Events archive
African and European bishops meet in Liverpool
CCEE-SECAM Seminar, Liverpool, 19-23 November 2008
“I was a stranger and you made me welcome” (Mt 25:35)
Following the Cape Coast (Ghana) seminar on slavery and the new forms of slavery (13-18 November 2007), the meetings between European and African bishops continued with a seminar examining migration as a new opportunity for evangelisation and solidarity.
The seminar took place in Liverpool, 2008 European Capital of Culture, and was part of the CCEE-SECAM quadrennial project (2007-2010) which began following the First CCEE-SECAM Symposium (Rome, Italy, 10-13 November 2004). The project focuses on collaboration between European and African bishops and aims to deepen their common responsibility for evangelisation and the human promotion of their respective continents and the world.
Over 83,000 men and women are in prison in England and Wales today.
On 16th November 2008, churches across Britain marked Prisoners' Sunday - a day of reflection and prayer for the victims of crime, prisoners, their families, and all those involved in the prison system.
A multi-faith event was held at the Southall Gurudwara celebrated by Prison Service chaplains representing various faiths (Christianity, Sikhism, Hinduism, Islam).
Click for more on Prisoners' Sunday...
150th anniversary of the apparitions of Our Lady at Lourdes
Pope Benedict XVI travelled to France for an Apostolic visit to mark the jubilee anniversary of the apparitions of the Blessed Virgin Mary at Lourdes.
The visit began on 12 September in Paris when the Holy Father met with priests, religious, seminarians and deacons in the Cathedral of Notre-Dame before greeting the thousands of young people gathered in the square in front of the cathedral.
The Holy Father then travelled from Paris down to Lourdes, at the foot of the Pyrenees, on 13 September - a day after his arrival in France.
Click here for our full Lourdes section.
World Youth Day is the largest youth event in the world and this year was held in Sydney (between 15 - 20th July). Over 500,000 young people shared the pilgrim experience with the Holy Father, Pope Benedict XVI. Around 2,000 young pilgrims and 20 bishops travelled from England and Wales to Australia for an event that is a mixture of a pilgrimage, a cultural youth festival and a prayer rally.
In size and scale WYD08 was a major international youth event and, for the final vigil and Mass, crowd numbers far exceeded the Sydney Olympic Games.
WYD attracted pilgrims from over 170 nations (along with thousands of international journalists). WYD08 also marked the first visit to Australia by Pope Benedict XVI. It was actually a week of events, culminating in the final Mass celebrated by the Holy Father.
Visit our WYD section for press resources, info for pilgrims, quotes from Pope Benedict XVI and more.
General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops
5 October to 26 October 2008, Vatican City
Sunday 5 October marked the start of the Twelfth Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops.
The Synod will begin with a Mass, celebrated by Pope Benedict XVI, in the basilica of St. Paul's Outside-the-Walls - the first time a Synod of Bishops will be open in a basilica other than St. Peter's.
The Synod's theme is "The Word of God in the Life and the Mission of the Church".
Archbishop Patrick Kelly, Archbishop of Liverpool and Bishop David McGough, Auxiliary Bishop of Birmingham will represent the Catholic Bishops' Conference of England and Wales.
Keep the Promise - End Child Poverty event
On Saturday 4 October the End Child Poverty coalition organised what was billed as the UK's biggest ever event to end child poverty. It aims to remind the government of its pledge to halve child poverty by 2010 and end it by 2020.
Bishop John Hine, Auxiliary Bishop of Southwark and the Catholic Church's Bishop for Marriage and Family Life in England and Wales will attend the Keep in Promise event.