Issue 71 - The Pilgrim - May 2018 - The newspaper of the Archdiocese of Southwark

News
Duke visits Woolwich church
The Duke of Gloucester has
visited St Peter’s Church in
Woolwich.
The duke’s visit marked the
completion of work to replace
175-year-old roof-slates and
tons of weathered stonework on
the oldest of the three London
Catholic churches designed by
Augustus Pugin.
Fr Michael Branch, parish
priest of St Peter’s, and Bishop
Pat welcomed the duke to the
church, and members of the
parish heritage group led the
Duke on a tour of the church
interior, including a newlyformed
exhibition.
The duke was taken to the
upper hall of Pugin Place, the
adjacent community centre,
originally designed in 1858 as
the parish school by Edward
Pugin, eldest son of Augustus.
As a former architect, the
duke took a close interest in
photographs of the
refurbishment work, discussing
these with the architect and the
representative of the main
contractor.
The Duke wished the parish
well in their efforts to raise
funds for the refurbishment of
the hall to restore it for
community use.
Fr Michael said “It was great
to have the importance of our
parish history and heritage
recognised by this royal visit.
The Duke also gave a wonderful
morale boost for our efforts to
bring Pugin Place back into full
community use”.
St Peter’s church was opened
in 1843. Augustus Pugin was the
leading promoter of the Gothic
Revival, most famous for his
design of Big Ben’s tower and
the interiors of the Palace of
Westminster.
The church is open every day
for Mass and other services.
Footballers unveil new pitch
The Pilgrim May 2018
Astrodome visits
Broadstairs school
Pupils at St Joseph’s Catholic Primary School in
Broadstairs were paid a visit by the University of
Kent’s astrodome.
The inflatable planetarium with the Milky
Way, stars and planets projected in a 360 degree
format onto the inner surface of the dome
landed at the School to kick start National
Science Week 2018.
Pupils explored the solar system, the forces of
gravity, star patterns and planets with an
accurate representation of the night sky.
Three graduates from the University’s physics
department were on hand to answer the many
questions pupils had about the mysteries of
space and time.
Kent pupils get baking
Pupils from St Anselm’s Catholic School in
Canterbury and St Edmund’s Catholic School in
Dover are taking part in a baking competition.
The schools are among six in east Kent aiming
is to raise money for a children’s mental health
charity Young Minds and a children’s literacy
charity.
Pupils will be sponsored to bake a cake,
bread, pie, or pizza and bring it into school.
They can bake at home or at school, but must
take no more than an hour and a half, and there
will be a limit on the number of ingredients they
can use.
Each school will pick a winner, who will go
through to a grand final in the autumn.
Gillingham FC footballers Darren
Oldaker and Greg Cundle have
unveiled a new all-weather
football pitch at St Gregory’s
Catholic School in Tunbridge
Wells.
Port chaplain film
The pitch, which was made
possible by a £444,000 grant
from the Premier League and
the FA Facilities Fund, will also
be available to other community
groups.
Local primary school children
helped celebrate the event by
taking part in a football
tournament, in the presence of
the Mayor of Tunbridge Wells,
Councillor Julia Soyke, and
popular after dinner speaker
Bob Bevan.
The pitch will also help St
Gregory’s “Accelerated
Curriculum Experience” football
academy, which offers specialist
coaching and helps students use
football as a vehicle for learning
about issues such as leadership,
problem solving, and teamwork.
Students spend part of their
year working on a project to
prepare them for a trip abroad
to a football club. Recent trips
have been to FC Porto and Real
Madrid, where students enjoyed
training sessions with club
coaches, competitive matches
against local players, as well as
experiencing a first team match
and cultural visits.
Maidstone cooking contest
Over 50 students at St Simon Stock Catholic
School in Maidstone took part in a cooking
contest.
The competition was organised by catering
company Chartwells. One team cooked Mexican
bean burrito with a tomato and cucumber salsa,
and the other team cooked Thai green curry
with rice. Students then voted for what they
thought was the best dish.
Chef James from Chartwells said: “The
students were so polite and very well mannered.
It was a pleasure to host. I hope all the students
had fun and enjoyed the session.”
Students walk 550 miles
Students from St Joseph’s College in Upper
Norwood walked 550 miles during Lent.
They did this as part of Cafod’s “Share the
Journey” campaign, which invites parishes and
schools to pray and act to support people forced
to flee their homes.
Led by the chaplain, every student walked the
perimeter of the college grounds, hearing stories
written by refugees from around the World.
The boys ended the reflection by cutting out a
tracing of their hand. On the hand, they had to
reflect and write down their gifts and talents
and explain what they will do to help their
neighbour.
Apostleship of the Sea (AoS) has
produced a video to illustrate
how it helps seafarers visiting
Britain.
The seven-minute film follows
a typical day in the life of Anne
McLaren, AoS port chaplain in
Hull and Goole, as she visits
seafarers on board ships.
Around 90 per cent of the
goods imported into the UK
arrive by sea. The seafarers who
bring them often have no contact
with their families for months.
AoS has strong links with
Southwark. It provides pastoral
care and practical help to
seafarers visiting ports on the
River Medway and along the
Kent coast. Bishop Paul Mason
(pictured) is the AoS bishop
promoter.
Parishes in Southwark will
take a second collection on Sea
Sunday, July 8th, to support the
work of AoS.
Mass for married couples
The annual diocesan celebration of the
sacrament of marriage will take place next
month at St George’s Cathedral.
The special Mass is for those celebrating their
1st, 10th, 25th, 40th, 50th or 60th+ wedding
anniversary this year and who would like to
renew their vows is on 16th June.
More details can be obtained from the
marriage and family life team on 020 8651 2477.
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