Issue 01 - The Pilgrim - December 2011 - The newspaper of the Archdiocese of Southwark

Young Catholics on
their way to Wembley
Learning to
forgive yourself
What I learned
at school
Page 4
Page 8
Page 11
the
2012Pilgrim
50p
December 2011/ January
The newspaper of the Catholic Archdiocese of Southwark, covering south London and Kent
Be courageous in your faith
Looking back over the last eighteen
months since my installation
as Archbishop of Southwark, what
has really encouraged me is the
incredible faith and energy I have
found on my travels around the
diocese.
I have been struck by the fact
that so many parishes in south
London and Kent are vibrant and
hopeful, with dedicated priests,
religious and lay men and women
witnessing to the Gospel day by
day.
Southwark is very diverse and
in London particularly many of
our parishes are made up of people
from different cultures and
countries. And this gives a
tremendous richness to the life
and liturgy of our parishes.
We are blessed with committed
teachers in our Catholic schools
and colleges with the result that
they are full to overflowing with
talented and committed young
people.
All too often young people are
portrayed in negative terms in
the media. It seems that much of
the time we only hear about
gangs and knife crime.
What we don’t hear about is
the generosity, enthusiasm and
passion of so many young people.
I have seen this first hand in
parishes and schools and also at
World Youth Day and on our annual
diocesan pilgrimage to Lourdes.
And, of course, throughout the
Funeral of
Bishop Jukes
diocese we have a great variety
of voluntary groups, living out
the commandment to ‘love your
neighbour as yourself’.
So we have the resources and
the examples in parishes, our
diocesan agencies and schools to
help us all to deepen our faith
and to grow in love, and to learn
from each other how to live out
that commandment which is so
essential to our faith.
Pope Benedict’s visit in September
2010 provided a great
boost to our confidence as
Catholics. And many who don’t
share our faith recognised him as
a man of simplicity, prayer, openness
and deep faith in the love
and mercy of God.
One of his key messages was
that we Catholics need to rediscover
the joy of believing, encouraging
us to renew our enthusiasm
for communicating with
confidence the powerful message
of the gospel - a message of joy
and hope – to those we live and
work with.
To do that, we, as individuals
and as parish communities must
ourselves be convinced of that
message and have, as St Peter
says in his first letter, the
courage to ‘always have your answer
ready for people who ask
you the reason for the hope you
all have ... and give it with courtesy
and respect and with a clear
conscience.’
Advent is the season when we
have the opportunity to hear
afresh the joy and hope that
Christ’s coming brought to the
world; his message that God
loves every person with an unconditional
love. He says to each
of us, ‘You are precious in my
sight and I love you.’
Yet in these uncertain times it
is so easy for us to be discouraged
and downhearted, failing to
see that there is real light, hope
and goodness not just in the
Church but also among so many
people who don’t share our faith.
My hope is that The Pilgrim
will not only help us all to know
more about all the good things
we do in the diocese, but will
also be a means of helping us to
grow in our faith and understand
more how the teaching of the
Church can help us live fuller
lives.
Then we will be better
equipped to be confidently
Catholic and have the means to
sow the seed of the Gospel in the
fertile ground in the communities
we live in.
If that seems a challenge too
far, then listen again to the
words of Jesus: ‘Courage! Do not
be afraid. I am with you until
the end of time.’
We have nothing to fear. Each
one of us – no matter what our
failings are - just has to open
ourselves each day to God and
allow him to work through us.
Bishops and priests from
across the country celebrated
the requiem Mass for Bishop
John Jukes at St George’s
Cathedral on December 6.
Bishop Jukes served as the
auxiliary bishop for the Kent
area of the Southwark archdiocese
from 1980 to 1998.
He died on 22 November,
aged 88, in Aberdeenshire,
where he had retired to.
Before his requiem Mass in
the cathedral, Franciscan vespers
was celebrated. Bishop
Jukes had spent 65 years as a
member the Order of Friars
Minor Conventual.
See obituary on page 11

Editorial The Pilgrim December 2011/January 2012
the
2012Pilgrim
50p
December 2011/ January The newspaper of the Catholic Archdiocese of Southwark, covering s
The Archdiocese of Southwark
Archbishop Peter Smith
020 7928-2495
archbishop@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
020 7928-2495
pilgrim@rcsouthwark.co.uk
Advertising: Chris Morley
0161 488-1743
chris.morley@totalcatholic.net
Distribution: Andrea Black
0161 488-1716
andrea.black@totalcatholic.net
Print management, design and
distribution by The Universe Media
Group Ltd
When I was sitting in the TV
studio at Al Jazeera last year,
waiting to be interviewed
about the abuse crisis in the
Church, the presenter, a
Catholic, leaned across and
said, ‘Who is advising the
Church on how it handles the
media’
She was frustrated that so
often the only stories in the
media about the Church are
negative ones.
Yet she told me that, as a
reporter, she had witnessed
the fantastic work being done
by the Church around the
world.
I knew what she meant. As
Catholics, we have many good
stories to tell, but we have
not been very good at doing
this.
This is one of the reasons
The Pilgrim has been
launched. Although this first
edition is dated December
and January, the paper will
appear each month. It has
three aims:
to reflect Catholic life and
values through news and
features to provide a channel
of communication for the
diocese to be a vehicle for
catechesis and faith development.
To put it another way, The
Pilgrim will try to inform, educate,
entertain and inspire.
We’ll explore faith, family
life, liturgy, books, film,
music, art, history and much
more.
Of course, we now live in
the internet age, so an online
edition will be soon available.
The 188 parishes in south
London and Kent that make
up the diocese of Southwark
are incredibly varied.
They cover the inner city,
leafy suburbs, small towns
Telling good news
and villages and ports and
coastal resorts.
The masthead has been
designed to reflect this. Red
represents the urban areas,
green the rural areas and
blue the Thames and the sea.
A priest once quipped to
me, ‘Catholicism isn’t a shorthop
religion; it’s a long-haul
one.’ This is why the paper is
called The Pilgrim.
For faith is a journey, not a
destination.
And the idea of being a
pilgrim also reaches back into
the history of our diocese,
evoking Chaucer’s characters
making their way from
London to Canterbury.
Today, pilgrims from all
over the world have made
their home in London and
Kent. It’s not uncommon for
some churches on a Sunday
morning to have thirty or
forty nationalities in the
congregation.
Apart from its diversity, another
feature of Southwark is
its excellent schools. And as
Dr Anne Bamford says on page
4, we should do more to flag
up their achievements.
I am especially keen for
young Catholics to write for
The Pilgrim, or to provide
photos. If any young person
is interested in a career in
journalism, this is an excellent
way to gain experience.
It’s how I began my career in
the media.
That reporter at Al Jazeera
was spot on when she said
In October, around a thousand
Catholics took part in a walk of
witness from Westminster Cathedral
to St George's Cathedral
,there were fantastic things
happening in the Church.
So let’s tell some of those
stories. If you have any news,
want to contribute an article,
or have any comments, then I
would like to hear from you.
Greg Watts
Answering the call to priesthood
Fr Stephen Langridge,
Southwark Vocations Director
There are good things happening
in Southwark with regard to vocations
to the priesthood. In 2005
we only had a total of ten seminarians.
By the start of this academic
year the number had
increased to 23. Everything being
well, we can look forward to six
ordinations next summer.
One of the reasons for this remarkable
growth in the number
of priestly vocations has been a
subtle shift in our understanding
of vocations ministry. We might
characterise this as a move away
from a policy of recruitment towards
one of discernment.
Pope Benedict, speaking about
vocations in 2006, reminded us
that ‘we cannot simply recruit
people by using the right kind of
publicity or the correct type of
strategy’. In other words, vocations
work isn’t about designing
bigger and better posters or more
snazzy websites.
