Tributes paid to @digitalnun, Sr Catherine Wybourne

Courtesy of ICN:

'Benedictine nun keen on God, books and technology. Likes people, too. I blog at: http://ibenedictines.org ' - so wrote Benedictine Sister Catherine Wybourne, who died on 24 February, at the age of 68.

Sister Catherine, prioress of Howton Grove Priory, Herefordshire, was loved by tens of thousands of followers on Twitter as 'Digitalnun' with her insightful, often funny reflections on current events, prayer and the monastic life.

Born in Chatham , in April 1954, Driana Enid Wybourne was educated at Boscombe Convent and Girton College, from which she graduated in 1976 with an MA in History. She later carried out research in Spanish mediaeval history and went on to spend three years in banking before entering Stanbrook Abbey in 1981. She became a well known commentator in British media, writing on many faith issues, and contributed a weekly column to The Universe.

Sr Catherine had been suffering with cancer for some time. When she was told the doctors could not do much more for her, she left this message:

"The God in whom I believe is much bigger, and so much more fun, than we often allow him to be. I thank him for letting me be a Benedictine, which has been the supreme joy of my life, for the friendships he has inspired and the graces he has poured out on me despite my stubbornness and lack of co-operation. I ought to thank him for the difficulties, too, but I don't 'do' piety. Brutal honesty is more my line. I know he understands.

..I'm sorry for the times I have hurt or offended people. I think I can honestly claim never to have done so intentionally and hope you will forgive me. Forgiveness and reconciliation achieve much more than division, condemnation or insults, and what our world needs now is surely a more lively sense of our common humanity and a readiness to change.

..My delight in poetry, music and the natural world is undiminished. My mind may be slower than it once was but I still enjoy engaging with ideas and arguments. I love the daily monastic round which is the weft and warp of my life. Our garden continues to be a source of joy and I remain quite soppy about dogs, P.B.G.V.s and Bassets Fauve de Bretagne. No surprises there! When I spoke to my sister on the 'phone to give her my news, she gladdened my heart by laughing through her tears, so I hope my ability to see the funny side of life will continue. And if you don't like my humour, tough. If I feel well enough, I may be online occasionally but there are many practical problems absorbing the community's time and energy just now. So I suppose I'd better start tidying that sock drawer. Or maybe I'll just go and talk to the dog.

Thank you for reading this. May God bless you all.. "

A few of her recent messages on Twitter:

22 Feb:

Hot tap in the guest bathroom has disintegrated and sent a flood of hot water through the ceiling into the guest quarters below. Perhaps we die as we have lived, distracted by a thousand tiny cares, but hopefully still smiling. #thoughtsofadyingnun

23 Feb:

Praying for all tweeps on the feast of #StPolycarp (a favourite of mine as you will see from iBenedictines): for steadfastness, courage in adversity, and growing old(er) with wisdom and compassion. #Prayer

24 Feb:

(The day Russia invaded Ukraine, the day of her death):

Praying for all tweeps. There are no words for the anguish of Ukraine's invasion and the consequences for all of us. May the Lord have mercy on us all. #Prayer

Benedictine abbeys: keeping ancient crafting traditions alive

Aspects of Benedictine monastic life have recently featured on BBC television as part of a series.

'Heaven Made' shines a light on communities of monks and nuns in the UK and Ireland, who share the imaginative craftmanship and skill used to create beautiful handmade products. 

The programme starts with Galway's stunning Kylemore Abbey, a former Victorian castle and estate, now home to fourteen nuns. Their innovative Christmas hampers were to have a new addition, boxes of hand made chocolates.

The series also features St Augustine's Abbey, Chilworth, in Surrey and Quarr Abbey near Ryde on the Isle of Wight. Film crews spent around 4 weeks filming at Quarr, focusing on all different aspects of life there and the products they make on site.

Each Abbey nurtures important links with the local rural community who embrace their creative crafts and sustainable methods. On The Isle of Wight, tenant farmer Matt Legg works alongside agile former farmer, 76 year-old Fr Gregory and supplies free range meat for the cafe.

The series is available to watch:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m00129kt

Sr Gemma Simmonds talks to BBC radio about the Pope's video

In his February 2022 prayer video, Pope Francis told nuns they should fight when they’re unfairly treated - at times “by the men of the Church.” Pope Francis said nuns sometimes serve so much they are reduced to servitude.

Dr Gemma Simmonds CJ, Director of the Religious Life Institute at the Margaret Beaufort Institute of Theology, spoke to Ed Sourton on the BBC R4 Sunday programme. He began by asking if the Pope’s comments reflected her view?

This is the link to the programme; the interview starts around 6 minutes in from the beginning:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m0014638

"The Church cannot be understood without them."

Source: Vatican News

Pope Francis dedicates his February 2022 prayer video to religious sisters and consecrated women. He says: "The Church cannot be understood without them."

Encouraging all consecrated women to discern how best they can respond to the challenges facing humanity, he says:

"I exhort them to keep working and to have an impact with the poor, with the marginalized, with all those who are enslaved by traffickers," he said. "I especially ask them to make an impact on this."

Pope Francis also prayed for the many women religious who "show the beauty of God's love and compassion" through their ministry as catechists, theologians, and spiritual guides, even when they encounter obstacles.

"I invite them to fight when, in some cases, they are treated unfairly, even within the Church, when they serve so much that they are reduced to servitude - at times, by men of the Church."

When faced with these difficulties, women religious should "not be discouraged," said the Pope. "May you keep making God's goodness known through the apostolic works you do. But above all through your witness of consecration."

The full text follows:

“This month, we will pray in a special way for religious sisters and consecrated women.

What would the Church be without religious sisters and consecrated laywomen? The Church cannot be understood without them.

I encourage all consecrated women to discern and choose what is best for their mission in the face of the world's challenges that we're experiencing.

I exhort them to keep working and to have an impact with the poor, with the marginalized, with all those who are enslaved by traffickers; I especially ask them to make an impact on this.

And let us pray that they may show the beauty of God's love and compassion as catechists, theologians, and spiritual guides.

I invite them to fight when, in some cases, they are treated unfairly, even within the Church; when they serve so much that they are reduced to servitude - at times, by men of the Church.

Do not be discouraged. May you keep making God's goodness known through the apostolic works you do. But above all through your witness of consecration.

Let us pray for religious sisters and consecrated women, thanking them for their mission and their courage; may they continue to find new responses to the challenges of our times.

Thank you for what you are, for what you do, and for how you do it.”

(The video is available to view on the homepage of www.corew.org)

New General Secretary takes up office

Nicholas Witherick, a former Estates Manager at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, has been appointed as the General Secretary of the Conference of Religious of England and Wales. The second successive lay appointment to the role, he replaces Valerie Nazareth, who was in post for three years. Commenting upon his appointment, Nicholas Witherick said:

 “I’m aware that those who met Valerie Nazareth know how effective she and her team have been in enhancing the role and identity of the Conference throughout the Religious Community in England and Wales.  She has left the organisation in a very strong position, and I intend to build on that with the direction of the Executive and our Members.  2022 will see the creation of a new strategy -striving to raise the voices, ideas, issues and best practice of the Religious of England and Wales.”

Marking her departure, Valerie Nazareth, a lawyer and former Head of Editorial Legal Services at the BBC commented: 

“It has become a commonplace for people leaving a job to say that it has been a privilege to work in that role. But in this case it really is true. Working with Religious over the past three years has been a brilliant experience. Their lives are devoted to the service of others, often in defence of the weakest and most vulnerable in our society. There is much they can teach others, not least about spirituality and living for others. Their skills in listening and discernment seem to me to be second to none. The ongoing work of CoR, its members,  staff and executive will all be in my prayers.”

