The Association of Catholic Priests has said it is hoping to work with the four archdioceses in the Irish Church to set up a structure to deal with priests’ complaints about bishops’ treatment of clergy. Spokesman for the ACP, Fr Tim Hazelwood, told The Tablet that the new structure might take the form of a dedicated committee in each archdioceses. This committee could be made up of a representative of the diocese, such as a canon lawyer, as well as a human resources expert or mediator, and a lay person. The priest would meet the group and collectively they would try and resolve the problem, rather than the priest having to face the bishop by himself. “The problem is that the priest has nobody with him when he meets the bishop and we are not entitled to have a union,” said Fr Hazelwood. The ACP would also welcome a central national database which would show transparently the reality of the number of priests working in Irish dioceses and their age profile. “You can’t prepare for the future unless you know what the figures are and what the reality is. We would gladly welcome the publication of these figures and parishioners deserve to know as well. It would be transparent,” he said.
An exhibition by Dr Irina Bradley, an artist who specialises in icons, has opened at the London Jesuit Centre and the Church of the Immaculate Conception next door. Dr Bradley, who was awarded a doctorate by the Prince's School of Traditional Arts in 2015 for her thesis “Spiritual Striving in Icon Painting” where an icon of Saint George and the Dragon was the focus, has been exhibited at Buckingham Palace, Christchurch Cathedral in Oxford, Cumberland Lodge in Great Windsor Park and other venues. There are about 75 pieces in the new exhibition, titled “Metamorphosis”. It focuses on the transformation which takes place within the souls of the faithful. It includes a new piece, of St Magnus, based on the recent facial reconstruction of the saint, which in turn drew on photographs from the 1920s of what is said to be the skull of the 12th Century Norse earl. (With pictures in production, credit Irina Bradley.)
Think tank Social Justice Ireland has warned that housing subsidies are so inadequate that they are driving families into poverty. The organisation’s latest study, ‘Housing and Poverty 2022’, reveals that far from supporting families out of poverty, housing subsidies such as the Housing Assistance Payment and Rental Accommodation Scheme are not working, and that the poverty risk of households in receipt of these housing subsidies is two and a half times greater after they have paid their rent. Responding to the study findings, Fr Seán Healy, chief executive of Social Justice Ireland said, “It should be a national priority to provide all with sufficient income to live life with dignity.” The study shows that the poverty rate among households in receipt of housing subsidies is 22.7 per cent before they make any rent payments. After these payments have been made, that rate increases to 55.9 per cent. “Clearly subsidies are not working, when the rents households must pay are driving them into poverty at this rate,” Colette Bennett, Economic and Social Analyst at Social Justice Ireland said. She called on the Government to increase spending on actually building social homes instead of “relying on a dysfunctional private rented sector”.
A new Southern Dioceses Environment Network was inaugurated on 10 January. It emerged from weekly Care of Creation London and South-East zoom briefings during 2021 to share and pray in the build-up to COP26. Meetings were convened by Colette Joyce of Westminster Justice and Peace, attracting environment campaigners from Arundel and Brighton, Brentwood, East Anglia, Portsmouth, and Southwark. Around 50 people attended the online launch, alongside representatives of the Northern Dioceses Environment Group from Salford and Liverpool. CAFOD, Operation Noah, Journey to 2030, Columbans and the London Mining Network were also represented. “We have grown organically now to include people from all over the South of England so it makes sense to recognise that with a new name,” Colette Joyce told The Tablet. “We also wanted to complement the Northern group as we all work together to animate the Catholic community in the long-term task of stabilising our climate and protecting our common home,” she added. She reflected that, “like many people in the climate movement, I have felt at times isolated and overwhelmed so it has been a joy to discover how many Catholics are in fact involved and committed to making all the changes needed in their own lives and wider communities.”
Jan Webber (pictured above), director of development at the Mission for Seafarers, was awarded the British Empire Medal for services to Women in the International Maritime Sector in the New Year Honours. The award recognises 16 years of service across positions in the Sailors’ Society and her current role at Mission to Seafarers since 2017. “I am amazed and deeply touched to have been considered worthy for such an honour,” said Webber. “The shipping industry is a friendly, welcoming, and tight-knit community, and I have been privileged to meet so many people from all over the world. I find a great satisfaction in matching a company’s ESG needs with what the Mission is doing – from our port chaplaincies to our family networks and mental health resources. The partnerships we develop bring benefits to everyone, but especially to the seafarers who rely on our work.”