A vocation finds its origin not in
a poster but in the call of God.
So, the Holy Father went on to
say, ‘The call which comes from
the heart of God must always find
its way into the heart of man’.
This is what we mean by discernment:
the willingness of an
individual to step back from the
distractions of everyday life and
enter into his own heart. It is
here, in prayer, that the ‘still
small voice’ of God’s call can be
heard and it is also here that the
courage to respond joyfully will
be found.
Thus the Pope concluded, ‘precisely
so that it may reach into
hearts, our cooperation is
needed’. In other words, vocations
promotion needs to consist
primarily in giving young people
opportunities to develop their relationship
with God and to come
together in prayer.
In Southwark an important part
of our vocations work is the ‘Quo
Vadis’ group of young people from
16 – 24 years old who meet once
a month.
Inspired by World Youth Day,
the meetings, which are open to
men and women, consist of a
short catechesis, a meal and a
period of Eucharistic Adoration.
In August this year eighty-five
young people joined the Quo
Vadis pilgrimage to Madrid for
World Youth Day.
Apart from catechesis and a
time for prayer the group also offers
young people considering
their vocation the chance to
get to know each other.
This fellowship is important
because one of the themes of our
vocations work in the diocese is
friendship.
Recently I was talking to a
young man who applied to his
diocese after taking part in
our activities while an undergraduate.
‘My parents and all my friends
at university thought I was mad”,
he said. ‘I just want you to know
that without your work I wouldn’t
have had the courage to persevere.’
The Quo Vadis group is an important
support to both men and
women as they consider God’s
call.
Of course it is not true that the
shift in perspective from recruitment
to discernment means we
have given up on promotion
activities.
This year we trained a number
of young people to speak in
parishes for Good Shepherd Sunday.
We called the project ‘Vocation
Voices’ and we look forward
to developing it further next year.
We have also piloted the
‘School Vocation Project’,
encouraging Year 6 pupils to interview
a priest and a religious
sister and then to take part in an
essay competition with prizes for
the best entries.
And we have also just launched
The Calling, a 20-minute DVD following
a young man as he begins
to discern his vocation.
We are hoping that this will be
used in schools and parishes
across the diocese and to this end
we have included some lesson
plans for teachers and catechists.
Prayer is the foundation of
everything that we do and we are
particularly grateful to the many
parishes in Southwark who offer
holy hours for our work.
We are also grateful to those
who subsidise our work with their
generous donations to the Southwark
Vocations Office.
Page 2

The Pilgrim December 2011/January 2012
News
Plan to restore historic church
of Parliament’s architecht
An appeal has been launched to restore
the church in Ramsgate
where one of the architects of the
Houses of Parliament is buried.
St Augustine’s church in Ramsgate
was built by Augustus Welby
Pugin, regarded as a major figure
in the nineteenth century Gothic
revival.
As well as designing 40 churches
and seven cathedrals, he worked
on the Houses of Parliament. When
he died in 1852, he left St Augustine’s
to the diocese and people of
Ramsgate.
Up until last year, the church was
in the care of the Benedictines of
St Augustine’s Abbey. The order
will soon move to a new monastery
at Chilworth near Guildford.
English Heritage Lottery Fund
has provided a grant towards the
TV midnight Mass
at St Georges
Midnight Mass on Christmas Eve at St
George’s Cathedral will be broadcast
live on BBC 1 TV.
Doors will open at 11.30 pm.
The Mass will be preceded by a carol
service.
church’s restoration. To raise additional
money, the Friends of St Augustine
was set up in March.
They launched an appeal at the
House of Lords in November.
Amongst those who attended were
broadcaster Alistair Stewart, a former
pupil of St Augustine’s School,
and Lord Pendry, a former parishioner
of St Augustine’s.
Father Marcus Holden, one of the
Friends, said, ‘St Augustine’s
church is significant at so many
levels: spiritually it’s the monument
of St Augustine’s landing, historically
it’s a centre piece of the
19th century Catholic revival, architecturally
it’s Pugin’s masterpiece
and artistically it’s full of his
best.’
For more information, visit
www.augustinefriends.co.uk
New parish centre in Tenterden
A new parish centre at St Andrew’s
church in Tenterden
has been officially opened and
blessed by Archbishop Peter
Smith.
The building, which has
taken six years of fund raising,
provides facilities for meetings
and seating for 130.
‘The number of parishioners
has been growing steadily in
recent years but the space
constraints of our existing facilities
have restricted our
ability to host events,’ said
Monsignor Edward Hill.
‘We hope that local community
groups will begin to use
the Hall and we will be taking
bookings in early 2012.’
Damian Green, MP for Ashford,
the mayors of Tenterden and
Ashford, and representatives
from other churches were
among the guests who attended
a reception following
the opening.
Breakfast is the
business at Sacred
Heart school
Sacred Heart school in Camberwell
is running monthly
business breakfasts for sixth
form students.
The idea is to give students
an opportunity to meet people
from different professional
backgrounds and chat
about their own careers.
Editor of The Pilgrim Greg
Watts will be joining the students
for their next breakfast
on December 16.
Archbishop backs
winter fuel for
needy campaign
Archbishop Peter Smith is
supporting a campaign for
people to donate their winter
fuel payments to those in
more need.
The campaign has been
launched by Kennington charity
The Capital Community
Foundation. It says that the
donations will help many
older people to stay warm,
safe and healthy.
‘This is an excellent way to
make a difference to the lives
of some of the most vulnerable
people in London,’ said
Archbishop Smith.
www.survivingwinter
london.org.uk
Nun tackles trafficking
rise at migration seminar
A campaigning nun from Rome
spoke about the rise in human
trafficking at a seminar in Amigo
Hall to launch the Catholic
Migration Forum on December 1.
Sister Eugenia Bonetti from the
Union of Major Superiors countertrafficking
office in Rome spoke
of how human trafficking is a
form of modern-day slavery.
Sister Eugenia has established a
network of religious sisters who
offer shelter and pastoral care in
Italy to women who have been
trafficked.
Bishop Pat Lynch, chair of the
Bishops’ Conference Office for
Migration Policy, spoke about the
Church’s prophetic mission
‘Human trafficking is a serious
problem and we want to alert
parishes and parishioners,
especially in the run up to the
Newspaper adopts primary
school to promote reading
St Mary’s Catholic Primary
School in Battersea has been
chosen by London Evening Standard
for a campaign to encourage
children to read more.
The newspaper plans to
provide reading mentors for the
pupils at the school, as part of
its ‘Get London Reading’ campaign.
Olympics. There is help available.
For example, the Met operate a
helpine.
‘The question for me is
twofold: how can we as the
Church help with the rescue,
rehabilitation and re-integration
of victims and how can we
press for stronger measures
for prevention, protection and
prosecution’
Other participants in the
seminar included Baroness Patricia
Scotland and Detective Inspector
Kevin Hyland, head of the
Metropolitan Police’s anti-trafficking
unit.
The Office for Migration Policy
is working in partnership with the
Metropolitan Police to raise
awareness of the impact of
human trafficking in the UK and
the rest of the word.
The majority of the 188 children
are African or Eastern
European and don’t speak English
as a first language.
In its report published in July,
Ofsted commented that St
Mary’s had been through a
period of instability but was
now a rapidly improving
school.
Page 3

The Pilgrim December 2011/January 2012
News
New Catholic web
radio station soon
A Catholic internet radio
station is to be launched next
Spring.
Heart Gives Unto Heart, the
Catholic internet radio which
broadcast during the Papal
Visit, will be based at St
John’s Seminary, Wonersh,
near Guildford.