In late October, at the end of the AGM for congregational Leaders, tributes were paid to the outgoing General Secretary. The President of the Conference of Religious, Fr Paul Smyth CMF, thanked her for all the expertise and hard work that has guided the organisation through a challenging period.

Nicholas Witherick & Valerie Nazareth

A life less ordinary: Sr Pamela Hussey

By Professor Ian Linden

All my children and many others loved Sister Pamela Hussey. Pamela would have been 100 on 7 January 2022. She died peacefully on 13 December in Cornelia House, in the Harrogate care home of the Society of the Holy Child Jesus. She made up for missing the traditional letter from the Queen by receiving one from each of two Popes, Benedict XVI and Francis, congratulating her on her Diamond Jubilee as a nun. An Anglo-Argentinian, Pamela grew up in Buenos Aires which makes the occasion being noticed for a second time, and by Pope Francis, seem more fitting.

Pamela wanted to join the war effort and sailed in 1942 from Argentina on one of the perilous Atlantic crossings to the Bay of Biscay and, hugging the French coast, northwards to wartime Britain. She joined the Women’s Royal Naval Services (WRNS). For three years she worked in Scarborough as a wireless telegraphist in an offshoot of GCHQ Bletchley – where she is on the Roll of honour - and returned in 2014 to open a new centre through the good offices of Prince Charles. In 2018 she was awarded the Légion d’Honneur for her service during the Second World War presented in person at her care home by a representative of the French Government. As a special operator she learnt Morse Code spending hours on end waiting for German U-boats to break cover and surface to communicate with their base revealing their location. It was hardly the most effective use of a woman who was a fluent Spanish speaker, who would take a degree in modern languages at St. Anne’s Oxford and, having joined the SHCJs in 1950, teach languages for ten years.

The first time I met Pamela was in 1981 when she became a volunteer administrative assistant in the Latin America department of the Catholic Institute for International Relations (CIIR) where I had also just started working. It was a critical and intense period in the Cold War. Dictatorships and oligarchies, backed by the CIA, ruled many of the Latin American States with appalling human rights violations as a consequence. Pamela gravitated to the El Salvador desk at CIIR, making several field trips, sharing the department’s admiration for the Archbishop of San Salvador, St. Oscar Romero, his courage, work for justice and his theology and after his assassination publicising his life. Pamela had the advantage of looking frail and conservative when she wasn’t. She was the scourge of US Foreign Service personnel who were entirely unprepared for the passion and anger of this diminutive and well-spoken woman when they tried to defend the indefensible. To her great pleasure her work was first recognised in 2000. She was awarded an MBE for her tireless defence of human rights.

The last time we met I asked Pamela what training as a Woman Religious was like in the strict self-effacing convent discipline of the 1950s for someone like her. “Well”, she said, “I complained to the novice mistress that my personality was being crushed. She replied: ‘Pamela, your personality is oozing out of every pore’”. And anyone who knew Pamela would agree. In a quiet sort of a way Pamela had style. Decidedly not the dressy kind but more her old fashioned politeness which set her at ease with a huge spectrum of people whom she would address as ‘dearest’. One of my happiest memories of Pamela was her 70th birthday party in 1992. We had a lovely meal in the upper room of the now defunct Gay Hussar. Jon Snow and George Foulkes MP, later Baron Foulkes of Cumnock, were there. She was in her element. So was everyone else though sadly the number of empty bottles arrayed on the table in front of the group meant a photographic record of the event for the CIIR Annual Review had to be censored. Even at Apley Grange she would take a daily walk to the local hotel for morning coffee with her copy of Le Monde or La Croix to keep up with international and Church affairs. The last time I saw her she confided that she had Alzheimer’s then promptly recited a long poem word perfect from memory.

Pamela was a feminist. Books she wrote, Freedom From Fear: Women in El Salvador’s Church and, with Marigold Best, Life Out of Death, the Feminine Spirit in El Salvador and Women Making a Difference bear witness to that. She felt deeply the betrayal of women who had fought against the Latin American dictatorships and who were expected after victory to return to traditional roles. Her life offered yet another example of the extraordinary range of Women Religious’ gifts to the Church. Her death brings down the curtain on a period when the witness of many Women Religious was within the struggle for liberation against tyranny, justice against repression, life against death. There will never be another Pamela.
​
She leaves a younger brother, now aged 96.
May She Rest in Peace.

(Ian Linden is Visiting Professor St. Mary's University

www.ianlinden.com)

Climate Crisis – how can Religious respond?

Members of religious congregations from across England & Wales came together for two large information sharing meetings, in the weeks leading up to Cop26, to reflect on ways of responding to the climate emergency. Speakers included Dr Emma Gardner, Head of Environment at Salford diocese, Edward de Quay of the Laudato Si’ Research Institute at Campion Hall in Oxford, Sr Margaret Atkins OSA of Boarbank Hall in Cumbria and Brother Loarne Ferguson OFM Cap.

The first meeting attempted to set out the big picture of how the Church in England & Wales is responding, such as: diocesan environmental projects / the network of environmental leads which has been developed to foster collaborative work across the dioceses / the question of investment & divestment / lay led initiatives such as the Ecological Conversion Group and parish/clergy awareness.

The speakers at the second meeting were Religious who have put ecology at the heart of their ministry, including Fr Martin Newell CP and Columban Sr Kate Midgley. The two meetings followed a very well attended webinar in January with Bishop John Arnold, Dr Carmody Grey and Sr Sheila Kinsey who is the Rome based co-ordinator of a global project involving Religious, ‘Sowing Hope for the Planet.’ www.sowinghopefortheplanet.org

The bee shelter design & Bro Loarne

Brother Loarne Ferguson is currently seconded onto an environmental project at a rural location in Worcestershire, a deliberate move by his congregation, to prepare him for further ecological initiatives. Since the summer, he’s been living with an ecumenical community near Broadway, the ‘House of the Open Door,’ specifically to work on a bee project. Through ecological means, he is engaged in designing and building a bee shelter, to consolidate many decades of beekeeping (the community has traditionally had up to 60 hives).  

Creating the structure from foraged materials

He commented: “The focus has been on me getting experience and building a structure, at no cost, with local natural resources.”  He designed the framework and then commenced a process of foraging for the raw materials. The trunks of dead ash trees were chopped and sanded to make the upright posts of the shelter; gravel discovered in a stream as well as discarded roof tiles were utilised as floor coverings; a large piece of fibreglass was ‘found’ and became the roof. Recalling ‘back-breaking’ digging work through the summer, Brother Loarne was glad of volunteers who gave of their time for free, including a local architect. “This is a completely new way of thinking” he said. “My background is in retreat giving and evangelisation. These recent months have involved focusing entirely on creating a shelter where bees’ needs are catered for. Pollinators are a really important part of the food chain.” He noted that many congregations have installed a bee hive in their grounds. He recommended a ‘Bees’ Needs’ youtube video for those who wish to learn more:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7uVeyH7XQXg

Sr Kate (in red)

Also at the second meeting, Sr Kate Midgley charted her environmentalism, which she dates back to Good Friday a couple of years ago – “a lightbulb moment, my own ecological conversion!” After some personal research, “I came to understand what we are doing to our planet and that as human beings we are destroying it. It is incumbent upon us – in this generation – to do something about it.” By that Easter Sunday Sr Kate had connected with an ‘Extinction Rebellion’ protest and has subsequently developed her involvement since then, predominantly through ‘Christian Climate Action.’ This has involved taking part in awareness raising outside Westminster Cathedral and prayer vigils outside Parliament through Lent. “The climate emergency can leave us feeling overwhelmed – but praying in front of that place, where decisions are made, feels very important.”

