Links to the Catholic Community in this country and abroad.

The Archdiocese of Birmingham  
The official site of the Catholic Archdiocese of Birmingham
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​www.birminghamdiocese.org.uk

Aid to the Church in Need (ACN)
Aid to the Church in Need is at work in more than 140 countries, helping Christians who are persecuted, oppressed or in pastoral need.
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ACN supports more than 5,000 projects every year, helping the Church’s mission. From training seminarians for the priesthood to providing transport to help priests and Sisters reach the remotest communities, or building much-needed chapels, ACiN supporters are helping us to bring Christ to the faithful around the world.

​www.acnuk.org

The Apostleship of the Sea
The Apostleship of the Sea is a Catholic charity supporting seafarers worldwide by providing practical and pastoral care to all seafarers, regardless of nationality, belief or race. Port chaplains and volunteer ship visitors welcome seafarers, offer welfare services and advice, practical help, care and friendship. The Apostleship of the Sea in Great Britain is part of an international network known to the maritime world as Stella Maris, working in more than 300 ports with over 200 port chaplains in 50 plus countries. To view where AoS operates globally go to this link. 
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90% of world trade is transported by ship. However the life of a modern seafarer can be dangerous and lonely. They may spend up to a year at a time away from home, separated from their family and loved ones and often working in harsh conditions.
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The Apostleship of the Sea relies wholly on voluntary contributions. We are only able to continue our work through the generous donations of our supporters and volunteers.
apostleshipofthesea.org.uk/

​The Catholic National Shrine of Our Lady of Walsingham, Norfolk (“England’s Nazareth”) 
​​Pope Francis has given the Catholic National Shrine of Our Lady at Walsingham in England a rare honour. The shrine – specifically the Slipper Chapel, the Chapel of Reconciliation and the Domain – has been granted minor basilica status. The announcement was made by Bishop Alan Hopes of East Anglia on the feast of the Holy Family on Sunday. Walsingham now joins only three other locations in Britain with minor basilica status – Corpus Christi in Manchester, Downside Abbey in Somerset and St Chad’s Cathedral in Birmingham. Walsingham is the first site to be given such status since 1941. 

According to tradition, the shrine at Walsingham, known as England’s Nazareth, dates back to the 11th century, when the Virgin Mary appeared in a vision to the lady of the manor, Richeldis de Faverches, who prayed that she might undertake some special work in honour of Our Lady. In response, the Virgin Mary led her in spirit to Nazareth, showed her the house where the Annunciation occurred, and asked her to build a replica in Walsingham to serve as a perpetual memorial. 

Bishop Hopes said: “The Holy See’s recognition of the importance of the church in Walsingham is a recognition of the growth and witness of the shrine over these many years since its re-establishment after its destruction during the period of the Reformation, for its constant witness to the importance of marriage and family life and its pastoral care of the tens of thousands of pilgrims who make their journey to the shrine every year.

www.walsingham.org.uk/minor-basilica

The Birmingham Diocesan Lourdes Committee
Chairman: Bishop David McGough
Pilgrimage Director: Canon G Breen
All enquiries to Pilgrimage Office:
Administrator: Mrs P A Brookes
Cathedral House, St Chad’s Queensway, Birmingham B4 6EX
Tel: 0121 236 4585
Email: lourdesadmin@rc-birmingham.org

​www.birminghamdiocese.org.uk/agencies/pilgrimage/lourdes-pilgrimage-committee/

Black Country Food Bank
The Black Country Food Bank helps vulnerable individuals and families in crisis through the provision of 3 days emergency food supplies while a longer-term solution is developed. The services we provide have an enormous impact on the people who use them, giving them an important breathing space at a time of great need.
Started in June 2006, we are a Christian-based charitable organisation set up to feed local people experiencing real hardships by meeting their most basic need for food. Local people, churches and other organisations in and around the Black Country are joining together to be part of a project that makes a real difference to the lives of those in crisis.

​www.blackcountryfoodbank.org.uk

CAFOD
CAFOD stands for the Catholic Agency For Overseas Development. It is the official international aid and development agency of the Catholic Church in England and Wales, mandated by the Bishops to deliver its mission on poverty and injustice.

CAFOD stands beside people living in poverty – whatever their religion or culture. Through local church partners, we help people directly in their own communities, and campaign for global justice, so that everyone can reach their full potential.

From its roots in actions led by women in Catholic parishes across England and Wales more than 50 years ago, CAFOD has been an expression of the compassion of the Catholic community of England and Wales and its solidarity with the poorest and most marginalised, regardless of faith, gender, race, ethnicity or other defining features. 

Inspired by the Scriptures and tradition of the Church (particularly Catholic Social Teaching), and driven by its values CAFOD works to relieve suffering in crisis situations, to support the poorest and most marginalised in securing the essential components of a dignified and sustainable life, and to help them and others to change the structures that keep people poor, oppressed and marginalised.

As part of the Church, CAFOD is mandated to help inform and mobilise the Catholic community in England and Wales to address issues of poverty and injustice across the world, in ways that also support transformation in our own lives.

​cafod.org.uk

Catholic Truth Society (Publishers to the Holy See)
The Catholic Truth Society is a unique Catholic Charity (no. 218951) publishing non-stop since 1868.
With its mission to communicate the truths of the Catholic faith, CTS is one of the oldest and most inspiring Catholic organisations existing today.

