No. 716 Catholic newspaper for the diocese of Hexham & Newcastle December 2015 £1

12x2

Medjugorje

Christmas banner from last year

Bishops say ‘no’ to ordination ofmarried priests

THE Northern Cross of-fice will be closed fromMonday, December 21,until Friday, January 1inclusive.

The January issue of theCross will be published onthe weekend of January 9and 10.

To allow for staff, pub-lishing and commercialbusiness breaks over theChristmas period, pleasenote that the deadline forthe booking of advertise-

ments for the January issueof the Cross is Thursday,December 17.

Editorial contributors arealso asked to supply textand pictures for the Januaryissue by Tuesday, Decem-ber 22, if possible. Thefinal deadline is Thursday,December 31.

May we wish all readers,contributors, advertisers,deliverers and volunteers avery merry Christmas and ahappy New year.

THE Bishops of Englandand Wales have ruled outthe prospect of admittingmarried men to thepriesthood.

A motion to the PlenaryAssembly of the Bishops’Conference in Leeds forthe ordination of maturemarried men, tabled byBishop Seamus Cunning-ham of Hexham and New-castle, was not supported.

During the Novembermeeting of the Hexham &Newcastle Council ofPriests, the priests of thediocese requested that theissue of accepting marriedmen into the priesthoodmight be discussed at themeeting of the Bishops’Conference, which tookplace in Leeds from No-vember 16 to 19.

Bishop Seamus agreed totheir request to raise thematter.

Reporting back to thediocese, Bishop Seamussaid: “Arguments havebeen put forward that with

the declining numbers ofpriests, ordaining marriedmen who are proven intheir Christian life, wouldallow the faithful not to bestarved from the sacra-ments, especially the Eu-charist.”

During what the Bishopdescribed as a “very calmand thoughtful” discussion,many bishops noted thatthe tradition of the Churchfor over 1,000 years wasthat the priesthood andcelibacy, as a sign andsymbol of an interior dedi-cation to Christ and hiskingdom, are intimatelylinked.

“Any separation of themas a norm of the Churchwould change the nature ofhow we see the priest-hood,” Bishop Seamus re-ported.

He added: “Acknowl-edgement was made ofthose married priests whoserve in our parishes at the

moment, especially the for-mer Anglican clergy whohave converted to theCatholic Church over thepast 20 years and thosewho are members of theOrdinariate.

“At the heart of thepriesthood is sacrifice; thesacrifice of the Mass whereChrist gives himself for thesalvation of the world, andthe sacrifice of the priestwho offers his life for hispeople.

“In the context of thiswide-ranging discussion,the Bishops maintained thetraditional teaching of theChurch for a celibatepriesthood.”

In response to brief ques-tions, Bishop Seamus saidthat the decision was basedupon a general consensus.He said he felt that the dis-cussion reflected priestsand bishops “listening toeach other and searchingtheir hearts”.

by Andrew Smith

q Paul Naughton makes a Christmas appealdressed in Santa hat and the obligatory shorts,for Macmillan Cancer Support.

Head dons shorts for a year

Christmas deadlines

THE inspiring head-teacher of the region’stop-performing Catholicprimary school has ac-cepted a challenge towear shorts for a year inaid of charity.

Paul Naughton, Head-teacher at Sacred Heart Pri-mary School, Byermoor,began the challenge in Julyand aims to carry out onthroughout the wintermonths to boost funds forMacmillan Cancer Sup-port, writes Andrew Smith.

Paul said: “The first fewmonths were a breeze al-though it was a ratherwashed out summer. How-ever, from November it hasgradually started to get alittle tough at times in themorning at the school gateand during break and

EXCLUSIVElunchtime duties. Workingat Sacred Heart can be a lit-tle draughty at the best oftimes.”

The challenge was set byan elderly parishioner dur-ing a wet day in July andPaul aims to see it throughto completion on July 22next year, the last day of thesummer term. The entireschool community andmany others are supportingPaul in his quest.

“My staff, governors andacademy directors are verysupportive of the chal-lenge,” said Paul, “althoughI had to explain to Ofstedwhy I was wearing shortsrecently during an inspec-tion but it didn’t prevent

them awarding SacredHeart ‘outstanding’ inevery area.

“I also have to explainmyself to new prospectiveparents and visitors whooften think I’m a bit odd.

“Also, Bishop Seamusasked why I was wearingshorts at St Mary’s Cathe-dral, Newcastle, during aMass for new headteachers,but he thought it was a wor-thy challenge.”

“Attending a footballmatch at St James’s Park inNovember was one of thoseplaces I found tough, witheveryone so well wrappedup apart from the playersand me, shivering awaywith my large Bovril.

“More recently, I havehad staff dinners and apresentation evening at the

local golf club, which wasblack tie. I did the bow tiebut, embarrassingly, I hadto wear the shorts too. It allwent down well - I was justtold not to attend next year!

“I have no place to hideand my three childrenwon’t even let me wear mypyjamas in bed, so itsshorts 24/7 when I shop, goto meetings, collect thepost, milk, pop out formeals, the golf club, kidsfootball matches and go tochurch.

“Fortunately, I’ve had nofunerals to attend this yearbut I will cross that bridgeif it comes.”

Paul, who has completedseveral testing endurancechallenges in the past, saidthat people who know himunderstand his reasoning

for supporting Macmillan. “Life is precious and

must be lived out to the fullif possible,” he said. “Thathas always been my lifephilosophy. I never waste aday or a minute if I don’tthink I have to. Personalchallenges keep me goingand help me to help others.

“One charity that reallymakes a difference and hasthe most remarkable nursesis Macmillan Cancer Sup-port. If you can supportme, then please either popyour pennies in the box atthe school entrance or do-nate online.

lTo donate to Paul in hischallenge for MacmillanCancer Support go to:www.justgiving.com/Paul-Naughton3

q The moment of a lifetime for little Nya MaryBinu, of Fenham, when Pope Francis gave her apersonal blessing. Story in full, Page 3.

Wishing a Joyful Christmas and Happy New Year to All

MEDJUGORJEPILGRIMAGEs 2016

Departing from Newcastle £539

For further details, please contact Marie Bedingfield on 01642 530739

Sunday 22nd May to Sunday 29th

May 2016

If booked before

the end of February will

have £30 Discount

Northern Cross

would like to wish all Northern Cross readers a very happy and holy

Christmas.

wish all their members and friends, a very happy Christmas and all good

wishes for the New Year.

Lynn & HCPT GrouP 527

THe neW SVP ConferenCeTHe HoLy famiLy PariSH

HarTLePooL

BernadeTTe and daVid LaWSon

Tony and marGareT mendeZ

maureen and JoHn BaiLey

CaTHoLiC Women’S LeaGue

anne, daVe and Lee WiCkHam

THe CHairman & offiCerS of THe norTH eaST BranCH

of THe

feLLinG iriSH aSSoCiaTion

Greetings and every blessing to all in the Hexham&

Newcastle Diocese.From NX readers on the

southern extremity of the Diocese.

mike & Bernie morriSSey, ‘Sunny’ SaLTBurn-By-Sea

Christmas blessingsto all our pals

love fromMaureen & John Bailey

send love and prayers for Christmas

# Big thanks to everyone for making

our 20th anniversary year a real hit.

# And don’t forget: 2016 is HCPT’s diamond jubilee!

wish everyone a most Happy, Holy, and Peaceful Christmas.

and we welcome you to our Colourful Carol Service

on Sunday 20th December 4pmOur Christmas Day Mass is at 9am

THe PariSH CommuniTy of ST WiLLiam’S in darLinGTon

wish all their friendsa very Happy

Christmasand every blessing in

the New Year

St Cecilia’s Section, Sunderland,thank all those who have

supported the Section throughout the year and wish

everyone a very happy Christmas

Happy and Holy Christmas to Bernadette and David Lawson,

John and Maureen Bailey, Andrew, Maggie, Claire, Kathleen

and all others who support and help the Northern Cross

wish a Happy and Holy ChristmasTurning concern inTo acTion+ This is the Church Year of Mercy

– why not join SVP?+ First contact: Hartlepool

01429-268680

catholic Writers’ guild of St Francis de Sales

wish all members & friends a very Happy Christmas… and

we hope to welcome many new members in the New Year

The time for change has come!We wish all Northern Cross readers a

Happy and Peaceful Christmas*Want to support us? Or just learn more

about the change we seek? Visit our website - www.marriedclergy.

co.uk - or email mkerrigan12@yahoo.com

ne-mmaCThe MoveMenT for Married Clergy in The norTh-easT*

Christmas notiCeboard

Northern CrossDecember 2015GREETINGS 2 www.northerncross.org.uk

3Northern CrossDecember 2015 NEWSwww.northerncross.org.uk

18x7

Cathedral TBC

MAKING confessionthough services of “gen-eral absolution” is to endacross the dioceses ofEngland and Wales.

A Bishops’ Conferenceheld in Leeds in Novemberruled that it “does not ap-prove the use of Rite lll cel-ebrations, commonlycalled ‘general absolu-tion’”.

Bishop Seamus Cunning-ham reported back to theHexham & NewcastleCouncil of Laity, saying:“This encounter, whether itis through an individualconfession in the tradi-tional manner, or throughindividual confession aspart of a Penitential Serv-ice, is key to experiencingthe love of Christ.”

It was for this reason, theBishop said, that the deci-sion had gone against serv-ices of general absolution.

He said: “The CatholicChurch believes the Sacra-ment of Reconciliation,commonly known as ‘con-fession’, is central in theprocess of conversion.

“Within the celebration ofthis beautiful sacrament,the person is able to ‘touchthe grandeur of God’s

mercy’ so that the experi-ence becomes ‘a source ofinner peace’.”

Bishop Seamus ex-plained: “Jesus calls all torepent and believe in theGood News, and so experi-ence this mercy as a gift ofthe Father to those he hascreated in love.

