.
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Page 9

Features The Pilgrim October 2012
Catholic
storyline in
Downton
Abbey
The third series of the acclaimed drama
Downton Abbey, which begins this month on
ITV, will include a Catholic storyline.
However, writer Julian Fellowes, a
Catholic, has refused to give any details of
what this might involve.
What is known for definite is that the series
will be set in the Roaring Twenties and
Academy Award-winning actress Shirley
MacLaine will be joining the cast.
Film review
It’s not often the life of a saint gets the big
screen treatment. The latest is There be
Dragons, directed by Roland Joffee.
The saint in question is Josemaria Escriva,
founder of Opus Dei, canonised by Pope
John Paul II in 2002.
His story is told through the eyes of a
journalist who sets out to write a book
about him. He discovers his father had
grown up with Escriva and they had ended
up fighting on opposite sides in the Spanish
Civil War.
The film somehow fails to give us a real
sense of Escriva the man. The acting, the
script and the dialogue don’t feel natural
enough. And it lacks the drama of Joffee’s
other Catholic film, The Mission.
However, it has some good moments. As
the Communists start attacking churches,
we see Escriva holding confession in a park,
with people sitting next to him on a bench.
When a young woman offers him shelter,
adding that she only has a single room, he
says, “I’m a priest. But also I’m a man. But
thank you for your offer.”
And the film has one especially memorable
line: Every saint has a past and every
sinner a future.
Greg Watts
Correction
The article on page 10 in the September
edition of The Pilgrim about being a Catholic
writer was written by Joanna Bogle.
Making news on the net
Independent Catholic News has become
one of the leading Catholic news
web sites. Its founder Jo Siedlecka,
who runs it from her flat, explains
how it works.
I set up ICN in 2000, because I felt
there was a real need in the UK for a
professionally run Catholic news service
on the internet.
The idea was a response to Tertio Millennio
Adveniente, which called for lay
people to play a more active role in the
work of the Church. This was one way
to make a contribution.
Three other journalists with web design
experience: Mary Carson, Christy
Lawrence and Christopher Sleight,
helped to get the site off the ground.
Since we went live, hundreds of writers
have contributed to the site and we
went on to a content management system
two years ago – which makes it
much easier to work on.
Our readership has grown enormously.
From a few thousand to start with,
we now get more than 4.8 million hits
each month. I’m expecting we will
reach the five million mark each month
this autumn.
ICN publishes all the official Church
news from the Vatican, Bishops Conferences,
reports from the missions and so
forth. But we also like to have stories
from parishes, schools, community
groups and individuals.
More and more students are writing
for us and several teachers, governors
and pupils have started sending in news.
The great thing about the internet is
that it can be extremely immediate.
People send in reports and personal accounts
from pilgrimages or ongoing
events and we are able to post them up
immediately. We are getting more and
reports with links to You Tube films,
web cams or sound clips.
Besides carrying up-to-the minute
news, the website has reflections, a
saint of the day, listings, letters page,
shop, and a huge portal of links to other
Catholic sites.We also run an e-mail
service, which is especially useful for
people in the developing world who
may have trouble accessing the Internet
because of a shortage of electricity.
Several schools and seminaries overseas
print our news and saint of the day
each day and put it on their notice
boards. Others reprint pieces in their
newsletters and websites. We want to
be a useful resource for everyone.
The site is mainly funded by donations.
In the past two years we have begun
publishing classified ads and adverts
on the front page, which are beginning
to increase our income.
I chose the patron saints of journalists,
St Francis of Sales and Maximilian
Kolbe, as ICN’s patrons. They were
both prolific writers. St Francis once
said: “You can catch more flies with a
spoonful of honey than you can with
a bucket of vinegar” – which I try
to remember.
Our job is to report news and leave
the comments to others. St Maximilian,
a Polish Franciscan priest, set up a
Catholic publishing house and
newspapers in Poland and Japan.
He died in Auschwitz when he swapped
places with a young married man
with children.
The Vatican is supposed to be naming
a patron saint for computers. I hope
Cathedral concerts
they choose one soon, because the
technical side of running a website can
be a bit hair-raising at times.
ICN is a work in progress. If any readers
would like to contribute to the site
or make suggestions about ways it could
be developed please write to:
news@indcatholicnews.com or
jsiedlecka@gmail.com
www.independentcatholicnews.com
St George’s cathedral is hosting two Saturday concerts. Peter Wright,
organist and director of music at Southwark Anglican Cathedral will be
performing on 17 November and Norman Harper, organist at St George’s,
on 15 December.
The concerts take place, just after the end of 12.30 Mass. And last for
40 minutes.
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Page 10

The Pilgrim October 2012
Feature
School days:
Jeremy de Satge
Changes in China
The theme of this year’s annual
conference of the National Justice
and Peace Network Conference,
held in July at the Swanwick Conference
Centre in Derbyshire,
was “A New World Order China
today and our response.”
