Southwark Report Internals final single

4
HOPE IN CHRIST
IN THE YEAR OF ST JOSEPH
Introduction by Archbishop
John Wilson
Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ
Welcome to this 2021 Annual Report and
Accounts for the Archdiocese of Southwark.
As always, I would like to begin by taking this opportunity to thank
the clergy, religious and laity in our parishes, together with our
schools, commissions, chaplaincies and diocesan departments, for
your continued commitment and resourcefulness over the past
year. I would also like to express my gratitude to teachers and staff
working in our Catholic schools, as they maintain an excellence
in both standards and faithfulness to the Church’s mission in
education, traditions for which our schools can be rightly proud,
and ones which we shall continue to pursue.
It has been another year of challenges, but for missionary disciples
of the Lord Jesus, challenges are opportunities to celebrate our
faith by placing our trust in Him, responding to the promptings
of the Holy Spirit which call us to proclaim anew the Gospel to a
people who hunger for Good News. Our Some Definite Service
programme continues to add to its numbers, which includes the
new volunteer missionary network seeking to support the Church
at Deanery level. They are well-supported and bearing fruit. Also,
more lay faithful are coming forward to enrol on the Archbishop’s
Certificate, and Catholic Certificate in Religious Studies, both
of which support and promote the tools for adult formation,
evangelisation, and catechesis.
The launch of our CARITAS Southwark network in Lent 2023
is another piece of good news. In his Encyclical Letter Evangelii
Gaudium, on the Joy of the Gospel, our Holy Father, Pope Francis
wrote: ‘We have to state, without mincing words, that there is an
inseparable bond between our faith and the poor. May we never
abandon them.’ (EG 48) The link between what we believe and
how we serve is expressed beautifully in the action of the Lord
Jesus who washes the feet of his disciples in the context of the
Last Supper.
The Church has always been at the service
of the poorest and the weakest. This is true
today through our parishes, schools and social
and charitable projects and organisations. In
such challenging times, it is important that
we strengthen and enhance our approach to
charitable outreach rooted in our faith in Christ.
This builds on the excellent work already taking
place and provides encouragement and support
for new initiatives. Through facilitation and
collaboration, we seek to build up a ‘communion
of charity’ by means of a more considered
identity whereby our Archdiocese can further
recognise what it means to put faith into action.
There are, in our Archdiocese, numerous social
and charitable projects through which the
love of neighbour is shown by tangible social
assistance. Such apostolates, and new ones
which will hopefully come to fruition, require
that our hearts be touched by the love of Christ
and opened to the needs of our neighbour. It is
through us, sometimes in simple and seemingly
small ways, that the love of Christ becomes real
and is freely offered to people in need.
This is a time for all of us, clergy, religious, and
lay faithful, to pray and reflect on the Scriptures,
strengthened by the Eucharist, so as to discern
how we live out the call to see and serve the
Lord Jesus in our brothers and sisters in need.
In this regard, I would like to offer a word of
profound gratitude to all who already give
their time and effort so generously in voluntary
service to the Church’s social mission, without
whom life in our parishes, and in the entire
Archdiocese, would be hard to imagine.
Putting our faith into action, and sharing our
resources with those in need, is key to who
we are as Christians. Throughout 2022 the
Archdiocese has continued to support a range
of Catholic charities such as the Knights of the
Holy Sepulchre who seek to sustain our brothers
and sisters in the Holy Land, the Prison Advice
and Care Trust (PACT) who work closely with
both prisoners and their families across the
Archdiocese and throughout the UK, as well
as Stella Maris, CAFOD and Aid to the Church
in Need, to name but a few. Indeed, this past
year, I have had the privilege and pleasure of
witnessing first-hand the great work undertaken
by PACT, the Order of the Holy Sepulchre, and