Catholic News

Archbishop John Wilson tells us of his 'shock' when he learned Pope Francis had been admitted to hospital with viral bronchitis. Thankfully, the Pope is on the mend and is scheduled to be discharged from Gemelli hospital on Saturday morning.

In this short Catholic News interview, the Archbishop of Southwark reflects on two memorable encounters with Pope Francis and tells us why it's important we keep praying for the Holy Father.

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On today's Catholic News podcast, Archbishop John Wilson joins us to talk about the launch of CARITAS Southwark - a new diocesan Caritas social action charity to help those in need across the south east.

Archbishop Wilson is keen to work collaboratively:

"This is not about a takeover. This is about creating a network whereby there can be a real celebration of good practise, and where new initiatives, especially in parishes and schools, can find support and direction from existing organisations and charities within the church, so that our diocese, within which there is enormous social need, can really start to put the practical gospel of love, of neighbour into practise in a new way.

"Starting small. We're sowing little seeds, but from little seeds come mighty oaks. And mighty oaks give shelter, especially to those who suffer and are in pain and in need. We come with faith and we come with a real desire to sow seeds today that will bear fruit in our practical love of those in need."

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Transcript

This is Archbishop John Wilson, the Archbishop of Southwark, and I'm very pleased to share news today of the launch of our Caritas Southwark network, which is a new thing for us in the Archdiocese. Today, thanks be to God, following a long process of consultation with people in our parishes and our schools, we've been able to formally launch Caritas Southwark as an agency of the diocese to put the Gospel into practise - to make the Gospel flesh. To reach out to the weakest and the poorest and those in need in our communities and ask the question, what can we do? How can we serve? How can we be the loving presence of Christ, that sees with the heart of Christ and the eyes of Christ, with the compassion of Christ, and meets the needs of people - whether it's to do with food poverty or issues around refugees, whether it's things to do with care of the elderly, we've got projects that we want to explore that look at how we help our young people, especially those who might be tempted, into areas that involve knife crime.

We're very, very keen to work collaboratively and in partnership and also to explore new ways of how we might work together. We've got very good relationships with Pact, for example, that works with prisoners in supporting the link between prisoners and their families. We've got good links with the Manna Society (a day centre for homeless people near London Bridge), which is based here in the diocese and which the diocese already supports.

So this is not about a takeover. This is about creating a network whereby there can be a real celebration of good practise, and where new initiatives, especially in parishes and schools, can find support and direction from existing organisations and charities within the church, so that our diocese, within which there is enormous social need, can really start to put the practical gospel of love, of neighbour into practise in a new way. Starting small. We're sowing little seeds, but from little seeds come mighty oaks. And mighty oaks give shelter, especially to those who suffer and are in pain and in need. We come with faith and w

This audiobook, recorded and produced in collaboration with the Catholic Truth Society (CTS), sees us re-visit the 'Victims of the Nazis' series to shine a light on a truly remarkable woman - Edith Stein - who we know and venerate as Saint Teresa Benedicta of the Cross.

Born on the Feast of St Wilfred, 12 October 1891, in the then German town of Breslau (now Wroclaw in Poland), Edith Stein was a German Jew who descended to the intellectual heights of atheism, converted to Catholicism and, as a Discalced Carmelite nun, ascended to Mount Carmel to the crystal peaks of mysticism.

Her life on earth ended in the gas chambers of a Nazi concentration camp – which she entered unresisting as an offering to God. Spiritually a giant, in body she was small and frail. At first meeting she often disappointed those who had known her only by her fame as a major contemporary philosopher.

She has many devotees around the world and was declared a saint by Pope Saint John Paul II on 11 October 1998.

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This book was written by Monk Matthew and published by CTS in 2010. It is taken from a collection of texts, published in ebook form, titled: Edith Stein, Marcel Callo, Titus Brandsma: Victims of the Nazis. This audiobook version is read by Monica Nash.

