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News from Ireland

New Hope For Derry

There was a great feeling of expectant faith at this year's bi-annual charismatic conference as 400 people gathered at St Columb's College in Derry from 7th-9th May. Liaison priest, Fr Seamus Kelly said the level of praise took him back 20 years to the early days of Charismatic Renewal. It was the first conference organised by the new diocesan service team of five women under the chairmanship of Mrs Marie Conway from Omagh. The first timers decided instead of bringing in an established music ministry to use musicians from the local prayer groups. This created a very relaxed feeling on all sides and the local musicians really rose the occasion. The two main speakers were Dr John Bonnici Malia from Malta and Fr Pat Lynch, the leader of the Céilí community based at Knock.

The theme of the conference was from Mark 9 and Jesus' encounter with the blind man when he asks him "What do you want me to do for you?" and the sense that there is a choice for each one of us, do we want to remain in our blindness or do we want to be healed with all the responsibilities that that brings? Marie commented, "Dr John was so invigorating to listen to. He really listened to the Holy Spirit during each session and in the middle of his talks he would sometimes stop to give a word of knowledge." There were several healings claimed as a result of these.

The team also felt they learnt a lot by spending time in Dr John's company and from his sense of expectant faith in all areas of life, and that if one was doing God's will, one could trust that the Lord would provide for all one's needs and not to skimp out of anxiety for the finances. Fr Pat Lynch also impressed the organisers by his teaching gifts and professionalism and the way he used a word as a key to unlock his talk, which meant it was easy to recall afterwards. He spoke on the importance of Church and community. Bishop Seamus Hegarty of Derry gave the homily at one of the Masses and spoke about the sense of hope he saw rising in the Church. The team will meet in the autumn to discern the way forward for the diocese.

New Dawn Ireland

Wellington boots were not needed for this year's New Dawn Conference, held for the second year in the field at the back of Resurrexit House over the first long weekend in July. Numbers, however, were disappointing, with about 100-150 people attending the whole conference rising to about 400 people for the healing service led by Eddie Stones and the final Mass. This obviously has created financial difficulties for the Prince of Peace, the community who organised the conference, but Myles Dempsey, the leader has huge experience of the Lord's Divine providence and the way in the past He has always provided. He comments, "At the beginning when we started the New Dawn conferences in England with no money and huge costs, I said to the Lord that I never wanted to be unable to pay my bills," He adds with a chuckle, " I don't always quite understand how, but despite sometimes quite huge deficits over the years, whenever a bill needs to be paid, there's always enough in the bank, and it seems to work out."

One of the highlights of the conference was the impromptu recital given late one evening on a borrowed piano by Fr Jean Rudolphe Kars, a former world class concert pianist. Fr Kars who comes from a secular Jewish background, was brought to Christ through the ministry of Myles Dempsey. He is now a priest with the Emmanuel community and based at Paray le Monial the shrine to the Sacred Heart. Marie Beirne the chairwoman of the Irish NSC also gave a talk, as did Charles Whitehead, the chairman of the English NSC.

One of the main aims of New Dawn Ireland, says Myles, is to bring about reconciliation between England and Ireland and a key talk was given by Fr Mike Gwinnell an English priest who spoke about the gifts that Ireland has given to England and the links in common between English and Irish Catholics. He also apologised on behalf of the English nation for the sins that have been committed against the Irish people. As long as all the debts are cleared the community plan to organise another New Dawn in the same place next summer. They are in the process of setting up a group in Ireland to discern the way forward and plan any future events. Those who feel called to help in anyway, through prayer, funds or time please contact Myles Dempsey, Prince of Peace Community, St Emilies, Oakhill Park, Liverpool L13 4BP. Tel 0151 228 0724

Papal Preacher Gives Retreat To Derry Priests

Fr Raniero Cantalamessa OFMCap, the preacher to the Pope, led this year's diocesan retreat for the priests of the Derry diocese in May. About 70 priests attended as well as Bishop Seamus Hegarty, the Bishop of Derry and his auxiliary, Bishop Francis Lagan. The retreat was held at the Franciscan monastery of Ard Mhuire on the breathtakingly beautiful coastline of Co Donegal. Fr Raniero shared that it was while he was staying at the monastery for a couple of months on retreat a few years ago that watching some seagulls flying overhead he received the inspiration for one of his books. The theme of the retreat "Come Creator Spirit" was the same as his most recent book, which is a series of meditations on the famous Veni Creator prayer, which has been used in the Church since the 9th century.

