Our diocese has recently started a scheme where all the parishes pray for one another in turn. It’s called the ‘Cycle of Prayer’ for the parishes of the Archdiocese. Each week, all parishes will be invited to pray for one, and for the clergy, schools, hospitals and any other special needs in that parish. This is a little like our own 3 Churches scheme where we pray for different streets in turn, as indicated on the back page of the 3 churches newsletter. So now we will add the relevant parish and details for inclusion in this newsletter.

This is a good scheme, as it can be easy at times to concentrate of our own needs and ministry, forgetting that to be Catholic means to belong. We are not all little kingdoms – we form part of the “local church” of Cardiff, which in turn forms part of the universal Catholic Church across the world.

This week we begin with the Cathedral, whose proper name is the Metropolitan Cathedral Church of St David. Parish priest (dean in a cathedral) is Canon Peter Collins. St David’s recently absorbed the former parish of St Cuthbert’s, so St Cuthbert’s Primary School is in the parish. So also are the Sisters of Nazareth at Nazareth House, very much part of Catholic Cardiff’s history. Close by is the Oratory of Saint Philip in Formation, a community of priests and brothers belonging to the Congregation of the Oratory, including Bro Ambrose (Daniel Jackson), originally from our St Paul’s.

St David’s resident population shrank over many years, as people moved out of the city center, but in more recent times there has been an increase in residential accommodation there. The cathedral also attracts shoppers and those who like a city parish, and the tradition of good music.

So please watch out for a mention of a different parish in this newsletter each week – it’s our own turn soon

!Fr Matthew