Fancy taking part in
a Nativity fun run
Cafod is inviting people to
dress up as nativity characters
for a fun run around Clapham
Common.
The 5 km run starts at the
bandstand on Clapham Common
at 10.30 am on December
17. Afterwards, runners will be
revived by Christmas Carols,
mince pies and Pimms at the
Windmill Pub.
Entry is £10 for adults and £5
for under 18s.
Talk will explore
difficult questions
Difficult questions in Church
doctrine will be explored in a
talk by Sister Anne Griffiths
at Amigo Hall, St George’s
Cathedral, on December 14th
at 7 pm. Admission is free,
but donations are welcome.
Pope announces
a ‘Year of Faith’
Pope Benedict XVI has announced
a special ‘Year of
Faith’ to help Catholics deepen
their relationship with God and
strengthen their commitment to
sharing faith with others.
The year will begin October 11,
2012, and conclude on November
24, 2013, the feast of Christ
the King.
Tickets selling fast for Wembley Youth Congress
Young Catholics are
being urged to book
now for Flame National
Youth Congress at Wembley
Arena on 24
March.
Around 6,000 of the
10,000 have already
been sold.
The event will consist
of live music, prayer
and speakers, including
Archbishop Vincent
Nichols, Fr Timothy
Radcliffe and Barry and
Margaret Mizen.
It is hoped that more
parishes and schools
will organise groups
attend.
For more information,
phone Southwark
Catholic Youth Service
on 01227 272900 or
e-mail info@scys.org.uk
Better promotion needed
for our Catholic schools
Catholic schools should promote
the good work they are doing
much more, says Dr Anne Bamford,
director of education for
the archdiocese of Southwark.
‘The best way to promote
Catholic education is to show off
what you do. We have Masses and
concerts and so on, but we also
need to highlight other things,
such as our achievements in
mathematics, or achievements in
social integration in the playground.
‘So I’m really encouraging the
Indecisive who, will
take part in the event
schools to be more out there in
showing what they do. When I
visit schools I’m always amazed
at the wonderful things happening
in schools. But these are
often kept very quiet.’
Dr Bamford took up her post in
September after a career in academia.
She was previously Professor
at the University of the
Arts London and Director of the
International Research Agency.
She says she wants to encourage
young Catholics to take a
greater role in the decision
making in education.
‘The Commission for Schools
and Colleges has never really involved
young people in its decision
making processes. So I’m
setting up a young person’s commission,
which I think will be really
exciting.
‘We will try to have a few
events in the year where the
young people get an opportunity
to come together and get a sense
of being part of something much
bigger than their particular
school.
‘When I speak with young people
I’m always impressed at how
perceptive they are. They are in
schools five days a week for
seven hours a day.
They can make very profound
observations.
‘One of the real strengths of
the Catholic Church is its
strength and depth.
I read somewhere that there
are more children being educated
in Catholic schools around
the world than the population of
Italy.
Seminary ordinations
A former civil servant and a
former accountancy student will
be ordained to the diaconate on
December 17 at St John’s Seminary,
Wonersh.
Before entering seminary, Kurt
Barragan, 30, (left) from Chessington,
worked for HM Courts
Service. Oladele Craig, 36, from
Woolwich, obtained a degree in
physics at university in Nigeria
before studying accountancy in
London.
Both men are due to be
ordained priests for the archdiocese
of Southwark next year.
New film
explores the
history and
impact of
Catholicism
Mass marks Dover
school’s 50 years
St Edmund’s Catholic
School in Dover marked
the beginning of its 50th
year at the annual feast
day Mass of St Edmund of
Abingdon, the school’s Patron,
on November 18th.
Bishop John Hine led
priests and deacons of the
Dover Deanery in the
celebration, held at St
Peter and St Paul, a
nearby Anglican church.
Hamlet in
New Malden
Pupils at Richard Challoner
School in New
Malden starred in a
shortened version of
Hamlet devised for
young people.
The play was performed
in the school’s
studio theatre. It will
go on tour next year to
Budapest as part of
the 2012 International
Shakespeare Year.
Do you find it
hard to pray
Father Michael Beattie
SJ will be sharing his
insights into personal
prayer at St Patrick’s
Church, Plumstead, at
all Masses on January 14
and 15.
Father Beattie is the
national director of
Apostleship of Prayer, an
international Catholic
movement which began
in France in 1844.
Workshop will teach
children Gregorian chant
How to teach children
Gregorian chant will be
explored in a workshop on
February 7 at Coloma
Convent Girls’ School in
Croydon.
Composer and singer Jeremy
de Satgé will lead the
workshop, which is part of a
study day on the eucharist in
the school and parish.
This event is organised by
the Association of Catholic
Women and is open to teachers
in Catholic primary and
secondary schools, leaders
of children’s liturgy groups,
and all who work with young
people in Catholic parishes
and organisations.
www.associationofcatholicwomen.co.uk
A film exploring the history
and global impact of Catholicism
will be the focal point of
a new course for those wanting
to gain a deeper understand of
their faith.
Catholicism: Journey Around
the World and into the Faith is
presented by Father Robert
Barron, founder of Word on
Fire Catholic Ministries in Illinois,
USA.
Topics featured in the film
will be used for discussion and
catechesis.
The 11-week course begins
on Thursday January 12, 7.30
– 9 pm, at the Christian Education
Centre, 21 Tooting Bec
Road, SW17.
Page 4

The Pilgrim December 2011/January 2012
Features
Christians in Holy Land fight
for survival
John Pontifex
When Christians attend Midnight
Mass in Bethlehem this year many
will have mixed emotions. For
they face a continuing struggle to
remain in the land of Christ’s
birth.
In recent years, Christians have
been leaving the region in large
numbers. With so much political
turmoil in the Arab world, it
would take very little for that ongoing
emigration to turn into a
mass exodus.
Until now, the West has largely
ignored this aspect of a changing
Middle East, but this could soon
alter if decreasing numbers mean
the Church is forced to forfeit its
invaluable role as a force for reconciliation
in a region frequently
fraught with tension.
In a pastoral letter timed to
coincide with Pope Benedict XVI’s
pilgrimage to the Holy Land, His
Beatitude Fouad Twai, the Latin
Patriarch gave figures showing
that Christians in Bethlehem had
declined from 85 percent in 1948
to 12 percent. Similarly, Palestinian
Christians as a whole had declined
from 53 percent to less
than two per cent.
The problems experienced by
Christians in the Holy Land vary
significantly from place to place.
Because of the so-called ‘security
barrier’ or ‘separation wall’, between
the West Bank and Israel,
Palestinians – both Christian and
Muslims – living in Bethlehem
complain of feeling a million
miles away from Jerusalem even
though it’s only five miles away.
Commenting on the new barrier,
Patriarch Twal said. ‘We
have a new generation of Christians
who cannot visit the holy
places of their faith, which are
just a few kilometres from where
they live.’
Speaking to Aid to the Church
in Need staff at the Pope’s summer
residence of Castel Gandolfo,
Vatican Secretary of State
Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone said
that the Church in the Middle
East was ‘threatened in its very
existence’.
Through visits to the region
and closer ties with leading
clergy and lay alike, however,
ACN has discovered something
unexpected: that, despite the
physical hardships, despite the
emigration, despite the acts of
intolerance, those faithful who
stay in the region are determined
to bear witness to Christ in the
land of his birth.
High on a hilltop overlooking
Bethlehem is the Latin Patriarchate
of Jerusalem Seminary
where as many as 80 students are
preparing for the priesthood.
Seminarian Narwan Azeez Hassan,
a 20-year-old basketball fan,
said that he took the decision to
stay and study for the priesthood
when his family emigrated to the
USA. The family begged him to
come too but he had other ideas.