Fr Raniero Tapes

Tapes of Fr Raniero's talks at Ard Mhuire are available from Eist Recordings price £24 or 30 euros for cassettes (p&p free) or £32 or 40 euros for the cd set of 8 talks. Cheques should be made payable to "Eist", 30 Ballinteer Gardens, Dublin 16, Ireland. Credit card payments also accepted. For more information 'phone 087 2789390

News from Scotland

Scottish National Conference

ERRATA For the last issue I made the mistake of writing about a conference before it happened! Always a dangerous thing, which meant lots of errors came in, as speakers who had been invited in the event did not attend - these included Archbishop Mario Conti of Glasgow and Bishop Maurice Taylor who was the episcopal link person with the bishops' conference for the Catholic Charismatic Renewal. Please accept my apologies for any who might have been offended by these and any other errors that appeared in the piece. (Editor)

The new episcopal liaison bishop, who has replaced Bishop Maurice Taylor, is Bishop Iain Murray from Argyll and the Isles. He gave one of the main addresses of the weekend. His theme was "What can the Charismatic Renewal do for Scotland?" He pinpointed what he saw as three areas where the Renewal has and can contribute to the upbuilding, and renewal of the Church. These were, 1) the love and use of Scripture which can be a great example to others; 2)the prayer of praise, which recognises who God is, and who we are, and brings a sense of proportion to our lives and helps increase people's expectant faith and 3) the readiness of people to witness to their faith in personal sharing of what God has done for them in their lives. He concluded "We are called to be Catholic Christians at a crucial moment in the history of the Church. God must therefore have given us whatever gifts are needed to bring about the fulfillment of his plan of salvation. It may seem, as we look around us, that the Church, at least in the Western world, is dying" but he added "What we are witnessing is not What we are witnessing is not the death of the Church but the renewal of the Church".

"We are the privileged generation that has been called to work with Christ in this historic moment of transition within the Church. If he has called us, he has also equipped us. He has given us the gifts we need to achieve his purpose. Our cooperation may be costly but it will be effective."

The other speakers at the conference were Sr Maria Natella from England and Fr Jim Finn from Ireland. The location was at the beautiful St Margaret's Academy in Livingstone outside Edinburgh. About 150 people attended, mainly from the Edinburgh and Glasgow area but also some from as far away as the Aberdeen diocese and Dunoon from Argyll and the Isles. The stirring praise was led by Ronnie Johnson and a team of local musicians.

About 120 young people attended this year's international youth festival organised at Craig Lodge retreat centre in Dalmally in the Highlands. This was the 12th year of the festival and numbers were up from the last couple of years with young people in their sleeping bags all over the lodge. As well as Scottish young people there were about 40 young people from Ireland and some from England too. Most came by word of mouth and through their connections with the Craig Lodge community. One, Robbie Hurley, a school teacher, has been coming since the festival started. This year he brought 20 of his pupils over from Dublin. Magnus McFarlane- Barrow, one of the organisers, said there were many people who had come for the first time. The retreat which was held in marquees erected in the Craig Lodge garden was animated by Youth2000 evangelist John Pridmore and Fr Bernard and the Friars of the Renewal from New York, who have a special relationship with the community. The theme of the long weekend was "Launch out into the Deep". The highlights were the healing and reconciliation services and there were queues of young people going to confession. The final Mass was celebrated by Bishop Iain Murray of Argylll and the Isles. Sr Rosanne Reddy was also there with a sister from the new religious order talking on pro life issues.

Magnus comments, "The difference this year for us was our own involvement over the weekend. In the past we used to simply facilitate the retreat - putting the tents up and looking after the catering but this year we were more involved in the actual ministry too, praying with people and running a workshop on community life."

This he says is part of a general evolution in the community's direction since they were given Life in the Spirit seminars last year by the Glasgow Diocesan Team. Since then the community has held a regular weekly charismatic prayer meeting and individuals have discovered charismatic giftings.

Starting in the autumn the community plan to organise retreats once a month at Craig Lodge for those interested in experiencing community life for a weekend. Magnus comments, "community is gift we have received. Many people hear about us from outside and wonder what it is like to part of a community like this and we want to give them a little taste."

He adds, "Although community living can be very hard and challenging it is wonderful to have support of others on a day to day basis in trying to walk the path of holiness, particularly when you have young children and are trying to raise them in such a secular culture." The community has both married and single people among its members. Its spirituality is very much infl uenced by the messages that our Lady has given at Medjugorje - of the importance of prayer, conversion, Scripture, fasting and eucharist. Each week the current message is displayed in the chapel and meditated on. At the back of the house is a large hill, where, as at Medjugorje, they have erected the stations of the cross. Already people from Glasgow come for the day on pilgrimage to climb the hill and do the stations.