Sr Kate & Melanie Nazareth

Ahead of Cop26, Sr Kate joined the first leg of a pilgrimage walk from London to Glasgow  - and then caught up with climate activist Melanie Nazareth, to record a video interview as the walkers were journeying through Lancashire.  Melanie described the rich experience of discussing the climate emergency with so many people along the way and of how different churches came together along the route to support the walkers, commenting: “Prayer is really important in these situations. Cop26 is not the end. We need to build on this. Cop26 in some ways is the start of a big journey into the future.”  More details of the walk at : www.caminotocop.com

Outside Westminster Cathedral

Feeling the need for a specifically Catholic working group, in conjunction with Fr Martin Newell and around twenty others, another layer of activism was formed last year within Christian Climate Action:  ‘Catholics for Christian Climate Action.’ The organisers commented at the time:  “As members of the Catholic Church, inspired by the Holy Spirit to follow Jesus in reading the Signs of the Times, and in response to the call of Laudato Si’, we focus on engaging the Catholic Church, that is to say, Catholics generally, Bishops and Dioceses, Religious Orders, and other organisations. Our starting point is the climate and ecological emergency and our belief that the UK needs to aim for zero emissions by 2030 at the latest. This is a matter of climate justice, and the good of the poorest and most vulnerable must be a priority in all our efforts..…..The climate emergency requires political action and engagement, including action within Catholic organisations. We hope to energise this collective Catholic political response to the climate and ecological emergency in the public space, as an effective witness to our faith in our Creator God. For more information, email: catholicscca@gmail.com

Facing arrest during a street protest

Fr Martin Newell told the meeting he’d been involved in Christian Climate Action for seven years, warning:  “If we don’t act now, it will be much worse in the future. We are already behind the curve.” He explained his rationale for radical activism:  “People need to take individual action but the government needs to lead. Just as it acted to put in financial measures during the pandemic, it has to take bold action on the climate emergency. That’s why we are involved in so many protests. We always pray in public too. It’s important that people look back and see that Christians were there. What we do now will have an effect in 10/20 years time. The time lag means it can be hard for people to understand how serious the situation is.”

He reflected on the past year of writing ‘to all bishops’ requesting that dioceses make the climate crisis a priority and for clergy & lay Catholics to be made more aware and for people to be encouraged to engage with their politicians on it. “These requests are also directed at religious congregations,” he added. “We can make changes within our dwellings in terms of living and community life and at the same time press for political changes.”

On the specific question of divestment / investment,  James Buchanan of Operation Noah gave a briefing on the work of dioceses and religious orders, a movement that is growing in size continually as more organisations get on board: www.operationnoah.org

Sr Margaret Atkins outlined the broad range of ecological work underway in and around her congregation’s  buildings and land in Cumbria (Boarbank Hall) and also how the pandemic has given rise to hundreds of people attending Laudato Si’ retreat/prayer sessions via zoom.  An earlier article on Sr Margaret’s work can be read here: https://bit.ly/3iOBJcD

One question put by Cistercian Sisters present at the meeting was how individual congregations and Religious could discern the right course of action in response to the complexity of the climate crisis. Brother Loarne responded by referencing St John Henry Newman’s ‘convergence of probabilities’ - from which arises growing awareness and certitude. Through stillness and prayer, asking for enlightenment and guidance on where to start, opportunities for action will surely arise he said. “Small steps will present themselves.”

'He who has ears to hear:' Religious invited to meetings on Synodality

For a Synodal Church: Communion, Participation, Mission

At October’s AGM for congregational leaders, Sr Margaret Donovan HC led prayer on the concept of listening, as CoR prepares to take part in the synodal journey. In February we will hold our third and final meeting. The previous two sessions have attracted more than two hundred attendees:

Details: 9 February 2022 on the theme of Mission - with a reflection by Sr Lynda Dearlove IOLM, from 4.30 to 6.30pm 
To register and obtain the link for each of the meetings please email: admin@corew.org 

These meetings will by supplemented by a questionnaire to gather views and to aide the provision of information to CICLSAL in Rome (Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life).

In addition, we will be providing the opportunity for Religious to pray together for the success of the Synod over the two year period. We propose to hold liturgies twice a year which we hope will be attended both in person and live streamed to enable maximum participation. We are still looking for people to help us with the preparation of these,  so please let the General Secretary know if you are able to help.

We are very grateful to the steering group for helping us with this work. Those involved so far include Sr Margaret Donovan HC, Fr Paul Smyth CMF, Lynda Dearlove IOLM, Ann O’Sullivan RLR, Sr Jane Bertelsen FMDM, Sr  Christine McGarry OP, Sr Bridgetta Rooney CSJP and Fr John McGowan  OCD.

Congregational Leaders hold their first 'in person' meeting since May 2019

Sr Joan Chittister gave a presentation via zoom

The General Secretary of the Conference of Religious writes:

The Papal Nuncio talked about #Synod2023

“It was a great pleasure to be together after so much time apart and so many zoom meetings. I  was very pleased with the number of people who joined us. For me, highlights of the two days were the talks given by the Papal Nuncio, Archbishop Claudio Gugerotti and that given by Sr Joan Chittister. Sr Joan’s talk was particularly inspiring and we were joined online by over 360 people,  the highest number we have had attend a meeting for several years.

One of the topics we covered was synodality. I am aware that some are not optimistic  that the Synod will lead to change and so find it hard to motivate themselves to participate. This point was put to the Nuncio and in response, he reminded us: what alternative do we have, but to try?

Our series of discussions starts on the 24th of November when we will be addressing the theme of communion. All are welcome and more information about this is set out below.
 
As Pope Francis said on October 17, “The journey of synodality is the journey that God wants from his church in the third millennium,” 

SPEAKERS:  
We were delighted to have such excellent input over the two days. Slides are available from :  admin@corew.org

Care of our Common Home, Sr Nellie McLaughlin RSM:
Coming just days before Cop26, we felt it was fitting to devote some time to the environment, following on from our Cry of the Earth webinar and recent zoom meetings. Sr Nellie, who leads retreats and conferences in eco-spirituality, travelled from Donegal to be with us. Her presentation was informative and wide ranging.

Sr Patricia Mulhall OSB puts a question

Synodality:  Archbishop Malcolm McMahon, Sr Rachel Duffy FCJ & Sr Maureen McKnight SND:
The whole of Tuesday morning was given over to this topic. Archbishop Malcolm outlined the synodal process that his archdiocese has gone through, charting its progress from initial planning through to consultations and feedback. The slides are available on request. Sister Rachel and Sister Maureen joined for the second part of the presentation, in which they shared their experience of being part of that synod.  Sr Rachel was a member of the Liverpool Synod Working Party. 

Papal Nuncio:  As mentioned above, we were honoured to be joined by Archbishop Claudio Gugerotti in which he gave an uplifting and inspiring talk about the synodal journey. 

 Sr Joan Chittister OSB joined us for a live zoom session, to give a talk entitled:

'The Spiritual Mountains of the New Millennium: A Journey to Adulthood’
followed by questions and answers. 

Mass with the CoR Executive on the Altar

This very rich and engaging day of presentations was followed by Mass celebrated by the Nuncio. Past and incoming members of the Executive were seated on the Altar and the parish music group provided excellent accompaniment. At the end, Fr Paul called Valerie to the front, to express thanks to her for the three years of service she has given to the Conference of Religious. Recalling that the initial letter from IICSA arrived just a few days after her appointment, he described her as a 'godsend' and thanked her for all the expertise and hard work that has guided the organisation through a challenging period. 

The evening concluded with a splendid celebratory dinner. The Religious in attendance and members of the Secretariat were delighted to meet with the Nuncio, who also imparted his apostolic blessing to the staff of the Claretian Oasis. 

Sr Joan Chittister to give keynote talk at AGM

Sr Joan Chittister is giving a live presentation at the forthcoming Annual General Meeting for Congregational leaders and the Religious of England and Wales are invited to join via zoom.

