ISSUE nº2faith in politics magazine

in a year

32

03-04

Introduction

05

Interns 2017-2018

06-07

Where are they now?

Dom & Lucy Foster

08-09

Where are they now?

Anthony Neal

10-11

Thomas Ketteringham

12-14

A thank you: Chris Bain,

CAFOD CEO

15

The Jesuit Connection

16-19

Brussels

20-23

Rome

24-25

Notable trips

26-27

Quo Vadis

28-29

In other news...

Archbishop Peter Smith

Foreword Contents

The Faith in Politics Internship is now in its fifteenth year. We have seen almost 100 young Catholics pass through placements with numerous MPs and agencies. These indi-viduals have thrived and prove an inspiration to our incom-ing groups. The friendship and camaraderie across the year groups has brought about a strong network of individuals, dedicated to social action and promoting the positive ef-fects that faith has on political discourse.

Therefore, it is with great pleasure that we relaunch this group as The Faith in Politics Network. Events, talks and so-cial evenings will provide an opportuni-ty for interns old and new, and anyone with a passion for social action to get involved in spreading the Good News in their professional circumstances.

More than ever we are committed to this scheme and the opportunities it brings to Catholic graduates to have the chance to be involved in public life. After many happy years in Newman House, our new group will be making

their home in More House Chaplaincy, Kensington. We hope that this move will give more individuals the oppor-tunity to join the scheme and reap the benefits in the way that fifteen years of interns have done.

“MORE THAN EVER

WE ARE COMMITTED TO THIS SCHEME AND THE

OPPORTUNITIES IT BRINGS TO CATHOLIC GRADUATES TO

HAVE THE CHANCE TO BE INVOLVED IN

PUBLIC LIFE.”

54

Introduction

The Faith in Politics: Catholic Parliamentary and Public Policy Internships scheme is unique in the way that it offers a foundation of Catholic faith and spiritual formation for those who believe that they may have a vocation to public service in politics or public affairs.

Interns commit to a varied year working in Parliament with an MP or in the public affairs teams of the Bishops’ Conference and its agencies, and they study for an MA in Catholic Social Teaching. They visit Rome on pilgrimage, to learn how the Vatican works, and how the UK relates to the Holy See. Importantly their journey begins and ends with a retreat, and spiritual guidance is an integral part of their year.

Since 2003 the scheme has seen young Catholics spend a year working in parliamentary or public affairs roles. This has built a strong network of alumni who want to take this work forward beyond the year of the internship, and into the many different areas in which they work. In fact, almost 100 young Catholics have benefitted from this scheme, and form this group.

In December 2015 the Young Professionals’ Network (YPN) was launched as a forum in which these alumni and a wider network of young professionals working in public life could meet. Hosting debates, talks and social events, the YPN provides an opportunity for the thought-provoking and enriching experiences of interns on the Catholic Parliamentary and Public Policy Internship scheme to continue beyond their internship year. This year, we announce the re-brand of this group as the Faith in Politics Network.

We are immensely grateful for the support which the scheme has had from so many people over the years and without which, it simply could not continue. We believe that it makes a difference: to the mission of the Church, to civic life in our country; and to those with whom the interns work, especially the MPs, seeing a different aspect of the Catholic Church.

Greg Pope and Steph MacGillivray

Coordinators of Faith in Politics

This year our interns were:

Jerome FosterAnna GeatrellIsaac Withers

Josh SomervilleTom Ketteringham

Pippa SparkeJoseph Gould

76

Dom and Lucy Foster

Where are they now?

Dom and Lucy Foster

HOW DID YOU MEET?Dominic: We met on the internship scheme of 2011-2012. I was at CAFOD and Lucy was in the press role at Archbishop’s House.

Lucy: We first met one another outside Parliament and in-stantly bonded over the upcoming Lon-don Olympics. More than six years later, all the interns who were there when we met attended our wedding.

WHAT WAS THE HIGHLIGHT OF YOUR INTERNSHIP YEAR?Dominic: The highlight for me has to be the trip to Rome. Stepping out on the balcony of the Secretary of State building looking over St Peters Square was unforgettable. We also had a bril-liant meeting with Father Lombardi who was Director of the Vatican Press Office. (And meeting my future wife, of course!)

Lucy: Going to visit the mosque in Lad-broke Grove was one of my highlights, because of the warm welcome we all received and how keen our hosts were to find out about what we were doing on the internship. It really highlighted all the positive things religions and communities have in common and that there truly is more that unites than divides us.

WHAT ARE YOU UP TO NOW?Dominic: I now work for UK Sport heading up their govern-ment relations function. We fund Olympic and Paralympic sport in the UK and try to inspire the nation to be the best they can be through elite sporting success. It’s a privilege to work there and see the dedication and commitment of our

country’s top athletes.

