St Bede's Course in Spiritual Conversation

‘To listen another’s soul into a condition of disclosure and discovery, may be almost the greatest service that any human being ever performs for another.’ - Douglas Steere

Learning to listen and respond to others more deeply.

SEPTEMBER 2024 - JUNE 2025

The key aims of the course are to become sensitive and alert to opportunities for spiritual conversation in everyday life, to increase confidence to enter into spiritual conversations with others and to grow in being alongside others in a discerning way.

For further information and booking details click here.

Living Theology Summer School

Friday 28th – 30th June

The Living Theology Summer School provides an opportunity for Christians of all denominations to deepen their understanding of the Christian faith, and develop their personal reflection on Christian living and belief. 

The Keynote Lecture will consider Listening Ideals in the Old Testament, followed by a choice of courses on New Testament Christology, God East and West and Liberation Theology – Origins and Enduring Relevance. 

No prior knowledge is required, just an open mind and willingness to engage.

For further information and bookings click here.

Quiet Day at St Andrew's Lewisham

Saturday 15 June: Celtic wisdom

A quiet day based on the experience of a pilgrimage to Skellig Michael, with Kathleen O’Sullivan. 10 am for a 10.30 start until 4pm.

Friday 19 to Sunday 28 July: An Urban Oasis Silent Retreat

A silent retreat including personal accompaniment (IGR). 3 to 8-Day retreat. 2 nights minimum. Self-Catering only.

Click here for further information and bookings.

Restore Nature Now - Prayer & March

RESTORE NATURE NOW – PRAYER & MARCH

SATURDAY 22 JUNE 2024

11am Jesuit church, Farm St (Church of the Immaculate Conception, 114 Mount St, London W1K 3AH)

12 noon Join march

All are warmly invited to take part in the prayer and march on Saturday 22nd June to call for more protection of nature, God’s creation.

As we all know, 9 years ago in Laudato Si Pope Francis wrote “our sister Mother Earth “cries out to us because of the harm we have inflicted on her.” (LS #2) Since then her cries have become ever louder. In Laudate Deum Pope Francis writes “…the world in which we live is collapsing and may be nearing the breaking point.” (LD#2) and that “… the other creatures of this world have stopped being our companions along the way and have become instead our victims.”  (LD#15)

He also calls us to take action “… the demands that rise up from below throughout the world, …  can end up pressuring the sources of power. It is to be hoped that this will happen with respect to the climate crisis.”  (LD#37)

The RESTORE NATURE NOW march is a coalition of climate and nature organizations (including the National Trust and the RSPB) who have joined together and prepared a creative, family friendly and legal mass gathering. The Laudato Si Movement is one of the supporters and several Laudato Si animators will be there.

The Christian groups will have an ecumenical prayer service before the march in the Church of the Immaculate Conception, 114 Mount St, London W1K 3AH.

For more details go to: Restore Nature Now | Pledge to march on June 22

Renewal Program for Religious

Invitation for short renewal program in Steyl in March 2025.

Uncovering the inner self in intercultural community living: a path to transformation.

6-day workshop, followed by 7-day contemplative retreat.

The methodology will be experience-based (along with input from relevant sources), drawing reflections and insights from our own seeking for God.

Click here for the flyer for more details about the project.

Contemplative Retreats for St Augustine’s Priory

The House of Prayer offers a broad variety of Retreats catering to many kinds of needs. Welcoming anyone in fact seeking with an open heart, to deepen their spirituality, to find a life lived with meaning, or nurture their relationship with God.

Click here for the 2024 programme, which has this year’s Contemplative Retreats.

Pastoral Supervision & Reflective Practice

This course aims to provide trainees with a creative and professional learning experience. It will blend both theoretical and practical aspects of supervision while developing the confidence and competence to offer pastoral supervision in a wide range of contexts. Spread over nine days this course blends interactive workshops (face to face and online) with independent study. The course is offered in partnership with the Carmelites at Boars Hill Retreat Centre, Oxford.  The course is for a certificate in pastoral supervision and is validated by the Institute of Pastoral Supervision and Reflective Practice.

Residential Modules: Oct 31st - 2nd Nov 2024 & 15th - 17th May 2025 Online Module: Venue 17th Jan; 31st Jan; 14th Feb 2025

Application forms and further information contact Tony Nolan: ajnolanmsc@hotmail.com Trainers: Susan Woodhead and Tony Nolan

Click here for flyer and further details.

The Gathering 3

The Northampton Diocese Women in Ministry Group invites you to The Gathering 3.

This event is an opportunity to reflect on women—their calling and vocation, their gifts and ministries, and their voice in the synod.

It’s a chance to listen, pray, share, and reflect together.

8th June 2024, from 10 AM to 4 PM.

St. Mary’s, Woburn Sands, Bucks, MK17 8NN.

Please click here for the flyer and additional registration details.

Education Officer for The Gaudete Trust

The Gaudete Trust invites applications for the role of Education Officer to lead their executive team and operations across 18 schools.

The Gaudete Trust was established in 2023 by five Religious Orders, following a three-year collaborative venture steered by a working group of the National Association of Religious Orders in Education (ROE). The mainspring of the Trust is the desire of Religious Orders to continue to put their charisms at the service of the Church. By adopting a collaborative approach to trusteeship, the Gaudete Trust offers those Religious Orders an alternative way of continuing to serve Catholic education. The Gaudete Trust is a legal entity with the authority to administer those legal, financial, and inspirational responsibilities of educational trusteeship that were formerly exercised by individual Religious Orders. It is a Charitable Incorporated Organisation (CIO) recognised by the Charity Commission and a Public Juridic Person recognised by the Catholic Church.

This is a new and creative opportunity for someone to work with this ground-breaking collaborative trust in its early days. The Trustees are looking for someone with the capacity to develop the role creatively and flexibly in response to the needs of this new family of Religious Order schools.