Rosalind Shea reports.
Home Camberwell.
Job Freelance singer,
composer and music publisher.
School I’d rather not
mention, it was so bad and
I was so unhappy there –
it was a boarding school.
Favourite subject Music.
Worst subject Sport,
if that is a subject.
Otherwise biology.
Favourite teacher No one
springs to mind.
Favourite school dinner
They were all dreadful.
Guilty secret I used to
disappear in the afternoons
to avoid playing sport.
What lessons about life
did you learn That education
really only starts once
you leave school.
What do you wish you had
been told That learning
should not be seen to be a
chore.
What did you do immediately
after school I was
lucky enough to do a gap six
months in France to learn
to speak French fluently.
What career advice would
you give to a young person
To try to do something
that is useful in life
and – if you possibly can –
something you enjoy doing.
So much of an adult’s life
is spent working and so
many people hate what
they do and see work as
simply a means to an end.
If work can somehow be
vocational, then so much
the better – and that is a
very Catholic view as well.
One of the most moving parts of the
conference was a workshop run by
Xinran, highlighting the trauma experienced
by Chinese women and
girls, both traditionally and because
of the government’s one child policy.
She has worked as a radio journalist
in China interviewing women.
Her books, including the best seller
The Good Women of China, publicise
and celebrate these hidden,
voiceless and despised women
whose girl babies were usually killed
or abandoned.
Her charity, The Mothers’ Bridge
of Love, connects the 120,000 babies,
mostly girls, adopted in the
West, with their Chinese heritage.
So that when these children ask
‘Why didn’t my Chinese mummy
want me” the answer is often,
‘Well actually she did.’
Our keynote speaker, Martin
Palmer, founder of the Alliance of
Religions and Conservation (ARC),
painted a vivid word picture of the
results of the cooperation between
the Chinese government and ARC.
Together they promoted the
“Three Sticks Movement” requiring
pilgrims to burn only three sticks of
incense to reduce pollution. And in
2008 a Chinese monk announced
that the birds are now returning to
the Sacred Mountains. “The curtain
of smoke around the temples was
removed. And we want even more
birds to come back,” he said.
I was amazed to learn that there
are 12 million Catholics in China,
openly attending Mass with men
training as priests in spite of certain
restrictions. A poignant moment
came when all 300 of us at the conference
shared a Skype call with
Sister Mary Liu, a newly professed
contemplative nun in a Chinese
convent, officially described as a
care home.
One of the best aspects of any
NJPN Conference is the many excellent
workshops. Some of us enjoyed
Tai Chi, Chinese calligraphy, and
Chinese poetry, and also gained insights
into many aspects of Chinese
life, politics, and culture.
And did you know that Cafod is at
work in China Jim Simmons from its
Southwark office showed slides of
his work in China, where a HIV /
Aids programme, approved by the
local government, is supported
by Cafod.
We were exhilarated and exhausted
by Sunday afternoon having experienced
an exciting dialogue with
Chinese university lecturers,
priests, sisters, lay people and students.
It was a steep learning curve.
It was good to hear a Chinese
scholar, new to NJPN, declare, “I
am so impressed that…. so many
people are so positive about China
and ways to engage with it.”
For further information go to
www.justice-and-peace.org.uk
Seeing the bigger picture
RUNNING A BUSINESS
You can reach 60,000 London area
customers by advertising in our
Westminster and Southwark papers
Tel. 0161 214 1216 and ask for Andrea
Laverne Hunt
Some film makers can inspire
us and help us to
see the bigger picture.
Internationally acclaimed
director Ousmane Sembene,
who died in 2007,
aged 84, was someone
who did this.
The Los Angeles Times
considered him one of
the greatest authors of
Africa. And he has often
been called the father of
African film. He illuminated
the way for ordinary
people.
He was a director that
always sought to promote
social change and
often had a satirical take
on life.
His career began small,
with two short films that
reflected his preoccupations:
in Borom Sarett
(1963), a taxi driver has
his cart confiscated for
entering an expensive
housing estate previously
occupied by the
French and now by the
new African bourgeoisie.
In his second film,
Niaye (1964), he denounced
the hypocrisy of
traditional African chiefs.
His most comedic film
was Xala (1975), made
in the wake of Senegal’s
independence from
France. It looks at financial
control of the government
and in
particular one official’s
quest to secure a third
wife with money illegitimately
gained.
When he discovers on
his wedding night that he
has been struck with a
“xala,” a curse of impotence,
he goes to comic
lengths to find the cause
and remove the xala.
But Sembene’s success
only came after many
struggles in life. He was
expelled from a colonial
school for striking a
French teacher and was
sent to his father’s family
in Dakar.
He worked in a variety
of dreadful jobs. In the
evening he would spend
his time reading and
going to the cinema.
He returned to Senegal
with an ambition to make
films to reach a rural,
often illiterate, public,
and was offered a scholarship.
