While the feast of All Saints will be celebrated on Monday 1st Nov, let us gather the day before as follows:
Sunday 31st October after 11am Holy Mass, during an extended tea and coffee social in Priory Court.
Bring a small contribution of food or drink for a shared
table if you wish.
All ages welcome, young and old! Come dressed as a saint, or
with a symbol for us to identify who you are representing.
For games and related ‘saint’ activities, you and your
children are welcome to join our Family Education Group the previous Wednesday
27th October, which is half term for most.
(Wednesday Cost £5, contact Alison Kahn for details 01840072641)
Weekdays: 9:00am-7:00pm (Confessions
11:40am-12:05pm; Holy Mass 12:10pm)
Saturdays: 9:00am-7pm (Eucharistic
Adoration 10:00am-12noon, with ongoing Confessions; Holy Mass 12:10pm)
Holy Rosary Mon-Fri 11:30am; Sat 11am; Sun 4:30pm
Stations of the Cross Mon & Fri, 1:00pm
Mothers’ Prayer Group: Wed 1:00pm
Priory Court Car Park reserved for Academy every Mondays and Thursdays; available ALL other days. Church car park available 7/7: please now use ALL empty spaces,
including outside Presbytery & Garage.
Free 2hrs parking at ASDA across the street.
Organ practice Thu, Fri 2pm-4pm
Bookshop Unit 3 Open Sun 12:25pm-1:00pm.
Daily Holy Mass online with
homily: on LiveMass.net >
Warrington: Sun 11:00am; Mon-Sat 12:10pm, and the same on demand 24hrs
after 3pm upload for weekday Masses, and over 7days for latest Sunday Mass.
To receive Holy Communion:
one must be a Catholic, in state of grace, one-hour fasting at least. In the EF
liturgy, Holy Communion is received kneeling (unless unable to) and always on the tongue. Thank you in
advance.
All must dress modestly in church out
of reverence for God and of respect for fellow-worshippers. Chest and limbs
must be covered down to elbows and knees at least. No sportswear. Sunday best should be worn
by all on Sundays and feasts: suit and
tie for men and boys, dresses for ladies. Men keep their heads uncovered
within church; women are encouraged to wear a scarf, hat or mantilla. Thank
you.
Switch
OFF your mobile phonebefore
you enter our church.
Safeguarding: If you have
concerns about children or vulnerable adults, please contact the
Archdiocesan Safeguarding Department: m.robson@rcaol.org.uk or 0151
522 1013, or speak with Clare Fraser, St Mary’s Safeguarding Officer. Thank you
for your awareness.
Thank
you for the volunteering forms already returned. Can you give 1 hour of your time to St Mary’s Shrine? With about 100
penitents and 500 visitors per week (250 on Sunday and about the same during
the week), St Mary’s Shrine is becoming busy. Please take and fill separate form. Thank you.
New Auxiliary Bishop of Liverpool came for coffee
last week. St Mary’s Shrine clergy were glad to spend time with Bishop Neylon
for an informal visit. Born and bred in Warrington, he attended St Oswald’s
Catholic Primary School in Padgate and English Martyrs High School in Orford as
a child.
Our Archbishop publicly supported St Mary’s Warrington in the latest issue of the archdiocesan magazine: “In Warrington we are fortunate to have the Priestly Fraternity of St Peter which was founded by Pope St John Paul II. They conduct their liturgy according to the pre-conciliar rites and offer pastoral care to those who choose that way of worship.” Archbishop McMahon knows well our community whom he visits yearly. However, prayer is very much needed for many other Catholic faithful attracted to the usus antiquior and currently without access to it.
Continuous Rosary Project
for the FSSP’s ministry and its members: Go to www.fssp.de/rosarium and
register, and sign up for a slot by clicking (please note: times are Central
European – calculate accordingly).
Pray
for our Second Year seminarian David, from Warrington, who will receive
First Tonsure and the cassock on 23rd October, together with 32
fellow seminarians (16 in Bavaria and 17 in Nebraska). Please also pray for our
49 First Year seminarians who started formation last month, including Federico
from Wales.
