£1 million fund to spread the Gospel

£1 million fund to spread the Gospel

By Ronnie Convery

The Archdiocese’s £1 million Evangelisation Fund is formally launched this month … and applications are now open for innovative projects designed to help reach out to those untouched by the Gospel message.

Archbishop Nolan said: “We are challenged to make evangelisation – or reaching out in faith to others – our principal objective. Our resources, including our energies, our buildings and our material resources should be directed towards this objective.

“We wish to pass on to others the good news of Jesus Christ, so that they can come to know him and have their lives transformed by having faith in him. We Catholics are blessed to have faith in Jesus, and that is a blessing we wish to share with others.

“This fund has been made available – largely from the sale of the former Archbishop’s house used by Archbishop Tartaglia. The new scheme will provide financial backing to new projects – generally with a one-off grant to kick-start an evangelisation initiative.”

Applications for support and funding from the new initiative are now invited from parishes, deaneries and Catholic organisations.

The new scheme is not intended to top up existing projects but to stimulate new initiatives. Also projects without matched funding will not be considered. Similarly direct salary costs (other than a short term start up fund where it can be demonstrated that the salary in the longer term can be maintained from another source) are excluded.

An Evangelisation Fund Committee has been established and it will meet quarterly to review applications. The deadlines for applications in 2024 are 1st January, 1st April, 1st July and 1st October. Normally applicants will receive a response within six weeks of these dates.

Applications should be made online. Full details are available on the RCAG website: https://www.rcag.org.uk/evangelisation/evangelisation-fund

All applications will be vetted against the published criteria. If a proposal meets the criteria, it will proceed to stage two which involves a more detailed budget plan for the proposed new project.

Successful projects will be asked to report back to the Archbishop after six months to share their experience of how people have been evangelised, how the initiative has progressed, what the impact has been, and how the money has been spent.

Gethsemane in the Calton

By Brian Swanson

Finishing touches are being made to a prayer garden in St Mary’s parish in Calton which is due to be blessed next month on the Feast of the Immaculate Conception.

The garden is to be dedicated to Our Lady and features three olive trees which symbolise the garden of Gethsemane, the olive grove where Christ endured his agony before his betrayal and arrest.

Parish priest at St Mary’s, Canon Tom White, said: “The prayer garden will be known as Gethsemane in the Calton and will honor the memory of all those whose funeral rites were impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.

“The parish is very much looking forward to the realisation of this project which was the initiative of some of the bereaved families during lockdown and the idea was warmly embraced by their fellow parishioners and supporters from other parishes in the Glasgow area.

“It has been a team effort of the whole parish and beyond. Fortunately, I am blessed with a cousin who is a stonemason, and he volunteered his skills to work on the plinth on which the statue of Our Lady now stands.

“The statue itself has been in storage for the past 30 years and was removed from the old St Mary’s school prior to its demolition so the statue will bring back fond memories to many old Caltonians who now see it restored to prominence.”

Two new curved stone benches, each inscribed with biblical quotations chosen by Canon Tom, have been placed alongside Our Lady’s statue where flowers will be planted in the spring.

Canon Tom added: “There are so many people to thank but on behalf of the parish we owe a particular debt of gratitude to Pat Kelly and AS Homes who volunteered to undertake the ground work which has greatly improved the appearance of the church as well both the garden and the Irish Famine Memorial.”

Archbishop joins call for ceasefire

Archbishop Nolan has added his voice to that of Church leaders from across the UK to plead for a ceasefire in the Holy Land.

In a letter drawn up by the Christian Aid charity, the Archbishop and his fellow signatories say there can be no justification for the deliberate killing, maiming and kidnapping of civilians, ‘which is a crime under international law and for which the perpetrators should be held accountable’.

They also “unequivocally condemn the violence carried out by Hamas in Israel on 7 October”.

