The Archbishop of Liverpool, the Most Reverend Patrick Kelly, is to visit the Holy Land next week to attend a Catholic conference on peace and reconciliation in the Middle East, which is being held in Bethlehem and Jerusalem. During the meeting the Archbishop will visit the local Church in the West Bank, give an address at Bethlehem University and concelebrate Mass in the Basilica of the Nativity in Bethlehem. The gathering has the theme of ‘The Universal Church in solidarity with the Church of the Holy Land’ and is being hosted by the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, His Beatitude Michel Sabbah. It will bring together delegates from ten Bishops’ Conferences worldwide and two European Bishops’ groupings.

Archbishop Kelly says: ‘From every communication I have received from people I know in the Holy Land it is clear that the situation remains serious and the importance of this meeting is as great as ever.’

Delegates attending the Conference will be from Catholic Bishops’ Conferences in: England and Wales, the United States, Canada, Germany, Italy, Scandinavia, Spain and Switzerland and from the Commission of the Bishops’ Conferences of the European Community (COMECE) and the Council of European Bishops’ Conferences (CCEE) whose representative is Liverpool-born priest Fr Peter Fleetwood who works for their Secretariat.

During the opening weekend of the meeting (10/11 January 2004) delegates will be able to visit the local Church in the West Bank and visit parishes in the area. On Monday 12 January they move to Bethlehem University where they are scheduled to discuss the social situation of the Palestinian people as a whole and of the Christian Community among them; they will also hear from members of the University Faculty speaking of their own recent experiences.

On Tuesday 13 January the Conference will look at a range of projects in the area which are supported by the Church internationally under the heading of ‘The Church in the Service of the People’, and at 6.00 pm that evening there will be Mass in the Basilica of the Nativity. On the following day Jewish, Muslim and Christian guests of the delegates will each speak about how their theological vision can help in the search for peace in the Holy Land followed by a full discussion of the issues. Archbishop Kelly returns to Liverpool on Friday 16 January.

A Holy Land Bishops’ meeting co-ordinated by the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales (CBCEW) started with pastoral visits to Palestinian Parishes on Sunday 11 January 2004.

Archbishop Patrick Kelly, Archbishop of Liverpool, and the Vice-President of the CBCEW concelebrated Mass at Our Lady of Fatima Parish, Beit Sahour, Bethlehem.

He preached at the Mass, which was said in a mixture of English, Arabic, Italian and Latin, and made a clear impression on the Palestinian Christians who packed the church. Archbishop Kelly said that when he returned to Britain the Mass would be ‘the memory that will remain strongest in my mind’. He added that hearing the Arabic versions of the hymns ‘O Come All Ye Faithful’ and ‘Angels We Have Heard on High’ would make him think of the Palestinian people next Christmas when he heard them again in English.

The congregation loudly applauded Archbishop Kelly when he said that wherever he travelled he would tell their story.

Later, the Archbishop visited Bethlehem’s Turath Centre, which supports Palestinian crafts people in making and selling religious items for churches around the world.

He was again applauded and cheered after telling the audience during a visit to a Greek

Orthodox Sunday School in Bethlehem that ‘the Pope always says the Church has two lungs - East and West. They must breathe together if we are to be faithful to our Lord.’ He handed out Christmas presents (the Greek Orthodox Christmas was being celebrated at the time of his visit) at the Sunday school and went on to visit the Church of the Nativity, birthplace of Christ.

Afterwards, Archbishop Kelly stressed the ecumenical nature of the visit. ‘One group we are going to meet is Churches in the Holy Land, and the Sunday School was Greek Orthodox,’ he said. ‘I was interested that I was applauded for talking of the two lungs of the Church. Our meeting here has to be an affirmation of solidarity and opportunity for Christian Palestinians to know beyond doubt that their story is being told and will be shared more wholly and understood and appreciated by people who are committed to the reconciliation which is at the heart of the Gospel.’

The meeting, entitled ‘The Universal Church in Solidarity with the Church of the Holy Land’, is of ten Bishops` Conferences and two European Bishops’ groupings.

The Bishops` Conference of England & Wales delegation is led by Archbishop Kelly, supported by Fr. Frank Turner and Dr David Ryall, of the CBCEW International Affairs Department, and also includes Sister Margaret Scott and Rev. Nicholas Postlethwaite, of the Conference of Religious.

Other Bishops to be present include Bishop Wilton Gregory, President of the US Conference of Catholic Bishops; Archbishop Brendan O`Brien, President of the Catholic Bishops` Conference of Canada; Bishop Gregorio Rosa Chavez of El Salvador, President of Caritas Latin America and Caribbean region; Bishop Bernard-Nicolas Aubertin, Bishop of Chartres in France; Bishop Reinhard Marx, President of the German Commission for Justice and Peace; Monsignor Piergiuseppe Vachelli, sub-secretary, Catholic Bishops` Conference of Italy; Bishop Enric Vives of Spain; Bishop William Kenney of Switzerland, representing the European bishops' grouping COMECE (The Commission of the Bishops’ Conferences of the European Community), and Bishop Pierre Burcher of Lausanne, Switzerland.

Archbishop Kelly is also representing the European Bishops’ grouping CCEE (the Council of European Bishops` Conferences) at the meeting which continues until Thursday 15 January 2004.

Address given by the Most Reverend Patrick Kelly, Archbishop of Liverpool and Vice-President of the Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales, at the University of Bethlehem. Monday 12 January 2004 during the meeting of Bishops’ Conference Presidents in the Holy Land: 12-15 January 2004.

On 1 January, the Solemnity of Mary of Nazareth, the Octave day of when she gave birth to her Son in Bethlehem (Luke 2:7), the day when he was named Jesus (Luke 2:21), as the angel, the messenger of God had required of both Mary (Luke 1:26, 31), and Joseph, son of David (Matthew 2:20f), I heard a broadcast on England’s most serious radio channel, BBC Radio 4. A lady, and no one challenged her, spoke of God as a pure invention by us. There was no room in her reading of history for ‘when the time had fully come, God sent forth his Son’ (Galatians 4:4), no place for any initiatives except our own. She spoke of her respect for some of the liberal ideas of Jesus, such as mercy, forgiveness, concern for the poor and rejected. In her choice of the evils for which she judged official religion and a way of life organised on the basis of a religion as typically responsible she named squabbles between faiths, squabbles between Churches about bits and pieces of this land where we gather today. Especially where this is accompanied by violence she saw this as a counter sign to giving any place to religion in human affairs. This programme manifested massive ignorance about the complexity of the Lord Jesus, revealed to us in the Scriptures and then securely, slowly, ever more deeply appreciated across the centuries and recognised with new wisdom in places such as Nicea in 325, Ephesus in 431, Chalcedon in 451. But along side this ignorance went alarming awareness of the disagreements, finding expression in this land, between both those whose fidelity is to the one God of Abraham, and between those whose fidelity is also to Jesus of Nazareth (John 19:19), heir of Abraham (Galatians 3:16), who is also God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God, of one being with the Father.

We, who are your guests, find ourselves among you when issues of land, aquifers, barriers, liberty to travel, ease of access, loom large.

I am going to make an enormous claim: the only atmosphere in which to appreciate land is the fellowship of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. To put it almost scandalously, I fear that those who only know God as one cannot securely appreciate the meaning of land, of ownership, of possession; they cannot be trusted to establish issues such as access, liberty to travel, where walls are appropriate. I begin to wonder: we find ourselves invited to proclaim: God is not isolated; God is not closed: God is not tightly concentrated; but instead God is a story of a Father who rejoices to offer abundance of space to a Son; a story of a Son who rejoices to know the freedom he has received from the Father to find ever new ways to bring delight to the Father, by ever more wonderful ways of loving; a story of a Spirit who at once is utter unbounded, gracious space between Fatter and Son, and their unity which is their joy and delight in each other. And all of this is the only secure foundation to appreciate space and land, owning and sharing, thanksgiving and creativity.

By no deserving of our own, by no works we have done, but by the sheer mercy and creative love of the Father, we have been brought into the space, the freedom, the creativity, the life and joy who is the Son (cf Galatians 4:1-7; Ephesians 2:1-10). We have seen a great light and we no longer dwell in deep darkness (Isaiah 9:2b). ‘In darkness and in the shadow of death’ (Luke 1:79), ‘in the land of shades, the narrows, the ever tighter grip of fear, the isolation of lonely death’ (Hebrews 2:14f).

This land matters for every disciple of the Lord Jesus as the place where not a controlling, isolated, fettered God was revealed. Instead there was what came to pass at Nazareth: God, the Father, sends his messenger; a Holy Spirit comes upon her, and so ‘the child to be born will be called holy, the Son of God’ (Luke 1:26-38). In the hill country of Judah, at the voice of one mother to be, Elizabeth is filled with the Holy Spirit and she recognises the Mother of her Lord, who in turn rejoices in the God who has done great things for her (Luke 1:39-56). And at a well in Samaria (John 4:4-6), a spacious, gracious conversation (John 4:7-26), reveals a new gift, a living water (John 4:10), enabling a new worship of the Father, in spirit and truth (John 4:23); and this new worship is inseparable from a thirsty, hungry Jew, a Nazarene (John 4:7-9 and 4:31), who is the Saviour of the world (John 4:42).

For at ‘the place called the place of a skull, which is called in Hebrew Golgotha,’ (John 19:17), ‘God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself,’ (2 Corinthians 5:19) ; and in that hour of glory (John 7:37-39), rivers of living water flowed, the Spirit (John 19:34-37 cf. Revelation 22:1-5).

I need to do much more homework to discern in the Old Testament the hints that fidelity to those books may not allow the reader to remain with a closed, isolated, monad God. We would need to ponder: ‘Let us make humankind in our image, according to our likeness’ (Genesis 1:26); ‘And the Lord was sorry that he had made humankind on the earth, and it grieved him to his heart’ (Genesis 6:6); ‘Come, let us go down and confuse their language’ (Genesis 11:7); ‘The Lord created me at the beginning of his work…I was beside him like a master worker; and I was daily his delight’ (Proverbs 8:22-36).

And I wonder if the constant attestation that Allah is ‘the Compassionate, the Merciful’ finds a sure foundation unless there is within God joy in the Other, delight in Another, freedom, something to which we can only do justice with a word like creativity. And mercy, which is a response to sin, the ultimate absurdity, the irrational, the denial of being, nothingness, so as to mint life out of death, order out of chaos, is surely the greatest example revealed to us of creativity.

During our previous gatherings here in the Holy Land, Patriarch Sabbah has called on us, your guests, to support you in this delicate task: so to promote that justice which is the only source of lasting peace, that you remain totally faithful to the loving wisdom of the God who reconciles.

I am daring to suggest today, that only disciples of that Son, who is of one being with the Father, and from both of whom the Spirit proceeds, have the wisdom and live by the imperative to appreciate land as meant to be space; to understand every source of life, all water, as to be restful waters for every drooping spirit (Psalm 23:2); to be horrified by walls that deny God-given space, horrified by suicide bombers who destroy all peace of mind and space to live, to laugh, to worship, to share; sanctions that destroy abundant living, trade barriers that deny access to what earth has given, unjust and inappropriate prisons, narrow education; because all of these, in ‘the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ’ (2 Corinthians 4:6), are known as blasphemy, idolatry.

But the delicacy of the task is underlined by a fact made known on 1 January 2004. On that day, according to the usual practice, the government papers in Great Britain of thirty years ago were made public. 1973 saw war in this land. We now know that at that time the Untied States of America had plans to invade Saudi Arabia and Kuwait to secure supplies of oil. In the words of the Secretary for defence, James Schlesslinger, America would not tolerate being held to ransom by ‘under-developed, under-populated’ countries.