Joining The Gaudete Trust means being part of a pioneering initiative shaping the future of Catholic education. With flexibility, ongoing support, and the opportunity to make a meaningful impact, this role offers both challenge and reward.

For further information on this exciting opportunity, please contact brendawallacefcj.roe@gmail.com

Between Heaven and Earth : The Call to Religious Life

By Sr Teresa White fcj

Reproduced with kind permission of ‘The Way’

In two articles, published in July 2021 in Thinking Faith, Cardinal Michael Czerny SJ reflects on ‘Fratelli tutti’, with its invitation to all people of good will to ‘contribute to the rebirth of a universal aspiration to fraternity and social friendship’ (FT 8).[1] Although Pope Francis does not refer specifically to religious life in this encyclical, Czerny sees that invitation to have a special significance for religious, given their distinctive ability ‘to foster a sense of belonging… and create bonds of integration between different generations and different communities’ (FT 53). In most religious congregations a plurality of cultures and generations already exists, so they could be seen to embody the ‘universal aspiration to fraternity’ that Francis speaks of here.

Analysing some of the challenges facing religious life in today’s world through the lens of ‘Fratelli Tutti’[2], Czerny draws attention to the teaching of Vatican II and other Church documents, holding that the vision and spirit of religious life predispose those who follow this vocation to be ‘witnesses and architects of unity’ (Vita Consecrata). Religious communities, by sharing faith together and through the quality of their life in common, he suggests, create sacred spaces of encounter, kindness and dialogue in the midst of the culture of ‘limitless consumption and empty individualism’ (FT 13) that is so evident in the globalised world of our times. Those who are called to this life live in ‘a community composed of brothers and sisters who accept and care for one another’ (FT 96), and living in this way, the members ‘make possible a social friendship that excludes no one and a fraternity that is open to all’ (FT 94).

Czerny interprets the challenges facing religious life today as ‘signs of the times,’ and encourages religious not to allow themselves to be overwhelmed by the difficulties, but to re-commit themselves to the ‘sequela Christi’. ‘The reality of consecrated life as a sign,’ he says, ‘finds in brother- and sister-hood the prophetic anticipation of a world in which unity is achieved while safeguarding differences, variety and mutual respect.’ Following Czerny’s lead, and giving due attention to the insights of ‘Fratelli tutti’, I suggest that religious life, a gift of the Holy Spirit, has a particular relevance in the Church and world of the third millennium. Stretched as it were between heaven and earth, religious men and women pray, struggle and walk with the Church and with humanity, seeking God’s kindly light on the journey of faith and life.

Sign and symbol

In Holy Week 2019, I was living in Paris. For my little community of Faithful Companions of Jesus, that week began in Notre Dame Cathedral, as we listened to the last of the Lent Conferences, televised live on Palm Sunday. The very next day, 15 April, we were glued to the television all evening, watching in horror as sheets of flame swept through the ancient building. Along with the rest of Paris, indeed with the rest of the world, we felt utterly devastated, and like so many people, experienced a feeling of almost personal loss. It was with relief that we heard that the fire crews, by their hard work and expertise, had ‘saved’ the familiar façade, external walls and towers of the medieval cathedral, along with its renowned stained-glass windows. But the slender, graceful spire, that had crowned the central section of the roof above the main nave, was lost. We saw it fall: carved in oak and covered with lead, it had melted, incinerated in the terrifying conflagration. That spire - the word in French is ‘flèche’, which means arrow - had a symbolic role: to point to the heavens. For me, a spire is a powerful symbol of the call to religious life; but it is an eminently Christian symbol, its meaning perceptible to Christian eyes. Does this symbol hold any relevance in an increasingly de-Christianised western world?

In the context of faith, symbols belong to the domain of the sacred, they draw our attention to spiritual realities. Religious life is not part of the institutional structures of the Church, but belongs to its charismatic essence, and it finds its deepest meaning in the realm of sacred signs and symbols. In a certain sense, religious are ‘sacraments’ of God’s presence in the world: their life signifies a reality beyond itself, the Kingdom of God. For those with eyes to see, their life points to God’s presence in our world, in our universe, bridging what is often perceived as the gap between the sacred and the secular.

By its radical commitment to the values of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, religious life acknowledges both God’s transcendence and God’s presence within time through faith and hope and love. Religious life is grounded in a vision of the whole of existence as graced by God, imbued with God’s threefold presence: God beyond us, God with us and God within us. Religious remind humanity of what we can be, of what we must be, of what deep down, in our hearts, we most want to be, and this awareness grows when God’s central role in all of life is acknowledged, respected and accepted.

In the face of the ‘distancing from religious values and the prevailing individualism accompanied by materialistic philosophies’ (FT 175) that is so evident in our times, religious, by their lives, by their ministries, by their prayers and attentiveness to God’s presence, invite and encourage those they meet to face the adventure of life knowing we are all held in the hands of God’s mercy and love. God - beauty, truth, goodness - draws them onward. They listen to ‘the music of the Gospel … hear the strains that challenge us to defend the dignity of every man and woman… For us the wellspring of human dignity and fraternity is in the Gospel of Jesus Christ’ (FT 277).

Vincent van Gogh once said that the word ‘artist’ means: “I am seeking, I am striving, I am in it with my whole heart”. Perhaps religious men and women are ‘artists’ in this sense. They have a wholehearted desire to respond to God’s call through a primary life commitment that is both exclusive and enduring. Why would anyone wish to live such a life? Joan Chittister OSB offers an answer that has much in common with van Gogh’s: “Women and men give their very selves to it, whole and entire, day in day out, all the days of their lives, with nothing else to strive for, no place to call home, no one else with whom to share their lives. The question is: Why? The answer is: in order to be in the world a kind of contemplative presence that manifests, that requires the Reign of God, to be some part of bringing the world to the kind of creation God wants it to be. The identity of the group, in other words, is social and institutional as well as personal”.

