Newsletter: June 2009

Legislation and Public Policy

Catholic Church submits views on Equality Bill to Parliament

A senior representative of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of England and Wales, Richard Kornicki CBE, gave evidence about the Equality Bill to the Scrutiny Committee in the House of Commons on 9 June 2009 at 10.30am.

The members of the Scrutiny Committee are taking evidence from all interested parties prior to carrying out the line-by-line examination of the Equality Bill.

Click for a link to the submission made by the Catholic Bishops, which sets out the Church's key concerns about the bill.

Click to read the Hansard report of the hearing (Hansard provides transcripts of parliamentary debates).

Visit our Legislation and Public Policy section.

Catholic Agency to Support Evangelisation (CASE)

Evangelisation conference attracts Bishops from around the world to London

This month over twenty Catholic Archbishops and Bishops from across the world attended an international conference to learn about and celebrate the fruits of one of the most well-known evangelisation programmes in England and Wales: the Alpha course.

The Archbishops and Bishops gathered in London for the ‘Alpha International Conference’ which included over 1,500 representatives from a hundred countries.

For the first time in the history of the event a special Bishops’ Stream was hosted by the Anglican Bishop of London. The Archbishops and Bishops came from, among other countries, France, Columbia, Mexico, India, Egypt, Sri Lanka, Brazil and Costa Rica.

In recognition of the number of Catholic delegates at the event – more than 250 – a Mass was offered at Westminster Cathedral by Most Rev Luis Augosto Castro Quiroga (Archbishop of Tunja, Columbia and Coordinator of the Continental Mission). It was followed by a reception at Clergy House with representatives from the Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales, including the Catholic Agency to Support Evangelisation (CASE).

Rt Rev Thomas McMahon, Bishop of Brentwood, hosted the gathering and said of the Alpha course: “Alpha is the most marvellous tool for evangelisation. Alpha serves to bring faith alive and to me that is the most important thing in the world, because if a person’s faith and belief in Jesus becomes ‘real’ as opposed to ‘notional’ then you see the whole of life differently.”

Meanwhile, Kitty-Kay Shuttleworth, Alpha for Catholics Director: “Alpha is running in thousands of Catholic parishes all over the world and the presence of the Archbishops and Bishops this week is a sign of how the course is growing throughout the Roman Catholic Church worldwide. It is thrilling that so many Bishops, priests and laity were able to be here and attend the special mass at Westminster Cathedral.“

The Alpha course was started in an Anglican church and is used across the denominations as a parish tool for evangelisation; it aims to provide an introduction to the Christian faith. To date 13 million people have attended the course in over 160 countries. CASE works closely with the Alpha for Catholics team, which provides support and information to parishes to enable the course to be run successfully in a Catholic context.

A core part of CASE’s work is to be a point of reference for new movements and Evangelisation initiatives in the Catholic Church in England and Wales. To find out about the variety of Catholic evangelisation resources available please see CASE’s Evangelisation Directory.

Click for more information about Alpha for Catholics.

Click for a full photo gallery of this event.

Correction: 'Fanning the Flames Tour' 2009

In last month's newsletter we incorrectly listed the Newmarket tour date as 17 June. It is, in fact, 17 October. Many apologies.

The Birkenhead event is on 24 October.

Additional dates have been requested for 2010. For more information please see the CASE website. Everyone's welcome.

Caritas Social Action Network

An update on the Spirituality and Dementia project

The project “I am still me, Lord” explores the spiritual and religious needs of people with dementia, whether they're in a care home, a hospital ward, living in the community, alone, or with their carers or families. It aims to increase awareness and address the training needs of staff in the care sector as well as those in parish ministry to help them understand and meet the needs of people with dementia and their carers.

It's based on the principles of a person-centered approach to working with people with dementia and the new National Dementia Strategy as well as in good practice in working with carers and families.

A DVD showing good practice in care settings and parish communities is currently in production and will be launched in October 2009. An online learning resource as well as an accompanying leaflet are also being developed.

If you would like to be kept in touch with the development of the project or you would like to contribute to the resource materials, please contact Ben Bano, the Project Manager by emailing benbano@aol.com.

Liturgy

The Church and 'flu: guidance

Keeping well, taking care

The World Health Organisation has declared a pandemic (a worldwide epidemic) of H1N1 influenza, often called 'swine 'flu'. This is a new form of human flu and is circulating widely in some parts of the world, including parts of the UK. As members of the Church it is right that we take every reasonable care of each other's well being. At the present time, for example, we should all take those precaution which help avoid spreading the influenza ('flu) virus.

Advice has been issued to the Dioceses of England and Wales and is available on the Liturgy Office (England and Wales) website.

Cycle of Prayer

Human Life
Especially on the Day for Life (26 July)

Seafarers
Especially on Sea Sunday (12 July)

Europe
Especially on the July/August feasts of St Benedict (11 July), St Bridget of Sweden (23 July), St Teresa Benedicta of the Cross (9 August) who are Patrons of Europe.

International

Bishops call for G8 leaders to fulfil commitments to world's poor

Archbishop of Westminster Vincent Nichols and Cardinal Keith Patrick O'Brien, Archbishop of Edinburgh and St Andrews, have called on the government to protect the poor and vulnerable across the world amidst the ongoing economic crisis.

In a joint letter to the G8's political leaders, the presidents of Catholic Bishops' Conferences from those countries called for concerted action to assist developing countries at the upcoming G8 summit, which will take place between 8-10 July near L'Aquila, in Italy.

In a response from Number 10, Prime Minister Gordon Brown thanked the Catholic Church for its work and leadership on these issues. He said it was a moral imperative that world leaders maintain and fulfil their commitments to the world's poorest, particularly during the global downturn as the credibility of the G8 rested on demonstrating that commitments were being fulfilled.

Click for more.

Archbishop calls for greater awareness about cord blood donation

Archbishop Peter Smith encouraged increased cord blood donation as the focus for World Blood Donor Day (that took place on 14 June).

As well as blood taken from adults, researchers are now finding more uses for blood donations taken from the umbilical cord at birth. Cord blood is rich in stem cells and is already being used to treat many different diseases including leukaemia, sickle cell anaemia and thalassemia. Valuable cord blood can be extracted in a simple, safe procedure from the umbilical cord after birth, but currently most of this precious resource is discarded.

The therapeutic use of cord blood stem cells raises no ethical problems, unlike the use of embryonic stem cells derived from human embryos.

The Most Reverend Peter Smith, Archbishop of Cardiff, said: "I encourage people to learn more about cord blood donation and for expectant mothers to consider donating umbilical cord blood after the birth of their child. The birth of a child is a wonderful gift, and a donation of cord blood could help transform the lives of those who could benefit from the extracted stem cells."

Click for more.