Ahead of the visit of Pope Benedict XVI to the United Kingdom nine Catholic bishops have recorded on camera personal stories about their relationship with God to help people understand the theme of the Papal Visit - ‘Heart speaks unto heart', which was the motto of the soon-to-be beatified Cardinal John Henry Newman. The bishops share a variety of experiences including: a moment when faith was tested during a visit to the Holy Land, the impact of a mother's death, what it felt like during a period of ‘all time low', to articulating in detail feelings of anger and resentment.

A million copies of the ‘Magnificat - Liturgies and Events of the Papal Visit of Pope Benedict XVI to the United Kingdom September 16th to 19th 2010' are being distributed to parishes across England, Scotland and Wales over the next two weeks. The handbook contains the texts for the times the Holy Father will participate in public prayer, together with a series of brief articles about the Visit. It comes in a hard-wearing, pocket-sized format which makes it easy to carry around and ‘pray as you go'. It is also a key companion for the Papal liturgies and when following the Pope's visit on television or the internet.

Papal Visit Pilgrims will receive a CD featuring ‘Britain's Got Talent' 2010 finalist Liam McNally, Oscott College seminarians, Archbishop Nichols and Lord Patten. In the week of 6 September those attending Papal Visit gatherings will be given a Pilgrim Passport, a Pilgrim Journey CD, and details about staying in touch after the Visit. Pilgrims are gathering as representatives of their communities from across the UK. The commemorative Pilgrim Journey CD has been produced to help Pilgrims to prepare both spiritually and practically.

Heart Gives Unto Heart is an internet radio station which will be covering the Papal visit and broadcasting from 7am to midnight from Tuesday 14 to Monday 20 September. A variety of other programmes will also be broadcast including: 3 daily Masses recorded live, daily prayers, in-depth studies of Pope Benedict and Cardinal Newman, celebrity interviews and music which showcases Catholic talent.

The majority of the programmes will be produced by young Catholics but they should appeal to audiences of all ages and interests. This radio station is just part of a project to showcase the creative talent in our young people.

For further information and to listen, please visit www.heartgivesuntoheart.co.uk. The station can be joined on Facebook, Twitter and Flickr.

On 3 September 2010, a Round-Britain Bike Ride will commence from the port of Hull. Sea-Wheeling is a bike ride consisting of 60 towns in 60 days with one aim - to raise funds for Apostleship of the Sea's work with seafarers. Riders will join and leave the ride as they wish, or indeed cycle the whole way, each raising sponsorship for their individual efforts. Local TV, press and radio will follow this adventure and at ports where Apostleship of the Sea (AoS) has a presence, there will be an opportunity for riders to meet visiting seafarers.

In the Diocese of Plymouth, the major towns being visited are Weymouth, Exeter, Plymouth, Truro, St Ives, Wadebridge and Barnstaple.

St Cuthbert's Seminary, located within the grounds of Ushaw College in Durham, has unveiled the 2010/11 online programme for its Catholic Certificate in Religious Studies. This is offered as an online course with modules available each term between September 2010 and July 2011. Both core and specialist modules are delivered via Ushaw Online.

Core modules include the New Testament, The Church, Old Testament, Sacraments, Christology, and Christian Morality. Specialist modules include Exploring Chaplaincy, Exploring Youth Ministry 1, Exploring Family Spirituality, Exploring Religious Education, Exploring Youth Ministry 2, Exploring Catholic Social Teaching, Exploring Other Religions, and Exploring Parish Catechesis.

The Diocese has now been allocated tickets for the visit of Pope Benedict to Great Britain and our involvement as a Diocese. Bishop Christopher writes: "I suggest that the notion of ‘pilgrimage' will help us to appreciate the Pope's visit as primarily a faith event. He is coming to our land as a pilgrim and it will be as pilgrims that we will meet him."

