Message from the Diocesan ICT Department:
 
We’d like to bring to your attention a concerning rise in scam emails targeting our parishioners. These emails impersonate the parish priest, often using a similar email name and masking the real email address. They typically request the recipient to purchase Amazon or other gift cards as gifts for the priest. Unfortunately, we have received reports of parishioners falling victim to these scams, with some individuals losing up to £600 to the fraudsters. Parishioners are asked:
 
• Never to purchase gift cards as gifts for the parish priest, based on an email request, unless they have verified the request directly in person or through a trusted means
 
• To double-check any suspicious email by directly contacting the parish office
 
• To avoid sharing personal or financial information in response to unsolicited emails.

If your parishioners encounter these emails, please encourage them to report them as spam and inform the parish office immediately

From the CBCEW: Newly-appointed Episcopal Secretary of the Bishops’ Conference, Bishop Nicholas Hudson, has written an article for his diocesan website celebrating Blessed Carlo Acutis’ connection to Westminster. The millennial will be canonised – made a saint – on Sunday, 27 April 2025. Read more>>>

From the Archdiocese of Southwark:

​It is with much sadness that we announced Bishop John Hine, a retired Auxiliary Bishop of the Archdiocese of Southwark, died on Saturday afternoon 16 November in Abbotsleigh Care Home, Staplehurst, where he had been resident for a few months. Read more>>>

A memorable day for the Pupil Chaplaincy Team at St. Andrew's School who received a special blessing from Father Deo at St. Bartholomew’s.

Cardinal Vincent Nichols, President of the Bishops’ Conference and Archbishop of Westminster, has issued a pastoral letter on assisted suicide that will be read in the churches of his diocese on the weekend of 12-13 October.

Referring to a private members’ bill on assisted suicide that will be introduced to the House of Commons on Wednesday, 16 October 2024, the Cardinal offers three key points for Catholics to be aware of, and calls on the faithful to Read more >>>

The Registration Form for reception of First Holy Communion in 2025 will be found here.

Please note that applications will close on Tuesday 5 November 2024.

Click on the image to learn more and sign the petition.

The Feast of The English Martyrs falls on 4 May.

The Catholic Parish of The English Martyrs in Chard, Somerset, has a convenient page with links to discover more about each them. It may be found HERE.

The Catholic Bishops of England and Wales have issued a pastoral reflection on gender, highlighting the teaching of the Church but stressing that accompanying those struggling with gender dysphoria is “a complex but essential pastoral task”.

The document, titled Intricately woven by the Lord: A pastoral reflection on gender by the bishops of England and Wales, emphasises….. Read more>>>

What an absolutely amazing occasion this was! A truly wonderful celebration of the Resurrection of Our Lord, Jesus Christ!

Thank you so much to Jed Murphy, our Master of Ceremonies, for capturing the occasion we welcomed Easter into our hearts and souls so brilliantly.

Equally, thank you to all those who contributed to the occasion in whatever role - far too many to name individually, which says so much for our parish.