Welcome

A Great day for Saint Michael’s, in the heart of Birmingham. as the Archbishop consecrates the new Altar.

Learning matters!

Are you thinking about learning more about education? Training to be a teacher or needing to learn more as a teacher? Or want to study a particular subject such as Theology or History or Psychology and English as a full-time student or on a part-time basis? There is a wide range of subjects and opportunities to study available at the new Roman Catholic University in Birmingham: Newman University.

Mary Skaag and Natalie Layng, Parishioners of Holy Family, Coventry report on their recent trip to India where they visited projects funded by money raised in Holy Family, Corpus Christi and other Coventry Deanery Parishes.

The Kenelm Youth Trust is the new charitable trust uniting and supporting the development of the youth ministry services in the Archdiocese of Birmingham, incorporating Alton Castle, Soli House and BCYS and the School Chaplaincy Project.

Many people have already visited the small chapel of Blessed Dominic in the grounds of the Dominican Convent in Stone. Some have also visited Aston Hall a mile and a half away. Blessed Dominic was a member of the Passionist Congregation founded by St Paul of the Cross; Passionists preach and promote Jesus Christ crucified, so Blessed Dominic would have known full well that he was to share in the sufferings of Christ – but with the Cross would come the light of the Resurrection.

On Saturday 2 February, Walsall (Catholic) Deanery hosted a special Faith Workshop on Evangelisation at St Mary’s the Mount RC Church, Walsall.

Walsall Dean Father Michael Leadbeater explained, ‘On the Feast of the Presentation of the Lord, around 40 parishioners from across the Walsall Deanery gathered at St Mary’s the Mount for a presentation and workshops on evangelisation. This was one of a number of events arranged in the deanery as part of the Year of Faith.’

After a week of tramping through the snow around 300 people changed their snow boots for dancing shoes to enjoy a wonderful evening of good food, great music and scintillating company at 109th Father Hudson’s Ball. Taking place at the National Motorcycle Museum near Solihull on Saturday 26th January the evening, as usual, was a great success.

It was with great shock and sadness that I learned of the news of Pope Benedict’s abdication on Monday 11 February 2013. Pope Benedict has been responsible for the conversion, reversion, vocation and the deepening of faith of many young Catholics in this country. At the time of his visit to the UK, I was living a life at complete odds to the Church but his powerful homily at Bellahouston Park was the catalyst for my conversion.

The Year of Faith got off to a great start both in Rome, and in our diocese with an opening Mass at St Chad’s Cathedral. Over 800 people packed the cathedral and the Grimshaw Room, and the sight of an ‘endless’ procession of people collecting their parish packs from the bishops was truly inspiring.

‘Gentleness is the favourite virtue of Jesus Christ’; the prophetic statement of St John Bosco, who himself made a quiet entrance to St Chad’s Cathedral on the evening of Monday 7th January.  The relics of Don Bosco visited our Archdiocese as part of an extended pilgrimage of Great Britain, from Scotland to Southwark, facilitated by the Salesian community.  A tremendous celebration of life, optimism and joy ensued.  The Pilgrim experience was enjoyed by more than 2000 faithful, including several hundred students, young adults, teachers and catechists from our Archdiocese and beyond.  For two days (including an evening Vigil), a packed St Chad’s welcomed, in particular, young people and those who work with them, drawn to this patron, father and teacher of youth.

On Sunday, the Society of Divine Vocations (Vocationist Fathers) was officially welcomed into the Archdiocese of Birmingham by His Grace the Archbishop of Birmingham, Bernard Longley, during Holy Mass at St Mary’s the Mount RC Church, Walsall.

Among the guests present was the Order’s Superior General, Rt Rev Father Antonio Rafael do Nascimento who travelled specially from Rome to witness the occasion.

Words and Pictures by Józef Łopuszyński.
The visit of the replica ikon of Our Lady of Czestochowa to St Chad’s Cathedral in Birmingham was a very emotional event for members of the Pauline Order who have a house at St Mary & St John’s Roman Catholic Church, Wolverhampton.

Written by Mgr Anthony Wilcox. Sacred Heart parish in Henley-on-Thames might seem, at first glance, to be a sleepy Catholic backwater, not untypical of many parishes across the country. Yet a new book reveals a history that is far from the ordinary. Sacred Heart Parish, Henley-on-Thames: A Pugin Legacy by parishioner Charles Whittaker tells the story that encompasses a wide swath of Church, national and even international events and personages across three centuries.