Best All Hallows’ Eve ever: Sunday 31st October: Following 7pm-8pm candlelight Vigil at Liverpool abortion centre, social gathering at St Mary’s Shrine’s Parish Room 9pm-10pm. Followed by ALL NIGHT adoration in church 10:00pm-7:00am ending with 7:00am Mass of All Saints.
A couple of St Mary’s parishioners has been raising money for the Good Counsel Network by walking the 25 stages of the Ancient North Wales Pilgrims Way. They are now half way through the stages and won’t probably complete them all until next summer. However, they have raised £508 + gift aid so far and really want to raise as much as they possibly can.
All the raised funds are paid directly to GCN via the Just Giving site.
Congratulations
to Ray and Carla Cilia, whose fourth child, newborn Joseph, will be baptised on Sunday 10thOctober at 10:30am. We welcome the
Cilia family who moved from South London last month to be part of St Mary’s
community and academy.
Vocation
Day in London Sat. 13th Nov 2021, St Mary Magdalen Church, 96
North Side Wandsworth Common, London SW18 2QUFSSP: organised by Juventutem.
Preacher Fr de Malleray. For men and women 18-35.
Vocation Weekend in Warrington 26-28 Nov2021: for single Catholic men 18-29. Facebook event: https://fb.me/e/1MFdTHT7I. Info & Contact: malleray@fssp.org.
At St Mary’s Priory, Smith Street, Warrington WA1 2NS, England: Starts 5:00pm; ends 2:00pm
Is God calling ME? Matrimony, celibacy, monastery, seminary, Fraternity?
If you are a single Catholic man between 18 and 29 years of age, come and discern with us at St Mary’s Priory & Church. Shrine Rector Fr de Malleray, FSSP will lead the Weekend, assisted by Frs Ian Verrier, FSSP and Alex Stewart, FSSP. There will be talks, prayers (Divine Office in our beautiful church), Holy Mass and informal chatting with fellow guests. Possibility of private meetings with a priest, and of confession.Feel welcome confidentially to call, email or write for any questions. Location: St Mary’s Priory. FREE for unwaged and students. Others: £60 per person in total.
Great pictures about our ministry here https://www.flickr.com/photos/138056205@N08/albums
VOCATION NEWS: 11 FSSP UK PRIESTS IN 19 YEARS
We have currently six young men from the UK & Ireland in formation at our two international seminaries. Three of our deacons from England were ordained priests at St Mary’s Warrington by Archbishop McMahon, OP of Liverpool. Those were the first EF priestly ordinations by a diocesan bishop in England in fifty years.Please pray for them (www.fssp.org/en/help-us/confraternity-of-saint-peter/) and for many more to enter the lists!We give thanks for 11 of priests ordained over the past 19 years: Fr Konrad Loewenstein in 2002; Fr Brendan Gerard in 2006; Frs Matthew Goddard and William Barker in 2009; Fr Simon Harkins in 2010; Fr Matthew McCarthy in 2011; Fr Ian Verrier in 2015; Fr James Mawdsley in 2016; Frs Alex Stewart and Krzysztof Sanetra in 2017; Fr Seth Phipps in 2018; Deacon Gwilym Evans in 2022 (planned).
Please pray for us. We assure you of our prayer.
O Lord, grant us many holy priests!
Marian & Pro-life Gaudete Sunday on the feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe, 12th December 2021. (Detailed schedule to follow.) Save the date!
Regina Caeli Academy has opened in Warrington. FINANCIAL SUPPORT NEEDED: kindly donate to St Mary’s Warrington Educational
Trust as several families are unable to meet the costs. Email theacademystmarys@gmail.com.
Juventutem Young Adults
Group: WarringtonSat 23rd Oct – London
Fri 15th Oct.
Support St Mary’s Shrine: send your donation via our Donate page: https://fssp.co.uk/donate/. Ask us for a Gift Aid form to increase your donation by 25% at no extra cost to you. Gift Aid envelopes can be obtained from our Secretariat.
Standing orders are easier and quicker for us to process than cash:
Lloyds Bank ;
Sort Code: 30-80-27 ; Account number: 30993368 ;
Account name: FSSP Warrington
Now 414
subscribers to St Mary’s YouTube channel: Homilies for Sundays and major
feasts are uploaded regularly. Visit youtube.com/channel/UC_NVY7jpDIhANiwjng1gN0w.
