IRELAND’S CATHOLIC schools have been invited to celebrate Catholic education with Pope Benedict during his visit to Britain next Friday by watching “The Big Assembly” event live from 9am.
Bishop Brendan Kelly, chairman of the Irish Bishops' Council for Education, has invited schools "to share in The Big Assembly celebration by joining online with their counterparts in Britain so as to gather as a school community and watch proceedings streamed live at www.thepapalvisit.org.uk".
The pope’s first event on English soil will involve 4,000 school children and young people from Northern Ireland, England, Scotland and Wales at St Mary’s University College, Twickenham in London and will address faith, community, sport and friendship.
“This is an exciting online opportunity for schools in Ireland to celebrate the universal values at the core of Catholic education and to highlight the outstanding work by pupils, teachers and parents that takes place in Catholic schools everywhere,” Bishop Kelly said.
Meanwhile, UCD has planned a number of events this week to mark the beatification of Cardinal John Henry Newman in Birmingham next Sunday by Pope Benedict. The cardinal was founding rector of the Catholic University of Ireland, which preceded UCD.
The events, entitled UCD Remembering Newman, include an exhibition of Newman artefacts and papers at Newman House on St Stephen’s Green which continues this week.
There will be a reception at Newman House tomorrow evening which will be attended by the British ambassador to Ireland Julian King and the annual Newman Lecture will be delivered at the same venue next Sunday by President Mary McAleese.
Dr Pádraic Conway, director of the UCD International Centre for Newman Studies, said that Newman's "long-neglected Dublin-based contribution includes the composition of The Idea of a University, probably the single most significant text on higher education ever published."
He continued that “the current UCD School of Medicine and Medical Science, and the UCD Literary and Historical (L&H) Society are in direct continuity with the entities established by Newman: the 1850s rulebook of the latter describes it as being ‘under the patronage of the Lord Rector’”
Meanwhile, the London-based Minister And Clergy Sexual Abuse Survivors (MACSAS) group has criticised spending on the papal visit.
Its founder, Dr Margaret Kennedy, said that “large numbers of survivors needing lifelong support have no resources to recover as the Catholic Church has no mechanisms/policies/pastoral care initiatives to such individuals and now proceeds to pay towards a £20 million bill for the pope’s visit.”
The Catholic Church in Belgium meanwhile has responded to an abuse scandal with plans to create a reconciliation centre and set new rules for priests, but victim groups say the moves are insufficient.
“The past months have been very difficult for the church and for us. We are fully committed to tackling this problem in a new way,” Archbishop Andre-Joseph Leonard told a news conference. “It causes us pain. Coming out of such a crisis is not easy.”
The scandal erupted in April when the Bishop of Bruges resigned after admitting he had sexually abused his nephew. A commission monitoring abuse last week released a report saying clerical abuse was widespread.
Critics accuse the church of not acting against errant priests and turning a blind eye to abuse. The commission said it found no evidence that the church had systematically covered up crimes, although had found instances where nothing was done.
The centre for recognition, healing and reconciliation for victims will possibly be set up by the end of the year. – (Additional reporting: Reuters)