Scriptural Calls

The calls of Abram, Moses, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Gideon, Mary, Peter, Mary of Magdala and Paul, offer a scriptural pattern in which the dynamic of the religious vocation is evident: a personal encounter with God; a personal invitation, on God’s initiative, to undertake a mission; an awareness of unworthiness; a conversion experience; a free and wholehearted acceptance of God’s invitation: ‘Here I am, send me.’ Ask any religious – you will find that, like those whose response to God’s call is recorded in the pages of the Bible, the starting point of their call to religious life is a profound, never-to-be-forgotten experience of God.

Religious women and men recognise and acknowledge God dwelling at the heart of existence, a God with a human face who communicates with us personally in a relationship of love. Those who respond to ‘a religious vocation’ place God and the things of God at the centre of their lives, and in doing so, radicalise the experience of all Christians. This is not because they see themselves as good and virtuous individuals living among sinners, or as offering heroic models to lesser mortals – their desire is simply to pass on the touch of God to those they meet. They consciously write the story of their lives in God’s presence, with God’s eyes upon them: “O Lord, you are the centre of my life: I will always praise you, I will always serve you, I will always keep you in my sight’[3].

Religious keep God in their sight, proclaiming the Good News of Jesus Christ by who they are and what they do. Seeking dialogue with those they meet and establishing bonds of companionship with them (cf. FT 271) is an essential part of their lives. And they do these things as disciples of Jesus, who in his life on earth created a life-giving culture by defying inequality, scorning hypocrisy, naming the truth, and spreading peace. Jesus valued friendship, was gently compassionate, loved the unloved, healed the sick and welcomed strangers. Religious try to do the same.

A prophetic vocation in the Church

The Church is a sign of what God has done in Christ, of God’s abiding presence in the world through the action of the Holy Spirit. Religious life is a radical sharing in the mission of the Church, in which the Kingdom of God and its priorities are raised above other considerations. Religious men and women are called to holiness, to intimacy with God in the service of God’s people, and Baptism, the context of all Christian living, is the foundation of their way of life: “In the Church’s tradition religious profession is considered to be a special and fruitful deepening of the consecration received in Baptism” (Vita Consecrata, 30). The Church is the community where the redemptive work of Jesus has been recognised, received and proclaimed, and where this work continues.

Religious life offers a kind of counter-culture, not by being negatively critical in the face of the complexity of human life, but by proposing an alternative way of living. Its members share the one mission: to announce the Good News, to be a sign and instrument of communion with God through Christ. The theological focus of this mission is two-fold: transcendence, recognising God as ‘other’, as ‘mystery’, and engaging with God’s world, reaching out to God in creation and in human experience. Religious are on mission when their life (who they are) and action (what they do) prophetically point to, promote and make visible the Kingdom of God. They live intentionally in the light of faith, and their faith is strengthened by prayer, by the liturgy and sacraments of the Church, the people of God.

The Vows – Sign of Lifelong Consecration

Religious life has a mystical core, and those who follow the call to this life attempt to create a ‘different’ world, a way of living that is based on a faith response to God. They do this through the vowed life, which gradually developed into a distinctive form of life in the Church. Religious make three vows, poverty, chastity and obedience, professing them publicly, and choosing to make them a framework for living. They do this with the intention of living their vows ‘for ever’. All three vows, inspired as they are by the life and teaching of Jesus, are also known as ‘evangelical counsels’, and they characterise the self-giving of the person to God, translating into human terms the totality and deeply-rooted nature of the gift. Poverty is understood as an expression of the person’s radical dependence on God, chastity represents the primacy of the love of God in his or her life, while obedience symbolises the desire to imitate the self-emptying of Christ by seeking God’s will in this world.

Religious are consecrated in the name of God and dedicates themselves to God’s mission. At their profession, they publicly undertake to live in a way which radicalises the common experience of all Christians. They are ‘set apart’ for God, permeated by their desire to walk in God’s presence, trying to make the world more deeply human and more open to God. Being ‘set apart’ in this way does not mean living on a ‘higher plane’ or disregarding earthly realities; it means accepting the call to be sent in God’s name to proclaim the Good News of salvation.

Religious women and men, through their consecration to God, forge new relationships with things and people, with human society, with creation. Mindful of the presence of God in the grandeur and misery of human existence, they respond with gratitude to the beauty of life and with courage in the inevitable times of suffering and grief. Compassion for those in any kind of need links religious life to the good of society, but the commitment of religious to the deprived and the disadvantaged is not simply dedicated social work. For religious, the work of caring for the poor, feeding the hungry, tending the sick, educating the young, welcoming the stranger, visiting the prisoner, has the special motivation of walking in the footsteps of Jesus, of following him, even to the foot of the cross. They have a ‘shared passion to create a community of belonging and solidarity worthy of our time, our energy and our resources’ (FT 36).

God-centred communities

Religious communities are intentionally God-centred. They witness to religious and spiritual values in an increasingly secularised environment. Living like everyone else in the tangible, material world, they unashamedly acknowledge the importance of the transcendent. Committed to an ever-deepening relationship with God in Christ, they desire to be signs and bearers of God’s love to the whole human family, knowing that we need to ‘learn to live together in harmony and peace, without all of us having to be the same’ (FT 100).

Contemplation is the energy of their life, the core of their identity. Their role is to bring to visibility what is Good News for the present time, not only by reaching out to unbelievers, but above all by witnessing to the values of the Kingdom of God: respect for the whole of creation, encouraging the growth of free and integrated persons, building channels of communion and solidarity with all people by moving beyond prejudices and misconceptions. Religious communities are open to visitations of grace. For them, sensitive to God’s unfailing presence in the whole of life, “The world is charged with the grandeur of God/ It will flame out, like shining from shook foil...”[4] They believe that God’s providence is secretly shaping and guiding our lives, and this, as Pope Francis says, brings joy: “Wherever there are religious, there is joy.”[5]

Religious women and men, longing for justice and peace, cannot be true to their calling without a preferential option for those who are poor. The action taken by religious on behalf of those in any kind of need measures and demonstrates the integrity of their contemplation. This option is a spiritual choice made in imitation of Jesus, who recognised the human dignity of poor and suffering people, of prisoners, and of those who were excluded from the social order of his time. For religious, this means not only desiring to lead a simple life, not only caring for the poor out of compassion, but also, through their distinctive commitment and mission, responding with what Pope Francis calls ‘a new vision of fraternity and social friendship’ (FT 6).

