Issue 38 - The Pilgrim - May 2015 - The newspaper of the Archdiocese of Southwark

Issue 38 May 2015
The world’s
parish priest
Page 6&7
Who was St
Teresa of Avila?
Page 10
Meeting people
of other faiths
Page 12
Urgent action needed to stop deaths
in the Mediterranean, says Bishop Pat
By Greg Watts
Bishop Pat has called for EU governments
to take urgent action to prevent
more deaths of migrants in the
Mediterranean Sea.
His call comes after hundreds of
migrants in overcrowded boats
heading for Europe from Libya
drowned in the Mediterranean in
April.
Last year, a total of 3,279 migrants
were killed as a result of
their journey across the sea to Europe.
The majority were attempting
to reach the Italian island of Lampedusa
or Malta.
“We call on all EU member states
to involve themselves in the relief
efforts and to work collaboratively
to find a swift, just, effective and
compassionate solution to these humanitarian
disasters,” said Bishop
Pat, who is the lead bishop for migration
of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference
of England and Wales.
According to the International Organisation
for Migration an estimated
21,000 migrants reached the
Italian coast between the start of
the year and mid-April, with 900
deaths. It said most of the migrants
appeared to be from Sub-Saharan
Africa, Eritrea, Somalia and Syria.
In 2013 the Italian navy set up a
search and rescue mission called
Mare Nostrum but it was abandoned
in November last year after some EU
members said they could not afford
it and amid concerns it was encouraging
more migrants.
“It is important that governments
including governments in Europe address
together the causes as well as
the phenomenon of mass migration
especially because of war and violence.
Helping to build peace is the
first priority,” said Bishop Pat.
Refugees trying to reach Europe,
he added, are desperate and in
many cases are being exploited by
criminal gangs who charge them to
board unsafe vessels. EU governments
need to tackle the criminal
gangs.
Bishop Pat added, “There now
millions of refugees and it is impossible
for other countries to receive
those kinds of numbers but the
wealthier countries might well be
able to take some especially some
of the most vulnerable, for example,
orphaned children and women
Martin Foley, director of Apostleship of the Sea in
Britain, said, “When Pope Francis addressed the
European Parliament in Strasbourg last year he said
that we cannot allow the Mediterranean to become
a vast cemetery.
“The tragic loss of life of so many in the
Mediterranean poses serious questions for EU
governments about how to deal with those
migrants who travel in boats through dangerous
waters to Europe in search of a better future.”
with their children.
“We must continue to support as
much as we can the organisations,
especially of the U.N. and The International
Catholic Migration Commission,
that do help refugees and who
do help the countries bearing the
brunt of this mass migration.”

Editorial
A fisherman’s story:
BBC TV at its best
By Greg Watts
Maybe it’s a sign of age, but I
often find myself dismayed at
the lack of quality programmes
on BBC TV. But over Easter the
Beeb showed just how good it
can be when it screened In the
Footsteps of St Peter.
Presented by David Suchet,
best known as the detective in
the acclaimed TV series Agatha
Christie’s Poirot, the two-part
programme revealed a far
more rounded and fascinating
picture of the fisherman who
became the first pope than I’ve
ever been given at Mass.
The engaging and thoughtful
Suchet began and ended his
journey in Rome, where Peter
is said to have been martyred
in 64 AD. In between, he traced
the life of Peter from the hills
of Galilee to Jerusalem.
Along the way, Suchet talked
to biblical scholars, historians
and archaeologists, who all
provided intriguing glimpses
into the kind of life Peter –
“Rocky”, as Suchet called him -
might have lived in the first
century.
Suchet’s questions were intelligent
and his reflections
thought provoking. He suggested
that far from being a
poor fisherman Peter was more
likely to have been an entrepeneur
with his own fishing
business. This was because
Peter would have had to be financially
secure to leave his
The Archdiocese of Southwark
Archbishop Peter Smith
020 7928-2495
archbishop@rcsouthwark.co.uk
www.rcsouthwark.co.uk
Area bishops
Episcopal vicar for Kent
Father Paul Mason
01732 845486
episcopalvicarkent@gmail.com
wife and dependents to follow
Jesus for three years.
Walking along the shore of
the Sea of Galilee, Suchet
mused, “Down the centuries,
water levels rise and fall but
walking along this shore, I feel
I’m following in Peter’s footsteps
and the gospels tell us
that somewhere here, Jesus recruited
Peter, his brother Andrew
and some of the other
fishermen to his cause. Come
follow me and I will send you
out to fish for people.”
Suchet also saw a fishing
boat which had been uncovered
after being preserved in
the mud for 2,000 years. The
curator said St Peter would
have probably fished in a similar
one. “That gave me such a
feeling of closeness to him and
his world,” said Suchet.
Suchet concluded that behind
Peter’s celebrity status
was “a strong-willed, devoted
but often flawed disciple”,
struggling to make sense of his
encounter with Jesus.
This was terrific TV, fulfilling
the BBC remit set out by Lord
Reith at its launch in 1922 to
inform, educate and entertain.
I just wish there were more
programmes like it.
bishop.hendricks@gmail.com
South-East London
Bishop Patrick Lynch
020 8297 9219
bishoplynch7@btinternet.com
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The Pilgrim May 2015
Seeing life
in a new way
By Bishop Paul Hendricks
There’s something very special about the Easter season.
At first, our thoughts are on the appearances of
Jesus after his resurrection from the dead, with their
sense of awe and mystery.
Approaching Pentecost we get a sense of his abiding
presence amongst his disciples for all time. In
Lent we were particularly aware of our need of God.
Knowing how often we fail, we saw what is lacking in
our Christian life. During Eastertide we celebrate
what Jesus has already achieved in us, despite our
limitations.
I’ve been wondering whether this change of perspective
from Lent to Easter is reflected in any way
in our stories, written or dramatised. There are
plenty of stories with a sense of struggle that is in
some ways appropriate to Lent.
The great adventures, such as Lord of the Rings,
are a quest or a journey - with a striving to achieve
and to win. Sacrifices may well be demanded, with
victory being gained, but only at a price - and this
too fits in with our experience of Lent.
I suppose in order to reflect the feeling of Eastertide,
a story would have to have a change in perspective,
where the characters arrive at a point where
they can look back on where they have come from,
and see it in a new way.
Perhaps they were dissatisfied with their life and
were looking for something more, but eventually
they realise that there was something already there
which they hadn’t seen before.
Such a story might in some way reflect the famous
words of T S Eliot in his poem Little Gidding: “We
shall not cease from exploration, and the end of all
our exploring will be to arrive where we started and
know the place for the first time.”