Thank you to our LiveMass/YouTube operators.
Pray for our Sick & housebound: Dorothea
Wallace, Deryck Sankey, Michael Meadows, Jean Scott, M. Hawley, Theresa
Reynard, Hilda Creagan.
HOLY MASS
INTENTIONS
Other Mass intentions are applied at Private Masses.
Kindly ask Fr Stewart for details.
COMMUNAL SHRINE INTENTIONS: Consider offering your usual stipend for the following weekly Mass intentions, otherwise offered without a stipend: All St Mary’s Faithful; All St Mary’s penitents; FSSP seminarians or Clergy. Please write one of these intentions on the Mass envelope, insert your stipend and put it in the collection basket. Thank you.
Sun 10
XX Sunday after
Pentecost, II Class5pm Vespers and
Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament
9:00am11:00am6:00pm
Daniel Jones
All St Mary’s Faithful
Ian Jordan
Mon 11
Motherhood of the Blessed Virgin Mary, II Class
12:10pm
Pat Barry
Tue 12
St Wilfred, Bishop,
Confessor, III Class
12:10pm
Emma Wilkinson
Wed 13
St Edward, Confessor,
III Class
12:10pm
7:00pm
John Joe Reilly RIP
Men of St. Mary’s
Thu 14
St. Callistus I, Pope,
Martyr, III Class
12:10pm
James Cornell RIP
Fri 15
St. Theresa, Virgin,
III Class
12:10pm
All St Mary’s penitents
Sat 16
St. Hedwig, Widow, III
Class
Adoration &
Confessions 10:00am-12noon
12:10pm
Andrew Donavan
Sun 17
XXI Sunday after
Pentecost, II Class5pm Vespers and
Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament
9:00am11:00am6:00pm
Stephen Barry
All St. Mary’s faithful
Deceased O’Shaughnessy
Mon 18
St Luke, Evangelist, II Class:
33rd anniversary of establishment of FSSP as of pontifical right
12:10pm
Fr Pillari
Tue 19
St. Peter of Alcantara,
Confessor, III Class
12:10pm
Mary Ashley RIP
Wed 20
St John Cantius,
Confessor, III Class
12:10pm
7:00pm
Tony Lehain RIP
Steve Conlon
Thu 21
Feria, Votive Mass of the Holy Ghost, (Com St
Hilarion)
12:10pm
Amanda Cribb
Fri 22
Feria, IV Class, Votive Mass of the Holy Cross
12:10pm
All St. Mary’s penitents
Sat 23
St. Anthony Mary
Claret, Bishop Confessor, III Class
Adoration &
Confessions 10:00am-12noon
12:10pm
Louis Hannah
Sun 24
XXII Sunday after Pentecost, II
Class: Public recitation of the Prayer of
the Confraternity of St. Peter (CSP)
for priestly vocations and ministry. Right after the 9am, 11am and 6pm Holy
Masses, CSP members recite kneeling at the Communion Rail; non members recite
from their pews. 5pm Vespers & Benediction of the Bl. Sacrament
Pray for our Second Year seminarian David, from Warrington, who will receive First Tonsure and the cassock on 23rd October, together with 32 more fellow seminarians (16 in Bavaria and 17 in Nebraska).
Please also pray for our 49 First Year seminarians who started formation last month, including Federico from Wales.
Watch our short video Called to become a priest…
Re-read earlier articles and homilies on Vocations:
Reflections on the relevance of religious life for young adults in Covid 2020s. Why not a few young people are attracted to it? How do they discern? Are they not afraid? Where is safe to apply? What if they fail or if their community is suppressed? And what about marriage? What if I still don’t know what to choose (the “Don’t-leave-me-behind-Syndrome”)?
SCHEDULE Sat. 13th Nov 2021, St Mary Magdalen Church, 96 North Side Wandsworth Common, London SW18 2QU (10 mins walk from Clapham Junction or 2 mins by bus) · 11am-12noon Conference 1 (40 mins + Q&As) · 12noon-1pm Holy Mass (Mass of St Didacus, Confessor). · 1pm-2pm Shared Lunch · 2pm-3pm Conference 2 (40 mins + Q&As) · 3pm-4pm Eucharistic Adoration: Exposition of the Bl. Sacrament and silent adoration (while confessions are heard), Benediction · 4pm Tea and departure.
