In September and October this year, the relics of St Bernadette will journey on pilgrimage to England, Scotland, and Wales for the very first time. This very special once in a lifetime event will provide an opportunity for people of all ages and backgrounds to experience the special gifts and charisms of Lourdes, in a church or cathedral near them. Read more>>>

Register your interest to receive more information here.

The National Synthesis – reflects on Synod reports received by the national synthesis team, discerning the main themes that have emerged from the listening conversations, and collating them together to give a picture of the synodal process in England and Wales.
​
The Catholic Church in England and Wales has been..... Read more >>>

The Diocesan Syntheses, the ‘local’ part of the Synodal process, were submitted to the Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales on the Friday before Holy Week as part of the two-year process requested by Pope Francis for the Catholic Church.

Now, having received each document from the dioceses, along with submissions from national Catholic organisations and other bodies, a National Synthesis Team has started work discerning and drafting the national synthesis for England and Wales that will be sent to the Synod Office in Rome by 15 August 2022. Read more>>>

Please pray for the repose of the soul of Father Denis Paul, who died at Coloma Court at 08.25 on 24 March 2022.

Father Denis will be remembered by many at St. Bart’s as a priest who warmly and generously gave of his retirement to assist our parish during periods when our parish clergy were away on their annual holidays.
​
May he rest in peace and rise in glory

During the General Audience on Wednesday [23 February], Pope Francis made a heartfelt appeal for peace in Ukraine, saying that the threat of war had caused “great pain in my heart.”
 
“Despite the diplomatic efforts of the last few weeks,” the Pope said, “increasingly alarming scenarios are opening up,” with many people all over the world feeling anguish and pain. Read more>>>

According to the President of the Pontifical Council for Promoting the New Evangelisation, the Pope’s main concern is that the 2025 Jubilee Year be prepared in the best possible way.
 
Speaking after an audience with Pope Francis on 3 January, Archbishop Rino Fisichella said that during the meeting the Pope approved the motto proposed for the upcoming Jubilee Year, a motto he said, “that can be summed up in two (sic) words: ”Pilgrims of hope.”
 
Archbishop Fisichella explained that, like for any motto, it attempts to condense the meaning of the entire Jubilee journey. He notes that the chosen words – pilgrims and hope – both represent key themes of Pope Francis’ pontificate.
 
“There is so much work to be done” in these two years, he said, referring in particular to the Dicastery that he heads and that is entrusted with the organizational responsibility for the event.
 
The need, he stressed, is to have a “solid preparatory impact” in order to create an efficient organizational machine.
 
“To activate it completely I am waiting for further indications from the Pope,” Archbishop Fisichella added, although work has already begun. One of the priorities concerns the reception of pilgrims and the faithful, with a large number of pilgrims expected in Rome during the Holy Year – in the hope that in the next two years the health emergency will no longer affect activities as it does today.
 
He confirmed that collaboration with “the Municipality of Rome, with the Lazio Region authorities, and with the Italian government” is in full swing so that everything can take place securely and in line with the city’s capacity to receive visitors in the best possible way.”
 
The Jubilee Year
 
Following the extraordinary 2015 Holy Year of Mercy instigated by Pope Francis, the forthcoming Jubilee will take place in line with the norm of leaving a 25-year gap between each one. The most recent ordinary jubilee took place in the year 2000, as the world and the Catholic Church prepared to enter the new millennium.
 
The Jubilee Year is a special year of grace, in which the Church offers the faithful the possibility of obtaining a plenary indulgence. Traditionally, it begins just before Christmas and ends on the Epiphany of the following year.
 
The Pope inaugurates the Holy Year with the rite of the opening of the Holy Door in St. Peter’s Basilica. After that, the Holy Doors of the other papal basilicas – St John Lateran, St Paul Outside the Walls, and St Mary Major – are opened and remain so until the end of the Jubilee Year.
 
Source: CBCEW