Religious life today

In times past, it was customary to think of God as immutable and many found this thought comforting and reassuring: ‘Change and decay in all around I see, / O Thou who changest not, abide with me.’ Perhaps we are beginning to change this theological tune. The insight of faith is that we belong to something, Someone, greater than ourselves: God, whose presence, in moments of contemplative awareness, may be perceived in our lives, in creation. But the signs of that presence are not immutable - God has many names, and a ‘new’ face of God reveals itself in all the ups and downs of human existence.

In every age, religious life has been the seed-bed of evangelical innovation, meeting new needs in new ways while integrating the tried and true wisdom of the past. In our day, there are indications that the paradigm of religious life seen as a ‘total institution’ is giving way to more a flexible, deregulated expression of this life-form. In the face of this, religious today find themselves in the midst of a crisis of recruitment, and, with an ageing membership, they have been forced to close many of their traditional establishments.

As they explore new patterns of evolutionary thinking, it may be possible for them to reach a clearer view of some of the paths religious life may take in the future. Whatever they do, they need to have the courage to acknowledge that, if there is one thing sure about the current state of religious life, it is that ‘what is’ is not sustainable. ‘Everything, then, depends on our ability to see the need for a change of heart, attitudes and lifestyles’ (FT 166). Those entering religious communities today need to be prepared not so much for what is, as for what will be. If religious life is to survive and flourish, religious need to focus on the fundamentals of living a God-centred life in today’s world, setting aside what is peripheral or superfluous, including certain traditional devotions, ministries and ways of proceeding. Elizabeth Johnson says it well: “The living God who spans all time relates to historically new circumstances as the future continuously arrives. A tradition that cannot change cannot be preserved.”[6]

Looking to the future

Karl Rahner, referring to religious life, once wrote: “We have to make experiments, have the courage to change ourselves, to see and seize on new tasks and to give up old ones, to march into a future unknown to us”.[7] Religious life is not a monolithic institution; like the Church itself, it is and must always be responsive to what Vatican II called ‘the signs of the times.’ Therefore, since the way this life is lived is not unchanging, we must listen for the call of God in the present, in the world of the third millennium.

Where is God opening a door for religious life now? Today, many religious are looking for authentic ways to continue to live a faith-centred life in a secularised world where humanism has largely become the accepted atmosphere and the renunciation that is integral to the vowed life is viewed with suspicion or scepticism. They are in the process of discerning how to adapt their way of living in the light of contemporary needs, while not losing sight of traditional ideals. Reflecting constantly on how their lifestyle decisions affect the earth and the poorest people of the earth, they are reviewing their ministries. Whenever and wherever possible, they are joining in positive action to bring about change in the face of the environmental emergency which is affecting the whole planet.

They value the fundamental, time-honoured elements of religious life – simple, sustainable living in community, daily prayer, celebrating the Eucharist, spiritual reading, study, and regular retreats. At the same time, through their varied ministries, they look to widen their circle of love in order to embrace all people, especially those who experience exclusion, exploitation and injustice. In a spirit of hope, they place their future in God’s hands. Theirs is ‘a home with open doors’ (FT 276).

Conclusion

I began this article by drawing attention to the symbolic spire of Notre Dame, destroyed in March 2019 in that terrible fire. I would like to conclude by referring to Shelley’s ‘Ode to a Skylark’ in which I see an evocative symbol of religious life today. The poet hailed this bird as a ‘blithe spirit’ which pours out its heart’s song ‘from heaven or near it’. Smallish, brown, unostentatious, the skylark is drawn inexorably to the heights: it can ascend to 1000 feet, and there it hovers, singing its joyful song. Because it nests on the ground, this little bird is vulnerable. In our time, it also suffers from the effects of climate change, and in some parts of the world the whole species is endangered. My prayer is that the skylark will continue to hover between earth and heaven, singing its incomparable song: may the ears of present and future generations not be deaf to its call.

A final word from Timothy Radcliffe OP: “It may happen that, in spite of all that we do, our congregations still shrink. That makes the witness of the remnant all the more beautiful and necessary. So, especially when we are few, our presence shows that we do not think of ourselves as a failing business, but as a fragile but lovely sign of the future unity of all humanity in the Kingdom.”[8]

This article first appeared in The Way, October 2022; https://www.theway.org.uk/thisissue.shtml

[1] Michael Czerny, ‘The Renewal of Religious Life and Fratelli tutti’, Thinking Faith (20 June 2021), at https://www.thinkingfaith.org/articles/renewal-religious-life-and-fratelli-tutti; ‘The Renewal of Religious Life and Fratelli tutti: Reading Fratelli tutti for Religious’, Thinking Faith (23 June 2021), at https://www.thinkingfaith.org/articles/renewal-religious-life-and-fratelli-tutti-reading-fratelli-tutti-religious.

[2] I appreciate ‘Fratelli tutti’ very much, but regret that the English translation appears to ignore the importance of inclusive language for many English speakers today.

[3] Refrain of Paul Inwood’s musical setting of Psalm 16.

[4] G. M Hopkins: ’God’s Grandeur’

[5] Letter to Religious (2014)

[6] ‘Quest for the Living God’, Continuum International Publishing Group, 2007, p. 23

[7] ‘Opportunities for Faith’, 1975, p. 87

[8] Interview with Madeleine Davies, Church Times 20/27 December 2019. Timothy was talking here about the declining membership of many Christian churches, but his words ring true for religious life also.