Pizza and drinks will be provided for lunch. Suggested participation £10/person
A message from Fr Philomeno James, of the Gosport Franciscans
+JMJ+
Ave
Maria
A
MESSAGE TO HELPERS
We
are trying to take the 40days Campaign onto a New level. This involves the
training of Pavement Counsellors who can engage the Mother’s in
“Crisis” at the vigil. There are certain guidelines to follow.
Perhaps Jesus and Mary are calling you to this most important ministry.
As
part of your response to prayer, if you are called to be generous and try this
vital apostolate, then we must mention some important points.
(1) The Necessity to have watched the Msr Philip Reilly Video on “Sidewalk Counselling” before the meeting on Sunday Night October 3rd at St. Mary’s Warrington, given by Justyna from GCN.
The
link to the seminar is below:
(2)
The generosity to spend 2 hours at the Vigil on either Tuesday October 05th or
Wednesday October 06th to be trained as a LIVE Observer of Justyna who will
attend the Vigil and provide “on the job” training. This may even
involve you to make a shift swap or take some hours off if you work.
Please
pray. Please be generous. Please give a voice to the voiceless, our poor
brothers and sisters waiting for your “YES”.
God
Bless and Mary Keep You All
Fr
Philomeno James
—————————————————-
Prayer Vigil outside Liverpool abortuary from 6am-9pm until October 31st when the Autumn Campaign officially finishes.
At St Mary’s Priory, Smith Street, Warrington WA1 2NS, England: Starts 5:00pm; ends 2:00pm
Is God calling ME? Matrimony, celibacy, monastery, seminary, Fraternity?
If you are a single Catholic man between 18 and 29 years of age, come and discern with us at St Mary’s Priory & Church. Shrine Rector Fr de Malleray, FSSP will lead the Weekend, assisted by Frs Ian Verrier, FSSP and Alex Stewart, FSSP. There will be talks, prayers (Divine Office in our beautiful church), Holy Mass and informal chatting with fellow guests. Possibility of private meetings with a priest, and of confession.Feel welcome confidentially to call, email or write for any questions. Location: St Mary’s Priory. FREE for unwaged and students. Others: £60 per person in total.
Great pictures about our ministry here https://www.flickr.com/photos/138056205@N08/albums
VOCATION NEWS: 11 FSSP UK PRIESTS IN 19 YEARS
We have currently six young men from the UK & Ireland in formation at our two international seminaries. Three of our deacons from England were ordained priests at St Mary’s Warrington by Archbishop McMahon, OP of Liverpool. Those were the first EF priestly ordinations by a diocesan bishop in England in fifty years.Please pray for them (www.fssp.org/en/help-us/confraternity-of-saint-peter/) and for many more to enter the lists!We give thanks for 11 of priests ordained over the past 19 years: Fr Konrad Loewenstein in 2002; Fr Brendan Gerard in 2006; Frs Matthew Goddard and William Barker in 2009; Fr Simon Harkins in 2010; Fr Matthew McCarthy in 2011; Fr Ian Verrier in 2015; Fr James Mawdsley in 2016; Frs Alex Stewart and Krzysztof Sanetra in 2017; Fr Seth Phipps in 2018; Deacon Gwilym Evans in 2022 (planned).
Welcome
to our First-Time Visitors! We are glad to share
with you the beauty and depth of the traditional Latin Mass. Feel welcome
to ask us about silence, Holy Communion on the tongue, the use of Latin,
etc. Most people here came across this form of the Mass within the past few
years or months. Like you they were perplexed at first. Now they treasure
it.
Find
out more on lms.org.uk/faqs
St Mary’s Shrine Church Bulletin
26 Sept-10 Oct 2021 (fortnightly)
Smith
Street, Warrington, Cheshire, WA1 2NS, England
Served by
the Priestly Fraternity of St Peter by appointment from the RC Archdiocese of
Liverpool.
Weekdays: 9:00am-7:00pm (Confessions
11:40am-12:05pm; Holy Mass 12:10pm)
Saturdays: 9:00am-7pm (Eucharistic
Adoration 10:00am-12noon, with ongoing Confessions; Holy Mass 12:10pm)
Priory Court Car Park reserved for Academy every Mondays and Thursdays; available ALL other days.