“This process of conver-sion is at the heart of theChristian life.”

He said the Bishops’ Con-ference had noted the op-portunities afforded by thecoming Year of Mercy,promulgated by Pope Fran-cis, to invite all people to‘experience the rich mercyof the Father’.

“Each diocese will beplacing, the Sacrament ofReconciliation at the heartof the Year,” he said.

“There will be many op-portunities in churches upand down the country toexperience the forgivenessof the Father. The Bishops’Conference has affirmedthe importance of the per-sonal encounter betweenthe penitent and Christ,present in the person of thepriest confessor.”

A GENERAL audience with thePope turned into a once-in-a-life-time moment for five-year-oldNiya Mary Binu of Fenham -when the Holy Father gave her apersonal blessing.

Niya, of Sacred Heart PrimarySchool, Fenham, visited Italy withher family during the half-term hol-iday in October, five days beforeher fifth birthday

On October 28 they arrived in

Rome with the hope of seeing PopeFrancis, and set off at 4.30am to geta good position for the general au-dience in St Peter’s Sqaure.

When the Popemobile passed thespot where they had been standingfor several hours, Pope Francispointed to one of the securityguards to pick Niya for a blessing.

The family was awestruck whenPope Francis made a sign of thecross on Niya’s forehead.

They could not capture this pre-cious moment on their own cameraor mobile phone they later rushed

to the Papal office where they man-aged to get a few pictures of thevery special occasion.

Niya’s dad Binu Skriah said:“Like every pilgrim to Rome, wewent with the hope of seeing PopeFrancis from close quarters and toclick a few pictures of him when hepassed by in his Popemobile. Butwe didn’t expect Pope Francis tobless our daughter personally. Weare thankful to God that our daugh-ter was blessed by the Vicar ofChrist. What more could we ask forfrom a trip to Rome?”

Niya said with excitement: “Itwas nice to see Pope Francis andbeing blessed by him.

“I have a picture of Pope Francisat home and now I can say toeveryone that I have been person-ally blessed by him.”

Niya Mary attends the receptionclass at Sacred Heart where herelder brother Andreas Binu studiesin Year 3.

Dad Binu runs a group of con-venience stores in Gateshead andmother Sini Binu works as a staffnurse in RVI, Newcastle.

q Pope Francis blesses Niya at the Vatican during his general audience inRome.

q Niya Mary Binu with brother Andreas Binu.

Report byAlison Rebello

Pope gives personalblessing to Niya

Church tostop ‘general absolution’

by Andrew Smith

Usual Service Times at the Cathedral Sunday Holy Mass is celebrated at: 8.00am — spoken 10.00am — cantor and organ, with children’s Liturgy of the Word on the first Sunday of the month (during school term) 11.30am — Solemn Mass with the Cathedral choir (for Music Lists see under ‘Music’ on the Cathedral website or visit http://music.stmaryscathedral.org.uk/#/blog) 6.30pm — music group

Monday–Friday Holy Mass is celebrated at 8.00am and 12.05pm (On certain Holydays there is additionally a 5.30pm Mass; on Solemnities and certain Feasts which fall during the week, the 12.05 Mass is often sung. Please check the website.)

Saturday Holy Mass is celebrated at 10.00am

Public Holidays Holy Mass is celebrated at 12.05pm only

Confessions (Sacrament of Penance) Wednesday and Friday after the 8.00am Mass Tuesday and Thursday at 5.00pm Saturday at 10.30–11.30am

Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament Monday–Friday 11.00–11.55am (with Benediction at 11.55; Rosary on Fridays at 11.30am)

Cathedral Opening Hours

Cathedral Office telephone 0191 232 6953 ext 201 e-mail office@stmaryscathedral.org.uk Mon–Fri 9.30am–4.00pm

Pauline Books and Media telephone 0191 231 6040 Tues–Sat 10.00am–4.30pm and the first Sunday of the month 9.30am–1.15pm

Cloister Café and Restaurant telephone 0191 232 8761 Mon–Fri 8.30am–5.00pm, Sat 9.00 am–4.30 pm and Sun 9.00am–2.00pm

Cathedral Diary

Wednesday 2 December The Source, a gathering of Young People from across the Diocese. It is for all those in Year 9+ The event starts at 7.00pm and finishes at 8.30pm. There is a time of Praise and Worship, input by a guest speaker and socialising in the Cloister Cafe afterwards.

ST MARY’S CATHEDRAL Newcastle upon Tyne www.stmaryscathedral.org.uk

(0191) 232 6953 office@stmaryscathedral.org.uk

Monday 7, 14, 21 December Opening the door of mercy - afternoons of recollection for Advent 1.30 - 3.00pm in Cathedral House. All welcome!

Wednesday 9 December ‘Illuminate’ - an Advent Liturgy by the Hexham and Newcastle Catholic Schools Partnership. 6-7.00pm in the Cathedral. All are most welcome to attend.

Friday 11 December Christmas Sparkle in the Cloister Cafe - Back by popular demand! An evening of Christmas Cheer, gift ideas and entertainment. Tickets are £10 which includes a Christmas Carvery served with wine. (tickets available from the cafe )

Saturday 12 December Carol singing with the Missionaries of Charity on Northumberland Street (by M&S and Primark). Carols start at 3.00pm. All are Welcome to join them.

Thursday 17 December Carols by Candlelight (with Brunswick Methodist Church and the Salvation Army band), 7.30pm. All are welcome.

Saturday 19 December Advent Penitential Service, with the opportunity for individual confession, 12 noon. All are welcome.

Thursday 24 Christmas Eve First Mass of the Nativity at 8.00pm (Principal Celebrant: Bishop Séamus – solemn sung Mass with the Cathedral choir)

Friday 25 December Christmas Day Masses at 8.00am (with carols) and at 10.00am (International Mass, with the Cathedral choir: readings and prayers in several languages)

Year of Mercy 8 December 2015- 20 November 2016

On Tuesday 8 December, Bishop Séamus will launch the Year of Mercy in our Diocese

7.15 am Mass with Bishop Se amus 10.30 - 11.15am Talk by Bishop Se amus 11.15 - 11.45am Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament 12.05pm Concelebrated Mass with Bishop Se amus and Diocesan Clergy

There will be Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament throughout the day and Priests available to hear Confession between 8am and 8pm

(except during talk and Mass)

On Sunday 13 December 2015 Bishop Séamus will open the Holy Door at 3.00pm in the Cathedral.

All are welcome

4 Northern CrossDecember 2015NEWS www.northerncross.org.uk

10x1 House adFr AndrewDownie

YOU MAY have seen the ad-vertisement - KYNREN, AnEpic Tale of England. It wasbroadcast sometime after XFactor recently.

This was an early drumbeat fora huge, dramatic, outdoor story-telling of our history, involving1,000 trained volunteers. It hap-pens in Bishop Auckland andstarts in July.

Big things are happening herein the seat of the Prince Bishops.But I want to tell you about theman behind them and what’s be-hind him.

Jonathan Ruffer, a 64-year-oldinvestment banker hit the head-lines in the North East when heput up millions to save a series ofreligious paintings in AucklandCastle by Spanish maestro Fran-cisco de Zurbaran. Why? Becausehe believes in people.

So what’s the connection? He’sgone on since to take over the

castle, the former home of thebishops of Durham, to set upAuckland Castle Trust and de-velop a range of projects restor-ing the heritage back to localpeople.

Jonathan is a communitybuilder, a philanthropist whowishes to spend the later years ofhis working life helping others tobelieve in themselves and to de-velop the latent seam of great tal-ent that we all know sits herewithin the region.

Hang on, you might be alreadywondering, what’s afoot here?What’s the real reason why he’sdoing this? What’s in it for him?

He lives his life as his best ex-pression of what he believes Godis asking of him. He has a senseof obedience to the Lord that Ifind humbling and quite remark-able. He prays from 5am to

6.30am each morning, drawnever deeper into the riches of 11Anglican collect prayers. It setshis compass for the day.

He feels simply called to usewhatever resources he has andcan raise in order to encourageand build community. He’s aboutpeople. Buildings help, butthey’re not his main focus.

Here you meet a man with ayouthful smile, a disarming senseof humour and an openness toGod and to possibility. It comesout as an adventure, a heady mixof courage and fear, handled witha beguiling and strong innate trustin Providence. His work in in-vestments makes him no strangerto risk, but to do nothing meansthat nothing happens. AndJonathan Ruffer is a doer.

He has gathered a passionateteam around him, carefully en-gaging others including, among arange of projects, 1,000 volun-

teers to make happen a story-telling spectacle costing an eye-watering amount of money. Butit’s important - it’s the story of us.You’ve seen nothing like it sincethe opening ceremony of the Lon-don 2012 Olympics.

Our area has been the birthplaceof so much invention. Our narra-tive of hard graft, skill and grimehas given much to the world.

But the glory days are past, anddespite politicians’ rhetoric, poorprospects, scepticism and evencynicism contribute to a dimin-ishing self-image that many findis affecting our communities.

Here, the Auckland Castle Trustand the Eleven Arches Trust,which is producing KYNREN,have a vision to put pride backinto local people and to warm thewaiting talents of the area.

Training and volunteering op-portunities, apprenticeships andjobs are emerging from a series of

enterprises under Jonathan’s in-spiration. The development andrenovations at the castle and anew extension, housing a largeMuseum of Faith, will sit along-side a new welcome building, arestoring of the 17th centurywalled garden, remodelling of aMarket Place hotel for visitorsand a new Institute of Spanish Artand Culture together with refur-bishment of other buildings todraw in people who once madethe town a bustling centre of in-terest.

The KYNREN experience isone not to be missed. Check itswebsite (Kynren.co.uk) and thatof Auckland Castle (aucklandcas-tle.org) for information. And bearin mind, as we look Forward To-gether in Hope, that consistentand open prayer can lead us intopossibilities we may yet be un-able to foresee. Jonathan Rufferis an example.

