Category Archives: newsletter

Ways to the cross

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It is two years since the burden of the pandemic came upon us all. For some it has meant bereavement or sickness, for others loneliness or depression – for all of us a time of feeling the weight of the Cross.

So, all our Saturday evening and Sunday Masses are celebrated this weekend in commemoration of all that these two years have brought to us in our 3 churches.

Now another Cross has been laid on our sisters and brothers in Ukraine and neighbouring countries. After our “normal” Family Fast collection this weekend, we will take a special collection for them in a fortnight’s time 26 / 27 March as our very special Lenten Alms.

Fr Matthew

Christianity in Ukraine

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Please remember our brothers and sisters in Ukraine in your prayers. 

Flag of UkraineA 2021 survey found that an impressive 82% of Ukrainians declared themselves to be religious. Ukraine has the world’s second-largest Eastern Orthodox population after Russia.

72.7% of the population declared themselves to be Orthodox and 9.7% Catholic. Of those Catholics  8.8% were Greek Rite Catholics following the Byzantine Rite, and 0.9% Latin Rite Catholics (like us).

On the world level, there are approximately 4.5 million Ukrainian Greek Catholics, including the 3.85 million in Ukraine. In the UK the community is served by the Ukrainian Catholic Eparchy (diocese) of the Holy Family of London. The faithful in the Eparchy here number some 13,500 people.

Out of the Orthodox population in Ukraine roughly 58.3% of the population were members of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine (which was declared separate from Moscow in recent years), and 25.4% were members of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate.

Fr Matthew

Be joyful, keep the faith!

newsletter

Dear parishioners and friends,

This year, St David’s Day coincides with Shrove Tuesday. St David’s famous words to his followers were “Be joyful, keep the faith!”. Lent offers us an opportunity to do just that – to be renewed in our faith so that our joy at Easter may be renewed many times over.

Please give Lent your serious attention. Prayer, fasting, almsgiving – these are the Church’s traditional ways of Lenten renewal. What might that mean in your life?

~ Fr Matthew