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News
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News from Ireland
Great interest is being shown for the second TINE Catholic Leaders conference 27th-29th January 2006 in Athlone. The first conference which took place in January 2005, brought together 140 Catholic leaders interested in evangelisation. The event proved so popular, that this year the organisers, have booked up the whole of the Hodson Bay Hotel, where the conference took place ensuring that up to 240 people can attend. The theme of the coming conference is "Models for an Evangelising Church: Celtic Voices - Contemporary Context". The focus will be looking at the contribution of St Patrick and the Celtic Church to evangelisation, and the lessons which can be learned and applied to today's Ireland. The key note speaker will be Dr Karl Renner from the University of Wurzburg, in Germany, who will speak about "St Patrick the evangeliser", "the Celtic Church: Europe Transformed" and "Our Church Today: Carrying the Vision Forward". As well as the main talks, there will be five tracks of workshops looking at evangelisation in the context of "Children and the Family", "The Parish", "Leaders", "Youth" and "Adult Formation". There is also strong support from the hierarchy and the two Masses will be celebrated by local bishop Bishop Christopher Elfin and the Apostolic Nuncio for Ireland, Archbishop Giuseppe Lazzarotto. The Tine Network is a response to meet a growing need in Ireland to support and resource the wide spectrum of leaders, involved in the new evangelisation, who include those from a wide variety of Church backgrounds. CHANGE IN DIRECTION FOR YOUTH 2000 MISSION TEAM The Youth2000 Mission Team in Ireland led by John Pridmore, with his team mates Matthew, Brid, Caroline and Niell, have been visiting schools up and down the length of Ireland over the past few years, doing school retreats and youth ministry. Typical of their work was the visit they made in September to Cobh, County Cork where they did talks in schools and treatment centres on the dangers of drug and alcohol addiction. During their visit they spoke to over 500 young people, who were reached with the message that drugs will never satisfy the hunger inside them, and only Jesus Christ can. One local family, who lost their son to a drug overdose, have shown how it is possible to turn tragedy into healing and renewal. There were tears on hearing some of the talks by the team and many young people attended the final Mass and healing service. Over the past few years the team has been doing more and more parish and prison work. They feel that the Lord is directing them to concentrate more on this work with people of all ages, although their work with youth will still continue. In view of this they have taken on a new name for themselves : the St Patrick's Community. They hope to raise up and support a new Youth 2000 mission team who will deal with the school work and the Youth 2000 regional retreats. Anybody wanting to know more about this please write to: The Presbytery, Gowel, Carrick -on-Shannon, Co. Leitrim. Ireland TOTAL PERSON THERAPY OF JESUS CHRIST with FR BILL Fr Joseph Bill from Kerala, India, travels the globe preaching the Gospel. Although he is famous for the healing miracles associated with his ministry, it is the conversion of people's lives which Fr Bill is more interested in. This is achieved through his six day silent retreats, which he calls "Total Person Therapy of Jesus Christ." During these retreats participants are led to an experience of God's love and mercy for them personally. This is followed by a renewal of the sacrament of confession and baptismal vows, with the healing of memories and prayer for the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, and finally prayer for bodily healing. His aim is for the whole man to be healed, soul, mind and body. And this happens. The fruits of the retreat are not only many healings but more importantly profound repentance and conversions of lives. He was recently in Cork City, where 130 people attended his retreat. He will be in Newry from 20th-26th November 2005. DO NOT MISS IT!!! There will be a bus travelling from Cork for those interested in attending.
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News from Scotland
The Year of the Eucharist Celebrated Across Scotland.
During the Scottish NSC retreat some time ago it was decided to answer the call of the John Paul II and encourage all those involved in Renewal in Scotland to come together to celebrate and focus on the Eucharist. The celebration was to culminate in a national gathering, an afternoon of picnic and praise, followed by solemn benediction in Edinburgh during the famous International Festival of the Arts. Leading up to the gathering it was decided that each diocese would have an event centred on the Eucharist. Although the ideal of having a public witness in one of the parks of the City was impossible to arrange during the Festival the people gathered in the beautiful grounds of Edinburgh Archdiocese Pastoral Centre, The Gilles Centre. During the eight days leading up to the picnic each diocese, taking a day each, had its own day or evening of renewal focusing on adoration and worship of the Blessed Sacrament. In Aberdeen members of Renewal met for Mass followed by a time of praise and heard a talk on the Eucharist and then spent time in adoration. Dunkeld ran a day of renewal listening to the Lord and heard a talk on the Pope's encyclical on the Eucharist. This was followed by two hours adoration. In Edinburgh people from all over met in the Cathedral for two hours adoration. The national gathering was a time to praise led by Restoring Zion praise band during which people from all over the country shared their picnics and their faith. The afternoon culminated in Solemn Benediction. Fr. Laurence Brassil OSA walked the length of the beautiful Chapel with monstrance in hand blessing individuals who knelt in adoration. The nine days saw Catholic Charismatic Renewal in Scotland kneel before the Lord in adoration and worship. What wonders and healing took place just being before the Lord!