Inspiring risk-taker banks on belief in peopleby Fr Dennis Tindall

q Jonathan Ruffer,open to God and ad-venture.

CANON Frank Kearneycelebrated the 60th an-niversary of his ordina-tion on November 27with a Jubilee Mass heldin the Chapel of StJoseph’s Home, Newcas-tle where he now resides.

Canon, as he is called byhis former parishioners, re-tired from active parishministry in 2011.

Fr Martin Stempczyk wasthe Principle Celebrant and10 of the Canon’s brotherpriests concelebrated withhim. Canon Alec Barrassgave the homily.

The congregation in-cluded members of theCanon’s family, friendsfrom his previous parishes,in particular his final parishof St Agnes, Crawcrook,other residents of StJoseph’s Home and the Lit-tle Sisters of the Poor, whoprovide him with such lov-ing care.

At the end of the Mass aformal presentation of aPapal Blessing and a Spiri-tual Bouquet was made,along with other gifts, bymembers of St Agnes. Abuffet supper followed and

CONGRATULATIONSto Fr David Russell, whomarked the silver jubileeof his ordination to thepriesthood last month.

Fr David, parish priest ofthe two parishes of HolyFamily, Cockerton and StThomas Aquinas, both inDarlington, enjoyed aweek of celebrations basedaround his jubilee date,November 17.

He celebrated a Mass inhis home parish of OurLady Star of the Sea, Hor-den, where he was or-dained 25 years ago.Parishioners joined him af-terwards to celebrate andenjoyed a cake baked anddecorated by Fr David’smother, Linda.

Later in the week, chil-dren from all the Catholicprimary schools in Dar-lington gathered for a won-derful Mass.

Finally, many of hispriest friends and his pres-ent and former parishionersjoined him for a Mass of

ST MARY’S, Stockton, isholding a song-night toraise funds for theGhurkha Welfare Truston Friday, December 18at 7.30pm.

The £5 ticket will includemulled wine and mincepies, courtesy of the Co-op-erative Funeral Service.

The parish is hosting the

Co-op’s memorial carolservice on December 9, at7pm, supported by the Sal-vation Army band.

Butterwick Hospice willhold its annual memorialservice at St Mary’s at 3pmon January 3.

For more informationcontact Bernadette Coyneon 01642 674461.

YOUNG people acrossthe North East are beingasked for their viewsabout the present and fu-ture of the CatholicChurch in the diocese.

As part of the ForwardTogether in Hope pro-gramme, an online surveyhas been designed specifi-cally for young people aged11 to 19.

The survey is a direct re-sponse to initial feedbackreceived from parishes andindividuals about the prior-ities for the diocese.

Tony Sacco, DiocesanDevelopment Officer, said:“A frequent comment isthat we need to listen to andlearn from young people ifwe are serious about engag-ing them more fully withinour worshipping communi-ties.”

The survey will be openuntil February 2016. A linkto the survey, along with ashort video and leaflet, isbeing provided to allCatholic secondary schoolsand parishes in the dioceseand can be found on theproject’s website. Go towww.hope.rcdhn.org.uk.The team can be contactedon 0191 243 3304.

A CONCELEBRATED Mass was held at Our Ladyand St Wilfrid, Blyth, last month to mark the 100th an-niversary of the parish’s Society of St Vincent de Paulconference, writes Eileen Smith.

Parish priest Fr Philip Quinn was joined on the altar byFr John Sherrington, from the Inner City Passionist Com-munity in Newcastle, who is a former parishioner and pastmember of the Blyth conference.

The Mass, which took place on November 21, was at-tended by SVP members, representatives from other con-ferences, past members, the Youth SVP and Mini Vinnies.

The readers were former members Theresa Kingdon andMary Crozier, while the Offertory gifts were presented bypast members Billy Bell and Bill Armstrong; Steven Gre-gory and Thomas Fahey, representing the Youth SVP; andLauren Taylor from the Mini Vinnies.

Afterwards a reception was held for parishioners andguests in the parish hall.

Mike Reynolds, president of the Tyne Central Council,paid tribute to the work of the Blyth conference and pre-sented a certificate. An anniversary card was presented byMini Vinnies Charlie Thompson and Lauren Taylor.

JOE Stewart, a retiredteacher, has written abook for children basedon the early life of St Bedeof Jarrow.

Bede’s Well is a fictionalaccount of the boyhood ofBede.

Joe, originally from Heb-burn, has aimed the book atchildren from the age of tenupwards and adults whohave an interest in localhistory.

For more information, goto www.joeestewart.wee-bly.com, contact Joe on0191 529 5947 or 07955701393, or email him atjoeclass456@outlook.com.

by Andrew Jackson

Ghurkha aid concert

‘Content’ Canon marks60 years as a priest

a special jubilee cake wascut to mark the occasion.

The Order of Servicebooklet included a poementitled “Heart’s Gifts”which was written by theCanon.

Canon was born in Au-gust, 1929, and grew up inBlackhill, near Consett. Heattended St Cuthbert’sGrammar School beforestudying for the priesthoodat Ushaw College and the

Venerable English College,Rome, the city where hewas ordained by CardinalFalconieri.

Canon was captivated byRome, its architecture andits cultural beauty andwhen able he never missedan opportunity to revisit theEternal City.

He served at StColumba’s, Wallsend, StMary’s Cathedral, StMary’s, Forest Hall and fi-

q Canon Frank Kearney celebrates his Diamond Jubilee with the LittleSisters of the Poor at St Joseph’s Home, Newcastle.

nally St Agnes, Crawcrook,where he was parish priestfrom 1987 to 2011.

Canon is a much-lovedand respected pastoralpriest. Whenever askedhow he is, he always hap-pily replies “I’m very con-tent”. Long may youremain so, Canon.

l Andrew Jackson is aparishioner at St Agnes,Crawcrook.

Young arethe ‘now’ of Church

by BernadetteLawson

Thanksgiving, followed bya social in the parish centre.

Fr David’s jubilee is thelast one of what has been abumper year for priestly ju-bilees in the diocese.

Fr Michael Keoghan, FrHenry Ryan, Fr RonaldRichmond and CanonFrank Kearney all marked60 years of priesthood.

Fr Jack Taggart and FrMichael Melia, died justbefore their jubilee date.

There were four goldenjubilees - Fr Kevin Cum-mins, Fr Harry O’Reilly, FrJoseph Park and Fr SydneyRiley.

Fr Michael Campionmarked his ruby jubilee inJune.

The silver jubilarianswere Fr Michael Humble,Fr Nick Jennings, Fr PaulMcCourt, Fr Peter Stott andFr Russell.

q Fr David Russellcuts the cake baked byhis mother, Linda.

Parishesshare silvercelebration

q Kathleen Wilson,Acting President of StWilfrid’s SVP, Blyth, re-ceives a certificatemarking the confer-ence’s centenary year.

Century of service in Blyth Book on earlylife of St Bede

THE Lourdes pilgrimageHCPT Group 527 andHartlepool Youth MinistryTeam have joined forces toraise funds through the Box-ing Day Dip at SeatonCarew.

Both groups are appealing

for volunteers to join the teamand sponsor forms can be ob-tained from Lynn Docherty(01429 298053), Mary Frain atSt Teresa’s School, Hartlepool(01429 274936), or KevinWalsh, Youth Ministry co-ordi-nator (01429 267457).

Teams join for Dip

COULD GOD BE

CALLING YOU TO

SERVE AS A PRIEST?

Diocesan Director of Vocations:

Fr Andrew Downie

( 01207 502196vocations@rcdhn.org.uk

Fr SHAUN O’Neill0191 273 3903

5Northern CrossDecember 2015 NEWSwww.northerncross.org.uk

18x4

St Cuthberts Care,Business Manager

10 x 2Hartlepoolart exhibition

THE criteria by which chil-dren are baptised acrossHexham & Newcastle is tobe the subject of wide-spread consultation withinparishes in the monthsahead.

It follows previous reviewsof confession, first commun-ion and confirmation, and theissue of new policies andguidelines.

Baptism was one of thesacraments Bishop SeamusCunningham asked to beconsidered when he set upreviews of the varying prac-tices and forms of prepara-tion that existed throughoutthe diocese.

Fr Michael McCoy, Headof Adult Formation and

Evangelisation, is leading thereview of baptism.

He told a meeting of thediocesan Council of Laity inNovember that it was the“hot potato” among thesacraments, in the sense ofhow it was celebrated andhow people were preparedfor it.

Fr McCoy said that thenumbers of parents request-ing that their children be bap-tised remained consistentlyhigh and, each year, an aver-age of 3,500 baptism tookplace.

“We should be encouragedby this,” he said, “but thereshould be a consistent ap-proach to preparation forbaptism. That is what Bishop

GUESTS and volunteers atHoly Cross Lunch Club inSunderland have whole-heartedly embraced twoCarmelite priests who haverecently arrived in the re-gion from India.

Fr Alex Ligori and Fr LouisAroon are living and servingat the Sacred Heart and StJohn Bosco parish in Sunder-land, together with parishpriest, Fr Mariadass.

With their parish dutiescovering the celebration ofMass for residents and visi-tors in the home’s St JeanneJugan chapel, both Fr Louisand Fr Ligori have been de-lighted to be able to pop in tovisit everyone at the lunchclub. As well as being avail-able to offer comfort andprayers, Fr Louis and Fr Lig-ori are enjoying the kindnessand hospitality on offer, too,

and are being thoroughlylooked after by the lunchclub’s volunteers and guests.

Held at Holy Cross twice aweek, the lunch club was setup by St Cuthberts Care andthe parishes across Sunder-land to provide a sociablemeal, activities and compan-ionship for local people whofeel lonely or isolated.

Run entirely by volunteers,the lunch club regularly at-

tracts around 20 guests andSt Cuthberts Care’s Volun-teer Co-ordinator, NicolaMilne, would love to hearfrom anyone who would liketo join the team of volunteersor anyone who wishes to goto the lunch club, whichcosts just £2.50 per person.Nicola can be contacted on0191 228 0111 or email: n i c o l a . m i l n e @ s t c u t h -bertscare.org.uk.