Some of us, your sisters and brothers from other countries are part of the ‘weight, and sin which clings so closely’ (Hebrews 12:1); the most explicitly Christian countries seem determined to hold the resources of the earth in their tight control, to have no shame if they restrict the space of others to find life in abundance. There is, therefore, no doubt that the challenge first heard on the banks of the River Jordan, ‘Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand’ (Matthew 3:2) must touch many hearts and minds; that call must refine and purify (Luke 3:14-17). I recall words in the blessing of the Holy Father on the great feasts: ‘spatium verae paenitentiae,’ space for true repentance. I now see: the new heart, and the new spirit a sinners prays for (Psalm 51:10), is precisely a heart and spirit willing to give space so as to enter into ‘the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit’ (2 Corinthians 13:14). Sin is always either to deny the space for the living God and choose instead pathetic, tiny, controlled idols who can neither see, nor hear, nor feel (Psalm 115:3-6), or often also, to deny my neighbour the space for them to become the wonderful person God forms them to be (Psalm 139:13-16).

As we accept your invitation to walk with you, we know we will only truly do so, if we surrender to this: ‘Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being changed into his likeness from one degree of glory to another; for this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit’ (2 Corinthians 3:17f).

HOLY LAND MEETING OPENS WITH STRONG ADDRESS BY LATIN PATRIARCH OF JERUSALEM, HIS BEATITUDE MICHEL SABBAH

A meeting of ten Bishops' Conferences - co-ordinated by the Catholic Bishops' Conference of England and Wales - has opened with a powerful address by the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, His Beatitude Michel Sabbah.

On Monday, 12 January 2004, Patriarch Sabbah told Bishops from England and Wales, the United States, Canada, Austria, El Salvador, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Scandinavia and Switzerland and two European Bishops' groupings that the Holy Land is 'not only the scene of a political conflict between Palestinians and Israelis' but also 'a Christian land' and therefore 'Churches of the world have the responsibility to affirm this Christian character of the land by making themselves present through many ways of presence, pilgrimages, reconciliation, and to respect the human person in general'.

His Beatitude said: 'What is required indeed from the Churches of the world is not to side with this side or the other but to help both towards reconciliation, because the reconciliation of both peoples is also the best way to help the Christian presence in this land.'

He highlighted the obtaining of visas and residence permits for Church officials in the Holy Land as a 'new difficulty' relating to 'freedom of movement for the personnel of our various Churches'.

'It is a question of religious freedom, a question of free access to the Holy Land which allows Churches according to the Fundamental agreement between the Holy See and the State of Israel, to have the freedom of maintaining their presence in the Holy Land with all the required personnel, religious or lay,' said Patriarch Sabbah.

'This morning we had the visit of Mr Poraz, Minister of the Interior and in charge of Religious Affairs. But it is a question which still needs to find an adequate solution.'

He praised the Bishops for meeting and added: 'These meetings are important in order to strengthen our mutual communion and in order to find support and hope.' (The full transcript of Patriarch Sabbah's address is attached).

The Patriarch's address came near the beginning of a busy schedule for the Bishops, who are meeting for four days, initially at Bethlehem University, then at the Knights' Palace Hotel in the Old City, Jerusalem.

The Apostolic Nuncio to the Holy Land, Archbishop Pietro Sambi, told the meeting of the grim reality of daily life for the Palestinian population and his fears that the security fence, which the Israelis are building, would pass through Catholic land. 'The Pope has said that the Holy Land does not need walls, it needs bridges,' he said.

He said, however, there were reasons for hope, adding that one area in particular would give pleasure to Sister Margaret Scott, of the British Conference of Religious and a member of the delegation from England and Wales. 'The religious are active in the Holy Land,' said Archbishop Sambi, ‘and that is a sign of hope.'

Brother Vincent Malham, President and Vice-Chancellor of Bethlehem University, said the University - which currently has 34 per cent Christian students - had been forced to close twelve times in its thirty year history. 'Around three years ago, the building we are in was hit by three large missiles,' he said.

'When westerners come - and we have not had too many in the last three years - people here notice it,' he said. 'Your presence is very, very important. I pray it will be a sign of hope for people here in the Holy Land.'

Palestinian intellectual, Dr Bernard Sabella, spoke of the severe travel restrictions placed on Palestinians by the Israeli government: 'It is very painful because we feel we are in a cage.'

He said: 'Are we a happy people? Certainly not! We are traumatised people with a broken National Authority. We need to develop a vision for the future - a vision of what we want for our society.

'The local Church cannot do it without the partnership of the Universal Church. Most Palestinians want peace, stability and an end to the occupation, not the old model of vengeance and continued conflict.'

Prof. Sabella added: 'Absolutely, I reject suicide bombing, but I am also against Israeli target killings. As a Christian, I am against all killing.'

Bishop Wilton Gregory, President of the US Conference of Catholic Bishops, said: 'I am relieved we can all meet in the Holy City of Bethlehem. I am grateful to His Beatitude Michel Sabbah and Fr Frank Turner for making it possible.'

He outlined some of the work that was being done to make it easier for Church workers to get visas and residence permits - an area explained in greater detail by Fr Robert Fortin.

And Bishop Gregory said he has urged US President George Bush to support the road map for peace and, with ecumenical colleagues, was lobbying to have a meeting with President Bush on the Holy Land.

Archbishop Patrick Kelly, Vice-President of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of England and Wales and Archbishop of Liverpool, told the meeting of the efforts being made in England and Wales, including communications with the Israeli embassy in London, and debate in the House of Commons and House of Lords, where a letter from the Archbishop had been quoted.

Commenting on the Holy Land situation, he said: 'In many things which happen we see the seeds of hope.'

On Monday evening, the meeting heard first hand from three members of staff how the current crisis has affected Bethlehem University.

ADDRESS BY THE LATIN PATRIARCH, HIS BEATITUDE MICHEL SABBAH, PRESIDENT OF THE ASSEMBLY OF CATHOLIC ORDINARIES OF THE HOLY LAND IN JERUSALEM, TO THE MEETING OF BISHOPS' CONFERENCE PRESIDENTS, IN BETHLEHEM.

Your Excellencies and brothers, delegations of Bishops' Conferences in Europe and Americas,

On behalf of my Brothers, member of the Assembly of the Catholic Ordinaries of the Holy Land, I welcome you and thank you for taking the time to come to us in Jerusalem and, today, here in Bethlehem University, to listen to us and to reflect with us on the situation of the Christians in the Holy Land. Thank you for all that you have done so far, due to these meetings in which you kindly accepted to take part.

Thank you for coming back as pilgrims. A delegation of French Bishops came at the beginning of last year; in the middle of the year, another delegation of Italian Bishops also came on pilgrimage.

Pilgrimages of many dioceses, presided by the Bishop of the diocese, followed the visit of these delegations. Other Churches more modestly had also some groups of pilgrims come back. Pilgrimage is indeed an essential part of the Christian presence here in the Holy Land. We are the small flock of Jesus in this land, we will remain numerically small, but with the presence of the pilgrims, even the physical aspect of this presence changes.

First, the link with the Churches of the world becomes more alive and we better feel ourselves part of a big, universal Church, and, second, our society, Israeli and Palestinian, knows also that Christian presence is important in this country.

Another aspect in the coming of pilgrims is a witnessing to peace and reconciliation: indeed coming to pray at the Holy Places, they witness and proclaim to all, Jews, Muslims and Christians, that this land is holy, and its holiness cannot be a source of hatred and mutual killing, but just a place of prayer, where man encounters God and, in His presence, all God's children are called here not to hate or to kill each other, but to reconcile, to respect and to love each other.

We thank you for continuing attention to the human situation in which both peoples are involved in search for justice and peace, though through various forms of oppression and violence.

Some of your Churches are paying a special attention to that and are acting with the different political authorities. This land is not only the scene of a political conflict between Israelis and Palestinians, it is also a Christian land, an aspect which risks to be obliterated by the political aspect of the conflict.

Therefore, Churches of the world have the responsibility to affirm this Christian character of the land by making themselves present through many ways of presence, pilgrimages, reconciliation, and to respect the human person in general.

What is required indeed from the Churches of the world is not to side with this side or the other but to help both towards reconciliation, because the reconciliation of both people is also the best way to help the Christian presence in this land.

A new difficulty, which faces our Churches today, is the question of visas and residence permits and the freedom of movement for the personnel of our various Churches. It is a question of religious freedom, a question of free access to the Holy Land which allows Churches according to the Fundamental agreement between the Holy See and the State of Israel, to have the freedom of maintaining their presence in the Holy Land with all the required personnel, religious or lay.

Discussions and exchanges with the ministry of Interior and of the Foreign Affairs, through the Nunciature, are taking place. This morning we had the visit of Mr Poraz, Minister of the Interior and in charge of Religious Affairs. But it is a question which still needs to find an adequate solution. About this question, His Excellency the Nuncio, Archbishop Pietro Sambi, will give more details.

We thank you as well for your generosity and economical support to our institutions, particularly the schools, as well as to our faithful particularly in these three years in which the various Caritas of the world contributed and are still contributing for human help to the human person forced to live in inhuman situation.

The fate of the Holy Land requires a continuous reflection on its present situation as well as on the preparation of the future. The local Churches here are due to start organising this reflection. In this also you are called to help. These meetings are important in order to strengthen our mutual communion and in order to find support and hope.

These meetings started practically after the 1998 encounter which had for its theme 'the Status of Jersualem' and which was held with the participation of the Secretariat of State. Another meeting took place in Rome, on the invitation of the Holy Father, Pope John Paul II. The three meetings which followed here are a follow-up of those first meetings directly organised with the help of the Holy See, for a continued reflection and revision of the situation as well as for the accompaniment to the local Churches of Jerusalem.

It is perhaps time to stop again and to reflect on the future of these meetings. The secretary of co-ordination, at present Fr Frank Turner (of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of England and Wales's International Affairs Department), again will change. The first was Fr Drew Christiansen, SJ. Fr Frank Turner SJ will leave this function this coming September. We have to find a new co-ordinator.

Again, welcome, thank you for being with us in these days, for your fraternal comprehension, for your support and for your presence with us.

+Michel Sabbah, Patriarch
Bethlehem University, January 12 2004

Homily preached by the Most Reverend Patrick Kelly, Archbishop of Liverpool and Vice President of the Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales, at Mass in the Church of the Nativity, Bethlehem. Tuesday 13 January 2004.

Why are we your guests, here with you in Bethlehem? We came from our different countries and Churches in the Catholic world for one reason: fidelity to the word of God. Always we must make the same prayer as the young boy Samuel: 'Speak, Lord, your servant is listening.'

The word of God we receive this evening gives two reasons why it is good for us to be here. First of all, anyone who knows, loves, follows the Lord Jesus, loves the Holy places where God revealed Himself, and the people who surround faithfully these places with their faith and their prayers. Second, here, we listen to the voice of the Prophets of the Old Testament against injustices and oppression, as we hear the song of the Angels proclaiming peace on earth. Therefore, here we say: Here in the Holy Land, violence and oppression cannot prevail for ever.

We are determined to walk with you, whose land is this land, which is also the land of the Prophets, the Apostles and the saints. The Holy Spirit gathered us this evening in order to listen to him in this holy place and to listen to you, to your sufferings and to your prayers, asking for peace, justice and for an end to your trial which you bear with courage and hope to have back one day your freedom and dignity.