‘I want to give people here the
example that Jesus gives us – to
show love and courage. The
priest has to show courage,’ he
said.
Elsewhere, Tele Lumiere, the
Christian television station, is
watched throughout the Middle
East and has peak-time viewing
figures of 20 million.
Its director, Jacques F El-
Kallassi, said it has a special
focus on prayer, ‘Prayer groups
began us and sustain us. They are
like antennas on knees, enabling
us to continue broadcasting and
expand our work.’
ACN provides help to Christians
throughout the Holy Land. For
example, it has also helped repair
the Syrian Orthodox church
overlooking Manger Square in
Bethlehem as well as a number of
other churches in Galilee.
It also supports The Solidarity
Village, a project providing young
Christian families with low-cost
housing in East Jerusalem, an
area with soaring property
prices.
Key to the development of the
project was Fr William Shomali,
now Auxiliary Bishop of
Jerusalem, who described it as
‘vital’ for the future presence of
Christians in the area.
Fr Werenfried van Straaten
founded ACN on Christmas Day in
1947. His words are as relevant
now as when they were first spoken:
‘A thousand times a year the
story of Bethlehem is repeated –
the story of uncaring innkeepers
and well-heeled citizens closed
off in their self-sufficient world.
And a thousand times a year their
doors are closed against the
direst need – a need which is in
fact the need of Christ.’
John Pontifex is UK Head of
Press and Information for Aid to
the Church in Need.
There are an estimated 90,000 Christians in
the Palestinian Territories and 190,000 in Israel.
The majority are either Catholic or Orthodox.
Catholics belong to six communities: Latin, Greek
Melkite, Syriac, Armenian, Maronite and Chaldean.
Page 5

From the first Su
translation of th
at Mass. Father
the Christian Ed
explains the rea
Following the Second V
(in Latin, of course) wa
The new English transla
The translators (know
for English in the Liturg
provisional, subject to
yet more confusion, an
Although the translat
the Missal in English ine
version was soon widel
Very often, it paraph
lating accurately; the q
too often it sounded lik
erent worship of God;
the phrases were obscu
substituted for ‘and wi
Letters); frequently, th
was oversimplified (dif
ing’, ‘communio’ and s
the emphasis and focus
compare the beginning
tion (‘We come to you,
fore, most merciful Fa
So from the early 198
tion. This time, rather
some thirty years to pr
now using, and indeed
In one sense it could
of being old-fashioned,
dition (the faith hande
Peter, the Popes).
It could also be desc
makes the theology an
Behind the scenes The Pilgrim December 2011/January 2012
And with your spirit – introduc
In the new translation, the response
‘And also with you’ has been
changed to ‘And with your
spirit’.‘And with your spirit’ is an
accurate translation of the Latin ‘et
cum spirito tuo’. Remember that
we are part of the Latin Rite
Church, and we use an English translation
of the Latin Mass.
It was decided at the Second Vatican
Council that Mass could be
translated into the language of the
country concerned.
Previously Mass was always celebrated
in Latin, but it was felt that
people could not understand it, and
so were not participating properly.
But we should remember that even
in English – or Welsh, or French, or
Yoruba, or Fanti, or whatever - it is
always a translation of the Roman
Rite, which belongs to the Bishop of
Rome (the Pope). We are not free
to compose our own version of Mass
in English. It is more Biblical. Look
up for yourself Ruth 2:4 for ‘The
Lord be with you’, and the ends of
St Paul’s Letters to the Galatians,
Philippians, Philemon & 2 Timothy
for ‘And with your spirit.’
The previous translation of ‘And
also with you’ simply ignores the
Biblical origin of this part of Mass. If
you go through the new translation,
you will see time and again how the
revised wordings pick out much
more clearly how the various parts
of the Mass are very much based on
the sacred scriptures.
It is more ecumenical. Almost all
of the historic Churches which have
retained the ‘one, holy, catholic,
and apostolic’ order of the Church –
the Orthodox Churches, the Eastern
Churches, etc – have (in their own
language) the response equivalent
to ‘And with your spirit’.
With the revised words, the English
speaking Catholic Church is now
in tune with fellow Christians in
these other Churches.
It is more universal. Speakers of
French, Spanish, German, Italian
and other languages already answer
with the equivalent of ‘And with
your spirit’. There is no good reason
why English speakers should be out
of step with the rest of the Church,
which should be catholic (or ‘universal’).
Some people have suggested that
ordinary people will not be able to
understand the new words, but if
speakers of other languages can,
why should English speakers be unable
to
It reconnects us with the tradition.
Although the Mass was reworked,
and new translations made,
after the Second Vatican Council, it
was not a completely new Mass, but
a reformed or renewed Order of
Mass.
Likewise, the new translation is a
revised translation, but it is not a
new Liturgy or a new Mass: everything
else bar the translation stays
the same.
It is doctrinally clearer, because
the new translation “And with your
spirit” makes it plainer that the
priest is not acting in his own name
but only through the grace he has
received from God at his ordination.
The priest is only able to preside
at Mass through the Holy Spirit working
in him. Many of the new words
and phrases, especially in the Eucharistic
Prayers, recapture the
wonderful depth of our Catholic understanding
of the Mass.
The priest’s greeting ‘The Lord be
with you’ and our response “And
with your spirit” occur five times in
Mass, and are concerned with the
presence of Christ.
At the beginning of Mass, these
words both remind us that Christ is
present in Priest and people when
they gather to celebrate Mass, and
also help to bring that presence
about (by praying that it should be
so).
Before the Gospel, the greeting
again invokes the particular presence
of Christ in the proclamation of
the Gospel.
At the beginning of the Eucharistic
Prayer, it invokes the special presence
of Christ in the offerings of
bread and wine, which become His
Body and Blood.
At the Sign of Peace, the words
precede our most solemn Communion
with Christ Himself. which we
must go out to bring Christ to others.
For more information, I recommend
two small booklets from CTS.
‘Understanding the Roman Missal’
is by Dom Cuthbert Johnson, OSB,
and is priced £1.95.‘Companion to
the Order of Mass’ is by Mgr Bruce
Harbert and is £2.50.
Page 6

The Pilgrim December 2011/January 2012
Behind the scenes
ing the new Missal
nday of Advent a new
e Roman Missal will be used
David Gibbons, director of
ucation Centre in Tooting,
sons for this.
atican Council, the revised Order of Mass
s promulgated by Pope Paul VI in 1970.
tion was produced in 1973.
n as ICEL, the International Commission
y) wanted the new Missal in English to be
later revision, but the bishops did not want
d so it was never revised.
ors did their best, the haste to produce
vitably caused problems. The new English
y criticised:
rased the Latin original, rather than transuality
of the English was, at best, variable:
e civil servants’ minutes, rather than revometimes,
the Biblical origin of most of
red (for example, ‘and also with you’ was
th your spirit’, which comes from St Paul’s
e wealth and subtlety of the Roman Mass
ferent concepts such as ‘sacrifice’, ‘offero
on were translated simply as ‘eucharist’);
seemed to be on us rather than on God:
of the Roman Canon in the previous transla-
Father, …’) and in the new (‘To you, therether,
…’).
0s, translators embarked on a revised translathan
being produced in haste, it has taken
oduce the 2011 Roman Missal, which we are
it has been frustrating waiting for it.
be described as traditionalist, not in the sense
but in the strict sense of returning to the trad
on from Christ through the successors of S
ibed as radical, in that the new translation
teaching of the Second Vatican Council much
clearer than it was before.
Finally, unlike the previous translation the new one has been designed
to sound better when read aloud, not to read well on the
page.
