Looking for signs of hope in a troubled world

A new book by Sr Teresa White fcj, ‘Hope and the Nearness of God’ has been published by Bloomsbury as their 2022 Lent Book.

Sr Rachel, fcJ writes:

“Hope and the Nearness of God” by Teresa White fcJ is offered as a companion on the journey of Lent in this year of 2022.  When Teresa was asked by the publishers if she had any suggestion for marketing her book, the fcJ website came to mind, whereupon they asked if she would find someone to write a book review. I was glad to accept the task, attracted by the title and the anticipation of the inspiration awaiting me.

It feels like a book that could only have been written by someone rich in years, someone who has read widely in literature and life, reflecting prayerfully the while and companioning with many amidst life’s joys and sorrows.  I recall the disciple of the kingdom of heaven Jesus speaks of in Matthew 13:52, who brings out of his storeroom things both new and old. And what a storeroom, indeed, is here opened before us, with its feast of stories, poems, reflections and experiences, showing how the energy of hope has blessed, empowered and transformed so many people.

I love that the book has been designed to bring people together in small, informal shared-reading groups. If anything, these have proliferated since the covid pandemic drove us to Zoom, and in my experience have been powerful in deepening bonds of friendship and faith. Each chapter offers some suggestions to help us continue the conversation which each chapter has opened up. The book almost cries out to be used in this way. I look forward to using it with a weekly group, and will not be surprised if we continue to explore its riches through the six weeks of Easter as well as Lent.  Even to share the journey of reading the book with just one or two other people would be immensely rewarding.

How appropriate it is to focus on hope at this time when it is so needed! In her Introduction, Teresa shares one of her favourite lines from Blaise Pascal: “In difficult times, carry something beautiful in your heart”. Writing as she did in the shadow of the coronavirus pandemic, it became clear to Teresa that this “something beautiful” could be hope, the hope we saw being longed for in the many rainbows that children coloured and placed in their windows. Yet, one of the strong points of the book is the unflinching and realistic admission that it is not hope but bad news that so often predominates, and with reason enough: “a threatened environment and deeply troubled human communities – a world where an existential anguish seems to float in the air we breathe.”  Church and world are in such disarray:

We find ourselves questioning not just the Church but our faith in God …… Against this background, an injection of hope is surely needed.

Teresa White fcJ

The message of the book is that hope is a gift, but not a passive one, as we strive with God’s help to face life’s problems and do what we can to obtain the things we hope for, but in the context of hope, for hope brings transformation. The opening prayer which ends the Introduction gives us the ground plan of the whole book. We pray, “Oh God, remind us of your nearness, teach us to discern signs of hope in the reality of today. Open our eyes to see bridges of hope … open our ears to hear the melody of hope … Open our hearts to the energy of your Spirit, that we may begin each day confident of your care for us and for the whole of creation. Lord, be with us, in your love”.

Throughout the book, the challenge of holding to faith and hope is never downplayed. In the chapter on the providence of God we read: “It is sometimes said that in today’s world God is missing but not missed – and there is some truth in this. In this atmosphere, the gift of hope has an important role to play. Hope does miss God, seek God, long for God. Indeed that is the very essence of hope: to feel the lack, the absence, the distance, and in spite of these things, to place our confidence in God.” Story upon story shows how people like us embody hope, and forgiveness too, in the hardest of situations, demonstrating that love is stronger than evil, which is the heart of the good news of Jesus. The devotion of the Stations of the Cross is sensitively presented, with an extended reflection on the experience of Julian of Norwich, who through her contemplation of the Passion of Jesus came to know that God does not abandon us in suffering but shares it with us in solidarity, though like us Julian constantly questions why suffering should be permitted at all in a universe loved by God. Her 14th century was every bit as challenging as ours, with the Hundred Years’ War still going on and the Black Death sweeping through Norwich three times in her lifetime, and no vaccinations back then!

The chapter on Hope and Courage offers us as companions – among others – Anne Frank, Therese of Lisieux, Rowan Williams, poetry from Charles Peguy, the sad story of one of Teresa’s own young pupils who died tragically, and a moving reflection on the devotion of daily Mass as a desire to feel the touch of God, and of prayer as that which enables us to pass on the touch of God to others.

The chapter on signs and symbols shares surprising signs – surprising given the apparently faithless times in which we live – of a sense of the nearness of God: stories heard, words and actions witnessed, giving expression to hope and courage, and showing the kingdom of God already present in anticipatory and partial ways in our world. For example, the solidarity in caring for others which emerged during the pandemic, or the observed greater readiness to greet strangers and so become living signs of God’s presence.  The ancient symbols of the cross and the anchor are featured, and the heaven-pointing spire of the Cathedral of Notre Dame, destroyed by fire yet within days promised to be restored. And the sobering reminder that hope is not the optimism that something will turn out well, but the certainty that something makes sense, regardless of how it turns out.