Lucy: I work in the press office at the De-partment for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, creating content for their online channels. I get to work across the depart-ment’s whole brief so it’s a really varied and exciting role, from dealing with me-dia for the First World War Centenary events to launching cultural festivals in the UK.

WHERE DO YOU THINK YOUR CAREERS WILL TAKE YOU NEXT?Dominic: Who knows! I love working in sport and think sport and faith are a complementary combination so hope-

fully something that continues to give me a real a sense of purpose and service of others.

Lucy: I get to meet loads of interesting people every day and I am passionate about a lot of the department’s work. My career could take me anywhere! I would like to continue working in communications, in a role that focuses on sharing opportunities and telling people’s stories.

DOMINIC & LUCY FOSTER

"STEPPING OUT ON THE BALCONY OF

THE SECRETARY OF STATE BUILDING

LOOKING OVER ST PETERS SQUARE WAS

UNFORGETTABLE"

AS WE REMINISCE OVER 15 YEARS OF INTERNSHIPS WE SEE JUST HOW MUCH HAS CHANGED FOR DOMINIC AND LUCY SINCE THEIR

YEAR ON THE SCHEME.

98

Anthony Neal

WHAT HAVE YOU DONE SINCE LEAVING THE INTERNSHIP?After finishing the internship, I have been very lucky that my career has allowed me to work in many countries across the world. Immediately after the internship, I continued to work at CAFOD on Humanitarian Policy. I specifically worked on policy aimed at changing the way that the response to hu-manitarian crises are funded and increasing the power and resources of local and national NGOs, who are often the first responders in many emergencies, within the humanitarian system. Following the World Humanitarian Summit many of the recommendations we put forward at CAFOD were adopt-ed as part of the 'Grand Bargain' agreement which is now be-ing implemented across the world in all humanitarian crises. I also had the opportunity to work di-rectly with CAFOD’s local partners on the Syria response, and spent a month with Caritas Lebanon in Beirut to sup-port them to in developing advocacy strategies on issues facing Syrian refu-gees and migrant workers in Lebanon. After CAFOD I moved to Beirut perma-nently to work for the Lebanon Humani-tarian INGO Forum where I coordinated advocacy, targeting the Lebanese Gov-ernment, United Nations and Interna-tional Donors, on behalf of 39 Interna-tional NGOs working on the response to the Syria refugee crisis in Lebanon. I worked primarily on refugee rights is-sues, such as access to legal residency, education and health-care, and towards the end of my time in Beirut led efforts to prevent the coerced return of Syrian refugees back to Syria, which is a violation of International Refugee Law. For the last 9 months I’ve been working in Kabul, Afghanistan for Action Against Hunger.

WHAT WAS THE HIGHLIGHT OF YOUR INTERNSHIP YEAR?The highlight of my internship year was definitely our trip to Rome. I still remember the feeling of running across the city to various different meetings with Vatican officials, ‘hosting’ our own show at Vatican Radio, drinking wine on the UK Am-bassadors balcony overlooking the city and swimming at Lake Gandolfo. Some of the best parts of my internship year were the parts spent with my fellow interns. The intensity of the year, in addition to the unique living arrangements I feel real-ly brought us together. Living out of the country for the last two years, I still look forward to seeing them whenever I am back in London.

The whole internship year has been invaluable to my career – particularly my time at CAFOD and the mentorship of my manager Anne Street. It was during the internship that I really developed a passion as well as an expertise in humanitarian advocacy, which I have continued to pursue.

WHERE ARE YOU NOW?Since October, I’ve been based in Kabul, Afghanistan work-ing as an Advocacy Expert for Action Against Hunger (Action Contre la Faim – ACF), a French Humanitarian NGO, focused on addressing malnutrition.The many issues effecting Afghanistan make it a very inter-esting context to do advocacy in and these issues vary greatly between the different provinces. This has given me far more

opportunities to travel around the coun-try to our bases in Ghor and Helmand province and see our programmes and talk to people we are assisting about the issues in their daily lives. Working for a relatively small mission I’ve also been able to have greater influence and involvement on the organisation’s direc-tion and programmes and for the last 5 months I’ve also been managing ACF’s emergency response programme which provides live-saving cash assistance (for food, shelter etc) to families who have been forced to flee their homes due to the ongoing conflict between the Gov-

ernment, International Military Forces and Armed Opposition Groups like the Taliban or Da’esh. Living in Afghanistan has been an interesting experience so far. Compared to my life in Beirut the context is much more restrictive. Due to the frequent attacks and risk of kidnapping we’re unable to walk around outside, go to certain areas of the city or move anywhere after 11pm. Despite all this in a weird way Kabul has become very much like home.

WHAT ARE YOU THINKING TO DO NEXT?I very much intend to continue to work in humanitarian re-sponse and advocacy. Working in the humanitarian sector it is always a little difficult to know exactly what I will end up doing next. On leaving the internship I had not necessarily imagined that in 5 year’s time I would be living in Kabul so who knows what the next 5 years will bring. For the near future I’m likely to stay in Afghanistan as there are still many things I want to achieve. After that, I don’t really know. There are many places I’d be interested to work in like Iraq or Palestine or maybe eventually New York or Geneva to work influencing the main UN institutions.

