18th Eastern Link - Province 20 Catenians of Western Australia

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EASTERN LINK The Catenian Association Strengthening family life through friendship and faith PROVINCE 21 FROM…. PROVINCE 21 DIRECTOR BROTHER KEVIN DOHERTY THE CATENIAN ASSOCIATION Report from Brother Kevin on the Catenian UK annual Conference Held in London on May 17 th 2013 Introduction There were matters, which occurred before the Conference, which had a bearing on the outcome The retiring Grand Secretary, Jim Quinn, noting the disquiet amongst the membership regarding the decision to allow “irregular” Catholics to become members, commenced enquiries. He first communicated with Fr. Andrew Moss, the Canon Lawyer, who had given advice to the Chichester Circle. Fr Andrew made it quite clear that, in his opinion, a person in an irregular marriage cannot be a “Practising” Catholic and he wrote to the Grand President, John Mottram stating that since its rule change, the Association was operating outside the Magisterium of the Catholic Church. Brother Grand Secretary then wrote to Bishop John Arnold asking for advice and help. The Bishop offered to raise the matter with the Bishop’s Conference of England and Wales at their next meeting. Subsequently Brother Grand Secretary, Jim, received a letter from Mgr. Marcus Stock, the general secretary of the Conference. There were several meetings following the receipt of that letter between senior members of Grand Council and Mgr. Stock. A report on those meetings was drawn up but could not be issued to other members of Grand Council until Mgr. Stock had approved it. He was then in Rome. Once approved the information was distributed to members of Grand Council and then the Executive Committee of Grand Council met by teleconference and agreed that Manchester Circle should be informed of the developments and given the opportunity to withdraw the Conference Motion. Manchester Circle placed conditions on the motions withdrawal, which Grand Council did not accept, and as a result, the motion went ahead. (See the report on the conference below) The Grand Council Executive is now considering this matter. The Conference. Grand Presidents Opening Address The Conference opened with a keynote address by the Grand President, John Rayer; I am not going to repeat it here because it is published in the June edition of Catena, which you can access via their web site. If you cannot work out the new password then contact me and I will give it to you. /Continued on next page… JUNE Page 4 2013
EASTERN LINK The Catenian Association Strengthening family life through friendship and faith PROVINCE 21 Report from Brother Kevin on the Catenian UK annual Conference continued… I found it very interesting and I, like the editor of Catena would recommend that you read it. Brother Grand President, John is taking a different approach to his predecessors and will be looking to grow the membership of Association during his year in office. Manchester proposal After the keynote address and other formalities, and before the Manchester motion was put, the attendees were informed of the information that Grand Council had received from Fr. Andrew Moss, Bishop John Arnold and Mgr. Marcus Stock. The motion was then put; there were about three speakers for and three against the motion before a brother from Eastbourne proposed that the motion be put. I cannot remember the exact numbers but the motion was defeated by an approximate ratio of two to one. Rules, Regulations Policies and Procedures The newly elected Vice President Brother Bob Butler had included his committee’s Green Paper on proposed changes in the conference papers. He stated that he was not proposing the changes at the conference but that he would like to get an indication on how the 450 or so members present felt about them. Each attendee had been issued with three coloured cards. They were required to show a green card if they agreed with the changes, Red if they were opposed to the change and yellow if they were undecided or wished to abstain. As each proposed change was read out, the brothers attending held aloft their cards and the results were counted. They were mostly in favour of the proposed changes. I do hope that the July issue of Catena will feature this part of the conference because if those brothers attending are indicative of Catenians in the UK then it is now obvious that the majority of Catenian Brothers want change and want the Association to move forward. Youth Matters Brother Provincial Director, David Rowley was the last speaker and he brought the conference up to date with what the Association in the UK is doing to support Catholic Youth in the UK Community. If you would like to know more about this then read Brother Grand President, John Rayer’s introduction in the members section of the Catenian Web Site. We in province 21 are behind our brothers in Western Australia and far behind the UK in these matters. We do have Circles that conduct speaking competitions but we need to coordinate our efforts and get the news about the Bursary Fund out to the colleges, the parents and the schools alumni Summary The Grand Council Executive Committee are examining the letters concerning “Practising” Catholic. They may resurrect the Membership Eligibility Criteria Committee to examine the way forward and no doubt we will be informed as soon as a decision is reached. The Mass in Westminster Cathedral was awe-inspiring and the two choirs made the mass a truly spiritual happening. I do hope that Catena publish the Homily delivered by the Auxiliary Bishop of Westminster. He had certainly completed his homework on the Catenian Association. He gave us all his Blessing and hope for the future. Province 21 Director Brother Kevin Doherty JUNE Page 5 2013
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18th Eastern Link - Province 20 Catenians of Western Australia

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