We know Jesus of Nazareth, we know Him born in Bethlehem to be the Saviour of the world, to be a sign of contradiction for all evils in this land and in the world and a source of grace and blessing to all those who believe in justice, peace, forgiveness and reconciliation. We listen to the word of God and we hear the Prophet say: ‘here from Bethlehem, a little town, shall come the Prince of Peace’.

We are here to hear your story, not least your suffering, and learn how to sustain you. But we are also here to be blessed by you, made rich by you, and to find a new strength thanks to your strength in face of all kinds of challenges.

In your sufferings and in your needs, always faithful to our Lord, we see the lowliness of our Lord. Today we were told in the Gospel we have read: he taught with authority. But he had no police force, no army, no weapons. His only power was mercy; his only force was forgiveness; his only weapon was patience.

We, your guests, are here because we need you. You show us the way to a poor manger: you guard and keep a shepherd's field, the field of men of a hard, uncertain, lonely way of life.

You long to visit, for the sake of all of us, the garden of his agony, Gethsemane; the hill of his death, Golgotha; his empty tomb in a garden nearby. In the words of a prayer dear to the Franciscan family: ‘May God reward you, Mother Church of the Holy Land’.

Brothers and sisters in Bethlehem area, we are blessed in our communion with you. May God bless you with the justice and peace you long for.

A Catholic summit on the crisis in the Holy Land has heard first hand of the terrible suffering of the Palestinian people.

Palestinian student George Tushyeh, 21, claimed today (Wednesday, January 14): ‘Israeli students do not care about our issues. They can do and go wherever they want. We are just asking for our rights. They consider us terrorists and don't treat us as human beings.’

The second and third days of the meeting of ten Catholic Bishops' Conferences, the Latin Patriarch and bishops of the Holy Land and two European Bishops' groupings heard from a wide range of Palestinian voices.

One Palestinian, Wasef Daher, said that the Israeli government's occupation of Palestinian land had ‘divided my nation into scattered ghettos and turned towns and villages into prisons’.

‘Families cannot unite, Christians cannot reach their churches, Muslims cannot reach their mosques,’ he said. ‘We are not welcome, not accepted by anyone. Our only crime - to be Palestinians.’

A group of Bishops were told of the problems created by the Israeli ‘security wall’ by the Mayor of Bethlehem, Hanna Nasser.

On Tuesday evening, the Bishops concelebrated Mass in the Church of the Nativity, the birthplace of Christ. Latin Patriarch, His Beatitude Michel Sabbah presided.

Archbishop Patrick Kelly, Vice-President of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of England and Wales and Archbishop of Liverpool, gave the homily and said:

‘The Holy Spirit gathered us this evening in order to listen to him in this holy place and to listen to you, to your sufferings and to your prayers, asking for peace, justice and for an end to your trial which you bear with courage and hope to have back one day your freedom and dignity.’

Young People to celebrate

A wooden cross presented to the youth of the world by Pope John Paul II and which has witnessed to the faith of over eleven and a half million young people is to arrive in Liverpool on Sunday 25 January 2004. The Cross, which is in England for the first time, will take central place at a special ecumenical youth event at 6.00 pm in Christ the King church, Queen’s Drive, Liverpool.

The event is a major part of preparations for the twentieth World Youth Day, which is to be held in Liverpool’s twin City of Cologne by the Catholic Church in 2005, and is to be attended by young people from Liverpool. The World Youth Day International Celebrations take place every two to three years and the twelve foot high cross was presented by the Pope prior to the first held in Rome in 1984. Since that time it has been handed on from groups of young people in villages, towns and cities throughout the world as a continuous focus of prayer and has overlooked international gatherings in Argentina, Spain, Poland, America, the Philippines, France, Italy and Canada. The Cross arrived in England on Thursday 8 January and within four days had been seen by 7,500 young people; when it arrived in London over 3,000 brought traffic to a standstill as they processed with it from Southwark Cathedral via Westminster Abbey to Westminster Cathedral.

The Cross will arrive in Liverpool at the end of the week of prayer for Christian Unity when the Most Reverend Patrick Kelly, Archbishop of Liverpool, will lead the Service together with other Merseyside Church Leaders. Father Karl-Josef Schurf, Youth Chaplain to Liverpool’s Twin City of Cologne, will also be present. The Celebration has been planned by young people from different denominations and will include personal testimonies, music, dance and multi-media worship.

Father Stephen Pritchard, Youth Chaplain in the Archdiocese of Liverpool, says: ‘This is a unique event and one which perfectly launches our preparations for World Youth Day in Cologne next year. It is a happy coincidence that the Cross arrives at the end of the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity and likewise that next year’s international celebration is to be held in Liverpool’s twin City.’

Twenty year old Anna Kendall from Crosby said: ‘I feel very proud that the Cross is coming to my home city, I was in Toronto lat year where the Cross had a central place. This is a special gift from the Pope who we know is very elderly and frail, we can all remember him especially at this time.’

Liverpool’s young people will be in Cologne from 11-21 August 2005, staying in local communities from 11-15 August before taking part in the World Youth day celebrations from 16-21 August which are to culminate in Mass celebrated by the Pope.

Anyone may attend the World Youth Day Cross Service at Christ the King church, Queens Drive, Liverpool at 6.00 pm on Sunday 25 January 2004. Entertainment, including a Disco, will be provided for young people afterwards at a cost of £1.50 per person.

For further information contact: Father Stephen Pritchard Tel: 0151 254 2979.

Statement issued at the conclusion of the meeting of Bishops’ Conferences held in Bethlehem and Jerusalem from 12 to 15 January 2004: ‘The Universal Church in Solidarity with the Church of the Holy Land’.

'Not walls, but bridges!'

1. We, Catholic Bishops from Europe and the Americas, came here to demonstrate the solidarity of Catholics throughout the world with the Church of the Holy Land. For the third time in as many years, we have come in friendship for both the Israeli and Palestinian peoples, Christian, Jew and Muslim alike. We have seen the violence suffered by both communities: the attack against Israelis in Gaza and the collective punishment of Palestinian citizens. We express our condolences for the deaths that have occurred during our stay and affirm our opposition to all bloodshed.

We have heard of the desire for peace, justice and reconciliation among both Israelis and Palestinians. We have also observed with great regret the lack of political will not only in this region but in the international community to work for a peaceful settlement.

We therefore call upon all our political leaders to respond to the desire for peace which the people of this Holy Land have deep in their hearts.

2. 'We labour and strive, because we have fixed our hope on the living God' (1 Timothy 4: 10).

We have witnessed many signs of hope during our short time in the Holy Land. Not least among these are the generosity of the universal Church and the expressions of solidarity that have come from Christians in Israel and elsewhere in the world.

Most hopeful of all, however, is the vitality and commitment of the Church of the Holy Land itself, including the fraternal relations between Christian leaders.

We congratulate the Assembly of Catholic Ordinaries in the Holy Land, together with all the Christians of the Holy Land in communion with the Catholic Church, for the successful implementation of their Synod, as well as the Catholic relief organisations which have worked so hard to co-ordinate their efforts and focus on their strengths in support of all the people of the Holy Land.

3. 'The Holy Land does not need walls, but bridges!’ (Pope John Paul II, 16 November 2003)

We have seen the devastating effect of the wall currently being built through the land and homes of Palestinian communities. This appears to be a permanent structure, dividing families, isolating them from their farmland and their livelihoods, and cutting off religious institutions.

We have had an experience of the frustration and humiliation undergone every day by Palestinians at checkpoints, which impede them from providing for their families, reaching hospital, getting to work, attending their studies and visiting their relatives.

We deplore the fact that, despite visible efforts, some priests, seminarians, sisters, brothers, and lay personnel are being denied or are having difficulties in obtaining visas and residence permits to study and work in Israel and the Palestinian territories.

These constitute genuine impediments to the Churches' capacity to carry out their mission at the service of the people of the Holy Land. This is especially regrettable given that the State of Israel and the Holy See have just marked ten years since the signing of their Fundamental Agreement.

We are also concerned about the written notices given to pilgrims by the Israeli authorities on arrival in the Holy Land, making it difficult for them to visit areas under the control of the Palestinian Authority, including many of the Holy Places of the Christian faith.

4. 'Teacher, where are you staying? ... Come and see!' (John 1: 38-39)

We have been given hope by the small but notable increase in the number of pilgrims coming to the Holy Places. We hope that our own journey will be an example and encouragement to our fellow Christians to come and see where Jesus Christ lived. To journey and to be a pilgrim is a sign of hope and solidarity to the Christians of the Holy Land, a reminder of the presence of this living Church - the Mother Church - and a witness to peace and reconciliation in this region so afflicted by conflict. We call on all our fellow believers to bear witness to the truth of the message addressed to the Christians of the Holy Land during these days: 'You are not alone!'

+ Brendan O'Brien
Archbishop of St John's Newfoundland and President, Canadian Bishops' Conference

+ Wilton D. Gregory
Bishop of Belleville and President, United States Conference of Catholic Bishops

+ Patrick Kelly
Archbishop of Liverpool and Vice-President, Catholic Bishops' Conference of England and Wales (Delegate, Council of European Bishops' Conferences)

+ Bernard-Nicolas Aubertin
Bishop of Chartres, French Bishops' Conference

+ Lucien Daloz
Archbishop Emeritus of Besançon, French Bishops' Conference

+ Reinhard Marx
Bishop of Trier, German Bishops' Conference

+ Joan Enric Vives
Bishop of Urgell and co-Prince of Andorra, Spanish Bishops' Conference

+ William Kenney
Auxiliary Bishop of Stockholm, Scandinavian Bishops' Conference and Commission of the Bishops' Conferences of the European Community (COMECE)

+ Pierre Bürcher
Auxiliary Bishop of Lausanne, Swiss Bishops' Conference

+ Gregorio Rosa Chavez,
President, Caritas Latin America

Mgr Piergiuseppe Vachelli
Undersecretary, Italian Bishops' Conference

Seven bishops spoke of their sense of hope at a packed press conference on the last day of a four-day Catholic summit in solidarity with the churches of the Holy Land.

Latin Patriarch, His Beatitude Michel Sabbah, Bishop Wilton Gregory, President of the US bishops' conference, Archbishop Patrick Kelly, vice-president of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of England and Wales and Archbishop of Liverpool who was also representing the Council of European Bishops' Conferences (CCEE), Bishop Enric Vives, Bishop of Urgell in Spain, Bishop Reinhard Marx of Germany, Bishop William Kenney of Scandinavia who was representing the Commission of EU Bishops' Conferences (COMECE), and Bishop Nicolas Aubertin reflected on their productive time in the Holy Land.

Asking about the wall which the Israeli government is building on Palestinian land, Bishop Marx said: 'We do not get peace with walls -that's our opinion.

'We will focus not only on the wall - but on the wall as an expression of the wider problem. As the Pope said, what we need for peace is bridges not wall.'

Bishop Vives said: 'All Christians as people of peace should be able to travel freely anywhere in the Holy Land.'

Archbishop Kelly said: 'I know this will be part of the media interviews I will be giving. There has been a discussion about the wall in the British House of Commons, led by the Jewish member of parliament Gerald Kaufman. He will be informed of what we have seen while we were here.'

On contact between the bishops and the Israeli government, Bishop Gregory said that they had had a meeting with Israeli President Moshe Katsav and he hoped to speak to those injured in the latest suicide bombing atrocity during a visit to an Israeli hospital.

On reported differences of opinion between the bishops and President Katsav, His Beatitude Michel Sabbah said: 'We cannot have equality between the oppressor and the oppressed. Israelis and Palestinians are equal as human beings in dignity but as to the occupation they are not equal.