"THE WHOLE INTERNSHIP

YEAR HAS BEEN INVALUABLE TO MY

CAREER "

AFTER CELEBRATING ANOTHER MILESTONE YEAR, ANTHONY TALKS ABOUT THE MANY THINGS HE HAS DONE SINCE LEAVING THE SCHEME FIVE YEARS AGO.

ANTHONY NEAL

Where are they now?

AnthonyNeal

1110

Tom Ketteringham

WHAT IS A TYPICAL DAY IN THE OFFICE LIKE?Working for an MP in Westminster, it’s quite tricky to say what a typical day looks like, mostly because every day is different. I work across three main fields: diary, policy and casework, covering a wide array of the issues we deal with. As such, I get an insight into not only the work that an MP does for their local residents, but also how the public relates to its elect-ed representatives and the various public and private bodies that look to work with Members of Parliament on issues as varied as local education provision, transport and energy.I’ve been fortunate to work for Dr Coffey during her tenure as Undersecretary of State at the Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. It’s been an exciting time to work in Parliament: with a minority government seeking to deliver Brexit, every vote, every resignation and every crisis is a po-tentially seismic moment. Reshuffles are quite daunting moments, not just for the ministers but also their staff! I have really enjoyed working with her Parliament and Defra teams: every week we have regular meetings to look over big upcoming issues and events and we coordinate closely on Dr Coffey’s busy diary. Writing speeches, briefings and correspondence to other Ministers, MPs and constituents has been a privilege and I have learnt a great amount about the important role that MPs and Minis-ters play, as well as the very long hours they put in, for their constituents and for the country.

HOW DOES STUDY FIT WITH YOUR EXPERIENCE OF THE SCHEME?Working in Parliament has been just one aspect of the much broader, more holistic internship experience. We are the first students in the UK and Ireland to ever take part in a Catho-lic Social Teaching post-graduate qualification, which is run by St Mary's University, Twickenham. CST is unfortunately an understudied yet vitally important area that asks us to ques-tion how we engage our faith in public life and the work we do. It has helped me to consider how I interact with others and what contribution I can make through my future career by following Jesus’ teachings and supporting those less fortu-nate than me. It has allowed us to deepen our understanding of what being a Catholic in the twenty-first century really means. Guest lecturers including Lord Guthrie, the former

Chief of Defence Staff and Frances O’Grady, the General Sec-retary of the TUC, have offered diverse experiences of en-gaging with Catholic Social Teaching in their own lives and work. Our weekly Friday meetings with prominent Christian leaders, organisations and charities have further contributed to this.

HOW ARE YOU FINDING SPIRITUAL DIRECTION AND LIVING IN COMMUNITY?Underpinning our internship experience is our faith. Coming straight from university, it can be daunting to enter the world of work. We are very fortunate to have a supportive network

around us, both as an internship group and as individuals: we meet with spiritual directors every six weeks who offer us food for thought, new ways to explore our faith and help us to learn how we engage best in a dialogue with God. Liv-ing in a Catholic Chaplaincy in central London offers us a unique opportuni-ty to share our faith journey with other young people from all over the world who come to live together in London. My house job has been serving drinks and cake after Sunday evening Mass - after this internship I’ve finally learnt how to make a mean hot chocolate!

WHAT HAS BEEN YOUR HIGHLIGHT OF THE YEAR?The internship is made of so many parts, all of which add to-gether to an unparalleled experience. For me the stand-out highlight has strangely been the thing I was most apprehen-sive about beforehand. I’m a fairly talkative person, so the prospect of a five-day silent retreat to rural North Wales didn’t sound like my cup of tea at all. Instead I was pleas-antly surprised to find it a unique opportunity to get away from the noise and hectic nature of daily life, to learn new ways of engaging with my own faith and see more clearly how to make my relationship with God a dialogue, rather than a monologue. St Bueno’s was a beautiful place within which to begin the internship experience and I’m looking forward to returning in our final week.

TOM KETTERINGHAM

"THE INTERNSHIP IS MADE OF SO MANY

PARTS, ALL OF WHICH ADD TOGETHER TO AN UNPARALLELED

EXPERIENCE. ."

TOM, A 2017-2018 INTERN, GIVES US A GLIMPSE INTO A DAY IN THE LIFE OF A PARLIAMENTARY ASSISTANT.

TomKetteringham

ParliamentaryAssistant

1312 As Chris prepares to leave CAFOD after almost 15 years, Jerome interviewed him about his

time at CAFOD.