Church car park available 7/7: please now use ALL empty spaces, including outside Presbytery & Garage.
Free 2hr parking at ASDA across the street.
Daily Holy Mass online with
homily: on LiveMass.net >
Warrington: Sun 11:00am; Mon-Sat 12:10pm, and the same on demand 24hrs
after 3pm upload for weekday Masses, and over 7days for latest Sunday Mass.
To receive Holy Communion:
one must be a Catholic, in state of grace, one-hour fasting at least. In the EF
liturgy, Holy Communion is received kneeling (unless unable to) and always on the tongue. Thank you in
advance.
All must dress modestly in church out
of reverence for God and of respect for fellow-worshippers. Chest and limbs
must be covered down to elbows and knees at least. No sportswear. Sunday best should be worn
by all on Sundays and feasts: suit and
tie for men and boys, dresses for women and girls. Men keep their heads
uncovered within church; women are encouraged to wear a scarf, hat or mantilla.
Thank you.
Switch
OFF your mobile phonebefore
you enter our church. Letting it ring inside the church gravely disturbs the
quiet of the sacred place. Thank you for your consideration.
Safeguarding: If you have
concerns about children or vulnerable adults, please contact the
Archdiocesan Safeguarding Department on 0151 522 1043 or e-mail
safeguarding@rcaol.co.uk, or speak with Clare Fraser, St Mary’s Safeguarding
Officer. Thank you for your awareness.
THANK YOU for the volunteering forms already returned. Can you give 1 hour of your time to St Mary’s Shrine? With about 100 penitents and 500 visitors per week (250 on Sunday and about the same during the week), St Mary’s Shrine is becoming busy.
Please take and fill separate form in Church Porch.
Our Archbishop publicly supported St Mary’s
Warrington in the latest issue of the archdiocesan magazine: “In Warrington we are fortunate to have the
Priestly Fraternity of St Peter which was founded by Pope St John Paul II. They
conduct their liturgy according to the pre-conciliar rites and offer pastoral
care to those who choose that way of worship.” Archbishop McMahon knows well
our community whom he visits yearly. However, prayer is very much needed for many
other Catholic faithful attracted to the usus
antiquior and currently without access to it.
Continuous Rosary Project
for the FSSP’s ministry and its members: Go to www.fssp.de/rosarium and
register, and sign up for a slot by clicking (please note: times are Central
European – calculate accordingly).
London Rosary Crusade Sat 9th Oct 1:45pm Westminster Cathedral – 3:45pm Brompton Oratory. Click here to open flyer.
Thank you for
your support the 40 Days for Life Campaign launch last 18th
September.
Further event: Sunday 3rd October, 7pm, training session by the Good Counsel Network for prospective “Pavement Counsellors” to offer guidance to mothers outside of the abortuaries and save their babies. Roughly one hour training and one hour QAs, finishing around 9pm. Contact: https://www.helpersuk.org/copy-of-40daysforlife-vigils.
Helena graduated from the University of Leicester with a BA in History and Archaeology and then decided to take the step into teaching, graduating with a PGCE from the University of Chester. Since then, she has worked in both local Catholic and non-Catholic primary schools. Helena was home educated until the age of 16 before completing her A-Levels at a local school. With her background Helena fully understands the ethos behind home education and believes that it has been essential in forming her into the Catholic she is today. In her spare time Helena enjoys visiting National Trust properties and having afternoon tea. She also has two adorable nephews and a niece and loves spending time with her growing family.
“I am so excited to be joining the Regina Caeli Academy team and feel very privileged to be given the opportunity to bring the Academy to the North-West of England and create a culture of learning in a strong Catholic environment.”
Pippa Curran, Tutor
Pippa is from Warrington and St Mary’s Shrine is her home parish. She is very involved with the young adults group at St Mary’s and it was at the first of these meetings that her eyes were opened to the beauty and depth of the Catholic faith. She coaches at her local rowing club and has worked with children at various sporting charities since 2018. Pippa is excited to support families in passing on the love of Faith and virtue and facilitating a truly Catholic education.