'Israelis are also under attack from Palestinians... we must say no to evil, no to bloodshed, no to terrorism and at the same time no to occupation. As the Pope says, terrorism should be fought in all ways and means. But we must also fight the roots of terror.

'If we search for the reasons for violence, it is because the people are under oppression. This is not a justification, as President Katsav claims, but an analysis of why it happens. If we want to stop the terrorism, we must take away the cause.'

The Latin Patriarch has asked for a private meeting with President Katsav. 'The president showed sensitivity [to the suffering of Palestinians] and as the Church we are also sensitive to the needs of the Israelis,' his Beatitude added.

Monsignor Paul Gallagher, who celebrates his 50th birthday on 23rd January, has been announced by the Vatican as the Holy See¹s new Apostolic Nuncio (Ambassador) to Burundi. Monsignor Gallagher, a priest of the Liverpool Archdiocese, has spent the past twenty years in the Papal Diplomatic Service where he now becomes the first English priest, from the Vatican’s Diplomatic Service, to be appointed a Papal Nuncio. The Holy See currently enjoys diplomatic relations with some 178 countries, including the United Kingdom.

The Most Reverend Patrick Kelly, Archbishop of Liverpool, says of the appointment: ‘It is at the same time a joy and a challenge for us here in the Archdiocese of Liverpool to receive the announcement of Monsignor Paul Gallagher as Apostolic Nuncio to Burundi. We most certainly accompany him with our heartfelt prayer aware of the enormous challenges experienced by so many people in the African continent, not least in Burundi. I am convinced that it is for all of us to see this as a challenge to renew our commitment to hold Africa in prayerful active concern and renew our determination to walk the ways of justice and peace.’

Archbishop-elect Gallagher was educated at St. Francis Xavier’s College in Woolton before continuing his studies at the Venerable English College in Rome. After Ordination to the Priesthood by Archbishop Derek Worlock in the Metropolitan Cathedral, Liverpool in 1977, Monsignor Gallagher served as an Assistant Priest at Holy Name Parish in Fazakerley where his duties included being a chaplain to the then Fazakerley Hospital, now University Hospital Aintree.

Monsignor Gallagher was invited to return to Rome and enrol at the Pontifical Ecclesiastical Academy where priests, from all over the world who may join the Vatican Diplomatic Service, gather for further studies. Graduating in 1984 with a Doctorate in Canon Law, Monsignor Gallagher served in various Nunciatures around the world including Tanzania, Uruguay, the Philippines, the Vatican Secretariat of State in Rome and, more recently, as Special Envoy, Permanent Observer of the Holy See to the Council of Europe in Strasbourg.

Monsignor Gallagher will be ordained Bishop in Rome with the dignity of Archbishop, which is given to all Papal Nuncios; he will have the Titular See of Hodelm. His mother, family, relatives and friends from the United Kingdom and beyond will travel to Rome for the celebration, the date for which will be announced soon.

Please note Archbishop-elect Gallagher is not available for interview.

Booking now underway for seventy-fourth annual pilgrimage

The Archbishop of Liverpool, the Most Reverend Patrick Kelly, is to lead the seventy-fourth official annual pilgrimage of the Archdiocese of Liverpool to the Shrine at Lourdes in South West France. Pilgrims are to fly from Liverpool’s John Lennon Airport and will be in Lourdes from Saturday 24 July to Friday 30 July 2004.

Booking is now open for the Pilgrimage and anyone wishing to travel may book through Tangney Tours on 0800 917 3572.

The speciality of the Pilgrimage is to enable sick pilgrims to travel with full medical and mobility support. Applications are now invited from sick people wishing to travel either by personal application; or by the recommendation of a relation, friend or neighbour; or by application from a sponsoring parish or group. Sick pilgrims will receive help in getting on and off the plane, help whilst in Lourdes and any necessary help for medical conditions. Sick people wishing to apply to join the Pilgrimage should contact Barbara on 0151 546 0077.

Email booking enquiries may be made to: johnbutchard@hotmail.com

Feast of Our Lady of Lourdes
Wednesday 11 February 2004

To celebrate the Feast of Our Lady of Lourdes and the World Day of Prayer for Sick People Archbishop Patrick Kelly will be the Principal Celebrant at Mass at 8.00 pm in the Church of Christ the King, Queens Drive, Liverpool, on Wednesday 11 February 2004.

The Liverpool Lourdes Association has organised the Celebration and anyone is welcome to attend. The Director of the Association, Monsignor John Butchard, and his staff will be remembered in prayer, as they will be in Lourdes finalising the arrangements for the July Pilgrimage.

Peter Nicholson was born in Sheffield on 20 December 1942. His early education was at Woodseats County Primary School, and at De La Salle College, Sheffield, before he entered St Joseph’s Junior Seminary at Upholland. He went on to study for the priesthood at St Joseph’s College, Upholland, and was ordained in the Metropolitan Cathedral of Christ the King, Liverpool, on 20 May 1967.

Following ordination his first appointment was as Assistant Priest at St Richard’s, Bootle in August 1967, moving in February 1975 to Our Lady, Star of the Sea, Seaforth. In January 1979 he took up residence in St Paul’s Parish, West Derby, serving as Chaplain to Broughton Hall and St Edward’s Grammar Schools. In September 1983 he became Assistant Priest at St Paul’s retaining his School Chaplaincy work on a part-time basis. He was appointed as Parish Priest of St Michael’s, West Derby Road, Liverpool, in January 1985, returning to St Paul’s, as Parish Priest, in September 1992. In August 1995 he took on the additional responsibility of Priest-in-Charge at St Timothy’s, West Derby.

He will be remembered as a kind and generous pastor who in his spare time took delight in classical music and opera in particular. His dedicated service to the parishes of St Paul and St Timothy continued until his sudden death in the early hours of Monday 2 February 2004. May he rest in peace.

His body will be received into St Timothy’s church, West Derby, at 7.30 pm tomorrow evening, Thursday 5 February, when Mass will be celebrated. His Funeral Mass will be celebrated by the Most Reverend Patrick Kelly, Archbishop of Liverpool, at 12.30 pm on Friday 6 February in St Paul’s church, West Derby, prior to burial in Yew Tree Cemetery.

Introduction to Mass and Homily preached by the Most Reverend Patrick Kelly, Archbishop of Liverpool, at the Funeral Mass for Rev Peter Nicholson. 12.30 pm on Friday 6 February 2004 in St Paul’s Roman Catholic church, West Derby, Liverpool.

Introduction to Mass:

We receive the body of Father Peter Nicholson from the Church of Saint Timothy into the Church of Saint Paul. I felt our remembering and our praying might be most true if we received at this Mass the word of God chosen for the feast of Saint Timothy and Saint Titus, co-workers of the apostle Paul. When I return here tomorrow evening we will find the word of God will set before us the way of Simon Peter: another beautiful setting to remember, mourn, pray. But now as with his family we are gathered by the Lord to pray him on his way; only sin can take away the harmony which is deep friendship in Our Lord. We ask to be forgiven.

Homily:

‘The man that hath no music in himself, nor is not moved with concord of sweet sounds, is fit for treasons, strate-gems and spoils; the motions of his spirit are dead as night, and his affections dark as Erebus; let no such man be trusted’. That is Shakespeare speaking: a man with no music in himself.

I fear that next Thursday night at the Phil, I will automatically look round to see if I can find Peter. Instead an empty seat.

But a man with music in himself, moved with concord of sweet sounds is fit not for treasons, strategems and spoils; but to live and die by the words of Saint Paul to Saint Timothy: ‘fan into a flame the gift that God gave you…God’s gift was not a spirit of timidity but the Spirit of power, and lover, and self-control’. The prayer uttered on his ordination day: Innova in visceribus Spiritum Sanctitatis. Renew within him the Spirit of Holiness finds a ready hearing in a heart and mind moved with concord and sweet sounds.

The fruit will be not a spirit dull and heavy as night: but a gentle, lightsome spirit, which from the heart says at every threshold: peace be to this house.

Here no dark affections but a longing to heal every sickness of body, mind, spirit. A spirit willing to be like the Lamb of God: no attempt to become a wolf but using only the resources of the Lord’s death on Calvary, patience, forgiveness, self-lessness after all it is that death he led us all to proclaim at the altar.

Such a man can be trusted to say: ‘The kingdom of God is very near to you’. God drawing close by to forgive, to heal, to gladden, to make holy: the God of peace, of harmony, of the song which evil shall never silence.

But in the best of orchestras a horn can sound a false note, a drum miss the beat, a violin slide out of tune; we pray that every false note, missed beat, discordant sound in Peter be healed.

But we will also receive in his sudden death, the sharpest reminder of a harvest too rich for our present and future resources faithfully to gather. So we will remember this word of the Lord: ‘The harvest is rich but the labourers are few, so ask the Lord of the harvest to send labourers to his harvest’. Let each one of us as we grieve Peter Nicholson’s so sudden death resolve: I will so pray, so speak, so live that I will inspire the question: is the Lord calling me to be a priest? Peter Nicholson would certainly say, using Saint Paul’s words to Timothy: dear child of mine, grace, mercy, peace, shall surely be with you from God the Father and from Christ Jesus our Lord.

The annual Civic Service will be celebrated by Auxiliary Bishop of Liverpool, the Right Reverend Thomas Williams, this Sunday, 8 February 2004. The Service which this year takes the form of Choral Evening Prayer begins at 3.00 pm in the Metropolitan Cathedral of Christ the King, Liverpool. Bishop Williams will preach the sermon.

The Service will be attended by the Lord Mayor of Liverpool, Councillor Ron Gould, who will read the first lesson from the Prophet Isaiah (58:6-12). His Honour Judge Henry Globe QC, the Honorary Recorder of Liverpool, will read the second lesson from the Book of Deuteronomy (6:4-9). The Intercessions will be led by Rev Martyn Newman, Ecumenical Development Officer for Churches Together in the Merseyside Region.

Other Civic Leaders present will include:

Archbishop Kelly in Bam

The Archbishop of Liverpool, the Most Reverend Patrick Kelly, has visited the Iranian City of Bam which was devastated by an earthquake on Friday 26 December 2003. The Archbishop who is on a pastoral visit to Iran as part of a delegation from the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales travelled to the City on the morning of Monday 16 February returning to the Capital, Tehran, this morning (Tuesday 17 February).

Archbishop Kelly says: ‘The scenes of devastation are so horrendous that after a time you feel that it must be a film set; the extent of the damage is such that we drove for over half an hour seeing only ruins and tented villages. The scale of the disaster is almost beyond comprehension with half the population being killed and hospitals and schools being left with only half their staff and resources. We must remember the people and their region in prayer and offer support in whatever way we can.’

Whilst in the City the Archbishop met many of the survivors of the disaster and was introduced to them by Sister Josephine, an Italian Sister from the Order of the Daughters of Charity, who has worked in Iran for many years. He was struck by the dignity of people who had lost virtually everything and said: ‘We visited a tented city, each person had lost five or six close relatives in the earthquake, and although reduced to such basic living they had no hesitation in inviting us in to take tea with them.’

Archbishop Kelly also met with Ali Shafiee, the Governor of Bam, and was told of the immediate reaction to the disaster and the longer-term challenges of relief and rebuilding. They also discussed the work being done by the Catholic Aid Organisations CARITAS IRAN and CAFOD.

The Archbishop also sampled the enduring sense of humour of the people of Bam: ‘When they heard that I was from Liverpool, they were insistent on telling me that they all supported Manchester United; yet a short distance away I heard another voice say: "Ah...Michael Owen" and another: "Everton"!.