The chapter on Discerning Hope gives a beautiful account of spiritual discernment – taking on God’s perspective, seeing with God’s heart, and from within God’s heart. As the previous chapter said, most of us will be unable to do this if we are always busy, without some inwardness and stillness. Discernment leads us to see that the darkness of God may not signify absence but unseen and unknowable activity. There are no simple answers to suffering and the radical and disturbing mystery of death. Yet those who have hope can find the spiritual energy to face it without being totally crushed and embittered. Many real-life stories witnessing to this hope are shared.

After signs and symbols of hope we also have bridges to hope, such as music and poetry, walking, prayer, love and laughter.  And the final chapter presents the Holy Spirit – God’s Indwelling Nearness – as the source of hope, for it is through the Spirit within us that we feel God’s solidarity when we are groping in the dark. All our “concrete petitions – for good weather, for security and employment, for healing, for basic necessities, for peace and reconciliation, for the homeless and the hungry – are simply our way of expressing our confidence in God’s nearness, and our expectation of his providential care for us.” The Spirit can be the force in the straining muscles of an arm, or the film of sweat between pressed cheeks; it can disturb and challenge as well as comfort; and truly comes to us yet does not linger. The Spirit does not work by stepping in to solve disasters, but by opening our wellsprings of compassion to bring hope in times of devastating suffering.

It is good news that Hope and the Nearness of God will be used in the Pray-As-You-Go app to lead many along our Lenten journey in its ten-minutes-a-day of music, reflection and prayer. This kind of step-by-step presentation seems ideal, for Hope and the Nearness of God is not a book to gallop through. At times, it feels like reading poetry: one must take it slowly and give it time to settle. Teresa says on page 1 that hope is one of those sacred words like gentleness and kindness, love and joy that “seem to draw us into the domain of God. Such words are in the truest sense poetic in that they communicate even before they are fully understood or analysed; indeed they lift human communication to a new level. They are a proof if we need one that though we live in time we are constantly being prompted to contemplate eternal realities.” I have no doubt that this book – born out of faith, hope and love – will give great glory to God by the encouragement it will bring to many, opening our hearts to joyful recognition of the Spirit who is ever with us in the energy of hope.

Sr Ann Teresa, Founder of Medaille Trust, has died

The Sisters of Saint Joseph of Annecy (SSJA) have announced :

It is with deep sadness that we announce the death of our Founder and Life President, Sister Ann Teresa, on Monday 7 March 2022, at Llantarnam Abbey.

Sr Ann Teresa was a Sister for 57 years, serving mainly in Newport, where she grew up, and Southampton. She spent many years teaching RE at St Joseph's High School, Newport. In 1997, she settled into a small convent in Southampton and she asked her local Parish Priest what she could do to help the community. Within days she found herself directed towards work with women engaged in street prostitution in the city. For many years, four or five nights a week, she walked the streets offering comfort and practical assistance to this very vulnerable and marginalised group.

Sister Ann Teresa said: "These people had no one to help them, so twice a week we cooked them a big meal. The convent became a second home for some. We celebrated Christmas and birthdays with them, took them to the theatre; anything that gave them a bit of happiness". After hearing stories of human trafficking and investigating prostitution further, Sister Ann Teresa gathered about 50 people together and launched Medaille Trust in 2006. She set up a safe house for victims of Modern Slavery in Southern England and travelled the country soliciting donations from businesses and church congregations. She eventually got support from Comic Relief, and Medaille Trust established five more safe houses.

Today Medaille Trust is one of the UK's largest providers of supported accommodation for victims of modern slavery, with nine safe houses. We have provided shelter and support to more than two thousand people fleeing abuse and exploitation. Our Moving On Project works with survivors of modern slavery, helping them access counselling and support, access education and employment, and integrate into the community. We partner with the police to bring the perpetrators of modern slavery to justice.

Medaille Trust CEO Garry Smith today paid tribute to Sister Ann Teresa, saying: "I remember when I first met Sister Ann Teresa at the convent in Southampton, long before I became CEO of Medaille Trust. She was bright-eyed, engaging and interested in my thoughts but what came across most powerfully was her love for the survivors of modern slavery because she had taken the time to get to know them personally, to understand their stories and to walk alongside them on their journeys.

She was a powerful advocate for survivors and her influence in the anti-trafficking sector, both within the Catholic Church and beyond, was incredible. She has left an amazing legacy through her founding of Medaille Trust, which she named after the founder of her order, and we are privileged to take this forward. On behalf of the Trustees and Management and Staff of Medaille Trust I extend condolences to the family and friends of Sister Ann Teresa. May she be granted eternal rest and may perpetual light shine on her."

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

'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.

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.”