INVITATION: In conversation with Abbot Christopher Jamison osb

Religious are invited to attend a zoom talk by Abbot Christopher on his new book, Finding the Language of Grace: Rediscovering Transcendence

It will be held on Wednesday 30th November at 1630. To get the link, please email: communications@corew.org

The publisher writes:

Well known for his appearances on TV and radio, as well as for his books Finding Sanctuary and Finding Happiness, Christopher Jamison once again shows his ability to communicate spiritual insights in an accessible way.

Finding the Language of Grace: Rediscovering Transcendence focuses on the transcendent experiences of grace that we struggle to talk about in today's very business-like culture. Abbot Christopher shows how the ways we listen and speak, read and write can all be channels of grace. This is illustrated through books as diverse as the medieval legend of the Holy Grail, Silence by Japanese writer Shusaku Endo, the writings of Spanish mystics and the novels of Pulitzer Prize winner Marilynne Robinson.

The power and the pain of grace resonate throughout the book, offering a new perspective on healing the loneliness and mistrust experienced by many, as well as on the turbulence and political extremes of today's world. How do we restore trust? How can we listen well? What is the right way to read the signs of the times? And how can we revitalise the language of grace in our day?

Pope advises religious: Don't give in to pessimism over lack of vocations

Source: Vatican News

Pope Francis has advised religious not to give in to pessimism over a lack of vocations and to pray with him to "deliver us from the presumption of self-sufficiency and the spirit of worldly criticism."

Addressing representatives from the Claretian Institute of the Theology of Consecrated Life on the occasion of its 50th anniversary at the Vatican on Monday, the Pope asked the religious to pray with him: "You who feed us with tenderness, deliver us from self-referentiality, from the diabolical deception of polarizations, from 'isms.'"

Pope Francis warned that consecrated life today should not be discouraged by a "lack of vocations or by aging."

"Those who allow themselves to be caught up in pessimism set aside their faith," he continued.

"It is the Lord of history who sustains us and invites us to faithfulness and fruitfulness. He cares for his 'remnant,' looks with mercy and benevolence upon his work, and continues to send his Holy Spirit."

Departing from his prepared text according to Vatican News, Pope Francis praised the Claretians for having "humanized so, so much of consecrated life" and for their desire to implement what their founder "valued so much."

Pope Francis said religious life would find hope through the Word of God and the history and creativity of its founders.

"Religious life is understood only by what the Spirit does in each of the people called. There are those who focus too much on the external - the structures, the activities - and lose sight of the superabundance of grace in people and communities."

"Do not tire of going to the frontiers, even to the frontiers of thought; of opening paths, of accompanying, rooted in the Lord to be bold in mission," Pope Francis said.

"The Gospel teaches that there is a poverty that humbles and kills and another poverty, that of Jesus, which liberates and makes happy. As consecrated people, you have received the immense gift of participating in Jesus' poverty. Do not forget, either in your lives or in your work at the university, those who live the other poverty."

The FCJ Sisters helping Camino pilgrims to find meaning at the end of their journey

Camino Companions offer pilgrims a space to articulate and find meaning at the end of their Camino.

By Sr Katherine Mary O’Flynn, fcJ

Many who reflect on mission in religious life today speak of the importance of encounter, finding the liminal spaces where the searchers gather and walking alongside those who are lost, confused and burdened. The Camino to Santiago could be described as such a place.

Along the winding paths between St. Jean Pied de Port and Santiago, it becomes normal to encounter people in a very real way and to discover that all human beings are on the same journey. As one pilgrim described it, “whether you are CEO of a multinational or a homeless person, what you need on the Camino is much the same, a bed for the night, something to eat, a walking companion and good feet!”

The Camino is also a liminal space. Everyone is away from their usual routine and many of the usual societal mores do not apply, e.g. it is not unusual for a strange man to bandage the feet of a woman he has just met or for another pilgrim to offer her/his bed or a treasured bottle of water to someone in greater need. People tell their secrets to strangers on the Camino and often give voice to fears and hopes they have never shared. The lines from T.S. Elliot “we had the experience but missed the meaning” can be true for some pilgrims who do not have an opportunity to put words on their experience before returning home.

FCJ Volunteer team

The ‘Faithful Companions of Jesus’ Sisters began an outreach to pilgrims in Santiago in 2015. The Association of Dutch Pilgrims and the German Bishops had already established places of welcome for pilgrims coming from the Netherlands and Germany. Mass in English was available for English language pilgrims but there was no “space” where pilgrims could gather throughout the day to share their experiences and reflect on their Camino. The Dean of the Cathedral encouraged the FCJ sisters to provide this opportunity for English language pilgrims and offered space in a corridor room adjacent to the office where pilgrims received their “Compostela”  - a certificate awarded to those who walk at least 100 kms on one of the Camino routes.

In 2017 a new International Pilgrim Centre was opened. This enabled all of the language groups to have quite a spacious private room where they could welcome pilgrims. A welcome space for French speaking pilgrims was also opened at that time.

Throughout the past eight years with the exception of 2020 and 2021, the FCJ sisters have been present in Santiago from Easter to the end of October. We have been blessed with generous volunteers -  mostly former pilgrims - who desire to give back to the Camino. Several lay women and some men, a number of Religious from other congregations, FCJ lay Companions in Mission, an Australian diocesan priest and an ordained Anglican woman have offered their time and gifts to welcome and be available to pilgrims. Most of the volunteers live and work with us for a two or three week stint. We collaborate with a Filipino priest - a Camino aficionado, Fr. Manny Domingo sdb - who celebrates Mass in English each day in the small chapel at the Pilgrims Office.

Pilgrims who visit us come not just from countries where English is spoken but also from many other countries as far flung as Korea, China, Russia, Indonesia, Taiwan, Israel, Turkey, many of the eastern European countries and several African countries. Pilgrims of all faiths and none are welcomed as they share their experience of the Camino which not surprisingly, is often connected to their journey of life.