For more than 40 years Sr Joan has advocated on behalf of peace, human rights, women’s issues, and church renewal. A much sought-after speaker, she is also a best-selling author of more than 50 books.

The talk will be at 3.15pm on October 26th. Religious are invited to join via zoom. Registration fee of £10. For the link, email: admin@corew.org

Update on IICSA from the Catholic Council

IICSA Report – Additional Updates

 Recommendation 3 : Compliance

The Catholic Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales and the Conference of Religious should publish a clear framework for dealing with cases of non-compliance with safeguarding policies and procedures. That framework should identify who is responsible for dealing with issues of non-compliance at all levels of the Church, and include the measures or sanctions for non-compliance.

On 1st April 2021, the Catholic Safeguarding Standards Agency (CSSA) was incorporated and the existing staff from its predecessor agency, the Catholic Safeguarding Advisory Service (CSAS) were transferred into this new body. 

On 17th May 2021, following an open recruitment process, the CSSA was able to publish the full membership of the Board of Directors.  This was issued in a press release (which can be seen here) and stated that the new Chair of the CSSA Board was Nazir Afzal, who had served previously as the Chief Crown Prosecutor for North West England and Director in London, as well as the Chief Executive of the Police and Crime Commissioners.  The full membership of the Board is:

·       Nazir Afzal – Chair

·       Stephen Ashley – Vice Chair

·       Amanda Ellingworth

·       Wesley Cuell

·       Jenny Holmes

·       Paul Mason – Lead Bishop for Safeguarding

·       David Smolira SJ – Lead Religious for Safeguarding*

·       Carol Lawrence

*Note Frances Orchard CJ replaces David Smolira SJ as Lead Religious for Safeguarding on 1st October and thereafter will replace him on the Board of the CSSA.

On 1st June 2021 the Board began progressing the work that had already commenced in implementing the Elliott Recommendations.  The trustee bodies of all Catholic dioceses and religious orders have been invited to subscribe to the CSSA.  The initial work of the CSSA Board included instructing solicitors to draw up the contractual arrangements for those Catholic entities which will join the CSSA.  The contract includes the rights and obligations of those entities in terms of services provided by the CSSA to the entity and the requirements for the entities to adhere to the national standards, policies and practice guidance that have been developed by the CSSA, and its audit regime and complaints function.

Letters of intent to join the CSSA are being sent to all dioceses and religious orders in order to assist in this work, especially for financial planning; this began in July of 2021 and responses have been received throughout the summer and to date.  The contractual arrangements will be signed by the end of the year.

Alongside this work, in order to ensure that the CSSA is able to fulfil the role of independent auditor for the Catholic dioceses and religious groups that subscribe to its services, job descriptions and person specifications for a new audit team were developed and posts advertised.  Interviews for the manager of this team took place in September with the successful candidate expected to be in post by the end of October.  Recruitment to additional roles in this team will now take place.  This recruitment process has meant that a key appointment has been made; a Safeguarding Assurance Manager (who will further develop the audit model) who comes with a long professional career in the public sector developing safeguarding quality assurance programmes and this person will now lead the recruitment of two support auditors for her work.  Additional capacity has been built in with new practice adviser and training posts, along with additional administrative resources in the non-audit part of the team.

Regarding the General Decree which was sent to Rome in 2019 in application for formal recognitio, the President of the Bishops’ Conference received an update from the Congregation for Bishops in May 2021.  The Congregation (which is the competent ecclesiastical authority for this request) has asked for further amendment and clarifications regarding the text that had been submitted in June 2019.  They have made helpful suggestions, both general and specific, and the work of redrafting the text in line with these recommendations in continuing.

It is hoped that this redraft of the General Decree will be submitted to the Congregation for Bishops at the same time as the Rules for the creation of the National Tribunal Service (NTS) which was recommended by the Elliott Review.  The NTS will assist the work of the Bishops and the Church in England and Wales through a formal delegation for the consideration of cases within the local Church, utilising the expertise of canonists and legal professionals locally.  It will also have an important educative function in training canon lawyers, safeguarding professionals and others in the Church in the skills and procedures necessary for the good operation of canonical processes and evidence gathering and assessment.

Recommendation 4 : External Auditing

The Catholic Safeguarding Advisory Service should have the effectiveness of its audit programme regularly validated by an independent organisation which is external to the Church. These independent reports should be published.

The CSSA Board remains committed to the independent verification of its audit processes and, in Spring 2022, will be undertaking a formal process of appointment of a suitable external body.  The outcome of any review will be published on the CSSA website

The safeguarding standards will be formally launched in October 2021 and the CSSA will work with Dioceses and Religious Life Groups to ensure that they are fully aware of what would constitute good practice in relation to each of the standards.  It is anticipated that baseline audits will commence in the first quarter of 2022.  The Board’s view is that it would be appropriate to take an approach which clearly identifies those standards that must be met, and those which may progress towards full implementation and so will develop over time.  This means that the organisations will have sufficient time to build a body of work in line with the safeguarding standards which can then be audited and reported upon.

Recommendation 5 : Canon 1395

The Catholic Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales should request that the Holy See redraft the canonical crimes relating to child sexual abuse as crimes against the child.

The President of the Bishops’ Conference wrote to the Pontifical Council for Legislative Texts on 15th March 2021 outlining the request of the Conference that the context and wording of the offence of an act against the sixth commandment between a cleric and a minor in the category of “offences against special obligations” be reformulated as a crime against the child.

A response form the Pontifical Council for Legislative Texts was received in London in April 2021.  The response highlighted that work was already underway in Rome for a revision of Book VI of the Code of Canon Law (CIC) in which crimes against minors will be considered under a different title than crimes against the obligations of celibacy on the part of clerics.

On 1st June 2021, His Holiness Pope Francis published the Apostolic Constitution Pascite gregem Dei (Shepherd God’s Flock), dated 23rd May 2021, the Solemnity of Pentecost.  In this, Pope Francis promulgated the new Book VI of the CIC, containing regulations on criminal sanctions in the Church.  This newly developed legislative text will come into force in the Universal Church on 8th December 2021.

The amplified and reorganised Book VI of the CIC was developed as the experience of these processes since its original promulgation in 1983 did not meet the expectations of Bishops and canonists over many years. As a result of the work of revision, of the 89 canons that make up this Book VI, 63 have been amended (71%), 9 others moved (10%) while only 17 remain unchanged (19%).

The new text now adequately determines the penal norms, unlike the text before, in order to give precise and sure guidance to those who must apply them. The offences treated in Book VI are now better specified, distinguishing cases which were previously rather grouped together; the penalties are now exhaustively listed in canon 1336; and the text everywhere contains reference parameters to guide the evaluations of those who must judge the specific circumstances. One of the new focuses of the canons is a set of “penal remedies” which did not exist before with the same clarity. 

The new Book VI of the CIC gives new specific crimes.  Of interest to the work of safeguarding is the new Canon 1398:

Can. 1398

§ 1.  A cleric is to be punished with deprivation of office and with other just penalties, not excluding, where the case calls for it, dismissal from the clerical state, if he:

1° commits an offence against the sixth commandment of the Decalogue with a minor or with a person who habitually has an imperfect use of reason or with one to whom the law recognises equal protection;

2° grooms or induces a minor or a person who habitually has an imperfect use of reason or one to whom the law recognises equal protection to expose himself or herself pornographically or to take part in pornographic exhibitions, whether real or simulated;

3° immorally acquires, retains, exhibits or distributes, in whatever manner and by whatever technology, pornographic images of minors or of persons who habitually have an imperfect use of reason.

§ 2.  A member of an institute of consecrated life or of a society of apostolic life, or any one of the faithful who enjoys a dignity or performs an office or function in the Church, who commits an offence mentioned in § 1 or in can. 1395 § 3 is to be punished according to the provision of can. 1336 §§ 2-4, with the addition of other penalties according to the gravity of the offence.