The Mass, after all, is something we celebrate out loud, not something
we simply read to ourselves.
Now that we are getting used to the new words, let us begin to see
how they help us to understand Mass more clearly, and therefore to
participate more fully, all the better to receive the wonderful graces
the Lord gives us in this sacrament.
Page 7

Features The Pilgrim December 2011/January 2012
Learning to forgive yourself
John Pridmore is a former East
End gangster who now tours
parishes, schools and prisons
with a message of hope. His
book From Gangland to Promised
Land has become a bestseller.
To grow spiritually, he
says, you have to learn to forgive
yourself.
It took me a long time before
I was able to forgive myself. I
went through years of turmoil
over the crimes and violence I’d
committed. I was filled with so
much shame that I used to feel
that I was evil.
One day a man came up to
me and said, ‘You think you’re
God.’
I didn’t know what he meant.
‘I don’t think I’m God,’ I said.
‘Then why do you judge yourself
so harshly’ Only God is
the judge, and he’s much more
merciful than you are to yourself.
So forgive yourself.’
His words hit me right between
the eyes. And from that
point on, I started to see myself
as God sees me: a broken individual
in need of healing.
It’s sometimes easier to forgive
others than yourself. But
unless you learn to forgive
yourself you will never grow
spiritually and become the person
you are meant to be.
We need to remember that
there is nothing we do that can
shock God. No matter what we
might have done, or not done,
God still offers us forgiveness.
This is my main message
when I give talks in prisons. I
once went to a category A
prison on the Isle of Sheppey in
Kent.
One of the prison officers
told me that sixty per cent of
the inmates were in for life and
the rest for ten years or more.
‘Many of them are in for murder,’
he added grimly.
Walking into the chapel, I saw
about 40 guys sitting there,
their faces impassive. With
their bulging biceps, tattoos
and shaved heads, I knew the
macho world in which they
lived.
When I reached the front of
the chapel, I knelt down and
prayed silently.
I began my talk by telling
them how I’d been exactly
where they were. I’d been very
violent and just concerned
about my reputation. And I’d
reached a point where I almost
had no conscience.
‘But I found something that
was far more powerful,’ I said.
‘I found the grace of love, and
it destroyed violence and anger.
It’s sometimes said that real
men don’t cry. But I cried
when I met Jesus personally.’
By the time I’d finished the
talk, many of these hard men
were wiping tears from their
eyes. I knew that they felt
there were hope and a reason
to live.
They saw that there was a
God and, despite what they
may have done, they could be
forgiven. It’s easy to look at
men like this as the lowest of
the low. The media often likes
to depict them as ‘monsters’.
But the reality was that they
are wounded and broken children,
like each one of us.
The truth is that none of us is
worthy of the love of God, but
God still loves us. He loves us
because of who he is not because
of what we have done.
But being able to forgive
yourself doesn’t happen
overnight. It can be a long
process, as I know from
experience.
Turning my attention to God
after being involved in so much
violence and crime was a real
battle at first. Gradually,
though, through prayer, I began
to change.
When I went to a retreat at
Aylesford Priory, the first talk I
heard was called Give Me Your
Wounded Heart. I listened to a
priest explain how every sin we
commit is like a wound in our
heart.
I was filled with real sorrow
for my sins. But more than
this, I felt an incredible joy. I
felt God say to me, ‘John, I
love you so much that I would
die over and over again for
you.’
I felt overwhelmed by how an
innocent man had died for me
personally, so that my sins
could be forgiven.
We can change if we humbly
ask God to help us. He wants
each of us to be a new
creation. And he invites us to
change now, not tomorrow.
God’s grace is available to
each of us. And it’s available at
this very moment.
John Pridmore with his book Gangland to Promised land
Pilgrim Places – St Edmund’s
Chapel, Dover
In the first of a series on places of pilgrimage in the archdiocese
of Southwark, Alannah Powell discovers a littleknown
medieval chapel in Dover.
Dover is known as the gateway to Europe. However, there is
far more to the town than just chalk cliffs and ferries.
Tucked away in Priory Road, is one of the oldest chapels in
the country.
St Edmund’s Chapel owes its origin to Augustinian friars
from the town’s Priory of St Martin who decided that a
chapel was needed to accompany the previously established
cemetery for the poor.
Its purpose was to provide a resting place for pilgrims visiting
the shrine of Thomas à Becket in Canterbury, as well as
a sanctuary for the poor.
Bishop Richard of Chichester consecrated the chapel in
1253 in honor of St Edmund of Abingdon, who had dedicated
his life to the poor and needy.
A small relic of St Edmund in the south wall niche was
donated by the Abbey of Pontigny, France, which houses his
shrine.
Nowadays, the St Edmund of Abington Memorial Trust
cares for the chapel. Christian unity vigils are held on alternate
Saturdays each month, as well as a candlelit service for
the feast days St Richard and St Edmund.
For more information
visit www.stedmundschapel.co.uk
Pic: Charles DP Miller
Page 8

The Pilgrim December 2011/January 2012
Features
Hosanna and the High Street
Fr Denis McBride, C.Ss.R.
In Advent we enter a new liturgical
year, leaving another year behind
us. This season resets the
clocks and calendars of Christian
worship as Advent summons us to
a new beginning. And as we move
towards Christmas time people
worry about all sorts of things. I
don’t know about you, but these
are some of the questions I’ve
heard and some I ask myself:
1. Will the weather hold up
2. Where will we go at Christmas
3. Should we attend church
4. Will we survive the relatives m
and in-laws coming to stay
5. Will we eat or drink too much,
say the wrong thing
6. Will we manage a smile when
we open the gift-wrapping
7. Will we still manage after unwrapping
the third pair of seasonal
socks
8. Will we survive Christmas dinner
without someone saying, “I
never liked you”
9. Will it be a dreary old time or
a good time
10. What will we remember of
this Christmas
11. Will this Christmas have anything
to do with Christ
And, of course, there is the
worry about presents, about what
to give this one or that one; and
you hear relatives and friends politely
checking your pyjama size
or your slipper size for predictable
gifts. One mother told
me she knew she was getting old
when one of her children
solemnly presented her with a set
No plaster saints
David Payne, Director of CaFE
(Catholic Faith Exploration), says
making of a new six-part DVD on
the saints has stretched his faith
and broadened his horizons.
During the Papal visit last year,
in his address to young people at
St Mary’s University College in
Twickenham, Pope Benedict said,
‘I hope that among those of you
listening to me today there are
some of the future saints of the
twenty-first century.’
We at CaFE have responded with
a twelve-month project to produce
a TV-quality resource to go
behind the myths and discover the
men and women who have shaped
our faith. We were tempted to
call the new series ‘Knocking the
Plaster off the Saints!’ but in the
end decided on something more
subtle.
In the introduction to the series
I reveal that my mum was a convert
from Methodism and Dad was
Anglican, and, though I encountered
Jesus in my mid twenties
and returned to the Church and
the sacraments, I never really got
the saints.
So I set out on a journey to discover
the men and women behind
the myths. The film, shot on various
locations around Europe, takes
us on a journey of faith.
The six-section series begins in
Ireland with St Patrick and focuses
upon the proclamation of the
Good News. There are testimonies
from people who are living the
spirit of St Patrick today, one of
whom is Rob Clarke, the director
of Spirit Radio, a Christian station
broadcasting the Good News
throughout Ireland.
From Ireland we travel to Italy
and meet Fr Christopher Jamison
who introduces us to St Benedict.
Filmed at Monte Cassino
monastery and the famous cave in
Subiaco, we begin to get in touch
with St Benedict.
Staying in Italy but picking up a
very different theme, we go to Assisi
where Archbishop Domenico
Sorrentino speaks very movingly
about St Francis.