Homily preached by the Most Reverend Patrick Kelly, Archbishop of Liverpool, at an Inter-Faith service in Remembrance of the Victims of the Morecambe Bay Tragedy. Sunday 22 February 2004 at 3.00 pm in the Cathedral Church of St Peter, Lancaster.

The tapestry brought to the Cathedral from Saint Mary’s church, Morecambe was designed by Ray Schofield. There is no doubt what it portrays: Simon Peter and his companions on the Sea of Galilee, hauling in a net filled to breaking point with fish. But there is no less doubt, that the colours of the sky and sea reflecting the sky are those of sunset over Morecambe Bay, and the hills are unmistakably those of the Lake District.

So the tapestry sets the scene for us, strangely brought together, in this place of surrender in prayer to God, this Cathedral Church, named for Simon Peter, to allow our praying, our pondering, our remembering, our responsibilities for the future, to be guided, deepened, challenged by the meetings by the Sea of Galilee, between Simon Peter and Jesus, son of Mary, of Nazareth, and by his letter from which Morecambe’s Member of Parliament, Geraldine Smith, read to us this afternoon.

We may begin with this word of Peter to Jesus: ‘we worked hard all night, we laboured until breaking point. I think of the emergency services; and since any heart opened to, opened by a disaster such as that in Morecambe Bay finds space for others in their suffering too, I remember in your presence today those still toiling in Bam’s earthquake devastation, where I was four days ago, and those confronted, again in Iran, by the exploding train near Moshad: and in the presence of all those coming close by to bring comfort and rescue and healing I say: wherever we see toil, labour, to breaking point, dedication, skill, patient endurance, going way beyond any call of duty, there we catch a glimpse of the divine. We see, in the face of sustained, cheerful, sympathetic responses, that here are actions beyond any human resources we know in ourselves; we see, as Saint Peter taught us today, actions, in fact done at God’s orders, sustained, enriched, appreciated by divinity.

Secondly: we are encouraged today by the word of the Lord Jesus to Peter: put out in the deep. For at such a time, I do not think I am alone in asking: is my heart deep enough, affectionate enough, warm enough, to hold those who perished in the treacherous sands, currents, tides of Morecambe Bay’s deceiving beauty and serenity. Jesus says: ‘put out into the depths of your heart’. As good stewards of God above, all of us are able to put ourselves at this service of others: you can, we can, I can, grieve for and mourning pray for the 20 women and men who died in Morecambe Bay, and for all those to whom they were dear, not as faceless others, but as each and everyone a unique sister, brother, uniquely loved, uniquely named, uniquely wonderful. And there is space in hearts like ours for the 40,000 who died in 15 surging, swaying, collapsing seconds in Bam, for the 300 consumed in the inferno close to the Holy city of Moshad. Our prayer, in the Holy Spirit of God, can be heartfelt, sincere.

Our final step is the most challenging, the most difficult, but precisely in Saint Peter’s Church, the one most full of promise for our deeply divided, torn, suffering world. One morning in Spring, Peter, who had spent the long night fishing, saw a familiar stranger on the shore; obeying the familiar stranger’s instructions he cast his net and caught 153 big fish. Joy, relief, achievement, the laborious night forgotten. He knew the stranger then: Jesus. But as he stepped ashore he smelt, to his shame and horror a charcoal fire. Memories surged into his heart and mind: one cold Thursday Night, as he warmed himself by a charcoal fire, he had denied Jesus three times: the ultimate failure of a disciple; the final treachery and cowardice. But now Jesus comes to meet him by the sea where they had first met and he had set out to follow him. But Jesus will not let him forget the evil he had done, the wrong of which he was guilty. He confronts Peter with his sin. There is no superficial recognition and dealing with sin by Jesus; it is searching rigorous, thorough.

The tragedy of Morecambe Bay, like the devastation of Bam, like that blazing cargo train, demands that question are asked; that inquiry is searching, rigorous, thorough; questions must be asked, wrongs named, evil confronted, guilt never ignored. But Jesus confronted Peter in such a way that by judging him, he healed him and brought him back.

In this place we are impelled to dare to say: all anger, all inquiries, all judgment, not least condemnation and punishment, shall in the end serve only this purpose: A beautiful sunset for each and every one over Morecambe’s glorious Bay.

TUESDAY EVENINGS IN LENT

Archbishop Patrick Kelly to lead Lenten Reflections

Last Wednesday, 25 February 2004, was Ash Wednesday marking the beginning of the season of Lent for Christians. It is a time of penance and preparation for the celebration of the Feast of Easter and lasts for a period of six weeks. On five of the Tuesdays of Lent the Archbishop of Liverpool, the Most Reverend Patrick Kelly, will be leading a series of evening reflections at the Liverpool Archdiocesan Centre for Evangelisation on Croxteth Drive, Liverpool. The evenings, which are open to all, begin at 7.45 pm and end at approximately 9.00 pm. There is no admission charge and tea and coffee are available beforehand.

The reflections will take place on the following dates:

Reverend Robert Thomas Starkey
Born: 5 March 1941
Ordained: 17 July 1976
Died: 3 March 2004

Robert Thomas Starkey was born in Liverpool on 5 March 1941, the son of Robert and Margaret Starkey. His early education was at St John’s RC Primary School, Kirkdale, and De La Salle Grammar School, Liverpool. He studied for the priesthood at St Joseph’s College, Upholland and Ushaw College, Durham. He was ordained to the priesthood in Sacred Heart church, Kirkby, on 17 July 1976.

His first appointment was to St Mary’s parish, Chorley, where he remained for five years until November 1981 when he was appointed to St Columba, Huyton moving in September 1985 to St Mary’s, Woolton. In October 1988 he was appointed Parish Priest of St Patrick’s, Clinkham Wood, St Helens. This was followed in November 1992 by his appointment as Parish Priest of St Austin’s, Thatto Heath, St Helens. He took a period of sabbatical leave in 1997, and in November 2002 he was appointed Parish Priest of English Martyrs, Litherland, where he remained until his sudden death on 3 March 2004. May he rest in peace.

His body will be received into English Martyrs church, Litherland, at 7.30 pm on the evening of Monday 8 March, when Mass will be celebrated. His Funeral Mass will be celebrated there at 11.00 am on Tuesday 9 March prior to interment in Ford Cemetery.

Introduction to Mass and Homily preached by the Most Reverend Patrick Kelly, Archbishop of Liverpool, at the Funeral Mass for Rev Robert Starkey. 11.00 am on Tuesday 9 February 2004 in English Martyrs Roman Catholic church, Litherland, Liverpool.

Introduction to Mass:

Lent is a journey into which we are all invited. A journey, day by day, into a fuller share in the life of Jesus our Lord. Every Lent is a rehearsal for our final journey; through death, yes, but to life. It just happens, but I find myself saying that so often that I realise, it does not just happen, it is all part of God’s loving, wise, generous plan, that on this Lenten day our Lord’s words in the Gospel invite us to ponder the life of a priest. The scene will be set gratefully to remember the life and service of Father Robert Starkey and pray him on his final journey. We do so with his sisters here today. And I know it matters much to Cathy and the whole family that in his absence Father Mike Thompson is one with us in our prayer. In the end only sin divides us from the Lord and each other. We accept with gratitude this assurance from the prophet Isaiah: ‘Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool.’

Homily:

These words will guide our remembering of Father Robert Starkey: ‘Jesus renounces having his own disciples in the sense of his own fatherhood…He wants to let every mission issue from his having been sent by the Father.’ They will help us to appreciate why our Lord says to us, your priests, ‘You must not allow yourselves to be called Rabbi, since you have only one Master; call no one on earth your father, since you have only one Father…nor must you allow yourselves to be called teachers for you have only one Teacher, the Christ.’ We will understand that our Lord is calling us to be just like him, nothing less than that; not seeking to possess any one, even as a disciple; but receiving every one and everything from God his Father and ours and entrusting everyone and everything, not least our own life, back to this same Father.

And the second word, since I am sure it is a case of like Mother like Son, the word of our Lady, very special to someone enriched by being at one with the Marian Movement for Priests, ‘Magnificat.’ Mary’s song: my soul glorifies the Lord: I do not exalt myself; I do not draw praise to myself, I do not seek to be the centre of attention: I shall only seek to glorify the Lord, to lead to the proclamation: ‘All glory and honour are yours almighty Father’.

And from the willingness to be nothing more nor less than a sign pointing to one Master, who alone is Lord, to ensure that any calling of me as father is only to lead with utter transparency to our one Father, to teach only the word of the Lord, to invite only to his supper, then we know what the life after death will be; or rather we will know it is nothing less than this: ‘an astonished and trusting surrender to God who is ever greater, and to the freedom of his love.’

I suppose the danger which our Lord put before us all today is greater for Bishops: I never sit anywhere but at the top table at any official dinner; very often when I set off the boot of the car is full of pretty extraordinary gear, tassels and all and I think we’ve come a bit too far since Galilee. Thanks be to God I am kept safe by my brother priests, not least those like Bob, by their day-by-day life as servants in so many ways. I am convinced that every title seen as somehow greater, Canon, Monsignor, Lordship, Grace, Eminence, is very pathetic compared with Father. And yet our Lord seems to think that can be the most dangerous of all. But today I know we remember someone who not least in the school was known as a making known of the wonderful, unique, complete love of him whom we acclaim, Our Father. And for any priests, our longing is not to be the teacher, but to long to bring nourishment only at the table of our Lord’s Word and his Body and Blood. It is all to be a Mangificat person, to be like Mary above all a disciple of our Lord, open to him. And such in the end was the Lord himself: He only did what he saw his Father doing, he knew his disciples are given to him by his Father, he longed only to do his Father’s will. So Mary had prayed: Be it done to me according to your word: I am the servant of the Lord. Indeed the greatest among us made herself servant of all.

A sudden death wakes us up the challenge: the Lord himself died a very young man. We are those invited, as we pray for Bob to see length of days in a different way. The death of Bob like that of Peter Nicholson so very recently is not first and foremost a challenge as to how we mange with suddenly fewer priests; what is really put to the test is this conviction: ‘If for this life only we have hoped in Christ, we are of all people most to be pitied.’ In shock, in grief, but not without hope we pray today.

What remains is that we commend him to an astonished and trustful surrender to God who is ever greater and to the freedom of his love. And as we pray we have no hesitation in realising that the greatest of all Marian prayers was heard in the loneliness of the night, the prayer prayed tens of thousands of times by Bob: ‘Holy Mary, Mother of God pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death. Amen’. He did not die alone.

Introduction to Mass and Homily preached by the Most Reverend Patrick Kelly, Archbishop of Liverpool, at Community Mass in the Venerable English College, Rome. Wednesday of the Second Week in Lent: 10 March 2004.