We have encountered people at a depth which does not happen often in the busy rat race of life. We have heard the most amazing stories of courage and human endurance. Pilgrims have come in wheelchairs pushed by their family and friends. Partially sighted pilgrims have struggled up steep mountain sides led sometimes by people they know, at other times by complete strangers. Parents have carried their babies and little children along the Camino, sometimes in gratitude for their safe arrival or for some this has been a means of opening their children’s minds to God as they go on pilgrimage.

For some pilgrims, the Camino is a place where they feel they can deal with a bereavement or a breakdown in a relationship. Quite a few pilgrims carry the ashes of a loved one and say goodbye as they walk the Camino. Some pilgrims choose to walk as they face a crossroads in life, a time of transition and change. Quite a few people set out as tourists walking what has become a celebrity hike as seen on some recent TV programmes on the Camino. Some of those tourists become pilgrims as they journey towards Santiago.

A reunion of university friends from Malaysia and Europe.

Such encounters at the end of the Camino provide a wonderful opportunity to listen compassionately and to value each one’s experience and search for meaning. The long days of solitary walking provide pilgrims with time to explore some of the deeper human questions and they are glad of a safe space to share their thoughts and feelings as they end their Camino. The beauty of the landscape comes alive for many pilgrims as they slow down and experience the majesty of the Pyrenees, listen to the glory of the dawn chorus, smell the fragrance of the Eucalyptus trees and delight in the wooded pathways lit by a slanting sun. Such experiences often lead pilgrims to marvel and be grateful for the One who created such magnificence.

One of the sayings loved by pilgrims is “the Camino provides.” This attitude leads them to a sense of trust in providence whether it is in finding a bed for the night, often in common dormitories along with other noisy pilgrims, or in getting the help they need at a challenging time. Pilgrims discover that they need very little for their journey. Those who set off with a large backpack, often find themselves reducing their load as they go along, an invitation to live more simply. Many return home determined to get rid of their clutter!

The kindness of strangers is another common experience on the Camino. Other pilgrims reach out and offer support to those who are struggling and share their food and other essentials with those in need. The contrast with the grab and greed of life is not lost on pilgrims and the call to be more generous, more open to others from all walks of life, all countries and creeds is one of the “take aways” for many as they return home.

Reaching Santiago

Following the yellow arrows along the Camino day after day for a week, a month or several months, having no agenda other than to walk to the next place of rest empties the mind of much of the clutter which is so much part of modern life. The support of other pilgrims often provides a kind of family atmosphere and strong bonds develop. Consequently ending this experience on arrival in Santiago, can be disconcerting and confusing for some pilgrims as they say goodbye to their new found friends and the freedom of the road. They are grateful for a place to pause, reflect and make the transition back to their families, work etc.  

Many volunteers and FCJ sisters return each summer to Santiago to offer this service of listening and accompaniment and feel immensely privileged and encouraged in their own pilgrimage of life with its days of joy and times of profound challenge.

A recent article in The Guardian Newspaper describing the Camino of three brothers, one of whom has Down’s Syndrome, gave a very moving account of their journey to Santiago. The final lines of the article were particularly meaningful: “There are two Caminos, one external and one internal. The external reaches its destination, the internal never does.”

Having a place to take stock of the internal Camino is so important for all pilgrims.

By Sr Katherine Mary O’Flynn, fcJ

Follow Camino Companions on facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CaminoCompanions

www.fcjsisters.org

Statement from the Conference of Religious of England and Wales on the publication of the final report by the Panel of the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse:

The Conference of Religious of England and Wales (CoR) would like to thank IICSA for bringing to light the acute suffering that has been inflicted over many years, and for giving victims and survivors the chance to recount their experience and to share the impact that abuse has had on their lives. We are wholeheartedly committed to learning lessons from this Inquiry and making every effort to ensure that such abuse can never happen again.  

We would like to express profound sadness and sorrow to all individuals who have been the victims and survivors of sexual abuse at the hands of Catholic clergy, men and women in Religious congregations and those in positions of responsibility within Roman Catholic institutions.  

We are hopeful of the new structure that is now in place – the Religious Life Safeguarding Service – which has been created to replace the previous alignment arrangements with dioceses.  The RLSS is an independent team of safeguarding professionals, offering safeguarding services to the Religious of the Catholic Church in England and Wales.  

For the last twelve months, we have nominated a ‘Religious Safeguarding Lead’ – in response to IICSA’s recommendation for there to be a lead Bishop and a lead Religious for safeguarding within the Catholic Church. 

As Christians we approach safeguarding with a determination to protect people from harm - especially when they are particularly vulnerable. We acknowledge that in the past the needs of the vulnerable have not been paramount and we wholeheartedly embrace the renewed  approach to safeguarding within the Church – and continue to pray for all those who have suffered.  

FCJ Bicentenary celebrated with scholarship fund at Durham University

CCS Scholarships Students on Palace Green, Durham.

Source: CCS

The Centre for Catholic Studies (CCS) at Durham University has launched a £400,000 postgraduate scholarship fund in partnership with the Faithful Companions of Jesus (FCJ) to mark the 200th anniversary of the founding of the FCJ Society.

Funded over the next four years, the Sisters want to enhance their apostolic outreach and to support ministries which are aligned with the FCJ charism, ethos and the calls of their 2019 General Chapter.

The partnership with the CCS continues the Sisters' dedication to education and chimes with one of the CCS's stated aims, to form outstanding theologians and scholars of Catholicism who will shape the future from the richness of Catholic tradition in the church, academy, and public life.

Sr Brid Liston FCJ

Sr Bríd Liston FCJ, Area Leader, commented: "it is good to be able to support the development of students in the CCS, Durham University, given the commitment of the FCJ Society to education in the North East of England, particularly in Middlesbrough and Hartlepool, for over one hundred and fifty years."

Scholarship applications are open to all (subject to usual Durham University eligibility criteria), and encouraged among those hoping to pursue postgraduate research across broad themes aligned to the FCJ Chapter calls: 'Compassionate Action', and 'Care for Our Common Home'. Applications are particularly encouraged from among women in the North East of England.