Duration: 38 minutes

ctsbooks.org

You can visit the CTS website for more on this and other great publications.

Bishop Nicholas Hudson, Chairing his first Holy Land Co-ordination, spoke to us on the eve of his return home from Amman, the capital of Jordan.

He had just spent five days leading a pilgrimage of Bishops from 11 countries around the holy sites of Jordan, as well as visiting some of the Catholic parishes and projects active in the country.

Jordan today hosts more displaced people than almost any other country, offering support for those fleeing violence in Iraq, Syria and Yemen, through the provision of accommodation, skills-training, medical facilities, pastoral care, and advocacy.

"Jordanian people have a real gift for welcome," said Bishop Hudson. "Their welcome to the refugees is deeply touching and they have a deep desire to welcome more pilgrims too. It's a land of joy in the sense that whenever you encounter people, you sense the joy in their hearts."

The Holy Land Co-ordination, based this year in Amman, Jordan, took place from 14-19 January. It is an annual meeting of the Episcopal Conferences in Support of the Church of the Holy Land. It focuses on the three Ps: Prayer, Pilgrimage and Persuasion.

Podcast Transcript

It has been one of the biggest Holy Land Co-ordinations I've known - and I've been on about five of them. I was counting, at our final meeting this evening, I think we were 35 people sitting in a large circle with bishops representing about eleven different countries - it has been a fantastic week. It began with going to the ordination of two young priests. It was really heart-warming to arrive into such an atmosphere and see a beautifully full church.

The next day saw us go down to the River Jordan, to the newly-developed baptismal site - the very place of the Baptism of Our Lord. There was an almost festival atmosphere with the church completely full and the same number of people outside. They reckoned there were some like 6,500 - 7,000 people there. There was an atmosphere that we recognise from our own experience in England and Wales, where people are so happy to be able to come together for that sort of celebration when COVID prevented them doing it for so long.

The following day we had just as touching an experience, but completely different when we spent the morning with Iraqi refugees, and I'll say a little bit more about that later on, but that was deeply touching.

Then we went out to different parishes - about seven different parishes. Bishops, priests and some of the lay members of the Co-ordination go out to different parishes. I went about 100km north of Amman, where we've been based, to go and celebrate Mass in the parish of Ajloun - and deeply touching it was. The contrast between the 6,500 - 7,000 of the day before and the 40 or so people who were in Ajloun was deeply touching. Just as precious in their smallness, and I could see how much it meant to them when I said, "we've come to let you know that you're not forgotten, because we all belong to the one Body of Christ and we will always hold you in our hearts".

The next day, the whole Co-ordination went somewhere completely different - a third of the way down the country to a place called Madaba. There we had a really excellent and informative presentation from Caritas, where they were telling us everything that they've been doing for refugees. And then we went into an actual school and we had addresses from different members of the school, telling us everything that they've been doing to welcome refugees and also local Jordanian Christians and some Muslims into their school.

Then we had one of the most memorable moments from the scriptural topographical aspect of being in Jordan, which was to go up Mount Nebo, which is of course, the place where Moses viewed the Promised Land for the first time. We came off the mountain to go and meet with young people from the Patriarchate in Jordan. The Patriarchate in Jordan has organised

"In one way it was a very straightforward celebration of a Funeral Mass as would take place at the death

of any Catholic in any parish church. And yet in another way it was a uniquely historical event and an event of great emotional depth and stature.

"I think we can say it's the first time [in over 200 years] that a pope has buried a pope who has just died and in that sense there was a uniqueness to it. But I think it was also a moment in which, for me certainly, there was a heightened sense of loss - a sense of my own sadness that Benedict is no longer with us in person. At the same time the ceremony was an unshakable expression of faith and trust in the promises of Jesus. So we had both sadness and hope, we had the grief of loss and the certainty of faith.

"There were some words used in one of the prayers that appealed to me, particularly, and it was an appeal to Mary Salus Populi Romani, that she would intercede that Benedict would now see the face of Jesus and that we would be comforted on our pilgrim way.

