St Margaret`s fights back - Scottish Catholic Observer

Transcription

Opening hearts and minds to God
The SCO Scottish Catholic Education Week special section inside
Church makes final push against
SAME-SEX ‘MARRIAGE’ ahead of
February vote by MPs at
Westminster Parliament. Page 3
No 5503
Pages
6,11-16
MOTHERWELL’S FIRST PRIEST, Canon
George Boyd, is laid to rest after
funeral at St Brendan’s Church,
his last parish. Page 5
www.sconews.co.uk
YOUR NATIONAL CATHOLIC
NEWSPAPER SUPPORTS THE YEAR OF FAITH
Scottish Government attempts to save the nation’s last Catholic adoption agency
Friday February 1 2013 | £1
SCIAF launches
an emergency
appeal for Syria
THE Scottish Catholic International Aid Fund (SCIAF) has
launched an emergency appeal
to help thousands of Syrian
refugees fleeing the country’s
brutal civil war.
St Margaret’s fights back
By Martin Dunlop
SCOTLAND is rallying in support of
St Margaret’s Children and Family
Care Society after the Catholic charity’s future was placed in jeopardy by
the Office of the Scottish Charity
Regulator (OSCR).
The Glasgow-based Catholic adoption agency, believed to be the last of its
kind in the UK, was threatened with the
loss of its charitable status last week
after watchdogs, prompted by a National
Secular Society complaint, criticised its
practice of only placing children for
joint adoption by married couples, in
accordance with Church teaching.
The Scottish Government has publicly stated that it wishes to help St
Margaret’s to continue its work, which
is valued in the community.
Professionalism
One couple in Motherwell Diocese currently going through the adoption
process told the SCO that they would
have been at a loss without St Margaret’s.
“My husband and I are in the final
stages of adopting our two amazing children, aged 2 and 7 and a half months,
with the support of St Margaret’s,” Em
Bradley said. “Having spoken to other
couples who have found the adoption
process through the local authorities both
protracted and impersonal we feel very
fortunate in comparison. St Margaret’s
have led us through the process in an
efficient and supportive manner. Their
professionalism has been thoroughly
appreciated.
“Adoption is a daunting process and St
Margaret’s provides a unique environment. They manage to create an atmosphere of belonging to the society amongst
adopters. I would have no hesitation in
picking up the phone to ask for help if
needed and I know a number of adopters
who feel the same way. As a non-practising Catholic, I am also glad to say that St
Margaret’s welcomes prospective adopters
from all faiths and none. I would be very
disappointed if the St Margaret’s team
was unable for any reason to provide
this invaluable service.”
Complaint
Following a complaint from the National
Secular Society, which described St Margaret’s policy as ‘sectarian decisionmaking’ and ‘publicly financed crude
discrimination,’ an announcement from
the OSCR stated: “The criteria it applies
SCO, 19 Waterloo Street, Glasgow G2 6BT
tel 0141 221 4956
to people who inquire about assessment
as prospective adoptive parents discriminates unlawfully against same-sex couples. The charity’s preferred criteria
prioritises couples who have been married for at least two years: marriage is not
available to same-sex couples and this
constitutes direct discrimination.”
A spokesman for St Margaret’s said
that the agency was made aware of the
complaint by the regulator and was currently considering the best way forward.
The spokesman added that the Scottish
Government has highlighted its support
for the work of St Margaret’s.
“We have been notified of a complaint
by the charity regulator,” the spokesman
said. “We are now in the process of consultation with our legal advisors and with
the bishops to consider the best way forward. We will also be meeting with the
Scottish Government next week, and they
have publicly stated that they wish to help
St Margaret’s to continue its work.”
The spokesman also added that the
adoption agency has been ‘heartened’
by the strong support it has received following last week’s announcement.
“We are heartened by the messages
of support from across Scotland from
those who see the importance of the
fax 0141 221 4546
work we do,” he said.
Government lifeline
Four years ago, Scotland’s First Minister
Alex Salmond said he wanted to find a
way to save Catholic adoption agencies
from being forced to close because of
laws designed to prevent homosexual discrimination. Reacting to the new threat
against St Margaret’s, Education Secretary Mike Russell said he was ‘disappointed’ by the regulator’s decision and
outlined his intention to meet representatives of St Margaret’s to discuss the situation. Mr Russell said that he believes the
charity regulator’s outcome is ‘not in the
best interests of the children St Margaret’s helps, who are in need of a safe
and loving family home.’
“We believe St Margaret’s should be
able to continue its valuable work and are
actively and urgently seeking a solution,”
Mr Russell said.
“I will personally meet with representatives of St Margaret’s to discuss the best
way forward.”
Catholic teaching
St Margaret’s was founded in 1955 in
Continued on page 2
e-mail [email protected]
The conflict has so far seen
60,000 people killed and an estimated 1.5 million people left
homeless as violence increases
and many thousands flee across
the border to Jordan (above).
The United Nations estimates that
the war has deprived nearly four
million people of basic needs such
as food, clean water and shelter.
The money raised in Scotland
from SCIAF’s Syria Refugee Emergency Appeal will allow the charity’s partner, Caritas Jordan, to help
Syrian refugees by providing basic
supplies such as food and shelter, as
well as heaters, blankets and stoves
so they can survive the winter.
Patricia Chalé, SCIAF’s director, appealed for help from the
Scottish people, saying the situation was getting worse by the day.
“The refugees crossing the border
into Jordan often have nothing and
are in need of urgent emergency
aid,” she said. “We need to take
action now to make sure we can
continue to support those in need
over the coming winter months. I
am appealing to all SCIAF supporters to please give whatever you can
today to help these homeless
refugees in desperate need.”
To donate to SCIAF’s emergency
appeal call: 0141 354 5555 or visit:
http://www.sciaf.org.uk/syria
2
PICTURE NEWS
THE SCO SUPPORTS THE YEAR OF FAITH
SCOTTISH CATHOLIC OBSERVER
Friday February 1 2013
‘Change or close’ an unfair
scenario for St Margaret’s
Continued from page 1
Glasgow launch of anti-hunger campaign
By Ian Dunn
THE Enough Food For Everyone If… campaign launched in
Glasgow last Wednesday with
an exciting, fun filled event
that still brought home the
plight of the world’s hungriest.
The campaign has the backing
of the Scottish Catholic International Aid Fund (SCIAF) and
Archbishop Philip Tartaglia of
Glasgow, and aims to put pressure on Prime Minister David
Cameron and other world lead-
ers to commit to ending global
hunger at the G8 summit in
Northern Ireland this year.
Musical performances from
local African drummers, and the
children of Whiteless Primary
School in Cumbernauld, gave
the event an international feel to
the proceedings before scores of
Glaswegians paused on their
lunch break to see a huge white
20-foot inflatable If, draped in a
Saltire, unveiled on the steps in
front of the Royal Concert Hall.
Lorraine Currie, SCIAF’s head
of international development,
said the campaign had the potential to make a huge difference.
“No one campaign is going to
change everything, but step by
step we can move towards a better, more just world,” she said.
“This is not about hand outs, it’s
about helping people so they can
help themselves.”
She added that the campaign
promoted key Catholic values.
“In the end it’s about promoting the dignity of the human person, which is vital to Catholic
teaching,” she said. “There’s not
much dignity in starvation.”
Ms Currie also said that the
campaign would highlight a key
inequality in today’s world.
“One of the biggest health
issues in the western world is
obesity, and we waste a huge
amount of food here,” she said.
“Yet people are starving all over
the world. You don’t have to be
a politician or an expert in development to know that is not just
and it is not fair.”
PIC: PAUL McSHERRY
response to the Catholic Church
in Scotland on the issue of adoption. At that time there was a
great demand for adoptive parents for children, particularly
those deemed ‘more difficult to
place.’
The society, which is partfunded by the Catholic Church,
changed its name to St Margaret’s Children and Family
Care Society in the mid 1990s in
recognition of the fact that,
while St Margaret’s is primarily
an adoption agency, the social
workers are involved in much
more than arranging adoption
placements and the society’s
wider role in supporting children
and families.
Following the implementation
of the Equality Act 2010, most
Catholic adoption agencies
north and south of the border
were either forced to close down
or to sever their links with the
Catholic Church, re-writing their
constitutions to comply with the
new legislation.
Only two agencies, St Margaret’s and Catholic Care in
Leeds continued as Catholic
adoption agencies.
Last November, Catholic Care
lost a long-running legal battle
after it was ruled the charity
could not claim an exemption
under the Equality Act to allow
it to operate in line with Catholic
teaching.
Friends and supporters of St
Margaret’s have spoken of their
fears that the Glasgow-based
Catholic adoption agency faces
a ‘change or close’ scenario.
Andrew Walker, a retired
social worker, highlighted Pope
Benedict XVI’s words that ‘a
Christian should not be afraid to
stand up against society.’
“Let us all stand up in protest
at this preposterous threat of
‘change or close,’” Mr Walker
told the SCO.
“As a social worker of 41
years’ standing (retired) I am
more aware than many of the
excellent work of this agency.
The Christian principles and
beliefs followed by St Margaret’s Children and Family
Centre are deeply rooted in its
work, and many, many children
and young people who have
been successfully placed in substitute families can testify to
this. Every possible source of
support (legal/social) should be
utilised to help ensure the continuation of this agency as
presently constituted.”
The OSCR has issued a direction to St Margaret’s, instructing
it to amend its procedures and
assessment criteria to meet the
requirements of the Equality
Act.
The agency has until April 22,
2013 to do so or risk losing its
charitable status.
[email protected]
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Charity No: SC012302. Company No: SC197327. Photo: Sean Sprague.
A moving service of prayer for Christian unity was held at St Margaret’s chapel at the Gillis Centre,
Edinburgh, last Wednesday. At the service to mark the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, Dr John A Armes,
Bishop of Edinburgh for the Episcopal Church gave the homily, and was joined in leading the service by
Mgr Phillip Kerr of St Francis Xavier’s Falkirk and Rev Alistair Keil of the Church of Scotland. The well
attended service was followed by a social reception within the Gillis Centre
PIC: PAUL McSHERRY
INSIDE YOUR SCO
NEWS pages 1-8
STRONG IN FAITH page 4
LOCAL NEWS pages 2,3,5,7
INDEX TO NEWS, OPINION AND FEATURES THIS WEEK
SCHOOLS NEWS page 6
NATIONAL NEWS page 7
VATICAN NEWS page 8
OPINION pages 9-10
CATHOLIC EDUCATION WEEK
pages 11-16
LETTERS page 14
CHILDREN’S LITURGY page
22
INTIMATIONS pages 17-20
BISHOPS’ ENGAGEMENTS
page 20
LAY READERS GUIDE
page 20
MISSION MATTERS
page 24
NEWS
3
A final push to protect marriage
Church in England and Wales implores parishioners to lobby their MPs ahead of vote
By Ian Dunn
THE Church has launched a final push
against the UK Government’s plans to
legalise same-sex ‘marriage’ before
MPs vote on the issue next week.
Parliament, including Scottish MPs,
could vote on the issue as early as Tuesday and the Catholic Church in England
and Wales is mobilising parishioners and
lobbying MPs to try and stop marriage
being redefined legally.
Time to act
Archbishop Peter Smith of Southwark
(right), wrote to all parishes on behalf of
the English and Welsh bishops urging
Catholics to capitalise on the decision by
all three main party leaders to allow free
votes on the matter and increase pressure
on their local MPs to halt such a ‘fundamental change in the law.’
Archbishop Smith, the second most
senior active Catholic cleric in England
and Wales, says Catholics must act now if
they are to have any change of stopping
marriage being devalued.
“It is therefore particularly important at
this time for all MPs to be made aware of
the strength of feeling on this issue among
their own constituents, and the bishops have
received requests from a number of laity
about mobilising further action,” he said.
“The first key vote is likely to take place in
early February so the time to act is now. We
need to encourage as many people as possible to get involved. Please do all you can.”
Briefing
The Church distributed a special briefing to all
MPs and Lords from the bishops of England
and Wales on Tuesday urging them to oppose
the Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Bill.
The briefing explains why the meaning
of marriage matters to everyone, reasoning that the bill, for the first time in British
legal history, ‘fundamentally seeks to
break the existing legal link between the
institution of marriage and sexual exclusivity, loyalty and responsibility for the
children of the marriage.’
PIC: PAUL McSHERRY
Eviction of asylum seekers stalls
after court hearing is postponed
ATTEMPTS to evict failed
asylum seekers in Glasgow,
and make them homeless,
were stalled in the court on
Monday after a hearing on
the cases was postponed
until April.
The briefing goes on to explain why
retaining marriage as a union between one
man and one woman is not discriminatory.
The bishops also make the point that there
is no mandate for this fundamental change
to the definition of marriage. They said
such a change is a major constitutional
issue and parliament should not be rushed
into making a decision that will have far
reaching long-term consequences, many of
them unintended.
“The British public, as a whole, did not
seek this change; none of the mainstream
political parties promised it in their last election manifestos; there has been no referendum; there was no Green or White Paper
and the government consultation did not ask
whether the law would be changed, but
how the law should be changed,” they say.
Marriage Bill
The government’s Marriage (Same Sex
Couples) Bill was published on Friday January 25, outlining details of how a raft of
existing marriage laws are to be amended
to include same-sex couples. The bill
includes a clause making it impossible for
gay or lesbian people who marry to
divorce on grounds of adultery.
Lawyers and MPs said the distinction
created inequality between heterosexual
and homosexual couples in the divorce
courts and could ultimately lead to the
abolition of the centuries-old concept of
adultery. They added it illustrated how
same-sex ‘marriage’ could open the way
for a wider reassessment of marriage laws.
I [email protected]
Bishop Robson to speak at Mission Matters Scotland conference
AUXILIARY Bishop
Stephen Robson is to speak
at a special conference on
missionary work to be held
in Stirling in March.
The free event on March 9,
part of the celebrations to mark
the Year of Faith, will be an
exploration of missionary work
in the modern age and is being
organised by Mission Matters
Scotland. It is open to all interested parties including priests,
religious, voluntary mission
helpers, teachers, parishioners
and youth.
“The conference offers us all,
youth included, the opportunity
to share our insights and our
PIC: PAUL McSHERRY
gifts with one another,” the
organisers say. “Pope John Paul
II encouraged us to follow the
example of Venerable Pauline
Jaricot, distinguished at a
young age by her initiative in
encouraging love for the
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Eucharist, the Rosary, and promoting the missionary activity
of the whole Church.”
There will be two main
speakers at the conference are
Bishop Robson of St Andrews
(right) and Edinburgh and Fr
Anthony Caruana, chaplain to
World Youth Day in Madrid.
Bishop Robson, who was the
Scottish delegate at the
Eucharistic Congress in Dublin
last year, will be speaking on
Communion with Christ and
with one another in his talk on
mission and the Eucharist,
while Fr Caruana’s talk, Rooted
and Built up in Jesus Christ,
looks at mission and youth.
I The event is free and will
include lunch. To register for the
Pontifical Missionary Union
Conference please email:
national.office@
missionmattersscotland.org
or telephone Mission Matters
Scotland: 01236 449774
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Archbishop Philip Tartaglia
of Glasgow has previously said
he cannot comprehend ‘the
degree of harshness’ that seeks
to evict the failed asylum seekers from their accommodation
in the middle of winter.
Carol Clarke of Justice and
Peace Scotland was at Glasgow
Sheriff Court on Monday. She
told the SCO that technical
legal issues had delayed the
decision for several months but
that she was not confident of a
favourable outcome for the
failed refugees.
“I fear the court will ultimately rule to evict them, but at
least this delay means they will
not be forced on to the street in
the middle of winter,” Ms
Clarke said.
She added that there is still a
chance the court would find the
asylum seekers human rights’
would be violated by the
planned evictions, which could
also put a stop to them.
Jock McFadden, of the Glasgow Welcomes Refugees campaign, said the situation was
shaming Scotland.
“It is time for Glasgow and
Scotland to live up to the ideals
of social inclusion and community solidarity that we cherish in
a modern tolerant Scotland by
removing for good the threat of
the enforced eviction of vulnerable refugees and migrants,” he
said. “The unstated UK Government policy of deliberate
destitution shames all in public
life who co operate with it and
also those who refuse to condemn it, in particular those with
vested interests who, incredibly,
are prepared to profit from it.”
Archbishop Tartaglia (above)
has vigorously campaigned for
better treatment for failed asylum seekers.
“I do not claim to be an
expert on immigration policy
but I speak as a Christian
leader, representing a Church
which has a noble tradition of
care for the most vulnerable,”
he said last month. “Asylum
seekers, who flee from persecution, violence and situations
that put their life at risk, stand
in need of our understanding
and welcome, of respect for
their human dignity and rights,
and awareness of their duties.
They are unsuccessful asylum
seekers, yes. But first and foremost they are human beings.”
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4
YOUNG CATHOLIC FORUM
strong in faith
A fortnightly discussion
chaired by our Catholic
university chaplaincies
DISCUSSION: Does the Church seem too
focused on sexual morality?
NEXT TIME: Do we take Lent seriously enough? How can we make the most of it in this Year of Faith?
ADAM COATES
NO. And if it seems that way it is
because society is overly sexualised. The
Church must be clear in its condemnation of illicit use of sex, contraception,
and other social problems. If not then it
is false charity on our part and thus
a sin.
YES, it does seem to be overly focused
on sexual morality. Considering how little Jesus said about sexuality and how
many, much more pressing, issues there
are, it is quite bewildering, especially to
outsiders, how much the Church focuses
THOMAS SCHAAB on sexuality or the prohibition of it. I
think the reason for this seeming to be
overly prominent in the life of the Church might be that the internal struggle surrounding that topic is very visible to outsiders; plus
all the attention ‘equal’ marriage has attracted...
I THINK I have to agree with Thomas, I
often feel like the focus on sexual morality to the neglect of other areas of theology obscures the beauty of the Church
and Her message of unconditional love.
In fact I think that the wider media
FEE DOH
focuses on these issues because they
know how to make the Church seem most
ugly. At the same time I think that sexual morality should not be
hidden and ignored and the Church does a great service by simply
being stable and clear on its stance. The challenge as ever is to communicate the truth but not legislate beyond that. A focus on sexual
morality can even be healthy as long as what it communicates is a
message of love and not of discrimination and judgement.
I THINK the challenge is expressing
Catholic teaching on marriage, family
and sexuality, and its connection to
wider social issues, in a thoughtful and
clear way. What I mean is to explain the
difficult social processes by which a
DAVID LUNDIE
society with strong families helps alleviate material and cultural poverty, helps
facilitate hospitality to the stranger, helps to bring about better
working conditions, stronger links between people and politics,
and so on.
If we can show how these values relate to building a better
world, we can make them relevant. Too often, media and Catholic
apologists take an approach that counts these things as obvious,
and this just looks like magical thinking. We need to avoid magical thinking that suggests ‘if we get rid of abortion and divorce
then the world will be perfect, God will bless us, and we won't
have to worry about climate change or the recession ever again!’
Obviously this isn’t true, and it isn’t what the Church teaches,
but sometimes it is what people hear when the Holy Father talks
about social ills and same sex marriage in the same sermon. Our
task is to explain to the world how the two are rationally linked.
IN REALITY sexual morality is almost never mentioned at the
local level. Then again, it is much the same with all the other
virtues too—they may be mentioned a bit more often than chastity
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is, but too often they are reduced to platitudes which are meaningless in front of
the real temptations of everyday life.
What is needed to dispel false impressions is a far clearer proclamation of the
beauty of the Church’s teaching on sex,
GERALD BONNER
and at the same time a far more rigorous
approach to all moral issues. ‘Sin’ and
‘virtue’ need to be restored to our vocabulary—and the real struggle to be virtuous that we face, in all areas of life, needs to
be recognised.
I DON’T think the Church focuses
enough on sexual morality since it is a
significant issue that affects a lot of
young Scottish Catholics who are trying
to find their way in the world. I was glad
when I heard Pope Benedict XVI
FRASER DAVIDSON address the young people of Glasgow in
2010 when he said: “There are many
temptations placed before you every day—drugs, money, sex,
pornography, alcohol—which the world tells you will bring you
happiness, yet these things are destructive and divisive.”
I AM 32-years-old and have never heard a
homily on pre-marital sex, contraception,
Humanae Vitae, pornography, abortion or
co-habitation. The truth is that we don’t
hear nearly enough about these issues in
the pews. I don’t know if the priests bottle
CHRIS McLAUGHLIN out of it, or if they’ve been told to go easy,
or that they don’t see it as appropriate, but
the truth is unless you get the message across on a Sunday, most people won’t hear it at all. The overwhelming majority of the Faithful
don’t read the Catholic press or frequent internet pages like this. I
seriously doubt if even 10 out of 100 Mass-going Catholics in Scotland could explain the Church’s position on contraception in terms
of what the doctrine is and why. Given that is so, it doesn’t surprise
me that few people abide by it.
THE problem is that teaching on these
matters has been left to a few people,
mainly recent Popes, who are pilloried in
the press for it while there is silence
locally. This leads to the false impression
of a ‘sex-obsessed Church,’ and widespread dissent in reality. We need to hear
GERALD BONNER
the truth, often and locally, otherwise the
struggle to be virtuous is just too difficult (and again, this goes for
all the virtues, not just chastity).
I DON’T think so; it is just given the
importance needed. There are many
resources that the Church puts at our disposal for us to understand better the
place of our sexuality in God’s plan.
However I am not sure how many of us
JULS TAPIA
are aware of them and consult them. But
I think everyone would benefit from
them and would find more about the Church’s teaching on
sexual morality.
W
Disparity between Church
and media perceptions of it
E CAN see
that there
are two
issues here:
firstly,
whether the Church subjectively appears to be too
focused on sexual ethics;
and secondly, whether the
Church objectively is too
focused on sexual ethics.