The offence of child abuse is now framed not within the offences against the special obligations of clerics, but as an offence committed against the dignity of the human person.  This new canon 1398 therefore includes in this respect actions carried out not only by clerics, who belong to the reserved jurisdiction of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, but also offences of this kind committed by non-clerical religious and by lay people who occupy certain roles in the Church, as well as any such behaviour with adults, but committed with violence or abuse of authority.

In the Apostolic Constitution, the Pope reminded the Bishops that they have a solemn duty to apply the law in the appropriate manner following the promulgation of the new Book of the CIC; he said:

Negligence on the part of a bishop in resorting to the penal system is a sign that he has failed to carry out his duties honestly and faithfully, as I have expressly pointed out in recent documents, including the Apostolic Letters issued Motu Proprio As a Loving Mother (4 June 2016) and Vos Estis Lux Mundi (7 May 2019).

Vos Estis Lux Mundi referenced above contains the general provisions of the law, outlining something of the nature of the crimes involved and clarifying the terminology used; indicating how reports are to be received and dealt with; and pointing out the obligation of ecclesiastical authorities to care appropriately for all the persons concerned.  It continues in detail with the procedures to be followed and the actions to be taken when the person at the centre of a safeguarding report is a Bishop or someone who in Canon Law is considered to have a responsibility equivalent to that of a Bishop (for example a major religious superior or diocesan administrator.)

As such, the provisions of the two letters Motu Proprio (As a Loving Mother and Vos Estis Lux Mundi) alongside the redrafting of Book VI and especially the new Canon 1398 show that the Holy See, and Pope Francis himself, takes very seriously the crimes around child sexual abuse itself and the reporting of these crimes.  Care of those who have been harmed and the support of them is specifically noted in Article 5 of Vos Estis Lux Mundi.  The involvement of suitably qualified persons, which is interpreted as not reserved to clerics or religious and open to the involvement of the laity in penal processes (see Article 13 of Vos Estis Lux Mundi), and the accountability of bishops and Church leaders for the correct and timely execution of these processes, is a very important step in creating more transparency in the work of safeguarding. 

The texts of the relevant documents noted here can be found at the following links:

As a Loving Mother (4th June 2016)              here

Vos Estis Lux Mundi (7th May 2019)             here

Book VI of the CIC (1st June 2021)               here

Recommendation 6 : Catholic Safeguarding Advisory Service website and policies and procedures manual

As stated previously, work began soon after the 2019 IICSA hearings to modify and clarify the Procedures Manual.  The comments made by witnesses at the hearings were taken into account and all of these updates were published on the CSAS website in early 2020.

The national safeguarding policies and procedures are live documents and remain subject to review and refinement to ensure that they align with the new national safeguarding standards which will be launched at the end of October 2021.

The new CSSA website is being finalised and this too will be launched by the end of October 2021.  The national safeguarding standards, safeguarding policies and supporting practice guidance will be published on this site.

Catholic Council for the IICSA

30th September 2021

Sr Frances Orchard CJ appointed as Religious Safeguarding Lead

 Sr Frances Orchard CJ, a member of the Congregation of Jesus, is taking on the new role of Religious Safeguarding Lead, a post created in response to IICSA’s recommendation for there to be a lead Bishop and a lead Religious for safeguarding within the Catholic Church.

It follows a nine-month period in which Fr David Smolira SJ has operated as implementation Lead for Religious in response to the review of safeguarding in the Church by Dr Ian Elliott, which called for new structures for safeguarding to be established in the Catholic Church in England and Wales. Fr Smolira has been a critical part of the implementation of the new safeguarding structures and systems for Religious. He has worked for and with Religious to implement the changes, and to ensure that their questions, concerns and needs are heard and understood. The newly established Religious Life Safeguarding Service is now in existence, though it will be some time before it is fully operational. The RLSS will offer a full safeguarding service designed specifically for Religious Congregations, including case work and the provision of training.  Anne O’Brien who is the current chair of the Hexham and Newcastle diocesan safeguarding commission has recently been appointed as the first Chair of the RLSS.

Sr Frances Orchard holds a degree in History (London), a Masters in Catholic School leadership (Surrey) and has a professional background in educational leadership and consultancy. Sr Frances has served as Vicar General of her congregation in Rome, and more recently as Provincial Superior, and Vice-President of the Conference of Religious of England and Wales. At various times she has been a governor/trustee of seven schools in total, and has first-hand experience of safeguarding issues. Sr Frances commented: “I am privileged to be entrusted with taking forward this new role and will endeavour to build on the excellent foundation laid by Fr David; safeguarding is an essential part of our Catholic belief and should be focussed on the needs of survivors.”

Buckfast bees find a home with the Presentation Sisters in Derbyshire

By Sister Susan Reichert PBVM

In this Season of Creation, we are encouraged to do or take something on that will help our planet….

In our efforts to care more for our earth, we decided to invest in a bee hive. Our next-door neighbours, Julia and Eric, were a great help – they had a hive of bees AND a spare hive. Her son, Daniel and his wife are bee keepers and so our adventure started.

In late June, the hive was placed in an alcove in the church cemetery beside our house. Daniel took himself off to collect a swarm of bees from Buckfast. He had suggested these bees because they are gentle and had been bred as far back as 1919 (at Buckfast) so that they are more acclimatised to England. We were also conscious of the school children being next door and their playing field being on the other side of the hedge.

The bees arrived and were put in the hive but unfortunately some had died on the way and the others were struggling.

Daniel, the beekeeper, got back onto Buckfast – they needed to know in case there was a problem being bred in the bees.  Another swarm was brought up and housed in the hive. These are thriving.

We have planted bee-friendly bushes and flowers in our garden and in the graveyard.

It is amazing to see them working in our garden and queueing to get into the hive to take back their nectar.

As a side line – they are doing a great job pollinating our flowers and bushes.

We are now collecting our empty jam-jars ready for the honey………

From cathedrals to candles, from vestments to the Easter Vigil Exsultet, the church honours, depicts, and implements honeybees into its representation of life offered for others. Common words, like the “cell” in a monastery, derive from the cells of a hive. It’s a group of celibate worker bees, supporting one another for the survival of the whole. The high altar in St. Peter’s Basilica is covered in bees. St. John Chrysostom once shared in a homily:

“The bee is more honoured than other animals,

               not because it labours,                 

   but because it labours for others.”

Martin Marklin took up beekeeping as a sideline to his main business producing thousands of handcarved liturgical candles each year at the Marklin Candle workshop in Contoocook, New Hampshire. Beekeeping became its own vocation, however, and the more Marklin learned about the life of bees, the more he saw the ways in which the beehive reflects the early church.

Martin has a 5 minute video in which he parallels the bees and us as Church. Its called Be The Bee

https://youtu.be/ZxDesicz62g

In the light of seeing the video, reflect on the following questions –

Martin Marklin says he became interested in beekeeping when he realized he “had no idea how the bees did what they did.” What aspects of your work are you curious about? How might exploring those areas open up your imagination? Is there any anxiety you need to overcome to do this?

Marklin says the bee community “is reflective of how the early church was.” Do you see powerful metaphors for the church around you?

In what ways do you “labour for others”? Is that a useful mindset in your organization?

As a candle maker, Marklin derives joy from knowing that the work of his hands becomes “the light of Christ in the world.” Do you see your work in that way? Could you?

Markin urges everyone to “be the bee” -- to find beauty and transform it into something even more beautiful. Are there places in your life and work where you can do that?

(This was first published in Faith & Leadership:   www.faithandleadership.com )

Finally, we invited the parishioners and schoolchildren to get involved,  by donating some crocus bulbs helping to create a carpet of crocuses in the cemetery at St.Joseph’s – and provide food for our bees.  We hope to get the children in St.Joseph’s school to plant the bulbs.