There are moving stories of lives
that have been inspired by St
Francis either in traditional religious
life, such as Fr Emmanuel
Mansford working in a soup
kitchen in London’s East End, or
through ordinary lay people living
out Franciscan spirituality in their
everyday work at an inner-city
drop-in centre for asylum seekers
in Leeds.
In Siena, our exploration takes
on a more mystical note as we discover
the radical holiness of the
lay vocation through St Catherine.
Her life and teaching is explained
by two university lecturers, Ralph
Martin from the Sacred Heart
Seminary in Detriot, USA and Sr
Catherine Joseph Droite from the
Angelicum in Rome.
The scenery then changes as we
move to Spain and meet Fr Nick
King SJ who explains how St Ignatius
of Loyola can help us to
grow in discernment in our everyday
lives. St Ignatius is ‘put to the
test’ as we film students in Imperial
College, London being helped
by Ignatian spirituality in the university
chaplaincy.
Finally we travel to Lisieux in
France to encounter the simplicity
of faith modelled by St Thérèse.
Fr Iain Matthew and Fr Michael
McGoldrick reflect upon St
Thérèse from their Carmelite perspective.
We then we see the spirituality
of the Little Way being
lived very dynamically in the life
of an RE teacher working in a
tough boys school in South London.
These are only a few of the
many inspiring interviews that we
have filmed. The topics that develop
as we travel through the history
of the Church are profound
and vital to all of our lives today.
I have had the privilege of filming
in some amazing places and interviewing
many fascinating
people. It feels as if I have actually
encountered the saints themselves
in this way. I am definitely
now totally ‘converted’ to them
and feel that I have gained six
new friends whose witness, teaching
and intercession are becoming
invaluable to me.
of thermal underwear for
Christmas. (She binned it, she
told me, in protest).
The high streets start in late
October with all the decorative
paraphernalia, ensuring that by
the time the real feast of Christmas
arrives, everyone is weary of
Christmas trees, fairy lights and
decorations and canned carols.
The retail theatre is putting on
another show; it’s now time to
move on to a different drama, to
the Boxing Day sales and promises
of bargains galore.
To say nothing of the opportunity
to return those woefully misjudged
presents.
While the commercial world is
delighted to borrow this Christian
feast for its own purposes, it is
shy about admitting the reason
behind the festivities.
Images of the birth of Christ
rarely appear in shop windows:
scenes from fairy tales or smiling
vampires in moonlight or Santa’s
secret castle are more likely to
be displayed for people’s wonder.
Cards tend to proclaim
“Season’s Greetings” rather than
“Happy Christmas” – lest anyone
imagine for a moment that a
Christian festival is being celebrated,
lest anyone get agitated
about the trading world promoting
a politically incorrect religious
memory.
If observant Martians came to
interpret our Christmas celebration,
they would be hard pressed,
unless they were archaeologists
or palaeontologists, to uncover its
original meaning.
The Church’s liturgy of Advent
has a hard time competing with
larger and louder signs and symbols.
The liturgy’s visual concession
to have an Advent wreath
and the gradual lighting of four or
five candles seems somewhat
tame compared to the explosion
of ornamental lights switched on
by celebrities, followed by exorbitant
displays of decorations.
Why wait four weeks, to see
four candles lit when you can see
an instant eruption of light fantastic
in late October displayed
for people’s wonder
Gathering weekly in church to
celebrate the cycle of the Advent
liturgy has the feel of a diminishing
protest about it. Observing
the Advent season has become an
act of stubborn faith to honour
the birth of Jesus in the midst of
collective forgetfulness. When it
comes to Advent and Christmas
we live in a culture of elected
amnesia.
At the heart of the Advent season
is the recognition that we are
a people unashamedly centred on
God, waiting for God; we gather
to celebrate the coming of God in
Jesus and wait for the return of
Jesus at the end of time.
As we look back and look forward
in the liturgy there is structured
dissent from the pervading
culture that everything that is of
value is happening now.
We express our belief, through
a community setting of narration
and performance, that we all
have a greater power than ourselves
to genuflect before, something
grander than our own
experience to bow down before,
something higher than our own
insight to acknowledge, something
that is beyond us yet is mysteriously
part of ourselves.
During Advent we confess our
own incompleteness and acknowledge
that there is always more to
God than what we can know or
believe or sense.
In that recognition there is a
proclamation of hope in the majestic
goodness of God.
In Advent, in waiting, we
declare our hope in God’s kind
purposes.
Father Denis McBride is author
of Journeying Towards Jesus in
Advent, published by Redemptorist
Publications, priced
£10.95.
Page 9

Features The Pilgrim December 2011/January 2012
Tired of Hollywood blockbusters
By Alannah Powell
If you are fed up with Hollywood
blockbusters and
want gritty portrayals of
human life, then take a
look at what film makers
from other countries can
offer.
One film that will set
your heart pounding is City
of God, Fernando Meirelles’
interpretation of poverty
and survival in the lawless
slums of Rio.
Meirelles explains that his
own experiences of Brazil
were vastly different to the
film he made.
‘Reading Paulo Lins’ City
of God was like a revelation.
I believed I knew all
about social apartheid in
Brazil until I read the book.
I realized that we, from the
middle class, are unable to
see what is going right in
front of our noses.’
His shock at learning this
was the very thing that ignited
his interest in making
the film. The characters
are charismatic and confident;
some likeable, others
not. However, amid this
fast-paced movie of one
gang member’s struggle to
escape the favela is a simple
message: violence simply
breeds more violence.
The theme of violence
and its devastating effects
is also prevalent in Isao
Takahata’s, Grave of the
Fireflies, which tells the
story of teenage Seita and
his younger sister Setsuko,
who are made motherless
and homeless by the firebombing
of Kobe, Japan, at
the end of World War Two.
Great care is taken in visually
communicating the
hardship of wartime life.
Film critic Jurge Fauth described
it as, ‘one of the
most devastating anti-war
films ever made.’
Pedro Almodovar explores
the theme of family in his
1999 movie, All About My
Mother. The maternal role,
in particular, is highlighted,
through the quirky characters,
including transvestites,
prostitutes and nuns,
who live outside of the conventional
restraints of life,
yet are made humane by
the relatable motherhood
storylines within the plot.
There is no real male influence
in the movie, as the
focus is on the female nurturing
instinct and their relationships
with their
children, be they natural or
otherwise.
The message, as film
critic Roger Ebert suggests,
is that, ‘families are where
you find them and how you
make them.’
In his 2002 film Talk to
Her Almodovar highlights
the way the sensitivity that
men posses is often oppressed
by the masculine
expectations of stereotypical
societies.
Talk to Her addresses this
issue though the story of
two men who devote their
lives to caring for the
women they love, who are
both in comas.
The spiritual message of
the film is that men are as
capable of emotion as
women.
Finally, the theme of nurturing
is superficially discussed
in Brian Gilbert’s
little-known 1991 film, Not
Without My Daughter.
The story follows the
struggle of Betty and her
daughter, Mahtob, as they
visit Iran, the birthplace of
Betty’s husband, Moody.
Upon their departure,
Moody announces that they
will stay in Iran and live as
Iranian citizens; their return
to America will not be
Above: Poverty and survival
are depicted in City of God
and (below right) wars
impact on children as
realised in Grave of the
Fireflies
happening.
If you feel frustrated with
Betty and dislike towards
Moody, dig a little deeper.
In its exploration of Islamic
society, Not Without my
Daughter raises questions
about our perception of
prejudice.
So, the next time you are
looking for a film that will
provide more than cliché
storylines and special effects,
then look beyond
Hollywood.