Introduction to Mass:

It is a good day to celebrate Mass in this place, before the Martyrs’ picture. Until today, the readings on the weekdays of Lent have had one of three purposes: Initiation, Reconciliation: Renewal. But today the attention moves unmistakeably to the only source from which the water of initiation, the fire of reconciliation and renewal can flow, the only source for ‘Ignem veni mittere in terram’, for fire on earth. It is the one in whom the suffering of Jeremiah comes to more than fulfilment, the Son of Man giving his life as a ransom for many. ‘That we may steadfastly look to Jesus the pioneer and perfecter of our faith, we lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely.’ (Hebrews 12: 1-2)

Homily:

It is a good day to walk this day in our Lenten Day in this place. Saint Mark spells out more fully our Lord’s terrible question to James and John: ‘Are you able to drink the cup that I drink, or to be baptized with the baptism with which I am baptized?’ (Mark 10:38) And that makes us ponder the challenge in the martyrs’ picture: ‘I came to cast fire upon the earth; and would that it were already kindled! I have a baptism to be baptized with; and how I am constrained until it is accomplished.’ (Luke 12:49) We are brought into that zeal, that resolution, which brought the Lord to say: ‘My food is to the will of him who sent me, and to accomplish his work.’ (John 4:34) And there is only one place, at one hour, on one day when the word is spoken: ‘”It is accomplished”; and he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.’ (John 19:30)

The purpose of all that is undertaken in this College, for both students and priests who share its life is crystal clear: it is to ensure that ‘Agnoscite quod agitis; imitamini quod tractatis’ ‘Understand what you are doing, model your life on the mystery of the Lord’s cross.’ Entrusted to priests are the words of the Word of God, the deed of the deed of God. But that deed is this: God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself. The mission to be undertaken in the spirit of Ralph Sherwin ‘potius hodie quam cras,’ rather today than tomorrow, zeal, resolution, determination: the mission is this: then he said to them ‘Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead, and that repentance and forgiveness of sins should be preached in his name to all nations beginning from Jerusalem. You are witnesses to these things. And behold I send the promise of my Father upon you; but stay in the city, until you are clothed with power form on high.’ (Luke 24:45-49)

The command of the Lord from which Maundy, Mandatum, Thursday in part takes its name, is about a deed: Do this in memory of me. And deed cannot be remembered as it should that commandment cannot be fully obeyed without the ministry for which this place exists.

It has been a challenge for me in recent months, on behalf of the Bishops of England and Wales to visit the Holy Land and Iran. I have had to face up to the questions: how deep are the things shared by the three monotheistic faiths, Judaism, Christianity, Islam? How significant are the differences once some are drawn into the grace of our Lord, Jesus Christ, the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit. It has become clear how searching and sustained must be our pondering of the deed to which Lent leads us. Let every communion for those caught up in the ministry of priests be a willingness to answer the question: can you drink the cup I am to drink, be baptised with the baptism with which I am to be baptized, be zealous about the work the Father gave me to do, can you cast fire on the earth, do you want to cast that fire on the earth? The answer will be in the measure that we know ‘Jesus Christ and him crucified’. (I Corinthians 2:2)

Address given by the Most Reverend Patrick Kelly, Archbishop of Liverpool, at the Reception at Venerabile Collegio Inglese, Rome, following the Episcopal Ordination of the Most Reverend Paul Gallagher, titular Archbishop of Holdelm. Saturday 13 March 2004

Mrs Gallagher, Paul, ladies and gentlemen,

I begin with these words because of what I received in this place in the 1950s. First: a visit by the Bishop of Menevia, Bishop Petit; it may have been Saint David’s Day. There had been speeches at lunch, and most began with that wondrous litany of titles, ecclesiastical and civil with which only speeches in Rome can begin. Bishop Petit shook the foundations of protocol by beginning ‘Ladies and Gentlemen’. And of course in those days the ladies were severely outnumbered. He then explained his break with tradition: I say ‘Ladies and Gentlemen’ because I can think of no other greeting marked by such courtesy and respect.

But It’s the second 1950s fact which explains my variation on Bishop Petit’s theme. As all of you who are fans and I trust that is all of you, of ‘The Lord of the Rings’, will have been inspired by recent films to return to the book. You may notice: first published mid 1950s. I was among the generation that waited for ‘The Return of the King’. I like the film because of what is in it that is true to Tolkien but not literally in the text. And there’s a thought for Vox Clara. I am fairly sure Sam’s statement on these lines: ‘As Mr Bilbo used to say: it’s a dangerous thing leaving your own front door; you never know where the path will lead.’

In that spirit above all it is right to give thanks to Mrs Gallagher and the whole family for giving Paul the space to leave his own front door. This makes today for you a blessed day. And I mean blessed, not happy. Happiness is something much cheaper, and in my present task, on Merseyside it is always in danger of producing a rousing rendition of Ken Dodd’s ‘Happiness’. Blessed is about being open to unexpected depth of concern, service, selflessness, and love. And it is clearly a case of like Mother, like Son. We are grateful that Paul was willing to leave his own front door and in surely massively unexpected ways come to this evening. A good evening to remember words of Bishop Alan Clark, my vice-rector in student days, here, which he spoke to seminarians at St Mary’s college, Oscott: ‘If any of you have an idea in your minds of what life as a priest will be like, exorcise it now: it won’t be like that’.

Recall this assurance of the Lord: ‘Whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother’. And then I am sure we must dare to say nothing less to Mrs Gallagher, in Paul’s’ presence this evening: ‘Blessed are you among women and blessed is the fruit of your womb.’

So one final step for me to take. I do so with some confidence, but I have a certain hesitation because of a visit by the Apostolic Delegate as he then was to Oscott College when Frank Thomas was Rector. Archbishop Dwyer suddenly told the delegate: the students will now sing: Ad multos annos. Frank Thomas hurriedly said: they don’t know it your grace. The Archbishop who was not one to be put of this step by facts replied: of course they do. It must be admitted Ad multos annos sung solo, does lose something.

But before I presume to invite that toast tonight, in case the story is lost, we sing it thanks to one of my Liverpool predecessors, Cardinal Godfrey. After one ordination here, not my own, he told us that he had rediscovered the formula used for the toast on the day of a first Mass. The only trouble was, he then quoted it in full and a zealous choirmaster took this as the usual signal and launched into the toast; some cynical sorts alleged he did it on purpose, since the Cardinal was not someone who used one word where two would do. But I cannot believe it. Today I presume to adapt it slightly, and so that there can be no mistake give the English first and then the Latin:

‘For Paul Richard Gallagher, consecrated this day to the order of Bishop, soon, by command of the Holy Father, to make his way to Africa, we earnestly wish all that is blessed and joyful. For many years, for very many years, may life in its fullness be his.’

‘Paulo Ricardo Gallagher, hac die ad ordinem episcopalem consecrato, et mox, iussu Summi Pontificis, Africam petituro, omnia fausta feliciaque exoptamus. Ad multos annos, plurimosque annos, vivat.’

CATHOLIC CULTURAL EXCHANGE WITH CHINA

Group to meet at Liverpool’s Metropolitan Cathedral

The Archbishop of Liverpool, the Most Reverend Patrick Kelly, is to address a major national conference: The Annual general Meeting of Cultural Exchange with China and an Awareness Conference on the situation of the Christian Churches in China, this coming Saturday morning, 20 March 2004. The meeting organised by the national Catholic group ‘Cultural Exchange with China’ (CEC) is being held in the Crypt Concert Room of Liverpool’s Metropolitan Cathedral from 10.00 am to 3.30 pm.

‘Cultural Exchange with China’ is a new voluntary Association consisting of individuals and organisations who have an interest in China, teachers who have worked there and representatives of various Catholic societies. Its aim is to promote understanding, co-operation and mutually beneficial friendships between the people of Britain and China, based on respect for one another in an ecumenical, inter-faith and global context.

The organisation promotes awareness of China, its culture, history and present situation and encourages people to experience the current cultural and religious reality through exposure visits to and accounts from the country. The greater part of its work involves offering solidarity to the Catholic Church in China, especially in their formation efforts for priests, sisters and laity, including the opportunity for Catholic students from China to study in Britain; it also includes awareness creation in the Catholic Church in Britain about the situation of the Church in China. A further element is facilitating teachers of English to offer their services to Universities, Colleges and other institutions in China where they can be a Christian presence.

Anyone can attend the Conference on Saturday 20 March at which the only cost will be a voluntary collection to cover costs. Those wishing to register should contact: Cultural Exchange with China, St Joseph’s, Watford Way, Hendon, London, NW4 4TY. Tel: 0208 202 2555 Fax: 0208 202 5775 Email: cecuk49@aol.com

For further information contact: Rev Eamon O’Brien ssc Tel: 0208 202 2555

CRISP BREAK FOR ELAINE

Elaine Barton, Manager at Our Lady’s Parish Centre, Widnes has won a weekend break in Ireland thanks to a packet of crisps called ‘Tayto’. She won first prize in a competition organised by the Company who supply crisps to Centres throughout the Archdiocese.

Elaine will be travelling to the country estate where the brand originates which is centred on the seventeenth century Tandragee Castle and features a host of different attractions including a golf course and stables.

She proved to be the manager who put the most effort in the Centres to promote the crisp brand that has proved a storming success across the Archdiocese.

Ricky Davies of the Parish Centres Management Team presented Elaine and the runners-up with their prizes and said of Tayto:

‘It’s great to be able to offer a product thats both top quality and great value for money at only 40p for a 50gramme bag’.

In all there were ten prizes on offer to managers. Mrs Karen Wainwright from St David’s, Newton-le-Willows, won a wide screen TV as second prize, and Andrew Carter of St Joseph’s, Chorley, received a DVD player for third place.

The following pictures are available on request:

1. Elaine Barton from Our Lady's Widnes and Ricky Davies of Club Management Services.

2. Karen Wainwright Manager of St David's Newton Le Willows (Second Prize Winner) with Roger Daniels of Tayto.

3. Andrew Carter Manager of St Joseph's Parish Centre, Chorley (Third Prize Winner) recieving a DVD player from Mr Roger Daniels of Tayto.

For further information contact: Ricky Davies Tel: 07973 838818

Silver, Ruby, Golden, Diamond and Platinum Jubilees in 2004

This year twenty priests from the Archdiocese of Liverpool will mark the jubilee of their ordination and will give thanks for a total of 955 years of service. There are three priests celebrating their silver jubilee (25 years); three celebrating their ruby jubilee (40 years); nine celebrating their golden jubilee (50 years); four celebrating their diamond jubilee (60 years); and one celebrating his platinum jubilee having given seventy years of service. A full list is attached.

Many of them will join with Archbishop Patrick Kelly on Monday next, 22 March, for a celebration of Evening Prayer at 6.30 pm at the Archdiocesan Centre for Evangelisation on Croxteth Drive, Sefton Park.

Thirteen of the Jubilarians are now retired whilst the longest serving, Father Godfrey Carney who is now in his nineties, still assists in the parish of St John the Evangelist, Kirkdale. Four of them work as parish priests in the Archdiocese of Liverpool and the list includes the Episcopal Vicar for Finance and Development in the Archdiocese (Silver Jubilee); the Director for the Permanent Diaconate (Ruby Jubilee) and a Chaplain in the Prison Service (Silver Jubilee).

Friends and family will join many of them for the service on Monday evening and individual celebrations will be held throughout the rest of the year.

A full list of Jubilarians follows -

Priests of the Archdiocese of Liverpool celebrating their anniversaries in 2004 are:

Heritage and culture to combine in new Visitor Centre

Tomorrow evening, Wednesday 17 March, parishioners at St Anthony’s church, Scotland Road, Liverpool are set for a number of major celebrations. They will be commemorating the 200th anniversary of the foundation of their parish; opening a new Visitor and Heritage Centre and, reflecting the part played by the Irish community in the history of the parish; they will be celebrating St Patrick’s Day. In remembering their heritage they will also be making a major contribution, on behalf of the whole Archdiocese, to the Year of Faith in One City; the theme for 2004 in the run up to Liverpool being Capital of Culture in 2008.

The Archbishop of Liverpool, the Most Reverend Patrick Kelly, and his Auxiliary Bishops, the Right reverend Vincent Malone, and former Parish Priest of St Anthony’s, the Right Reverend Tom Williams, will join them in their celebrations. The evening begins with Mass at 7.00 pm followed by the formal opening of the new Centre by Archbishop Patrick Kelly.

