Each
year every parish has to complete a return to the Chancellor of the
Diocese on the data regarding reception of Sacraments and other
statistical information. In order to calculate our average attendance
figures we are meant to carry out a head-count at all the Masses
throughout the month of October. The Feast of St Edward falls within
this month and this means that there is always a full Cathedral for the
Solemn Mass on one of these Sundays for St Edward’s Day. This creates a
rather distorted average attendance figure for the Cathedral over the
month. Even more distorted this year are the numbers of Confirmations
which took place here in 2009 – a total of 970. If you set this against
the numbers of baptisms in the year, that of 84 and some 14 first
Holy Communions someone may be led to the conclusion that we are doing
fabulous outreach work with teenagers, reasonably well with young
families but are ineffective with juniors. This is obviously not the
case as the Polish community have a considerable number of Baptisms in
the year and about a quarter of the parishes in the Diocese celebrated
the Sacrament of Confirmation in the Cathedral last year. Anyway it
should provide the statisticians with a big headache.
Many
thanks for your wonderful generosity for the Haitian emergency appeal
last week. The money has gone via the Sisters to the religious
communities on the Island. We have been receiving regular reports from
the Sisters caught up in the tragedy. There are five communities of the
Daughters of Charity in Haiti with a total of 31 Sisters. One died in
the earthquake and two other Sisters lost members of their families –
all of them feel a terrible sense of loss at the deaths of friends,
members of their wider communities and clergy. The religious houses in
Port Au Prince have been severely damaged and many of the Sisters are
homeless living in tents outside. From these locations they are trying
to give the basic services – nursing care, support and basic nutrition
in the middle of general chaos. Sisters from other provinces in various
parts of the world have volunteered to travel there and form assistance
teams to work amongst the poor and needy for the next six months and
work towards re-opening schools for the children. Our support will help
to provide medical and other supplies for this work.
I will be
away from next week until the weekend of the Civic Mass so the
Cathedral Record will be in the capable hands of Claire for the next
two weeks who will have to write them in-between organising the
Valentine’s Dinner at Hope Street and dealing with the organisers of
the Beer Festival taking place in the Crypt. The Dinner at 60 Hope
Street falls between Valentine’s Day and Pancake Tuesday and is an
opportunity to celebrate before Lent. So it will be roses and love
songs for the ladies and a pancake sweet course to please the men. It
will be a great evening for all individuals, couples or groups. We have
now reached our initial target of £200,000 towards the Crypt works but
the need for fund raising to pay off the debts on the Cathedral
refurbishment is still desperately needed. Book a ticket before they
all go!
Each
year every parish has to complete a return to the Chancellor of the
Diocese on the data regarding reception of Sacraments and other
statistical information. In order to calculate our average attendance
figures we are meant to carry out a head-count at all the Masses
throughout the month of October. The Feast of St Edward falls within
this month and this means that there is always a full Cathedral for the
Solemn Mass on one of these Sundays for St Edward’s Day. This creates a
rather distorted average attendance figure for the Cathedral over the
month. Even more distorted this year are the numbers of Confirmations
which took place here in 2009 – a total of 970. If you set this against
the numbers of baptisms in the year, that of 84 and some 14 first
Holy Communions someone may be led to the conclusion that we are doing
fabulous outreach work with teenagers, reasonably well with young
families but are ineffective with juniors. This is obviously not the
case as the Polish community have a considerable number of Baptisms in
the year and about a quarter of the parishes in the Diocese celebrated
the Sacrament of Confirmation in the Cathedral last year. Anyway it
should provide the statisticians with a big headache.
Many
thanks for your wonderful generosity for the Haitian emergency appeal
last week. The money has gone via the Sisters to the religious
communities on the Island. We have been receiving regular reports from
the Sisters caught up in the tragedy. There are five communities of the
Daughters of Charity in Haiti with a total of 31 Sisters. One died in
the earthquake and two other Sisters lost members of their families –
all of them feel a terrible sense of loss at the deaths of friends,
members of their wider communities and clergy. The religious houses in
Port Au Prince have been severely damaged and many of the Sisters are
homeless living in tents outside. From these locations they are trying
to give the basic services – nursing care, support and basic nutrition
in the middle of general chaos. Sisters from other provinces in various
parts of the world have volunteered to travel there and form assistance
teams to work amongst the poor and needy for the next six months and
work towards re-opening schools for the children. Our support will help
to provide medical and other supplies for this work.