A thank you: Chris Bain

CAFOD CEO

JEROME FOSTER CAFOD INTERN

SO, CHRIS, YOU’VE BEEN AT CAFOD FOR A LONG TIME NOW, NEARLY 15 YEARS, WHAT ARE THE BIGGEST CHALLENGES YOU HAVE FACED AS DIRECTOR?I’d say the biggest challenge is ensuring the programmes we have deliver for the people we are meant to be helping. Ul-timately, the most important thing you do is to fulfil a mission, to help people in crisis and to help people eventual-ly be more flourishing. So, making sure that the programmes and those who run those programmes are supported and properly financed, that we have the sufficient grants and gifts to do that, that has to be the single biggest challenge in the job. CAFOD always tries to see itself as an organisation that appeals to all parts of the Church but dealing with some perspectives within the Church has been quite hard. I just hope CAFOD have gone about this with integrity, honesty and with care, because people do hold different views and they are perfectly entitled to hold them.

A thank you A thank you

“ULTIMATELY, THE MOST

IMPORTANT THING YOU DO IS TO FULFIL A

MISSION, TO HELP PEOPLE IN CRISIS AND TO HELP PEOPLE EVENTUALLY BE

MORE FLOURISHING”

WE OFTEN TALK ABOUT CAFOD’S CATHOLIC DIS-TINCTIVENESS AND OUR VALUES AND MISSION, BUT FROM YOUR PERSPECTIVE, WHAT DO YOU THINK DISTINGUISHES CAFOD FROM OTHER IN-TERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT ORGANISATIONS?The first element of our distinctiveness is that our faith is rooted in both the dignity of every human person - believing that every person is made in God’s image and is loved by God - and the sense that we are co-responsible for working for the common good. Individual human dignity and the common good are the parallel forces within the Church. The second el-ement of our distinctiveness is the Church itself, and its struc-tures. We have mission stations in some of the most remote parts of the world, and they’re not just in Catholic areas. We are also very active in areas of Muslim or Hindu majority, and even of atheist majority, so the structure of the Church allows us to reach people who others simply cannot reach.

The interns reflect on five days of silence, spirituality and sheep at St Bueno’s retreat centre, North Wales

1514

WHAT IS THE IMPORTANCE OF FAITH FOR YOU IN YOUR OWN ROLE?It really wouldn’t be easy to do this job unless you felt you were able to be a part of the faith dimension in which CA-FOD is grounded. The personal side of my faith is a core part of what drives me, especially when things get tough. I think it’s really crucial to take a step back from your daily activi-ties. I went on retreat to ground and re-centre myself again, just as you and the other interns return to St Beuno’s at the end of your internship programme. My personal faith renewal is done mainly with my family at our week-ly mass, a very important time for us, and during other times of per-sonal reflection. So, faith really is central to my job.

WHAT WOULD YOU SAY IS THE FUNNIEST OR BEST MOMENT OF YOUR FIFTEEN YEARS AT CAFOD?I think it would have to be Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O’Connor leading the Make Poverty History march in Edinburgh [July 2005] in his red robes alongside politicians - it was just a wonderful sight. CAFOD’s role in getting peo-ple onto the streets there was one of the things of which I am truly proud. Of course, the Cardinal was much taller than everyone else, which gave him a Gandalf-esque character, alongside Hilary Benn MP and others… On the whole, some of the best times have been at CAFOD social events with the wonderful staff we have been blessed with over the years - those moments are always really special.

YOU’RE COMING TOWARDS THE END OF YOUR CAREER AT CAFOD - WHAT ARE YOUR PLANS FOR AFTER YOU LEAVE?We’re still thinking that through. What I’m retiring from is full-time work, but I would still die tomorrow If I wasn’t doing things. I want to keep involved, especially with things within the Church. Because I am a late husband and Dad, I want to spend more time with my three-year-old when I retire and give opportunity for my wife to resume her career. We’ll have to think about how we do our place up in Ireland too… I’m open to ideas, but I certainly won’t be inactive.

SOMETHING THE INTERNS WANTED TO ASK YOU IS: WHAT ROLE DO YOU THINK YOUNG CATHO-LICS CAN PLAY IN PUBLIC LIFE, AND IN PARTICU-LAR THOSE WORKING FOR THE AGENCIES OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH? WHAT ADVICE WOULD YOU GIVE TO THOSE PURSUING A CAREER IN THIS SECTOR AT AN EARLY AGE? It’s a difficult one these days. When I started out in my career

it was a lot easier, there were many more opportunities, including overseas. The best advice I could give anyone starting out now is go for anything, but don’t have the attitude that you are owed it. Go for things and don’t hesitate to go for them, but don’t be de-moralised either if you don’t get them, as that means nothing. The second tip would be to build up your portfolio of skills, experience and training. When I volunteered overseas, I started volunteering for everything: at the school where I was working for two years I was the rugby coach, the first aid-

er, and drove the school boat - don’t be idle, volunteer for everything! Don’t necessarily feel, unless you are absolutely positive, that there is only one path that you can go down. These days you can chop and change a bit, start one thing and then switch to something else, rather than going straight to an area that, in the end, you may struggle with in 5 years’ time. Don’t feel like you can’t say you want to do something else after working in one area for a while.