Or perhaps on a more spiritual note, the beautiful
words of St Augustine in his Confessions: “Late have I
loved you, O beauty ever ancient, ever new, late
have I loved you! You were within me, but I was outside,
and it was there that I searched for you. In my
unloveliness I plunged into the lovely things which
you created. You were with me, but I was not with
you. Created things kept me from you; yet if they
had not been in you they would not have been at all.”
There are plenty of stories which have a happy
ending after a struggle, but I find it difficult to think
of any which quite reflect the change in perspective
that I’ve been trying to describe.
Very often in stories, the main character grows in
insight and self-knowledge, but this usually involves
disillusionment in one way or another - as it did for
Elizabeth Bennett in Pride and Prejudice, with regard
to both her friend Charlotte and her erstwhile
admirer Wickham.
Perhaps The Shop Around the Corner or its sort-ofremake
You’ve Got Mail have something like it. Here
the two main characters dislike each other intensely
(in the flesh), but eventually realise that they’re the
same people who (via letters or emails) have discovered
depths in each other which they have come to
love.
Probably the nearest I can think of would be It’s a
Wonderful Life, where George Bailey comes to see
how much he already had, without realising it - as
Clarence the angel shows him how different things
would have been if he had never lived.
As we continue our journey through Eastertide and
beyond, you may like to consider whether you can
think of any better examples.
South-West London
Bishop Paul Hendricks
020 8643 8007
Editor: Greg Watts
pilgrim@rcsouthwark.co.uk
0208 776 9250
Print management, design and
distribution by The Universe
Media Group Ltd
Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan in the romantic comedy
You’ve Got Mail.
Page 2

The Pilgrim May 2015
Pupil runs
shopping area
A pupil at St Francis Catholic Primary School in Maidstone took over
a Canterbury shopping area for a day.
Elizabeth Cooper was put in charge of the Whitefriars shopping
area. The six-year-old was given the opportunity after coming top in
a creative writing competition.
Her tasks included taking a board meeting selecting a new hat for
security staff, checking on the operation of the CCTV room and conducting
a tour of the entire complex to ensure retailers were happy.
Centre manager Peter Scutt said: “Elizabeth handled the board
meeting very competently and was firm but fair in her letter to the
Easter Bunny explaining that his services were no longer required.
She was diplomatic and charming and took the day and all its challenges
in her stride.”
Learning about seafarers
Apostleship of the Sea (AoS)
wants to help pupils understand
the role seafarers play in their
lives and in the world they live
in.
An AoS chaplain and team of
volunteer ship visitors help seafarers
each week in ports on the
Medway and along the Kent coast.
AoS can provide a free speaker
to lead a school assembly to help
KS2 or KS3 students become
more aware of the importance of
seafarers in daily life and how
the Church offers help.
The assembly has been produced
by teachers and the Ten-
Ten theatre group and is in line
with the National Curriculum.
To book a speaker, or for
more information, contact
John Green, director of
development on 020 7012 8607
or 07505653801, or email
johngreen@apostleship
ofthesea.org.uk
Want to
be a
knight?
The Knights of St
Columba is seeking
new members. The
Catholic men’s
organisation holds
regular meetings
and is involved in a
range of charitable
work. Anyone
interested, should
phone 0141 883
5700 or visit
www.ksc.org.uk
News
Blackheath retreat
Over 50 young people from four parishes
attended a retreat at St Matthew Academy in
Blackheath.
The youngsters, from St John Fisher,
Kidbrooke; St Mary's, Blackheath; St Augustine's,
Beckenham; and St Peter's, Woolwich, were
preparing for the sacrament of Confirmation.
Nationalisation
evangelisation
conference
A national evangelisation event is to take in
Birmingham in July.
Around 850 people are expected to attend
the National Catholic Evangelisation Conference
at Birmingham Repertory Theatre on 11th July.
Part of the Proclaim ’15 initiative set up with
the Bishops’ Conference, it will feature workshops
and a number of speakers, including
Cardinal Vincent Nichols and Archbishop
Bernard Longley.
Catholics in Southwark diocese interested in
attending should contact Mark Nash:
mnash@ccftootingbec.org.uk
Addiscombe ordination
Archbishop Peter has ordained Keith Sylvia to the
priesthood at the Church of Our Lady of the
Annunciation in Addiscombe.
Fr Keith had been a priest in the Church of
England for twenty four years before he and his
wife Jacqueline became Catholics in 2013.
Page 3

News
The Pilgrim May 2015
Choir performs
in Belgium
New classrooms
The Ursuline Preparatory School in Wimbledon has opened a new
classroom block.
The building, which contains eight classrooms, was blessed and
dedicated by Canon John Clarke from The Sacred Heart Church in
Wimbledon.
Guests attending the event included Sr
Kathleen Colmer, the provincial of the Ursuline order in England,
and the Mayoress or Merton, Councillor Agatha Akyigyina.
The John Fisher School in Purley choir has performed
at two cathedrals in Belgium.
They sang in St Salvatore’s Cathedral in Bruges and
also in St Bavo’s Cathedral in Ghent. At both venues
they performed a selection of sacred music.
They also performed in Ypres town square, where
they sang medleys from Wicked and Les Miserables
and some songs from the First World War.
Praise for Bexleyheath school
St Catherine's Catholic School for Girls in
Bexleyheath is one of the best in the country for
student progress and attainment at GCSE.
The Schools, Students and Teachers Network
(SSAT), recently undertook its annual in-depth
analysis of official Department for Education data
on all state-funded schools in England and
identified St Catherine's Catholic School for
Girls’s success.
St Catherine’s has qualified for two SSAT
Educational Outcomes Awards by being in the top
10 per cent of schools nationally for progress
made by pupils between key stage 2 results at
primary school and GCSE results at age 16. It was
also in the top 10 per cent nationally for high
attainment
Dover students
support Cafod
The students, staff and families at St Edmund's
Catholic School in Dover raised over £600 for
CAFOD during Lent.
The school's house theme of faith in action saw
students undertake a number of fund raising
efforts.
Student Jake Brown said, “I feel proud to have
helped people who are less fortunate than us. It
costs £33 to pay for clean water for a family. We
are all one family, if the situation was reversed, I
would appreciate someone helping me."
Special visit
to Kent shrine
The prior general of the Carmelite Order has
visited the National Shrine of St Jude in
Faversham.
Fr. Fernando Millán Romeral visited the shrine to
officially launch its diamond jubilee. He unveiled a
plaque to celebrate its start of the diamond
jubilee and his visit.
He also met the team at the shrine office and
celebrated Mass in front of the 16th century statue
of St Jude.
The Pilgrim is online
The Pilgrim is now online, making it possible to read
all the editions since it was launched in 2011.