THE Year of Mercy, whichbegins on Tuesday, Decem-ber 8, could have a majortransforming effect on our-selves, our churches andthe diocese, Bishop SeamusCunningham told mem-bers of a thriving diocesanCouncil of Laity in Novem-ber.

“It could be a fantasticyear, if we take it seriously,”the Bishop said.

He told the packed meetingthat the primary role of thelay person within the Church

was to evangelise. “It is therole of every baptised Chris-tian,” he said, and he askedthat the committed faithfuluse the Year of Mercy tobring others, including ‘rest-ing’ Catholics, back to theChurch.

Outlining a year of specialevents to celebrate whatPope Francis instigated asthe Year of Mercy, BishopSeamus said: “We shouldn’tbe going it alone. We shouldencourage others to join us,rather like the ‘come homefor Christmas’ initiative, thatencourages non-churchgoers

to attend a Christmas Mass.”For his own part and reach-

ing out to others, BishopSeamus plans to visit everyprison in the diocese over theyear with the message that itis within their own power forprisoners the change theirway of life.

“They obviously can’t getout to attend church servicesbut their cell door can be-come their ‘holy door’, andit can open for them.”

And in a message to theseparated, divorced and re-married Catholics, BishopSeamus said that a recent

Seamus wants to see.”Fr McCoy said there

needed to be “reasonable ex-pectations” on both sides –what the parents expectedand what the Church ex-pected.

New guidelines wouldcome from a broad consulta-tion. A core group of priestsand lay people had been es-tablished to steer the review.Consultations would takeplace in each of the six epis-copal areas by mid-Decem-ber and they were open toeveryone.

Information and postershad gone to all parishes andthree parishes from eachepiscopal area would be ap-proached to lead the reviewin the New Year. It washoped that this would com-prise a large, medium andsmall parish in each area.

Between January andMarch, the core team wouldwork with parishes in a de-tailed review, also involvingparents.

“The main question wewant to pose is ‘What does itmean to be a baptisedCathlolic?’” said Fr McCoy.

“We want to ensure thatparents are prepared for bap-tism of their children. Howare they welcomed? Whatsupport is offered ‘post bap-tism’. What works well?What are the barriers? Itneed much more thought.”

Fr McCoy said that pri-mary school headteacherswere also being consultedand asked for their help inidentifying parents whowere not active churchgo-ers.”

What Fr McCoy called a“big challenge for the dio-cese” was to be brought tothe next meeting of theCouncil of Laity, planned forMarch 12, for more detaileddiscussion.

Diocese to reviewpolicy on baptism

Bishops’ Conference had de-termined that the Churchshould “walk with them” ona pathway to include them inchurch life.

“They are part of theChurch,” said the Bishop,“not excommunicated. Weshould journey with them,help and support them and bethere for them.”

Bishop Seamus also talkedabout discussions of theBishops’ Conference aboutthe ordination of marriedmen and the Sacrament ofReconciliation, both reportedelsewhere in this issue.

He told the members of theCouncil of Laity that thediocesan Council of Priestswas to be halved in themonths ahead, with half ofthe members appointed bythe Bishop and the other halfelected.

Fr Simon Lerche, DiocesanChancellor, reported onprogress to introduce newstatutes for the Council ofLaity, council chair Julia Fir-bank updated members onmeeting she had attended,Tony Sacco, Diocesan De-velopment Director andKathryn Turner, Head ofSpirituality, led a presenta-tion on the Forward Togetherin Hope project, and FrMichael McCoy briefed thecouncil on a review of bap-tism taking place across thediocese (also reported else-where in this issue).

q The Council of Laity welcomed new members to its November meetingfrom Deanery 7. Pictured (L-R) are Julia Fairbank (chair), Malcolm Shield,Jen Jones, Fr Jeff Dodds (Council Chaplain), Bishop Seamus, Katie Wilkin-son and Pat Kennedy (clerk).

Let us look forward toexciting Year of Mercyby Andrew Smith

New priests break bread at volunteer-run lunch club

q Fr Louis Aroon and Fr Alex Ligori enjoy a meal atHoly Cross Lunch Club.

q Lunch Club volunteers with Fr Alex Ligori and Fr Louis Aroon. PicturedL-R are: Bernadette Osmialowski, Fr Ligori, Fr Louis, Margaret Wilson, AnnCharlton, Zoe Doherty and Agnes Skolimowska.

by Iris Boyd

St Cuthberts Care is a charity established by the Catholic Church in the North East of England.

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The successful candidate is likely to possess a relevant professional business qualification and be a forward-thinking individual. He or she must have the visionary skills, drive, personality and compassion to support the charity’s strategic development and will be expected to act as a spokesperson on the charity’s work.

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6 Northern CrossDecember 2015LETTERS AND NEWS

NORTHERN CROSS welcomes letters for publication. In order to allow as many letters as possible to be used, please try torestrict the length to 300 words. The editor reserves the right to edit contributions without reference in order to reduce theirlength or to correct grammatical or punctuation errors. Please send to: Northern Cross Letters, St Anne’s Presbytery, 43Welbeck Avenue, Darlington DL1 2DR.

Editor: Andrew Smith (editor.norcross@btconnect.com)Sub-editor: Maggie WeirReporter: Eileen Smith (editor.norcross@btconnect.com)Head of Admin and Finance: Claire RobsonAdvertising Executive: Kathleen Lynn(k.lynn70@btinternet.com)

Northern Cross BoardBoard Chairman: Fr Dennis TindallVice Chairman: Tom MackinCompany Secretary: Tom AtkinsonDirectors: Fr Dennis Tindall, Tom Atkinson,TomHoban, Thomas Mackin, David Relton, Philip SmithFinance: Philip SmithOperations: Tom HobanSubscriptions Secretary: Claire RobsonDistribution: David HughesNews Forum Chair: Fr Andrew DownieNews Forum Secretary: Paul Baker

Northern Cross OfficeRegistered Office: St Anne’s Presbytery, 43 Welbeck Avenue, Darlington DL1 2DR.Office: (9am-2pm): 01325 464008Office email: norcross@btconnect.comWebsite: www.northerncross.org.uk Advertising: 01207 270764 Subscriptions: 01325 464008Circulation/Distribution: 0191 375 0912Printer: 01228 612600

The Northern Cross is the Catholic newspaper forthe Diocese of Hexham and Newcastle. It wasgranted a Papal Blessing on September 11, 1965.It is a not-for-profit company and registered char-ity. Registered at Companies House No. 6067775.Charity Commission No. 1118066. VAT Reg No.472 0189 55. Circulation: 5,000.

THERE will be disappointment in somequarters of the Catholic Church that theBishops of England and Wales have de-cided that this is not the time to support theordination of married men to the priest-hood.

That the matter was discussed at all by thebishops at their Plenary Assembly last monthis thanks to the priests of Hexham & Newcas-tle asking Bishop Seamus Cunningham toraise the matter, and the Bishop agreeing to doso.

Quite how far the disappointment might ex-tend is unknown, because to date there hasbeen no poll or survey of Catholics to deter-mine the support for such a move – not thatsuch matters are ever decided by a referen-dum.

The reports and letters in the Catholic press,including the Northern Cross, might suggestthat the groundswell of opinion is in favour ofordaining married priests of proven good char-acter but, again, it is not a reliable measure.Those who shout loudest do not generally rep-resent the majority.

However, it is probably fair to assume that thebiggest disappointment at the bishops’ deci-sion will lie in parishes that have closed ormerged after losing their parish priests, withnone to replace them.

Perhaps, in the absence of strong directionfrom the Pope, it was always going to be un-likely that the bishops of England and Wales,who each chose to sacrifice the love and sup-port of a wife and family in order to follow theirvocation, were ever going to overturn a 1,000-year tradition linking the priesthood andcelibacy, and send a message to Rome thatthis country supported the ordination of mar-ried priests.

What we also might assume is that this willnot be the last time the bishops are asked toconsider the possibility of ordaining marriedpriests.

Worthy debatewhateverthe conclusion

COMMENT

www.northerncross.org.uk

GINGER

I AM writing to informyou that after 21 years ofdedicated service to theyoung people of our dio-cese, Fr Dermott Don-nelly will be moving onfrom his direct involve-ment with the Youth Min-istry Trust in Decemberof this year.

This will enable Fr Der-mott to develop his min-istry at the cathedral and totake up his role as head ofthe Diocesan Departmentfor Youth, with the aim ofencouraging Catholic youthagencies across the dio-cese.

I want to express my grat-itude to Fr Dermott, whohas really been both inspi-rational and instrumental increating and developing theconcept of the Youth Min-istry Trust within our dio-cese. The legacy of theYouth Village and YouthMinistry within our dioceseare a great credit to thework of Fr Dermott and theYouth Ministry Team andits pioneering role.

To prepare for thischange, since January 2014Tony Lawless has taken onthe role of Director ofYouth Ministry. I knowTony has been well sup-ported by Fr Dermott as hesettles in to this role, forwhich again I am grateful.

In order that the work ofYMT can continue to de-velop, I am putting in placea Pastoral Advisory Teamso that appropriate supportcan be provided to theYMT staff and volunteersinto the future. This teamwill comprise Mgr AndrewFaley and Sr Patricia Bell,who have all kindly agreedto take on this importanttask.

I hope that as YMT entersthis new phase of its min-istry and mission we willall support the many effortsand initiatives in our dio-cese to bring the Gospel ofChrist to our young people.Rt Rev Séamus Cunningham,Bishop of Hexham andNewcastle.

YMT creatoran ‘inspiration’- Bishop Seamus

OH, the joy to find a kin-dred spirit, though hemay not enjoy being soassociated.