The first is essentially a
question of perception, and
so the answer will vary
depending on our own experiences. This clearly shows
through in the discussion. In
the secular media, most stories on Catholicism involve
questions of sexual morality,
but in the day-to-day life of
an individual Catholic at the
parish level, these questions
may in many cases rarely be
discussed. It certainly seems
fair to say that there is a discord between the Church’s
image in the media and
what is actually taught
within the Church. It could
certainly be argued that the
one seems too focused on
sexual morality while the
other does not seem focused
enough.
But why does the Church
talk about sexual morality at
all? Simply put, a right
understanding of human
sexuality is essential to any
understanding of human
being and meaning. Of
course, sexuality goes
beyond the sexual act to all
that it means to be male and
female. We find this meaning in the Creation story
(Genesis 2:25) and it is also
reemphasised by Christ
(Matthew 19:4-5): human
life and sexuality flow from
our being created male and
female. And so we can see
that a faulty understanding
of human sexuality can prevent us from fulfilling our
true being and potential.
It is also true that the
Church can seem so
focussed on sexual morality
simply because that is what
people are interested in and
take notice of. For example,
this discussion topic was
easily the most popular of
all our discussions so far. In
the secular press, the problem is exaggerated yet further: while there would be
no space for a story on
belief in Christ, there would
be for a story on the Church
and contraception. When it
comes to the Church, it is
only the stories about sexual
ethics that make it into the
mainstream and so become
widely known.
Even so, we do have to be
careful not to talk about sexual morality at the expense
of other aspects of Catholic
theology and teaching.
Instead, it must be part of a
well-rounded presentation
of life in all its fullness and
beauty.
All this leaves a few
questions for us all to ponder: How can the Church
teach the truth about sexual
morality without seeming
obsessed by it? How can we
get people interested in the
fullness of the Gospel message, and not just sexual
ethics?
And how can we within
the Church become more
familiar and appreciative of
the depth and breadth of
these teachings?
JOIN STRONG IN FAITH, THE ONLINE DISCUSSION GROUP FOR
YOUNG CATHOLICS THAT WILL FEATURE IN THE SCOTTISH
CATHOLIC OBSERVER DURING THE YEAR OF FAITH.
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LOCAL NEWS
5
Tributes to Motherwell’s first priest
Fifty priests at funeral for retired Canon George Boyd at St Brendan’s, his last parish
By Ian Dunn
BISHOP Joseph Devine of Motherwell has paid tribute to Canon George
Boyd, 88, the first priest to be
ordained for the diocese, whose
funeral was held on Monday.
St Brendan’s Church in Motherwell was
packed for the service, as hundreds of people, including nearly 50 priests, came to
pay tribute to a loyal servant of Motherwell Diocese.
Bishop Devine said Canon Boyd, who
died at his home on January 22, would be
remembered as ‘first and foremost a family man.’
“That may seem a strange description
for a priest but the canon’s life was
devoted to the families of the parishes in
which he served,” the bishop said. “To so
many families he was a member of the
family a father, grandfather and yes a
great-grandfather. He loved to tell children
about their family tree, about their grandparents and other relations who were no
longer with us and who many of the children had never known.”
Bishop Devine said it was for these reasons that the canon would be mourned
across the diocese.
“The priesthood can be a lonely place
but not for priests like Canon Boyd,” the
bishop said. “He enjoyed the love and
devotion of so many families and all will
be grieving for him today. For they have
lost a very special and favourite member
of their family.”
The Very Rev George Canon Boyd was
born on July 3, 1924 in Mossend. He was
ordained by Bishop Edward Douglas into
the priesthood alongside his brother
Patrick, a White Missionary Father in
Africa, in the Cathedral in Motherwell on
Lauriston helps ‘make
sense of Catholic Faith’
A NEW series of talks at
Edinburgh’s Lauriston Jesuit
Centre aims to ‘make sense
of the Catholic Faith’ during
this Year of Faith.
Canon Boyd was a great supporter of the
work done by staff and pupils at his local
primary school, St Brendan’s
May 24 1948. Canon Boyd was the first
priest to be ordained for the new Motherwell Diocese that was erected as a Suffragan See of Glasgow Archdiocese on May
25, 1947.
The canon served in St Patrick’s,
Wishaw, from 1948-54, moving on to St
Mary’s, Coatbridge, 1954-62 and before
being appointedparish priest at St Aloysius’, Chapelhall, in 1962, the youngest
parish priest ever appointed at that time.
He was transferred to St Thomas’s in
Wishaw in 1969 and in 1978 moved to St
Bernadette’s in Motherwell. His final
appointment was to St Brendan’s in Motherwell in 1990. He celebrated his diamond
jubilee as a priest in 2008 and he served
at St Brendan’s until his retirement in
2009.
Canon Boyd was installed as a Canon
of the Cathedral Chapter in 1992.
The vigil service for the reception of
Canon Boyd’s body took place place on
Sunday January 27 at 7pm at St Brendan’s. His funeral took place place at the
parish on Monday January 28 at 11.30am.
I [email protected]
Choirs in fine voice for Glasgow’s Celtic Roots Mass
ST ALOYSIUS Church in
Glasgow was alive to the
sound of beautiful singing
and music at the annual
Mass of Our Celtic Roots on
Sunday.
The Mass is celebrated each
year during the city’s Celtic
Connections winter music festival. Mgr Denis Carlin was the
principal celebrant of the Mass.
Canon Robert Hill preached the
homily and was joined by concelebrating priests Mgr Gerry
Fitzpatrick, Fr Peter Griffiths
SJ and the Jesuit community of
St Aloysius.
Ten choirs, including Glasgow’s St Mungo Singers and St
Mungo’s, Alloa, as well as
choirs and musicians from
parishes across the city performed the music Liturgy at the
Mass.
Mgr Fitzpatrick, musical
director of the St Mungo
Singers, spoke of the history of
the Celtic Connections festival
and the importance of the
annual Mass at St Aloysius.
“Since Celtic Connections
attracts a great many visitors to
Glasgow and many of them are
Christian or Catholic, it was
decided more than 10 years ago
that we would have a Mass to
mark the occasion and provide
the opportunity for visitors
from other parts of the ‘Celtic
World’ to worship together,” he
said. “The clergy and community at St Aloysius have always
been so welcoming, and representation from the Irish Gaelic
and Scots Gaelic communities
in the city has been consistently
encouraging.”
The Celtic Connections festival, which celebrates Celtic
music and its connections to
cultures across the globe, runs
until Sunday February 3.
MOTHERWELL
LOURDES 2013
APRIL (HCPT WEEK)
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QUOTATIONS ON REQUEST FOR YOUR PILGRIMAGE
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HCC
articles on his specialist topics.
His most recent work is:
Christianity in Evolution. An
Exploration (2011).
The Year of Faith talks and
discussions will take place
every Monday in February and
every Tuesday in March. All
talks begin at 7.30pm at the
Lauriston Jesuit Centre.
For further information, Fr
Scally can be contacted by telephone on: 0131 2299821/0131
2299104 or by email at:
[email protected].
PIC: PAUL McSHERRY
ALBA TOURS
Member of the Passenger
Financial Protection
Scheme
A programme of weekly talks
and discussions on basic Christian and Catholic beliefs is
being led by Fr Jack Mahoney
SJ (right), a Jesuit priest and
emeritus professor of moral and
social theology at London University.
Fr Peter Scally SJ, parish
priest at Sacred Heart Church,
Lauriston, Edinburgh (above),
said there had been ‘a desire
amongst Faithful’ for such a
series during the Year of Faith
and he noted that the talks,
which began last month, have
proved to be very enriching so
far for those who attended.
Fr Mahoney has lectured
widely in the UK and abroad on
a variety of theological and ethical issues. He has written several books and numerous
40 Chestnut Grove
Motherwell
ML1 3JF
Covering the above schools you will conduct the affairs of the
schools to the benefit of the pupils and the wider community
it serves through pursuing objectives and implementing
policies set by the education authority under the overall
direction of the Director of Education and Lifelong Learning.
To ensure the safety of all pupils. To create and maintain an
ethos in each school and across schools based on the values
and beliefs of the Catholic Church.
Essential Criteria:
• A degree (or equivalent) or diploma in primary education
(or PGCE/PGDE) along with strong evidence of continued
personal professional development
• Full Registration with the General Teaching Council
(of Scotland)
• Meet the Standard for Headship
• Approval by Catholic Church
Informal enquiries may be made to: Mary Bell 01835 828003.
Apply online at scotborders.myjobscotland.gov.uk or
contact Human Resources, Council HQ, Newtown St
Boswells, Melrose TD6 0SA Tel. 01835 825052/3 or
email [email protected] for an application pack
or contact your local Jobcentre.
Closing date: 18 February 2013.
Scottish Borders Council is an equal opportunities
employer and will make reasonable adjustments
for those with disabilities.
www.scotborders.gov.uk
6
SCHOOLS NEWS
Notre Dame pupils fight sectarianism through God’s love
Students from the Glasgow high school took part in a national conference where they spread the message of Caritas and stood against bigotry
By Maria McMahon
A GROUP of S6 pupils from
Notre Dame High School in Glasgow are helping to tackle sectarianism after taking part in a
national good practice conference
organised by Education Scotland.
The six pupils involved—Catriona
McAllister, Lindsay Reston, Sarah Ali,
Melissa Brown, Faizah Ali and Emily
Stone—all of whom are currently participating in the Pope Benedict XV1
Caritas Award scheme, attended the
event on November 27 last year . They
are a small section of the 26S6 pupils
in total who are taking part and are
representative of the Catholic, Church
of Scotland and Muslim traditions.
Emily: As a young Catholic I am
much more involved in my Faith
in a ‘hands on’ way. Especially in
my work with young people in
school and in my parish, I
understand Pope Benedict’s
words that “Only He can satiy the
deepest needs of our heart.”
Faizah: I thank Allah for the
chance to take part in the Caritas
project as it has allowed me to
appreciate in a new way the gift
of Faith and the place of God in
my life and the whole world.
Fighting prejudice
After an introduction by Barbara
Campbell, RE advisor, the pupils presented a workshop on the key message
of Caritas to an erudite audience of
various faith traditions. Rather than
focusing on anti-sectarianism, their
presentation displayed how, through
living the commandment to love, there
is no room for prejudice, bigotry or
discrimination.
They gave a brief summary of the
Caritas Award scheme which came
about as a result of Pope Benedict
XVI’s visit to Scotland in 2010. Listening to his words addressed to youth
at that time that ‘you are the hope and
life of the Church in Scotland’ and that
‘the Church now belongs to you,’ the
Bishops of Scotland invited S6 pupils
throughout the country to consider
ways in which they could carry forward the message of this special event.
Thus, Caritas came into being, a
scheme open to young people of
all Faiths.
The pupils summed up their under-
In their own words:
Notre Dame pupil’s
views on Caritas
Melissa: As a member of the
Church of Scotland I have always
been very involved in my own
faith. I was surprised to find out
that I was able to take part in
Caritas and was delighted to
discover that it was open to all
faith denominations.
standing of Caritas in the following
words: Caritas means love, and God is
love; We are made for love and our
hearts are restless until they rest in
God; Love—Caritas—is an extraordinary force; It can change our world,
our country, our city, our communities,
our schools, ourselves; Caritas is giving us the privilege to live out love in
our lives.
They went on to give a detailed
description of how they have put Pope
Benedict’s message of Caritas into
action through witnessing to their
Faith in school and in the wider community. This entails organising and
leading prayer, promoting the tenets of
the Year of Faith, assisting with RE
lessons, peer mentoring, fundraising
and participating in retreats. At parish
or mosque level, the pupils are
involved in preparation and presentation of Children’s Liturgy, Bible lessons, teaching of the Qur’an and
music ministry. They also help to run
youth clubs and are committed to voluntary work in their own local areas.
New beginning
Although the programme runs in the
course of their final year of school, the
pupils stressed that this was not the
end of their journey, but rather only
the beginning of a lifetime of loving
service.
The words of Pope Benedict to the
youth gathered at Twickenham in September 2010 apply perfectly to the
Notre Dame High School pupils Faizah Ali,
Melissa Brown, Sarah Ali, Catriona
McAllister, Lindsay Reston and Emily
Stone are pictured with Miss McMahon
Notre Dame pupils who made such a
huge impact on those who heard them
speak at the conference. “You are a
reminder to them of the bigger picture
that exists outside the school,” Pope
Benedict said. “And indeed, it is only
right that respect and friendship for
members of other religious traditions
should be among the virtues learned in
a Catholic school.”
I SCO special Scottish Catholic
Education Week section, pages 11-16
Sarah: Caritas is the love which
sees every person as a brother or
sister made in God’s image and
likeness. It does not matter
whether a person is Christian,
Muslim or has no faith because
they are still members of God’s
creation.
Catriona: Pope Benedict XVI has
said: “The key to it is very
simple—true happiness is to be
found in God.” Through my
participation in Caritas I am more
aware of this truth through
serving my brothers and
sisters.
Lindsay: As a baptised member
of the Church of Scotland,
Caritas has helped me reconnect
with my own faith in an even
more meaningful way as it links
my faith to church and school.
John Paul Academy celebrates 30th with archbishop
THE community of John
Paul Academy in Glasgow
was delighted to welcome
to lead celebrations marking
the school’s 30th birthday.
The archbishop, alongside
priests connected with the
school and Deacon Jim Dean,
John Paul Academy chaplain,
celebrated a Mass of Thanksgiving with staff, pupils and
guests on Thursday January 17.
John Paul Academy opened
in 1982, and, throughout 2012,
the school’s 30th year, a num-
ber of celebrations were held to
mark the anniversary.
The recent Mass of Thanksgiving—which was attended by
Patricia Ferguson MSP, representatives of neighbouring
schools, nurseries, parents,
church parishioners and education representatives of Glasgow
City Council—marked the culmination of the anniversary celebratons.
Vincent Docherty, John Paul
Academy headteacher, was
delighted with the celebrations
and paid tribute to all those
alongside senior pupils from John
Paul Academy, altar servers from
the church and headteacher Vincent
Docherty
PIC: PAUL McSHERRY
who had participated in and
attended the Mass, and who
had made it such a special day
for the school community.
“The Mass was very well
attended and a great success,”
he said. “It was a lovely celebration for everyone,” he said.
Stunning portrait wins Lourdes pupil SCO prize
CHRISTIE Jordan, an S5
pupil at Lourdes Secondary
School, Glasgow, was
among the winners in The
SCO’s 2012 Christmas competition.
Christie’s stunning portrait of
Our Lady and Child not only
impressed the SCO team but it
was also chosen as the image for
Lourdes’ Christmas cards,
which were distributed to
friends of the school last year.
Christie is pictured with her
portrait receiving her prize from
SCO reporter Martin Dunlop.
PIC: PAUL McSHERRY
Vulnerable at risk from benefits cuts
St Andrews and Edinburgh Archdiocese leads the way with warnings and guide to help
By Dan McGinty
CATHOLICS in St Andrews and
Edinburgh Archdiocese are being
encouraged to support parishioners
who could be left destitute by upcoming cuts to the benefits system.
A guide has been published by Miriam
McHardy, archdiocesan co-ordinator for
Justice and Peace, offering advice to
Catholics who are concerned about the
effect the new welfare benefit changes,
which come into force in April, will have on
vulnerable people in the archdiocese and
beyond.
Ms McHardy said she had been inspired
to write the guide, which has been sent to
every parish in the archdiocese because
‘these changes are coming, they will have a
big impact and they are quite complicated.’
“We have been hearing from local charities who have concerns about how people
will be impacted by this,” she said. “I just
wanted parishes to have the awareness that
people in the pews might be struggling, that
people might be coming to the door of the
parish house in need.”
The guide suggests that the UK-wide welfare reforms, which will replace six existing
credits with a single monthly universal
credit, could drive families into debt and
make child benefits more difficult to direct
to children. The reforms may also cause particular issues for elderly and vulnerable people by limiting face-to-face contact through
the UK benefits agency.
Ms McHardy said she felt it was a vital
part of the Catholic Faith to look to help
those who were suffering. “As a Catholic, I
think we have a duty to look to help the
poorest people in society,” she said. “Also,
you hear some politicians talking about
‘skivers’ and ‘strivers’ but most of the people who will be hurt by these are hard working people on low incomes.”
The guide encourages Catholics in St
Andrews and Edinburgh to help by giving
support to Catholic and other agencies working with the homeless and needy, such as St
Catharine’s Convent Homeless Project, Jerichos, Edinburgh, and Scottish Churches
Housing Action, as well as praying for those
who are struggling. Ms McHardy also said
Catholics should work to overturn the
reforms if they turn out to be unjust.
“If it turns out not to be equitable, to hit
the poorest, then I think Catholics should
look for evidence that shows that and present it to their local councils and MPs,” she
said. “I think that would be a practical
response that would ensure a Catholic con-
REVIEW
St Patrick’s musicians a
hit at Celtic Connections
ST PATRICK’S DAY
FESTIVAL
St Andrew’s in the Square, Glasgow
January 24 2013
AN ATMOSPHERE of quiet
expectancy quickly built within
St Andrew’s in the Square, the
chairs are packed in tonight for
the sell out Celtic Connections
St Patrick’s Day Festival. With a
policy of unreserved seating in
place, it was advisable to arrive
early to avoid being seated at the
end of the row where a pillar
threatens obstructing your view.
The performers at the show
were making their debut at
Celtic Connections, and this was
made even more special since
this year marks the Celtic
Connections 20th anniversary.
The musicians in the the line-up
came from London, Leeds,
Manchester and of course
Glasgow, most of whom have
been playing together for years
but never in concert all together
at the same time.
The first half of the concert
waspurely instrumental, full of
jigs and reels and plenty of
varying instruments, not just the
humble whistle but acoustic
guitars and big to small
accordions. The varying
musicians during this first half
gave the performance a real
depth and warmth, the blending
of youth and experience paying
off. In the second half there
were some songs that lent to
the night’s theme of the
heritage of Ireland and
Scotland, with The Myth of
Return exploring the yearning
to return to your land but
sometimes never making it
back.
The audience appreciated the
explanation of the differences in
music played in the counties of
Ireland and in Scotland. The
different names such as slides and
polkas were demonstrated.
Audience participation went
through the roof when we were
asked to ‘make some noise’ when
the song changed within a set.
At the end, there was a
wonderful send off as all the
musicians came back on stage
and, once again, thanked the
audience. The evening finished
with a round of reels, a march or
two then it was over, and like
many Celtic Connections events
before it, it felt too short.
Hopefully next year there will
be a return of this great
collection of talented musicians.
If you missed this event you
can watch the ‘Myth of Return’
online at http://vimeo.com/
57402337 featuring some of
the musicians from the
performance.
CHRISTINE GLEN
cern for the poor and marginalised.”
Cardinal O’Brien has always stressed the
commitment of the Church in Scotland to
social issues, a point that was previously
underlined by the cardinal in his statement
to the Scottish Campaign for a Fair Society.
“The role of the Catholic Church in this
situation is not to take political sides or support particular policies,” he said. “It is, however, to draw attention to our commitment
to the common good which encourages us
to give particular attention to the needs of
those who are most vulnerable. This commitment has, at its heart, the understanding
that how we organise society directly affects
human dignity and the ability of individuals
to grow in community.”
I Additional reporting by SCO staff
I [email protected]
Event comforts
parents who
lost children
ST JOHN the Baptist Church
in Corstorphine, Edinburgh,
is to host a special service this
month for those who have
lost a child without the opportunity to properly acknowledge their loss.
The Remembering Service
hopes to provide an opportunity
for parents who have lost children
to come together and express their
grief and remembrance in a way
that was not possible at the time of
their loss.
Now in its 15th year, the service
at St John the Baptist has grown
greatly since it was first held,
developing from a chance to
acknowledge the loss of children
through miscarriage, stillbirth and
abortion to providing the same
opportunity to those who have
lost adult children and even
grandchildren.
Parents and grandparents can
take the chance to light a candle in
remembrance of a child, while the
readings, hymns and specially chosen music make up the service.
Among the supporting groups,
including Lifeline, Compassionate
Friends and the Miscarriage Association, is Lothian SANDS (the
local Stillbirth and Neonatal Death
Society). After the service specially trained counsellors will be
on hand to support families.
The Remembering Service will
be held on Sunday February 17 at
5pm in St John the Baptist
Church, St Ninian’s Road,
Corstorphine, Edinburgh.
LOCAL/NATIONAL NEWS
7
Bishops lead call for a
fairer economic system
NINE ENGLISH and
Welsh bishops,
including Archbishop
Bernard Longley of
Birmingham (right)
and Archbishop Peter
Smith of Southwark,
have called for a fairer
economic system in Europe
in the wake of the recent
financial crisis.
The English bishops joined 37
Church of England bishops who
have signed a multi-faith statement calling for debt audits in
Europe, cancelling the unjust
debts of the most indebted
nations, more progressive taxation and control of the financial
system to prevent large debts
being created.
Other signatories include the
president of the Muslim Association of Britain, the chief executive of the Movement for Reform
Judaism and the president of the
Methodist Conference. The Buddhist, Hindu, Jain, Sikh and
Zoroastrian faiths are also represented.
More than 300 clergy and faith
leaders have signed the statement, which declares that the
poorest people in the UK and
around the world are
paying the price for an
unjust financial system.
It will be delivered to
Prime Minister David
Cameron after an event
in Parliament on February 5, run by the Jubilee
Debt Campaign.
The letter declares many are
being failed by the capitalist system. “Over the last 30 years,
there has been a series of debt
crises culminating in the present
one in Europe,” it said. “A selfserving financial system has
brought the global economy to
its knees and we are now seeing
the poorest people in our own
society and around the world
paying the price for this excess.
We need far-reaching changes in
the global economy to build a
society based on justice, mutual
support and community.
