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NEWS
NEWS AND ANNOUNCEMENTS
RAISED ROSARY RESEARCH
Catherine Gordon has contacted (‘PP is
such a good read’) to ask about the decades
on the rosary featured on the cover of our
previous issue. As far as we are aware, that
boxwood rosary on the Mary Rose was
brought to the surface intact. But someone
among our readership could perhaps shed
further light on the matter.
BLANC DES BLANCS
Raymond Blanc, on crutches after
breaking his leg, recently visited
Gunwharf Quays in Portsmouth to
launch this year’s 3-day Hampshire Food
Festival [See inset]. In a recent interview
with the Guardian, the famous chef and
restauranteur spoke of his Catholic upbringing: ’Maman argued
a lot with my father because she is a guilty Catholic and he is an
atheist communist, but after 60 years of infighting their
arguments are less painful these days. What my father disliked
most was that my mother took us to Mass three times a week
when he wanted us to help in the garden. However, his views
about respecting other people no matter what faith or colour
have been passed on to me and particularly his respect for the
rigour of work’.
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‘UNSYSTEMATIC AND CONFUSED’
Pupil’s understanding of Christianity is both ‘unsystematic and
confused’, says Ofsted. ‘Many of the primary and secondary
schools visited did not pay sufficient attention to the progressive
investigation of the core beliefs of Christianity’, reports the UK’s
school inspectorate, Ofsted, in their latest report, Transforming
Religious Education, released 6th June 2010. Yet in well
performing schools, ‘imaginative use of challenging and
evocative resources stimulate(d) the pupils’ imagination and
encourage(d) them to explore their personal responses’.
SCULPTURE CULTURE
His Eminence The Cardinal and Most Rev
Vincent Nicholls and representatives from
across the Diocese witnessed, in a ceremony
conducted by Bishop Crispian, the unveiling
at St John’s Cathedral on 22 July of Philip
Jackson’s sculpture of St John the Evangelist [See PP Vol 09-5 p.
20]. Philip Jackson, seen here working on the maquette, is one
of the foremost figurative sculptors in Britain today, and is
already known to the people of Portsmouth for The Yomper, the
statue standing stoically on Southsea’s seafront.
The three-metre high statue of St John the Evangelist,
sponsored by the Friends of the Cathedral, has taken two years
to complete. Commenting on the event, Canon David Hopgood,
Dean of St John’s Cathedral, said: ‘The sculpture, standing
proudly outside our Cathedral, bears testimony to the vigour of
our faith. It is a statement to bring focus, attention and further
quality to the city of Portsmouth for the benefit of its
inhabitants and those visiting the city, be they of the Christian
faith, other faith or none’. Full report in our next issue.
AOS APPOINTS NEW NATIONAL DIRECTOR
Martin Foley, the charity’s new National
Director, formerly Chief Executive to the
charity LIFE (2005-2010) took up his post
on 1st June. Following his education at
Bishop Walsh RC School, Martin went on
to read law at Manchester University,
returning there after some years to
complete an MA in Health Care, Ethics and
Law. He practiced as a solicitor before
joining the House of Parliament as Clerk Martin Foley
to the All-Party Parliamentary Pro-Life
Group and Personal Assistant to Lord
Alton.
The Apostleship of the Sea, AOS, is a maritime welfare charity,
providing practical and pastoral support to seafarers, regardless
of race, colour or creed (if any).
Ninety percent of world trade is carried by ship, and some 100,000 seafarers
visit British ports each year. They are commonly away from home for nine
to 12 months at a time, suffering loneliness, depression and even
exploitation. They also have to work in gruelling and often dangerous
conditions. AOS chaplains and ship visitors welcome seafarers to our shores.
They recognise them as brothers with an intrinsic human dignity which can
be overlooked in the modern globalised maritime industry.
For more information visit www.apostleshipofthesea.org.uk
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PORTSMOUTH PEOPLE