To view it, visit the diocesan website and click on a
lick on the left hand side of the page.
www.rcsouthwark.co.uk
Architecture
students inspect
Clapham spire
A group of architectural conservation students have inspected the
spire at St Mary’s Church in Clapham Common.
The 170-feet high spire of the church is currently undergoing
major repairs.
St Mary’s has been the centre of Catholic life in the Clapham
Common area for over 160 years. A Grade II listed building, it is
one of the major Victorian churches of South London.
Marriage MOT
Married couples have attended a marriage MOT.
The diocesan marriage enrichment day was
organised by the Marriage and Family Life team
and held at Holy Cross Preparatory School in New
Malden.
Governors’
conference
Southwark Education Commission has held its first
diocesan governor conference, at St Michael's
Catholic College in Bermondsey.
Representatives from both primary and secondary
sectors and delegates from 14 local
Authorities attended the day.
Delegates enjoyed the opportunity for
networking, prayer, reflection, and workshops to
refocus on their crucial role of governing our
diocesan schools.
See page 8
We want your news! Email your stories
to pilgrim@rcsouthwark.co.uk or
telephone 0208 776 9250.
Page 4

The Pilgrim May 2015
What does scripture say
about evangelization?
The fourth in a series about evangelization by Fr David Gibbons,
director of the diocesan Centre for Catholic Formation.
Last month we looked at the
Gospels to see what Jesus taught
about spreading the Good News.
What can we learn from the rest of
the scriptures?
The Acts of the Apostles is a
record of how the apostles - after
Christ’s Resurrection - set about
evangelizing. The book begins with
Christ’s Ascension, at which He
tells them “you will be my witnesses
not only in Jerusalem but
throughout Judaea and Samaria,
and indeed to the ends of the
earth” (Acts 1: 8).
This bearing witness was the
apostles’ primary function, and
likewise today it is the church’s
primary function. And there no
limits to this mission; likewise we
are called to reach out as far as
we can.
St Paul’s missionary journeys fill
much of Acts. In 1 Corinthians 9:
22 Paul reveals his modus
operandi: “I made myself all things
to all men in order to save some at
any cost”.
This is Paul’s version of Jesus’
being as cunning as serpents. It
means starting where people are
(not where we think they should
be). It means speaking their language,
in the sense of using words
that mean something to them.
It means answering the questions
and concerns they have (not
the questions we think they should
be asking): if someone is a reflective
sort of person, we can speak
of the meaning and purpose of
life; if someone is preoccupied
with their children, we can discuss
the values they wish to pass on to
them; if someone has a keen sense
of injustices, we can present them
with catholic social teaching; and
so on.
It means that we may take one
approach with younger people and
another with older people, addressing
married people in a different
way from single people, etc. It
means being fully aware of the culture
in which we live and instead
of always complaining about it
using it to our own advantage (or,
rather, to Christ’s advantage).
Acts relates the many sermons
and addresses delivered by St
Peter, St John, St Stephen and others
as well as St Paul. That is to
say, they knew their faith and had
the courage to speak of it, even at
personal risk.
If we are to transmit our faith
on to others, we too need to know
what our faith is; we can’t pass on
what we don’t possess. So we need
to take steps to learn as much as
we can about the Catholic faith,
by our reading (e.g. The Catechism
of the Catholic Church), by attending
courses such as those run
by the Centre for Catholic Formation,
and by discussing our faith
with others.
As 1 Peter 3:15 puts it, “always
be prepared to make a defence to
anyone who calls you to account
for the hope that is in you”.
We need also to be courageous
and imaginative in our evangelizing,
just like the apostles. We may
invite ridicule, we may have to inconvenience
ourselves, we may
have to bestir ourselves into action,
we may have to try out new
ways of spreading the Good News.
But if we ask the holy Spirit for
help, we shall be able to say with
Isaiah (50: 4) “the Lord has given
me a disciple’s tongue”.
Studying the Acts of the Apostles
would be a good way of forming a
parish evangelization team, for it
records how in merely 30 years the
Good News spread all the way
from Jerusalem to Rome.
Eustache Le Sueur,
The Preaching of
St Paul at Ephesus
Series feature
Page 5

Feature
The world’s first parish priest
Mark Nash, a formation adviser at the Centre for Catholic
Formation, analyses Pope Francis’s first two years in office.
The Pilgrim May 2015
The election of Jorge Mario
Bergoglio two years ago, as supreme
pontiff, broke the long line of
European popes. As was widely
reported at the time he was the
first non-European pope for over
1250 years (since Syrian-born Pope
Gregory III in 741), the first from
the Americas, the first Jesuit to hold
the Petrine office and, memorably,
the first to take the name Francis.
What’s in a name?
It was noted at the time of the
Pope’s election, and his adoption of
the name Francis, that no one had
dared to take the name of the
famous saint from Assisi: famous for
his foundation of the religious order
that bares his name, his simple and
humble life, his “rebuilding of the
Church”.
The story goes that, during the
election, Cardinal Claudio Hummes,
when the votes reached two thirds
and there was the usual applause,
gave the newly elected Holy Father
a hug and said: “Don’t forget the
poor!”
Care for and defence of the poor
and marginalised, as well as victims
of injustice has been a principal
theme of Pope Francis’ writings,
homilies and practical action as
Bishop of Rome, a title he identifies
with more than that of supreme
pontiff. The Franciscan motto of
poverty, simplicity and humility in
many ways forms the pattern and
the watermark for this pontificate
but did not start with his election.
While Archbishop of Buenos Aires,
Jorge Mario Bergoglio's gained a
reputation for personal simplicity
choosing to live in a simple
apartment rather than the
archbishop's palace, who gave up his
chauffeured limousine in favour of
the bus, and who cooked his own
meals.
This has served as the model for
his time as pope, living at the Casa
Santa Marta, a hostel for clerics
visiting the Vatican, eschewing the
apostolic place, using ordinary cars
around his diocese as well as on
papal visits. One of his first acts was
to celebrate Mass at the Church of
St Anne (the parish church for
Vatican employees) and greet them
all on the way out, as any parish
priest would do.
Concern for the poor and
marginalised
Fundamental to our understanding
of the Pope is his concern for the
sick and the poor. This concern was
a key part of the Aparecida
Document which the then Cardinal
Bergoglio co-authored after a
meeting of Latin American bishops
in 2007.
This central theme was picked up
in his apostolic exhortation,
Evangelii Gaudium (the Joy of the
Gospel) that has attracted so much
attention and generated such
enthusiasm in the Catholic world
and beyond:
Concern for the environment
It is anticipated that, later this
year, the Holy Father will publish an
encyclical on ecology and the
environment. In this the Holy Father
is following in the footsteps of his
predecessor Pope Emeritus Benedict
XVI who ensured that the Paul VI
Hall in the Vatican received
photovoltaic solar panels, spoke out
against climate change and advised
Italian students in 2011 to act as
“guardians of nature.”