But how many kindredspirits are out there whosimply don’t correspondbut who, like Mr PaulHammond, have seriousmisgivings about unbal-anced liberal emphasis oftheir diocesan newspapers’‘Comment’ and supportivearticles which often appearto the reader to be closelyaligned?

The danger is that be-cause it’s ‘in the paper’(like on TV) some peoplemay believe that this repre-sents the status quo. Itdoesn’t.

How personal does aview have to be beforecoming close to being un-recognisable as orthodoxCatholic and, indeed, inneed of a disclaiming doc-trinal health warning.

Freedom of belief/expres-

sion is a priceless commod-ity though for the faithfulCatholic it will be temperedby his/her loyal commit-ment to the teachings of thefaith.

I hope I’m not being toopresumptuous in sayingthat Catholics need encour-agement, uplift and a senseof pride in our beliefs (allof them), not the negativecarping criticism and re-minders of our shortcom-ings every month. We don’tneed constant urgings to‘get with it’.

The Church, as everthroughout its history, mustrespond to change in its op-eration, administration andpastoral outreach withoutcompromise of truth. Truthis truth, regardless of howmany agree or dissent.

The problem for today’srelativist world, especiallythe West, is that truth oftendemands sacrifice, humilityand obedience, qualities

many are too liberated tocontemplate.

Truth does not bow tomedia opinion/pressure,which is as random as theautumn leaves.

Yet an article in the No-vember Northern Crossleaned heavily on the BBCand ‘posh’ London press tosubstantiate its argument.Our Anglican bretheren didthat (bowed to pressure)with disastrous conse-quences for its doctrinal in-tegrity and membership.

Our Lord stated unequiv-ocally ‘If you love me,keep my commandments’.It seems that the essence ofChristian love and there-fore mercy and compassionmust depend on followingJesus’ commandments.There’s no provision for‘believe as you go’ or‘doing it my way’ and, onewonders, about ‘a personalview’.

The problem for the

Synod fathers and in-evitably the Holy Father isthat there were few prob-lems about which the Lordwas more clear than that ofmarriage and remarriageafter divorce.

There’s also the not in-significant detail of the TenCommandments (No 6)and the unnegotiable inter-pretation of Our Lord’steaching by St Paul.

Do we show mercy bybreaking those command-ments? Where does that in-evitably lead? And is a totalchange in lifestyle, such asthat demanded of thewoman caught in the veryact, really on the cards?Perhaps for some.

God bless and help ourHoly Father. But should theworld change the Churchor the Church change theworld? Answers please.Michael Baldasera,Rossway,Darlington.

No provision for ‘believe as you go’

IT IS with deep sadnessthat I read Ms ALardeur’s letter in theNovember edition of theNorthern Cross.

The Mass is not justMass, it is the Holy Massand Holy Communion isnot about receiving a pieceof “chewable bread”. HolyCommunion is the realityof receiving the Body,Blood, Soul and Divinityof Jesus Christ.

Until today’s Catholic

Church accepts this hugeprivilege that God hasgiven us, the Church willcontinue to deteriorate.

Notwithstanding MsLardeur’s quotes from theHoly Bible, it is sad thatmany Roman Catholics areunable to accept that the re-ceiving of the Body, Blood,Soul and Divinity of OurLord Jesus Christ in HolyCommunion is God’s giftto us and not some earthlyfood.

I know that whenever Iattend Holy Mass and re-ceive Holy Communion,either in one form or two, Iam extremely privilegedbecause God has allowedme to receive his only Son,albeit in the form of breadand wine and I for one willcontinue to receive OurBlessed Lord directly onmy tongue - for all its faultsand failure.C I Reid,Darlington.

Holy Communion ‘a privilege’

I’M FROM Durham Cityand now live in the Seattlearea, USA.

An English friend inDurham recently mailedme several copies of yourwonderful Northern Crossnewspaper, with its inter-esting news items andcolour photographs.

It brought back so manymemories of times past –my lovely old St Godric’s

Church, our cottage homeat St Leonard’s, N.End etc.

Our dad, Leo Conway,was the school’s care-taker/groundsman and wewould play in the wood andhave fun near the strangeobelisk.

Finchale Abbey alsobrought back memories ofpilgrimages and picnics inits grounds. Of course,Durham Cathedral revivedmany thoughts of its glori-ous location high above theRiver Wear and the beauti-ful interior with its famousrose window.

I was surprised thatUshaw College is nowmore a retreat locale than aseminary but, of course,like in the States, vocationnumbers have dropped.

We have a parish – St An-thony’s – here in Renton, ofaround 6,000 with sixMasses on weekends andmany parishioners have tostand in the foyer or out onthe pavement.

We’re ecumenical in thatwe have parishioners from

many places – local, SouthAmerica, Taiwan, thePhilippines, Europe, Mex-ico and so on. We only havetwo priests to say all theMasses.

I was surprised to readthat vocations are plentiful(in some parts of theworld), that nuns are work-ing nowadays out in theworld and giving retreatsetc.

I even recognised one ofour Sisters of Mercy shak-ing hands with the Pope.The change of outdatedhabit to a more moderngarb is a good thing too andpossibly encourages morevocations for girls.

Thank you so much foryour wonderful newswrit-ing and colour photo-graphs, which brought backto us nostalgic memoriesand new beginnings in thefaith.Anne Healy, St Anthony’s Parish, Renton, Washington,USA, 98057.

‘Wonderful’ Northern Crossbrings back happy memories

THANK you for the won-derful tribute paid toKaren Burbridge (above)on the occasion of her re-tirement.

I personally have bene-fited from her help in set-ting up our parish website.Nothing was too muchtrouble, no matter how triv-ial a task I asked of her.Karen would even followup with personal phonecalls to ensure I was satis-fied and to enquire if Ineeded any further help.

Wishing her all the bestfor her retirement.Veronica Yarwood(by email).

Nothing toomuch troublefor Karen

7Northern CrossDecember 2015 LETTERS AND NATURELETTERS

4x3

ARCH

John Lavis

BACK NUMBERS December 1990

www.northerncross.org.uk

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7x2

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PICTURE the scene: mantelpiece decked withcolourful Christmas cards – robins, reindeer andcrows.

Ok, no crows; they’re not popular in any season. Robins, on the other hand, are officially the UK’s

favourite bird - red breasted cheeky chappies. At heart,though, it’s aggressive to its own kind and others, notunlike the crow with its murderous habits.

So why is one the nation’s darling while the other is la-belled vermin?

Vermin – there’s a word with potential for venom, de-manding to be spat out with hatred. It’s defined as anycreature that is troublesome to man, damaging crops orlivestock, causing disease – a heavy-duty pest.

No creature is born verminous, it simply upsets hu-mankind. I had nothing against grey squirrels until theycost me a new roof.

Farmers and gamekeepers convinced me that there’s‘a list’ of vermin, an official death warrant, a licence toexterminate. Not so, says the man from the ministry,though there may be specific problems where excep-tions can be made.

There is, however, a list of creatures protected againstkilling, so those not included are presumably fair game.Protected status is no guarantee of safety, though, as inthe badger’s case, accused of complicity in cattle TB, orbirds of prey, hated by the managers of grouse moors.

One man’s cuddly creature is another man’s vermin.Even the family moggy, beloved vermin catcher, is ahated bird killer.

Vermin, like beauty, is in the eye of the beholder; so inthe spirit of Christmas let’s have a crow on a Christmascard.

A Christmas cardto crow about

lResearch byMavis McCretton

5x2

Fellowship of Meditation

LETTERS from Lam-beth Palace acknowledg-ing the growing prayercampaign for the hostagesin Beirut praised the Page1 initiative of the North-ern Cross.

The comment from MrsWaite was sent to Hartle-pool parishioner KayCampbell, who was sent anote and cuttings fromthe Cross and the secre-tary of the Archbishop ofCanterbury, Dr RobertRuncie, wrote to theCross with thanks forcontinuing to keep alivethe hostages in prayerand the prominence3 ofthem each month on thefront page.

TYNESIDER Fr MichaelWeymes, serving with theArmy of the Rhine joinedthe land-based forces in theMiddle East in December

1990 as part of the ArmyChaplain’s service with therank of captain.

He was part of a team ofinter-denominational chap-lains, including Catholicpriests.

Fr Kevin Vasey, of Hex-ham & Newcastle diocese,who was serving with theArmy in Germany, wasawarded the OBE for serv-ices to the troops in North-ern Ireland. This was inaddition to his NorthernIreland medal.

Fr Kevin was commis-sioned in August, 1979, sixyears after his ordination inSt John Vianney Church,Hartlepool, the town wherehe was born.

Fr Kevin served in Eng-land, Northern Ireland,Germany and Cyprus.

NORTH West DurhamMP Hilary Armstrong in-

vited St John’s Compre-hensive School, BishopAuckland, to meet sixth-formers and talk to themabout the role of womenin public life in November1990.

Pupils were invited to goto Westminster for workexperience in the world ofpolitics.

ENGLAND billiards inter-national John Murphy re-turned to his old school tocollect an award he was notexpecting.

John, 22, has a string of

billiards achievements tohis name including, ‘Num-ber 1’ in a four-sided tour-nament with Ireland,Belgium and Northern Ire-land.

The international playerattended awards day atEnglish Martyrs School,Hartlepool, to receive theChairman of Governors’award for bringing honourto the school.

Comedian Frank Carsonpresented the award.

I AM WRITING this onAll Saints Day, which thisyear is being celebratedon a Sunday, for the per-fectly good reason thatNovember 1 has fallen ona Sunday.

By contrast, in this coun-try as if it were a purely na-tional matter, the Epiphany,Ascension Day and CorpusChristi are always kept onSundays, regardless of theirreal days.

Even the Church of Eng-land does not think that ithas the authority to alterAscension Day, which isspecified in the Bible, nor

would it dream of depart-ing from one of the Liturgi-cal Year’s last points ofcontact with popular cul-ture by cutting the 12 daysof Christmas to howevermany there might happento be under this peculiararrangement.