The climax of the visit will be the Beatification of John Henry Newman in Birmingham on Sunday 19 September. The Diocese has been allocated 20 coaches (49-seater) across the deaneries for this. We have also been given tickets for the Vigil of Prayer in London's Hyde Park on Saturday 18 September. Pilgrims will have to make their own way to this event as there are no coaches allocated. (N.B. The Vigil will end around 9pm so it may be difficult to get a train back.)

The Mental Health Project of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of England and Wales has opened a small grants programme, in order to increase spiritual and pastoral support in our Catholic communities, at a local level - i.e. in parishes, schools, hospitals, universities, prisons or organisations, for those with mental health needs, their families and their carers. The Mental Health Fund has been created from the proceeds of two Day For Life collections given by parishioners in 2008 and 2009.

The Fund is making available, to local Catholic communities, a range of several small grants totalling £70,000. There is no minimum grant limit and it is anticipated that the majority of grants will range from a few hundred pounds to a maximum of £8,000, although two projects will be funded up to a total of £15,000 if suitable. However, smaller projects are encouraged. The closing date for applications is 1 October 2010. 

The June/July Bishops' Conference newsletter, published on 8 July 2010, has a wide range of topics. They include news of Archbishop Peter Smith's installation as Archbishop of Southwark, and updates on the Papal Visit and from the Caritas Social Action Network, the Home Mission desk and the Catholic Safeguarding Advisory Service. There is a reflection on the World Cup from the 2012 Olympics desk, and information about this year's Day for Life on Sunday, 25 July.

Please click here to download the June/July issue of the Bishops' E-newsletter - and access previous editions by visiting the Catholic Church in England & Wales website. There is a ‘sign up' facility to receive the electronic newsletter directly as each issue is produced.

The Catholic Children's Society (Plymouth) is a child welfare agency covering the Roman Catholic Diocese of Plymouth. It is looking to recruit an enthusiastic, energetic individual to
identify fundraising opportunities on its behalf. The key objective of the role is to generate income to enable the Society's Patchwork project to continue its valuable work supporting families across the diocese. The Society provides individual grants for families and children in need, parenting courses through diocesan schools, programmes on social concern for school groups and basic awareness training for the diocese on safeguarding children.

Young Catholics will gather to look at their life choices at Invocation 2010, a festival for young adults to be held in the grounds of St. Mary's College, Oscott from July 2 - 4. The event is aimed at young men and women aged 16-35 who are interested in deepening their relationship with God, and who might be thinking of becoming priests or nuns. They will be offered advice, workshops, and time for prayer and reflection. In total, over 300 people will be attending. Workshops will look at questions such as ‘How will I know if I am doing the right thing with my life?', ‘What is prayer?', ‘What is vocation, what does it mean to my life?', ‘Are you ready to answer a need of the present times?' and ‘Are you ready to give an account of the witness in you?'.

'A Practical Guide to the Spiritual Care of the Dying Person' was launched at the Faith in Health conference in Liverpool on 25 June. It aims to assist front-line staff in identifying spiritual need in their patients, and to feel confident in their ability to provide it. Commissioned by the Bishops' Conference Healthcare Reference Group, the guide was written by Dr Catherine Gleeson, Dr David Jones, Fr Paul Mason and Rev Dr James Hanvey SJ. A draft of the guide was the subject of a public consultation earlier in the year.

Baroness Finlay of Llandaff, Professor of Palliative Medicine at Cardiff University and Consultant at the Velindre Hospital in Cardiff, said: "This guide to spiritual care is so valuable because it enables us all to recognize psychosocial and spiritual distress in the dying. It is applicable to dying people of any faith or none; as the authors observe, ‘we share a common humanity if not always a common faith'. This guide should be read by all who are involved with dying people. Dying is a part of life that will come to us all sooner or later. We must try to see it through the eyes of those who are there now."