THE FAITH IN POLITICS TEAM WOULD LIKE TO SEND OUR HEARTFELT THANKS TO CHRIS FOR ALL THAT HE HAS DONE FOR THE SCHEME. WE HAVE SEEN NINE INTERNS HAVE A FANTASTIC EXPERIENCE AT CAFOD AND WE ARE LOOKING FORWARD TO WHAT THE NEXT YEARS WILL BRING. THANK YOU, CHRIS, FOR ALL THAT YOU HAVE DONE. WE ARE VERY GRATEFUL. ENJOY YOUR RETIREMENT!

“ THE BEST ADVICE I COULD

GIVE ANYONE STARTING OUT NOW IS GO FOR

ANYTHING, BUT DON’T HAVE THE ATTITUDE THAT

YOU ARE OWED IT. ”

A thank you

After just one week of induction, we were sent off to St Beuno’s Jesuit Spirituality Centre in North Wales. Still not knowing each other very well at the time, going to a distant location together gave us the opportunity to meet each other – albeit without words. Wifi was poor and the more ‘silent’ nature of the silent retreat was a struggle for us all. This saw us most evenings, whispering to find out more about the people we were going to be spending this great year with.

It was of course also a hugely spiritual experience. Guided by two Jesuits, we enjoyed morning spiritual direction, daily Mass and varied methods of praying. Those hour-long spiritual direction sessions were particularly helpful. We found that these guided, and sometimes difficult conversations, gave us a real opportunity for introspection and to discover things that we may not have done in day-to-day dialogue, even with other Christians. This spiritual direction has continued through our year and the ongoing guidance from our directors is something that we all have benefited from and enjoyed.

The varied methods of praying offered to us that week were rewarding too, with everything from Eucharistic adoration to Ignatian spirituality on offer, very much to find out what would be most natural for us as individuals. The Ignatian reflections, especially the method of putting yourself into a Biblical story as it is read, were surprisingly powerful. It was fascinating to feel how you would instinctively react to the situations and people that are presented to you. Some of these ways of praying were new to us and outside of what we would typically be comfortable with. However, being given these ideas early on has equipped us with a range of methods through which we can maintain our prayer lives over the year and beyond.

Among all those activities that took place at St Bueno’s, we also took advantage of the beautiful grounds and surrounding hills. The mountain walks on offer were a great spiritual opportunity for us too, as twice we set off as a company to take in the views. When it came time to leave we found that we had actually entered in to the silence more than we had expected and the readjustment was surprisingly hard. When we sat back for dinner at Newman House for the first time, surrounded by the noise of students deep in conversation, the sharp contrast with the silent meals at Buenos was striking and it was then that we realised how we had come to appreciate the quieter life.

For all of us, we were drawn to the internship for our joint love of faith and politics and to start our year with such a spiritual experience was a fantastic thing. Many of us had never had the retreat experience before and it proved to be a great opportunity to get to know each other better and to further deepen our relationship with God. I know that we are excited to return to draw this year to a close, and even though it will be tough to see each other go, we will be glad to have that moment in such a beautiful and spiritual place as Buenos.T

he

Jesu

it C

onn

ecti

on

The Jesuit Connection

BrusselsOne step closer to

Brexit: the interns visit

COMECE

Pippa reflects on a frosty weekend, and a frosty reception?

1716

Brussels

With just one of this year’s seven interns having voted for Brexit in 2016, visiting the epicentre of the European Union was bound to be an interesting experience. Joe hoped that, despite most interns wishing the outcome of the referen-dum had been different, by the end of the trip they would be “more on board with Brexit”. Perhaps a first-hand encounter with the European Union may quell the de-bate. Maybe it would invigorate it. Perhaps a first-hand encounter of the European Union may quell the debate. Maybe it would reinvig-orate it. Although not being entirely sure of what to expect from the trip, it was certain to provoke many animated discussions!

The Assistant General Secretary of COMECE, Michael Kuhn, hosted a visit made up of tours and speakers from a variety of positions. As well as covering topics such as the future of UK-EU relations, we were able to explore the advocacy and influence of the Church, both on a European and more worldwide scale.

It was a real privilege to meet with Karl-Frie-drich Falkenberg, for-mer EU trader com-missioner in Jacques Delors’ European Cabinet. We had a frank and interesting discussion about the way the UK and EU view each other now and how their future trading relationship could work. Karl-Friedrich spoke passionately about the UK’s impact on the expansion of free trade and the market, an area he had worked on extensively whilst helping to set up the World Trade Organisation. We also spoke about his recent work in the EU’s environment directorate, which was particularly in-teresting, not only for Jerome at CAFOD, but also for Tom, as the assistant of a UK environment minister.