Many of its parishes havekept Corpus Christi sincethe middle of the 19th Cen-tury and, if not necessarilyfor the most heartening ofreasons, probably morethan half of them doso now. But none of themwould dream of doing so inthis historically and liturgi-

cally illiterate manner. Methodists, too, always

keep the Epiphany on Jan-uary 6, and Ascension Day40 days after Easter. Well,of course they do. Like thePope, in fact. Again, ofcourse.

Moreover, we continue tobe subjected on All SaintsDay, not to the Beatitudes,but to the Happytudes. Or,as they might otherwise betermed, the Hippytudes.

There has never been anyobligation to use the atro-cious Jerusalem Bible inthe Liturgy, and now thateverything else has at long

last been translated intogrown-up English, there isa most urgent need to stopdoing so. As one amongnumerous possible exam-ples, its attempt at the TenCommandments is alsospectacularly inept.

The RSV Catholic Edi-tion is by far the best trans-lation into Modern English(an idiom that no one usedliturgically until Catholicsdecided to reinvent thewheel in the 1960s, but thatis another story), and evenbefore an edition of thenew English Missal usingit, it would be perfectly

possible simply to read outthe appointed passagesfrom it.

Meanwhile, I havebeen told that some schoolRE departments were usingthe Good News Bible,making them the last peo-ple on earth who were stilldoing that. The famousstick illustrations do lendthemselves to the colouringin that 16-year-olds are ex-pected to do for an houreach day, I suppose. But ofthat, another time.David Lindsay,Foxhills Crescent,Lanchester.

DAVID O’Neill wondershow any of the laity dareto accept the Body ofChrist in their unworthyhands at Communion’(Northern Cross, October2015).

We dare to because weobey the command given tous by Our Blessed Lord atHis Last Supper.

In the same way, we dareto call God our Father, andcan pray with confidencebecause this is what Jesustaught us to do.

At every Mass we praythe Lord’s Prayer and thenacknowledge our unworthi-ness before we receiveCommunion by saying to-gether “Lord I am not wor-thy to receive you, but onlysay the word and my soulwill be healed.”

We acknowledge thatGod’s love for us revealedin Christ overcomes oursinfulness.

Our communion is notonly the receiving ofChrist.

It acknowledges that weare one with Christ andeach other. (Pope John PaulSunday Missal)

The Mass has certainlynever been changed from a‘sacrifice’ into a ‘meal’. Itis the Mass of all ages, andin my Catechism of theCatholic Church, there is awonderful description ofthe Eucharistic celebrationwritten by St Justin aroundthe year 155, explainingwhat Christians did. (1345-1347)

It states that “the liturgyof the Eucharist unfolds ac-cording to a fundamentalstructure which has beenpreserved throughout thecenturies down to our ownday”.

I hope my observationsare helpful to other readersof the Northern Cross andserve in some small way toreassure them that ourMass remains what it hasalways been.Bernadette Hirst, Low Fell,Gateshead.

THE Spiritual and Cor-poral works of Mercymight be considered ap-propriate discussion top-ics as we are about tobegin the Holy Year ofMercy.

Church teaching statesthat burying the dead is oneof the Corporal Works ofMercy, and as I am writingthis in November, themonth of the Holy Souls,I’m prompted to bring upan aspect of that for discus-sion.

As part of that group ofpeople euphemisticallysaid to be in the ‘ThirdAge’, (ie. a senior citizen),I seem to be attending morefunerals than in former

years. Naturally so, you might

say, but in so doing, I havenoticed that after cremationservices there is usually lit-tle reference to the finalresting place of the ashes ofthe deceased.

For practical reasons, theashes of a loved one will begiven to the next of kinsome time later whichbrings me to my point -what to do with thoseAshes?

Although it’s not men-tioned much – death is thelast taboo subject - weCatholics have a duty toplace those ashes in thespecial urn and bury themin consecrated ground,

such as at the foot of thefamily grave. If we do nothave a family grave, theundertaker will advise.

Indeed, it is the under-taker whose duty it is tobury the ashes, usually inthe presence of loved ones,a couple of weeks after thefuneral. There is a chargefor this, which can be in-corporated into the funeralcosts.

Remember that it is onlyin recent years that

Catholics were permitted toselect cremation rather thanburial, so perhaps it’s up tous to clarify that our ownduty is to ‘keep the faith’and be Catholic.

These days, many folkformulate pre-paid funeralplans where they can stipu-late their wishes, so Iwould very respectfully askyou - please, please, don’tscatter.Bryony Foley,(by email)

LEONARD Cheshire Dis-ability is urging people toget together for a SuperSupper to raise money forour work supporting dis-abled people.

A Super Supper can beeasy or challenging,themed or straightforwardwith home-made food orsomething ready-made.Anyone signing up to hosta Super Supper will receivea pack including menus,place cards, donation en-velopes and table confetti.

For more information,please visit leonard-cheshire.org/suppers or call020 3242 0264.Klara Wertheim,Events Officer ,Leonard Cheshire Disability.

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8 Northern CrossDecember 2015NEWS

Religion in the media? ‘It’s like reportingsoccer from the hooligan’s point of view’

A personal view by GERRY LOUGHRAN, a Newcastle-born retired foreign correspondent

A FOREIGN correspondent report-ing the Christmas story from theHoly Land wrote of “the alleged Vir-gin birth,” watched by “the mythi-cal ox and ass” at “the supposedbirthplace of Jesus”.

Another journalist, a young manwhose father was the ombudsman ona major American daily, told me: “Myfamily is atheist. I never studied reli-gion at school. I know nothing aboutChristianity.”

And a viewer commenting on a storyabout the Vatican’s financial scandalsasked: “Why does the BBC spend timeon this evil organisation?”

The Bethlehem reporter was swiftlyslapped down by his editor, but his at-titude and the other comments point toa yawning credulity gap in the matterof religion, involving both writer andreader.

The situation is exacerbated by pressilliteracy and the lazy but widespreadbelief that secularism has triumphed.

Michael Wakelin, former head of re-ligion and ethics at the BBC, summedup media coverage of religion as “a bitlike covering football from the point ofview of hooliganism and never reallywatching the game”.

Wakelin was speaking at a confer-ence in London recently on Islam andits treatment in British broadcastingand newspapers, though the debate

swiftly spread to all faiths. An analysisshowed that the reporting of Muslimaffairs frequently concentrated on theveil and the burkha, immigration, vio-lence, halal slaughter and poppy burn-ing.

Christians do little better. How oftenhave we Catholics quailed at themedia’s misuse of language: “Thepope conducted an open-air Mass,”“Reverend O’Reilly said…” “Thepriest gave confession to worship-pers...”

The popular press is frequently di-verted by practices which Catholicstake for granted, such as candles, stat-ues, holy water and the burning of in-cense.

The Sun reported that “a law banninglegal highs could stop churches usingincense. Helpfully, it added that in-cense “has been used for worship pur-poses for millennia”.

I once heard a rather posh fellow sayhe had nothing against Christianity buthe did not know a single believer andreligion never came up at his dinnerparties. Clearly, he considered faith aminority pursuit and irrelevant to hislife.

The same must go for the very manypeople who only ever enter churchesfor weddings and funerals, reportersincluded.

Prof Adam Dinhams, of Goldsmiths

University in London, would questionthis perception. As reported by TheObserver newspaper, he said: “Billionsof people around the world remain re-ligious, despite assumptions of secu-larity. Millions are in Britain, Europeand the West. After decades in whichwe have barely talked about religionand belief in public discourse, societyhas largely lost the ability to do so.”

The perceived irrelevance of faith isreflected in our culture. Seldom do wefind a Christian portrayed in dramaand when we do, he is usually a weak

person, a bigot, a criminal or an idiot.Am I the only person to tense up whena clerical collar or a nun’s habit ap-pears on TV outside of a comedy se-rial?

Of course, Islam and Christianityhave made themselves easy targets.The terror attacks in Paris and else-where by Islamic State, the clericalabuse scandal in the Catholic Churchand reports from Rome of Curiaprelates living in apartments worth£20 million will easily lead to ourcharacterisation as “an evil organisa-tion.”

And it is not enough to point to theobvious fact that not all Muslims arehomicidal barbarians and not allCatholics child-abusers or propertymoguls. We surely need to be pro-ac-tive and Wakelin has offered sugges-tions for combating religiousstereotyping.

These include finding knowledge-able individuals from a variety of reli-gious backgrounds to communicatewith mass media outlets, and ensuringbelievers inform themselves regardingdevelopments in media technology, in-cluding wide use of the internet.

My guess is most news organisationswould admit that they do not under-stand religion and therefore keep it atarm’s length.

Help may be at hand, however, with

the establishment of a religious mediacentre on the lines of the successfulScience Media Centre in London. Thislatter, headed by journalist Fiona Fox,incidentally once of Cafod, is an inde-pendent charity set up in 2002 torenew public trust in science. Staffedby scientists and journalists, it hashelped to transform the way science isreported when it hits the headlines.

Wakelin is involved in setting up areligious counterpart which he be-lieves could do a similar job. He said:“We do not want to promote religionor even say that it is good thing, but wewant recognition that it matters andtherefore needs to be reported, dis-cussed and examined with knowledge,fairness and respect.”

He added: “To carry on mocking re-ligion, misreporting it with unhelpfulshorthand and careless choice ofimage or pretending it is going to goaway, or that it is of interest only topeople intent on destruction, is notgoing to wash any more.”

q Gerry Loughran.

l Gerry Loughran is a retiredjournalist. You can contact him onGerryo69@hotmail.com

The views in this article do not necessarilyreflect those of Northern Cross or of theDiocese of Hexham & Newcastle.

www.northerncross.org.uk

STAN BECKENSALL isa specialist in rock art. Soit won’t surprise you a bitto learn that the majoropus on his home andfavourite county,Northumberland, fea-tures a great many stones.