A prayer vigil will be held outside the Home Office on 17 January, organised by Westminster Justice and Peace and the London Catholic Worker, to pray for migrants seeking safe passage to the UK, especially those attempting Channel crossings. All are welcome to attend this hour-long prayer at 12.30 and on every third Monday of the month in 2022. “In this January winter weather, we will be praying for those at sea, especially those who see no alternative in Northern France but to scramble for boats to cross the Channel,” Barbara Kentish of Westminster Justice and Peace told The Tablet. “We pray for a change of policy, both in the UK and the EU, which has caused so many deaths of people seeking sanctuary, and we recite the names of some of the thousands who have died over the last few decades, through our hostility,” she added. She singled out for criticism the current Nationality and Borders Bill which will make it illegal to arrive without documentation in the UK, while not allowing any provision for asylum applications from abroad. “It is right to hold our prayers at the Home Office” she continued, “exactly at the spot where people make the decisions.”
East Anglia Diocese has launched an environmental group. The chair, which has lay representatives from across Norfolk, Suffolk and Cambridgeshire, is Fr Paul Maddison. He said: “The remit of the group is to provide support, education and co-ordination across our parishes, schools and other diocesan structures as well as to facilitate national initiatives from the Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales.” The group aims “to reduce the diocesan carbon footprint, but also to make real and lasting changes in response to the call of Pope Francis in Laudato Si’ to care for our common home,” Fr Maddison added.One of the first initiatives is a project to install electric car charging points at churches and schools across the diocese, and 17 sites are currently being assessed. It is hoped that not only will this promote the use of electric vehicles but that it could make good use of car parking spaces often underused during the week. Fr Maddison reported that the group is also looking into “decarbonising our buildings, disinvesting from fossil fuel use, promoting biodiversity and providing environmental education.”
Fr Christopher Cann has been appointed Headmaster for Stonyhurst St Mary’s Hall. Currently Headmaster of Ratcliffe College Preparatory School in Leicestershire, Fr Cann is a former Anglican priest who was received into the Catholic church in 2011 and is now a priest of the Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham. He is married to Honor, who works as a GP, and has six children and two grandchildren. He succeeds Ian Murphy who is stepping down after eight years. Fr Cann said: “I feel very honoured to be appointed as the next Headmaster of Stonyhurst St Mary's Hall. I very much look forward to getting to know all the SMH children, parents and staff and to working closely, under the guidance of the Governing Body, with John Browne, Head of Stonyhurst, to build on the tremendous success the school has enjoyed in recent years.”
Root and Branch, a lay-led forum for reform in the Catholic Church, and the Scottish Laity Network Saturday will next Saturday 15 January hold the first of a series of lectures and discussions on the issue of clerical sexual abuse in the Catholic Church. Two survivors, “A711”, a witness to the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse and Brian Devlin, a former Catholic priest who was a victim of unwanted sexual advances by Keith O’Brien when he was a priest, will be in conversation with the award-winning journalist Dr Catherine Deveney discussing the impact that clerical abuse has had on each of their lives.
The Bishop of Galloway has called on Scotland’s Catholics to pray every day for peace. In his letter to Scottish parishes to mark the annual Day of Prayer for Peace. Bishop William Nolan, who is president of the Scottish Bishops’ Conference Commission for Peace and Justice, said that most of the problems facing the planet lie “within ourselves, within the human heart” and are grounded in “human weakness, human failing and human sinfulness”. Acknowledging that peace and justice were still an “elusive dream” he called on Scots to “pray fervently not just today but every day.[“][[online extra copy]] so that the message of Jesus Chris, the Prince of Peace, will touch human hearts; so that we will recognise the dignity of our fellow human beings, particularly those who are strangers to us, particularly those who are poor, particularly those who call out to us for help”. Pope Francis appointed Bishop Nolan to the diocese of Galloway in 2014. He had previously served as vice-rector of the Scots College in Rome. Since his appointment, he has been a passionate campaigner for nuclear disarmament and reduction in military spending, for the rights of asylum seekers and for environmental causes. Prior to the pandemic he drew attention to the conditions facing migrants in Calais, reminding Catholics that the Holy Family were once refugees from violence and persecution. Brian Morton
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