Events archive
ad Limina 2010: Bishops of England and Wales meet with Pope Benedict
Every five years, our Diocesan Bishops make an ad Limina visit to Rome to meet with the Holy Father to discuss their diocesan ministry and to make a pilgrimage to the threshold of the tombs of the Apostles Peter and Paul.
There are three important parts to the ad Limina:
- The pilgrimage to, and veneration of, the tombs of the Apostles Peter and Paul
- A personal meeting with the Holy Father, Pope Benedict XVI
- Meeting and conversations with the various departments of the Roman Curia (the administrative offices of the Holy See)
The bishops are in Rome from 24 January until 4 February 2010.
Education Sunday
31 January 2010
Education Sunday takes place on 31 January. The theme for 2010 is "Called to Serve".
Bishop Malcolm McMahon, Chairman of the Catholic Education Service for England and Wales:
"The elusive factor that often characterises our schools is referred to as ethos. Ethos is a term that is difficult to get hold of. It is expressed in the spiritual, moral, social, and cultural threads that run through the whole of education, the subjects that are taught and the way they are delivered, the way school is managed, the behaviour of the staff and children, the quality of the school dinners, the refereeing on the football pitch. The relationship which the teacher has with the individual pupil or student is usually a unique forum in which the young person is guided in discovery of the truth beyond the bare facts of the subject to that which is Truth itself. An awesome responsibility!"
Holy Land Co-ordination
10-14 January 2010
Since 1998, the Department of International Affairs has organised the annual meeting of the Co-ordination of Episcopal Conferences in Support of the Church of the Holy Land. It's often more simply called the Holy Land Co-ordination.
In 2010, the focus was on the situation in Jerusalem and delegates visited people in those areas of Jerusalem that have suffered from evictions and confiscations.
This year's Holy Land Co-ordination started on Sunday 10 January and concluded with a press conference at midday on Thursday 14 January in the Latin Patriarchate, Jerusalem.
Holocaust Memorial Day
27 January 2010
Wednesday 27 January is Holocaust Memorial Day and marks the 65th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau. This date was chosen as an appropriate day to remember the six million Jews, as well as many other people, who were sent to Nazi concentration and death camps during the Holocaust (Shoah).
The theme of this year’s day is The Legacy of Hope. It is an opportunity to listen to the voices from the Holocaust and the Nazi persecution and to make their hopes for a safer, inclusive society a reality, today and in the future.
400th anniversary of the founding of the Mary Ward Sisters
23 January 2010
Continuing the jubilee celebrations for the 400th anniversary of the founding of the Congregation of Jesus and the Institute of the Blessed Virgin Mary (Loreto Sisters), Archbishop Vincent Nichols conducted a Celebratory Mass in Westminster Cathedral in honour of Mary Ward.
The Most Reverend and Rt. Hon Dr Rowan Williams, Archbishop of Canterbury gave a post-Communion address at the Mass.
In December 2009, Pope Benedict XVI published a Decree recognising the ‘heroic virtue’ demonstrated by Mary Ward (1585 –1645) and thereby conferring on her the title ‘Venerable’.
Week of Prayer for Christian Unity
18-25 January 2010
The Pontifical Council for the Promotion of Christian Unity and its global partner the World Council of Churches invited Scotland to host the 2010 Week of Prayer for Christian Unity. This marks the centenary of the first world mission conference that met in Edinburgh. This gathering is traditionally seen as the beginning of the modern ecumenical movement, which seeks the visible unity of the world's divided churches.
Scotland has given the week of prayer its theme: "You are witnesses to these things" Luke 24:48.
Here you'll find further information and resources for prayer and reflection.
The Most Rev Bernard Longley Installed Archbishop of Birmingham
The Most Rev Bernard Longley, formerly an Auxiliary Bishop of the Archdiocese of Westminster, has been Installed as the ninth Archbishop of Birmingham.
The Mass and Installation took place at the Metropolitan Cathedral and Basilica of Saint Chad on 8 December 2009 - Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception and one of the patronal feasts of the Archdiocese (St Chad being the other).
The appointment was announced by the Holy Father on 1 October 2009.
Before his Installation, Archbishop Longley said: “I feel immensely honoured and very humbled that the Holy Father has appointed me to succeed Archbishop Vincent Nichols as Archbishop of Birmingham.