Former headteacher,teacher trainer and HonDoctor of Letters at New-castle University, Stan haspublished more than 40books and pamphlets, in-cluding some poetry anddrama.

Poetry figures promi-nently in Northumberland,A Celebration – a possiblestocking filler for an extragift (at under £20), but theideal present for the ama-teur history buff, geologyranger, or simple lover ofthe county that is still thebest-kept secret the NorthEast has managed to hide.

We choose two lines fromAutumn Gold to illustratethe theme:We touch the rock forreassuranceThat next year will be thesame, …

The rock is from “therounded Cheviots”.

We could pick Holy Is-land as a favourite fromStan’s book, but any truerover will have a stone barnfull of ideas to plan weeklyoutings for the next year –the sandstone formation atCaller Crags, the woodrunes at Lemmington Hill ,bronze age ‘food vessels’from the Cheviot hills,beaker pottery from WetherHill, Ingram village, and

Breamish Valley, for thefamily which enjoys simplestuff like a shallow riverfull of flat stones for skim-ming.

There are castles galore –in detail and with history tomug up on – war and peaceat the Border, Flodden fromEtal and Ford, Cragside, theconfluence of rivers to formthe Tyne, bridges, churches,abbeys, ruins and holyplaces, and empty spaces inHexhamshire and theCheviots.

You will not wish to stirfrom your place at theChristmas dinner table asyou plan 2016’s excursions.- John Baileyl Northumberland, A

Celebration, by Stan Beck-ensall, published byFonthill, Oxford, ISBN:978-1-78155-253-7, in pa-perback £18.99.

q Stones, stones …and rolling countryside– that’s Northumber-land.

Stone me! Stanpens the perfect stocking filler HARTLEPOOL’S youthmission team is planninga brisk start to the New

Year – after joining theBoxing Day dip atSeaton Carew.

The youth team hastwo possible locationsfor a pray-over night onFriday, January 8 – StPatrick’s Church, OwtonManor or the Conventnear the town centre.The team is to consult.

The annual Candlemasprocession, service andbarbecue fire is pro-posed for Saturday, Jan-uary 30, at St Joseph’s.

MINIBUS trips to New-castle are planned totake young people fromHartlepool to join inyouth activities at StMary’s Cathedral.

The first was timed forDecember 2 to join TheSource, a successfulmonthly inspirationalnight. The second visit,on Wednesday, Decem-ber 9, is for the Cathe-dral’s Advent service,Illuminations (6-7pm).

TWENTY young peopleenjoyed an evening ofgames, activity, praiseand worship in StJoseph’s parish centre,Hartlepool, on Friday,November 20. Organis-ers hope to build on theattendance for futureevents.

RACE NIGHT the Lindis-farne Catholic Club,Wallsend, are to stage aNorthern Cross RaceNight on Saturday, Feb-ruary 27. All welcome.

CrossLines

THE warm hand offriendship quickly multi-plied into many warmhands of friendship, fol-lowing a recent sugges-tion by St Cuthberts CareChief Executive, MoiraAshman.

Moira proposed that thecharity’s head office teamsshould consider hosting anafternoon tea in their of-fices for residents from StCatherine’s nursing home,which is located on theground floor of the char-ity’s headquarters at StCuthbert’s House in New-castle.

Staff warmly welcomedthe special visitors andhave been delighted to playan active part in enrichingtheir lives.

Moira said: “I’m fortu-nate to be able to visit ourresidents in their home on aregular basis, and I wasaware that some residentshave few or sometimes novisitors. I like to pop intomy neighbours’ homes fora catch up every now andagain, and I thought that

many of our residentswould really appreciate theopportunity to do this withus too.”

Ada Quigley was one ofthe first residents to visitthe charity’s offices andtake part in the social occa-sion. “I think it’s a wonder-

ful idea,” said Ada. “I’vereally enjoyed myself andfelt thoroughly pampered.

“I often think about thestaff who work upstairs andnow I can picture them allin my mind when I remem-ber them in my prayers.”

Moira added: “It was so

lovely to have our officesfilled with laughter andconversation for a shorttime, and to see the enjoy-ment on our residents’ facesthat we’ve decided to makethis a weekly event. It’swhat being a good neigh-bour is all about.”

q St Cuthberts Care Chief Executive, Moira Ashman meets Ada Quigley.

ARTIST Mike Brogan, isstaging a one-man exhibi-tion of work this month inHartlepool.

Mike, who each yearpainted a portrait of high-profile guest speakers at hisschool’s awards nights andoften made ceramic giftsfor them numbers among

his subjects the Duke ofNorfolk, the late BrianClough, the late CardinalBasil Hume and many oth-ers.

Mike, now retired and liv-ing in Billingham, mademany friends, leading a Fri-day art tutorial at EnglishMartyrs School, Hartle-

pool, for adult enthusiasts.It’s now run by former col-league Roy Carless.

Mike’s exhibition willfeature studio pottery andpaintings in English Mar-tyrs School & Sixth FormCollege art gallery, CatcoteRoad, Hartlepool, until theNew Year.

Guests remembered in art

Tea and chat with thenice folk upstairs

9Northern CrossDecember 2015 NEWS

18 x 4Carmel College

www.northerncross.org.uk

12x2

Ushaw

THE parishes of St Paul,Alnwick, St Aidan, Sea-houses and St Aidan,Holy Island, along withall in our deanery wel-comed Fr Peter Leightonat his induction Mass atSt Pauls Church.

Parishioners, friends andschool children gathered inprayer to warmly welcomeFr Peter to the Catholiccommunity in his new roleas parish priest, residing atSt Paul’s and workingclosely with existing resi-dent parish priest FrDesmond McGivern.

The dean of Northumber-land, Fr Ian Hoskins pro-vide the homily along witha plethora of anecdotes thatechoed the warmth of theevening.

After Mass, food wasprovided and the meetingof new and old friends wasevident to see as the churchfilled with chatter andwarm wishes.

The entire Northumber-land deanery would like toextend our prayers and sup-port to Fr Peter and all thepeople and parishes heserves.

WE have been asked topoint out that the ThirdOrder of Carmelites cele-brated the 40th anniver-saries of two tertiaries, FrMalcolm Cairns andPeter Seach, and not their25th anniversaries, as wewere informed and re-ported upon last month.

Voices boostcharities

AS WE enter into the Year of Mercy, there is to bea service of healing with Bishop Seamus Cun-ningham at St Mary’s Cathedral, Newcastle, onWednesday, January 27, at 7pm.

It will consist of a penitential rite, listening toand reflecting on the word of God, focusing par-ticularly on the mercy of God.

There will be adoration of the Blessed Sacra-ment and time for prayer ministry. Priests will beavailable to hear confession. All are invited to at-tend.

THE Northern Cross isdelivered to more than150 parishes in theDiocese of Hexham &Newcastle each monthand we are extremelygrateful to the unseenteam of volunteerswho help to carry outthis vital role.

Since we have movedour office from Hartle-pool to Darlington, wewould like to enlist thehelp of a few additionalvolunteers to take pa-pers from St Anne’s,Welbeck Avenue, Dar-lington, to two drops inHartlepool.

The delivery wouldconsist of three postagesacks containing in totalabout 250 newspapersfor mailing to our sub-scribers and seven bun-dles of about 50 paperseach to be left at theparish office at StJoseph’s Church, Hartle-pool.

The papers would needto be collected by 2pmon the Thursday after-noon during the weekprior to the first Sundayof the month.

If you think you couldhelp us in this delivery orwish to learn a little moreabout the task, pleasecontact Northern Crossdirector Tom Hoban on0191 386 7033, or emailhim at hobantom@btin-ternet.com

ANOTHER year comesto an end at Ushaw andit’s been a busy and pro-ductive one.

Last year saw the start ofthe concerts and eventsprogramme open to all andthe opening of Ushaw tothe public every Saturdayduring the summer.

During that time we had7,500 visitors, we estab-lished a café and shop andinaugurated an exhibitionprogramme.

Kathryn Tickell, and theRoyal Northern Sinfoniaperformed alongside theBurnley Cloggers led byFr John Marsland himselfand many other regionaland national musicians andensembles.

Art, history, lectures, con-certs, organ recitals, jazzand folk concerts and ofcourse Vespers in thechapel – sung every monthand said every week.

A team of talented andhardworking gardenershave transformed the for-mal gardens, building uponthe tremendous work of theAlumni – St Cuthbert’s So-ciety.

The herbaceous bordershave been replanted, work

is starting on the creation ofa Garden of Remembrancewith 465 roses beingplanted in memory of thestaff and student s atUshaw who fought in thefirst World War. This isbeing financed with sup-port from St Cuthbert’s So-ciety.

The programme could nothave taken place withoutthe marvellous team of vol-unteers - nearly 100.

Anyone wanting to joinplease contact us on volun-teers@ushaw.org it’s ahappy and rewarding expe-rience – a good way ofmaking friends and beinginvolved in something ex-traordinary and meaning-ful.

We are also indebted tothe warm and welcomingapproach of Fr John Mars-land, the President and tire-less support of Peter Seed,the Director of Estates.

This Advent and Christ-mas there is a full pro-gramme of concerts andshows – The Snowmanfilm is being shown accom-panied by the CountyYouth Orchestra.

We have concerts andcarols galore. The tradi-tional Ushaw Carol Serviceis on December 15 and 16

at 7.30.p.m. and ChristmasAfternoon Teas are to beserved in the Refectory onDecember 5 and 12 ( book-ing essential).

Fr John is hosting a QuietDay for Advent on TuesdayDecember 8.

Our season finishes withsome glorious relaxingJazz with the wonderfulvoice of Ruth Lambert andher Trio on December 18.

Programme details areavailable on our website atwww.ushaw.org

Next year promises evenmore in the way of concertsand events.

The season will formallyopen on the weekend of StCuthbert’s Feast, March18, 19 and 20, which willbe celebrated in style.