The consultation role of the Diocesan Pastoral Council was the principal topic of its February 2010 meeting. Bishop Christopher, writing in the April DPC Newsletter says: "As you will notice from this newsletter, we have been spending time reflecting on the consultation nature of our Diocesan Pastoral Council. We are still comparatively poor at consulting others about important matters, and generally making sure that people who need to know do know. This is not a failing peculiar to the Church, but we seem to be good at it! It often happens despite the best of intentions, we have more work to do and we may also need to revisit the DPC constitution.

"We have recently been provided with some useful material about vocations promotion. I would want to thank Liz Toy for much of this. We have some urgent issues here - what do we mean by vocation and who would be our target group? Our need to provide more priests for our own needs is plain to see. However this need requires a context, which is that everyone living the Christian life is called in one way or another. How do we nurture both the common Christian vocation and the many more special vocations?"

Catholic clergy and laity were amongst those who attended the European Christian Environmental Network (ECEN) at its 8th Assembly on 9-13 June 2010, held in the International Baptist Theological Seminary in Prague, Czech Republic. Some 80 participants from 23 countries discussed the theme 'Our daily bread - living in a time of climate change'. The connection between daily food consumption and climate change was highlighted from different perspectives.

Archbishop Vincent Nichols today (15 June 2010) launched 'The Pope in the UK' booklet which will go out to parishes across England, Wales and Scotland. The booklet aims to answer some simple questions about the visit itself, the call of faith and its unfolding in daily life and the role of the Catholic Church. It is made up of 10 questions, ranging from why the Pope is meeting the Queen to the contribution of the Catholic Church to British society and why the Pope will be beatifying Cardinal Newman.

To support evangelisation in England and Wales, there is a Home Mission Desk at the Bishops' Conference which is resourced by a Home Mission Advisor. The Home Mission Desk is the successor to the Catholic Agency to Support Evangelisation (CASE) which closed at the end of 2009. A Home Mission Briefing is being produced on a monthly basis and the latest edition, plus previous ones, can be accessed by clicking here to visit the Catholic Church in England & Wales website. To receive each edition of the electronic Home Mission Briefing as it is produced, please email Clare Ward at clare [dot] ward [at] cbcew [dot] org [dot] uk or phone 020 7901 4818.

CAFOD is organising a Sponsored Pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela in Galicia, Spain where the apostle St James the Great is said to be laid to rest. The pilgrimage takes place from 2nd to 12th September 2010 and it will trek the last 100 miles of the Way of St James. This holy and ancient route was one of the most important Christian pilgrimages during medieval times and it is still followed by many people to this day. CAFOD is planning to take a group of 15 and currently there are 7 spaces left to fill. The deadline date for applications is 1st July 2010. Each participant is asked to commit to raising a minimum of £500 in sponsorship for their place. All abilities are welcome and you do not have to be super fit.

Whenever St James' day (25 July) falls on a Sunday, the cathedral in Santiago de Compostela declares a Holy or Jubilee Year. 2010 is such a year so there is an added attraction to walking the Way on this pilgrimage. 

Silent retreats, led by members of the Plymouth Diocesan Spirituality Team, take place each year at various venues. The retreats are in the Ignatian tradition and they are open to Christians of any denomination who would like to step back from everyday life, review their journey in faith and be strengthened in their vocation as disciples of the Lord.

Due to an insufficient number of participants, the 6-day retreat at Buckfast Abbey, scheduled for 20-26 June 2010, has had to be cancelled. People who had booked have been offered a transfer to a 6-day retreat at the same venue in October this year. In addition, the weekend retreat at Compton Durville Franciscan Convent, planned for 30 July-1 August 2010, has also been cancelled. Sadly, this is because the convent is in the process of closing.

The remaining 2010 retreats, which will be taking place in the autumn, are booking up quite quickly, so early action is recommended if you wish to attend one of these retreats. Please click here for further information and for a booking form.