Sisters host film festival to highlight human trafficking

Sr Imelda Poole & Sr Patricia Mulhall with prizewinners

By Jo Siedlecka, ICN

A festival of films dedicated to human trafficking took place at the Royal Society of Arts (RSA) and British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA).

Organised by RENATE (Religious in Europe Networking Against Trafficking and Exploitation) the day included an exhibition of art by victims of trafficking, and the announcement of the winners in a short-film competition - with a viewing of their works.

Sr Imelda Poole presenting the first prize to the winner who joined from Poland

Loreto Sister Imelda Poole MBE, director of RENATE came from Albania to open the festival. She said it aimed to provide a platform for survivors of human trafficking by highlighting their stories and showcasing the work of Religious across Europe who assist victims and lobby for tougher legislation to end the practice.

Dr Jon Hackett, head of the Department of Communications, Media and Marketing and Professor of Film and Communications at St Mary's University, Twickenham, compered the day and Dr Carol Murphy, Director of St Mary's Bakhita Centre for Research on Slavery, Exploitation and Abuse also commented on the films.

An image created by a teenage victim of trafficking

Nine films made by RENATE members and friends were shown at the RSA in three viewing areas, followed by discussions. Sr Imelda Poole moderated discussion in one area after the screening of 'L'invisibles' about street children in France, produced largely by Secours Catholique - Caritas France, and the documentary 'Sisters Act' about the work of RENATE in Albania. Viewers' questions ranged from the role of drugs and alcohol, the issue of patriarchy the live-streaming of children as young as two-years-old to sexual predators. There were concerns about increasing drug trafficking and gang culture in Britain and calls for systemic change since human vulnerability is worsened by economic hardship and environmental problems.

'Ivan' from Slovakia, highlighting the heartbreaking true story of a man tricked into forced labour in slave-like conditions, was followed by 'Two little girls', an animated short film highlighting the broken dreams of two young women sold into prostitution after moving overseas for work. Brigidine Sister Patricia Mulhall, who has worked with trafficked people for more than 15 years, locally and internationally, led a discussion on these. She felt the 'demand' side of trafficking should be investigated more and asked why it is that the victims are more like to face being criminalised than their abusers.

Sr Marie Power of TRAC (Trafficking Awareness-Raising and Campaigning), moderated discussion in another room, looking at films including, 'They're children not slaves' focusing on Albania. She said that her organisation, formed by 16 religious congregations in the UK, works with RENATE, "to give victims a forum to tell their stories".

Presentations were made to winners of the Europe-wide RENATE short-film competition for young people. First prize went to Elliott Engberg, a student at the Warsaw Film School. His movie 'Traffic' , showing the commodification of human life, was uncomfortable viewing but strikingly powerful. Speaking from Poland by zoom he said: "this is a topic I care about and I wanted to force the audience to view a the scene of a young woman being abducted and sold to the highest bidder online - probably on the dark web. This happens every day."

Second place for 'Humans - Not for Sale' went to A level students from London, Joel Black and Shadman Jabir. They used a hand-held camera to film 'victims' trying to escape, highlighting their vulnerability and disorientation. The third place winner was young animator Emily Downe. Her highly original film 'Plain Sight', based on drawings she made while walking around Soho, showed how victims of modern slavery are there in our city streets in broad daylight - and we need to be more conscious of their presence.

‘New Beginning’

There were calls for the UK's Modern Slavery Act of 2015 to be better enforced. And it was felt that the international Anti-Slavery Day on 18 October is a key opportunity to highlight human trafficking and its causes, using some of the festival's 12 films to raise awareness.

All the films are available on the RENATE Events website: www.renateevents.net/

Journeying together - communion, participation, mission

This web page will be updated with links and resources as the congregations of England and Wales take part in the process of discernment around synodality.

7/9/21; The General Secretariat for the Synod of Bishops has presented the base text and 'Vademecum' - or handbook - to guide the journey of the Synod on Synodality.

Listening without prejudice; speaking out with courage and parrhesia; dialoguing with the Church, with society, and with the other Christian confessions are among the guiding principles that will direct the path of the Synod on Synodality.

The solemn opening of the Synod will take place in Rome on October 9-10, and in the particular Churches on October 17; and will conclude in the Vatican in 2023 with the assembly of bishops from around the world.

The Preparatory Document, released on Tuesday, is intended above all to be an instrument facilitating the first phase of listening and consultation of the People of God in the particular Churches, which will take place from October 2021 to April 2022.

"In other words," as the document says, "it constitutes a sort of construction site or pilot experience that makes it possible to immediately begin reaping the fruits of the dynamic that progressive synodal conversion introduces into the Christian community."

The text opens with the fundamental question: "How does this 'journeying together,' which takes place today on different levels (from the local level to the universal one), allow the Church to proclaim the Gospel in accordance with the mission entrusted to Her; and what steps does the Spirit invite us to take in order to grow as a synodal Church?"

LINKS

letter to those in Monastic life:

18/10/21: https://www.synod.va/content/dam/synod/document/common/prayers/monasteries/LETTERA-EN.pdf

Synod base text - https://press.vatican.va/content/salastampa/en/bollettino/pubblico/2021/09/07/210907a.html

Vademecum - www.synod.va/en/news/vademecum-for-the-synod-on-synodality.html

To learn more about the 2023 Synod on Synodality:  official website of the Synod.

20/9/2021: Synodality and Women, by Phyllis Zagano: https://www.indcatholicnews.com/news/43071

Key appointment to new safeguarding service for religious congregations in England and Wales

Anne O’Brien of Hexham and Newcastle diocese has been appointed as Chair of a new safeguarding structure dedicated to supporting the responsibilities of religious congregations. 

The ‘Religious Life Safeguarding Service’ is being set up following a review of safeguarding across the Catholic Church conducted by Dr Ian Elliott. This review recommended significant changes to the organisation and delivery of safeguarding services in the Church. The Religious Life Safeguarding Service will offer a full safeguarding service designed for Religious Congregations, including the provision of case work and training.

For three years Anne O’Brien has been the Chair of the Independent Safeguarding Commission for the Diocese of Hexham and Newcastle – and has also worked at a national level for the last 20 years within the NHS and the Department of Health. She held a Company Board Director position at NHS Professionals Ltd for 11 years.  Anne is a faculty member of the Royal College of Physicians, Edinburgh Quality Governance Collaborative and is currently advising the College on its global engagement and governance activity.

Fr David Smolira SJ has been overseeing the development of this new service for the past 7 months and said this about the appointment:

“I am absolutely delighted that Anne O’Brien has accepted the role of Chair of the Board of the Religious Life Safeguarding Service. She brings a wealth of safeguarding expertise and experience as well as a proven track record in governance. As the first Chair of the Board, Anne will play a very important role in developing the service and ensuring that its commitment to best practice and responding compassionately and professionally to the needs of victim/survivors will be at the heart of what the RLSS does.”

Anne O’Brien commented:  

‘’It is a privilege and a responsibility to become the first Chair of the RLSS, particularly at such a pivotal time for safeguarding in the Catholic Church. I intend to use my experience to support religious congregations embrace the changes we need to make, and I look forward to getting out and about listening and learning, ensuring we bring people with us as we develop. The voice of those hurt will be heard and will help us to improve what we do.’’

Those in Religious Life in England & Wales and the Religious Life Safeguarding Service itself are fully committed to working to create a safer Church for everyone and to fully implement the recommended changes of the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse and the Elliott review.  

 Why is this Being Done?

In part, this is being done in response to the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA) and the Elliott Review, both of which reported towards the end of 2020 and both of which were critical of the safeguarding work being undertaken in the Catholic Church in England and Wales.