The fact that the majority of the
world’s Catholics live in countries
most likely to be affected by
climate change make it a clear
priority for Pope Francis. Indeed,
the theme of climate change and its
disproportionately detrimental
effect on the world’s poor is likely
to feature prominently in his speech
to the United Nations this
September.
Pastoral visits
While we look ahead to the
proposed visit of the Holy Father to
the United States (as well as his
planned trips to France, Poland and
Indonesia among others), it is
instructive to look at those he has
already undertaken since his
election. Pope Francis’ first pastoral
visit outside of his diocese of Rome
was to the tiny island of Lampedusa.
The significance of this visit
cannot be understated; the island –
halfway between Italy and Tunisia –
is a gateway to Europe for Africans
fleeing poverty and conflict.
Hundreds of migrants have died
attempting the crossing, the Holy
Father’s address called for a
reawakening of consciences to the
“global indifference” of their plight.
The Holy Father’s trips to
countries outside of Italy have
likewise provided opportunities to
highlight themes prominent in this
pontificate. The first was the trip to
Brazil to celebrate World Youth Day
in Brazil (July 2013) where, at vigil
on the Copacabana Beach he called
on the 3.5 million pilgrims gathered
to live not as “part-time Christians”
but to lead full and meaningful lives.
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Page 6

Bi
The Pilgrim May 2015
Feature
Minors in 2013 (continuing the
strong work on safeguarding started
by Pope Benedict) demonstrate the
need to tackle problems in the
Church in order to strengthen the
witness to the Good News she
proclaims.
Spreading the Good News,
Impatiently!
The central theme of Evangelii
Gaudium, the apostolic exhortation
that followed the synod of 2012, is
the desperate need to communicate
the joy of faith and the person of
Christ to the world in which we live.
The Holy Father has called the
faithful to break out of our relative
comfort, to “be on the frontiers”
and to see the Church as a “field
hospital after a battle, providing
forgiveness and healing”.
It is in this vein that he has
announced a Jubilee Year of Mercy
(8th December 2015 to 20th
November 2016). Pope Benedict XVI
once remarked that Christianity is
not a list of negative proscriptions
but a positive option, a life-giving
source of joy and happiness.
Pope Francis is a ringing
endorsement of this statement. His
addresses give a clear sign to the
world that, in Jesus Christ, there is
an alternative to the “culture of
death” (address to the Secretary
General of the UN, May 2014), to
the “culture of waste” (General
Audience, June 2013) and to the
tyranny of unfettered capitalism.
Clearly, the spontaneity and
exuberance of this Pope is a marked
contrast to the deliberate and
carefully considered mannerisms of
his immediate predecessor, and for
many this has proved a challenge.
Amid all of the interviews, the
off-the-cuff homilies delivered at
his Vatican residence, the phone
calls to correspondents and
newspaper vendors we are, as Fr
Lombardi his chief spokesman
reminded us, to focus on the overall
sense of the Holy Father’s remarks
rather than analysing each and
every word.
In a recent interview, Pope
Francis suggested that he might only
be Pope for another couple of years.
We might suspect that this was said
with a twinkle in his eye. In many
regards he has changed the way we
see the papacy and become, in a
way, the world’s parish priest.
OVERSEAS TRIPS
2013
Brazil, World Youth Day.
2014
Holy Land, Korea, Albania,
Turkey, European
Parliament and Council of
Europe, Strasbourg, France.
2015
Sri Lanka and Philippines,
Bosnia Herzegovina.
This insistence on living an
integrated life of faith reiterates
the teaching contained in his first
encyclical Lumen Fidei (the Light of
Faith). The “work of four hands”,
Lumen Fidei was almost completed
by Pope Benedict XVI prior to his
resignation with further
contributions added by Francis,
highlighted religious faith as a
source of light amid darkness and
suffering, a means by which we can
distinguish between good and evil.
Trips to Israel, Jordan and
Palestine highlighted the Holy See’s
commitment to furthering the cause
of peace in the Middle East,
alleviating the plight of divided
communities as well as providing
the opportunity for the Holy Father
to meet with Patriarch Bartholomew
I to continue ecumenical dialogue
with the Orthodox.
The open air Mass on his trip to
the Philippines in January 2015 drew
crowds of millions on a trip
immediately following his visit to Sri
Lanka where he highlighted the
persecution of the Christian
minority, a cause he has taken up
particularly regarding the Middle
East.
Renewal in the Church
The sight of a group of advisory
cardinals regularly meeting to
discuss curial reform, the
challenging and occasionally
acrimonious debates at the synod on
the Family last year and Pope
Francis’ insistence on his role as
bishop of Rome, with a clearer
diocesan focus, have encouraged a
view of Vatican authority giving way
to a collegial and co-operative way
of working.
Indeed, Paul Vallely, author of
Pope Francis: Untying the Knots, has
suggested that Pope Francis is trying
to “devalue the coinage of papal
utterances” indicating that though
there is a particular and special
place for the Bishop of Rome there
is wisdom held elsewhere.
This is perhaps most clear in his
pronouncements on the need for
women to play a greater role in
Church leadership. Vatican Bank
reform and his establishment of the
Commission for the Protection of
Page 7

Education
The Pilgrim May 2015
School governors explore key issues
Stephen Bryan, deputy director:leadership and governance at the Education Commission,
says the first ever diocesan conference for school governors was a big success.
It was just an idea that took
off, as they tend to, and
ended with over 100 delegates
spending a day networking
and meeting fellow
governors.
It all started with the Excellence
documents - the new
five-year plan to guide the
work of the Education Commission.
I was given the remit
for writing the documents for
leadership and governance.
And it struck me that we
had a conference for head
teachers, another for deputy
head teachers, one for heads
of religious education, forums
for head teachers and local
authority representatives, but
nothing whatsoever for our
governors.
So it seemed a natural
thing to do, host a conference.
It was only then that I
discovered how little we
knew about our governors.
We planned, we consulted,
we drew up a timetable for
the day, booked speakers,
and organised workshops and
catering, we even managed
to secure Archbishop Peter.
Given his current schedule of
appointments, that was quite
an accomplishment.
The conference was advertised
using our normal channels,
the weekly mail out to
schools, and on the Education
Commission website, resulting
in 30 bookings.
So, after scouring the contact
information held at the
Education Commission and
finding the email addresses
we held for governors, we
tried again. Did you know
that Microsoft Office 365 has
a limit of 500 recipients for a
single email? No, neither did I
until I tried.