Demetri Newman-Brown, Centre Assistant
Demetri is from Manchester and is now living in Warrington. He has worked as an Office Administrator in a Catholic-run business, and as a Teaching Assistant, following the completion of his A-Levels in 2020. He is actively involved at St Mary’s Shrine in Warrington and enjoys the Liturgical arts, History and reading. He is excited to further enrich the Catholic community and is looking forward to meeting new families!
Trustees
Dr. Michael Seymour
Michael is a Professor of Particle Physics, and has 30 years’ experience in university education and research in the UK, Sweden and Switzerland, a degree in theoretical physics from Churchill College, Cambridge and a PhD from the University of Cambridge. He is married to Aileen, with three teenage children, whom they have been home educating for ten years.
Aileen Seymour
Aileen received her PGCE from Oxford University and has many years’ experience of teaching at secondary level, including as Head of Chemistry and of the Gifted and More Able Programme in a large UK school. In her role as Head of Science in the British section of a Swiss international school, she experienced the growth of a new school from its first intake through to their successful IGCSEs and also qualified as an International Baccalaureate teacher and assessor.
Chaplain
Fr Armand de Malleray, FSSP: “I am delighted to be the chaplain of this promising new educational venture. Sound Catholic education is so critically needed these days. Our Faternity has been actively involved in Catholic education for decades. The FSSP owns and runs two large boarding schools in France and we also minister to dozen of small and medium-size schools in the world. The newly launched Warrington Regina Caeli Academy answers an urgent need as expressed by many parents. I thank all for their continued prayer and financial support (email theacademystmarys@gmail.com). God bless you.
Juventutem Young Adults
Group London Fri 15th Oct;
Warrington Sat 23rd Oct.
Support
St Mary’s Shrine:
send your donation via our Donate page: https://fssp.co.uk/donate/. Ask us for a
Gift Aid form to increase your donation by 25% at no extra cost to you.
Gift Aid envelopes can be obtained from our Secretariat.
Standing orders are easier and quicker for us to process than cash: Lloyds Bank ;
Sort Code: 30-80-27 ;
Account number: 30993368 ;
Account name: FSSP Warrington
Bookshop
currently in Unit 3 after
11am Sun Mass.
400!
Now 400 subscribers to St Mary’s YouTube channel: Homilies for Sundays and major feasts are uploaded regularly. Visit youtube.com/channel/UC_NVY7jpDIhANiwjng1gN0w. Thank you to our LiveMass/YouTube operators.
Pray for our Sick & housebound: Dorothea
Wallace, Deryck Sankey, Michael Meadows, Jean Scott, M. Hawley, Theresa
Reynard, Hilda Creagan.
HOLY MASS
INTENTIONS
Other Mass intentions are applied at Private Masses.
Kindly ask Fr Stewart for details.
COMMUNAL
SHRINE INTENTIONS:Consider offering your usual stipend
for the following weekly Mass intentions, otherwise offered without
a stipend: All St Mary’s Faithful; All St Mary’s penitents; FSSP seminarians or
Clergy. Please write one of these intentions on the Mass envelope, insert your
stipend and put it in the collection basket. Thank you.