The Religious of England and Wales are completely committed to following best practice in the area of safeguarding and are willing to invest significant financial resources into this project to ensure that this happens.

The new approach, recommended by Dr Ian Elliott, will be a standards-based approach to safeguarding and this will be audited by the Catholic Safeguarding Standards Agency.

Previously safeguarding needs were primarily met through dioceses but going forward the Religious Life Safeguarding Service will offer a dedicated service to meet the safeguarding needs of Religious. Like all other areas of the Church the RLSS will be working with the standards and regulations set by the Catholic Safeguarding Standards Agency in a one church approach

Let's respond to the seriousness of climate change

By Fr Sean McDonagh SSC

On 9 August 2021, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), a scientific body convened by the United Nations, issued a new report on climate change. This IPCC report based on 14, 000 studies and the work of more than 200 scientists is the clearest and most comprehensive account of the science of climate change. Dr Tamsin Edwards from King's College London, one of the main authors of the report, points out that climate science has improved significantly since the previous IPCC report in 2013.

In that report, human influence on climate change was "clear" whereas in the new report it is "unequivocal."

Since the beginning of the industrial revolution the level of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere has increased from 280 parts million to over 416 parts per million today. The reason is that humans are burning fossil fuels, such as coal, oil and gas to heat their homes, power their industrial and transport sectors and increase their agricultural production considerably.

The report makes it clear that the concentration of carbon dioxide is greater than at any time in the past two million years. As a result, the average global temperature has increased by 1.1 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels. The warmer atmosphere, land and oceans has caused more and severe droughts, floods and typhoons in recent years. In July 2021, heavy rains in Germany, Holland and Belgium caused riverbanks to burst, flooding entire towns and villages and destroying highways. More than 160 people lost their lives. Now massive wildfires burning in Siberia, Greece, Turkey and California bear the hallmark of climate change.

The warmer atmosphere and oceans mean that the late summer Arctic Sea ice has decreased by 40 percent in a mere 30 years. In this warmer world massive icebergs and glaciers are melting in Greenland, Arctic and the Himalayas leading to a significant rise in sea-levels. If this continues, many coastal cities will be flooded and some island nations such as Tuvalu in the Pacific Ocean may disappear in the next 50 years.

While the IPCC report is certain that major climate changes are inevitable and irreversible, there is much that humans can do to stop global warming from intensifying in the coming decades. The most important action is to cut emissions by 50 percent by 2030 and by 2050 to eliminate them completely.

That will not be easy as 34 per cent of greenhouse gases in Ireland come from agriculture. The Irish government's 'Food Vision 2030' plans to increase agricultural exports, mainly dairy and livestock by 50 percent in the next decade. Little thought is given to lowering our methane emissions by reducing our dairy herd which has doubled in the past 10 years. Similarly. there is little talk of moving to more plant- based agriculture which would lower Ireland's greenhouse gas emissions significantly.

Retrofitting homes will also be quite expensive. In Ireland it is estimated that retrofitting a house will cost between 25,000 and 50,000 euro. The cost for retrofitting 1.5 million houses will come to between 10 to 15 billion euro. Very few people have access to this kind of money. Since most churches are heated by oil, parishes will have to spend significant resources retrofitting these churches during the next 10 years. Similar kinds of costs will arise changing our transport sector from fossil fuels to electricity.

The IPCC report has been published three months before world leaders meet at COP 26 in Glasgow to discuss climate change. It is crucial that countries make drastic cuts in their emission of greenhouse gases. COP 26 is seen by some as the last opportunity to ensure the world does not exceed the two degrees Celsius in the 21st century. This would be disastrous as many areas of the world would be unliveable for human beings.

People are asking whether Britain is leading by example in tackling climate change. In early August 2021, Keir Starmer, the leader of the opposition warned that Boris Johnson's "failure of leadership" on tackling climate change could seriously damage the success of COP26. Others point out that the British government's recently cut in foreign aid has damaged the chance of success at COP26. Asking poor countries to undertake serious climate action while giving them less money to pursue clean energy strategies does not make sense.

Until the publication of Laudato Si': On Care for Our Common Home the record of the Catholic Church in giving leadership on this vital issue was extremely poor. One of the first places where climate change is mentioned by Pope John Paul II is in the 1990 document Peace with God the Creator, Peace with All Creation. The document states that "the gradual depletion of the ozone layer and the related 'greenhouse effect' have now reached crisis proportion…While CFCs are global warming gases, the depletion of the ozone layer and global warming are two entirely different processes.

The Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church, published in 2004, is a large book running to over 350 pages, yet there is only one paragraph on climate change. Regrettably, global warming did not appear in Pope Benedict's first encyclical Deus Caritas Est published in 2005. Chapter 4 of Pope Benedict's social encyclical, Caritas in Veritate is devoted to the environment, yet it did not mention to the most important environmental problem of the time - climate change.

The World Council of Churches (WCC) has given the most courageous leadership of any Christian institute on climate change during the past 4 decades. In 1992, it published a document on climate change called Sign of Peril, Test of Faith. Eight years later in 2002 the WCC published another pamphlet, Solidarity with Victims of Climate Change.

In the Anglican Church, former Archbishop Rowan Williams has warned that climate change is 'the largest challenged ever faced by humanity.' Since the publication of Laudato Si' - climate change has been at the centre of Pope Francis's ministry. He has made it clear that, if his health permits, he will attend COP26 in Glasgow to encourage leaders to make ambitious commitments on reducing carbon emission.

Given the seriousness of the crisis, every parish needs to set up a climate change committee and work with other Christian Churches and other religions to address this critical issue of our time. Such a context of support, at local and national level, will make it possible for people to implement the radical changes in our lifestyle which are demanded by this new IPPC report. And the time to achieve this is very short.

Sisters in search of a new home have found one

Pictured centre, Mother Winsome

By Dom Cuthbert Brogan OSB

Prinkash Abbey, Wiki Image by Enid Fletcher

The Benedictine monks of Prinknash Abbey in Gloucestershire are delighted to announce a new and important venture on the historic Prinknash Abbey estate in Gloucestershire.

The monks have offered one of the properties on the Prinknash estate to the Sisters of the Blessed Virgin Mary OSB - an autonomous community of nuns established within the Personal Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham following the Benedictine Rule and currently living at Kingstanding in Birmingham.

The Prinknash community converted to the Catholic faith in 1913 on Caldey Island. The monastic community belongs to the Subiaco-Cassinese Congregation of the order of St Benedict, the largest of the Benedictine Congregations which comprise the Benedictine Confederation, and whose monasteries include St Benedict's own monasteries of Subiaco and Monte Cassino.

The Sisters of the Blessed Virgin Mary OSB were received into the Catholic Church at the Oxford Oratory in 2013. They are part of the Personal Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham, established by Pope Benedict XVI and are aggregated to the Subiaco-Cassinese Congregation.

The refurbishment of buildings at the new monastery for nuns will include new guest and retreat facilities for individuals and groups, especially of young people. The work is expected to take two years.

Mgr Newton, the Ordinary of the Personal Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham, said he was extremely grateful for the generosity of the Prinknash community in offering the sisters a permanent home to live out their monastic vocation.

The Abbot Administrator of Prinknash said: "Prinknash is a much-loved and historic centre of prayer and monastic hospitality. We ask Almighty God's blessing on this new venture. Our hope is that the presence of these two distinct monastic communities on this outstandingly beautiful and historic estate will enrich this oasis of peace for the many who visit, and be a powerful witness of monastic generosity and prayer."

In January 2020, CoR reported on the Sisters’ plight as they sought a new home:

At the time, the Superior, Mother Winsome, said: “We’d ideally like to stay in the archdiocese of Birmingham but we’re open to suggestions. However with elderly Sisters it would be helpful for us not to be too remote. We’re hoping to find a purpose built convent, as a small-ish house wouldn’t be quite big enough.”