Parish Priest, Father Graeme Dunne, says: ‘It will be a wonderful occasion for our parish, not least because we will be marking the immense contribution made by our predecessors to the cultural life of the whole City.’

The famous Liverpool Parish was founded in 1804 by French Priest Father Jean Baptiste Antoine Geardot and, in the early years, was known as the ‘French Chapel’. By the 1820s a new, larger building was needed and was designed by the architect John Broadbent. The new church was opened in 1833 and was dedicated to St Anthony of Egypt. The Irish potato famine of the 1840s was to leave an indelible mark on the Parish. As thousands of Irish fled the devastation in Ireland, they arrived in Liverpool penniless and starving but with the hope of travelling to America and elsewhere in search of a better life. However, the overcrowded and unsanitary conditions in which they were forced to live took their toll with typhus and dysentery claiming the lives of many, including Fr Peter Nightingale, aged 32 years, who contracted the disease by ministering to the needs of the destitute. In 1847 alone 2,303 were buried in St Anthony’s with a further 7,300 being buried in the Paupers’ Graves at St Martin’s.

Many burials took place in the Crypt of St Anthony’s church, which will now after many years, be open again through the new Visitor and Heritage Centre. The new facility, which will initially be run on a voluntary basis and be able to take advance bookings only, will also provide meeting space and, in time, an opportunity for people to trace their family history through a database compiled from the unique records of the parish. It marks the completion of a dream for Bishop Tom Williams, who when Parish Priest, first had the vision of opening up the Crypt once again. He says: ‘in recent years very few people have been able to see and share in this vital link with Liverpool’s past. The new access will bring together our history and the present day and will recognise part of the heritage of our whole City.’

PALM SUNDAY: 4 APRIL

MONDAY 5 APRIL, TUESDAY 6 APRIL, WEDNESDAY 7 APRIL

WEDNESDAY 7 APRIL

MAUNDY THURSDAY: 8 APRIL

GOOD FRIDAY: 9 APRIL

HOLY SATURDAY: 10 APRIL

EASTER DAY: SUNDAY 11 APRIL

EASTER MONDAY: 12 APRIL

PALM SUNDAY: 4 APRIL

MONDAY 5 APRIL, TUESDAY 6 APRIL, WEDNESDAY 7 APRIL

WEDNESDAY 7 APRIL

MAUNDY THURSDAY: 8 APRIL

GOOD FRIDAY: 9 APRIL

HOLY SATURDAY: 10 APRIL

EASTER DAY: SUNDAY 11 APRIL

EASTER MONDAY: 12 APRIL

Introduction to Mass and Homilies preached by the Most Reverend Patrick Kelly, Archbishop of Liverpool, at Solemn Mass of Palm Sunday. Sunday 4 April 2004 at 11.00 am in the Metropolitan Cathedral of Christ the King, Liverpool.

Introduction to Mass:

The glory of God is men, women, children fully alive. Those are words of Saint Irenaeus, his name means peace, the glory, the wonder, the beauty of God is us rejoicing in life in abundance: well-being of body, mind, spirit: peace in our hearts, our homes, on earth, Lent has brought us to realise again: all of this flows from only one fountain: Jesus alone gives us the well-springs of salvation. Lent has prepared us to declare in our procession today: he is our life, our peace: his actions at the last supper, on Calvary are the only source of certain, secure joy. Let us pray for his Father’s blessing on our resolution to keep this week holy.

Homily following the Blessing of the Palms:

A colt, not broken in, allows Jesus to ride him; the song is of peace in heaven: peace above, around, us: even stones will cry out. Because the glory of God, children, women, men, fully alive is the fruit of what Jesus, the Master, now enters Jerusalem to accomplish. With wonder, amazed gratitude, heartfelt affection let us with banners, palms, song, acclaim him the King of love.

Homily following the Gospel of the Passion:

He longed to come to his last Passover: because it would heal you and me; he decided though for himself not to eat and drink: because now his only food is do the will of his Father and to accomplish the work the Father gave him to do: and that work is to leave no stone unturned to bring you and me fully alive. His sweat fell to the ground like great drops of blood because he was horrified at the prospect of going so far as to descend into hell, join us in our darkest, coldest, most unpeaceful feelings, our most unglorious attitudes, feel for us and with us, and empty of self, accompany us home. His promise is Paradise, oasis, refreshment, fruitfulness, gentle, still small voice of calm, instead of parched desert, mouths dry with bitterness, lives empty of purpose, all sounds din and discord. This great, good, the innocent, sinless Son of God, dies for the glory of God: each and everyone of us fully alive set free by the night of the Vigil to sing anew the song of the angels: Glory to God in the highest and peace on earth.

Introduction to Mass and Homily preached by the Most Reverend Patrick Kelly, Archbishop of Liverpool, at 12.10 pm Mass at the Blessed Sacrament Shrine, Liverpool. Monday in Holy Week: 5 April 2004.

Introduction to Mass:

Yesterday Saint Luke gave us as the song of the Palm Sunday Procession: peace in heaven: glory in the highest heaven: now in the words of Saint Irenaeus whose name means peace: God’s glory is women, men, children, fully alive. On the next three days we will appreciate how God’s servant described for us day by day by Isaiah, accomplished life for us. Today we meet the servant who does not break the crushed reed or quench the wavering flame: in our brokenness and wavering ways, we call him to heal us.

Homily:

That story gives us the first frame of mind, attitude of heart needed to recognise and enter into how Jesus, the servant, the chosen one accomplishes life for us. Others only saw ridiculous, foolish, inefficient waste in Mary. But Jesus saw a mirror of himself. The cross, his young death, his choice to use only the resources of patience, mercy, forgiveness, ridiculous, foolish, inefficient waste. Thanks be to God whose Holy Spirit has brought us to choose the heart of Mary of Bethany: we are ready for Maundy Thursday, for Good Friday, for the glory, life, peace of the Easter Vigil.

Introduction to Mass and Homily preached by the Most Reverend Patrick Kelly, Archbishop of Liverpool, at 12.10 pm Mass at the Blessed Sacrament Shrine, Liverpool. Tuesday in Holy Week: 6 April 2004.

Introduction to Mass:

The glory of God is each and everyone of us fully alive: ready to sing at the Easter Vigil: ‘Glory to God in the highest and peace on earth’. Today we are being prepared for the most unusual sort of glory, beauty, radiance which shines when Jesus accomplishes full life for us. Today we meet him as the servant who is light: we ask him to heal our darkness.

Homily:

Night had fallen: now has the Son of Mary been glorified. At the very moment when it is absolutely dreadful: betrayal by the most trusted companion: blank faces from the rest: the only prospect confrontation, judgment, who knows what sentence, he says: now I am glorified: now is the moment of light, radiance, beauty. But not because a thunderbolt will halt the betrayer in his tracks: not because an army of angels will sweep in at dawn: not because some huge scandal will undermine the Roman Empire and its authorities. The glory is something absolutely new: patience: the splendour is totally unexpected: mercy: the beauty is a gift undreamt of: the power available even to the poorest of the poor: love.

Introduction to Mass and Homily preached by the Most Reverend Patrick Kelly, Archbishop of Liverpool, at 12.10 pm Mass at the Blessed Sacrament Shrine, Liverpool. Wednesday in Holy Week: 7 April 2004.

Introduction to Mass:

The glory of God is everyone of us full alive. Today we will see how no-one is able to frustrate the resolution of God to accomplish life for us. And even if his servant shall suffer insult and blows it shall all serve to raise up the weary. We look to the Son of God, the perfect disciple of his Father, to forgive our refusal to obey.

Homily:

Judas’ betrayal stark, terrible: but one phrase in that Gospel is a huge error of translation: ‘going to his fate’: fate sounds like surrender helplessly to greater force: it suggests no rhyme or reason: just pointless occurrence one thing after another: but Jesus said: I go on my way according to the scriptures: nothing can escape from my Father’s purposes of loving wisdom, wisest love, generous love. There is not fate: but Father: no force but in the end a God who in all things works for the good of those who love him. So even at the end of the most bitter, weary, dead reading we still are told. This is the Gospel of the Lord. So we are prepared for the next days: there is no doubt where it will all lead: women, men, children, fully alive: to the Vigil and: Glory to God in the highest and peace on earth.

Introduction to Mass and Homily preached by the Most Reverend Patrick Kelly, Archbishop of Liverpool, at the Mass of Chrism. Wednesday 7 April 2004 at 7.30 pm in the Metropolitan Cathedral of Christ the King, Liverpool.

Introduction to Mass:

Tonight we rejoice and give thanks because: Jesus Christ loves us and has washed away our sins with his blood. His word is our light: his Body and Blood our nourishment. And he has made us a line of kings, priests to serve his God and Father: so we rejoice that the Holy Spirit has been given to us, we have been anointed to bring good news to the poor. The Lord Jesus chose us: we did not choose him: the Lord Jesus sends us: we do not send ourselves. For peace, grace, love, blessings in abundance we give thanks.

Homily:

We are the Church, the Body of Christ. The Lord called us, forms us, leads us: all life, all holiness comes through him. We your priests are ordained for this purpose: to set before you in all its fullness the word of God: never to fail to proclaim the whole purposes of God: to preach never ourselves but him. We are enabled, only through the Holy Spirit to set before you his paschal meal: the altar is his altar: the table is his table, never ours: only his Body and Blood can refresh, nourish, sustain you. We rejoice to serve you precisely to be the Body of Christ, to be that community which knows, we do not exist of ourselves, but from and through and with and in him alone.

(Renewal of Commitment to Priestly Service)

At the Blessing of the Oil of the Sick:

But Our Lord calls us, enlightens us, nourishes us not for our own sakes but to be sent by him to bring good news, to proclaim liberty, to comfort, to be light and joy.

So, for example, the cluster of parishes surrounding the Fazakerley Hospital and Altcourse prison are asking what is Our Lord asking of us as he entrusts to us that hospital, that prison. So the oil to be blest to bring comfort and healing is brought forward by Pauline Edgar, Chaplaincy Team Member, University Hospital, Aintree; Maureen Wilcock, Prison Visitor, member of the National Association of Official Prison Visitors.

At the Blessing of the Oil of Catechumens:

Our Lord is light, and truth and wisdom: and he calls us to be light of the world. Parishes in West Derby find among them three High Schools: Broughton Hall, Cardinal Heenan, Saint Edward’s College and six Primary Schools, Saint Cecilia’s, Saint Margaret Mary’s, Saint Matthew’s, Saint Oswald’s, Saint Paul’s, Saint Sebastian’s, Saint Timothy’s.

It must be the greatest concentration of Catholic Schooling in the world. The parishes there are asking: what is Our Lord asking of us when he entrusts all this schooling to our care. The oil of enlightenment, the oil of catechumen is brought forward by Andrew Fletcher, Sixth Form pupil from Cardinal Heenan High School and Laura Owens, Pupil from Broughton Hall.

At the Blessing of the Oil of Chrism:

Our Lord has made us his Church, his Body, a line of kings, sent to be salt of the earth. leaven in every aspect of the life of every woman, child, man. We are willing to share his anointing, his being sent, to bring good news, liberty, sight. The parishes close to Manchester are asking: what does it mean for us that so many among us share the life of that city, are entrusted by Our Lord with the well-being of that city. The oil of chrism, of being united with Our Lord, in his anointing, his being sent to save, make whole the world, is brought forward by Mr Andrew Burnham, Member of Parliament for Leigh; Mr. Alan Lowe, Justice of the Peace; Mrs Anne Turnoch, Labour Councillor for Leigh East Ward.