After sending several
batches of email invitations,
and receiving some rather interesting
responses, the numbers
started to grow, and
grow, and grow. The seed had
taken and the conference was
sprouting green shoots.
Our host school, St
Michael’s Catholic College,
Bermondsey, started the day
off with a comprehensive
tour of the school followed by
the Head teacher Grainne
Gabowski, giving delegates
the opportunity to grade the
school against the school development
plan.
The very open and powerful
input from Archbishop
Peter left the governors in no
doubt about how much they
were valued by the diocese.
Dr Ann Bamford, director of
the Education Commission,
then followed with a summary
of the Excellence documents
and their relevance to
governance.
One attendee commented:
“Both Archbishop Peter and Dr
Bamford spoke from the heart
and made clear their expectations
for foundation governors.
In both a serious manner, and
light hearted manner, they
were able to thank governors
for what they have already
done, whilst making clear the
challenges ahead.”
Then the hard work began.
The emphasis of the conference
was to enable our governors
to reflect and renew
their focus and to take away
something practical from the
day, and I am indebted to colleagues
from across the diocese
who agreed to run a
series of varied and interesting
workshops for delegates
which focussed on:
• The Ofsted inspection
• The Section 48 inspection
• The role of the national
leader of governance
• The role of the clerk
• Outreach and the
common good in education
After working our delegates
so hard, they had an opportunity
to network with new acquaintances
over lunch. Attendees
then reassembled in
the main hall to hear Fr Chris
Gorton, from the Diocese of
Salford on his work with the
schools in his parish.
One attendee said: “I
thought Fr Chris was an excellent
speaker weaving
scripture and his own spirituality
into an inspirational look
at the mission statement. His
personal experiences with
children in both primary and
secondary settings really lent
a personal dimension to his
presentation.”
Overall, the feedback from
the day has been phenomenally
positive. All delegates
welcomed the opportunity to
meet and learn from fellow
governors and valued the
chance to identify as part of
a diocesan family of schools.
However, after hearing that
delegates will be encouraging
colleagues to “put it in their
diaries when it comes up
again next year” the next
issue is, how do we improve
on this?
For further information about becoming a
foundation governor, e-mail
stephen.bryan@educationcommission.org.uk
or visit the Education Commission website
www.educationcommission.org.uk
Choosing the right school
By Lucy Russell
I have a doctorate in education,
but I sometimes get emails for another
Dr Lucy Russell, a child psychologist.
We have very similar
email addresses. Her one is the
same as mine, but for the fact she
includes her middle initial (which,
coincidentally, is also the same as
mine).
The emails that are intended
for her that land in my inbox are
usually from patients. So I forward
them to her. We have never met.
I used the internet to find her
email address, and in so doing I
found out that we have more in
common than our names.
We have both had our work reviewed
in the education press.
Lucy has written an online course
for 10 year olds called Thinkerbud,
to help them deal with the
stress of the eleven plus.
James was in Year 3 when he
first spoke to me about these
tests, “Mummy, what happens if
you don’t finish it before the end
of the time?”
I took a deep breath. What did I
want for him? “Do you know, if
you go to daddy’s school, you
don’t even have to do it? Daddy’s
school is for everyone.”
I could see the look of relief on
his face, he smiled, “Well, I want
to go to daddy’s school then.”
Daddy is the head of humanities
at St Edmund’s School in Dover.
This is the same school I went to.
In the write up about Thinkerbud
in the Primary Times, it says,
“Unfortunately exams make us
stressed and the expectation
around this exam in particular can
be quite hard on such young children.
Will they get to go to the
best school? Will they get to go
with their friends? Many parents
buy in additional coaching for
their children but to date there
has been little to help children
understand and cope with the
stress of it all.”
James and Edgar go to our local
Catholic primary, but many of my
Catholic friends are looking for a
grammar school place for their
children. Like my namesake, I
worry about what we are doing to
our children by putting them
under such pressure.
It is a pressure that extends to
us as parents. We want the very
best for our children. We want
them to have the opportunities
we didn’t, and to be able to
achieve all we did and more.
As an educationalist, I know
that the best schools are truly
comprehensive: they have a mix
of young people from different
genders, backgrounds and ethnicities.
I want my children to be able
to function in the world and to
have the ability to relate to
everybody.
It is notable that when my
brother moved from one department
in the police force to another,
he had everyone from the
constables on probation to the Inspectors
at his farewell drinks.
At the time, his rank was constable,
but he commanded the respect
and comradeship of all
ranks. He went to St Edmund’s,
too.
But the lure of the grammar
school is strong in Kent. Shortly
after James was born I started
writing some pieces on motherhood
for the Redemptorist news
sheet, Sunday Plus.
After Mass, a parishioner took
me to one side, “I really like your
writing,” she said. “Except that
piece you wrote about faith
schools. That’s okay for primary
school, but if they pass to eleven
plus the children should go to the
grammar school.”
St Edmund’s has produced academics,
scientists, teachers,
nurses, police officers, business
owners. What our Catholic schools
offer is more than the opportunity
for our children to achieve their
God given potential.
They offer a grounding in social
teaching and an education which
acknowledges that exams are not
the be all and end all. A good education
is about something much
bigger.
Page 8

The Pilgrim May 2015
Features/Column
How did early Christians view war?
When grace and
science meet
By Fr Daniel O’Leary
We were on our way back home after
Benediction one bright night, many
decades ago, my mother and myself,
when she reached for my hand and
suddenly stopped walking. ‘Look up at
the sky,’ she said, “Look up and listen.”
I still remember it as a mystical moment.
Something inside us stands in
amazement under the sky at night.
There is a curious bond, a sacramental
intimacy, between the universe of our
heart and the heart of our universe, as
they spin around each other in a web
of wonder.
There was a hidden hint of theology
and cosmology in my mother’s remark
that winter’s evening. We sense the
cosmic connections by heart.
Pentecost is taking place whenever
invisible mystery is becoming visible,
whenever the unknown becomes accessible,
when incarnate divinity lights up
our soul. It is taking place wherever
life moves on towards its final goal,
wherever the evolving universe is unfolding
towards its ultimate realisation,
because it is the Holy Spirit that
is facilitating and enabling that compelling
attraction.
Theologian Karl Rahner deplores the
poverty of our theology of the spirit,
which deeply misunderstands its universal
significance and primal potency.
He reminds us that the Holy Spirit is
revealed as the divine power in the
deepest heart of each person and of
this earthly world.
This power is the graced centre of
creation, divinely imbued with the
evolving potential to reach its completion
when God will be “all in all”.
He writes, “And here the earth behind
her continual development in
space and time, sinks her root into the
power of the all-mighty God ... his
Spirit has already begun to transform
the world into himself ... the new creation
has already started, the new
power of a transfigured earth is already
being formed from the world’s
innermost heart.”