"Those words touched me because I reflected on how much Benedict, his life and his spirituality, was focused on a relationship with Jesus. Those books that he wrote about Jesus of Nazareth in some ways summed up not only his learning but also his spirituality and his prayer.

"The other day, Archbishop Gänswein, who knows him better than anybody did, was saying that it was that image of Jesus always accompanying the Church, always being with the Church, that was the most radically fundamental thing in Pope Benedict's life.

"And I was thinking of the time when I was in St Peter Square when he gave his last homily as serving Pope before he left for Castel Gandolfo. In that homily, he used the image of Jesus asleep in the back of the boat when the storm came on the Sea of Galilee and the disciples were frightened."

Archbishop Gänswein repeated that and gave a little gloss on it. He said, "Benedict used to say, 'but now Jesus never sleeps and he's always with us'."

So during the Mass I was thinking about those things and, quite simply, how lovable Benedict was and therefore thanking God for the gifts that He gave us through him.

Cardinal Vincent Nichols

Vatican, 5 January 2023

Shortly after arriving in Rome the day before Benedict XVI's funeral, Cardinal Vincent Nichols spent some time in prayer and quiet contemplation before the body of the late Pope Emeritus

Lying in state in St Peter’s Basilica, Pope Benedict was visited by tens of thousands of pilgrims who paid their final respects and offered prayers for the repose of his soul.

"Yesterday afternoon, I was able to go into the Basilica of St. Peter's and be in the presence of Pope

Benedict's body to pray for him, and on behalf of many people who had asked me to join their prayers together in the presence of Pope Benedict's mortal remains.

"It was a very simple time, and what was impressive was the movement of people as they came up the whole length of the aisle of St. Peter's and paused ever so slightly in front of the catafalque where the body of Pope Benedict was visible.

"Everybody did the same thing. They made the sign of the Cross. They whispered a prayer and tried to take a picture with their phone. The stewards who were there were saying, "please move on, please don't stop."

"I believe 160,000 or more people have passed through the basilica paying their respects and praying for Pope Benedict. And that, to me, is an expression of how much he was loved.

"For me, I spent a lot of the time reflecting on my association with Pope Benedict and what I loved and appreciated about him. In a way, it was quite difficult to come away. There was a draw. I felt pulled to stay, but then eventually I had to leave. It was very precious time.

"I think how he will be remembered will be as a great scholar who wrote with clarity and simplicity, and who had a very loving disposition and capacity to make people feel welcome and part of whatever it was he was doing - the conversation or the event.

"So he'll be remembered both for his learning, but for his warmth of heart and generosity of character."

Audio taken from a virtual press conference in which four Catholic bishops from England and Wales discussed their autumn plenary meeting.

Bishop Paul Mason, who chaired the press conference, spoke about the Church's safeguarding work, Bishop John Arnold discussed four resolutions concerned with environmental matters, Bishop John Sherrington addressed the issue of buffer zones around abortion clinics and Bishop Nicholas Hudson updated journalists on the Church's Synodal Journey.

The Bishops' plenary meeting took place at Hinsley Hall, Leeds, from 14-17 November 2022.

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Patrick O’Dowd, the director of Caritas Salford, spoke to us recently to give an overview of what the charity is doing to ease the burdens of struggling families in the north west of England.

Patrick relayed some shocking statistics about the devastating effects of the crisis, with hundreds of thousands of children lacking the bare essentials, families plunged into precarious positions, and even households with one member working are struggling to make ends meet.

Caritas Salford is part of the Caritas Social Action Network, an agency of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of England and Wales.

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Every year, millions of pilgrims from around the world visit the foothills of the French Pyrenees to walk in the footsteps of Saint Bernadette at Lourdes. It's one of the world's busiest Catholic pilgrimage sites with around five million pilgrims visiting each year. It's estimated that over 200 million people have visited the Marian shrine and sanctuary since 1860.