“We need economic and political as well as spiritual renewal
in our society. We applaud the
efforts of citizens across Europe
and the world to engage in democratic audits of their national
debts as a first step towards
reclaiming public control of
national finances.”
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8
VATICAN/INTERNATIONAL NEWS
Holocaust is
a ‘constant
warning’
THE Holocaust must serve as
a ‘constant warning’ to prevent any recurrence of such
crimes, Pope Benedict XVI
said on Holocaust Remembrance Day.
“The memory of this tragedy,
which hit the Jewish people especially hard, must represent for
everyone a constant warning so
that the horrors of the past are not
repeated,” the Pope said during
his traditional Sunday prayer at St
Peter’s Square. He also expressed
the wish that humanity ‘overcomes all forms of racism and
hatred’ and that ‘the respect and
dignity of human beings be
encouraged.’
The International Day of Commemoration in Memory of the
Victims of the Holocaust also
commemorates the date Soviet
troops liberated the Nazi concentration and death camp
Auschwitz-Birkenau in Poland
on January 27, 1945.
Across the globe, Holocaust
survivors and world leaders speak
out in remembrance of victims,
but also to make sure that the
world never forgets what happened in Europe in the 1930s and
1940s, and events were held
around the world to that end.
On Sunday, the Holy Father
also called on Catholics to
remember the importance of
keeping Sunday as a day of rest.
During the Angelus, a young
boy and girl freed two doves, as
symbols of peace.
Pro-life marches in US win Vatican support
Pope Benedict XVI, Cardinal Raymond Burke praise mass rallies protesting anniversary of abortion law case
By Stephen Reilly
THE pro-life marches that have
taken place across the US ‘are a
most important witness to the
respect for the inviolable dignity of
every human life,’ according to a
Vatican cardinal.
Cardinal Raymond Burke, the head
of the Vatican’s highest tribunal the
Apostolic Signatura and a native of
Wisconsin, said he was most heartened
to see increased participation at a number of mass rallies last week held to
mark the 40th anniversary of the legislation of abortion in that country.
“Surely, the witness of the pro-life
marches gives occasion for all citizens in
the nation to consider their fundamental
duty as citizens to promote the respect for
human life and to foster human life in our
society,” the cardinal said.
From coast to coast, recent pro-life
marches and rallies in the US showed
opposition to Roe versus Wade, the
Supreme Court decision that effectively
legalised abortion throughout the nation.
The largest event was The March for Life
in Washington DC, that was held last Friday and drew hundreds of thousands of
participants.
Pope Benedict XVI himself showed
support for the rallies, tweeting on that day
that: “I join all those marching for life from
afar, and pray that political leaders will protect the unborn and promote a culture of
life.”
Cardinal Burke noted that the ‘greater
the participation in the marches, the
stronger the message is to our government
David Halfmann, 17, of St Louis, stands with
a pro-life sign during the March for Life
rally in Washington DC, US, last Friday
(Inset) Cardinal Raymond Burke
that its citizens, those whom the government serves, desire most of all that the
laws of the nation foster the common
good by protecting all human life from the
moment of conception to the moment of
natural death.’
The cardinal, who served as archbishop
of St Louis before being called to Rome,
also addressed the devastating effect that
legalised abortion has had on the people of
the US. The more than 50 million deaths
in the wake of Roe versus Wade ‘is a great
scourge in the United States of America
and must be repaired at the earliest possible time,’ he urged.
“In addition to the destruction of the
innocent and defenceless human lives,
women who have had abortions suffer
greatly for the rest of their lives,” he added.
He also addressed the effect that the cultural acceptance of abortion has had on the
way women are treated in US society.
“The loss of respect for women in our
society and the ever greater incidence of
sexual promiscuity are all products of the
loss of the respect for the inviolable dignity
of the innocent and defenceless life of the
unborn,” he said. “One of the most deadly
products is the multi-million dollar business of pornography on the internet.”
COMMENT
9
What if the Devil took a day off?
T
Freelance journalist HUGH DOUGHERTY imagines what it would be like if ‘Luc’ agreed to a candid interview
HE Devil took a day off. It was such an event that
his public relations office put out a press release
about it, but I was the only journalist in Scotland
to believe that the release, from Hades Communications, phone 666, e-mail hades@hottest
mail.hell, wasn’t a fake.
What I can tell you is that we met in a Scottish hotel after
his PR called back. The Devil himself was middle aged,
immaculately groomed, with sleek, dark hair and a lived-in
but smooth face. He was dressed in a smart suit and didn’t
have horns or a tail. But he was real, very real, and alternatively charming and sinister. I started by asking him if he was
disappointed that I was the only Scottish media man to
respond to the press release. “Not at all,” he smiled. “The fact
that most journalists and their editors thought it was a spoof
just shows how successful I’ve been at convincing the world
in general that I don’t exist when I‘ve never been busier.
“People think of me, if they think of me at all, nowadays, as
a monster figure with cloven hooves and horns. That was an
image that went down well in the middle ages, but, today, I work
behind the scenes, convincing, confusing and cajoling. The
Christian churches, including your own Catholic Church, have
been a great help to me, as they’ve just about dropped giving
Hell a mention and, as for sin, everyone knows that it doesn’t
exist now—expect me, that is—and people know that you can
explain away anything. It’s been a boom time for me. So that’s
why I’ve taken this day off. The first for several centuries.”
I
asked him what I could call him. “I don’t like the old Scots
term ‘Auld Clootie,’ and Lucifer’s a bit long-winded, so I
go for Luc, a bit French and quite cool. It’s not Luke, as that
reminds me of those evangelists, but Luc’s just about right and
you’ll find parents, who have helped me enormously by abandoning saints’ names for their children, are already calling
baby boys Luc, thinking it’s trendy.”
So, Luc it was, as he honed in on Scotland. “Scotland has
been fertile ground for my work,” he smirked. “I’ve concentrated on so-called ‘gay marriage,’ just one of the strands of a
long-term plan to exploit people who think they’re humanist
and secularist, and that they know better than other humans, into
pushing my anti-God agenda forward. I basically appeal to their
pride, a very old trick of mine, and they do the rest for me.”
Luc revealed that part of the plan had been to change language. “I jumped on the so-called equality and victim culture
and changed the meaning of words to add to the confusion in
the public mind. So, ‘gay,’ which used to mean ‘blithe’ or
‘carefree’, has come to mean homosexual, but has softened
the term, which is what the homosexual lobby wanted, while
we’ve all but abolished the marriage-supporting terms ‘husband’ and ‘wife,’ and replaced them with ‘partner.’ There has
been so little resistance. The same indifference in society that
has led to fewer and fewer people being involved in politics,
joining trade unions and attending churches, has worked a
treat. It’s really been a pushover. Abortion, handing out contraceptives on the NHS to support promiscuity, legalised
homosexuality, and my further’ sexual health—how I love that
term—plans for the future, which I won’t reveal until gay marriage is firmly rooted in law and society, have been so easy.”
And the Devil claims that he has exploited the homosexual
agenda further by tying the Church of Scotland in knots over it.
He pointed to the row over a homosexual minister in Aberdeen
and the breakdown in relationships between the congregation of
St George’s Tron Church and the Kirk. “There’ nothing like a
church for falling out with itself very publicly.
“That destroys the public’s perception of religion and
makes faith less relevant as the people of God go for one
another’s jugulars. Great stuff!”
“But aren’t you more worried about the Catholic Church
in Scotland as a force against you, particularly with its current Year of Faith?” I said.
He sneered. “Who are you kidding? Year of Faith? How
many lapsed Catholics will you have back in the pews by the
end of it? How many people have even heard of it? I’ve been
really clever. When your hierarchy and media office should be
concentrating their efforts on making the Year of Faith a reality,
at least, that’s what I’d do if I were them, using every trick in the
PR book, I’ve had them nicely bogged down in the homosexual issue, and, now, I’ve made sure that the sectarianism issue
is distracting them and taking the Church’s eye off the ball.”
L
uc was also congratulating himself on his strenuous
efforts to flood Scotland with drugs, gatekeepers to
much more of the chaos that he thrives on. “It was
easy,” he said. “Scotland has been awash with the drug alcohol for a very long time, and I’ve managed to increase the
consumption of alcohol as well, so there’s a firm base of drug
use to build on. One of my greatest achievements has been
extending wine drinking, especially to women. As far as I’m
concerned, more alcohol, being drunk means more chaos and
confusion, and, when I can manage it, deaths.
Drugs are exactly the same, but we hear nothing from the
churches condemning drunkenness as what used to be called
a ‘sin,’ and, sociologically, society, and the churches can
explain away any excess. It’s all been a walkover for me. I
don’t do alcohol or drugs myself. Got to keep the mind crystal clear in the pursuit of evil.”
The Devil added that he was particularly amused by the
debate among what he called the ‘quasi intellectuals’ of the
Catholic Church in Scotland on Sacred music. “I laugh at
what they’re saying, that a bit more pomp and circumstances
and wee bit more Latin, and some old-fashioned hymns can
turn the tide- MY tide! If I was the Catholic Church in Scot-
land today, I would recognise this as another false trail,
carefully laid by me, using pride, yet again, and I would
get on with fighting me with its greatest and most potent
weapon against me—the Eucharist. I shouldn’t tell you
that, but, you know, I feel quite safe in saying it as the
Church goes up blind alleys, rather than facing up to
the fact that I’ve turned the tide against it.”
But what Luc did reveal was that the Irish abuse
scandal, in particular, was no accident. “I worked
out that if I could bring down the Church in one
of the most Catholic countries in Europe, then
anything was possible,” he recalled. “A lot of
laity don’t know this, but if you’re a priest,
because you bring the body and blood of my
most sworn enemy on the altar daily, you
can be subjected to the most direct, sustained and fierce attacks by me and my
agents. The scalp of one fallen priest is
worth thousands of lay people to me.
“Those priests who crack, and it’s easy to
exploit clerical doubt and loneliness, are a
great prize for me. I’m not giving away any
secrets, but I’m much more devious than the
average human can imagine, and I have
agents in the highest places in politics, in
entertainment—yes, he, and I won’t mention
him by name, WAS one of mine—education, the sciences, the arts, and, I suppose I
can say it, in the churches themselves.”
At this point Luc had been signalled
by his press officer from Hades Communications, that it was time to stop, but
because of his own pride, he couldn’t
help throwing in some last, random
thoughts: “It’s funny that feminists like
to claim that God is a ‘she’. I’ve never
heard one yet, claim me as a ‘she’
too! And I’ve created the ‘me’ generation, who think they’re so important
and so full of false self pride that
they put their every thought on
Facebook and Twitter.
“And, no, my press officer says
no to photos.”
And he was gone, melting back
into our streets as just another face
in the crowd, the way he likes it
today. Yet, he was real. He was
there. And he is here, there and
everywhere, and with no more
days off. You better believe it.
What do you think of HUGH DOUGHERTY’S comments on the Devil? Send your points of view
to the SCO. Write to Letters, SCO, 19 Waterloo St, Glasgow G2 6BT or e-mail [email protected]
The views expressed in the opinion
section of the SCO are those of
informed individuals and groups to
foster debate and not necessarily
those of the newspaper or the Church
We must all have the courage of our religious convictions
SIR Thomas More was Chancellor of England. He was a
lawyer, a statesman, a
scholar, a social philosopher,
an author, a man of principle,
a man of faith. Both his faith
and his principles found him
in opposition to King Henry
V111. Refusing to compromise with the king’s lack of
principle and lack of faith
was to cost him his life.
He was tried for treason and
executed on July 6, 1535. Robert
Bolt portrayed this great conflict
between king and once trusted
advisor, in his play, A Man For
All Seasons. Paul Schofield’s
portrayal of Sir Thomas in the
subsequent film of the play was
to win him an Oscar. Robert
Shaw who played King Henry in
the film is, perhaps, better
remembered for his portrayal of
the obsessed hunter Quint, in
pursuit of the great white shark in
the film Jaws.
When More was beheaded, his
death sent shock waves throughout Europe. England may have
been dislocated geographically
from mainland but the character
Fr Eddie
McGhee
and influence of Sir Thomas
More had already reached far
beyond the boundaries of the
island race. The final chapter of
his life, portrayed in the film,
gives us an insight into his character, his ability and his integrity.
By opposing King Henry’s break
with the Church and his subsequent marriage to Anne Boleyn,
Thomas More could have had no
doubts about the potential outcome. In those days the king had
the power of life and death.
Opposition meant that there was
a certain inevitability about his
death. Politics, then, as now, was
driven by ambition. There was no
reluctance on the part of many of
his contemporaries to actively
condemn Sir Thomas. There may
have been a certain eagerness to
replace him. Serving the King
always came at a price. Many
were prepared to pay that price at
the expense of truth and justice.
These final moments of Sir
Thomas More’s life do not stand
in isolation. He did not suddenly
become a man of principle. His
opposition to the King, whom he
had tried to serve faithfully, was
built on a lifetime of commitment
to the Gospel. The values that he
espoused throughout his life were
those of God’s Kingdom. More
was a man of deep Faith. This
Faith informed his practice as a
lawyer, as a philosopher and as a
politician. He wrote Utopia trying
to enshrine the values of God’s
Kingdom into this imaginary kingdom. When he was eventually
Canonised in the 20th century, the
Church was publicly acknowledging what people for centuries had
already known about the man. He
is offered to us as an example of
what is possible in the world of
politics. By the time of his Canonisation in 1935 the world was spiraling towards war. Fascism was
on the rise. The age of the dictator
was looming once again. Integrity
was in danger of being completely
swallowed in the quest for
absolute power.
For many in this country, Winston Churchill, politician and
wartime leader, is held in high
esteem. This is the Winston
Churchill who was behind the
debacle that was the Gallipoli
Campaign in 1915. This was the
Winston Churchill who ridiculed
Mahatma Gandhi and referred to
him as a ‘half naked fakir.’ Unsurprisingly, I am no fan of Winston
Churchill. On the other hand,
Mahatma Gandhi is one of the
truly great figures to emerge in
the 20th century. Ultimately, he is
remembered for his campaign to
end colonialism in India. Like Sir
Thomas More, he was a lawyer.
He was passionate about justice.
His political philosophy was built
on non violent opposition. This,
more than anything was a stroke
of pure genius. Those in power
politically know how to deal with
aggression. They respond aggressively. In responding to no aggressive, peaceful protest in an
aggressive manner, such political
systems lose all credibility. They
are also seen to be morally bankrupt. From his work in South
Africa for the disenfranchised at
the beginning of the 20th century
right through to independence for
India, Gandhi pursued his aims
peacefully and with the greatest
integrity. His peaceful intentions,
inclusive and for everyone, were
misinterpreted. A member of the
Hindu community thought that
Gandhi was favouring the Muslim
community. His assassination in
1948 shocked the world.
Both Sir Thomas More and
Mahatma Gandhi were men of
integrity. They were lawyers, they
were politicians. Most importantly
they were men of vision. Both
were destroyed by people who
chose not to see the vision or share
the possibilities. Their legacy to
the wider community has stood
the test of time. When Jesus stood
up to speak in the synagogue at
Nazareth at the beginning of His
ministry He stood among His
peers. He affirmed by choosing to
read Isaiah that whatever he said
was consistent with their own tradition. Then He invited them to
see beyond their immediate reality.
He challenged their complacency.
He challenged their certainty. He
challenged their lethargy. The
mood changed from admiration to
outrage in a very short time. The
community was so outraged that
they wanted to kill Him. This is an
amazing reaction from the people
of a nondescript village on the
very fringes of society.
Their response to the message
of Jesus highlights the difficulty
of anyone in history trying to
make radical change. It is not
that people can’t accept change
philosophically. They can, as
long as it remains at the level of
thought and does not involve
them. Thomas More paid with
his life. Mahatma Gandhi paid
with his life. Here we stand at the
threshold of a new year, reengaging with the story of Jesus.
Jesus called for radical change.
Jesus would pay with his life. So
what about you and me?
What about the Gospel in the
21st century? Sir Thomas More
was not afraid of the truth.
Mahatma Gandhi was not afraid
of the truth. Jesus was not afraid
of the truth. Are we?
I E-mail: edwardmcghee
@btinternet.com
10
COMMENT
Ecumenism is our neglected mandate
Despite considerable good will and genuine effort, Christian denominations need to work at praying for each other
W
Fr Ronald
Rolheiser
HILE saying farewell
the night before He
died, Jesus told those
with Him that He
‘had other sheep that
are not of this fold’ and that those with
Him at that particular moment were not
His only followers. Very importantly,
He also said that He longed for unity
with those others just as urgently and
deeply as He longed for unity with
those in the room with Him.
Among other things, this means that
no matter what our particular Christian
denomination, we are not Christ’s only
followers and that we have no more
right to His love than those millions of
others who are not of our own kind.
Moreover, to be a disciple of Jesus
means that we, like Him, also have to
hunger and pray for unity with those
who are separated from us. Indeed the
divisions among us as Christians, the
fact that we are divided into more than
a hundred separate denominations and
the fact that, within these denominations, we are further bitterly divided by
ideologies and live in distrust of each
other, constitutes perhaps the biggest of
all scandals that Christianity has given
and continues to give to the world.
For the most part, despite considerable good will and genuine effort in
recent years, we are still not praying
for each other and reaching out to each
other with any real heart. The relationship between Christian denominations today, and often inside of those
denominations themselves, is characterised more by re-entrenchment than
by openness, distrust than by trust, disrespect than by respect, demonisation
than by empathy, and lack of charity
than by courtesy and graciousness.
Sadly, too, more so than by ecumenical hunger and openness, our churches
are characterised too much by a selfsufficiency and smugness that says:
Pope Benedict XVI with religious leaders
at the interfaith peace meeting in Assisi
in 2011
“We have the truth. We have no need
of you!”
But who are our real brothers and
sisters as Christians? Is it those within
our own particular denomination? Perhaps, though perhaps not. Several times
during His ministry while Jesus was
talking to a group of people, someone
approached Him and told Him that His
mother and His family were outside the
circle of this particular group, wanting
to talk to Him. Jesus’ reply is far-reaching: In each case, He responds with a
question: “Who is my mother? Who are
my brothers and sisters?” And He
answers His own question by saying:
“Those who hear and keep the Word of
God are mother, and brother, and sister
to me.”
In a society where blood relationship
meant everything, this statement is a
stunning one. Blood may be thicker than
water but, Jesus asserts, Faith is thicker
than blood. Faith is the real basis for
family. It trumps biology. Moreover,
without straining the logic, implied in
this too is that faith also trumps denomination. Who is your real brother or sister as a Christian? Your fellow Roman
Catholic? Your fellow Presbyterian?
Your fellow Lutheran? Your fellow Baptist? Your fellow Evangelical? Your fellow Methodist? Your fellow Anglican or
Episcopalian? Clearly, for Jesus, it is the
person who most deeply hears the Word
of God and keeps it, irrespective of
denomination. Christian discipleship is
defined more by the heart than by a par-
ticular church membership card.
This makes for a non-negotiable
mandate within our Christian discipleship: We need to radiate Jesus’ hunger
for intimacy with all people of sincere
faith and, to that end, our actions
towards those outside our own religious circle must always be marked by
respect, graciousness, and charity—
and a genuine signal that we hunger
for unity with them.
Genuine respect, graciousness, and
charity can only be predicated on a
humility that believes that our own
church, whatever our denomination,
does not have the whole truth, that we
are not free of error, that we are not
free of sin, and that we are not fully
faithful to the Gospel. All of us, all
Christian churches, are journeying
towards fullness, towards a full understanding of the truth, and towards a
more radical and honest fidelity to
what Jesus asks of us. None of us has
arrived. All of us are journeying still
towards where we are called.
Thus, our real ecumenical task, no
matter our denomination, is not that of
trying to win over converts or convince
others that we are more right than they
are. Our primary task is inner conversion within our own denomination. Our
primary task is to try, as individuals and
as churches, to be more faithful to the
Gospel. If we do that we will eventually come together, as one church,
under Christ because as we all go
deeper into the mystery of Christ and
grow more deeply in our own intimacy
with Jesus, we will (in the beautiful
phrase of Avery Dulles) ‘progressively
converge,’ eventually meet around one
centre and one person, Jesus Christ.
Kenneth Cragg, after spending years
as a Christian missionary to Islam, suggested it will take all the Christian
churches to give full expression to the
full Christ. Clearly all of us still need to
stretch our hearts.
I Fr Ronald Rolheiser is a Catholic
priest and member of the Missionary
Oblates of Mary Immaculate. He is
president of the Oblate School of Theology in San Antonio, Texas. Visit his
website at www.ronrolheiser.com
Focus on the love that Christian churches have for each other
“PROMOTING the restoration of unity amongst all
Christians is one of the chief
concerns of the... council.”
These opening words from
the Second Vatican Council’s Decree on Ecumenism
not only pointed the way
forward but gave recognition to the many decades of
prayerful endeavour, which
had preceded the council.
Now, instead of working
separately, the various
Christian churches were not
only to work together, but to
pray together, as “Catholics
join in prayer with their separated brethren.”
The whole thrust of the Second Vatican Council’s Decree
on Ecumenism, and indeed of
the many documents from the
Holy See which since then
have implemented it in many
ways, is that we are not seeking a return to the old Christendom, but with other
Mgr Basil
Loftus
50th Anniversary of the Second
Vatican Council
churches we are moving forward as pilgrims to the
Kingdom.
In a small but very thoughtprovoking book called The
Shape of the Church to Come,
Karl Rahner, one of the theological experts at the council,
reminds us that the Christian
Unity movement is not about
what he terms “a quantitative
enlargement of the Catholic
Church.”
It is not about ‘winning’
individual converts, or about
gobbling-up other Christian
churches so that they cease to
exist, but about institutional
unity between the different
Christian churches.