By the time you read this the members of SCCR will have met for their National Conference which the NSC decided to use to develop the Newman Process. The theme of the weekend was "Seeking the Lord's Vision". As the process, began sometime ago back at Brentwood when the NSCs of the four nations met, it was decided not to invite speakers to the Conference but invite those involved in renewal to do the speaking and more importantly the listening. The Friday evening will be a time of praise and worship and listening to what the Lord is saying. A discernment team will then feed this to the facilitators who will then use this to inform the discussion and sharing of the Saturday. The Saturday will be a time of sharing on the Experience of Pentecost and how that is expressed in the lives of individuals, the Renewal and the Church. The afternoon session will examine unity within groups and renewal generally. From this it is hoped to come away with three actions points to be considered by Renewal across the land.
For more news from Scotland please visit the website of the Catholic Charismatic Renewal in Scotland: www.catholiccr-scotland.org.uk/
News from Wales
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News from England
JESUS YOUTH On 8th September Jesus Youth, the charismatic youth movement from India, marked its fourth anniversary in Britain. Four years ago eight Jesus Youth members from different parts of the UK gathered in Birmingham for the first time to reunite, pray and share how they might promote Jesus Youth in Britain. Biju Thomas, who lives in Brighton was elected leader. Since then the group has grown a lot, swelled by the many young Indians, who have come in recent years to study, work in the IT industry or in the hospitals in Britain. Their plan is ultimately to reach out to British born youth too. The prayerful commitment of the young people from Jesus Youth is very inspiring and has already borne fruit. One group has a monthly all night vigil at St Emilies on the outskirts of Liverpool, where Myles Dempsey and the Prince of Peace Community are based. There is also a strong group in Birmingham with Sr Ancilla and new chaplain Fr Sebastian Arikat, who was one of the speakers at this year's Birmingham charismatic conference. The London group headed by Joseph Dasan and his wife, and under the benign guidance of Ansel de Silva now has 8 prayer groups round the capital and have been given an office at the headquarters CASE, the Catholic Agency to Support Evangelisation, in Hampstead where the group comes to pray for the city of London. They have already had several novenas of prayer for the evangelisation of the city. This summer the Jesus Youth famous outreach band, the Rex Band, which opened World Youth day, diverted their journey to take in England, so they could play at a series of concerts in Liverpool, Birmingham and two in London, drawing up to 500 people at each event. The vision of the leaders of the London group is to eventually have a house of prayer for the capital to which intercessors who feel called from different prayer groups might gather to pray for the capital and the nation round the clock. NEW FORMATION SCHOOL FOR YOUNG LEADERS Twenty eight year old Alice Hall from the Sion Community, who is the newest member of the English National Service Committee, is going to run a formation programme for young leaders in the Charismatic Renewal over the next 12 months. Alice, with twenty something year old Neil Hughes who has been running the Oasis outreach in Bradford for the last three years, attended the three week ICCRS formation course in Rome in June, and the pair are eager to pass on what they have learnt to others. The programme will consist of six weekends (with the option of two extra ones) and will be based at SENT, the Sion Community's HQ in Brentwood. The course will cost £365 for the year including all food, accommodation and materials. COME AND SEE CONFERENCE Seven hundred and fifty people from all over Britain attended the "Come and See" conference organised by the Irenaeus Project in Liverpool, headed up by Fr Chris Thomas. The main inputs were given by Fr Richard Rohr ofm, who founded the Centre for Action and Contemplation in Alburquerque, New Mexico in 1986. He is well known for his preaching particularly on Scripture and Male spirituality. There were workshops given by a series of well known speakers and writers including John Bell from the Iona Community, Dymphna Magee, Fr Pat Collins CM from Ireland, Gerald O'Mahony, a Jesuit working at Loyola Hall, David Wells from Plymouth, Margaret Silf, Susy Brouard from CAFOD. There was also input by Sarah Miller and Catherine Bamber who spoke about spirituality and young people. The theme of the conference was the largeness of God's love, his preferential love for the poor and marginalised and radical grace. The theme and the speakers attracted both those interested in justice issues and those involved in Charismatic Renewal as well as those working for the diocese. The organisers plan to make it a bi-annual event and the date for the next conference is 8th-9th September 2007.