Those who might be interested in joining one of the monthly community weekends should contact Craig Lodge, Dalmally, Argyll, Scotland, PZ33 1AR Tel 01838 200216

News from England & Wales

Reclaim Halloween For Christ

The Night of Light, an initiative by the Cor et Lumen Christi community to reclaim Halloween for Christ, is growing in strength and popularity. The idea is to celebrate "All Saints Eve", which is what Halloween actually is, with a night of prayer and godly celebration. At the heart of this is to have a time of adoration of the Blessed the Sacrament or Mass, to be followed with some kind of community celebration or children's party, where there would be fun things to do - like dressing up - but as saints instead of witches. Other ideas include encouraging people to wear white, and putting lighted candles in the windows of people's homes to symbolise the idea of the Light of Christ. The idea was picked up by EWTN the Catholic TV network, which has helped spread the idea round the world. Posters and leafl ets are available. More details from Cor et Lumen Christi, Highfield House, St John's Way, Chertsey, Surrey, KT16 8BZ. Tel 01932 567945.

Children Of Faith

Mothers Prayers', the prayer movement which encourages mothers to pray for their children, has recently launched a new initiative aimed at children and teenagers, called Children of Faith. The idea is to encourage young people to get together and pray and use drama to express their faith. Veronica Williams, the co-founder of Mothers' Prayers said, "We will start small, the way we did with Mothers' Prayers, simply inviting a few teenagers to start meeting and see where the Lord leads things." Two teenagers in Holland have already begun to meet to take the idea forward in their country. For further details contact: Children of Faith, Solace Community, PO Box 416, Sevenoaks, Kent TN14 6WE.

New Dawn At Walsingham

Between 2500 and 3000 people attended this year's New Dawn conference at the English National Shrine at Walsingham during the August heatwave (4th- 8th) including a growing number of participants from foreign countries. These included the usual group from Portugal and 70 people Czech Republic and Slovakia, as well as a mini bus with 11 people from Poland and 33 people from Brazil who came through the Cancao Nova community. In the 11th century Walsingham was one of the four premier pilgrimage sites in Christendom with pilgrims coming from all over the world. This growing international dimension of New Dawn is helping to increase the profile of Walsingham overseas.

Numbers at New Dawn were about 10% up from last year with about 800 people camping on the family camp and youth camps, which spilled onto three fields. As participants are only charged £28 per person for the week's camping, which includes a cooked breakfast, the family camp is a very economical way for families to enjoy a holiday in a spiritual atmosphere. There was the usual rosta of well known speakers who included Charles Whitehead, Fr Bob Faricy SJ(USA), Fr Chris Thomas, Fr Stan Fortuna,(USA) Fr Jimmy Collins and Eddie Stones from Ireland who conducted the Tuesday night healing service. The new bishop of East Anglia, the Rt Rev Michael Evans, also came to celebrate the main open air priory Mass on the Wednesday morning. Myles Dempsey, the leader of the Prince of Peace Community, who organise the conference commented. "For me this was the highlight of the conference and a powerful symbol of what New Dawn is all about - the co-operation of the charismatic and hierarchical dimensions of the Church which are co-essential to its wellbeing."

The children's ministry is growing at New Dawn with more children than ever. For the second year running this was led by a team from St Margaret's parish in Twickenham led by Pat and Anglie Keane. The group said that they felt as their own children had received so much from New Dawn over the years, they felt called to give something back. They work on the programme all year and have found their own children's ministry in the parish has benefited as a result. They are inviting other parishes to think about taking on the ministry themselves and have promised to support whoever does. One of the highlights of their work, this year, as last year, was the producing of a huge ikon of Our Lady of Tenderness, designed by Maria Hall and made as a 3-D collage by all the children.

As well as the £20,000 or so in the main collection, to help cover costs for organising the conference, £4000 was donated to help New Dawn Uganda, which is being organised for January 2004 at Mbarara, where 15,000 people are expected. This is organised by Fr Emmanuel Tuiisme who attended New Dawn a few years ago.

Myles also shared his hope to organise a New Dawn conference in the Czech Republic with the help of the Czech contingent who regularly come to New Dawn. The proposed site would be the remote village mentioned in Patti Gallagher Mansfield's book "As by a New Pentecost", where Pope John XXIII was supposed to have gone on holiday, and where the life of the locally Catholic church was totally charismatic. It is speculated that this may have been his inspiration for launching the Vatican II council to restore a more active sense of the Holy Spirit in the life of the Church. The village was razed to the ground and all the inhabitants killed during the Nazi occupation. Myles believes that holding a New Dawn conference on the land would be an appropriate tribute to the villagers martyred for their faith.

International News