He then goes on to float an
idea which deserves a lot of
consideration. He first points
out that within the Catholic
Church itself there is in practice a difference between the
belief and practice which in
theory unites all Catholics, and
the day-to-day conduct of
many Catholics who are still
struggling to come to terms
with Church teaching.
This is not a matter of dissent, but of faith seeking understanding. The Church’s
teaching on sex and marriage,
as well as its Liturgical life and
the nature of the relationship
between Pope and bishops in
the governance of the Church
are clear instances where many
individuals remain within the
unity of the Church while differing from one another and
still seeking the full understanding of faith.
Having established that these
theological difficulties do not
exclude individual Catholics
from unity within the Catholic
Church, Rahner then asks why
they should exclude nonCatholics from that same unity:
“Could we not consider full
unity of faith and theology as a
consequence (rather than a precondition) of institutional
unification?”
Developing this argument he
writes that ‘many or most
Catholics do not explicitly
grasp by faith all that belongs
to the Catholic Church’s official understanding of Faith and
the Church.’
So, since they are not
excluded from the unity of the
Church, could not nonCatholics in the same position
be brought into that unity, so
that we can all resolve matters
together?
At this stage of our pilgrimage to the Kingdom we do not
know how the positive and full
reception of the whole explicit
dogma of the Catholic Church
will be achieved within it, let
alone with other churches. So
Rahner asks if we could not
leave the resolution of these
theological difficulties to be
decided later, and proceed now
to an institutional unity with
other churches not from a full
and explicit dogmatic understanding, which we don’t in
practice have within the
Catholic Church, but from the
love that the different Christian
churches have for one another.
These are, of course, matters
for discussion by expert theologians from the different
churches.
They can only be helped by a
fervent renewal of that unity of
prayer between the different
Christian churches which is
now possible. And that is
within the power of all of us.
Without it, the most brilliant
insights of the theologians will
be sterile. With it, we can
achieve unity within our own
church and with other
churches, as together we make
our pilgrimage to the Kingdom.
I Mgr Basil Loftus is a priest of
Leeds Diocese, now living in
retirement in the North of
Sutherland. He worked in
secretariat for English and
Welsh bishops in Rome during
the Second Vatican Council
Catholic Education Week
Catholic Education Week February 3-9 2013: Opening Hearts and Minds to God
Space to be themselves,
learning together.
Girls Boarding and Day School set within
45 acres of beautiful Perthshire parkland.
Catholic Education Week highlights the significance of education for society as a whole. To help
students, parents, teachers and community members to reflect on their own roles, the SCO has again
put together a special six-page section. Our contributors in 2013 include MICHAEL McGRATH,
director of the Scottish Catholic Education Service, ISABELLE BOYD, chairwoman of the Catholic
Headteachers Association Scotland, JIM McCORIE, president of the Catholic Headteachers
Association of Primary Schools, TONY COULTAS of the Catholic Education Commission, and BISHOP
JOSEPH DEVINE, president of the Catholic Education Commission
P
11
Prep
Ope School
n
Mar Doors
ch 2
nd
Opening the door to God gives us all hope
To begin our Catholic Education Week coverage, BISHOP JOSEPH DEVINE writes
on Catholic education’s commitment to all pupils, and its protection of life ethos
ope Benedict XVI, in
his Apostolic Letter
Porta Fidei, in which
he declared a Year of
Faith, wrote: “What
the world is in particular need of
today is the credible witness of
people enlightened in mind and
heart by the Word of the Lord,
and capable of opening the
hearts and minds of many to the
desire for God and for true life,
life without end.”
These inspirational words of the
Pope form the theme of this year’s
Catholic Education Week, Opening
Hearts and Minds to God. What
better theme to guide reflection on
the importance of Catholic education, and the task of each Scottish
Catholic during this Year of Faith.
The Pope calls Christians to be
credible witnesses to the Gospel in
word and deed. We certainly must
speak words of truth and justice,
despite these sometimes being met
with hostility or apathy: as the Pope
reminded us in a recent tweet: “For
Christians to be faithful, they can’t
be afraid to go against the current.”
However, we are also called to just
and truthful actions which lend
credibility to our words. It has often
been said that young people need
witnesses as well as teachers, and
how much more powerful a sign if
their teachers are also witnesses.
This calls all educators: parents,
grandparents, teachers, priests and
deacons, family and peers, to practice what they preach. In this task,
they are not lacking in guidance, as
the Pope makes clear the form of
Christian witness: ‘to be people
enlightened in mind and heart by
the word of the Lord.’What a lofty
and challenging goal! Is that not,
however, the goal of Christian life:
to listen attentively to the word of
God and slowly allow it to shape
our minds, hearts and attitudes?
This is the work of a lifetime, but
the patient and faithful participation in the liturgy, the prayerful
study of scripture, the reception of
the sacraments and the openness to
the Holy Spirit, open the door to
faith. The saints down the ages are
shining examples of God’s Word
enlightening mind and heart,
inspiring them to heroic virtue in
the midst of the ordinariness of
daily living. Catholic education, by
its commitment to a Faith which is
professed, celebrated, lived and
prayed, provides continual opportunities to form minds and consciences. In the words of This is
Our Faith, such education aims ‘to
help all students to develop their
fullest potential, preparing them for
life, informing their minds and
forming their characters, so that
they can contribute with others, and
above all with God, to the transformation of the world.’
Such witness will surely find an
echo in today’s world. We hear so
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often about spiritual hunger of
today’s men and women, truly one
of the signs of the times. As the
Pope encourages us, we can truly
awaken ‘many to the desire for
God and for true life.’ The desert
of much of contemporary culture,
the superficiality of the cult of
celebrity, and the relentless commercialism of our greatest feast
and moments of celebration,
needs the refreshing water of faith.
The recent Africa series showed
the southwest African desert burst
into bloom in response to the
occasional tropical storms: those
with eyes to see can discern these
oases of life and colour in our
midst. Many were showcased at
the recent St Andrew’s Conference in Glasgow, when many
young people witnessed to the
transforming power of their faith,
and the health of faith life in our
land. Prominent among this was
witness to the effects of the Caritas Award, a lasting legacy of the
Pope’s visit to Scotland. Our 6th
year pupils are finding within
themselves great reserves of generosity, resourcefulness, commitment and faith, and finding their
true place at the heart of their
parish and school communities.
As Pope Benedict makes clear,
the life which God’s gives us is
‘life without end.’ Eternal life
begins in us when God desires and
forms us from our earliest
moments, and the faith journey is
embarked upon in the sacrament of
Baptism. God’s glory, as St Irenaeus reminds us, is in the human
being fully alive. Catholic education’s commitment to the full
potential of all pupils, and its prolife insistence on the dignity of
human life from conception to natural death, puts this into sharp
focus. However, it also opens up
the ultimate horizon: human beings
are made to live in eternal happiness with God. Opening minds and
hearts to this human destiny is a
gift to all of humanity: opening the
doors to hope, to the meaning of
life, and to our participation in the
Communion of Saints.
As the Nicene Creed, focus of
the materials for Catholic Education Week, reminds us in its
timeless message of hope: “I
look forward to the resurrection
of the dead, and the life of the
world to come.”
Excellent examination results and continued investment.
Call
uss tto
discover
more
our
unique
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isit aand
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ore aabout
bout o
ur uniq
ue sschool.
chool.
Kil
Kilgraston,
graston, Bridge of Ear
Earn,
n, Perth
Perth PH2 9BQ
TTelephone:
elephone:
e
01738
01738 8
812257.
12257. Fax:
Fax: 0
01738
1738 813410
813410
[email protected]
email: headoffice@kil
@kilgraston.com
www.kilgraston.com
www.kilgrasto
r
n.com
Kil
Kilgraston
graston School TTrust
rust is a chari
charity.
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Scottish
cottish Chari
Charity
ty Number SSC029664
C029664
Trinity High School
Glebe Street, Renfrew, PA4 8TP
Trinity High School’s commended
Catholic ethos is built upon the
following principles:
High expectations and educational
achievement.
A caring and committed Christian
community.
Sound moral and social development
based on Gospel values.
Pupils, parents, staff and parishes
working together for the good of the
whole community.
NOTRE DAME HIGH SCHOOL
“Working together in this Year of Faith,
with minds and hearts open to God…”
Faith
Professed
Faith
Lived
Faith
Prayed
Faith
Celebrated
At Notre Dame High School, we bear witness to our faith in
school and in the wider community. We witness to a faith
which is alive and active through prayer and good works.
• Our faith is nurtured through minds open to the deeds of
God.
• Our faith is strengthened through hearts open to the Word
of God.
• Our faith is visible in hands open to the service of God in
our brothers and sisters, giving credible witness to the
presence of the Divine in our midst.
“I pray the Spirit of all truth will strengthen you from day
to day. Faithfully follow where God is leading you.”
Saint Julie Billiart, Foundress of the Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur
For details of the only Catholic local authority comprehensive
single sex secondary in Scotland call 0141 582 0190
160 Observatory Road · Glasgow G12 9LN
Web: www.notredamehigh.glasgow.sch.uk
12
ST. MAURICE’S
HIGH
SCHOOL
Head Teacher: Mrs Patricia Alexander
WESTFIELD, CUMBERNAULD G68 9AG
Tel. (01236) 794845
We are your soldiers
but are servants of the true God.
St. Maurice to Emperor Maximian
ST. JOHN’S RC HIGH SCHOOL
Harefield Road, DUNDEE DD3 6EY
‘Ad Coelos’
“Christ at the heart of the school;
the school at the heart of the
community”
Headteacher: Mrs Fiona McLagan
St Paul’s RC High School
SCHOOL OF
AMBITION
36 Damshot Road.
Glasgow G53 5HW
Tel: 0141 582 0040
Aiming High
for Young
People
St Paul’s R.C. High School
Aiming for the higher gifts.
Supporting Catholic Education Week in
parternership with our community.
ST MARGARET MARY’S
SECONDARY SCHOOL
A School in the Heart of the Community
Head Teacher: Mr B Brady
9 Birgidale Rd, Castlemilk
GLASGOW G45 9NJ
Tel No: 0141-582-0250
Fax No: 0141-582-0251
Email: [email protected]
Website: www.st-margaretmarys-sec.glasgow.sch.uk/
Only The Best Will Do
JOHN PAUL ACADEMY
GOODNESS AND KNOWLEDGE
‘Working together to
achieve our best’
St. Andrew’s Academy
Paisley
Come
Follow
Me
The Pupils, Staff and Parents of
St. Andrew’s Academy are proud
to celebrate our achievements
during this Education week.
“Preparing young Catholics to be
the active citizens of tomorrow.”
Opening our children’s hearts and minds
T
THE CATHOLIC EDUCATION COMMISSION discusses how we can help bring our children and young people to a better understanding
of Faith, and MICHAEL MCGRATH, director of the Scottish Catholic Education Service, says that Jesus is at the heart of teaching
HE strategic priorities for the current Catholic Education Commission were set long before the
theme for Catholic Education
Week—opening Minds and Hearts
to God—was chosen, but they could not be a
better fit. The commission’s priorities for
action embrace all those who, in the witness
of their daily lives and in their teaching, are
able to bring our children and young people
to a greater understanding of our Faith and
equip them to be fully and actively involved in
the mission of the Church.
In the rite of Baptism, we pray that parents,
the first teachers of their children, will also be
their best teachers. The Commission has been
working hard to support parents, and grandparents, in their role as teachers, and to
encourage them to become more involved in
supporting Catholic education both in their
own community and nationally. The first
Catholic school assembly of parents took
place in August last year. Since then, each diocese has appointed parent representatives to a
national Parental Involvement Group which
will address the relevant tasks identified in the
commission’s action plan. The importance
now being given to supporting and enabling
parents seems certain to be reflected in the
action plans of future commissions.
P
arents who choose to send their children
to a Catholic school rightly look to our
teachers for support in helping their children to grow in Faith. The teacher’s role is
secondary to that of parents, but teachers who
choose to teach in a Catholic school take on
the responsibility of supporting children in
their Faith journey. It is a major and ongoing
priority of the commission first to ensure the
provision and continued formation of teachers for Catholic schools and then to support
those teachers in their endeavours. The Scottish Catholic Education Service (SCES),
which is the agency of the commission, last
year launched This is Our Faith, the new RE
programme for 5-15-year-olds. Teachers are
now being consulted on the draft programme
for the senior years of secondary school. Also
out for consultation with primary schools and
C
HILDREN are precious. As parents, we do not need anyone to
teach us that. We know it instinctively and do all that we can to
provide for our children. They
inherit from us a lot more than our genes. It is
our values, our Faith, our love that helps them
to grow. Critically, the ability of our children
to open their hearts and minds to God starts
with us. There is no substitute for the lived
experience of Faith and love that we provide
in our homes. We choose to send our children
to schools that share those same values and
Faith, schools that recognise the love that
God has for us and the unique vocation to
love that each of us has. So it is no surprise
that the Catholic Education Commission, in
its work to support Catholic schools, has
with the Parental Involvement Group is the
draft programme for relationships and moral
education, God’s loving plan.
The commission wishes to see our schools
develop as communities of Faith and learning,
inspired by Gospel values; it is not enough
simply to provide resources for use in the RE
class. So, again working through SCES, the
commission makes available resources which
support the continuing professional development and spiritual formation of teachers,
together with resources which Liturgy committees or chaplaincy groups in schools can
use to enrich their pupils’ experience of
prayer, Liturgy and Sacrament.
M
ore than 1200 sixth year students
have enrolled for the Pope Benedict
XVI Caritas Award this year, a threefold increase on the equivalent figure for last
year and a clear indication of the impact
which this award has had on our schools and
parishes.
The Caritas Award is a perfect expression
of the theme for this Catholic Education Week
in that it encourages the young people to learn
about, reflect on and give witness to their
Faith. SCES is now exploring ways in which
a junior Caritas Award can be developed for
Primary 7 pupils.
The commission intends to submit a
response to the Scottish Government’s Marriage and Civil Partnerships Bill, particularly
on issues which may affect learning and
teaching in our schools.
The response will take account not only of
the commission’s internal discussions but also
of discussions with the Parental Involvement
Group, with representatives of the Catholic
headteachers’ associations and with officials
in other commissions and agencies of the
Bishops’ Conference.
Sectarianism in Scotland has been the subject of much debate recently. SCES, acting on
the commission’s behalf, has been engaged in
discussions with relevant partners, including
the Scottish Government and Education Scotland. Catholic schools were very well represented, both as contributors and participants,
in a recent national conference on the subject.
Pupils and staff of Our Lady of Good Aid Cathedral
Primary School, Motherwell, celebrate Catholic
Education Week with Bishop Joseph Devine
PIC: TOM EADIE
In the past two years, the Commission has
sought the views of hundreds of young people in 31 secondary schools on their experience of Faith learning and Faith-based action
in Catholic schools. In the next few weeks, a
team of experienced teachers will visit a further 22 schools.
These visits demonstrate the priority the
Commission gives to the views of young people. The exercise has helped to identify many
positive features as well as some areas for
review and action. It is now to be trialled in a
few primary schools.
I Further information about the work of the
commission and of the SCES can be found on
the SCES website and in the SCES newsletter
I
By Michael McGrath
N RECENT weeks and months some
of us may have felt disturbed by some
of the things we have read and heard
about our Faith and about the Church.
On occasions we may have felt bewildered by claims and accusations, by negative
and hostile voices and by prophecies of
doom.
In such a climate, it is good to recall that,
at the heart of our Faith, lies our personal
relationship with Jesus Christ, our loving
Saviour who invites us to put aside our fears
and anxieties and follow Him as the way, the
truth and the life. At its simplest, this is what
the Year of Faith is about. Our personal relationship with Jesus is also what underpins
the theme of this year’s Catholic Education
Week.
In establishing the Year of Faith, the Holy
Father recognised the difficulties which we
can face in being faithful today, in living
TONY COULTAS of the Catholic Education Commission discusses
parents role in strengthening and supporting the Faith of children
always worked to build parental involvement
in Catholic education. In the past two years
the commission has redoubled its efforts to
assist parents in this.
The commission has established a specific
group for this purpose—the Parental Involvement Working Group. The group is made up
of parent representatives from the dioceses of
Scotland, parents involved in both primary
and secondary schools. In fact, the group has
its first meeting this very week. They will
take on an action plan that aims to help parents to be the ‘first educators’ of their chil-
+'
+
,
+'
+
,
!
"#
$%&'%(#)(%*()
dren. This action plan is the fruit of a survey
of parent councils of Catholic schools carried
out in May 2011. The survey asked questions
to understand both the experience and needs
of parents in Catholic schools, so the action
plan is grounded in what parents themselves
have said.
Mutual support
One of the needs that parents identified in the
survey was an opportunity to come together
for mutual support and to assist each other.
This need led to a successful gathering of par-
JOHN OGILVIE HIGH SCHOOL
Farm Road Burnbank,
Hamilton ML3 9LA
‘Education is the most powerful
weapon you can use to change the
world’
(Nelson Mandela)
supporting Catholic education
ents in Carfin in August 2012, which was
attended by more than 70 parents. This first
assembly of Catholic Parent Councils confirmed the appetite of parents to be more
involved in Catholic schools.
The simple fact is that schools, Catholic
schools, more than ever need parents to be
involved—involved in setting and maintaining a Catholic ethos in the school, involved
in encouraging teachers to be witnesses to
their Faith, involved in supporting other parents and developing resources for them and
involved in working to build effective
our Faith not only in Church but in our
homes, schools and workplaces. He knows
that many of us nowadays are reluctant to
wear our Faith on our sleeves, fearing
ridicule or suspicion or even persecution.
This is why he wrote in Porta Fidei, his letter which introduced the Year of Faith:
“What the world is in particular need of
today is the credible witness of people
enlightened in mind and heart by the Word
of the Lord, and capable of opening the
hearts and minds of many to the desire for
God and for true life, life without end”
(Porta Fidei, #15).
So, the Pope’s invitation to each of us is
firstly to be a ‘credible witness,’ someone
whose words and actions reflect Christian
attitudes, values and commitments, someone
who is known to be honest, kind, compassionate, conscientious and prayerful. As
Christians, we should not fear being criticised as being unthinking, irrational or out
of touch with reality, because we know that
our minds have been enlightened—that is,
opened up to the powerful truth of God’s
Word. We can make sense of the world’s
challenges precisely because of our Faith in
a loving God who offers us eternal life. Our
hearts have been opened too, and we recognise the need to love all God’s creatures,
despite any hostility or ridicule which we
might encounter and also despite any irrational fears or suspicions which we might
have of others.
O
ur Faith in Jesus Christ also calls us
to ‘open the hearts and minds’ of others to Faith in Him. We are obliged
not to keep our Faith to ourselves, not to
pray and worship in isolation, not to hide
away in a quiet room. Rather, the Holy Spirit
empowers us, through the Sacrament of
Confirmation, to go out into the world and
to help others to hear of Jesus, to come to
know Him and to believe in Him.
This is how we can all be educators in
Faith. Opening hearts and minds to God is
the raison d’être of Catholic education. Our
purpose is to develop the whole person—in
mind, heart, body and spirit—and so help
schools, parishes and home communities.
Getting involved
There is a real challenge in building the
involvement of parents in Catholic schools.
Catholic parents can lack confidence in
expressing their Faith and in expecting there
to be an explicit demonstration of Faith within
Catholic schools.
The reality for many families can be hard—
parents may belong to different faiths, different denominations, or none. We are not blind
to the real challenges in building parental
involvement, but we should not be preoccupied by these challenges. Instead, we should
roll up our sleeves and do what we can to get
more involved.
Every school has a parent council; getting
ST. ANDREW’S & ST. BRIDE’S
HIGH SCHOOL
Head Teacher : Mr Douglas Cosgrove
Platthorn Drive, East Kilbride, G74 1NL
Tel No: 01355 574 110
Supporting Catholic Education Week
each person to achieve his or her full potential for life. At home, in the parish and in
school, adults share the responsibility of
nurturing young people in Faith. We can
prepare the ‘soil’ which will allow the seed
of Faith to grow and take root in the hearts
and minds of children and we can nurture
that growing Faith until young people are
mature enough to sustain their own personal
Faith commitment.
In this way we are opening minds, not
closing them, as some critics of Catholic
schools like to argue. We are offering them a
vision of God’s transforming love. We are
opening the door of Faith for them but they
have to freely choose to walk through that
door. Thereafter we can only pray that they
do so.
S
o, in this Catholic Education Week, we
have developed resources for schools,
parishes and parents which will help
adults to open hearts and minds to God. We
hope that, through the Year of Faith, young
people will be helped to focus on what our
Faith is and on how it can be professed, celebrated, prayed and lived. The starting point
for this learning and reflection is the Nicene
Creed, the prayer of the Church which we
profess each Sunday.
All the materials we have provided to
schools, including 60,000 laminated cards,
relate to learning and teaching about the
Nicene Creed, enabling young people to
come to know and understand what these
words mean, so that they may proclaim them
not only in Church but in the whole of their
lives. Our intention is that, throughout this
Year of Faith, teachers and chaplains can use
these learning resources to help children and
young people to examine the Creed in depth
over a period of some time.
Indeed, we hope that they will find creative ways of explaining to their parents and
other adults what they have learned and
what they believe. In such ways they will
show that they are becoming credible witnesses who are ‘capable of opening the
God and for true life, life without end.’
more involved could be finding out what it
does and being part of it. Getting more
involved could be taking more of an interest in
what your child is learning. Getting more
involved could simply start with strengthening your own witness to your Faith, opening
your own mind and heart to God.