Sun 26
XVIII Sunday after
Pentecost, II Class5pm Vespers and
Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament
9:00am11:00am6:00pm
Demetri’s Intentions
All St Mary’s Faithful
Helen Freeman
Mon 27
Sts. Cosma and Damien,
Martyrs, III Class
12:10pm
Colette
Tue 28
St. Wenceslaus, Martyr,
III Class
12:10pm
Leigh Keenan
Wed 29
Dedication of St. Michael the Archangel, I Class
Men’s Group
7:45pm-9:00pm
12:10pm
7:00pm
Confraternity St. Peter
Celebrant’s intention
Thu 30
St. Jerome, Confessor,
Doctor, III Class
12:10pm
Private Intention
Fri 1
Feria, IV Class Votive Mass the Sacred Heart of JesusFirst Friday Devotions after evening Mass
12:10pm
7:00pm
Mr and Mrs Euston
All St Mary’s penitents
Sat 2
Vot ive Mass Immaculate
Heart (Holy Guardian Angels)
Adoration &
Confessions 10:00am-12noon
12:10pm
40 Days for Life
Sun 3
XIX Sunday after
Pentecost, II Class5pm Vespers and
Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament
9:00am11:00am6:00pm
Mr Habineza RIP
All St. Mary’s faithful
Mon 4
St. Francis, Confessor,
III Class
12:10pm
Julian Marechal RIP
Tue 5
Feria, IV Class, Votive Mass of the Holy Angels
12:10pm
Neil Kirby
Wed 6
St. Bruno, Confessor,
III Class
Men’s Group
7:45pm-9:00pm
12:10pm
7:00pm
Deidre Murphy
Celebrant’s intention
Thu 7
Our Lady of the Rosary, II
Class
12:10pm
Edw,Thomas, Federico
Fri 8
St. Bridget, Widow, III
Class
12:10pm
Deceased Poynor family
Sat 9
St. John Leonardi, III
Class
Adoration &
Confessions 10:00am-12noon
12:10pm
Christopher Keenan
Sun 10
XX Sunday after Pentecost, II Class5pm Vespers and
Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament
Forthcoming Assisted Dying Bill – Bishop John Sherrington, Lead Bishop for Life Issues for the Catholic
Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales has written an open letter inviting
Catholics to pray for the defeat of the Assisted Dying Bill to be debated in
the House of Lords in October.
It encourages
them to write to peers at the House of
Lords stating the reasons why they oppose this legislation and
particularly explain from personal experience the reasons why this change in
the law should be opposed. It urges discussion and communication about this
important matter.
Bishop John’s Letter
In the next
weeks, we face an unprecedented attack on the sanctity of life with Baroness
Meacher’s ‘Assisted Dying Bill 2021’ is due its 2nd Reading in the House of Lords
with full debate on Friday, 22 October.
The term ‘Assisted Dying’ is euphemistic, the truth is that this bill seeks to introduce Assisted Suicide. If legalised, this Bill would allow a terminally ill adult with less than 6 months to live to be assisted in committing suicide. Catholic teaching opposes assisting suicide, since life is a gift to be cared for and preserved until its natural death. The Church is clear that we cannot directly choose to take the life of another, even if they request it. The solidarity of praying and caring for the most vulnerable at this fragile time of their lives is a profoundly Christian act which imitates Our Lady’s prayer at the cross and Christ’s service to the weakest.
Those in
favour of the bill are making good use of language to confuse the issue and
call it a compassionate and caring approach to redefine the question and
obscure the actual reality and consequences of such legislation. As Pope
Francis has said, “Physician-assisted suicide is part of a ‘throwaway culture’
that offers a ‘false compassion’ and treats a human person as a problem… True
compassion does not marginalise anyone, nor does it humiliate and exclude –
much less considers the disappearance of a person as a good thing.” He
criticised “those who hide behind an alleged compassion to justify and approve
the death of a patient.”
Dangers of the introduction of Assisted Suicide
Importantly,
at this stage we need to argue the dangers of the introduction of Assisted
Suicide, which include the safety of people who are vulnerable due to external
pressures, and the later liberalisation of the law which is evidenced by other
countries which have introduced Assisted Suicide. Many voices from the world of
disability-rights and other allies are also very fearful and fighting this
bill. Whilst there are clear arguments to support Catholic teachings, it is
important to remember that this position is not only a matter of faith but also
human reason.
Later this
month, the BMA will be debating whether to change their stance to support or
neutrality on this matter. I hope that healthcare professionals will enter this
debate and highlight the dangers of this Bill to change and skew the meaning of
medicine.
Take action
There are
three important actions in the next weeks: praying, writing and sharing.
First, I ask
you to pray that the Bill will be defeated.
Second, I ask
you to write to the Peers from
your personal experience and share stories which will argue the reasons for
opposing the Bill as well as narrate the importance of precious time during the
final stages of life.
The testimony
of healthcare and legal professionals will also be important. This needs to be
done before the Second Reading on 22 October.
Third, I ask
you to engage and share stories and reasons against the Bill on social media.
Briefing
papers will be available on the bishops’ conference website to assist you as
this work develops.
Be assured of
my prayers,
+John
Bishop John Sherrington Lead Bishop for Life Issues Catholic Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales
