An invitation from Cardinal Vincent Nichols, Archbishop of Westminster
My Dear Friends,
In 2015 a significant evangelisation initiative called Proclaim ’15 is being launched to support, inspire and encourage new expressions of parish evangelisation. A project of the Bishops’ Conference of England andWales, it is designed to affirm the good work that is already being done by the Catholic community, and to provide resources and events to profile and develop new expressions of Catholic joy and missionary outreach. A major highlight of what is being offered is the organisation of a National Catholic Evangelisation Conference on 11 July 2015.
Proclaim ’15 has five parts:
- PREPARATION: Parish small group sessions – three evangelisation-themed sessions. ( see over leaf)
- PRAYER: Network of prayer vigils – parishes are invited to host an evening of prayer on 11 July 2015.
- EVENT: National Catholic Evangelisation Conference – on 11 July 2015 in central Birmingham for 850 evangelisation representatives from across England and Wales.
- LEGACY: Local events – templates will be provided online to enable dioceses, deaneries and parishes to have their own Proclaim ’15 gatherings in autumn 2015.
- RESOURCES: New Evangelisation resources –for Autumn 2015
Proclaim ’15 has a practical and ‘how to’ focus because while there is enthusiasm within the Catholic community to share confidently and joyfully our Faith, it can at times be hard to discern where to begin. This initiative aims to address that difficulty and is inspired by Pope Francis’ Apostolic Exhortation, Evangelii Gaudium, in which he writes: “I wish to encourage the Christian faithful to embark upon a new chapter of evangelisation marked by this joy, while pointing out new paths for the Church’s journey in years to come.”
Thank you in advance for your support and please do remember this initiative in your prayers,
Cardinal Vincent Nichols, Archbishop of Westminster
“I wish to encourage the Christian faithful to embark upon a new chapter of evangelisation marked by this joy, while pointing out new paths for the Church’s journey in years to come.” Pope Francis, Evangelii Gaudium 1
http://www.catholicnews.org.uk/proclaim15
Proclaim ’15: BUILDING MISSIONARY PARISHES is the name of a new national Bishops’ initiative being launched in 2015 to support the development of parish evangelisation. It is inspired by Pope Francis’ writings and has five parts which include: the provision of free parish small group materials; the organisation of a National Catholic Evangelisation Conference in Birmingham on 11 July 2015 for 850 evangelisation representatives from across England and Wales; an invitation to parishes to host a parish Prayer Vigil on the night of 11 July 2015 with free prayer materials provided; the invitation to dioceses, deaneries and parishes to have their own Proclaim ’15 event in autumn 2015; the publication of new evangelisation resources as a fruit of the National Conference to equip local evangelisers. Please do get involved in what is a significant new step in service of the proclamation of the Gospel in our area. More information will be available in our newsletter over the coming months.
There will be three sessions for us to discover
1 Meeting Jesus the only one who can save me.
2 Learning to be a missionary disciple- sitting at the feet of Jesus.
3 Jesus is alive- go and tell my brothers.
A way forward for the Sacred Heart Can the various parish groups please consider how they will be able to use these three themes and weave them into their various own group sessions, e.g. Lectio Group, Prayer group, Confirmation group, Lent House Masses. Polish Prayer Group, SVP. Hearts Alive Youth group. Also all the groups and any other parishioners will be invited to participate in the vigil of prayer in the parish on Sat 11th July.