Our mystics, physicists and theologians
are combining to provide images
of a vibrant, utterly free and unpredictable
Holy Spirit that transcends our
current and misleadingly limited understanding
of its dynamic presence.
St Augustine saw the totality of creation
as a huge sponge immersed in a
boundless sea, each tiny particle of it
saturated with the ocean of the spirit.
“I set before the sight of my soul”, he
wrote, “the whole creation (stars,
earth, air and mortal creatures); yea,
and whatever we do not see ... And
thee, o Lord, I imagined on every part
environing and pervading it, though in
every way infinite.”
We strive for something more because
deep in our hearts the Spirit
lures us to do so. The restlessness
within is a divine one, the fruit of the
enlivening, energising and empowering
Spirit, the same Spirit that blows
where it wills and that never ceases to
amaze and surprise us.
Pentecost reminds us that the Holy
Spirit is a power at work in a continually
renewed universe, and is present in
the innermost mystery of all things.
Grace and science come together to
offer a fuller picture of what is true:
that God’s love is embodied in all humanity,
and in the evolving world itself.
The light that appears in Jesus is
none other than that which had already
shone forth in creation. Maybe
my mother’s silent wonder on that winter’s
evening in 1947 arose from a
sense of being held by a Spirit of connecting,
belonging and intimacy.
Fr Ashley Beck, assistant priest at St Edmund
of Canterbury, Beckenham, and lecturer in
pastoral ministry at St Mary’s University,
Twickenham, continues his series exploring
Catholic teaching about war.
The Great War came to an end on 11th November
1918, a day which we therefore call Armistice Day.
There had been many delays in agreeing the ceasefire,
but as far as I know the date was not agreed
on because of its significance in the calendar of
the Christian churches, in this country called Martinmas
since the Middle Ages, the feast day of St
Martin of Tours.
Martin was a Roman soldier in the fourth century
who in late childhood had converted to Christianity
against the wishes of his parents; although some of
the details are uncertain he reached a stage where
he realised he needed to renounce the use of force
because of his faith.
He refused to fight before a battle, saying, “I
am a soldier of Christ. I am not allowed to fight.”
For this he was imprisoned, but later released
after which he became a monk and a bishop.
Martin’s witness against fighting represents a
significant part of early Christian tradition following
the injunctions against violence in the New
Testament, which we considered last month.
It is not likely that many of the earliest Christian
converts were to be found in the Roman army, but
by the end of the second century and the beginning
of the third century Christian theologians
needed to explain why the disciples of Christ
would not fight.
Three examples show this. The great mystical
theologian Origen wrote: “Christians could never
slay their enemies. For the more that kings, rulers
and peoples have persecuted them everywhere,
Christians have increased in number and grown in
strength.”
These words should surely be recalled by those
who call for military force and air strikes against
those killing Christian martyrs in the Middle East in
our own time.
At about the same time St Clement of Alexandria
wrote: “Above all, Christians are not allowed to
correct with violence the delinquencies of sins.”
Again, and most forcefully of all, St Hippolytus
of Rome wrote: “A soldier of the civil authority
must be taught not to kill men and to refuse to do
so if commanded, and to refuse to take an oath. If
he is unwilling to comply he must be rejected for
baptism. A military commander or civic magistrate
must resign or be rejected. If a believer seeks to
become a soldier, he must be rejected, for he has
despised God.”
Clearly the picture was constantly developing
and these major figures would not have addressed
the problem if by this stage Christians had not
been in the Roman army; in some places this must
have been tolerated by local bishops.
In the New Testament period and the decades
following Christians all over the empire were clear
about how their moral lives, as well as their refusal
to offer divine honours to Roman emperors,
set them apart from their neighbours. We can see
from the New Testament itself and from the early
post-biblical text known as the Didache.
Difficulties in moral teaching became greater as
the price of success, as Christianity became
stronger and more influential by the third century.
The witness of St Martin is part of how some tried
to keep to this after Christianity had been
legalised by the emperor Constantine in AD 312,
and some scholars think that by this time there
were many Christians in the imperial army.
Next month we will examine how theologians
responded to this in the later period. But surely we
have something to learn from the period when
refusing to fight or serve in the army seems to
have been a characteristic of mainstream Christian
belief?
In many theological studies in the last century,
Christians of all traditions have tried to go “back
to the sources” and recover something of the beliefs
and practices of the early Church (the order
of Mass we have used since Vatican II is a product
of this). In developing our theology of peace and
war we need to do the same.
Christians, and particularly Roman Catholics, are
not dominant in society; while we are not persecuted
we are increasingly marginalised. We can
draw on the witness of the earliest Christians to see
how love of war and militarism is a sign of how far
the country has abandoned authentic Christian faith.
We can recover authentic Christian resistance to
war in a radical and uncompromising way - but this
will not endear us to many.
For Christians to raise the issue of war before
the General Election this month (for example, in
relation to the renewal of the Trident missile programme,
something repeatedly condemned by our
bishops in England, Wales and Scotland) will lead
many to accuse us of treason in the same way as
early Christians were accused under the Roman
Empire.
For all the latest Catholic news visit www.thecatholicuniverse.com
Page 9

Features
The Pilgrim May 2015
Who was
St Teresa's convent in Avila.
St Teresa
of Avila?
This month St George’s Cathedral will
host an exhibition to mark the 500th
anniversary of St Teresa of Avila.
Sr Jo Robson ODC explains who she was
and why she is still so popular.
Across the world this year
Carmelites are celebrating the five
hundredth anniversary of the birth
of one of their best loved saints, St
Teresa of Avila (1515 – 1582). Less
well known than her later namesake,
St Thérèse of Lisieux, St
Teresa is nonetheless one of the giants
of Christian spirituality.
Her writings are regarded as classics
of Christian literature, and her
teaching on prayer is followed by
Christians around the world.
St Teresa was born into a merchant
family of Jewish origin in the
medieval walled city of Avila in
western Spain on 28th March 1515.
After a childhood which saw her
mother die at an early age, Teresa
entered the Carmelite monastery of
the Incarnation in the year 1535.
She quickly found that life in the
monastery appealed to her lively
disposition and outgoing personality
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Page 10
– but was not conducive to prayer.
For many years she struggled; unsure
of how to pray, and disheartened
and frustrated in her attempts
to do so.
In Lent 1554 a profound conversion
experience changed everything.
Praying before an image of Christ
scourged at the pillar, Teresa was
overwhelmed by the realisation of
his love for her and his desire for
her companionship.
From then on she understood that
prayer was “nothing else than an intimate
sharing between friends” and
that reflection on the humanity of
Christ was the gateway to all prayer.