Theatre group a big hit in schools
By CB Martin
Annie is a teenager, and pregnant.
Scared and confused, she
confides in her father – whose disappointment
at his own ‘baby’
having a baby translates itself
into anger.
Her boyfriend Joe takes a week
to build up the courage to tell his
mother about the pregnancy.
When he does, his world is rocked
to discover that she herself had
been moments away from having
him aborted.
As the story unfolds, a hall full
of year 11s – chatting, pushing,
laughing just a few minutes ago –
watch silent, gripped and intense.
In one way or another,
these teenagers can all relate to
Annie and Joe’s story.
Ten Ten is an award-winning
Catholic educational charity
which uses drama to communicate
to the hearts and minds of
young people, their parents and
their teachers. It takes its name
from John 10:10 (‘I have come
that they may have life, and have
it to the full’).
The core of Ten Ten’s work is an
underlying Christian ethos that
young people should be given
every opportunity to live life to
the full. Their plays and workshops
explore the nature of love
and personal responsibility, commitment,
respect and the dignity
of human life.
Established in 2007, Ten Ten’s
roots go back 20 years to when
founder Martin O’Brien – an actor
himself – was working at a diocesan
youth retreat centre.
‘Whilst there, I was encouraged
to write plays for schools, to help
young people understand their
faith and place in the world,’
Martin explains.
He moved onto writing and producing
new plays professionally,
but was regularly asked to write
more dramas for young people.
‘I started Ten Ten as a way to
bring together those two different
experiences of work. I would
like to think that what makes Ten
Ten special is that we explore
matters of faith and Christian living
by producing drama, workshops
and education resources of
the highest quality,’ he adds.
Certainly, within the space of
four years, it has gained an outstanding
reputation for its work in
primary and secondary schools,
using resources that are both
faithful to Church teaching and
rooted in the experiences of
young people.
Throughout the academic year,
Ten Ten has two teams touring nationally,
one visiting primary
schools and one visiting secondary
schools.
The primary school programme
is currently expanding because it
has become so popular. In the last
academic year, Ten Ten teams
worked with over 70,000 children
and young people – and demand is
increasing.
The Archdiocese of Southwark
has had close ties to Ten Ten since
the charity’s early days, and welcomed
its teams into many
schools.
What teachers appreciate in
particular is the actors’ ability to
address difficult issues in a
thought-provoking and nonpreachy
way which young people
can relate to.
‘It has been such an inspiration!’
said Alyson Rodrigues of Our
Lady Immaculate School in Surbiton.
‘Catholic teaching at
school can only benefit in this
secular world we find ourselves.
One of the answers to the Holy
Father’s ‘New Evangelisation’,
the impetus of Ten Ten is just
excellent.’
St Thomas More School in
Eltham has a particular closeness
to Ten Ten, having partnered
them since the beginning. The
school even provided valuable
dress rehearsal and feedback opportunities
recently, when the
whole team spent four days trialling
the plays, workshops and
teacher resources there.
Ten Ten also has well-established
links with Southwark’s education
department and has
presented at their conferences.
Christine Edwards, the archdiocese’s
Primary Schools Adviser,
has described their conference
presence as ‘truly inspirational’.
One of Ten Ten’s visions is to
enhance home-school links within
a parish, and a particular selling
point of their primary school visits
is that parents are also involved.
After dropping their children at
school, mothers and fathers are
invited to watch a part of each
play that will be performed during
the day; this leads onto a discussion
about the issues the
actors will be addressing during
the day, so the parents (who are
also given question ideas) can discuss
them further when the children
get home.
‘I was blown away by your performance
and workshop,’ wrote
one parent afterwards. ‘I can
barely express how fantastic I
thought it was.
I loved the dedication and spirituality
that shone through the
two actors and the
message/teaching in each play.’
Above all, the impact Ten Ten
has on young people can be profound
and lasting. One 12-yearold
girl reported: ‘It was the best
RE lesson I have had all year. It
made me think better about myself
‘looking through the eyes of
God’.’
An added value for many
schools is that is that Ten Ten
plays link to the whole curriculum,
not just to RE, and help address
many issues that young
people are often unwilling to explore
with adults.
‘I liked the way it made me
think about how love is more than
just a feeling, but it is an action
as well,’ said one 13-year-old boy.
‘Sex is a gift and we should give
ourselves to the right person, not
just anyone.’
Page 10

The Pilgrim December 2011/January 2012
School days: Nana Anto-Awuakye
Name: Nana Anto-Awuakye.
Home: Ladywell.
Job: Senior Media Officer, Cafod.
School Virgo Fidelis, Norwood and
St Michael’s, Bermondsey.
Favourite subject English Literature
and History.
Worst subject Maths.
Favourite teacher Madam Fletcher,
because she opened my eyes to the
beauty of literature and she tried to
teach us about the world outside of
school. I remember she said once: “See
a tiger in its natural habitat before they
become extinct; experience riding a
horse; and there’s nothing wrong with a
man who uses his hands to earn a
living” (the 80’s yuppie period was
happening at the time).
Favourite school dinner Liver and
bacon – I know! But because of that.
I still love it and make it at home for
my family.
Guilty secret None that I can think of.
Might need to rack my brain for those
bike-shed moments!
What lessons about life did you learn
Always do your best, no matter what
Obituary – Bishop John Jukes
Auxiliary Bishop Emeritus John Jukes
of Southwark will be especially
remembered as someone who sought
to bring the insights of Catholic social
teaching to business and industry.
The eldest of three children, John
was born in Eltham on August 7th,
1923, and was educated at St Joseph’s
Academy, Blackheath.
After a spell in the civil service, he
entered the Order of Friars Minor Conventual
in 1946. He went on to study
philosophy at the Gregorian University
in Rome and theology at the Pontifical
Faculty of St Bonaventure.
Following ordination in 1952, at St.
Anthony of Padua, Mossley Hill, Liverpool,
he was appointed rector of St
Bonaventure’s seminary and novitiate
in Beaumaris, Anglesey.
In 1959 he was made parish priest of
St Clare’s, Manchester and in 1964
took charge of of St Patrick’s, Waterloo.
He moved to Canterbury in 1969 and
your doing, acceptance of the other, to
hold onto faith when life feels cruel and
mean and to believe that you can make
a difference in the world.
What do you wish you had been told
Perhaps more about the power of
Catholic social teaching and how, as
Catholics, this truly is a great way to
inform how we respond to the world.
I’ve learnt more about this working
with Cafod then I did at school. I’m
was one of the founders of the Franciscan
International Study Centre.
He helped lead parish missions in
Kent, once quipping that the first task
was to convert the parish priest. When
he knocked on the door of one house,
the woman immediately led him down
to the cellar - she thought he was calling
to read the electricity meter.
In 1979 Pope John Paul II appointed
him Auxiliary Bishop of Southwark with
pastoral responsibility for Kent. His responsibilities
included chairing the
Kent Southwark Diocese Schools Commission
and co-ordinating the work of
the vicars for religious.
He served for 20 years as chairman
of the bishops’ committee for the
world of work.
He was passionate in his belief that
Catholic social teaching had a valuable
contribution to make to the understanding
of work in society.
After his mother became ill, she
went to live with him at The
glad that today, young Catholic people
learn about Catholic social teaching in
dynamic and interesting ways in
schools.
What did you do immediately after
school
After A levels, I went on to higher
education and did a degree in Humanities,
with English literature and history
being my core subjects and then a postgraduate
course in radio journalism.
Hermitage in West Malling, Kent. The
house was piled high with books. John
wore his trademark woolly hat both indoors
and outdoors. Although a follower
of St Francis, he had little time
for the rabbits that invaded his garden.
