Sunday Mass from St George’s Cathedral
Archbishop John Wilson is currently live-streaming Mass each Sunday at 10 am from St George’s Cathedral via You Tube. If your parish does not currently stream Mass, please consider directing your parishioners to RC Southwark Channel on which these services are being broadcast, and encourage them to subscribe: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCr5pOWykDRh4v042c7n_vYA?view_as=subscriber
The re-opening of our churches
Interview with Cardinal Nichols on BBC Radio 4 - On Thursday 14th May Cardinal Nichols was interviewed by Jamie Webb on the BBC Radio 4 ‘Today’ programme, in which they discussed how churches can be safely re-opened for private prayer as the UK government eases its lockdown restrictions to combat the spread of COVID-19.
https://www.cbcew.org.uk/cardinal-on-safely-re-opening-churches-for-private-prayer
Podcast of interview: https://soundcloud.com/catholicchurch/cardinal-nichols-on-safely-re-opening-churches-for-private-prayer
See also: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/new-taskforce-developing-plan-to-reopen-places-of-worship
Bishops’ Statement
During the course of the week, the five Archbishop’s of England and Wales released a statement (on behalf of all Bishops) in response to the Government’s published plan for easing lockdown, which way issued on 11th May 2020. The Bishops’ statement can be read here:
https://www.cbcew.org.uk/catholic-bishops-respond-to-governments-lockdown-easing-plans/
World Communications Day 2020
On Sunday 24 May we will celebrate World Communications Day across the globe. The Pope recently recognised that the media should become a primary platform for evangelisation;
‘Studying new ways and means to communicate the Gospel of mercy to all people, in the heart of different cultures, through the media that the new digital cultural context makes available to our contemporaries is something that is very much in my heart’.
While much of the world remains in lockdown and as we, in England, attempt to recover from the Coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic, many parishes have transformed from being physically to ‘virtually’ close for the time being, providing a new level of service and means of outreach. In Southwark Diocese alone, over 50 parishes are offering live-streamed Mass, interactive video-
conferencing, podcasts and weekly mailings filled with prayers, online meetings, sermons and offers of support. The creativity and quickness to respond has been both impressive and inspiring.