Welcome our new Archbishop

Welcome our new Archbishop

By Ronnie Convery

Glasgow has a new Archbishop! The news spread like wildfire at 11am on Friday February 4. At that precise moment the news went live on the Vatican website, the Archdiocesan website and the social media feeds of Glasgow Archdiocese.

The news brought expressions of great joy and enthusiasm from ordinary parishioners glad to have an archbishop again and those who had worked with ‘Bishop Bill’ and wanted to extend their good wishes.

Reacting to the announcement, Bishop Nolan himself said: “I feel overwhelmed by the trust Pope Francis is putting in me by appointing me as Archbishop of Glasgow. It will be a wrench for me to leave Galloway Diocese where for seven years I have experienced the kindness and friendship of so many people, particularly the clergy. God truly blessed me by sending me to Galloway and I hope that my successor there will be similarly blessed.

“As I overcome my initial shock at being appointed Archbishop my thoughts now turn to the challenges that lies ahead. I look forward to working with everyone in the Archdiocese, laity and clergy, to carry out the mission that we share of proclaiming God’s good news and of bringing the joy of the gospel into the lives of the people of today.”

Bishop Nolan added: “I am well aware of my own inadequacies and of the difficulties the Church faces today. Thank God therefore that we can be sure of the presence and power of the Holy Spirit in the Church. As I leave the Diocese of Galloway behind, from now on I belong to Glasgow. And I assure the people of Glasgow of my commitment and dedication to them. Please remember me in your prayers.”

Welcome

Welcoming the appointment Mgr. Hugh Bradley, who has been Administrator of the Archdiocese of Glasgow since the death of Archbishop Philip Tartaglia, said: “I am delighted with the appointment of Bishop Nolan. I offer him a warm welcome to the Archdiocese of Glasgow and a promise of prayers on behalf of all the clergy, religious and laity. May our good God bless him with health and strength to lead us in faith.”

Commenting on the appointment, Fr. William McFadden, Vicar General of the diocese of Galloway said: “As Bishop of Galloway, Bishop Nolan presented a pastoral vision with a genuinely collaborative approach.

“He led with humility and determination, inspired by the initiatives of Pope Francis, and focussing on the needs of the Church for the 21st century. This appointment will allow him to serve both the people of Glasgow and the wider Church with the same abilities with which he served us in Galloway for seven valuable years.

“We will miss him, but appreciate greatly the contribution which he made, and the legacy which he leaves.”

Time to make your voice heard — and to listen with respect

A new website has been launched in the Archdiocese to support the worldwide process of listening and consultation requested by Pope Francis as part of the Synod.

The new site – www.rcagsynod.org – offers resources for individuals, small groups and parishes to help them take part in the synod – which has been described as the most important event in the Catholic Church since Vatican II.

Fr John Campbell, Parish Priest of Sacred Heart and St Lucy’s in Cumbernauld, is co-ordinating the synod process in the Archdiocese. He told Flourish:

“We would be pleased if parishes shared their experiences with us, to help give others the confidence to engage with the process.

“Over the next few weeks, we will expand the synod team, with representation from all areas of the diocese. The diocesan team will assist in producing a synthesis of all the material that parishes send to the deanery. This will be passed to the Bishops’ Conference of Scotland to become Scotland’s submission to the European Bishops. These continental submissions will become the basis for the international synod in 2023.

“On the webpage you will find parish resources for the Lenten period. Small group meetings based on the Sunday gospels of Lent but very much offered in the context of the prayerful listening, sharing and discerning experiences that are part of the synodal process of walking together in communion.

Reaching out

“Questionnaires will be available on the site to assist in reaching out beyond the Mass-going population. They could be used through our schools, on line on parish web sites, facebook pages or shared with other churches and groups that meet in our parish halls that are not necessarily parish groups or in ways that suit local circumstances.

“Many parishes have made an excellent start on this journeying together. Small groups have already met with their own materials or indeed using material from the internet or other diocesan websites. Some parishes put questions inviting responses onto Christmas Cards that were distributed through the schools (maybe an idea for Easter). Others have distributed questionnaires through their messenger system or indeed included an explanation and time at Sunday Mass to fill in the forms”.

Fr Campbell urged every Flourish reader to take part in the great process of listening and sharing that the Pope wants the Synod to be.