I If you want to find out more, contact the
Parental Involvement Working Group at
[email protected]
Scottish Catholic Education Week
resources can be found at the SCES
website at http://tinyurl.com/a8nrmju
St Thomas Aquinas RC Secondary School
112 Mitre Road
Glasgow, G14 9PP
T 0141-582-0280
F 0141-582-0281
[email protected]
ʻact justly, love mercy and walk humbly with your God.ʼ
Andrew McSorley
Headteacher
St. Columba’s Family of Schools
13
One Community of Faith and Learning
Supporting Catholic Education in West Fife
St Columba’s High School
Gourock
The values of our school are - RESPECT, AMBITION,
RESPONSIBILITY and SERVICE. We -
• Show respect for every human person who is a child of God
made in His image and likeness.
• Show ambition to follow the example of Christ and to use our
God given talents to the full.
• Accept responsibility for our own actions and decisions, and
for the welfare of others.
• Provide service to others in our school, our community and
through-out the world.
ST. NINIAN’S HIGH SCHOOL
Head Teacher : Mr Paul McLaughlin
Bellfield Road, Kirkintilloch, G66 1DT
Tel No: 0141 955 2386
Web site :www.st-ninians.e-dunbarton.sch.uk
A Catholic School of Ambition supporting
Headteacher Lorraine Legrix
HOLY ROOD R.C.
HIGH SCHOOL
EDINBURGH EH15 3ST
Duddingston Road West
Tel: 0131 661 5871 G Fax 0131 659 5868
‘Holy Rood is always a most welcoming school to
visit, and I have every confidence in the staff of the
school who care deeply for the academic progress
and spiritual welfare of all their pupils”
Cardinal Keith Patrick O’Brien
Archbishop of St Andrews & Edinburgh
St. Luke’s
High School
HEAD TEACHER
PATRICIA SCOTT
SPRINGFIELD ROAD
BARRHEAD, EAST RENFREWSHIRE
St. Luke’s High School will continue to invest in Catholic
Education by promoting experiences and activities which develop
the spiritual, moral, social, emotional and intellectual wellbeing
of all students as they prepare for adult life. Through regular
prayer and worship we will continue to foster the distinctive
Catholic ethos of the school.
ST. ANDREW’S HIGH SCHOOL,
COATBRIDGE
Old Monkland Road
Coatbridge, ML5 5EA
Tel: 01236 757657
Lord , Dire c t Us
12
ST. MAURICE’S
HIGH
SCHOOL
Head Teacher: Mrs Patricia Alexander
WESTFIELD, CUMBERNAULD G68 9AG
Tel. (01236) 794845
We are your soldiers
but are servants of the true God.
St. Maurice to Emperor Maximian
ST. JOHN’S RC HIGH SCHOOL
Harefield Road, DUNDEE DD3 6EY
‘Ad Coelos’
“Christ at the heart of the school;
the school at the heart of the
community”
Headteacher: Mrs Fiona McLagan
St Paul’s RC High School
SCHOOL OF
AMBITION
36 Damshot Road.
Glasgow G53 5HW
Tel: 0141 582 0040
Aiming High
for Young
People
St Paul’s R.C. High School
Aiming for the higher gifts.
Supporting Catholic Education Week in
parternership with our community.
ST MARGARET MARY’S
SECONDARY SCHOOL
A School in the Heart of the Community
Head Teacher: Mr B Brady
9 Birgidale Rd, Castlemilk
GLASGOW G45 9NJ
Tel No: 0141-582-0250
Fax No: 0141-582-0251
Website: www.st-margaretmarys-sec.glasgow.sch.uk/
Only The Best Will Do
JOHN PAUL ACADEMY
GOODNESS AND KNOWLEDGE
‘Working together to
achieve our best’
St. Andrew’s Academy
Paisley
Come
Follow
Me
The Pupils, Staff and Parents of
St. Andrew’s Academy are proud
to celebrate our achievements
during this Education week.
“Preparing young Catholics to be
the active citizens of tomorrow.”
Opening our children’s hearts and minds
T
THE CATHOLIC EDUCATION COMMISSION discusses how we can help bring our children and young people to a better understanding
of Faith, and MICHAEL MCGRATH, director of the Scottish Catholic Education Service, says that Jesus is at the heart of teaching
HE strategic priorities for the current Catholic Education Commission were set long before the
theme for Catholic Education
Week—opening Minds and Hearts
to God—was chosen, but they could not be a
better fit. The commission’s priorities for
action embrace all those who, in the witness
of their daily lives and in their teaching, are
able to bring our children and young people
to a greater understanding of our Faith and
equip them to be fully and actively involved in
the mission of the Church.
In the rite of Baptism, we pray that parents,
the first teachers of their children, will also be
their best teachers. The Commission has been
working hard to support parents, and grandparents, in their role as teachers, and to
encourage them to become more involved in
supporting Catholic education both in their
own community and nationally. The first
Catholic school assembly of parents took
place in August last year. Since then, each diocese has appointed parent representatives to a
national Parental Involvement Group which
will address the relevant tasks identified in the
commission’s action plan. The importance
now being given to supporting and enabling
parents seems certain to be reflected in the
action plans of future commissions.
P
arents who choose to send their children
to a Catholic school rightly look to our
teachers for support in helping their children to grow in Faith. The teacher’s role is
secondary to that of parents, but teachers who
choose to teach in a Catholic school take on
the responsibility of supporting children in
their Faith journey. It is a major and ongoing
priority of the commission first to ensure the
provision and continued formation of teachers for Catholic schools and then to support
those teachers in their endeavours. The Scottish Catholic Education Service (SCES),
which is the agency of the commission, last
year launched This is Our Faith, the new RE
programme for 5-15-year-olds. Teachers are
now being consulted on the draft programme
for the senior years of secondary school. Also
out for consultation with primary schools and
C
HILDREN are precious. As parents, we do not need anyone to
teach us that. We know it instinctively and do all that we can to
provide for our children. They
inherit from us a lot more than our genes. It is
our values, our Faith, our love that helps them
to grow. Critically, the ability of our children
to open their hearts and minds to God starts
with us. There is no substitute for the lived
experience of Faith and love that we provide
in our homes. We choose to send our children
to schools that share those same values and
Faith, schools that recognise the love that
God has for us and the unique vocation to
love that each of us has. So it is no surprise
that the Catholic Education Commission, in
its work to support Catholic schools, has
with the Parental Involvement Group is the
draft programme for relationships and moral
education, God’s loving plan.
The commission wishes to see our schools
develop as communities of Faith and learning,
inspired by Gospel values; it is not enough
simply to provide resources for use in the RE
class. So, again working through SCES, the
commission makes available resources which
support the continuing professional development and spiritual formation of teachers,
together with resources which Liturgy committees or chaplaincy groups in schools can
use to enrich their pupils’ experience of
prayer, Liturgy and Sacrament.
M
ore than 1200 sixth year students
have enrolled for the Pope Benedict
XVI Caritas Award this year, a threefold increase on the equivalent figure for last
year and a clear indication of the impact
which this award has had on our schools and
parishes.
The Caritas Award is a perfect expression
of the theme for this Catholic Education Week
in that it encourages the young people to learn
about, reflect on and give witness to their
Faith. SCES is now exploring ways in which
a junior Caritas Award can be developed for
Primary 7 pupils.
The commission intends to submit a
response to the Scottish Government’s Marriage and Civil Partnerships Bill, particularly
on issues which may affect learning and
teaching in our schools.
The response will take account not only of
the commission’s internal discussions but also
of discussions with the Parental Involvement
Group, with representatives of the Catholic
headteachers’ associations and with officials
in other commissions and agencies of the
Bishops’ Conference.
Sectarianism in Scotland has been the subject of much debate recently. SCES, acting on
the commission’s behalf, has been engaged in
discussions with relevant partners, including
the Scottish Government and Education Scotland. Catholic schools were very well represented, both as contributors and participants,
in a recent national conference on the subject.
Pupils and staff of Our Lady of Good Aid Cathedral
Primary School, Motherwell, celebrate Catholic
Education Week with Bishop Joseph Devine
PIC: TOM EADIE
In the past two years, the Commission has
sought the views of hundreds of young people in 31 secondary schools on their experience of Faith learning and Faith-based action
in Catholic schools. In the next few weeks, a
team of experienced teachers will visit a further 22 schools.
These visits demonstrate the priority the
Commission gives to the views of young people. The exercise has helped to identify many
positive features as well as some areas for
review and action. It is now to be trialled in a
few primary schools.
I Further information about the work of the
commission and of the SCES can be found on
the SCES website and in the SCES newsletter
I
By Michael McGrath
N RECENT weeks and months some
of us may have felt disturbed by some
of the things we have read and heard
about our Faith and about the Church.
On occasions we may have felt bewildered by claims and accusations, by negative
and hostile voices and by prophecies of
doom.
In such a climate, it is good to recall that,
at the heart of our Faith, lies our personal
relationship with Jesus Christ, our loving
Saviour who invites us to put aside our fears
and anxieties and follow Him as the way, the
truth and the life. At its simplest, this is what
the Year of Faith is about. Our personal relationship with Jesus is also what underpins
the theme of this year’s Catholic Education
Week.
In establishing the Year of Faith, the Holy
Father recognised the difficulties which we
can face in being faithful today, in living
TONY COULTAS of the Catholic Education Commission discusses
parents role in strengthening and supporting the Faith of children
always worked to build parental involvement
in Catholic education. In the past two years
the commission has redoubled its efforts to
assist parents in this.
The commission has established a specific
group for this purpose—the Parental Involvement Working Group. The group is made up
of parent representatives from the dioceses of
Scotland, parents involved in both primary
and secondary schools. In fact, the group has
its first meeting this very week. They will
take on an action plan that aims to help parents to be the ‘first educators’ of their chil-
+'
+
,
+'
+
,
!
"#
$%&'%(#)(%*()
dren. This action plan is the fruit of a survey
of parent councils of Catholic schools carried
out in May 2011. The survey asked questions
to understand both the experience and needs
of parents in Catholic schools, so the action
plan is grounded in what parents themselves
have said.
Mutual support
One of the needs that parents identified in the
survey was an opportunity to come together
for mutual support and to assist each other.
This need led to a successful gathering of par-
Farm Road Burnbank,
Hamilton ML3 9LA
‘Education is the most powerful
weapon you can use to change the
world’
(Nelson Mandela)
supporting Catholic education
ents in Carfin in August 2012, which was
attended by more than 70 parents. This first
assembly of Catholic Parent Councils confirmed the appetite of parents to be more
involved in Catholic schools.
The simple fact is that schools, Catholic
schools, more than ever need parents to be
involved—involved in setting and maintaining a Catholic ethos in the school, involved
in encouraging teachers to be witnesses to
their Faith, involved in supporting other parents and developing resources for them and
involved in working to build effective
our Faith not only in Church but in our
homes, schools and workplaces. He knows
that many of us nowadays are reluctant to
wear our Faith on our sleeves, fearing
ridicule or suspicion or even persecution.
This is why he wrote in Porta Fidei, his letter which introduced the Year of Faith:
“What the world is in particular need of
today is the credible witness of people
enlightened in mind and heart by the Word
of the Lord, and capable of opening the
God and for true life, life without end”
(Porta Fidei, #15).
So, the Pope’s invitation to each of us is
firstly to be a ‘credible witness,’ someone
whose words and actions reflect Christian
attitudes, values and commitments, someone
who is known to be honest, kind, compassionate, conscientious and prayerful. As
Christians, we should not fear being criticised as being unthinking, irrational or out
of touch with reality, because we know that
our minds have been enlightened—that is,
opened up to the powerful truth of God’s
Word. We can make sense of the world’s
challenges precisely because of our Faith in
a loving God who offers us eternal life. Our
hearts have been opened too, and we recognise the need to love all God’s creatures,
despite any hostility or ridicule which we
might encounter and also despite any irrational fears or suspicions which we might
have of others.
O
ur Faith in Jesus Christ also calls us
to ‘open the hearts and minds’ of others to Faith in Him. We are obliged
not to keep our Faith to ourselves, not to
pray and worship in isolation, not to hide
away in a quiet room. Rather, the Holy Spirit
empowers us, through the Sacrament of
Confirmation, to go out into the world and
to help others to hear of Jesus, to come to
know Him and to believe in Him.
This is how we can all be educators in
Faith. Opening hearts and minds to God is
the raison d’être of Catholic education. Our
purpose is to develop the whole person—in
mind, heart, body and spirit—and so help
schools, parishes and home communities.
Getting involved
There is a real challenge in building the
involvement of parents in Catholic schools.
Catholic parents can lack confidence in
expressing their Faith and in expecting there
to be an explicit demonstration of Faith within
Catholic schools.
The reality for many families can be hard—
parents may belong to different faiths, different denominations, or none. We are not blind
to the real challenges in building parental
involvement, but we should not be preoccupied by these challenges. Instead, we should
roll up our sleeves and do what we can to get
more involved.
Every school has a parent council; getting
ST. ANDREW’S & ST. BRIDE’S
HIGH SCHOOL
Head Teacher : Mr Douglas Cosgrove
Platthorn Drive, East Kilbride, G74 1NL
Tel No: 01355 574 110
Supporting Catholic Education Week
each person to achieve his or her full potential for life. At home, in the parish and in
school, adults share the responsibility of
nurturing young people in Faith. We can
prepare the ‘soil’ which will allow the seed
of Faith to grow and take root in the hearts
and minds of children and we can nurture
that growing Faith until young people are
mature enough to sustain their own personal
Faith commitment.
In this way we are opening minds, not
closing them, as some critics of Catholic
schools like to argue. We are offering them a
vision of God’s transforming love. We are
opening the door of Faith for them but they
have to freely choose to walk through that
door. Thereafter we can only pray that they
do so.
S
o, in this Catholic Education Week, we
have developed resources for schools,
parishes and parents which will help
adults to open hearts and minds to God. We
hope that, through the Year of Faith, young
people will be helped to focus on what our
Faith is and on how it can be professed, celebrated, prayed and lived. The starting point
for this learning and reflection is the Nicene
Creed, the prayer of the Church which we
profess each Sunday.
All the materials we have provided to
schools, including 60,000 laminated cards,
relate to learning and teaching about the
Nicene Creed, enabling young people to
come to know and understand what these
words mean, so that they may proclaim them
not only in Church but in the whole of their
lives. Our intention is that, throughout this
Year of Faith, teachers and chaplains can use
these learning resources to help children and
young people to examine the Creed in depth
over a period of some time.
Indeed, we hope that they will find creative ways of explaining to their parents and
other adults what they have learned and
what they believe. In such ways they will
show that they are becoming credible witnesses who are ‘capable of opening the
God and for true life, life without end.’
more involved could be finding out what it
does and being part of it. Getting more
involved could be taking more of an interest in
what your child is learning. Getting more
involved could simply start with strengthening your own witness to your Faith, opening
your own mind and heart to God.
I If you want to find out more, contact the
Parental Involvement Working Group at
[email protected]
Scottish Catholic Education Week
resources can be found at the SCES
website at http://tinyurl.com/a8nrmju
St Thomas Aquinas RC Secondary School
112 Mitre Road
Glasgow, G14 9PP
T 0141-582-0280
F 0141-582-0281
[email protected]
ʻact justly, love mercy and walk humbly with your God.ʼ
Andrew McSorley
Headteacher
St. Columba’s Family of Schools
13
One Community of Faith and Learning
Supporting Catholic Education in West Fife
St Columba’s High School
Gourock
The values of our school are - RESPECT, AMBITION,
RESPONSIBILITY and SERVICE. We -
• Show respect for every human person who is a child of God
made in His image and likeness.
• Show ambition to follow the example of Christ and to use our
God given talents to the full.
• Accept responsibility for our own actions and decisions, and
for the welfare of others.
• Provide service to others in our school, our community and
through-out the world.
ST. NINIAN’S HIGH SCHOOL
Head Teacher : Mr Paul McLaughlin
Bellfield Road, Kirkintilloch, G66 1DT
Tel No: 0141 955 2386
Web site :www.st-ninians.e-dunbarton.sch.uk
A Catholic School of Ambition supporting
Headteacher Lorraine Legrix
HOLY ROOD R.C.
HIGH SCHOOL
EDINBURGH EH15 3ST
Duddingston Road West
Tel: 0131 661 5871 G Fax 0131 659 5868
‘Holy Rood is always a most welcoming school to
visit, and I have every confidence in the staff of the
school who care deeply for the academic progress
and spiritual welfare of all their pupils”
Cardinal Keith Patrick O’Brien
Archbishop of St Andrews & Edinburgh
St. Luke’s
High School
HEAD TEACHER
PATRICIA SCOTT
SPRINGFIELD ROAD
BARRHEAD, EAST RENFREWSHIRE
St. Luke’s High School will continue to invest in Catholic
Education by promoting experiences and activities which develop
the spiritual, moral, social, emotional and intellectual wellbeing
of all students as they prepare for adult life. Through regular
prayer and worship we will continue to foster the distinctive
Catholic ethos of the school.
ST. ANDREW’S HIGH SCHOOL,
COATBRIDGE
Old Monkland Road
Coatbridge, ML5 5EA
Tel: 01236 757657
Lord , Dire c t Us
14
E
Schools are often the vehicles that Help others see us in the Year of Faith
encourage ‘credible witness’ in all
I
ISABELLE BOYD, chairperson of the Catholic Headteachers’ Association of Scotland
JIM McCRORIE, head of the Catholic Headteacher Association
of Primary Schools (CHAPS) on the role of Catholic teachers
N THIS Year of Faith,
2013, the Catholic Headteacher Association of Primary Schools (CHAPS)
will be involving its members in a genuine and sincere
response to its theme of Opening
our Hearts and Minds to God.
The focus in our primary schools
will be a reflection of this key
theme for the Year of Faith, and
an exploration of our Faith and
the personal commitment it
demands of us, appropriate to the
age and stage of each individual
learner. We will be delighted to
endorse and promote the use of
the excellent resources provided
by the Scottish Catholic Education Service to encourage both
understanding of our Faith and
full participation in the range of
activities proposed by the support materials.
The Catholic Headteacher
Association of Primary Schools
has been developing as a representative group of the Catholic
school head teachers since Cardinal Winning requested its formation in the 1980s.
Its main focus was to work
with the church authorities and
support colleague head teachers
in their role as educators and
leaders in the Catholic community. Our executive group,
drawn from delegates from all
over Scotland, meet regularly
to pursue an agenda of items
drawn from the local archdiocesan/diocesan head teacher
groups and offer support and
advice as well as providing a
national platform for discussion
on key issues relating to our
role as headteachers in a
Catholic school. Our annual
conference is a very well
attended opportunity for our
headteacher community to be
informed by celebrated speakers on Catholic issues, our bishops and Church authorities as
well as catch up with friends
and colleagues.
As you can imagine, the
front line status of Catholic
schools in the midst of societal
change and religious and political debate generates a number
of concerns and requests for
support and clarification from
our headteachers who have an
acknowledged responsibility to
uphold and maintain the teachings of the Church they serve
and to deal with the constant
challenge to our shared Christian values through increasing
secularism and materialism on
a daily basis.
We are greatly supported by
the presence of SCES through
the attendance and participation
of Michael McGrath at most of
our meetings and delegates
from the Faculty of Education
at Glasgow University, who
also contribute and add their
expertise in their various academic fields to our discussions.
The provision of high quality
teaching resources and learning
materials such as the items produced for Catholic Education
Week are of tremendous value
to our schools and our teachers.
It is anticipated that many of
our headteacher colleagues will
work with their parishes in promoting the aims and the ethos of
our schools and perhaps speak
in some of our local churches
about the importance of
Catholic education and reminding the individual communities
of the genuine need for the support of the parents and the community that the school serves.
The work of the school is
very often the vehicle by which
we can encourage each other to
become the ‘credible witness’
of our Faith to which we are
called. Our schools have a role
to play in the development and
support of the good works,
prayers and many acts of charity in which our children
become involved.
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ach
year
the
Catholic
Headteachers’ Association of Scotland
hasa two-day conference in Crieff when we are
able to take time to reflect,
share and support each other in
our work and our mission as
Catholic Headteachers.
The theme of the 2012 conference was ‘to see ourselves as others see us.’ When the conference
papers and flyers were issued
some friends and colleagues often
looked aghast and expressed surprise, comments such as ‘that’s
brave’ sometimes followed. This
caused me to pause—is it brave to
invite another pair of eyes—is it
not actually healthy to invite an
outside view of our work and our
mission.
With the title—to see ourselves as others see us, obviously
from Robert Burns, it seems so
appropriate to be writing this
short article on Burns Day 2013.
The phrase ‘to see ourselves’ is
from the poem To a Louse written in 1785. It was one Sunday
while sitting behind a young
‘lady’ in the church, that Burns
noticed a head louse roaming the
bows and ribbons of the young
woman’s hat, and I assume her
hair. Burns initially chastises the
louse for not realising how
important his host is, and then
reflects that, to a louse, we are all
equal prey, and that we would be
disabused of our pretensions if
we were to see ourselves through
each others’ eyes.
O would some Power the gift to
give us
To see ourselves as others see us!
It would from many a blunder
free us,
And foolish notion:
Our 2012 conference was an
opportunity to see ourselves
through others’ eyes—it was an
opportunity for reflection and
growth. In many ways it was a
clear sign of the growing confidence of the Catholic community. A clear celebration of the
distinctive nature and purpose of
Catholic education.
The theme of, see ourselves as
others see us was also very powerfully addressed by Mahatma
Ghandi writing in the mid-20th
century. He said: “It is good to
see ourselves as others see us.
Try as we may, we are never able
to know ourselves fully… we
can do only if we are not angry
with our critics but will take in
good heart whatever they might
have to say.”
The Catholic Church in Scotland encourages schools, parishes
and other agencies to work closely
together in order to celebrate the
distinctive purpose of Catholic
education during this particular
week each year. The purpose of
Catholic Education Week is to
highlight the significance of education, not only for young people
but for society as a whole.This
year’s theme is Opening Hearts
and Minds to God.