At the time, Africans
were being represented
as “jungle bunnies” in
many mainstream Hollywood
films. It was difficult
to shift audiences to
accept the intelligent narrative
in his films.
Sembène's themes –
religion, colonialism, tradition,
capitalism, patriarchy
- can seem a little
dated. However, if we
look a little more closely
they all represent the
portrayal of power and
its use and abuse.
He sought to speak to
“all those exploited and
silenced by the combined
external forces of
colonialism and the internal
yoke of African
‘traditions’.”
Sembène’s films can
encourage young people
to contribute positively
to society in small ways
and make the world a
better place in which
to live.
They can help young
people to think about
the bigger picture and
less about what society
can give them but more
about what they can do
for it.
Page 11

The Pilgrim October 2012
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The spiritual aid agency
Sunday October 21 is World Mission
Sunday. Missio director
Canon Jim Cronin, the former
administrator at St George’s
Cathedral, explains how it supports
the Catholic Church
around the world.
Missio is very different to
Cafod. Cafod is about humanitarian
development and it doesn’t
need priests, religious or committed
lay people to deliver this. Any
NGO can deliver it.
Most of the aid agencies do fantastic
work, but they cannot
evangelise. You can’t take Government
money to spread the
Catholic faith. What we are about
is evangelisation.
For example, we are funding a
big project at the moment next to
the cathedral in Durban, South
Africa, where lots of migrants just
turn up. The project provides
meals, but also retreats and
courses in spirituality.
Missio is made up of the Association
for the Propagation of the
Faith, the Society of St Peter the
Apostle, and Holy Childhood/Mission
Together.
We tend to operate along colonial
lines, mainly funding the
Church in Africa, India and Sri
Lanka. Our work falls into three
parts: physical buildings, such as
churches schools and hospitals;
vocations and lay formation.
The money Catholics contribute
through the red boxes or parish
collections doesn’t go to Rome. It
goes to the nuncio of the country
where we are working and he
passes it to the local bishop.
A bishop in Africa told me he
had seen something where Water
Aid or someone was raising money.
“Cover Africa with bore
holes,” he said, “but not at the
expense of giving us the living waters
of the Gospel.”
That same bishop took me to a
diocesan centre, where he had
founded a street children’s project.
Because he had started it
some of the development agencies
were now giving him money
to run it.
As we were walking away, he
said, “Look back.” And when I
turned around I saw these girls
sitting at ancient sowing machines,
and underneath were two
babies asleep. They had been
abandoned in the street.
When I asked him what was the
difference between him and an
NGO running the project he said,
“We don’t just look after their
bodies. We also look after their
souls. Because in Africa people
are very spiritual we can use their
spirituality and love of God to rebuild
them as persons.
What the Church is about is
proclaiming the Word of God.
Pope John Paul 11 said the Church
invites; it never cajoles. And, of
course, this is what missionaries
do. They invite people to become
disciples of Jesus Christ.
But mission is not about putting
bottoms on benches, getting more
people into church. It’s getting
people to become disciples of Jesus
Christ, so they will do the
work of the Gospel. Jesus said go
out to the world and proclaim the
good news.
There are three strands of mission,
which all have to be held together.
The first is evangelisation,
the second is building up the community
and the third is carrying
out works of charity.
In February when I visited the
diocese of Hyderabad in India, I
met religious sisters who were
caring for young handicapped
girls. When I asked where the
Focus on faith
children came from one of the sisters
said, “The public hospitals
just give them to us.”
Most of the sisters I met in India
wear a traditional fawn or orange
sari. This is a way of remembering
the sisters who burnt to death in
Orissa, where Hindu nationalism
is on the rise.
“This is the colour of sacrifice,”
said one of the sisters. “They sacrificed
their lives and we are prepared
to sacrifice ours.”
When I was in Kenya I sat in a
classroom where a young sister
was teaching fifty children of different
abilities. All she had was a
text book and a piece of chalk.
And I’d never seen such a fantastic
lesson.
Tourism is now important in the
south of Kenya. That’s why we
have built classrooms so that
young people can be trained in
the kind of skills hotels need.
Girls learn how to make cloths
and curtains and how to be receptionists
and housekeepers. Boys
learn how to cook and how to
wait at table.
The project has been running
for three years and each year the
hotels have snapped up the
trainees. They now hold interviews
there.
Missio also tries to establish
links between Catholics in England
and Wales and countries
where we are working.
In June last year a lot of schools
took part in what we called a day
of many colours, based on the
mission rosary, which has a different
colour for each continent.
The idea was for children to
pray for children in other parts of
the world and also to raise funds
to help them.
When a head teacher asked
me if her school could e-mail
the children at a school we are
building in Malawi, I had to explain
that the school didn’t
have electricity.
But as Cardinal Turkson, who
will be visiting London in November,
said to me, “The greatest
threat to human development
is not material poverty; it’s spiritual
poverty.”
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