A Parish Bulletin Notice
We will be emailing parishes by the end of the month to ask if they would put a notice in the parish bulletin highlighting that CAFOD are looking for volunteers for various roles. We appreciate that many parishes are looking for their own volunteers but we hope that the adverts will highlight the needs of both and benefit the parish as well.
A simple way you can help protect human and environmental rights
Communities we work with around the world are experiencing inequalities and exploitation, and this is linked to the activities of some UK companies. We’re calling on the UK government to introduce a new Business, Human Rights and Environment Act to hold business to account when it fails to prevent human rights abuses and environmental harm. Please do add your voice to the call.
Afghanistan
If you were able to hold a parish collection for the Afghanistan Crisis Appeal in December, thank you. Thank you for your commitment to standing alongside our sisters and brothers experiencing extreme hunger in Afghanistan. CAFOD joined the Disasters Emergency Committee Appeal in December, along with 15 other leading aid agencies. Sadly many, many Afghan families are still in urgent need of humanitarian assistance: food, water and shelter. As winter approaches, the people of Afghanistan are facing extreme hunger and poverty. If your parish is able to arrange a collection, thank you. Or, please can you place a notice in the parish newsletter or parish social media pages. Thank you. More details here.
SYNOD 2021-2023– add your voice!
I think it would be remiss of me not to urge you all to take part in the synod process in your parish. Pope Francis invites the entire Church to reflect on a theme that is decisive for its life and mission: “It is precisely this path of synodality which God expects of the Church of the third millennium.”
This journey, which follows in the wake of the Church’s “renewal” proposed by the Second Vatican Council, is both a gift and a task: by journeying together and reflecting together on the journey that has been made, the Church will be able to learn through Her experience which processes can help Her to live communion, to achieve participation, to open Herself to mission.
Our “journeying together” is, in fact, what most effectively enacts and manifests the nature of the Church as the pilgrim and missionary People of God.
Please do take part. It’s vital and hugely important. It’s a time for listening, reflection, discernment and honesty. If your parish has yet to get started, or attend any training, please don’t hesitate to get in touch. Click on the links below for two documents to help.
The Vademecum is designed as a handbook that accompanies the Preparatory Document at the service of the synodal journey. The two documents are complementary and should be read in tandem with one another.
“Pope Francis seems to suggest that the purpose of a synod is to be Catholic, in the company of other Catholics: to pray together, to talk about the faith together, to understand one another better, and to experience that the Church is called to be a real, personal and authentic communion of its baptized members.
For bishops, the local synod process is an opportunity to learn from local Catholics what their own pastoral priorities should be — not by asking other people to set the bishop’s agenda, but by hearing what matters to Catholics, and how they think, and then using that information to develop plans for evangelization, catechesis and pastoral care.
“Hearing from Catholics” is not a lofty goal, but it is an important and an attainable one.”
We pray for the Church, gathered in Synod; that by the outpouring of the Holy Spirit this journey would be marked by humble listening, courageous speech, and lively hope. Amen. |