“WE HAD A FRANK AND

INTERESTING DISCUSSION ABOUT THE WAY THE

UK AND EU VIEW EACH OTHER NOW AND HOW THEIR FUTURE TRADING RELATIONSHIP COULD

WORK. ”

Brussels

1918

Brussels

“EVENTUALLY BRITAIN

WOULD SEE A CLEARER AND MORE PROSPEROUS

FUTURE, AND ONE THAT WOULD BENEFIT

EVERYONE. ”

We arrived in Brussels with the idea of “blame”. Did the EU blame us for leaving? Did the UK blame them for not doing enough? Joe sensed that none of the officials who spoke to the group blamed the European Union for the UK’s with-drawal. There was no regret about not offering David Cam-

eron more concessions, or lessening EU inte-gration. Tom, who had voted remain in the referendum had wondered whether visiting Brussels would convince him that a success could indeed be made of Brexit, but decided in the end that he did not think it could. One thing we did all agree on however was that eventually Britain would see a clearer and more prosperous future, and one that would benefit everyone. Meeting organisations such as the Jesuit Ref-ugee Service Europe towards the end of the trip meant common ground for all of us. It was heartening to see that aside from the complexity of Brexit negotiations work con-tinues to be carried out to care for the poor-

est and most needy in the world. It did at times feel strange to be visiting an institution that we would soon be leaving, espe-cially one which has undeniably had a huge say in many issues within the UK. However, we left inspired that the Church’s work is truly universal and will go on working towards the common good, within these institutions and beyond.

Brussels

RomeThe Eternal City

welcomes the interns

Fully equipped with Factor 50 and pigeon Italian, Joe writes about a week at the

Catholic HQ.

Fully equipped with Factor 50 and pigeon Italian, we touched down in Rome on Friday 18th of May. Having spent Friday night sampling the culinary delights of Rome, we met at Ter-mini station at 8:00 AM on Saturday and headed for Assisi. Assisi was an incredible experience for us all, a day of prayer, pilgrimage and fun. The town’s quaint medieval streets and stunning landscapes beyond pro-vided the perfect backdrop to ex-plore our faith and discover more about the life of St Francis. The celebration of Mass in the under-croft of the Basilica of St Francis was a profound experience and a great way to prepare ourselves for the adventures in Rome that lay ahead. On Sunday, we visited the Vener-able English College, the oldest English institution outside Eng-land in the world. After celebrat-ing morning Mass in the stunning chapel and enjoying some much-needed rehydration with the current crop of seminar-ians, we had a tour of the college from one of their most distinguished alumni, Fr Chris Thomas.

“ASSISI WAS AN

INCREDIBLE EXPERIENCE FOR US ALL, A DAY OF PRAYER, PILGRIMAGE

AND FUN. ”

The sense of history was palpable. The central role played by the college in keeping the Catholic faith alive in post-Ref-ormation England was evident wherever we turned, most notably, the 44 students martyred for their faith who are commemorated to this day. It was heartening to hear of the solidarity displayed between seminarians of differing nation-alities in the most difficult of circumstances during the First and Second World Wars; the universal Church in action. Monday began with Mass in the Basilica of St. Bartholomew on the Island of Tiber, a Basilica dedicated by Pope John Paul II to the memory of the new martyrs of the 20th and 21st centuries. It was humbling and inspiring to see relics from some of the most eminent martyrs of modern times such as St Maximillian Kolbe and The Blessed Oscar Romero. Our visit to the Basilica also served as a timely reminder of the suffering faced by Christians all over the world for their faith in Christ.

2120

Rome Rome

We promptly headed to the new Secretariat for Communi-cations, where we were charmed by Sean-Patrick Lovett, Vat-ican Radio's director of English language programming, dur-ing our lively and open exchanges. Before we could take our leave, Anna and I were grilled on air about our experience of the internship and our trip to Rome. Next followed our trip to the Holy See Press Office to meet Greg Burke, Director of the department, and his deputy Paloma García Ovejero. Greg talked us through his transition from being a Rome-based correspondent for Fox News and Time magazine to the role he enjoys today, while Paloma shared with us the difficulties the depart-ment faces in the current climate.

Feeling as though we were all ex-perts in the art of communications, we ventured to the Rome offices of Associated Press, via one of many pasta-themed pit-stops. We were delighted to meet Nicole Winfield, Vatican reporter for the Associated Press, who explained the vital role that print media still has to play in a social media age. She was happy to share with us a variety of experiences, from travelling as part of the Pope’s press pack on his international trips to the visit of a certain US President to the Vatican.

If Monday had shown us how the Church engages with the world, Tuesday showed us how the Church engages with it-self. How better to start such a day than mass at St Peter’s? To celebrate mass in the crypt and then tour the stunning Basil-ica is an experience that will stay with the us for the rest of our lives. Suitably awestruck, we proceeded to the Congrega-

“HOW BETTER TO START

SUCH A DAY THAN MASS AT ST PETER’S?