Why do they come? It's a common misconception that most pilgrims visit Lourdes to experience a miracle. However, many are searching for strength and guidance in times of difficulty or distress. For many sick pilgrims, Lourdes offers the opportunity to bathe in the healing waters of the spring and to find peace with their prognosis rather than to seek a miraculous cure.

They also come to walk in the footsteps of a poor 14 year old girl, named Bernadette Soubirous, to whom the Blessed Virgin Mary appeared in a series of 18 apparitions at a Grotto on the banks of the river Gave between February and July 1858.

Hers is a remarkable story that led from suffering and surrender to sainthood. We can take solace and draw closer to the Lord and His Blessed Mother through Bernadette's story.

In this audiobook, produced in partnership with the Catholic Truth Society, we listen to the message of St Bernadette - a message that is as clear today as it was in the 19th century.

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This book, written by Vernon Johnson, was published by the Catholic Truth Society (CTS). The text was revised and updated by Donal Foley in 2008. You can listen to this audiobook version for free. Read by Pierpaolo Finaldi.

Duration: 1 hour 18 minutes

As the Social Justice department of the Bishops' Conference launches a new revised edition of the Bishops' teaching document on the environment The Call of Creation, Bishop John Arnold, our episcopal lead for environmental matters, has been speaking to us about the current ecological crisis, our responsibilities as Catholics and custodians of the created world, and his belief that we all need to play our part to protect our common home.

Transcription

We're fundamentally going to talk about the 'Call of Creation', which is the Bishops' teaching document on the environment, released in 2002, and I know it was revised along the way by CAFOD, but we are now re-releasing in 2022. Just tell us why we're doing this now.

Well, I think the world was woken up a great deal by Laudato Si, Pope Francis' encyclical, and that did a great service not just to the people of the church, but to the world. But still we're not acting quickly enough. And if you look at the statistics that are emerging we're really making a terrible mess of the environment and it's having an appalling impact on so many people around the world.

In the news… Pakistan - 33 million people directly affected by climate change. We've got Japan with Typhoon Nanmadol - three million people evacuated; the Puerto Rico typhoon; Alaskan storms; the west states of the United States with their wildfires; Kentucky with its ongoing flood damage. Really, it's an appalling state of affairs. When are we going to make it urgent to be effective in our response?

And that's really before we mention war and other things that are going on in our world… Let's go back to your foreword for The Call of Creation, in which you say a truly Catholic understanding of the environmental crisis does not see it as a series of individual problems that need to be solved. Now, I find that very interesting. How should we, then, as Catholics, respond to this environmental crisis?

Well, I think Pope Francis gives us a lead, when he says everything is connected and that each and every one of us has our part to play.

We've got to see climate change and the damage it's doing as not just a series of things that we can cure one by one. It's a matter of care for creation as a whole, which means changing our lifestyle and everyone has got to be part of that. It also includes our political actions. The war in Ukraine is an appalling, damaging feature for the environment. It's a dreadful thing to be happening. It's affecting food supplies and destroying property. There is evidence of a number of deaths that have not yet been accounted for. It's all connected and we've got to have a global look, as Pope Francis says, and put these things together so that we can recognise a plan for all of us in order to save our common home.

Now, without getting too controversial, I think there might be something of a problem with the psychology behind action. Sometimes you'll get people saying, well, what about India, China, the US, ourselves, the big polluters? How can we avoid individuals getting disheartened by these big polluters so they carry on doing their bit, changing their relationship with the environment, going about it in a positive way, thinking about their consumption, recycling etc? How do we keep their spirits up so they continue to make a difference?

Well, I think Christian hope has a great deal to do with this - that we've not been defeated. Pope Francis is very clear, we live on in hope and that hope can't be just something that we put nicely on the windowsill and say, it will happen, we've got to be part of this. And it's all very well to feel very pessimistic about certain nations in the world and what's going terribly wrong and they're correcting their ways of destroying the environment.

At the same time, we've got quite an upsurge of popular understa