This year there are a number of celebratory events in our area all with the title of ‘Hope’ and in an idle moment I was trying to work out how many more variations are left. There is the ‘Hope Street Festival’, the ‘Hope Street Feast’, the ‘Festival of Hope’ and this week we have the ‘Big Hope’ which has its opening ceremony in the Cathedral next Wednesday at 2.30pm. This is a world youth congress hosted by Liverpool Hope University and there will be addresses by Cardinal Cormac Murphy O’Connor, Cherie Blair and Ken Pye at the opening ceremony. Mrs Blair has attracted a great deal of media interest with the publication of her memoirs. I bet the organisers at Hope would have now wished it had been a question and answer session for her rather than a talk which may have given some extra publicity to the weeks events. Regarding the memoirs I’m not sure those of us brought up in the inner city ever thought of Crosby/Waterloo as poor working class!- anyway I’m not a fan of stereotyping and generalisations about parishes or districts.
This Sunday we have our Parish Sponsored Walk at 2pm starting at the Britannia car park. If the weather improves it should be a fun afternoon – proceeds go to the Lutyens Crypt Project – who knows there may even be some in fancy dress. While we will be sweating it out, Bishop Tom will be celebrant at the Cathedral for the Archdiocesan Children’s Mass at 3pm. This is an unfortunate clash of events but whatever date was chosen there would have been a clash with some event or other. The Archbishop will also be walking that afternoon, but within the Old Swan Pastoral Area rather than the Waterfront. I hope our fund-raising committee don’t develop even more adventurous ideas in view of the media coverage of a parachute jump by the Archbishop of York, John Sentamu!
There will be an exhibition of stained glass displayed within the Cathedral from this week until the end of August. The exhibition is entitled ‘Gathering Light’ and provides examples of the work of 20 international artists. They will be displayed in a number of the chapels and the West Apse.
Friday is the 75th Anniversary of the laying of the Lutyens Crypt (Cathedral) Foundation Stone. To think even at that stage it was anticipated that the proposed Lutyens Cathedral would have taken at least to the present day to complete. I was reading part of the letter last week written in 1959 that was the Archbishops introduction for the design brief for the present Cathedral. It stated ‘Not only by reason of its majestic beauty but because it has already cost over half a million pounds the Crypt must not be abandoned. In some way it will have to be incorporated in the new Cathedral. While free to design a building in any style, you must allow easy access between the Crypt and the main building’. The present phase of work will fulfil that wish as did the previous phase of work complete Gibberd’s plans for the main entrance to the Cathedral.
On Saturday afternoon we welcome the Knights of Saint Columba to the Cathedral for their National Mass at 3pm. Bishop Malcolm McMahon of Nottingham Diocese, who is the national chaplain to the Knights, will preside. The Knights have a close connection with our Cathedral and were responsible in the past for furnishing the St Columba Chapel and still provide a donation for its upkeep.
This year there are a number of celebratory events in our area all with the title of ‘Hope’ and in an idle moment I was trying to work out how many more variations are left. There is the ‘Hope Street Festival’, the ‘Hope Street Feast’, the ‘Festival of Hope’ and this week we have the ‘Big Hope’ which has its opening ceremony in the Cathedral next Wednesday at 2.30pm. This is a world youth congress hosted by Liverpool Hope University and there will be addresses by Cardinal Cormac Murphy O’Connor, Cherie Blair and Ken Pye at the opening ceremony. Mrs Blair has attracted a great deal of media interest with the publication of her memoirs. I bet the organisers at Hope would have now wished it had been a question and answer session for her rather than a talk which may have given some extra publicity to the weeks events. Regarding the memoirs I’m not sure those of us brought up in the inner city ever thought of Crosby/Waterloo as poor working class!- anyway I’m not a fan of stereotyping and generalisations about parishes or districts.
Friday is the 75th Anniversary of the laying of the Lutyens Crypt (Cathedral) Foundation Stone. To think even at that stage it was anticipated that the proposed Lutyens Cathedral would have taken at least to the present day to complete. I was reading part of the letter last week written in 1959 that was the Archbishops introduction for the design brief for the present Cathedral. It stated ‘Not only by reason of its majestic beauty but because it has already cost over half a million pounds the Crypt must not be abandoned. In some way it will have to be incorporated in the new Cathedral. While free to design a building in any style, you must allow easy access between the Crypt and the main building’. The present phase of work will fulfil that wish as did the previous phase of work complete Gibberd’s plans for the main entrance to the Cathedral.