Our CHAS conference was a
resounding success. We were
challenged by the contributions
of the invited speakers. But we
had open hearts and open minds
and therefore left Crieff reassured and refreshed in our
work and in our mission.
In this Catholic Education
Week, we are all challenged to:
open our hearts to God to receive
his loving gift of faith; to open
our minds to God to learn more
about God as Father, Son and
Holy Spirit. In this Year of Faith
we are all encouraged to become
‘credible witnesses’ to our Faith.
I have quoted Rabbie Burns,
Mahatma Ghandi and I make no
apology for adding a quote from
the sermons and writings of
Blessed John Henry Cardinal
Newman, who tells all of us that:
“We can believe what we choose.
We are answerable for what we
choose to believe.”
In this Catholic Education
Week, let us pray for all parents,
grandparents and teachers as we
say: “Lord, we ask you to open
our eyes that we may value and
appreciate all people, recognising
what we have in common rather
than focusing on what our differences might be. Inspire us to distinguish between what is
important and what is not, and
open our minds and hearts that we
may always be people of good
will who bring life and joy to others. Amen.
T
15
Education is more than exam performance
Retired senior Chief Inspector of Schools DOUGLAS OSLER CB KSG writes on the ethos
of Catholic schools, the Caritas Award and the bright future of Catholic education
HERE are teenagers’
bedrooms across
Scotland proudly
displaying a certificate showing completion of the Caritas Award
which was launched last year.
I always agree with people
who tell me that schools are not
what they used to be. They are
absolutely right; schools are
much better than they used to be.
They encourage individual enterprise, self evaluation and expression in addition to recognising
that ‘to get a life’ you need to get
a living which generally means
qualifications.
T
he Caritas Award encourages young people to
think about who they are
and what they want to become.
It encourages them to consider
the whole issue of faith and
how it might support them in
their journey. It requires them
to volunteer in school, community and parish projects to help
others at home or abroad.
Those of us who were privileged to study pupil submissions
for the Caritas Award were
impressed by the growing maturity that was evident as the year
wore on and by the ability of
young people to look inwards and
evaluate what they saw. Many
organisations will continue to
benefit from the youngsters’ voluntary work. They often surprised themselves. They
certainly would surprise
those who despair
unnecessarily of the
younger generation.
An important criterion of the award
is that participants
do not need to be
Catholics or be
pupils at a Catholic
school. There were
a number of important submissions from
non-Catholics in both
Catholic and non-denominational schools who understood the implications of faith
and wanted to explore that in
their own faith environment.
That diversity strengthens
the award.
Another important aspect of the
Caritas Award is that making the
submission does not need to be an
obstacle to anyone uncertain
about communicating in any one
format. It does not need to be a
written report. Last year, there
were reports in verse, on film and
in music. All are legitimate forms
of expression and young people
can choose the medium that
comes most naturally. That diversity does not mean any lowering
of standards. High quality
reports were expected and
(Left) The Caritas Award was presented for the first time last year.
(Right) Cardinal Keith O’Brien with
Laura Seggie and Claire Marie
Taggart from St Ambrose High
School, Coatbridge, at last year’s
award ceremony on June 2.
(Right bottom) Some of the
pupils who took part in the
award programme last year
RIGHT PIC: PAUL McSHERRY
received. The award was not
automatic. Each submission was
scrutinised and assessed and in
some cases further evidence was
sought from the pupil.
T
here might be a view that
all of this should be
encouraged anyway by
schools, so why have an
award? One answer is that certificates are given for examination results and they are highly
prized so other aspects of a
young person’s development
should be recognised too.
Another reason is that, just as a
certificate course has a structure
TRINITY HIGH SCHOOL
and a curriculum, the
Caritas Award is bringing
similar rigour to a more
personal journey and contribution. Many of the young
people were not planning to
undertake some of the voluntary
work until they decided to take
part in the award but those who
might have done all this anyway
told me they found the structure
of the award important to their
personal exploration.
One of the views expressed
when we were assessing the
reports was ‘what a pity it’s happening so late in their school
careers.’ It is good that the Scottish Catholic Education Service is
looking at ways of developing an
Award for younger pupils. That
will enshrine the Caritas Award in
our schools and help young people to realise the positive impact
which faith can have on individuals and on communities.
Lourdes Secondary School
Encouraging Excellence
Headteacher: Mr P. Bollen
www.lourdessecondary.co.uk
Lourdes Secondary is an
inclusive community of faith
and learning, rich in our
diversity and offering a
climate of high expectations
and aspirations for all. Our
young people are encouraged
to aspire to the ideal of love
of God, and love of neighbour,
so that they may enrich their
community through their
gifts and talents.
“Opening hearts and minds to God....
So that we can transform our own lives at home,
at school and in our community.”
GLENSIDE DRIVE
RUTHERGLEN G73 3LW
TEL: 0141 646 3650
Home, School and Church - Stronger Together
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Be committed to God, to young people and to each other
60 West Main Street, Blackburn
West Lothian, EH47 7LX
Tel: 01506 656404
Fax: 01506 651736
Web: www.stkentigernsacademy.org.uk
16
ST. MARGARET’S
ST. MUNGO’S
HIGH SCHOOL
HIGH SCHOOL
“Lord Jesus, as a child you grew in learning and wisdom: bless St Margaret’s
school in which children and adults learn and grow together. Help us to make
this a place where all are treated with respect: where pupils are encouraged
to develop their talents, where teachers are respected for their dedication and
where all staff, pupils and parents work together in a community of friendship
and trust. We ask this in the name of Jesus, the Lord”
Denise E. Burke, Headteacher
WAVERLEY DRIVE, AIRDRIE ML6 6EU
TEL (01236) 794888 FAX (01236)7474429
EMAIL [email protected]
St. Ambrose High School
65 TOWNHEAD ROAD
COATBRIDGE ML5 2HT
Head Teacher:
Mrs Ellen Douglas BSc (Hons)
Merchiston Avenue, FALKIRK FK2 7JT
Tel. (01324) 614614 - Fax. (01324) 614610
Rector: Mr Stephen Phee
Staff, pupils and parents of St. Mungo’s High School
continue to give our full support to Education Sunday
LET CHRIST SHINE THROUGH US THROUGHOUT THE YEAR
‘Not so much about being the best
as bringing out the best in others’
St Benedictʼs
High School, Linwood
Continuing to Celebrate Catholic
Education and praying for the
canonisation of our patron,
Blessed John Henry Newman
CARDINAL NEWMAN
HIGH SCHOOL
BELLSHILL
Tel. (01698 274944)
Email [email protected]
Head Teacher: Isabelle Boyd CBE
The Newman Cross
The pupils and staff of
St Benedictʼs High School, Linwood look
forward to a New Year in which our
community of faith will continue to flourish,
inspired by the words of Pope Benedict.
“Grow in holiness:
become saints of the 21st century”
St John's RC Academy
is proud to support
St John's RC Academy is a 3-18 local
authority school serving the Catholic
community of Perth and Kinross. With state
of the art facilities, we aim to support learning
and achievement for all.
Headteacher Mrs Audrey M May
ST. ANDREW’S R.C.
SECONDARY SCHOOL
47 Torphin Crescent
CARNTYNE, GLASGOW G32 6QE
Tel: 0141 582 0240 Fax 0141 582 0241
www.st-andrews-sec.glasgow.sch.uk
Head Teacher Gerry Lyons
St Andrew’s R.C. Secondary School continues to promote
our Catholic schools and Gospel values and will continue
to deliver the highest quality of learning and teaching for
all our young people.
PUTTING YOUNG PEOPLE FIRST
www.turnbull.e-dunbarton.sch.uk
Dear young people, listen closely
to the words of the Lord, that
they may be for you “spirit and
life” (Jn 6:63), roots which nourish
your being, a rule of life which
likens us - poor in spirit, thirsting for
justice, merciful, pure in heart,
lovers of peace - to the person of
Christ.
Benedict XVI
World Youth Day, Madrid,
August 2011
A community of faith engaged in learning
St Mungo’s Academy
Bringing Out the Best In
Catholic Education
For Over 150 Years
“By the praising of Thy name and the
preaching of Thy word.” St Mungo
Crownpoint Road
Glasgow
G40 2RA
Tel: 0141 582 0260
CHURCH NOTICES
17
CHURCH & PUBLIC NOTICES
ST ALOYSIUS’ CHURCH
25 Rose Street
Glasgow G3
(off Sauchiehall Street)
SUNDAY MASS:
Saturday Vigil 5.45pm; 9am; 10.30am (Family Mass);
12noon (Sung); 9pm
WEEKDAY MASS:
Monday - Friday: 8am; 12.30pm; 5.45pm
Saturday: 10am; 12.30pm
CONFESSIONS:
Monday - Friday: 11.30am - 12.15pm; 5.15pm - 5.30pm
Saturday: 10.30am - 12.15pm; 2pm - 3.15pm; 4.15pm - 5.15pm
EXPOSITION OF THE BLESSED SACRAMENT:
Saturday: 2pm - 5.15pm Weddings permitting
Sunday: 1.15pm - 8.30pm
The National Shrine of
Our Lady of Lourdes - Carfin
MONDAY 11th FEBRUARY
FEAST OF OUR LADY OF LOURDES
Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament in the
Glass Chapel from 10.30am - 3pm
Mass with the Sacrament of the Sick at 1pm
in the Parish Church
Followed by light refreshments in the
Xavier Centre
Rosary Torchlight Procession and
Benediction in the Parish Church 7pm
EXPERT SERVICES
SCOT-COVER
ROSARY:
Monday - Saturday 12.00pm before 12.30pm Mass
The National Shrine of
Our Lady of Lourdes - Carfin
Wednesday 13th February
ASH WEDNESDAY
Holy Mass with Blessing and Distribution of
Ashes 10am, 1pm and 7pm
RE-UPHOLSTERY
Freephone:
0800 389 8084
Suites and church kneelers re-covered.
For quality and expertise, all types of
upholstery work undertaken contract, commercial and domestic.
www.scotcover.co.uk
SEASON OF LENT
Monday-Saturday - Adoration of the Blessed
Sacrament in the Glass Chapel 10.30am-2pm
Monday-Thursday - Holy Mass 8.20am, 10am
(both in Parish Church) and 1pm (Glass Chapel)
Mondays & Wednesdays - Stations of the Cross
and Holy Communion 7pm (Parish Church)
Tuesdays & Thursdays - Stations of the Cross
12.40pm (Glass Chapel)
Tuesdays and Thursdays - Confessions
1.45pm-2.15pm (Parish Church)
MEDJUGORJE
OUR LADY’S MONTHLY MESSAGE
GIVEN TO
THE VISIONARY MARIJA PAVLOVIC FOR THE
VILLAGE OF MEDJUGORJE AND THE WORLD ON
JANUARY 25 2013
"Dear children! Also today I call you to prayer.
May your prayer be as strong as a living stone,
until with your lives you become witnesses.
Witness the beauty of your faith. I am with you
and intercede before my Son for each of you.
Thank you for having responded to my call."
Craig Lodge Family House of Prayer
Dalmally, PA33 1AR. Tel (01838) 200 216
www.craiglodge.org
Prayer Group Meeting Times
Diocese of Motherwell
Healing Ministry,
Tent of Divine Mercy Ministry,
Meets on the 1st Saturday of
the month,
St Francis Xavier’s Church,
Carfin,
Saturday 2 – 4.30pm
Diocese of Paisley
St Anthony’s at St Aidan’s
Prayer Group
St Aidan’s Hall, Tower Road,
Johnstone
Tuesdays 7.00pm
Diocese of Dunkeld
Ss Peter and Paul’s Prayer
Group
Ss Peter and Paul’s Parish
Centre
Milton Street, Dundee
(Behind Church)
Tuesdays 7.30pm
Archdiocese of Glasgow
Rhema Prayer Community
St Mary’s RC Church,
89 Abercromby Street, Calton,
Glasgow. G40 2DQ
Wednesday 8.00pm
VOCATIONS
Do you feel that
God is calling
you to the
Missionary
Priesthood
Then we
can help
you
Contact:
The Vocations Director
SMA FATHERS
St Theresaʼs
Clarendon Place, Dunblane
Perthshire FK15 9HB
visit:
www.
sconews.
co.uk
JERICHO
“The
Compassion of
Jesus.”
Drug & Alcohol Rehabs.,
Refuge for Victims of
Domestic Violence,
Supported Accommodation
for the Destitute, the
Distressed, and all being
‘passed by on the other side.’
A COMMUNITY OF
MEN OF PRAYER FOR
OUR TIMES (founded 1970)
Vocation info from
Bro Patrick Mullen,
The Jericho Society,
Mater Salvatoris, Harelaw Farm,
Kilbarchan, Renfrewshire, PA10 2PY
Scottish Charity SC016909
Tel: 01505 614669
Email:
[email protected]
18
FAMILY ANNOUNCEMENTS
DEATHS
McELWEE , Mary
Peacefully at the Victoria
Infirmary, on January 21,
2013, Mary Waddell Daly,
aged 94 years. Beloved wife
of the late Patrick McElwee,
dear mother of Michael,
David, Alice and John, and
much loved grandmother of
Carol Anne, Martin, Kevin,
Brian, Gordon, Marianne
and Christine and greatgrandmother of Charlotte,
Christopher, David, Maria
and Floyd Patrick.
Fortified by the rites of the
Holy Church. R.I.P.
MacLELLAN
(née MacInnes)
Suddenly, but peacefully, at
the Southern General Hospital, Glasgow, on Sunday,
January 6, 2013, Marion
(Morag). Will be sadly
missed by Malcolm, Peter,
Ronald and Marion, her
grandchildren Christina,
Hans Peter, Jacqueline and
Shane, her sister Katie,
South Lochboisdale and
brother Peter, Blairgowrie
and all family and friends.
Requiem Mass and burial
took place on Saturday,
January 19, at St Conval’s
R.C. Church and Cemetery,
Glasgow.
Rest in peace.
RELIGIOUS MEMORIAM
BECKETT
Of your charity, pray for the
soul of Reverend Father
Anthony Beckett, who died
on February 4, 1985.
On whose soul, sweet
Jesus, have mercy.
You are forever in our
thoughts and prayers.
Inserted by his loving family.
BURNS
Fr. John (J.J.)
8th Anniversary – February
4, 2013.
Always remembered in my
thoughts and prayers.
Our Lady of Lourdes, pray
for him.
Inserted by Janet. (Alness)
CARNEY
Please pray for the soul of
Reverend Father Matt Carney, formerly of St Alphonsus, the Barras, who died
February 7, 1991.
O Mother of Perpetual Succour and St Alphonsus,
intercede for him.
KEEGAN
14th Anniversary of Reverend
Father James J. Keegan,
retired Parish Priest of St
Patrick’s, Shieldmuir, who
died February 3, 1999.
Eternal rest grant unto him,
O Lord.
Inserted by the family in Ireland and friends in Scotland.
McEWAN
18th Anniversary
In loving memory of Very
Reverend Hugh Canon
McEwan, former administrator of St Andrew’s Cathedral
and former Parish Priest of
St Joachim’s Carmyle, who
St Andrew and St Joachim,
pray for him.
Inserted by his sister Laura.
McLAREN
24th Anniversary
In loving memory of our
dear brother and uncle,
Reverend Father John
McLaren, who died
February 1, 1989.
O you whom I have loved
so much on earth, pray for
me and live in such a
manner that we may be
reunited forever in a
Blessed Eternity.
Requiescat in Pace.
Jim and family.
MEMORIAM
BROWN
Please remember in your
prayers my dear husband,
and our dear dad, Vincent
Brown, who died February
4, 1980.
Eternal rest grant unto him,
O Lord.
Inserted by his loving wife
and family.
CASSIDY
13th Anniversary
dear mother and gran, Kitty,
who died on February 6,
2000.
for her.
Inserted by Kathleen,
Maureen and family.
COLE
15th Anniversary
dear mother, Mary, who
died on February 1, 1998.
Sadly missed in every way,
Quietly remembered every
day.
Our Lady, Queen of
Heaven, pray for her.
From sons Michael and
James.
Our Lady of Lourdes and St
Bernadette, pray for her.
Niece Margaret.
CONNAUGHTON
9th Anniversary
Please pray for the repose
of the soul of Terry Connaughton who died on February 3, 2004.
“We have loved her in life,
let us not forget her in
death” – St Ambrose.
for her.
May she rest in peace.
Noreen.
CONNOLLY
“Love is” Bernard Joseph
Connolly, who died February 1, 2003.
Rest in peace.
Inserted by his devoted wife
Irene.
CORRY
21st Anniversary
In loving memory of my
dear husband, dear father
of the family, Jimmy Corry,
who died February 1, 1992.
In the shelter of Thy Sacred
Heart,
Dear Jesus, may he rest,
We miss him much, but still
we know,
Thy Holy will is best.
Agnes and family.
DEVLIN
In loving memory of Margaret Mary, beloved wife of
Michael and mother of
Michael, Paul, Anthony and
Christopher, who died on
February 7, 1992.
for her.
Inserted by her husband
Michael and sons.
DOCHERTY
17th Anniversary
In loving and prayerful
memory of our dearest
mother, Elizabeth Docherty
(McEwan), who died on
February 2, 1996, Feast of
the Presentation.
May her dear soul rest in
the peace of Christ.
Inserted by Monsignor
Henry Docherty, and
sisters Mary Margaret Hall
(U.S.A.), Kathleen McKay,
grandchildren and
great-grandchildren.
GARDNER
Treasured memories of
our dear mother and
father, Mary (Toal) died
February 6, 1973; Paul
died November 7, 1987.
Through the mists of time
they will never be
forgotten.
Inserted by the family.
HANIGAN
Pray for the soul of
Constable William Joseph
Hanigan, died at Stornoway,
February 6, 1976.
Billy’s dad, Peter John
Hanigan, died November 7,
1989.
Inserted by Rita and family.
HOLMES
51st Anniversary
most beloved mother,
Elizabeth Holmes, who died
on February 3, 1962, also
our father, Patrick, who died
Heart of Jesus, have mercy
on them.
Our Lady, intercede for
them.
St Bernadette, pray for
them.
St Martin de Porres, pray for
them.
Also our dear sister-in-law,
Nan, who died November
11, 2008.
From the family.
HUGHES
daughter, Natalie, who died
You made the world a better
place in your own special
way,
You’re still loved so very
much and missed more
every day.
Your leaving caused a lot
of tears, so much grieving
too,
It was the hardest thing of
all to say goodbye to you.
You gave your love until
one day you heard the
angels call,
Above now in heaven lives
the best daughter of all.
Forever in our hearts.
All our love always.
Mum and Dad. xxx
HUGHES
sister, Natalie, who died on
February 4, 2005.
We only wish that we could
say
We’re going to see our
sister today,
To hear her voice to see her
smile
To sit and talk with her
awhile.
Please God forgive a silent
tear
A constant wish that she
was here,
For the hardest thing in life
to bear
Is to need her so and she’s
not there.
Love Marc and Ryan. xxx
Always in our thoughts and
prayers.
HUGHES
Of your charity, please
pray for the repose of the
soul of Thomas Hughes,
died January 22, 1977.
Our Blessed Lord, grant
him eternal rest.
and family.
ILLSTON
1st Anniversary
Of your charity please pray
for the repose of the soul of
SUSAN, who died February
4, 2012. Loving daughter of
Jean and Bernard.
May she rest in peace.
Inserted by friends
Rosemary and Brendan.
LYNCH
dear wife, Renee, mother,
grandmother, great-grandmother, who died on February 7, 2005.
Fold her O Jesus in Thine
arms,
And let her henceforth be,
A messenger of love
between,
Our human hearts and
Thee.
Sadly missed by husband
James and family.
McBRIDE
dear husband, father,
father-in-law and granda,
John, died February 7,
1990.
Lonely is the home without
you,
Life to us is not the same,
All the world would be like
heaven,
If we could have you back
again.
Annie and family.
Gentle Jesus, up above,
Give our granda all our love.
From all your grandchildren
and great-grandchildren.
McBRIDE
1st Anniversary
dear sister, Isa McBride
(née Monk) who died on
February 3, 2012. Beloved
wife of Michael, a dear
brother-in-law, who died on
May 12, 1979.
May they rest in peace.
Inserted by Donald, Katie
and Morag.
19
MacEACHEN
4th Anniversary
In loving memory of Duncan, loving husband, dear
dad, brother and uncle, who
R.I.P.
Treasured forever are memories of you, today, tomorrow and all life through.
Our Lady of the Isles, pray
for him.
Sacred Heart of Jesus have
mercy.
Inserted by Angusina and
family at home and away.
McGINTY
18th Anniversary
Please pray for the repose
of the soul of George, a
dearly loved husband and
father, who died February 5,
1995.
Requiescat in Pace.
Margaret and family.
MacKINNON
17th Anniversary
In loving memory of a dear
mother and grandmother,
Mary, died February 3,
1996.
On whose soul sweet
Jesus, have mercy.
Sadly missed by Willie,
Sheila and family.
MacLEOD
dear mother and grandmother, Effie, died February
3, 1994. Also remembering
our dear father and grandfather, John, who died October 1, 2007. R.I.P.
Fois shoirruidh thoir dhibh A
Thighearna,
Agus solus nach dibir
dearrsadh oirre.
for them.
Our Lady, Star of the Sea,
pray for them.
Inserted by the family at
home and away.
MacLEOD
dear aunt and grand-aunt,
Kate Effie, died on February
14, 1988. R.I.P.
Eternal rest grant unto her,
O Lord,
And let perpetual light shine
upon her.
Inserted by Donald, Mary
Flora and family, Bruernish,
Barra.
To place an
intimation
Call: 0141
241 6106
MacNEIL
3rd Anniversary
dear husband, Donald
John, who died on February
4, 2010.