The CTS publishes books and resources that Catholics need to help them gain a deeper understanding of their faith and to share it with others.

We respond to the challenges facing believers and non-believers today with materials that are attractive, truthful, engaging and affordable.

The 600+ publications currently available give practical help to millions of people through CTS’s famous church racks, and also reach schools, hospitals, prisons, seminaries, missions, the media, enquirers . . . and not just in the UK but worldwide. CTS also runs a central London bookshop to support this important work.

CTS publications reach people in all situations and walks of life, providing support for priests, teachers, parents and catechists to pass on the gift of faith to a new generation.

CTS’s mission also reaches out to those who may feel far from God and from happiness, offering them hope.
42-46 Harleyford Road, London SE11 5AY. Telephone 020 7640 0042.

​www.ctsbooks.org

The Guild of St Stephen
The Guild of St Stephen is an International Organisation of Altar Servers founded in England in 1904 by Father Hamilton McDonald when he formed a Society of Altar Servers at the Convent of the Sacred Heart in London. In 1905, Pope Pius X gave his approbation to the Canonical establishment of the Guild at Westminster Cathedral and in 1906, the Sacred Congregation of Rites made the Guild an Archconfraternity prima primaria enabling all the parish branches to be linked with it. The Guild spread, and in 1934, Pope Pius XI enabled all Guilds of Altar Servers throughout the British Commonwealth to be affiliated with the Archconfraternity at Westminster.

The objectives of the Guild:
To encourage, positively and practically, the highest standards of serving at the Church's liturgy and so contribute to the whole community's participation in a more fruitful worship of God. To provide altar servers with a greater understanding of what they are doing so that they may serve with increasing reverence and prayerfulness and thereby be led to a deepening response to their vocation in life. To unite servers of different parishes and dioceses for their mutual support and encouragement.

​www.guildofststephen.org

The Kerala Partnership
The Kerala Partnership is a direct action charity which forges links & partnerships with groups & individuals, in the state of Kerala, South India. Through those partnerships it seeks to lend a helping hand to people who are striving to make positive change for individuals, families & village communities.

The charity works on a relatively small scale both in its fundraising in the UK and in supporting projects in Kerala. The spirit of the work is based around personal contact, meeting and understanding the issues that are important to our friends in Kerala and explaining those needs to supporters in the UK.

Although small scale, the direct nature of the Partnership enables the funds to be directed in ways to make a real difference to people’s lives and by working with and through groups and individuals in Kerala valuable experiences and friendships are gained on both sides.

www.​keralapartnership.com

The Latin Mass Society
On most Wednesdays mid-day the Latin Mass is said at Our Lady and St Kenelm Catholic Church Halesowen.
The Latin Mass Society, founded in 1965, is an association of Catholic faithful dedicated to the promotion of the traditional Latin liturgy of the Catholic Church, the teachings and practices integral to it, the musical tradition which serves it, and the Latin language in which it is celebrated. The intrinsic value and continuing importance of the Church’s ‘earlier liturgical traditions’ have been affirmed by Pope Benedict XVI.

​www.lms.org.uk/about-us

Society for the Protection of Unborn Children
AIMS

• To affirm, defend and promote the existence and value of human life from the moment of conception until natural death.
• To defend and protect human life generally and in particular, whether born or unborn (although principally the latter) and wheresoever situate (although principally in Great Britain and Northern Ireland, the Isle of Man, the Channel Islands, the Republic of Ireland and Europe).
• To reassert the principle laid down in the United Nations' "Declaration of the Rights of the child" (1959) that "the child, by reason of his physical and mental immaturity, needs special safeguards and care, including appropriate legal protection, before as well as after birth.”
• To defend, assist and promote the life and welfare of mothers during pregnancy and of their children from the time of conception up to, during and after birth.

​www.spuc.org.uk

St Vincent de Paul Society (SVP)
The St Vincent de Paul Society (SVP) is an international Christian society, Catholic in character and origin. The Society's mission is to bear witness to Christ's love and to put his teaching into practice. With mutual support, friendship and encouragement, members seek to reach out and extend their commitment through person-to-person care for those disadvantaged, neglected or in need. They seek to identify the causes of need, provide items of furniture, clothing and food where appropriate and offer the hand of friendship. In these ways members aim to develop their own spiritual lives, strengthening their own faith and deepening their love of God and their neighbour.

www.svp.org.uk

​Twitter
His Holiness Pope Francis twitter.com/Pontifex
Cardinal Vincent Nichols twitter.com/cardinalnichols
The Catholic Church in England and Wales (Bishops’ Conference) twitter.com/catholicew
The Catholic Archdiocese of Birmingham twitter.com/rcbirmingham

The Vatican Website
The official website of the Worldwide Roman Catholic Church

​w2.vatican.va/content/vatican/en.html 

The Welcome Group – Churches Together Halesowen
The Group meets every Monday afternoon except on Bank Holidays to welcome and give support to asylum seekers and refugees.

Venue: Halesowen United Church, Hagley Road, Halesowen, West Midlands. B63 4PX
Contact: Mrs Anne West, Telephone 07962 123 366
E-mail: 214.anne@blueyonder.co.uk