He said: “If you are finding it difficult to be involved, then please don’t despair. You could gather a group of friends for a listening experience, or you could fill in a questionnaire and send it to synod@rcag.org.uk

“Everyone is most welcome to be part of this process. Participation of everyone is vital. The Holy Spirit speaks through the whole people of God, not just the select few. As Pope Francis said at the Fiftieth Anniversary of the Synod of Bishops, “the flock have a ‘nose’ for discerning the new ways that the Lord reveals to the Church.”

Cumbernauld parishioners bring new hope to Africa

By Brian Swanson

A priest has been left ‘blown away’ by the generosity of his parishioners who raised over £4000 to provide four wells for African villages.

And Father Harry McKay, administrator of St Joseph’s parish, Cumbernauld, was so impressed that he added a personal donation of his own to buy a fifth well in response to an appeal by the Scottish International Aid Fund.

He said: “St Joseph’s is not by any means a well-off parish but I have never known generosity like it – it just blew me away.

“I have worked in so-called rich parishes but St Joseph’s surpasses them all.

“I never ask them for money. I just say that I have a project in mind, tell them about it and leave it up to them and they never let me down.

“SCIAF has an appeal to buy wells for African villages and in a short period the parish donated just over £4000, which was almost enough for four wells then I added some money of my own to buy a fifth.

“I want to thank everybody in the parish who donated. I have never experienced such generosity in any parish I have been in – I’m so proud to be part of this parish community.”

Penelope Blackwell, Director of Public Engagement at SCIAF said: “We are extremely grateful to Fr McKay and the parishioners of St Joseph’s Parish, Cumbernauld, for so generously coming together to raise money to provide water for not just one, but five villages.

“Every penny raised will go directly to SCIAF’s life-changing water projects in communities in some of the poorest countries in the world, and will be used to provide vital access to water, including building wells and lakes and implementing irrigation systems.

“This means families can collect and store rainwater so they always have the water they need to grow their own food, feed their family and ultimately lift themselves out of poverty. 

“Changes like this are only possible through amazing SCIAF supporters in parishes across Scotland. Their generosity really will change lives.”

For more information on how your parish can get involved and raise money to provide water for a village, visit www.sciaf.org.uk/parish  

‘Pilgrims of hope’ for Holy Year

Pope Francis has approved “Pilgrims of Hope” as the motto for the next Holy Year planned for 2025.

The motto aims to give a concise sense of the full meaning of the jubilee journey, according to Archbishop Rino Fisichella who has been tasked with overseeing the year of special events.

The words “pilgrims” and “hope” also represent key themes of Pope Francis’ pontificate, said the archbishop, president of the Pontifical Council for Promoting New Evangelization, which is in charge of the Holy Year planning efforts.

The archbishop said the pope approved the motto last month and the council already is working with Vatican and Italian authorities on the best way to welcome a large number of visitors to Rome during the year.

Traditionally for holy years, the celebrations begin with the pope opening the Holy Door of St. Peter’s Basilica on Christmas Eve and ends with the sealing of the door one year later. The holy doors of St. John Lateran, St. Paul Outside the Walls and St. Mary Major are opened for the year, too.

A holy year or jubilee is a time of pilgrimage, prayer, repentance and acts of mercy, based on the Old Testament tradition of a jubilee year of rest, forgiveness and renewal. Holy years also are a time when Catholics visit designated churches and shrines, recite special prayers, go to confession and receive Communion to receive a special indulgence, which is a remission of the temporal punishment due for one’s sins.

Pope Boniface VIII proclaimed the first Holy Year in 1300 and decreed that they would be celebrated every 100 years. But just 50 years later Pope Clement VI proclaimed another holy year. Pope Urban VI thought holy years should be celebrated every 33 years as a reminder of the time Jesus lived.

Finally, in 1470, Pope Paul II established the celebrations every 25 years, which has been the practice ever since. However, special anniversaries have called for special holy years, for instance, in 1933 to mark the 1,900th anniversary of Jesus’ death and resurrection and in 1983 to mark the 1,950th anniversary.

The most recent ‘extraordinary’ Holy Year came when Pope Francis, seeing a need to emphasize God’s mercy and to encourage Catholics to return to the sacrament of reconciliation, declared an extraordinary Year of Mercy, which ran in 2015–16.