No one knows the broken
heart
That lies behind my smile,
No one knows how many
times
I’ve broken down and cried,
Silent tears do gently fall
Which others do not see,
For the kind and loving husband
Who meant the world to me.
His loving wife Peggie.
We lost a dad with a heart
of gold,
How much we miss him can
never be told.
His loving family.
Loved and missed by all the
grandchildren and greatgrandchildren.
107 Borve, Barra.
MacNEIL
19th Anniversary
In loving memory of Duncan
Martin, who died February
5, 1994.
Our Lady, Star of the Sea,
pray for him.
Inserted by Donald, Doreen
and family.
MacPHEE
1st Anniversary
Remembering with love
Hector MacPhee, Liniclate,
Benbecula, a much loved
father and grandfather, who
Quietly remembered today
and every day.
Sacred Heart of Jesus,
keep him in Your care.
Inserted by all his family.
McSORLEY
In loving memory of John
(Jack), who died January
21, 2002.
We have loved him in life,
let us not forget him in
death. –St Ambrose.
Our Lady of Perpetual
Succour, pray for him.
Inserted by his sister,
brother and families.
MALEY
dear husband, James, who
The happy hours we once
enjoyed,
How sweet their memory still,
But death has left a vacant
place,
This world can never fill.
Always in my thoughts.
Wife Anna.
MAYS
24th Anniversary
dear father, John, who died
February 5, 1989, and our
dear mother, Margaret
Mary, who died January 17,
1978.
St Martin, pray for them.
for them.
39 Broompark Road,
Wishaw.
O’BRIEN
8th Anniversary
In loving memory of Joan,
née Morrison, who died on
February 2, 2005, aged 87
years, beloved wife of the
late Owen and devoted
mum to Irene, Kevin, Anne
Marie, John, Gerard,
Sheena, Roderick and
Michael, dear mother-in-law
and much loved grandmother.
Our Lady of the Isles, pray
for her.
Fois ann an sith.
O’BRIEN
mum, Janette, died February 1, 2010, and my dad,
Bill, died February 15, 2006.
In my thoughts every day.
Rest in peace.
QUEEN
Treasured memories of
Frank Queen, who died on
February 3, 2010. Dearly
loved husband of May
(Parr) and beloved dad of
John, Frankie, Alan and
Raymond. Much loved
father-in-law of Geraldine,
Anne Marie and Jackie and
loving grandad of Clare,
Amy, Leigh, Sophie, Chloe
and Taylor and greatgrandad to Mia.
“Those we love go no further from us than God, and
God is very near.”
SNELL
4th Anniversary
dear husband Patrick John
Snell, who died February 5,
2009.
Death leaves a heartache
no one can heal.
Love leaves a memory no
one can steal.
St Anthony, pray for him.
Katie Bell.
THANKSGIVING
NOVENA TO ST CLARE
Say nine Hail Mary’s for
nine days with a lighted
candle; publication promised. – C.M.
ROLINK
23rd Anniversary
In loving memory of a
special husband, father,
grandfather and greatgrandfather, Gerald, who
Loved and remembered
always.
St Anthony, pray for him.
Esther and family.
WALKER
5th Anniversary
beloved wife and dearly
loved mother, Catherine
Walker, who died February
4, 2008, aged 78 years.
The way you had to leave
us will always seem unfair,
The special years will not
return when we were all
together.
Inserted by Archie and all
the family at home and
away.
WALSH
7th Anniversary
dear husband Frank, much
loved father, father-in-law,
grandfather and greatgrandfather, who died on
February 5, 2006.
Sadly missed.
St Vincent de Paul, pray for
him.
Inserted by Betty and family.
WRIGHT
17th Anniversary
Please pray for and
remember our dearly loved
mother, mother-in-law and
gran, Chrissie, who
passed away on February
7, 1996.
May your love shine
through us always, Mum.
The Divine Mercy, pray for
her.
for her.
Inserted by your sons,
daughters, daughters-in-law
and grandchildren.
BLESSED VIRGIN MARY,
you who can find a way
when there is no way,
please help me. Repeat six
times and promise to publish. – E.K.
GRATEFUL thanks to St
Jude for prayers answered.
– E.K.
THANKS for favour granted
Most Sacred Heart of
Jesus, Blessed Virgin Mary,
St Michael the Archangel,
St Anthony, all the saints I
have prayed to. – M.G.
GRATEFUL thanks to Dear
Heart of Jesus, Blessed Virgin, St Clare, St Martha for
favours received. – M.
O DEAR ST JOSEPH OF
CUPERTINO, who, by your
prayers, did seek from God
that you should be asked at
your examination the only
propositions you knew, pray
that I too, like you, may succeed in the examination for
which I am preparing. In
return I will make you
known and cause you to be
invoked; publication promised. – T.McK.
GRATEFUL thanks to the
Holy Spirit, Our Lady of the
Rosary, St Anne, St Jude,
St Joseph and the guardian
angels. – T.G.
DEAR HEART OF JESUS
Dear Heart of Jesus in the
past I have asked you for
many favours, this time I
ask you for this special one
(mention favour), take it
Dear Heart of Jesus, and
place it within Your broken
heart where your Father
sees it, then in his merciful
eyes it will become Your
favour, not mine. Amen.
Say for three days, publication promised. – H.C.
BLESSED VIRGIN MARY,
you who can find a way
when there is no way,
please help me. Repeat six
times and promise to publish. – H.C.
Blessed Virgin and St
Martha. Still praying. – I.R.
Holy Spirit, Sacred Heart, St
Clare and St Pio for prayers
answered. – B.L.
St Anthony. - R.N.
NOVENA TO ST CLARE
Say nine Hail Mary’s for
nine days with a lighted
candle; publication promised. - L.N.
DEAR HEART OF JESUS
Dear Heart of Jesus in the
past I have asked you for
many favours, this time I
ask you for this special one
(mention favour), take it
Dear Heart of Jesus, and
place it within Your broken
heart where your Father
sees it, then in his merciful
eyes it will become Your
favour, not mine. Amen.
Say for three days, publication promised. - K.M.
O DEAR ST JOSEPH OF
CUPERTINO, who, by your
prayers, did seek from God
that you should be asked at
your examinations the only
propositions you knew, pray
that I too, like you, may succeed in the examination for
which I am preparing. In
return I will make you
known and cause you to be
invoked; publication promised. - K.S.
POWERFUL NOVENA
Of Childlike Confidence
(This novena is to be said at
the same time, every hour,
for nine consecutive hours –
just one day). O Jesus, who
hast said, ask and you shall
receive, seek and you shall
find, knock and it shall be
opened to you, through the
intercession of Mary, Thy
Most Holy Mother, I knock, I
seek, I ask that my prayer
be granted (make your
request). O Jesus, who hast
said, all that you ask of the
Father in My name, He will
grant you through the intercession of Mary, Thy Most
Holy Mother, I humbly and
urgently ask Thy Father, in
Thy name, that my prayer
be granted (make your
request). O Jesus, who hast
said, Heaven and Earth
shall pass away but My
word shall not pass, through
the intercession of Mary,
Thy Most Holy Mother, I feel
confident that my prayer
shall be granted (make your
request); publication promised. - L.C.
NOVENA PRAYER TO ST
JUDE
May the Sacred Heart of
Jesus be praised, adored,
glorified and loved throughout the world now and forever more. Sacred Heart of
Jesus have mercy on us. St
Jude helper of the hopeless, pray for us. St Jude,
great miracle worker, pray
for us. Say nine times daily.
GRATEFUL thanks to St
Jude for prayers answered.
– L.D.
20
FUNERAL DIRECTORY
BISHOPS ENGAGEMENTS
FUNERAL DIRECTORY
T&R O’BRIEN
A sign that we care
FUNERAL DIRECTORS
E S TA B L I S H E D 1 8 9 0
It is our business to care. Every member of staff is
dedicated to delivering the best service possible—with
professionalism, compassion, and sensitivity.
Dignity Caring Funeral Services
We are members of the
National Association of Funeral Directors
Woodside Funeral Home, 110 Maryhill Road
Tel. 0141 332 1708/1154
East End Funeral Home, 676 Edinburgh Road, Glasgow
Tel. 0141- 778 1470
Our caring staff are here to listen and advise you,
24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
53 Morrison Street Glasgow
0141 429 4433
Gorbals
Partick
Possilpark
Frank J Lynch Ltd.
Funeral Directors
156 Crown Street, Glasgow, G5 9XD
Tel 0141 429 0300
323 Dumbarton Road, Glasgow, G11 6AL
Tel 0141 339 1122
Gilchrist & Lynch
136 Balmore Road, Glasgow, G22 6LJ
Tel 0141 336 2300
One of the few privately owned companies left in Glasgow
Golden Charter Pre-Payment Plans available
EWTN PROGRAMMES
SUN 3 FEBRUARY
9AM
THE FOURTH RUPTURE
A PATH TOWARDS
RECONCILIATION
11AM
THE ANGELUS WITH
POPE BENEDICT XVI
1PM
LIVE SUNDAY MASS
2.30PM
CATHOLICISM
6PM
THE WORLD OVER
8PM
EGYPT'S CHRISTIANS
10PM
VATICANO
11PM
BENEDICTION &
DEVOTIONS
MON 4 FEBRUARY
1PM
LIVE HOLY MASS
7PM
EWTN ON LOCATION
9PM
A TINY PIECE OF
HEAVEN
TUES 5 FEBRUARY
1PM
HOLY MASS
8PM
THE JOURNEY HOME
9PM
MOST HOLY MOTHER OF
GOD CATHOLIC CHURCH
WED 6 FEBRUARY
1PM
HOLY MASS
9PM
NOTRE DAME DU CAP
SHRINE
THURS 7 FEBRUARY
1PM
HOLY MASS
8PM
EWTN LIVE
9PM
CHRISTIANS OF
NINEVEH
FRI 8 FEBRUARY
1PM
HOLY MASS
8PM
THE WORLD OVER
9PM
A CROWNING
ACHIEVEMENT
SAT 9 FEBRUARY
1PM
HOLY MASS
7PM
HEALING AND MIRACLES
AT LOURDES
LAY READERS’ GUIDE
by Fr John Breslin
SUNDAY FEB 3
Sunday 4C. Jeremiah 1:4-5.17-19. Response: My lips
will tell of your help. 1 Corinthians 12:31-13:13.
Luke 4:21-30.
MONDAY
Hebrews 11:32-40. Response: Will your heart take
courage, all who hope in the Lord? Mark 5:1-20.
TUESDAY
Organist
&
Cantor
Available for weddings
and funeral services
Listen online at:
www.paulcarrollmusic.co.uk
T. 01698 325 493
Memorial of St Agatha. Hebrews 12:1-4. Response:
They shall praise you Lord, those who seek you.
Mark 5:21-43.
John Clark Funeral Service
All Arrangements
Completed
To Your Satisfaction
24 Hour Service
Pre-Payment Funeral
Plans
Professional & caring Staff
Tel: 01698 842233
10 Jubilee Way,
Bellshill, ML4 1SA
WEDNESDAY
Memorial of St Paul Miki and Companions. Hebrews
12:4-7.11-15. Response: The love of the Lord is
everlasting upon those who hold Him in fear.
Mark 6:1-6.
THURSDAY
Hebrews 12:18-19.21-24. Response: O God, we
ponder your love within your temple. Mark 6:7-13.
FRIDAY
Hebrews 13:1-8. Response: The Lord is my light and
my help. Mark 6:14-29.
SATURDAY
Hebrews 13:15-17.20-21. Response: The Lord is my
shepherd; there is nothing I shall want. Mark 6:30-34.
CARDINAL O’BRIEN
Archbishop of St Andrews and Edinburgh
www.archdiocese-edinburgh.org.uk
MON FEB 4 10.30AM Archdiocesan
celebration of World Day for Religious, Gillis
Centre. TUE 5 10.30AM Meeting of
headteachers of Catholic secondary schools,
Gillis Centre. WED 6 7PM Meeting of
Archdiocesan Pastoral Council, Gillis Centre.
ARCHBISHOP TARTAGLIA
Archbishop of Glasgow, www.rcag.org.uk
SUN FEB 3 6PM Choral Mass, Glasgow
University, followed by dinner. THU 7 Visit to
Notre Dame HS. FRI 8 Mass, Lourdes
Secondary School.
BISHOP DEVINE
Motherwell, www.rcdom.org.uk
SUN FEB 3 3PM Confirmations, Our Lady of
Lourdes, East Kilbride. MON 4 1.30PM PreConfirmation visit, St Patrick’s PS,
Strathaven. TUE 5 1.30PM Pre-Confirmation
visit, St Patrick’s PS, Shotts. THU 7 1.30PM
Pre-Confirmation visit, Corpus Christi PS,
Calderbank; 2.30PM PreConfirmation visit, St Edward’s PS,
Airdrie.
BISHOP CUNNINGHAM
Galloway, www.gallowaydiocese.org.uk
THU FEB 7 12NOON Study Day for Priests,
St John’s, Cumnock.
BISHOP GILBERT
Aberdeen, www.dioceseofaberdeen.com
SUN FEB 3 11.15AM Mass, St Mary’s
Cathedral; 6.30PM Mass, King’s College
Chapel. MON 4 7.30PM Polish Adults
Confirmations, St Mary’s Cathedral. THU 7
7.30PM Newman Association, Bishop’s
House.
AUXILIARY BISHOP ROBSON
of St Andrews and Edinburgh
SUN FEB 3 Catholic Education Sunday.
TUE 5 10.30AM-1PM Meeting with secondary
headteachers of the secondary schools
for the archdiocese.
FRI 8 10.45AM Mass, St Nicholas PS,
Broxburn.
BISHOP TOAL
Argyll and the Isles, www.rcdai.org.uk
HTTP://WWW.SCONEWS.CO.UK
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A HISTORY OF THE PAPACY
21
Contrasting reigns
of medieval Popes
F
DR HARRY SCHNITKER, in his series on the history of the Papacy, looks at
the contrast in reigns of Blessed Pope Gregory X and Pope Martin IV
ROM the death of Frenchborn Pope Clement IV, in
1268, until the Papacy of
Pope Boniface VIII (12941303), the Papal throne was
occupied by no fewer than nine Popes.
Many ruled for less than one year, and
none for more than five. All, except for
the disastrous Pope Martin IV, were Italians. Five major themes dominated the
Papacy during this period, and all still
appeared to contemporaries to be firmlyrooted in the past. They were wrong: this
35-year period saw the Papacy and
Europe irrevocably changed.
Perhaps the greatest achievement of
the period was the Second Council of
Lyons, called by Blessed Pope Gregory
X in 1272, which lasted two years. The
council was incredibly well-attended in
an age when travel was difficult. There
were some 300 bishops, 60 abbots and
around 1000 prelates and their representatives. Two of the greatest figures
of the time, St Thomas Aquinas and St
Bonaventure, representing the flourishing mendicant orders of St Dominic and
St Francis respectively, were summoned, although St Thomas died before
he could reach Lyons.
From outside the west there came
representatives of the Byzantine
Emperor Michael Palaiologus. These
were joined by those of the Mongol IlKhan, who ruled an area stretching
from central Turkey over Iran into modern-day Afghanistan and Pakistan. The
Byzantine representation was key to the
Council. Blessed Pope Gregory X was
desperately working to restore the
union between Catholic and Orthodox
Churches, ruptured by the debacle of
the Fourth Crusade and the sack of
Constantinople in 1204.
It must be deemed one of the most
stunning successes in Papal history that
Pope Gregory managed to persuade the
Greeks to agree to the union. True, the
emperor was in a difficult position, with
his lands gradually encroached upon by
Muslim Turks. To the north, hostile
Slavic states were challenging the
emperor’s traditional role as ruler of
Orthodoxy. Simply put, he needed
allies. In light of the overwhelming
political dominance of the Papacy in the
last century or so, it need not cause any
wonder that he turned to Blessed Pope
Gregory X, and that he agreed to a union
between the two Churches.
It would only be fair to say that there
was significant opposition to the union
in the Orthodox Church, particularly
amongst the monks. However, the
emperor did manage to carry the important elements of public opinion with
him. Briefly, it seemed that Church
unity had been restored.
This mattered greatly, and tied in
closely with the other non-western representatives at the council. The Mongols
swept from the Siberian plains to conquer much of Asia. Although some, like
the Il-Khans, had converted to Islam,
their conversions were often but skindeep. It was not until 1295 that the IlKhanate definitely turned towards
Islam. Now the arrival of the Mongols
had, quite literally, saved the Byzantines, and the remnants of the Crusader
states, from annihilation by the armies
of Islam.
While the Papacy of Blessed Pope Gregory
X (above) was honourable and aimed at
healing schism, the Papacy of Pope Martin
IV (above right) was not
The Khanate was founded in 1256 by
a grandson of Genghis Khan, Hulagu
Khan. The Mongols had utterly
destroyed the Islamic states in their
path. This liberated the local Christian
population, which was mainly Nestorian and which had severed its links
with the rest of the Church in the fourth
century. The Nestorian Church underwent a phenomenal expansion, and the
Khans looked towards Europe for an
alliance against Islam.
To Blessed Pope Gregory X this was a
heaven-sent opportunity. Already, he
was trying to reach the Christians in
Ethiopia, and in what was Christianity’s
first global geo-political game, he tried
to encircle Islam. Franciscan missionaries and Italian merchants, amongst
whom the famous Marco Polo, were dispatched on missions that eventually
floundered. However, for about 30 years,
things looked very promising, indeed.
T
he Italian Popes of this period
tried hard to balance the growing
power of France with renewed
support for the Empire. They tried to
end the interregnum which had left the
empire without an emperor since the
death of Frederick II and backed a new,
Swiss family to gain the crown. That
family was the Habsburg, and the
alliance between Papacy and the Habsburg family was to become a dominant
theme in Church history until 1918. For
a while, it even looked as if these shortlived Popes would succeed in remoulding the Pope Innocent III years in a
modern form.
One could almost argue that this is a
permanent theme of Papal history. After
a period of vigorous growth, there comes
a period in which everything appears to
be well-organised and flourishing, whilst
in reality the forces of decay and decline
are already in place and at work. The
most pernicious of these was the steadily
growing French influence in Rome, followed closely by the increasing hold on
the Papal office of Roman noble families, such as the Colonna. These saw the
Papacy as the main prize, and went out
of their way to gain the tiara. If thwarted,
they were quite willing to throw in their
lot with the French.
French power had prevented the election of a new Pope for three years after
the death of Pope Clement IV in 1268.
Somehow, they had to wait another 13
years before they could recapture the
Papacy. In 1281, the French, in the guise
of Charles of Anjou, ruler of Naples and
Sicily, made their move. They engineered the election of Pope Martin IV,
with disastrous consequences. From the
start, there were problems. Charles of
Anjou imprisoned two Italian cardinals
who opposed Pope Martin’s election at
the conclave, thus ensuring his election
was unanimous.
A HISTORY OF THE PAPACY
He then had to stay at Viterbo, where
the conclave had been held, for in
Rome a French Pope was unacceptable.
This did not stop him from wreaking
havoc. He excommunicated the Byzantine Emperor, Michael Palaiologus,
who promptly renounced the Union of
Lyons. The reason for the excommunication was purely political: Charles of
Anjou, Pope Martin’s patron, wished to
conquer Constantinople and restore the
Latin Empire there, and Palaiologus
was in the way. Church unity was sacrificed to the capriciousness of the King
of Naples.
Papal credibility, already weakening,
suffered an even more severe blow
when Charles of Anjou reaped the
reward for his scheming. An alliance
between the Byzantines and the Catalans of the Crown of Aragon stoked
resentment against French rule on
Sicily, and in 1282 the Sicilian Vespers
broke out. Over 3000 French men and
women were massacred in an orchestrated attempt to destroy French rule,
and the French threat to Byzantium and
the Crown of Aragon. Pope Martin IV,
rather than declaring either neutrality or
attempting diplomacy, put his full
weight behind the French.
Popes had been partisan before: even
the great Pope Innocent III had played
these types of political games. But Pope
Martin IV changed the reasoning behind
such games. Previous Popes had played
off worldly leaders to strengthen their
own position, and, ultimately, to enable
them to further the cause of the Church.
Pope Martin IV worked solely for the
benefit of his political master.
N
either of Pope Martin’s two
short-lived Italian successors,
Pope Honorius IV (1285-87) and
Pope Nicholas IV (1288-92), managed
to substantially reverse this process.
Again, like all the Popes in this period,
the men were personally holy, intellectually well-developed, and wished the
best for the Church. They just could not
reverse the tide of history. In 1291, the
town of Ptolemais fell, and with it the
last Crusading bastion in the Holy Land.
Pope Nicholas’s appeal for a new Crusade was not just ineffective, it was
ignored. Four years later, the Il-Khanate
turned decisively to Islam. In the east,
200 years of Christian activity had come
to nothing.
Closer to home, although the mendicants still commanded respect, the control of both Roman nobility and French
crown over the Papal throne was growing. When Pope Nicholas IV died, the
French were poised to impose their control. Soon, the Papacy was being reduced
to a mouthpiece of one monarchy, its
credibility destroyed. This would eventually lead to the grave scandal of the
Avignon Schism, and, arguably, paved
the way for the Reformation. Before this
could happen, though, the Papacy first
had to undergo the resignation of Pope
Celestine V and the de facto murder of
Pope Boniface VIII.
22
CHILDREN’S LITURGY
FAITH
FIRST
KIDS
Our weekly series on Children’s Liturgy has lesson plans and activity suggestions for use with young
people who are on the path to Christ
Each week, Catechists will find readings and Psalm responses, complemented by prayer, reflection,
discussion questions, and activities. Please feel free to use them as you wish
The lessons are created by Adorer-theologians using the lens of the spirituality of St Maria de Mattias,
which also embraces precious blood spirituality
While this is the starting point for the lessons, readers are invited to approach them however the spirit
moves you
The Church is concerned with the availability and understanding of scripture for children who have their
rightful place in the Church. In light of this SCO aims to provide a useful tool in drawing children closer to
the Catholic Faith
bring in people in the future and not fish,
what do you think Jesus meant by that?