We hope to reopen theformer Museum for majorexhibitions and two newsmaller exhibition rooms. AWorld War 1 room and aroom dedicated to studentlife at Ushaw including ref-erences to some of its dis-tinguished alumni – PatrickLafcadio Hearn and Fran-cis Thompson.

There will be three week-end Jazz festivals with na-tional and local bands,Folk, Kathryn Tickell andAlistair Anderson sur-

rounded by local bands.There may be a classicalevent involving the RoyalNorthern Sinfonia.

We have financial supportfrom the Arts Council,Durham University,Durham County Counciland St Cuthbert’s Society.

On the commercial frontfrom January we will beopen as Ushaw Durhamfor day conferences, semi-nars and development days.

We have bookings fortours and visits next yearfrom parish groups, historyand heritage societies.

We will be marketing the1960s east wing as a busi-ness centre with space foroffices, hot-desking andbusiness meetings. Therewill be flexible cateringarrangements buildingupon the experience wehave had with our café thisyear and our gift shop willbe include many locallyproduced goods.

For more information seewww.ushaw.org or call0191 334 5119.

We have learnt much overthe last year and hope thatnext year’s offering and de-velopments will be moreimpressive, but with thesame warm and enthusias-tic welcome.

Mass celebratesHealing of God

The Crossneedshelp withdeliveries

Correction

Ushaw College opens its doors for Christmas

q Fr Peter Leighton after his induction Mass atSt Pauls Church.

Warm welcomefor Fr Leighton

by Roger Kelly

VOICES TOGETHER isa four-part harmonymixed voice choir whoregularly sing at wed-dings, funerals and con-certs raising money forvarious causes.

They have supported thelifeboats, Macmillan, StBenedict’s Hospice, SmileTrain, the Royal British Le-gion, Teenage CancerTrust, St Clare’s Hospice,Motor Neurone Disease,Sir Bobby Robson Founda-tion, and the ChernobylChildrens’ Lifeline..

Starting with a few mem-bers in 2003, the groupnow numbers 19 voices.

The music repertoire isvaried, from sacred to mu-sicals and popular songs.The choice of music atweddings and funerals canbe personal.

The choir has donated itsfees currently amounting to£36,000.

It covers South Tynesideand Sunderland. For moreinformation go to:www.voicestogether.co.uk.- Maureen Hope, Secretary.

Thinking of becoming a teacher?

We are recruiting for schools throughout the North East for our September 2016 teacher training

programmes. We have vacancies in Primary (5-11 years) and Secondary

(11-16 years) Education.

*National Bursaries Available*

Contact

Jackie Springhall

jspringhall@carmel.org.uk

01325 523455

www.carmelteachertraining.org.uk

About CTTP

We are ‘Outstanding’ - Ofsted.

We are the region’s largest School Direct initial teacher

training provider, with 92% of our trainees securing a

teaching role.

We offer bespoke, personalised training for your needs

Advent And ChristmAs At UshAw Friday 4th 7.30.p.m. Carols and Ceilidh in the

refeCtory (Admission £6.00)Saturday 5th 1.00.p.m. durham County Wind Band

- Ushaw open 12.00.-.4.00.p.m.* Tuesday 8th 10.30.a.m. – 4.00.p.m. advent Quiet day

With mgr. John marsland (£15 including light lunch)

Friday 11th 7.30.p.m. ConCert of Christmas musiC featuring the snoWman (Admission £5.00. cons.

£3.00) Durham County Youth Orchestra /Choir Please book ahead.

Saturday 12th 3.00.p.m. ConCert of Christmas musiC featuring the snoWman (Admission £5.00.

cons. £3.00)Durham County Youth Orchestra/Choir. Ushaw open 12.00.-.4.00.p.m.*

Sunday 13th 6.00.p.m. Christmas ConCert (Admission £5.00. children under 16yrs free)

Durham Cathedral Young Singers Tuesday 15th 7.30.p.m. ushaW Carol serviCe

(Ticket only)Wednesday 16th 7.30.p.m. ushaW Carol serviCe

(Ticket only)Friday 18th 7.30.p.m. Jazz at Christmas with the Ruth

Lambert Trio Admission £6.00*Christmas afternoon tea - £10.00 December 5th

and 12th Booking essential Get your tickets and book for Afternoon tea at

tickets@ushaw.org

Ushaw – open for all

10 Northern CrossDecember 2015NEWS www.northerncross.org.uk

AROUND 400 people ofall ages, from babies to 90plus, came flocking to StJoseph’s Academy inHebburn recently for theCelebrate North Eastconference.

We were blessed byBishop Seamus coming toCelebrate with us, as wellas a number of priests anddeacons joining the laity incelebrating the love of Godand the gift of faith.

As everyone was wel-comed it soon became clearthat this was indeed to be acelebration weekend – fullof joy, laughter, love andtogetherness.

This is only the secondyear that Celebrate hasbeen to the North East andobviously the word had got

round as chairs rapidlyfilled up for our introduc-tory talk by David Payne,followed by a lively mimeby Steve Murray.

The format for the daywas simple: children of allages were catered for indifferent age streams, en-suring that they were in-cluded, made new friends,and discovered that‘Church’ can be a place offun, joy and love.

Adults attended the gen-eral talks, then were offereda variety of workshops ontopics as diverse as spiritu-ality, Jesus, music, dance,Church teaching and newDVD courses available forall parishes.

Everyone opted for theirfavourite topics and madetheir way to various roomsin the Academy to listenand join in with their cho-

sen speaker and facilitator. As my interest was in the

new resources available, Ichose to go to talks byDavid Payne and MichelleMoran on The Gift, whichis currently being run byseveral parishes in the Dio-cese, and The Big Picture,which will be availablefrom mid-January.

The Gift was produced asa result of Pope Francis’ re-quest that all the faithfulshould have a personal en-counter with Jesus Christand be aware of The Bap-tism of the Holy Spiritoften quoted as theChurch’s best kept secret!

The Big Picture is a 12week course on Scripture,filmed on location in theHoly Land, Ephesus, Pat-mos and Rome with world-wide experts, introduced byCardinal Vincent Nichols,

THE polls for the Burmaelection opened at 6am onNovember 8, 2015, butqueues formed from 5am.The people were going tovote for the first timesince 1990.

We had been to Massearly on this Sunday andprayers had been said for ajust and peaceful election.

Many tourists had stayedaway from Burma fearingviolence.

Anne and I spoke to manypeople as we visited pollingstations in Yangon. “It’stime for change” and “Weare not afraid any more”were the most commoncomments. The indelibleink on the left hand little

ANNE and Tony Stokle and their family, parishioners of Holy Name parish in Gosforth, havebeen campaigners and voluntary aid workers on behalf of the oppressed people of Burma.They travelled to Burma, now called Myanmar, for the first election of a new government in25 years. Contrary to fears of corruption, intimidation and cheating, it appears that the peo-ple of Myanmar are now going to be afforded their overwhelming choice of a governmentformed by the National League for Democracy, whose charismatic and respected leaderAung San Suu Kyi, the Stokles have met during previous visits. Here TONY STOKLE de-scribes their experience of the election and the celebration that followed.

finger proved they hadvoted.

In the afternoon we gath-ered with thousands of oth-ers outside the NationalLeague for Democracy(NLD) headquarters wait-ing for Aung San Suu Kyito come and speak tous. Disappointingly, it wasannounced that she wouldnot be speaking tonight butmaybe tomorrow, when theelection result was known.

Next morning we wereback at the NLD headquar-ters. Our friend Zaw Tunexcitedly told us it hadbeen a landslide victory forthe NLD but nothing hadbeen confirmed by theUnion Election Committee.People were fearful that themilitary would ‘cheat’ andchange the result.

We waited for hours withthousands of supporters, allvery excited, hoping for ahistoric victory. Film crewsfrom around the worldwere set up at every van-tage point. However, wewere conscious peoplewere anxious, lookingaround, fearful the policewould come to disperse thecrowd.

Suddenly the crowdsurged forward into theroad and a row of carspulled up in front of theheadquarters. Daw AungSan Suu Kyi - Mother Suuas she is affectionatelyknown - stepped from hercar. Photographers flashedwildly as her security teamcleared a way for her. Themusic blasted out on the PAsystem and people dancedand sang, “We love MotherSuu. We want democracy”.

Daw Suu and U Htin Oo(Chair of NLD) came outon to a high balcony. Be-hind them was a huge NLD

poster. The crowd fell silentas she spoke, wanting toknow the result.

She thanked all her sup-porters for delivering anelection victory but sheasked them all to remaincalm. She said it was notyet the time to celebrate.There was a lot of negotia-tion still to do.

Everyone knew the NLDhad a landslide victory butwould it count? In 1990 themilitary annulled the vote -would the same happenagain?

Ever the diplomat DawSuu cautioned the crowdnot to do anything thatmight cause the military toact against them. Celebra-tions would have to wait;there was still work to do.There would be no streetparty today.

“We are happy in ourhearts,” said one wiseyoung man who told us ofhis years in a refugee campwaiting for this day andhow he hoped for a brighterfuture for him and his chil-dren.

Anne and I have waitedfor nearly 20 years for thismoment - a just and peace-ful election in Burma. Ourprayers had been answered,but the journey has onlyjust begun.

We said goodbye to ourfriends Zaw Tun and his fa-ther Win Maung, both nowAustralian citizens havingbeen forced to flee persecu-tion under the old regime.We were so happy to bewith them and share thismomentous occasion.

“We will celebrate in ourhearts today. We can cele-brate on the streets anotherday,” said Win Maung.

Please keep the people ofBurma in your prayers.

q Anne and Tony Stokle stand beside a hugeposter supporting Aung San Suu Kyi and the Na-tional League for Democracy.

Election brings new hopeto the people of Burma

Hundreds celebrate the gift of faith

which I think will bringnew life to our understand-ing of Scripture – Old andNew