It is certain: only a way of life which goes beyond justice to the self-sacrificing love of Calvary can heal our troubled world. Bitter balsam, the scent of our Lord’s passion, is mixed with the oil.

As our Lord breathed the Holy Spirit upon his first followers, so in his name and only in his name I breathe the Holy Spirit into this oil.

Before the final blessing:

The great staircase now in front of the Cathedral I prefer to call not an entrance but a gateway out to those who are sent by Our Lord. One person of our diocese has been given a blest and wonderful mission; Paul Gallagher anointed by the Holy Spirit to go on behalf of our Holy Father as a minister of hope, reconciliation and peace to Africa. I hope many, indeed most of you, will come back a week on Sunday at three o’clock in the afternoon to pray him on his way in joy and confidence.

And the Lord God shall most certainly bless each one who has made this prayer so glorious today.

Homily preached by the Most Reverend Patrick Kelly, Archbishop of Liverpool, at the Mass of the Lord’s Supper. Maundy Thursday 8 April 2004 at 7.30 pm in the Metropolitan Cathedral of Christ the King, Liverpool.

Homily:

One blessing the Lord has given me is: to meet, and learn, and be challenged, by members of Alcoholics Anonymous. I am always made glad when I hear how parishes make rooms available for their meetings, whatever the day or time. And one lesson, one blessing, they give to me is this: recognise your need: confess you cannot change yourself alone: be open to a higher power to sustain, and encourage, and comfort you. It is a lesson most of us are slow to learn, a blessing we are reluctant to receive. We think: my weary feet, their aimless wanderings, their trailing off into foolish ways: I can heal them: correct them, straighten their path. We say to the Son, the Beloved Son, who comes looking for us, no matter how far from our Father’s home we have wandered, you will never wash my feet. No God shall kneel and wash my feet: my pride, my self-sufficiency rejects such a service: I do not need such a servant, servile God.

And I suspect, few of us, unless someone who by whatever path has appreciated and appropriated the blessed lessons of Alcoholics Anonymous, is able in spirit and in truth, to obey the command of our Lord, the Mandatum which gives Maundy Thursday its name: take and eat, my body, given for you: take and drink the cup of my blood poured out for us that sins are forgiven. Do we come to this table desperately hungry, do we come aware that without the renewing, refreshing fountain he is, I am a dry, weary, burnt up land, without water.

Receive this poem by George Herbert, which wonderfully captures the truth of that higher power we have found, but only rarely appreciate to the one of our being:

‘Love bade me welcome: yet my soul drew back,
Guiltie of dust and sinne
But quick-ey’d Love, observing me grow slack
From my first entrance in,
Drew nearer to me, sweetly questioning,
If I lack’d any thing.

"A guest," I answer’d, "worthy to be here";
Love said, "you shall be he."
"I the unkinde, ungrateful? Ah my deare,
I cannot look on thee."
Love took my hand, and smiling did reply,
"Who made the eyes but I?"

"Truth Lord, but I have marr’d them: let my shame
Go where it doth deserve."
"And know you not," sayes Love, "who bore the blame?"
"My deare, then I will serve."
"You must sit down," says Love, "and taste my meat."
So I did sit and eat."’

Watch, ponder once more the washing of feet and ask: do I accept the depth of my need? Do I accept I cannot change by myself? Do I welcome a Son of God who will kneel down and wash my weary, wandering, foolish feet?

Homily preached by the Most Reverend Patrick Kelly, Archbishop of Liverpool, at the Celebration of the Lord’s Passion. Good Friday 9 April 2004 at 3.00 pm in the Metropolitan Cathedral of Christ the King, Liverpool.

Homily:

And Jesus said to the man who had waited thirty-eight years next to the Healing pool at the Sheep Gate in Jerusalem: ‘Do you want to be healed?’ The man answered: ‘indeed I do, but I have no man to lower me into the healing waters.’ And Pilate said: ‘Behold the Man’: scourged: crowned.

And Jesus said to them: ‘Who are you searching to find?’ ‘Jesus of Nazareth’. But only on the cross do we read: ‘Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews’.

‘And some Greeks said: ‘We want to see Jesus’. But in the end: ‘They will look on the one whom they have pierced’.

So the seeking, the searching, the inquiring is at an end: ‘It is accomplished’, and bowing his head he gave up his spirit.

At the place where he had been crucified there was a garden, and in the garden a new tomb in which no one had yet been buried. Since it was the Jewish Day of Preparations and the tomb was near at hand, they laid Jesus there.

Introduction to Mass and Homily preached by the Most Reverend Patrick Kelly, Archbishop of Liverpool, at the Easter Vigil and First Mass of Easter. Saturday 10 April 2004 at 9.00 pm in the Metropolitan Cathedral of Christ the King, Liverpool.

Introduction:

This year Saint Luke has helped and guided our Lenten journey bringing us to keep this watch, this Easter Vigil. Let words handed on to us by Saint Luke assist us to see why tonight we set generous time aside to receive and ponder the word of God, to pray and raise our voices in thanks and praise. ‘Jesus opened their minds to understand the scriptures and said to them: “Thus it is written that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead, and that repentance and forgiveness of sins should be preached in his name to all nations…And behold, I send the promise of my Father upon you; but stay in the city, until you are clothed with power from on high”’. Stay: wait: keep watch: be vigilant. That is tonight. Haste, restlessness, impatience will not open our minds to the scriptures. The light to enlighten our minds is not dazzling, overpowering: it is a candles gentle, frail, fragile ray: a kindly light leads us on.

Homily:

‘Why do you seek the living among the dead? He is not here but has risen.’ So we shall find him among the living, those alive in the Spirit, the Spirit which flows from his heart of absolute love, boundless mercy, sheer yes to life with no cynical, despairing, fearful, no. For Jesus is no vacillating now yes, now no: in him it is always yes. And so we recognise the living among whom he is found.

Where music and harmony and song say no to din, discord, all that offends the ear: where education, formation of body, mind, spirit say no to ignorance, stupidity, tabloid headline substitutes for wisdom: where healing and care, says no to pain and fear and loneliness; where art in all its forms, thread, flowers, design, word, says no to ugliness, carelessness, superficiality; where selflessness, generosity, love and compassion say no to selfishness, meanness of spirit, spite and revenge; where encouraging words and deeds gladden a family’s life, affection and forgiveness nourish peace at home, simple fidelity to the demands of each new day, say no to gloom, recrimination, idleness and carelessness.

Where in priest and, on this night I will not fear to say it, in Bishop, where in their zeal for the word of the Lord, joy in his Body and Blood, light-hearted perseverance, say no to tired sermons, milk and water, tepid liturgy, cynical world weariness; there is the Lord and the Spirit and where the Spirit of the Lord is there is freedom to live, to dare, to dream, to rejoice, and even to die in peace.

And all of that means that for us even death is indeed so very different. And for this addition, made only this evening to this reflection, I am indebted to my brother, John, and an assembly he gave at the Ripley Saint Thomas Anglican School for the end of the Easter term. It reminded me of these words from ‘Lord of the Rings’, and I know from a letter I have seen that J R R Tolkien was always aware of the inspiration from the truth of Our Lord, who died and who is risen, in what he wrote.

‘Death is different. Gandalf said: "Well, here at last, dear friends, on the shores of the sea comes the end of our fellowship in Middle Earth. Go in peace! I will not say do not weep for not all tears are an evil."

Then Frodo kissed Merry and Pippin, and last of all Sam, and went aboard, and the sails were drawn up, and the wind blew, and slowly the ship slipped away down the long grey firth, and the light of the glass of Galadriel that Frodo bore glimmered and was lost. And the ship went out into the high sea and passed on into the west, until at last, on a night of rain Frodo smelled a sweet fragrance on the air and heard the sound of singing that came over the water. And then it seemed to him that as in his dream in the house of Bombadil, the grey rain-curtain turned all to silver glass and was rolled back, and he beheld white shores and beyond them far green country under a swift sunrise.’

But now it is time for us to bless the baptismal water of new life, to renew our baptismal promises, our no to living and partly living, our yes to the God of life.

Cathedral Celebration on Sunday 18 April 2004

Liverpool’s Metropolitan Cathedral of Christ the King is to be the setting for a special celebration of Evening Prayer at 3.00 pm on Sunday 18 April 2004 to bid farewell to Archbishop Paul Gallagher who is to leave his home city to become Apostolic Nuncio (Vatican Diplomat) in the African state of Burundi on the following day. Catholic Bishops from throughout the country and Civic Leaders are expected to attend the celebration following the announcement last January that Archbishop Gallagher is to become the Ambassador of the Holy See in Burundi replacing Archbishop Michael Courtney who died following an attack on his car in the African state on 29 December 2003.

Archbishop Gallagher was educated at St Francis Xavier School and was ordained priest by Archbishop Derek Worlock in 1977. His first appointment was as assistant priest in Holy Name Parish, Fazakerley before studies at the Pontifical Ecclesiastical Academy in Rome, the training ground for Vatican diplomats. His first three postings in the diplomatic service took him to three continents: to Africa and Tanzania; Uruguay in South America and to Asia and the Philippines. He then returned to Rome before becoming the Representative of the Holy See at the Council of Europe in Strasbourg. It was while there that news of his appointment to Burundi came and he was ordained as titular Archbishop of Hodelm in Rome on Saturday 13 March 2004 by Vatican Secretary of State, Cardinal Angelo Sodano.

Archbishop Gallagher says of his posting: ‘Burundi has a history of strife, but at the same time there are many things that indicate that there is hope for the future, there are enormous efforts being made by numerous people to bring greater unity and peace. I’m going with a very, very open mind, wanting to listen and to learn; it is true that there is a degree of insecurity, and an obvious need for a great deal of prudence, but at the same time I know that there is great goodwill awaiting me.’

The Most Reverend Patrick Kelly, Archbishop of Liverpool, says: ‘We most certainly accompany Archbishop Paul with our heartfelt prayer aware of the enormous challenges experienced by so many people in the African continent, not least in Burundi. I am convinced that it is for all of us to see this as a challenge to renew our commitment to hold Africa in prayerful active concern and renew our determination to walk the ways of justice and peace.’

For further information contact: Peter Heneghan, Tel: 0151 522 1007

Introduction and Homily preached by the Most Reverend Patrick Kelly, Archbishop of Liverpool, at Solemn Evening Prayer with Archbishop Paul Gallagher. Sunday 18 April 2004 at 3.00 pm in the Metropolitan Cathedral of Christ the King, Liverpool.

Introduction:

And so I thank you for coming today, in the light of the Paschal Candle to pray Paul Gallagher in his missioning to represent the Pope, successor of Simon Peter, minister, servant of the unity and authority of the Church, in troubled Burundi. Prayer is most surely based in thanksgiving: hymns, psalms, canticle of thanks and praise, open our hearts and minds to take to heart the word addressed to us in the coming together of this day.

Homily:

I suspect Bishop Malone and Bishop Lindsay will correct or add to the following list: but I will do my best:

On 21 December 1938 which was then the Feast of the Apostle Thomas, William Godfrey was consecrated Bishop, after his appointment at Apostolic delegate to Great Britain, on 21 November 1938. He would later be our Archbishop in Liverpool and Archbishop of Westminster. To make the plot even thicker, it was he who, with a certain Derek Worlock as master of ceremonies, ordained me priest.

On 21 December 1960 Thomas Holland was ordained Auxiliary Bishop of Portsmouth; later he would be Bishop of Salford and I would succeed him. On another 21 December, 1965, Derek Worlock was ordained Bishop of Ports