The letter states: “Subsequent Israeli military response in Gaza has added enormously to the toll of civilian suffering. Innocent Palestinians are going through an increasingly grave humanitarian crisis as a result of the Israeli government’s strategy of relentless bombardment, which has left no place safe, and of siege, which effectively strangles life.”

The Church leaders, who include the Kirk’s Moderator, call on the UK Government to help bring about an immediate end to the violence. Specifically, they call for:

• Protection of civilians and an end to all violence, with adoption of a ceasefire without conditions.

• The unconditional and immediate release of all hostages.

• Humanitarian access and reconnection to water and electricity.

• Unequivocal support for the ICC to conduct a truly independent investigation into all war crimes to ensure accountability.

• Acknowledgement of the failure of the international community to effectively engage with any meaningful peace process, and a commitment to work ceaselessly from now on to address the root causes of the violence which must include an end to the occupation.

SCIAF has made an urgent appeal for an immediate ceasefire in the ongoing conflict in the Holy Land, stating, “We stand in solidarity with the people of the Holy Land and across the world who are crying out for peace.”

They have also launched an emergency appeal for the area directly afflicted by the violence.

To donate to the emergency appeal for Gaza visit the SCIAF website at www.sciaf.org.uk/about-us/news/580-israeli-palestinian-conflict-how-you-can-help

Glasgow and its twin city, Bethlehem, will link up in a powerful service of solidarity next month to pray for peace in the Holy Land.

A joint service, conducted by video link, will bring together worshippers in Glasgow Cathedral and the Chapel of the Divine Child in Bethlehem University.

The ecumenical Advent Service at Glasgow Cathedral will be held on Saturday 9th December at 2pm.

The event is organised by the Friends of the Holy Land organisation and supported by the Lord Provost’s office.

Papal letter’s simple message: ‘Don’t look away’

By Ronnie Convery

Pope Francis has released his message for the annual World Day of the Poor, to be marked this year on Sunday November 19 with a heartfelt plea to each and every Catholic worldwide … “When you see a person in need, do not look away!”

The Pope says that a “great river of poverty is traversing our cities”, and that every Christian is called to become personally involved in the struggle against it.

Pope Francis begins his letter by acknowledging that the scale of poverty all around “seems to overwhelm us, so great are the needs of our brothers and sisters who plead for our help, support and solidarity…

Affluent

“We are living in times that are not particularly sensitive to the needs of the poor. The pressure to adopt an affluent lifestyle increases, while the voices of those dwelling in poverty tend to go unheard.”

The Pope also stresses new forms of poverty, such as “peoples caught up in situations of war”, the “inhumane treatment” of many workers, and “speculation in various sectors”, which he said had led to “dramatic price increases that further impoverish many families”.

Faced with problems of this magnitude, Pope Francis writes, our responsibility is clear. We must heed Tobit’s words to Tobias: ““Do not turn your face away from anyone who is poor.”

“In a word,” he continues, “whenever we encounter a poor person, we cannot look away, for that would prevent us from encountering the face of the Lord Jesus.”

Thus, “the parable of the Good Samaritan is not simply a story from the past; it continues to challenge each of us in the here and now of our daily lives. It is easy to delegate charity to others, yet the calling of every Christian is to become personally involved.”

Pope Francis goes on to point out that this year is the 60th anniversary of the publication of Pope John XXIII’s landmark encyclical Pacem in Terris, in which he urged that “Every human being enjoys the right to life, to bodily integrity and to the means necessary for the proper development of life, including food, clothing, shelter, medical care, rest, and, finally, the necessary social services.”

How should we react, Pope Francis asks, in the face of the failure of the political process to deliver these aims?

The answer, he says, is two-fold. There is, one the one hand, “a need to urge and even pressure public institutions to perform their duties properly”, but, on the other, “it is of no use to wait passively to receive everything ‘from on high’”.

Those living in poverty, Pope Francis stresses, ought also to be included in this search for “change and responsibility.”