Founded in 2007, the CCS at Durham University represents a creative partnership between academy and church: a centre within the pluralist, public academy for critically constructive Catholic studies of the highest academic standing. The CCS offers a wide-range of scholarships and bursaries funded by a number of partner congregations, organisations and individuals.

Rejoicing in the rich heritage of Religious Orders in education

By Sr Brenda Wallace fcj:

Sr Brenda at the launch of ROE

Religious Orders in Education, (ROE) is a collaborative endeavour launched in 2019 whose main purpose is to enrich Catholic education in England and Wales by supporting Religious Orders in their mission as trustees or founders of schools and colleges. To this end we celebrate and build on the rich heritage of Religious Orders in education and support them in continuing to articulate and develop their particular charisms.

Soon after the foundation of our Association, a working party was established to explore the formation of a Collaborative Trust with the aim of providing a service for those Religious Congregations that wish to transfer their responsibilities of educational trusteeship.

The Collaborative Trust has been given the name Gaudete, a name that proclaims that as a new community of schools we rejoice in the good news of the Gospel, we rejoice in the Holy Spirit who is enabling us to create something new and is teaching us what true collaboration means, and we rejoice in the rich heritage of Religious Orders in education. 

The Gaudete Trust will exercise, fully or in part, according to need, those legal, financial, and inspirational responsibilities of educational trusteeship that were formerly carried out by these individual congregations. The Bishops’ Conference formally approved the establishment of the Gaudete Trust as a PJP in Spring 2022 and approved the appointment of the first Foundation charity Trustees at the end of May. Membership is open to any Religious Order but there are five founding congregations: 

• Christian Brothers

• The Sisters of Charity of St Paul the Apostle

• De La Mennais Brothers

• The Faithful Companions of Jesus

• La Sainte Union

As members of the Gaudete Trust, these Religious Orders will be able to remain engaged and involved with their schools.

The Gaudete Trust Vision and Guiding Principles for Education are available here.

A pilgrim on the way: celebrating forty years of priesthood on the Camino

(source: CoR)

By Fr John McGowan OCD

I write this almost halfway through the 800 kms Camino to Santiago di Compostella.

This walking adventure started when the late Sr Frances (of Nazareth House) asked me to do it with her. She had to pull out but I carried on, at least for ten days….. that was four years ago. Now I am on sabbatical, celebrating forty years of priesthood, and decided to do the whole Camino.

Fr John taking a break

I would say it is one of the greatest graces of my life. Here you see humanity at its best, as it should be. The pilgrims look out for each other and care for each other. As I write, just now a South African nurse bandaged the foot of a fellow pilgrim; he was Korean and suffering from blisters. We are like the United Nations. It is wonderful to see all these people come together and get to know each other. On the Camino we are all strangers yet no one is a stranger. I think of that adage: ‘a stranger is a friend you haven’t met.’

We walk along, about 20-25 kms a day and as we walk we share. It is quite wonderful and a privilege to listen to so many stories. Many are in transition. Others are looking for something, for themselves, for God. There are people of all ages, young and old; we all mix as if we were the same age.It is not comfortable and many are suffering from blisters, tendinitis or some other ache.

One of the things I had to quickly get used to was sleeping in the same room, often a dormitory, with other people. Like most of us Religious I have my own room and bed. But this common sharing as we journey along is what bonds us together. Snoring is a problem; women are sometimes worse than men!

It is a privilege to pass through towns and villages that have been here for a thousand years and more. I notice how the Church is always the centre of a town or village, it is often the biggest building. Today, in our materialistic society, it is the banks that are central and the biggest buildings.To walk is the best way to discover a place and there is so much to discover of history, culture, art and above all the people. They greet us as we pass with “Buen Camino”.

One of the things the Camino teaches you is how simple life can be. As we walk along the only thing we own is the rucksack on our back. We are grateful for a bed at night and for the food we eat. It only costs €10 sometimes to stay a night. Tonight I’m staying in an old Poor Clare convent. The other night I slept in an old Benedictine monastery. As I go along I pray the rosary first thing in the morning. I leave at 6.30. It’s dark and you are alone. If I get the chance I will stop in a church and say morning prayer. One of the disappointments is that many of the churches are closed. Throughout the day you have time to yourself and time to be with others. Then at the end of the day we meet up to eat together. Before that I attend a special pilgrims Mass which is provided in every place we stay in.

As I write, it is the feast of St Therese of Lisieux. I pray for you as I slowly make my way to the tomb of the great Apostle James. Please keep me in your prayers.

The Season of Creation and the making of a crucifix in the spirit of Laudato Si’

Br Brother Loarne Ferguson OFM Cap

Bro Loarne

Thanks be to God for the liturgy! How could we ever keep in mind everything the Lord has given us if it were not broken up into our cycle of prayer? Every year is shaped by the events of the Lord’s life, the invisible realities of heaven, and the many needs He has sent us out to serve in the world around us. The Season of Creation refreshes our faith in God’s care for nature and points the way for us to act rightly within it.

But will it work? Will we change any of our ways because of this time? Do we need a more permanent expression of God’s care for nature before His ways become ours? We have become so used to thinking about God in a restricted way that unless the link between Christ’s death and the natural world is spelt out, maybe we will keep ignoring it.

It was thoughts such as these which inspired the Laudato Si’ crucifix. Not that making it was very intentional - it almost created itself. The garden shed at Durham Friary was where it began. We were clearing out garden debris when Br. Paul found three battered and broken crucifixes. “Shall I throw them away?” asked Br. Paul. “No,” I said. “I’ll take them home and see if I can use them.”

One was particularly sad. Under a layer of mould, the wood had been stained black, and the whitened body of Christ was hanging on by one arm (one of the doloristic-style crucifixes of years gone by.) It stood out as the only black and white one of the three: stark and final. But under that surface layer, the wood had lost nothing of its qualities. After carefully prizing out the nails and removing the corpus, a patient hour of sanding began to reveal the tree.