”

tion for the Doctrine of the Faith, where Archbishop Di Noia and Fr John-Paul Kimes explained the continuing relevance of the Congregation in promoting and upholding the dignity of the faith in the twenty-first century.

Our itinerary then took us to meet Archbishop Paul Gallagh-er, the Holy See’s Secretary for Relations with States and the first Briton to hold the position. His Excellency was fresh from a meeting with the Prime Minister of Kosovo and was delighted to explain to us the ways in which the Holy See

acts as an agent in global affairs. The Archbishop shared with us his experi-ences from his time as a Papal Nuncio and discussed the current diplomatic priorities of the Church.

Our ‘access all areas’ day at the Vati-can continued with a tour of the Ap-ostolic Place from Monsignor Robert Murphy, Private Secretary the Secre-tariat of State. A highlight of our tour

would be impossible to choose. From our roof-top survey of the Rome skyline to the Sistine Chapel, the tour was simply mesmerising and this rarest of opportunities was thoroughly appreciated by all the interns.

That evening, the Deputy Head of Mission at The British Em-bassy to the Holy See welcomed us to the Ambassador’s res-idence, giving us an insight into life in the diplomatic corps, and their experience of interacting with the Holy See from an outsider’s perspective. Our meeting also enabled us to learn more about how the UK Government views its relationship with the Holy See and the two states’ shared priorities. We

were happy to accept the Deputy Ambassador’s invitation to the drinks reception for Britons working in Rome. It was an unforgettable experience to be able to converse with such a diverse range of guests about their experiences of working with and for the Church.

On our final morning, we met Fr Augusto Zampini from the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development, a cre-ation of Pope Francis, who shared with us the Vatican’s work on environmental justice, human ecology and inequality. Thus ended our visit to the eternal city. We are incredibly grateful to Greg, Steph, Nina and Fr Chris, in addition to all those we met, for their immense generosity in organising this trip of a lifetime.

2322

Rome Rome

2524

Alumni

Anna Geatrell

Caritas Europa Regional Conference 2018 on Young

Caritas, Tbilisi, Georgia

Notable trips

The 2018 regional conference of Caritas Europa aimed to develop youth engage-ment in Caritas, the Catholic Church and society. This is no easy task, given the di-versity of contexts in which Caritas organisations exist on the European continent. Caritas Europa stretches well beyond the current borders of the European Union, which means they can give an important perspective on a wide range of social issues, from armed conflict to migration.

The representatives of 42 organisations gathered together in Georgia, to reflect on, discuss and celebrate this work. We were immersed in a different country and context with new experiences of Caritas, faith and culture. We participated in masses in three different rites (Assyrian-Chaldean, Latin and Armenian), spoke about Caritas Georgia on the streets of Tbilisi and celebrated the 25th anniversary of Caritas Europa with Georgian dancing and food. For many delegates, this was their first experience of Georgia and the work of Caritas in supporting those facing hardship in a post-communist context.

Representation was broad, with decision-makers, staff members, interns and volunteers taking part in the decision-making processes. From the outset, young people and those new to the Caritas family were encouraged to speak and share their perspectives and opinions in panel discussions, small group work and infor-mal conversations. There was a real sense of collaboration and genuine participa-tion. The final recommendations at a national and European level aim to increase the involvement of young people in decision-making and governance, for example through developing a strategy for ‘Young Caritas’.

Back in January, my boss walked into the office one morning and asked, ‘Do you want to go to Rome?’ He then told me that Pope Francis was calling a ‘pre-Synod’ for the Synod on Youth and Vocation. I was being asked if I would go and represent England & Wales. Over the next few weeks I did my research and before long I was on a bus from Fiumicino airport and arrived at a Pontifical College four tube stops from Rome’s city centre. What ensued was really something.

There were three hundred young people present, representing every nation that the Church is involved in. Come Monday morning, Pope Francis walked into the conference room and spent an amazing four hours with us. He was how you see him on TV: funny, a fan of tangents, but equally deep when he wanted to be, which was often. He had chosen to invite us in to this conversation, saying ‘Sometimes people think you have to keep young people at arms length. This is not true! They are fully part of our culture!’ There was a real feeling that our invitation had come from him. He was also keenly aware of some of the darker realties of the upcoming genera-tions, citing the Italian youth unemployment rate at 25% nationally, he linked this with the rise substance abuse and even suicide among young people, saying, ‘These are realities we must be conscious of. A job on the continent would save them!’ and that, ‘we have to help young people who are disorientated.’