If Jesus asked you to follow Him, do you
think you would need go some place
other than where you live or do
something different to be a follower of
Him, if so why and if not why?
Fifth Sunday in Ordinary
Time—First Reading
Here am I! Send me. A reading from the book of the
prophet Isaiah 6:1-2a, 3-8.
In the year that King Uzziah died, I had a vision of
the Lord. He was on His throne high above, and
His robe filled the temple. Flaming creatures with
six wings each were flying over Him and shouted
to each other: “Holy, holy, holy, Lord All-Powerful!
The earth is filled with your glory.”
As they shouted, the door of the temple shook
and the temple was filled with smoke. Then I
cried out: “I’m doomed! Everything I say is sinful,
and everyone around me is sinful too. Yet I have
seen the King, the Lord All-Powerful.”
One of the flaming creatures flew over to me
with a burning coal that it had taken from the
altar with a pair of metal tongs. It touched my lips
with the hot coal and said: “This has touched
your lips. Your sins are forgiven and you are no
longer guilty.”
After this, I heard the Lord ask: “Is there anyone I
can send? Will someone go for us?” I replied,
“Here I am! Send me.”
The Word of the Lord
The Children’s Liturgy page is published one
week in advance to allow RE teachers and those
taking the Children’s Liturgy at weekly Masses to
use, if they wish, this page as an accompaniment
to their teaching materials
Discussion
How would you like to go fishing
with Jesus?
How would you like to have Jesus as
your best friend?
What does it mean to follow Jesus?
Would you follow Jesus if He asked you
to follow Him?
Do you think you are a follower of Jesus?
As a follower of Jesus what are some of
the things you do for Him?
Activity
Reflection
IN TODAY’S Gospel we see Jesus
getting into a boat to teach the people
and then asking Peter to lower the nets
so that they could catch fish. Peter had
already spent all that day fishing in the
hot sun and had not caught a single fish
and was very tired, if it had been you
instead of Peter would you have lowered
the nets just because Jesus asked you to?
Peter was a fisherman and when the
boats were about to sink from all the fish
that were in the nets he had to call for
help, could you have just leave everything
that you owned to follow Jesus? Peter left
his boats all those fish and everything he
owned just because Jesus asked him to,
could you do also do that?
Jesus told Peter that he was going to
Talk to your teacher, your parents and
friends and see what they think it means to
be a follower of Jesus.
Think of ways you can follow Jesus in
your life, in school and at home.
With a pencil and paper make a drawing
of Jesus in the boat teaching to the crowd
of people.
Make a drawing of Peter following Jesus.
Prayer
Dear Jesus, come make your home in my
heart. Amen
Responsorial Psalm
138:1acd-2a, 4-5.
(R) In the sight of the angels I will sing
your praises, Lord.
With all my heart and in the presence of
angels I sing your praises.
I worship at your holy temple.
your praises, Lord.
All kings on this earth have heard your
promises, Lord and they will praise you.
You are so famous that they will sing about
the things you have done.
your praises, Lord.
Second Reading
We preached and this is what you believed. A
reading from the first letter of Paul to the
Corinthians 15:3-8, 11.
Brothers and sisters, I told you the most
important part of the message and you
believed it. That part is: Christ died for our
sins, as the Scriptures say. He was buried
and three days later He was raised to life,
as the Scriptures say.
Christ appeared to Peter, then to the 12.
After this, He appeared to more than 500
other followers. Most of them are still alive,
but some have died. He also appeared to
James, and then to all of the Apostles.
Finally, he appeared to me, even though
I am like someone who was born at the
wrong time. But it doesn’t matter if I
preached or if they preached. All of you
believed the message just the same.
The Word of the Lord
Alleluia
Matthew 4:19.
(R) Alleluia, alleluia.
Come follow me, says the Lord and I will
make you fishers of people.
(R) Alleluia, alleluia.
Gospel
They left everything and followed Jesus. A reading
from the Holy Gospel according to Luke 5:1-11.
Jesus was standing on the shore of Lake
Gennesaret, teaching the people as they
crowded around Him to hear God’s message.
Near the shore He saw two boats left
there by some fishermen who had gone to
wash their nets. Jesus got into the boat that
belonged to Simon and asked him to row it
out a little way from the shore. Then Jesus
sat down in the boat to teach the crowd.
When Jesus had finished speaking, He told
Simon: “Row the boat out into the deep water
and let your nets down to catch some fish.”
“Master,” Simon answered, “we have
worked hard all night long and have not
caught a thing. But if you tell me to, I will
let the nets down.”
They did it and caught so many fish that
their nets began ripping apart. Then they
signalled for their partner in the other boat
to come and help them. The men came, and
together they filled the two boats so full
that they both began to sink.
When Simon Peter saw this happen, he
kneeled down in front of Jesus and said:
“Lord, don’t come near me! I am a sinner.”
Peter and everyone with him were
completely surprised at all the fish they
had caught. His partners James and John,
the sons of Zebedee, were surprised too.
Jesus told Simon, “Don’t be afraid!
From now on you will bring in people
instead of fish.”
The men pulled their boats up on the
shore. Then they left everything and went
with Jesus.
The Gospel of the Lord
QUESTIONS
OF FAITH
Q)
Dear SCO, I am a parish musician, and have
led the music group at the parish children’s
Mass—with my guitar—for many years. I also play
the organ at one of the other Sunday Masses in our
church. My question regards the selection of music
for the Penitential rite—which seems now to be
called the Penitential Act. For many years now we
have been regularly singing ‘Look around you,
can’t you see?’ for the Lord have mercy at Mass.
However, on the back of a recent Questions of Faith
column, which discussed the provision of music for
the Holy holy in the new translation, I have now
begun to wonder whether with the new translation
we can still use this piece, since the words are not
exactly the same as in the Missal. I would appreciate some guidance here.
Mary McGovern
Dundee
A)
Dear Mary, as you know, there are three
forms of the Penitential Act in the Ordinary
Form of Mass. The first—which is probably the
most familiar to us—consists of the Confiteor (I
Confess), followed by the Kyrie (Lord, have mercy).
The I confess has been used in the Mass since about
the year 500AD. Whilst the Confiteor is not usually
sung, the Kyrie afterwards should be when possible.
The second form of the Penitential Act has been
taken from prayers which are recited at the foot of
the altar at the beginning of Mass in the Extraordinary Form. It takes the form of a dialogue
between the priest and people (V Have mercy on
us, O Lord R. For we have sinned against you. V.
Show us, O Lord, your mercy. R And grant us your
salvation). It too is followed by the Kyrie, and may
be sung using the tones in the Missal.
The third form appears to cause a certain amount
of confusion for church musicians, and even clergy.
In this form each invocation of the Kyrie is preceded
by a verse, known as a trope. In the mediaeval
period there were literally hundreds of these interpolated texts, not only for the Kyrie, but also for the
other parts of the Mass Ordinary—Gloria, Sanctus
and so on. In the case of the Kyrie the first trope
became addressed to God the Father, the second
trope to God the Son, and the final one was sung to
God the Holy Spirit. Thus, it became a chant to the
Holy Trinity. Recent studies, however, have shown
that in the New Testament Kyrios (Greek: Lord) is
a title reserved exclusively for Christ, and therefore
in the modern Missal all the tropes are addressed to
the Son. All the options found in the Missal call to
mind the wonders that Jesus has worked for us and
praise Him for all His deeds, usually by giving Him
an elaborated title—You (who) were sent to heal the
contrite, Kyrie eleison. You (who) came to call sinners, Christe eleison, and so on.
However, a number of our common hymn
books suggest that we sing, for the Lord have
mercy, texts which apologise to God for our failings. One example of this—which is referenced in
the Penitential Rite section of Hymns Old & New
Becoming confident Catholics in YoF
By Patricia Carroll
on the Year of Faith
LAST week I was leading a
small group leaders training
in preparation for our archdiocesan Lent initiative
called Becoming Confident
Catholics. For part of the
training we were sharing
what holds us back from
being confident about faith
sharing. Often older
Catholics feel that they do
not know enough and that
faith is something that is
meant to be private and personal. Others shared how
they were far too busy in
their everyday lives to take
time to reflect and so this
meant that they had not done
much for themselves in
terms of faith formation for
a long time, with the consequence that confidence in
faith sharing was undermined.
The Synod on the New Evangelisation constantly emphasised the need for Christians
today to be confident about
sharing their faith in Jesus in
ways that are immediate, personal and accessible. If we want
to share this with those who are
searching and questioning we
must first be able to share this
Good News with each other,
and this is the purpose of small
group faith sharing: to enable
each one of us to become faith
sharers and to do this with natural ease and skill. So the Year of
Faith is an opportunity to renew
ourselves and become the confident Catholics that God calls
us to be. This is why the concluding synod document on the
New Evangelisation stated:
‘The Spirit indicates for our
Christian communities the path
to be followed, if they are to
bring about a new season of
witnessing to our Faith and new
forms of response to anyone
who asks the logos, the reason
for our Faith.
“These circumstances provide an occasion to renew ourselves, to make the hope and
salvation given us by Jesus
Christ more effectively present
in the world in which we live.
“This demands learning a
new manner of responding—
‘with gentleness and respect,
with a clear conscience’ (1 Pt
3:16).
“This task invites us to live
life with the gentle power
which comes from our identity
as children of God, from our
union with Christ in the Spirit,
and from the newness which
this union has created in us,
and with the determination of
someone who knows that the
goal of all living is an encounter
with God the Father in His
Kingdom.”
From The New Evangelisation
for the Transmission of the
Christian Faith, Vatican City,
2012
Qualities for sharing Faith
The passage above talks about
a new manner of responding,
emphasising qualities of gentleness and respect as a way of
drawing others to Christ. This
week we celebrated the feast of
St Frances de Sales. He lived in
an era of great change and was
assigned to Geneva, the hotbed
for reformationists. He evangelised more by the way he was
with people than by other
means. We are also focusing
on the Week of Prayer for
Christian Unity where the
whole basis of dialogue and
faith sharing between Christians is about mutual respect
for each other. Sometimes we
need to practise these same
skills in our own parish settings
when we are trying to encourage each other to grow in faith.
Take time this week to reflect
on the following:
Would you be open to taking
part in small group faith sharing?
If you’ve had a good experience of small group faith sharing would you be prepared to
share this with others now?
What qualities would you
bring to a small group that
could enable others to be open?
What would you hope for in
a small group process?
Could you see yourself leading a small group this Lent to
enable not only yourself to continue to grow in your faith but
to journey with others too?
What would prevent you
from taking part in a small
group?
If you are interested in taking
part in a small group this Lent
and would like some material
then visit the website of St
Andrews and Edinburgh
Archdiocese and go to the
Resources and Documents page
where there are guidelines for
small group leaders and
material for five sessions.
Patricia Carroll is the Episcopal
Delegate for Pastoral Resources
in St Andrews and Edinburgh
Archdiocese
[email protected]
http://catechesisscotland.
wordpress.com
along with God forgave my sin and God of Mercy
and Compassion—is the hymn which you mentioned in your question: Look around you, can you
see—for readers unfamiliar with the piece it runs
like this: “Look around you, can you see? Times
are troubled, people grieve. See the violence, feel
the hardness; all my people weep with me. Kyrie
Eleison, Christe eleison, Kyrie eleison.”)
Whilst asking forgiveness from Almighty God it
is a noble—and very important—thing to do, this
is not the intention of the third form of the Penitential Act. The troped Kyrie is effectively a short
litany of praise to Christ, the Son of God. Therefore, although the use of Look around you might
have seemed appropriate, it is not, and indeed
QUESTIONS OF FAITH
never was. The new Missal has not changed anything of the Order of Mass. Only the translation
has been revised.
Thank you for the contribution you have made
in your many years as a parish musician, which I
am sure is greatly appreciated by the entire parish.
I wish you well in finding alternatives to Look
around you for the Penitential Act at Mass.
Do you have a question relating to the Faith that
you would like answered? If so, send your query
via e-mail: [email protected] with Questions
of Faith in the subject or post it to: Questions of
Faith, The Scottish Catholic Observer, 19 Waterloo
St, Glasgow, G2 6BT
CROSSWORD
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Send your completed
crossword entries—along with
your full name address and
daytime phone number—to
CROSSWORD CONTEST SCO 19
WATERLOO ST GLASGOW G2
6BT
The winner’s name will be
printed next week
27
ACROSS
Cobblers use it to break the law (3)
One of the ten rules given to Moses in the Bible (11)
Small, but growing Japanese art-form! (6)
Sounds like there is more than is needed of this
vestment! (8)
Sad poem (5)
On two occasions (5)
Scheme about one aviator (5)
Deadly, highly-contagious disease (7)
An imitation of aeroplane movement? (7)
The tale of a southern Conservative (5)
Water vapour (5)
Traditionally, this goes on ahead in France! (5)
Sad music for the final mail delivery (4,4)
Being laid-back has Mr Gibson depressed (6)
Here, one gazes at models that are out
of this world! (11)
Major conflict (3)
DOWN
First entry out the hat next
TUESDAY will be the winner
Shortens this to make the base vibrate strangely (11)
Famous knight from the court of King Arthur (8)
Insane (5)
Is Miles about to provide a weapon? (7)
Storage facility (5)
Sweet liquid mixture—of youth? (6)
Something Parisians tend to look up to! (3,6,5)
Strategies (5)
The sycophant might be upset today (5)
An excess of liquid (8)
Brute (7)
Where Moses made a parting gesture (3,3)
Its leaf is on the Canadian flag (5)
Fish of the carp family (5)
Drink up, pal! (3)
The editor’s decision is final
LAST WEEK’S
SOLUTION
ACROSS
1 Elm 3 Significant
8 Calais 9 Complete
10 Assay 11 Legal
13 Thief 15 Suspend
16 Manx cat
20 Scene 21 Chirp
23 Tight 24 Whinnied
25 Adverb
26 Dishonestly 27 Sue
DOWN
1 Eucharistic
Congress 2 Molasses
3 Shiny 4 Necktie
5 Impel 6 Avenge
7 Toe 12 Lay the table
13 Tunis 14 Flare
18 Besides 19 Lilies
22 Pinto 23 Today
24 Wed
Last week’s winner was:
Maria McIlhatton, Airdrie
Scottish Catholic Observer:
Scotland’s only national
Catholic weekly newspaper
printed by Trinity Mirror, Oldham.
Registered at the Post Office
as a newspaper.
24
MISSION MATTERS
The happiest home in Zambia
D
Our monthly feature from the organisation MISSION MATTERS SCOTLAND, gives us an insight into the
Home of Joy, a Zambian orphanage catering for the spiritual and physical needs of orphaned girls
URING a MISSIO visit to Zambia in
November 2012, John Evitt [MISSIO
Scotland] along with Fr Gary Brassington and Kasia Greenwood [MISSIO England and Wales] had the
opportunity to visit the Nyumba Yanga [Our
Home] Home of Joy orphanage in Chelston in the
nation’s capital city of Lusaka.
The orphanage is situated at the Marian Shrine
on the city’s outskirts and is under the management
of the Congregation of the Immaculate Conception
Sisters from India. The head of the Home is Sr
Ruby Sahaya Rani and she is assisted by Sr Idhaya.
The idea for the home came from Archbishop
Medardo Mazombwe who decided in 1998 that a
home should be established for orphaned girls with
a proper family structure to give the children the
opportunity to live a normal life. He felt that the
Christian obligation of the community was to provide a home environment where these children
would feel loved and secure at all times.
In March of that year, the archbishop established
a core group of interested parties to plan the building of a home for vulnerable orphans.
Originally, the core group’s vision was for the
project to have a maximum of 20 children from the
local parishes aged from five to ten years of age.
However, this figure was quickly expanded to 50
children aged from four to 19. The decision was
that five small houses would be built and that each
house would accommodate ten children, with a
foster mother who would be recruited locally. Foster mothers are employed on a six-month trial
period. Being a foster mother is a voluntary position without pay, a small allowance is provided as
well as food and accommodation.
Once funding had been secured, the building of
the five houses was started—boreholes for water
were sunk, electricity installed, paths laid out, a
The Home of Joy orphanage in Chelston (Lusaka), Zambia
(above) has given orphaned girls (left) the chance of a
better life
some well-deserved fun. Gardening is another
activity in which the girls are involved and they
help grow sweet potatoes, maize, beans and a variety of vegetables. They are also expected to have
responsibility for the home’s chickens, ducks, rabbits, pigeons and fish.
Prayer, religious and moral education are all an
integral part of life for the girls, as are instruction
and preparation for the Sacraments.
perimeter wall constructed, transport acquired and
potential foster mothers interviewed.
The initial growth was piecemeal since there was
no fixed and guaranteed income either for construction or for the daily running costs. The decision was taken to approach possible donors for
help, both in Zambia and abroad, in the hope that
! !# ! ! &!% %$$"! %##' $40001(11 ##0$11 -12"-#$ " " " " $,"*-1$ "'$/3$ 2- (# 2- 2'$ '30"' (, $$# .*$ 1$ #$!(2 +7
12$0 0#+$6 $120- 6.(07 2$ *(# 0-+ 2$ 113$ - $120-
(&, 230$ 120(. "-#$ * 12 !*-") -% #(&(21 (&, 230$ #- ,-2 5(1' 2- 0$"$(4$ (,%-0+ 2(-,
!-32 (# 2- 2'$ '30"' (, $$# %%("$ *8($*
3(*#(, & "-22 20$$2 -2'$ 05$** some would respond. The response was extraordinarily generous and the project began to take shape.
The decision was taken to name the Home
Nyumba Yanga (Home of Joy), a great name to
symbolise the powerful thought in the foundation
of the home. On July 8, 2000, the first children
were admitted and the official opening took place
on August 7, 2000. The home now has a multi-purpose hall that is used as a chapel, classroom and
recreational centre.
T
he vision of the Home of Joy is to develop
the skills of the girls to grow into dignified
Zambians with Christian values and its mission is to equip each girl with an academic background and various skills that will enable them to
face society as responsible, self-reliant and confident citizens. The girls receive appropriate counselling from a qualified psychologist if required.
In each house, girls of different age groups are
mixed so that the youngest has the love, care and
support of older girls, as well as the security of the
resident foster mother. In each of the five houses,
the love shines through each of the girls—they are
truly part of a family. The girls are expected to help
with domestic duties in their own house and this
is an essential part of their training for the time
when they will eventually leave to start a life of
their own outside the home.
The home sends all the children to excellent
local schools where they are offered a sound education based on good morals and values.
One of the challenges the orphanage is facing is
that the girls have to walk to school every day,
about 40 minutes each way, and this tends to tire
them out and make them vulnerable to accidents.
The youngest girls are taught at the home by the
sisters and volunteers. Since its beginning, the
home has had Canadian, Irish and English volunteers who bring their own special talents, skills and
experience for the benefit of the girls. The greatest
gift they bring is love and affection for children
who need it most.
Since January 2011, Helen Flaherty from Dublin
has worked at the home as a volunteer.
“The girls are full of life and energy and watch
me closely to make sure I am not loving any of them
more than themselves,” she said. “I keep telling
them if they saw into my heart they would know
that I love them all the same. They let me away with
nothing which I suppose is good in one way.”
Apart from formal schooling, the girls are taught
typing, sewing, knitting and art and craft. Following the gift of five computers, they are now taught
computing skills. Singing, traditional dancing and
drumming are particularly enjoyed by the girls.
Provision is made for them to enjoy trips outwith
the home to broaden their experience and give them
T
he daily running of Home of Joy brings constant issues for the sisters—the health of the
girls, their emotional needs, their progress in
education, pastoral care, extra curricular activities,
the needs of the fosters mothers and the biggest
issue of finance. Perhaps, the greatest concern for
the sisters is sourcing donors and ensuring that sufficient money is available to run the home and take
care of the girls. The home has donors and sponsors from many countries but the priority is always
to find more who will offer long-term support.
However, the sisters, foster mothers and volunteers will tell you that working in Home of Joy is
a rewarding experience, to watch little ones grow
up and become self-sufficient is a reward in itself.
“The Home of Joy is a real Home for the children,” Fr Bernard Makadani Zulu, national director
of Pontifical Mission Societies, Zambia, said. “It is
a place of optimism and joy. Despite the contrary
struggles of the home, the children are offered a
conducive environment for education and support.”
This was evident during the visit by the MISSIO
team in November. The day of their visit coincided
with the children’s annual graduation celebration
at their local school and the team members were
honoured and delighted to be invited guests at the
ceremony. The sisters had made sure that the girls
were wearing their best outfits and the school provided graduation robes. The joy and pride of these
children shone through the whole day and will be
a special memory for each of the MISSIO team.
After the graduation, the team members joined
the girls for a meal in the home where they gained
an insight into the special place that is Home of Joy.
The warmth and affection of the girls for each other
and for the sisters and staff was almost tangible. The
day ended with each girl saying a few words about
their hopes for their future lives—so many teachers, doctors, accountants, nurses, journalists that
Zambia has a bright future in years to come. Their
choice of occupations underlining their understanding of how education will shape their lives.
Indeed, each of the MISSIO visitors left with a
feeling of joy and hope for the future of these children whose lives have been transformed in their
Home of Joy.
JOHN EVITT,
DEVELOPMENT CO-ORDINATOR
MISSION MATTERS SCOTLAND
Mission Matters Scotland—the new working
name of MISSIO Scotland—is the only organisation
to guarantee support for every one of the 1069
mission dioceses in the world To support Mission
Matters Scotland call: 01236 449774 or e-mail:
[email protected]
www.missionmattersscotland.org

St Margaret`s fights back - Scottish Catholic Observer

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