Inspired to make this the centre
point of her life, Teresa realised
that it required a return to the twin
Carmelite ideals of silence and solitude
in a small community dedicated
wholly to the life of prayer.
In 1562 Teresa founded her first
The medieval walls surrounding Avila
reformed or “discalced” Carmelite
community at the monastery of St
Joseph’s in Avila. Discalced literally
means shoeless, and indicated a return
to a more rigorous observance
of poverty.
Unsuspectingly, Teresa was starting
a reform which would eventually
spread round the globe, embracing
both nuns and friars of the
Carmelite Order. By the time of her
death in 1582, another sixteen communities
of Teresian nuns were established,
together with a new
movement of discalced Carmelite
friars, among whom St John of the
Cross was a leading figure.
Charged by her spiritual directors
to give an account of her life and
mystical experiences, and encouraged
by her nuns to guide them in
the way of prayer and community
life, Teresa obeyed, not realising
that the texts she was producing
(often late at night and in considerable
haste) would rapidly become
highly sought after teachings on the
Christian spiritual life.
Today they have been translated
into numerous languages and are
not only followed by those seeking
spiritual guidance, but are studied
as masterpieces of Spanish literature
and Christian spirituality.
To advertise in this newspaper contact Carol Malpass.
Tel: 0161 214 1244 or email: carol.malpass@thecatholicuniverse.com
‘St Teresa of Avila's vision
of the Holy Spirit’ by
Peter Paul Rubens.
Celebrations to mark the fifth
centenary of the birth of this remarkable
woman began on her feast
day on 15th October 2014. They
continue throughout 2015, and in
Britain are being organised by the
Carmelite Forum of Britain and Ireland.
As part of these events, a touring
exhibition will be visiting St
George’s Cathedral from 15th to
26th May. The exhibition documents
Teresa’s life, her teaching and writings,
and her relevance for Christians
today. The exhibition is free to
visit and will be accompanied by a
series of leaflets and prayer cards.
Other Teresa 500 events include
an international conference at St
Mary’s University, Twickenham, pilgrimages
in the UK and Spain, study
days, courses and a closing ceremony
at Aylesford Priory on Saturday
17th October. For more details of all
these events and many more, visit
www.teresaofavila.org
New movie about St Paul
Ben Affleck (pictured) and
Matt Damon are behind a
new film about the life of St
Paul.
The two Hollywood stars
will produce the biblical
story. Another star, Hugh
Jackman, will play Paul.
The film is being talked
about as the most high-profile
Hollywood Christian
production since Mel Gibson’s
The Passion of the
Christ.
Hollywood seems to have
rediscovered Christianity. In
the last couple of years Exodus,
Noah, and Left Behind
have all tackled aspects of
the Christian story.

The Pilgrim May 2015
Features
School days
John Withers
What is a Life in the
Spirit Seminar?
By Tom Caluori
Proclaim 15, the new initiative
launched by the Bishops’ Conference of
England and Wales is to “support, enthuse
and equip parish evangelisation”.
This follows in the wake of Evangelii
Gaudium (‘The Joy of the Gospel’) in
which Pope Frances says “The primary
reason for evangelising is the love of
Jesus which we have received, the experience
of salvation which urges us to
ever greater love of him. What kind of
love would not feel the need to speak
of the beloved, to point him out, to
make him known?”
Yet are we right to take this kind of
faith, that galvanises us to speak about
Jesus, for granted in our parishes? Do
all Catholics have such a faith? Sherry
Weddell in her seminal book Forming
Intentional Disciples presents bleak statistics
which show that “the majority of
adult Catholics are not even certain
that a personal relationship with God is
possible.”
She maintains that it is essential to
preach the kerygma, which, according
to Pope John Paul II, is “the initial ardent
proclamation by which a person is
one day overwhelmed and brought to
the decision to entrust himself to Jesus
Christ by faith.”
But this is not simply about doctrine.
In the Catholic Church we have tended
to presume people already have faith
and therefore concentrated on catechising
without evangelising first. Yet at
the base of our lives we must know and
have an experience of the new life resulting
from the death and resurrection
of Jesus Christ.
An excellent way of the kerygma becoming
personal for us and of coming
into a personal relationship with Jesus
Christ is through a tried and tested
evangelistic course called the Life the
Spirit Seminars.
For those not familiar with Life in the
Spirit Seminars, they are a series of
talks, prayer and small group discussions,
covering a very personal presentation
of the gospel message which
covers God’s love, salvation, new life,
receiving God’s gift and of course praying
for the Baptism of the Holy Spirit.
In an address to an Italian charismatic
gathering in Rome in June last
year Pope Francis said. “I expect you to
share Baptism in the Spirit with the
whole Church”.
This is not a new sacrament as it
might sound. It is simply praying for the
Holy Spirit to release more fully the
graces received at Baptism and Confirmation.
These are graces we may not
have fully appropriated but urgently
need if we want to be freshly empowered
to share our Faith.
We have run the Life in the Spirit
seminars annually in our prayer group
for many years and have seen the huge
benefits in people’s lives.
We often need not just teaching but
experience of God and the Life in the
Spirit seminars often facilitate this in a
special way.
I believe that the Proclaim 15 leaflets
can help engender and encourage in us
a joyful sharing of our faith and point
us in the right direction. I would also
encourage those who have never taken
part in the Life in the Seminars to
search one out.
The Light of Christ Catholic Charismatic
prayer meeting in Sydenham, of
which I am a member, arranged the Life
in the Spirit Seminars for Eastertide this
year in the lead up to Pentecost.
But there will be others, perhaps
near you. If there aren’t any, another
option would be to follow the seminars
on DVD. CaFe have produced a new DVD
resource called The Gift, where, with
the help of top speakers, you can do
the life in the Spirit seminars in the
comfort of your own home or as a group
in the parish.
The last question on the first Proclaim
15 leaflet is “What opportunities
are there already in your community for
learning to pray and for growing in
prayer? What else would you like to see
in your parish?”
For more information visit
(www.thegiftofthespirit.org),
or phone 0845 050 9428.
Home? I live in Whitstable, but was born in Barnstaple,
Devon, and grew up in Newport, South Wales.
Job? Member of the Southwark vocations mission team,
and co-ordinator of the Made for Glory Project.
What secondary school did you attend? Caerleon Comprehensive,
Newport, South Wales
Favourite subject? History and P.E. I loved studying the
contemporary political and social history of Britain at A-
level, getting to understand how we arrived at the Britain
we know today. And being a Welshman
at heart, I loved playing rugby during
P.E., but have always enjoyed football,
tennis and squash as well.
