Pastoral Letters

My dear brothers and sisters, 

On Thursday, an outburst of joy marked the announcement that we have a new Pope.  This joy was known before we even knew the name or had glimpsed the kindly face of Pope Leo XIV.  It was the announcement that we had a Pope that was the source of this joy.  The man chosen was still unseen, and undoubtedly conscious as never before, of his human weakness and the immense weight of the mission suddenly entrusted to him as the 266th Successor of the Apostle Peter.  The new Pope would first lead us in prayer by greeting the Holy Mother of God and asking her to pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death.  This struck me as a beautiful expression of our Catholic faith in the office of the Pope, whoever the man happens to be, and in the mission entrusted by Christ to Peter and his successors until the end of time.  It is in this faith that we welcome Pope Leo XIV.  For it was Christ who made Peter the rock of His Church, gave him the keys of the Kingdom, ⁽ⁱ⁾ called him to strengthen His brethren ⁽ⁱⁱ⁾ and to feed the sheep and lambs of His flock, as a witness to His love ^{(iii) (iv).}  

It seemed significant that before we caught sight of our new Pope, we saw first the Cross of Christ carried onto the balcony of Saint Peter’s.  For the Pope always stands before the world as a witness to Christ and to the victory of His Cross.  In his first words and greeting “Peace be with you all”, Pope Leo consciously echoed the words of the Risen Jesus and reminded us “We are disciples of Christ, Christ goes before us, and the world needs His light” for in His love we find the assurance that evil will not prevail.  

Following a previous papal election, I was asked at a petrol station whether I ‘liked’ the new Pope.  This is a strange question for a Catholic, akin to being asked whether you ‘like’ your father or mother!  The Pope is not a celebrity, a politician nor a public personality whose popularity may grow or fade.  The place of the Pope in the family of the Church is always seen in the light of faith, whoever the man happens to be, for he has taken the place of Peter for us.  

We pray for the Pope with a loyalty and affection which transcends all human ‘likes’ or ‘dislikes.’  We might even pray, as one faithful soul did, that the Pope gets a good night’s rest, conscious of the burden he bears.  It is with such faith, loyalty and human affection that we welcome Pope Leo XIV, our thirteenth Holy Father since his predecessor Pope Pius IX founded the Shrewsbury Diocese in 1851.   

A still wider perspective is offered in the Cathedral this Sunday, when our Greek Orthodox brothers and sisters bring an icon and relic of Pope Saint Sylvester I, in celebration of the Creed we profess each Sunday.  If you don’t recognise his name, this was the Pope at the time of the Council of Nicea in 325 AD, when the bishops first gathered to make the great profession of the Church’s faith that we echo together at Mass each Sunday.  It is the enduring mission of Peter and his successors to keep this faith and strengthen us in faith by serving as “the visible source and foundation of unity” ^(v).   In celebrating the 1700th Anniversary of the Creed of Nicea and remembering the saintly Pope of that distant time, we are reminded of the long continuity of the mission of Saint Peter, which continues with the fourteenth Pope Leo in our time. 

The World Day of Prayer for Vocations celebrated on this Good Shepherd Sunday, also leads us to remember that a young man, Robert Prevost, was first ready to dedicate his whole life to Christ in the Catholic Priesthood.  Today, as we pray for this young man as our Pope, let us also pray for many new and generous vocations to the Priesthood that are a source of joy for the whole Church.  It is because of Robert Prevost’s generous and faithful response to his calling, that we are now able to receive “with great joy” Pope Leo XIV as a holy father for us all.    

United with you in this joy and in this prayer,

+ Mark
Bishop of Shrewsbury

i Mt. 16: 18 -19
ii Lk. 22:32
iii Jn. 21: 15-17
iv Cf. Pope Saint John Paul II “The Ministry of Love” 17th October 1978
v Catechism of the Catholic Church No.552

My dear brothers and sisters,

On this First Sunday of Lent, the story resonates for us, of a family enduring a great trial that engulfed the world they had known. The Book of Genesis recounts how Noah and his family emerged from ‘a state of lockdown’ with renewed hope in God’s saving purpose. The rainbow set against the clouds became a sign of hope for them, as it has become a sign of hope in this health crisis, whether painted by children, posted in windows or projected on public buildings. The rainbow has happily recovered its original meaning as a sign of the promise of the Lord: “When … the bow appears in the clouds, I will recall the Covenant between myself and you and every living creature”.[i] Despite all human sinfulness, and the disasters resulting from sin, God’s purpose is always to save and bring us to new life. This is our personal experience every time we make a sincere confession and know the grace of the Holy Spirit sent for the forgiveness of sins.[ii]

Almost twelve months have passed since I wrote at the start of a pandemic that has impacted every one of our lives. As this Lent begins, we remember in prayer all who have died, and more than a hundred thousand families who today mourn the loss of loved ones. We can draw lasting lessons from the suffering of this time and its quiet heroism. Many of these lessons echo the call of Lent to greater prayer, self-denial and generosity. Today, I wish to highlight lessons learnt from the way our parishes rose to challenges, reminiscent of the brave beginnings of this Shrewsbury Diocese. As in those pioneering days, the continued celebration of the Mass – the priority of the Eucharist – has become the focus of so many strenuous and unprecedented efforts. It has also been the aspiration of many who have remained prayerfully at home, often using the internet to stay connected, while anticipating the day of the great return to Holy Mass.