...And then another hour, and another hour. The black stain ran quite deep and never completely disappeared. Somehow, I felt that Jesus would speak only if I could see the pure, clean wood. And that is when it began to turn into a Laudato Si’ crucifix. In Jesus’ death I had to let nature speak. Carving out the shape of the Saviour’s body three millimetres deep revealed it.

Now, Jacob’s ladder came to mind and with it, Jesus’ words: “Truly, truly I say to you, you will see the heavens opened and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man.” (John 1:51.) Or was it really Jacob’s ladder I imagined? Was it not perhaps a garden trellis? And were those angels birds? The creative process can be beset with uncertainty and metaphors are not always helpful; but I was sure I had seen that trellis ladder before.

Yes. It was a William Morris design. I printed it out and traced it over the wood. Using a pyrography machine (a sort of fine-tipped soldering iron) I burnt the trellis into the cross. Next, watercolours flowed among the leaves and flowers, and still allowed the wood to shine through. Jesus’ body began to bear fruit in a renewed creation. Varnish. More varnish. And yet more. This wood had been thirsty for a long time.

Finally, it was complete. The Laudato Si’ crucifix grew out of a reclaimed crucifix and a few meditations on Laudato Si’. Its purpose is to help our journey of ecological conversion become a daily one.

The crucifix and other ecologically inspired art is available for purchase on enquiry at:

The House of the Open Door Community, Childswickham, Worcs. WR12 7HH.

Tel.: 01386 852 084. E-mail: hod@houseoftheopendoor.org.

Spiritual maturity is the key theme of forthcoming General Meeting

Sr Una Agnew SSL will be the guest speaker at CoR’s General Meeting, open to all Religious, taking place in person for the first time since 2019.

It will be held on October 26th at the Claretian Oasis, Botwell Lane, Hayes UB3 2AB  (easily accessible by overland train from Paddington. Parking also available).

Claretian Oasis, Hayes

Sr Una has chosen the title: ‘The Spiritual Challenges of the second half of life: The complex Task of Growing up!’ and comments:

‘The spiritual well-being of the second half of life (from 40 onwards), is a potential that needs to be explored even as it is happening within us and among us. While mid-life is a pivotal milestone in our development, later life makes us more keenly aware of the transition from active living to active being. In all cases we cross the threshold into deeper soul time with an opportunity to reset our lifegoals. There is a popular saying that states: ‘Growing old is mandatory, growing up is optional.’  To grow up, new levels of consciousness are required and a new depth of spirituality for older and younger alike. The soul’s song continues to reverberate and gain momentum as we move through the stages of life. Ultimately, we take hold of the opportunities and challenges that each stage of life has to offer.   

This day of reflection and sharing is an opportunity to explore together, in a morning and afternoon session the rich seasons of grace that we call growing in wisdom age and grace. “

Sr Una Agnew is a St Louis Sister and taught for many years at the Milltown Institute, Dublin, Ireland. She studied spirituality at Duquesne University, Pittsburgh, USA and completed her PhD in literature at University College Dublin. Sr Una is a founder member of the All Ireland Spiritual Guidance Association and is actively involved in Spiritual Directors in Europe. She has written and lectured widely on spiritual topics.

NB! Registration/ hot breakfast from 9am for 10.00 am start.

Lunch provided. 4pm finish with coffee/bar available until 7pm
For further details email: communications@corew.org

New Abbot at Douai

Douai Abbey, Berkshire

The monks of Douai Abbey in Berkshire have celebrated the blessing of Father Paul Gunter OSB as their new abbot.

@douaiabbey

Abbot Paul received the abbatial blessing from Bishop Egan of Portsmouth, accompanied by 12 bishops and archbishops, together with the Abbot President of the English Benedictine Congregation and 13 abbots, on Thursday September 8. The Deputy Lord Lieutenant of the Royal County of Berkshire attended and ecumenical guests included the Anglican Bishop of Reading.

In his homily, Bishop Marcus Stock of Leeds highlighted the Rule of Saint Benedict as the immediate "spiritual foundation" for guiding the brethren; the ring as a sign of constancy in loving kindness; and the pastoral staff for the sacrificial love required of any shepherd of a Christian flock. In a similar vein, the new abbot has taken as his motto convertat ut benignitas, 'may he convert by kindness'.

In his words at the end of Mass, Abbot Paul spoke of the rich array of saints named in the Litany sung before the blessing. They were, he said "outward-facing ministers of the Gospel, of every time and state of life." Included in the Litany were the martyrs of China and Ukraine. They give us courage "to be missionary; that is, effective witnesses in our time to the person and saving work of Jesus Christ."

Abbot Paul Gunter, 56, is a native of Wolverhampton and entered Douai Abbey in 1985. After serving for some years on some of the monastery's parishes he was sent to Rome in 2002 for higher studies in liturgy at the Pontifical Liturgical Institute (PIL), where he was awarded a doctorate in 2006. He served ten years on the faculty of the PIL before returning to become parish priest of Alcester in Warwickshire.

In 2012 he was appointed Secretary to the Department of Christian Life and Worship of the English and Welsh bishops' conference, in which role he continues to serve. He was elected the eleventh abbot of Douai on 11 May 2022, succeeding Abbot Geoffrey Scott who retired after 24 years as abbot.

Douai Abbey, whose patron is Saint Edmund, King and Martyr, was founded in Paris in 1615. Dispersed by the French Revolution the community of English Benedictines was re-housed in Douai, northern France in 1818 before returning to England in 1903, settling at Woolhampton in Berkshire. Douai School, which also moved from Douai to Woolhampton, closed in 1999. The constant work of the monks of the community has been service on the mission in England and Wales, though its monks have served as far afield as Mauritius and Australia. Today the community has 21 monks, some of whom serve in parishes in the dioceses of Portsmouth, Birmingham, Liverpool, and Menevia.