After being received into the full Communion of the Catholic Church and vacating their former convent, they stayed for an initial period of monastic formation at St Cecilia’s Abbey on the Isle of Wight. Whilst there,  an American Dominican,  who was at that point staying at Maryvale in Birmingham,  paid a visit.  Mother Winsome explains: “We outlined our circumstances and said to the visitor : please go back to Maryvale and beg John Henry Newman to give us a home!”

On return to Birmingham the Dominican in question mentioned to someone that they’d encountered “some homeless nuns” and was told a convent was becoming available, just up the road from Maryvale. Mother Winsome had to act quickly to seal the deal: “I had just an hour to get off the Isle of Wight that day because of the times of the tides!” she recalled. Mother Winsome travelled to meet the outgoing Superior of the Birmingham convent - who was wondering what to do with all the contents of the property. Mother Winsome replied: “Please leave it all, we have nothing!”

There was the slight matter that the Ordinariate Sisters also had absolutely no funds to acquire the property - but, said Mother Winsome, “we were confident the Lord would provide!” Within days an anonymous donor stepped forward and the lease of the property was agreed. So they moved, in August 2013, to their present location in Birmingham, just up the road from John Henry Newman’s first ‘Catholic’ home after his conversion, Maryvale.

In 2020, the Sisters expressed confidence that their prayers to England’s new saint would lead them safely to their own new home soon.

To read more about how Anglican Sisters became Catholic Sisters, visit:   https://www.sbvm.org.uk/

Prayers for the people of Hull as the Daughters of Charity say goodbye

By Sister Maureen Tinkler DC

On Saturday 10th July, Bishop Terence Drainey, Parish Priest Fr Jim O'Brien, Fr Paul Roche CM, diocesan clergy, Marist Fathers, members of the Society of St Vincent de Paul, parishioners, colleagues, and friends of the Sisters gathered with 12 Daughters of Charity in St Vincent's Church, Queens Road, for a farewell Mass.

Over the span of 131 years, the Daughters have lived and worked in Hull serving the people in various ministries within the parishes of St Charles, St Vincent's, West Hull, East Hull, and Bransholme.

Despite COVID restrictions, the liturgy of the Mass was incredibly beautiful. In his homily, the Bishop thanked the Sisters for their work in Hull, and indeed throughout the diocese of Middlesbrough, reminding them of Jesus' words in the Gospel: " You did not choose me, no I chose you and I commissioned you to go out and bear fruit." In the life of the Sisters, these words of Jesus have been realised. Sr Ellen Flynn, Provincial, traced the history of the Sisters in Hull from the beginnings in 1890 right up to the present day. She thanked both priests and people for their collaborative support and reassured everyone of the Sisters’ prayerful support as they continue together on the journey of life in Hull as witnesses to the Kingdom.

Bishop Terence and Councillor Abhimanyu Singh

After Mass, the Sisters, priests, and people gathered outside at the front of the church beneath the Commemorative Blue Plaque. This had been erected by Hull City Council to honour the memory of the Sisters’ 131 years of service. The plaque was blessed by Bishop Terence ; Councillor Abhimanyu Singh spoke of the unselfish work of the Sisters as the highest form of love and graciously gave thanks to them on behalf of all the people.

The original plans for the day included a sit-down afternoon tea for all in St Vincent's School Hall. However, because of COVID restrictions, these plans had to be abandoned and the West Hull Parish Priest, Fr Ivan Dawson, came to the rescue putting on a wonderful mid-afternoon barbecue on the grounds of St Joseph's Church. A wonderful meal for the Sisters and clergy.

The next day brought further celebrations at the 9am Sunday Mass in St Wilfrid's Church - the parish of Sisters Ann and Eleanor. This is a multicultural parish and Fr Ivan had invited his parishioners to turn up dressed in their national costumes. The Gospel that day was from St Mark in which Jesus missions his disciples to go out wearing their SANDALS: Sandals which protect the feet and can be easily slipped off when entering the sacred space of a person's home.

Many years ago, Jesus called the Sisters to put on their sandals and come to Hull and enter the homes of the people. Now he calls them to other places. The parish has been blessed by having Sisters as travelling companions on its journey so far. At the end of Mass after receiving Holy Communion, Sr Ellen spoke to the parishioners and gave them thanks for being part of our journey too. The only reason The Daughters of Charity are leaving Hull is a lack of vocations. She encouraged the people to pray for vocations. If they do, who knows what could happen? One day the Sisters may come back to Hull. Meantime we should pray for each other and ALL OF US to put on our sandals and go wherever the Lord sends us and do whatever he asks of us.

Benedictine Abbey thrives under lockdown with new online presence

Fr John Seddon OSB preparing beeswax products

Hidden in the glorious Surrey Hills yet only a stone's throw from Guildford and an hour from London, lockdown over 2020-21 for the growing community of Benedictine monks at St Augustine's Abbey, Chilworth, should have been a quiet affair but online interest in the place has rocketed, coinciding with the monastery's quest in its tenth anniversary year of being at Chilworth, to go decidedly digital with its overall online presence, most markedly with the launch of a new website and new online Benedictine Abbey shop.

During Lockdown, Fr John Seddon OSB, Benedictine monk and Lancastrian, has realised the power of the internet for spreading the message of the Gospel by providing short daily scripture reflections on the readings his Community reflect on every morning called 'Matins' Musings', which are now read internationally and translated into Spanish. Another monk, Fr Thomas Kolangaden OSB, provides an online daily Divine Mercy Hour, including teaching input from others members of the Community. The worldwide interest in these initiatives is reflected in the numbers regularly visiting the website and the many prayer intentions the monks receive daily. Fr John commented, "My ministry as a priest and monk has been greatly enriched and extended via the internet as a direct result of Lockdown restrictions."

Meanwhile the monks' new online shop is doing well. Top sellers are the organic beeswax skin creams, lip balms and furniture polish made with wax and honey from the abbey bees, and 'Chilworth Rosary Beads' constructed of cord by one of the monastery's new monks. There are around 80 more different products to choose from in the shop, including religious wall plaques, crosses, candles and more - all of which aim to offer good value.

Lockdown has seen annual shop sales increase from a few hundred pounds to several thousand and there seems to be a growing appetite for monk-made items, each made prayerfully by hand at Chilworth. Importantly, any excess income from the shop supports the ever growing maintenance costs of the listed Victorian Abbey Church and monastery.

Other online enquiries, often from all over the world, have also ballooned, notably prayer and Mass requests, enquiries from those thinking about becoming a monk or Oblate, and - with many thanks - donations.

Meanwhile, the peaceful rhythm of monastic prayer life, often notated by Gregorian Chant, continues at Chilworth as it has done for generations of Benedictine monks for hundreds of years and, yes, the monastery is actively welcoming enquiries from men considering becoming a monk. The very basic yet welcoming Monastic Guest House is inviting individuals to stay on a self catering basis, often a good way to experience monastic life at arm's length. Chilworth's Benedictine monks don't run a parish but outside Covid emphatically welcome members of the public to pray with them at daily Mass and Divine Office seven times daily 365 days a year and many do.

Outside of the pandemic, members of the public are welcome to pray in the Abbey Church at St Augustine's Abbey, Chilworth 365 days a year - daily Mass is at 9am, Sunday Mass is at 10am, Divine Office takes place seven times a day and the Monastic Guest House welcomes members of the public on retreat. An online Divine Mercy Hour (3-4pm) takes place every day, accompanied by an online Mass every Saturday afternoon.

St Augustine's Abbey is in Sample Oak Lane, Chilworth, Guildford, Surrey GU4 8QR. Tel: 01483 899360