After an amazing start, there was a lot of work to be done. We were filtered into our language groups and began thrashing out the issues of being young in the world, how young people make decisions and how the Church can best involve and min-ister to them. These conversations covered everything from dissatisfaction with parish, the struggle of family life, the role of women in the Church and using mod-ern communication. The word that ran through all of this was ‘authentic’: this is the kind of Church that young people were saying they wanted. The session ended with a presentation of our paper in front of the Cardinal who would be running the Synod of Bishops in October. As a thank you, we were lucky to attend the first ever open-air concert at Castel Gandolfo, with headline act, Sr Cristina from The Voice of Italy. Since leaving Rome, I have been inspired by the many things that my Synod friends are doing in the Church all over the world, from climate warriors in Samoa to youth workers in India and Australia – it is an incredible network to be a part of.

The pre-Synod was a profound experience of Church and gave me a chance to do something seriously substantive. Generation Z, my generation, is being nicknamed ‘The Purpose Generation’ for wanting their work to mean something. It was a joy to see those around me proud of the work that we had done and I am so grateful to the Church for continually opening these opportunities to young people and for inviting them into conversation.

Isaac Withers

The week I met the Pope: what it was like to be at

the Youth Synod

Alumni

Young Caritas can be understood as a process of dialogue and reflection, as well as an organisational strategy. The 2018 Regional Conference built on the precedent set in 2016, when Caritas Europa met in Lourdes to discuss the engagement of those at the grassroots. Bernard Thibaud (Secretary General of Caritas France-Se-cours Catholique, Vice-President of Caritas Europa) writes, “Caritas Europa bears a special responsibility to contribute to building a Europe rich in cultural and spiritual diversity of all its members – far beyond the European Union alone!”. Ele-na Romanova, an eighteen-year-old volunteer with Caritas Georgia says, “Meeting people from Europe seemed like lots of people with different stories, thoughts and experiences came together. It was breath-taking to be in one room with lots of unique nationalities and personalities”. It is in the coming together of these differ-ent people and Caritas’ that a new, Young Caritas can be found.

2726

Quo Vadis

TOMIt has been a real privilege to take part in this internship. Growing in faith, understanding more about the Church and working in Parliament has been a fantastic opportunity. After finishing the internship, I will be continuing to volunteer for Together For the Common Good, an ecumenical charity that we met during the internship and whose blog I now edit. I am also going to be taking up a position working for a UK Government department as a Policy Advisor. I’m looking forward to crossing the road from Parliament into Whitehall and taking the many great memories and experiences of this internship with me!

JEROMEMy plans are not set in stone but I am hoping to work for CAFOD or another Caritas agency in Africa next year. I am looking forward to developing my experience in the field, and hope to come back to the UK to work in the international development sector, building on the skills and knowledge I have gained during my time at CAFOD.Q

uo V

adis PIPPA

I have thoroughly enjoyed my time in Parliament this year and I am extremely grateful for being given the opportunities that I have been. Working with Baroness Grey-Thompson has opened my eyes to a different side of politics, and it has been amazing to work with someone so passionate about making a positive difference for so many people. I am lucky to be able to continue working in Parliament, something that without the Bishops’ Conference I would not have had the opportunity to do. Exploring my faith alongside this work has been helpful and I am looking forward to putting into practice what I have learned this year.

JOEWorking in the office of Mary Robinson MP has been an incredible experience. I have been able to work on a wide range of tasks, from liaising with Government Ministers to briefing Mary for her role on the Housing Select Committee and as a PPS to the BEIS Department. Tabling parliamentary questions and briefing Mary for media appearances, in addition to drafting Mary’s contributions in the chamber, are particularly rewarding experiences. Mary is my local MP and it has been fantastic to see her fight for our local community of Cheadle. I am delighted to say that I will be staying to work for Mary beyond July and so I am eternally grateful to the Faith in Politics team for providing me with the perfect stepping stone to the world of work.

ANNAAt the end of the internship, I will be beginning a new role with CSAN as an administrative assistant. I look forward to building on the work undertaken during my internship, to strengthening relationships with our members and stakeholders and to deepening my understanding of faith-based social action. In all its aspects, this year has helped me to make this important decision and I shall continue to draw on the fruits from this experience for many years.

JOSHJosh is hoping to move into education after being inspired by his time at the Catholic Education Service.

ISAACI have loved working in communications and have gained so much experience in this field. I don’t have something fixed yet but I definitely know that this is what I love to do and will be pursue my career in this way.

2928

In other news...

Dom and Lucy were married at Sacred Heart, Wimbledon in February 2017.

We wish them every happiness and blessing.

If you have news that you would like to share with the Network then

please let us know.

Contact: stephanie.macgillivray@cbcew.org.uk

30

Michaela Kelly

CBCEW Human Resources and Intern “mum”

1967 – 2018Eternal rest, grant unto her O Lord, and

let perpetual light shine upon her. May she rest in peace.

Amen

stay in touch…The Faith in Politics Co-ordinators:Greg Pope greg.pope@cbcew.org.ukSteph MacGillivray stephanie.macgillivray@cbcew.org.uk

Faith in Politics

Faith in Politics Network

Faith in Politics @catholicinterns

Faith in Politics Network @theldnnetwork

32