When he retired in 1998, he had no
intention of returning to parish life.
However, in 2002, when Bishop
Mario Conti of Aberdeen asked him to
become parish priest of Huntly, Banff
and Portsoy, he accepted, taking on responsibility
for around 300 Catholics,
scattered across 200 square miles,
who had been without a resident
priest for six years.
That same year, fellow bishops and
over 70 priests joined him at Aylesford
Priory in Kent to celebrate his golden
jubilee of the priesthood.
Long distance walking and mountain
climbing were two of his passions. He
was particularly fond of Skye, where
he would camp out in the church’s
sacristy and cook lobster.
Greg Watts
Feature
Book review
Finding your
hidden treasure
Many of us nowadays find it difficult to
be still and silent. We prefer to lose
ourselves in business.
In Finding Your Hidden Treasure Augustinian
priest Benignus O’Rourke attempts
to show why silence and stillness are vital
to becoming whole and encountering God.
In his introduction, he talks about how a
visit to a Cistercian monastery in Ireland
when he was a child cast a powerful spell
on him.
In exploring how to find this stillness and
silence than monks have, he draws on the
writings of St Augustine other thinkers and
stories from everyday life.
O’Rourke is writing not just for practising
Christians but for anyone trying to
make sense of their life and learn to pray.
There are two golden rules to prayer, he
suggests: that we should pray as we can,
not as we think we ought, and that the less
we pray, the harder it gets.
He says that we are all broken and that if
we want to grow, then we need to heal
those painful memories that so often haunt
us.
He quotes the words of John O’-
Donoghue: ‘It is a wonderful day in life
when one is finally able to stand before
the long, deep mirror of one’s own reflection
and view oneself with forgiveness and
appreciation, with acceptance.’
This is a book packed with wisdom and
written in a simple and engaging style. And
its short chapters and size make it ideal for
reading on a bus or train journey.
Finding Your Hidden Treasure by Benignus
O’Rourke, published by DLT, no
price given.
Father Eric Mead served as a
priest for 46 years and will be
especially remembered by many
for the care he provided to the
sick. He made over 40 trips to
Lourdes as a chaplain to The
Handicapped Children’s Pilgrimage
Trust.
Eric was born in Brisbane,
Australia, on 24th March 1941.
His father had been stationed in
Hong Kong. Following the Japanese
advance, Eric’s mother left
Obituary – Fr Eric Mead
for Australia.
She returned to England in
1945 with Eric and his sister,
eventually settling in West Norwood.
After studies at St John’s
Seminary, Wonersh, Eric was ordained
at St. Matthew’s, West
Norwood, in 1965.
His first appointment was as
assistant priest at Holy Innocents,
Orpington, where he
served for nine years. He then
served at St Gertrude’s, South
Bermondsey; Sacred Heart,
Camberwell; St Joseph’s, Bromley;
and again at Holy Innocents,
Orpington.
During his second spell in
Orpington he returned to study
and completed an arts degree.
In 1984 he was made parish
priest of Our Lady of the Assumption,
Northfleet, a position
he held for over thirteen years.
He was appointed to St.
Anne’s, Cliftonville, in 1997,
where he served until his death
on November 1, aged 70.
Apart from acting as a chaplain
to HCPT, he was also chaplain
to HMS Belfast on the
Thames; the Catholic Nurses’
Guild; and the Divorced, Separated
and Bereaved group at
Aylesford. Eric’s interests included
literature, art, architecture,
and heraldry. He had his
own coat of arms. Up until recently,
he had been president of
the Cliftonville Rotary club.
Page 11

The Pilgrim December 2011/January 2012
Focus on faith
Rain, medicine and sailing boats
Young pilgrims from Southwark relaxing in Madrid
Eileen Cole of the Catholic
Communications Network reflects
on attending World Youth
Day in Madrid in August
Despite horizontal rain – driving
straight at the Holy Father –
multiple forked lightning, and
gusting, thrashing wind that lifted
more than one marquee, 1.5 million
young pilgrims stayed to pray
with the Pope at the World Youth
Day (WYD) vigil at the aptly
named Madrid airfield of Cuatro
Vientos (Four Winds) in the
evening of Saturday 19th August.
The rain came as a welcome
relief from the soaring daytime
temperatures, but wreaked havoc
on the venue.
We all looked on in helplessness
as aides struggled to shelter the
84-year-old Pontiff from the nearapocalyptic
downpour.
At one point they were shielding
him with four umbrellas. He
had to abandon his prepared
speech, and wait for calm to be
restored as firemen checked
scaffolding just metres away from
where he was sitting. But if the
young pilgrims were enduring the
storm, so would His Holiness.
Apparently it was suggested to
him no less than four times that
he should retire from the vigil,
but he wanted to stay and be
with his young people.
When the storm eventually
calmed, he said to them: “Thank
you for your joy and your resistance:
your strength is stronger
than the rain!”
When the magnificent Toledan
monstrance rose up from below
onto the stage that had been
transformed into a sanctuary, and
the Blessed Sacrament was displayed,
that battered airfield became
the biggest temple in the
world, a temple without walls.
The Pope and the WYD pilgrims
knelt in silent prayer for twenty
minutes. The power of a silence
sustained by 1.5 million people is
deeply moving, more moving than
the deafening roar of welcome
and song that met the Holy Father
on his arrival at the airfield.
The vigil ended with fireworks
bursting into the sky, and then
began the business of trying to
get some rest alongside 1.5 million
others.
But not everyone slept. Many
spent the best part of the night in
silent prayer before the Blessed
Sacrament in one of the 17
marquees set up for this purpose
around the airfield, or rather, in
the ones that hadn’t been dismantled
following storm damage.
Others huddled around candles
with their guitars and sang and
prayed their way through the
night.
Every pilgrim received in his or
her backpack a little box that
looked like a Spanish prescription
medicine named ‘No Greater
Love’. It actually contained a
crucifix.
The medical ‘instructions’ for
its use included dosage, sideeffects,
and explained: ‘Use the
crucifix before, during and after
WYD, it will be useful all your
life’ and added ‘The Cross of
Christ cures all spiritual sickness,
fruit of personal sin’.
The ‘active ingredient’ was described
as ‘God’s love for all
men, manifested perfectly in the
Cross of Christ, his most complete
self-giving’.
One of the Indications for Use
was: ‘If you are pregnant you will
understand the meaning of the
Cross in a very special way, as
you are suffering the discomforts
of your pregnancy for love, conscious
that his love is life and
gives life’.
On concluding the final Mass of
Mission, five young representatives
of the world received a crucifix
from the Pope.
For the first time at a WYD,
the Holy Father heard the confessions
of several pilgrims.
The ‘Festival of Forgiveness’
took place in the Retiro Park
(Madrid’s equivalent of Hyde
Park) and the WYD organizing
committee had come up with a
very imaginative confessional
design which, when two hundred
of them stretched into the distant
horizon in the park, looked
like a flotilla of sailing boats.
It was moving to see how joyful
the experience was, with priests
and penitents in their ‘sailing
boats’, some sitting on the
ground, others kneeling at the
grille.
In fact, one felt not only
moved but privileged to have
such a rare insight into this most
personal of encounters.
Yes, the 2011 WYD was a jubilant,
joyful fiesta, the energy of
the young people unfolding in
song and dance in the streets, on
the Metro, in the whirling banners
and flags, in the vibrant
colours of their clothes and the
smiles on their faces.
They realized that they were
not alone in their struggles.
I sincerely hope that many
young people from Southwark
will fly to Rio de Janeiro for the
next WYD in 2013. Let’s start saving
up for it now.
Pope Benedict XVI arrives for the
closing Mass
Page 12
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