Worst subject? Could have been
Welsh, but I dropped it before I found
out just how bad I was, so I'll have to
go for maths. It was all down hill after
the numbers turned into letters at
some point in year 8. It took until I
got 11% in AS-level maths, for me to
realise just how bad my algebra was.
Favourite teacher? Ms Barrett, for
her ability to make the most boring political act sound
more exciting than the Battle of Waterloo.
Favourite school dinner? Chips, beans and cheese, from
the old golf course... something I should reintroduce to my
diet.
Guilty secret? Making sloe gin. A Withers family
favourite. Fantastic for cold, and not so cold, winter's
evenings.
What lessons about life did you learn? I come from a
large family with a strong, evangelistic, Catholic faith.
There were always people passing through our house, sitting
by the fire chatting with my parents, or joining us for
dinner, telling us all about the next “mission” that God
was calling them to. My oldest sister became a nun in a
community based in Netherlands when she was just 19,
and my dad, now a deacon, used to drop us of at school in
a company car that had Apostleship of the Sea emblazoned
on the side.
What do you wish you had been told? I heard again and
again about having a plan for your life. Where was I going
to be in two, five, twenty years time? Which subjects was I
going to study for A-level? Which universities was I going to
apply for? I'm a very calm person, but even I experienced
moments of stress as big life-choices loomed on the horizon.
There was never any talk about God's plan for my life.
Now, working in the Southwark Vocations Centre, I speak
to groups of young people about the reality of God's will.
He has a plan for each of us.
What did you do immediately after school? I went to
the University of Leicester where I gained a BA in history. I
accepted a place on the 2013/14 Southwark Vocations mission
team and spent a year in personal and community formation,
as well as running events for schools, parishes,
and confirmation groups, witnessing to young people of
the power of asking God to reveal his will.
What career advice would you give to a young person?
Yes, be committed, work hard, aim big, look to achieve
great things, but don't rely on your own strength. Ask God
for his help, ask him what he thinks about this idea and
that plan. Give him a say in your life.
Be ready for set backs and mistakes. The saints were experts
at getting back up. That's how we grow in holiness,
little by little, giving God more time in our lives. It takes
humility to accept our failures, it takes humility to go to
confession, it takes courage to do God's will.
Diary – May
If you have an event, please e-mail details to us at
pilgrim@rcsouthwark.co.uk
2: Commissioning day for extraordinary ministers of Holy
Communion, Aylesford Priory.
4: Southwark altar servers’ annual rally, Aylesford Priory.
Mass at 11.30am, celebrated by Bishop Paul Hendricks.
15–26: St Teresa of Avila exhibition at St George’s
Cathedral to mark the 500th anniversary of her birth.
30: National Shrine of St Jude, Faversham, summer
celebration. The day includes devotions and anointing, a
picnic (bring your own food) and an open-air Mass at
1.30pm.
Page 11

The Pilgrim May 2015
Focus on faith
Meeting people of other faiths
Fr David Standley, chair of the Southwark diocesan Committee for
Inter-Religious Relations, says that inter-faith dialogue is something
we can all engage in.
Evangelization
Seminar
Spreading
the Good
News
as an
Encounter
with Jesus
Christ
Saturday 16
May 2015
(10am – 1pm)
with John Huntriss (Scripture Adviser,
Clifton Diocese) at the CCF
There is no charge, but please book at the Centre for Catholic Formation
Christians, including Catholics, have
historically been quite hostile to
members of other religious traditions.
We often called them “non-believers.”
Hinduism, Islam, and Buddhism
have often been ignored or dismissed
as perverse, unenlightened, even
“godless”. Anti-Semitism among
Christians has been particularly
shameful. Some Christians even
today can see no good or truth in
these venerable traditions.
But the attitude of the Catholic
Church has changed, especially since
the Second Vatican Council (1962-
1965). The document Nostra Aetate
set the Church on a new path.
The Church urges her sons and
daughters to enter with prudence
and charity into discussion and collaboration
with members of other religions.
Let Christians, while
witnessing to their own faith and way
of life, acknowledge, preserve and
encourage the spiritual and moral
truths found among non-Christians,
also their social life and culture.
What a change of language here.
This “discussion and collaboration” is
taking different forms. Many will recall
the several invitations of Pope
John Paul II to the leaders of the
world’s religions to join him at Assisi,
in order to pray for peace.
Pope Francis too has recently met
other religious leaders, and invited
both Palestinian and Israeli Presidents
to come to Rome and pray together
with him for peace in the
world.
Our own bishops have published
Bishop Pat attending a multi-faith
peace vigil for Iraq last year.
their own encouragement to “foster
and respect understanding between
the religions” in their 2010 document
Meeting God in Friend and Stranger.
They note the changing face of
Britain in respect of religious belief:
members of other faiths are our
neighbours as never before. They
reaffirm that the divine plan has its
centre in Jesus Christ, God and man,
in whom God has reconciled all
things to himself.
But we need to be open to what is
true and holy in other religions, for
this too is the work of the one Spirit
of God. Do read it - it is very readable.
How can we start? Very simply, by
engaging with our neighbours or work
colleagues who maybe Hindu, Buddhist,
Muslim, or from some other
faith.
Gradually, quite informally, as and
when, we can learn something about
their own beliefs and practices, and
sharing something of ours. Friendliness
is itself a form of dialogue.
We all carry ignorance and misconceptions
about one another, which
can dissolve through personal contact.
Volunteering also can join people
of different faiths in a natural
way around a common project, such
as a food bank, a sport, a street
party etc.
And there are more specific groups
that meet regularly to socialise and
discuss, for example, South London
InterFaith.
In our own diocese, just as there is
the Christian Unity Commission to
promote good relations with other
Christian Churches, so there is the
Committee for Inter-Religious Relations,
of which I am chair.
We try to find ways of increasing
awareness in parishes of this new
openness to other religious traditions.
There is a lot happening, especially
in London.
But the most effective contacts are
local. Begin by noticing the different
places of worship in your neighbourhood.
Visit one or two, or better, ask
a friend or neighbour to take you and
explain things.
Also, encourage your parish to include
an intercession at Mass for people
of another tradition when a big
feast occurs, such as Diwali (Hindu),
Eid (Muslim), or the Day of Atonement
(Jewish).
The ideal is that there would one
(left) Members of South London
Inter Faith group on their annual
walk.
(above) Cardinal Vincent Nichols at
the Citizens UK summit for civil
society leaders in 2013.
or two people in every parish who
would be alert to other faiths and
their festivals, perhaps look for opportunities
of dialogue, and especially
encourage parishioners in
interfaith marriages.
Could that person be you? If you
are interested, or would like more information,
please get in touch. I can
assure you that exciting new horizons
open up.
You can contact Fr David on
020 8407 9541 or e-mail:
davidjstandley@gmail.com
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