In the light of Channel 4's decision to broadcast an advertisement for abortion services, a spokesperson for the Catholic Bishops' Conference said: "We believe that services which offer or refer for abortion - whether commercial or not-for-profit organisations - should not be allowed to advertise on broadcast media.

"Abortion is not a consumer service. To present it as such erodes respect for life and is highly misleading and damaging to women, who may feel pressured into making a quick decision, which can never be revoked. Moreover, to allow the broadcasting advertising of abortion-referral services is, in effect, to allow the exploitative promotion of these services and is not in the interests of the health or psychological well-being of women.

"For this reason the Bishops' Conference of England and Wales has consistently opposed any relaxation of the BCAP Guidance on broadcast advertising to allow this (see below).

There is a new resource on this website. Father Michael Downey, who is a retired priest of the diocese, living in Sherborne, is writing a series of Reflections on the Readings we hear at Sunday Mass. Most of the material is based on the homilies he gave at these Masses. Fr. Michael, though retired, still has a ministry in Sherborne but he enjoys the idea of reaching out to other communities of the diocese. In his introduction to the first set of Reflections, Fr. Michael says: "A homily has a particular character; it is part of the way in which God's good news continues to be proclaimed. It is a bit formal and there is no response. Here, you can read or not as you please, so in a way I am talking to you and I can be a little less formal."

The first set of Reflections covers the four Sundays from 23 May (Pentecost Sunday) to 13 June, and they include The Most Holy Trinity and The Body and Blood of Jesus Christ. These Reflections can be found by clicking on ‘Sunday Word' under the Main Menu.

On 23 May 2010 there will be prayers and a special collection in all parishes in Scotland, England and Wales for the Papal Visit. Prayer cards for the Visit are being distributed to all parishioners attending Mass on Pentecost Sunday. Collections will be held to assist in meeting the costs of the Visit payable by the Church, which are currently estimated to be at least £7m. Over £3m has already been raised towards this total.

The June 2010 edition of Faith Today - the new, monthly magazine recently launched as a joint venture between Alive Publishing and the Bishops' Conference of England and Wales - is now available. Archbishop Vincent Nichols of Westminster, President of the Bishops' Conference, has said: "The launch of Faith Today is an important moment in the life of the Catholic Church in England and Wales. I warmly commend it to you and ask you to promote this important means of communication among your friends and neighbours. I trust that it will grow to have an important place in the lives of all of us."

Articles in the June edition include: ‘Meeting God in Friend and Stranger' - Making Inter-Religious dialogue work; ‘No Greater Love' - Life as a Carmelite; ‘God's Creation' - Keeping it Safe; ‘Cardinal John Henry Newman' - How he coped with suffering; and ‘Invocation 2010' - A Festival with a difference.

‘Ensuring safe Christian communities where each person knows they are cared for.'    Plymouth Diocesan Safeguarding Office Mission Statement

Stemming from our shared Catholic belief in the unique dignity of the person and our natural desire to care for each other, our aim to be the best place we can be for all vulnerable people is central to all that takes place within the diocese. As such, safeguarding is the shared responsibility of each member of the parish, whether clergy or laity. It cannot just be left to ‘Father' or to the Parish Safeguarding Representative to think about. In particular, it is not to be seen as something imposed upon us by government or by the Safeguarding Office.

World Communications Day is a day dedicated to prayer for the work of communications professionals across the world. This year, it is celebrated on Sunday, 16 May - the Feast of the Ascension. The Papal Message for World Communications Day has as its theme The Priest and Pastoral Ministry in a Digital World: New Media at the Service of the Word.

Pope Benedict XVI calls for priests to discover new digital possibilities to proclaim the Word of God and carry out their ministry: "Using new communication technologies, priests can introduce people to the life of the Church and help our contemporaries to discover the face of Christ. They will best achieve this aim if they learn, from the time of their formation, how to use these technologies in a competent and appropriate way, shaped by sound theological insights and reflecting a strong priestly spirituality grounded in constant dialogue with the Lord."