Pope Benedict XVI will beatify Cardinal John Henry Newman, 1801-1890, the best known English churchman of the 19th Century, during an open air public Mass at Coventry Airport, in the Archdiocese of Birmingham, on Sunday 19 September 2010.

InVocation 2010: A time for hearing God’s voice.

Fr Paul Moss, Vocations Director for the Archdiocese of Birmingham looks forward to a unique event.

Archbishop Bernard Longley was Installed as the Ninth Archbishop of Birmingham, in the Metropolitan Cathedral and Basilica of St Chad, Birmingham, during a special Mass on the Feast of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Tuesday, 8 December, one of the two Patronal Feasts of the Archdiocese of Birmingham.

A wonderful mass of thanksgiving and an emotional goodbye for the visit of the relics of St Thérèse of Lisieux.

A donation to Bible Alive’s International Prison Outreach allows us to send a subscription of Bible Alive to prisoners both in the UK and Ireland and also abroad. We know that such a faith resource is very much appreciated behind prison walls, where great works of conversion take place. A donation to International Prison Outreach is a way of fulfilling Christ’s invitation to visit prisoners (Matt. 25:36).

2009 was another wonderful year for Father Hudson’s Society’s Good Shepherd Masses. 133 schools were part of this years celebrations as they attended one of the seven Masses, which took place throughout the Diocese. Over 3,000 people were part of these joyous and uplifting occasions. It was wonderful to see so many children joined together in worship.

Words of Cardinal Hume that express how ‘holiness involves friendship with God’. They challenge those who attend the annual Celebrate Easter Conference to take what is for many a ‘mountain top’ experience, back to parishes to help this exploration of ‘closer friendship with God’, and seek Jesus as their ‘weekday friend’. Overworked clergy may often struggle to find the time for energy-consuming evangelisation initiatives, despite the Church’s oft-expressed mission to move these forward. This was recently illustrated when it was found how few dipped into the free CASE/CaFE collaborative ‘Alive in Christ’ DVD series, sent freely to all parishes. How can Celebrate help parishes?

At 12.00 noon, to the sound of a specially composed fanfare, Archbishop Vincent Nichols entered Westminster Cathedral by the main West Door, and was greeted by the Provost of Westminster Cathedral, Canon Michael Brockie. He then processed to the High Altar where he joined over 150 Clergy in the Cathedral’s Sanctuary, including Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O’Connor, 50 Catholic Bishops, the Provost and Chapter of Westminster Cathedral, Deans and the Vicar General of the Diocese of Westminster, Monsignori and ecumenical guests including Dr Rowan Williams, the Archbishop of Canterbury.

Friday April 24 saw the 175th anniversary of Our Lady of Mount Carmel Parish, Redditch. Mass was celebrated by Archbishop Vincent and other priests of the diocese attended, many who had served there themselves at some point in recent, and not so recent, years. With a packed congregation and equally over-flowing sanctuary a wonderful service was enjoyed with an eclectic mix of music and a beautiful performance of Elgar’s Ave Verum by a soloist Charlotte Colley who has sung in the parish for over ten years and who is now a semi-professional singer. Her mother is also part of the parish choir.

Archbishop Vincent Appointed as New Archbishop of Westminster

As we go to press, Catholic Today has just heard the public announcement that Archbishop Vincent has been appointed, by Pope Benedict XVI, to succeed Cardinal Murphy-O’Connor as Archbishop of Westminster. Archbishop Vincent said: ‘I have received this appointment, and accepted it, only on the basis of the commitment to ministry in the Church and obedience to the Church’s authority that we all share.’