It's always best to hear a speaker live, but even videos can be powerful when there is an anointing. Patricia Mitchell from Ireland, rang Eileen O'Kane, from the English NSC, after midnight one evening recently such was her excitement following the showing of Fr Raniero Cantalamessa's talk from the Newman consultation. She had felt a prompting to show the video to her prayer group one evening in September, and the response was so strong, that there was a new outpouring of the Holy Spirit in the group. Fr Jack McArdle, the well known speaker and author, also from Ireland, was so struck himself by the talks at Newman that he had them transcribed so he could study them more. The Newman consultation, a gathering of invited leaders from the Catholic Charismatic Renewal, was the result of several years planning. It was an opportunity to gather leaders from the Catholic Charismatic Renewal in England, Ireland Scotland and Wales to reflect on the calling of CCR and discern what the Holy Spirit was saying for the way ahead. Those who would like to buy a copy
of the video of the Newman Consultation to hear the talks, which were
given by Charles Whitehead, Archbishop Kevin McDonald and Fr Raniero
Cantalamessa OFM Cap should contact Goodnews Books, 15 Barking Close,
Luton, Beds LU4 9HG tel 01582 571011. BIRMINGHAM CONFERENCE HAS TO MOVE LOCATION AFTER 18 YEARS! The annual Birmingham Catholic Charismatic Conference, which has become a regular fixture in the calendar, and has always been held at Newman College in the second week of August, will be moving location due to renovation work being done at Newman. The new location will be the Paragon Hotel in the centre of the city, which will now run from Thursday 10th August to Monday 14th August 2006. The conference will have the sole use of the hotel during those days. The organisers have got a good price from the hotel, and all rooms include ensuite facilities and lifts. The organisers are excited by the new move, which they see as a sign of a new direction for the conference. As substantial deposits are needed, they are asking their regulars to commit early to coming.
As part of discerning the future vision for Westminster
Diocese, representatives from the movements were invited to feed back
on the recently produced Green Paper. About 40 people attended a meeting
at Vaughan House on 3rd September led by Mgr John Arnold. Prior to this,
feedback had also been sought from the parishes, the religious, the
clergy and the different chaplaincies. The movements all expressed their
willingness to help serve the diocese by sharing their expertise in
their particular areas.
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INTERNATIONAL NEWS
POPE CALLS THE MOVEMENTS TO COME TO ROME FOR PENTECOST There is a great sense of expectancy following Pope Bendict XVI's call to the lay movements and ecclesial communities to come to celebrate the vigil of Pentecost with him on 3rd June 2006 in Rome. The 1998 Pentecost meeting of Pope John Paul II with the movements in St Peter's Square was a very significant moment in the Church's history, when the Pope gave an unprecedented recognition to the importance of the Charismatic dimension of the Church. Now only a year after his election, Pope Benedict XVI is doing the same. In the light of the current Pope's age and his concern for the re-evangelisation of Europe, it is felt that that this will be a very important meeting to be at. To encourage as many people as possible to attend, ICCRS(International Catholic Charismatic Renewal Services), who were planning to organise an autumn event in 2006 to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the Catholic Charismatic Renewal, have decided instead to merge it with the Holy Father's invitation. Charismatics from all over the world are thus invited to come, not just to celebrate with the Holy Father, but also to attend a big Pentecostal Celebration in a Sports stadium on 4th June, to be followed by an open conference from 5th-9th June in Fiuggi, a town an hour or so from Rome. This is the first open conference for many years. After the conference there will be colloquium for invited leaders from 9th-11th June 2006 and a pilgrimage. The English NSC are encouraging as many people as possible
from England to go to Rome at this time as they feel it will be very
a very significant encounter for the future vision and direction of
the Church. For full details contact:
A team from Cor et Lumen Christi community went to Australia for three weeks in August/September to run three charism schools in the towns of Sidney, Perth and Melbourne. They also had four healing rallies, in the same towns and one in Cairns. Almost 1000 people attended the charisms schools and there were many healings, including four people healed of deafness and one remarkable healing in Sidney where a man was cured of cancer of the mouth. He had been due to be operated on the following Tuesday but was healed instantly by a word of command during one of the healing services. This was confirmed by his doctor who had happened to be at the event, and who had been the person who originally diagnosed his illness. One little girl who had worn two digital hearing aids since birth was also healed. The team have been invited to return next year to run a national training school for the charismatic renewal in the country. ICCRS International Institute for Leadership Formation The International Institute for Catholic Charismatic Leadership Formation which took place in Rome from 6th-25th June was a great success. There were 43 participants from 15 countries and all 5 continents. The programme included theological and charismatic teaching, times of prayer, visits to Dicasteries and field trips to places of early Christianity in Rome. Among the students were Alice Hall and Neil Hughes from England as well as an American hospital doctor who had raised two babies from the dead!
On May 9th, 2005 the Pontifical Council for the Laity approved the amendments of the ICCRS (International Catholic Charismatic Renewal Services) the CCR link organisation with the Vatican. An ICCRS sub-committee, in collaboration with a canon lawyer, have been working on the amendments for the past two years. The principal changes to the document will show the development of the ICCRS' vision regarding CCR, including the formation of continental ICCRS sub-committees, whose goal is to champion concrete co-operation between the various charismatic realities in their areas and between these and ICCRS. There have also been some changes made to the section on "Procedures of elections", whereby ICCRS will seek increased involvement and collaboration from various parts of the CCR in the different areas of the globe. You can download the new statutes from www.iccrs.net/statutes.htm.
ICCRS are looking for a professional translation of the ICCRS statutes into Spanish, Italian, Portuguese and German, if you can help with this contact their office.
More news from around the world can be found on the ICCRS website: www.iccrs.org/newsfrom.htm
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