As we face the challenges of emerging from the devastation of a pandemic, let us be ready to re-build the life of the Church on this same foundation of the Eucharist. The Book of Genesis tells how the priority for Noah’s family, having barely set foot on dry ground, was to build an altar for the Lord.[iii] In the same way, our union with Christ in the Mass, in the Sacraments and in daily prayer, must be our own enduring priority. At the Cathedral, the works to renew the Altar have coincided with this time and will stand as a memorial to these days of renewed Eucharistic faith and love. The very restrictions imposed by the pandemic have helped us treasure our churches as places of prayer, silence and personal encounter with Christ. In so many ways we have been led to recognise anew, as the Catechism reminds us that “In his Eucharistic presence He remains mysteriously in our midst as the One who loved us and gave Himself for us”.[iv] It is Jesus Himself who awaits us in the Sacrament of His love.[v]

I hope we will continue to make generous efforts in 2021, to keep church doors open wherever this is possible; and ensuring we give of our best in everything connected with the Mass and the adoration of the Blessed Sacrament at the heart of every one our communities. If Eucharistic love pervades our parishes, then we can be sure nothing will be lacking in our sense of mission.

At the start of my letter, I said we are setting out to re-build on the foundation of the Eucharist. Saint John Paul II put this simply when he said, the Eucharist builds the Church.[vi] He recalled the teaching the Second Vatican Council which declared, “As often as the Sacrifice of the Cross … is celebrated on the altar, the work of redemption is carried out … and at the same time … the unity of the faithful, who form one body in Christ, is expressed and brought about”.[vii] May this be so for us in 2021, as we gather in ever growing numbers to fulfil Christ’s command “Do this in memory of me”.[viii]

May Saint Joseph, to whom we have entrusted this year of recovery, pray for us and accompany us as we grow in Eucharistic love,

+ Mark
Bishop of Shrewsbury

[i] Gen. 9: 14
[ii] Cf. Rite of Penance
[iii] Cf. Gen. 8: 20
[iv] Catechism of the Catholic Church n. 1380
[v] Cf. Dominicae Cenae n.3
[vi] Cf. Ecclesia De Eucharistia Chapter 2

His Lordship, the Bishop of Shrewsbury released a pastoral letter in video format to coincide with Gaudéte Sunday, 13th December 2020.

My dear brothers and sisters,

I think of you all each morning at the Altar and each evening as we pray the Angelus before the statute of Our Lady in the Cathedral. I think of your families and your work; of the loneliness of old age and the generous hopes of youth; of those seeking their vocation, especially the men discerning their vocation at the Cathedral and our seminarians preparing for the priesthood and the young couples preparing for marriage; I think of all our priests and deacons and consecrated women and men, and of the whole mission of our Diocese. We know that in the offering of every Mass our lives, our prayer, our work and our sufferings are “united with those of Christ and his total offering, and so acquire a new value”i. In the simple prayer of the Angelus we also seek to unite ourselves to the “yes” Mary gave to God’s word and thereby to Christ Himself. In the Angelus we say with Our Lady, “Let it be to me according to your word”.ii This is a perfect prayer to accompany the Year of the Word.

At the beginning of Lent, the Book of Genesis tells how human history began with our first parents saying “no” to God and his loving purpose. The Catechism of the Catholic Church explains that: “Man, tempted by the devil let his trust in his Creator die in his heart and, abusing his freedom, disobeyed God’s command”iii. This is original sin and “all subsequent sin would be disobedience toward God and lack of trust in his goodness”.iv Yet amid the disaster of this primeval fall, we hear the first announcement of the Gospel telling of the Saviour to come and of a New Eve, the Mother of Christ, who would truly be the Mother of all who live. Together with Our Lady we now repeat her fiat, her “yes” to all God asks of us and to the grace God wishes to pour into our hearts.

In a time of amnesia – forgetfulness – of the Christian past, we recall how England began with this desire to say “yes” to God’s grace, in order that a once pagan people might share Christ’s victory in the wilderness by learning to live “by every word which comes from the mouth of God” and worshipping and serving the Lord God alone.v Our national identity would be forged by the Christian faith we now share. England’s Monarchs would entrust this land to the Mother of God so that, like Mary, we might respond to God’s word in faith. They recognised England’s high destiny to be a place where the joy of the Annunciation will never fade. vi

This year, the Bishops invite us to renew that solemn act of entrustment to the Blessed Virgin Mary amidst the de-Christianisation of our society, re-echoing the call with which Lent begins, “Come back to me with all your heart”.vii On the Fifth Sunday of Lent, we will make this act of entrustment together at the end of Mass. In Shrewsbury Diocese, I want us to also make this entrustment throughout Lent using the simple and profound words of the Angelus. Where Monarchs once acted on behalf of their people, today may this same act of dedication be renewed in the hearts of each one of us. Let us entrust ourselves, our families, our diocese and our whole nation to the Mother of God that we may say with her, a decisive “yes” to God’s grace and God’s plan for our lives.

The Angelus seems especially appropriate for this purpose, for it is the prayer of the Angel’s announcement to Our Lady. Following the Second Vatican Council, Saint Paul VI commended the Angelus prayer especially for our times as it vividly recalls with the words of Scripture the Incarnation of the Son of God and leads us to pray that we may be led “by his Passion and Cross to the glory of his Resurrection”. viii Pope Paul asked us to use this prayer “whenever and wherever possible” amidst our working day, however busy we might be.

This Sunday, prayer cards will be distributed across the Shrewsbury Diocese so we can have the words of this beautiful prayer to hand. I wish to invite you to pray the Angelus with me each day and especially around midday on Wednesday 25th March, when we celebrate the great feast of the Annunciation. The two or three minutes we give to this prayer will be like a ‘breath of fresh air’ in the middle of the day, allowing us to raise our minds and hearts to God and to re-direct all to His glory.

United with you in this prayer and entrusting us all to the most pure heart of Mary,

+ Mark
Bishop of Shrewsbury