16th April. The NYMO team (at present, just Neil Roseman and Lizi Martin) has moved today from Ker Anna to a new base at the Holy Ghost Parish Centre, 33 Westbourne Rd, Luton LU4 8JD - the same building as NORES. A new administrator will join them there at the end of April. They do not have a dedicated phone line just yet , so please continue to ring 01844 273337 and your webmaster, still based at Ker Anna, will forward calls or give you their numbers. E-mails remain the same.
13th March - Habemus Papam ! Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio of Argentina has been elected as Pope as a result of this afternoon's voting rounds and will take the name of Francis 1. - The new Pope's homily given to the world's press on 16th March, where he explains his choice of the name Francis, is available here.
28th February - Pope Benedict's resignation took effect at 7pm UK time today. The Roman Catholic Church is now in the condition of sede vacante - a vacant seat. The Diocesan Liturgy Commission has issued guidance on appropriate prayers for use during this period until a new Pope is elected - click here . Bishop Peter's homily preached at the Cathedral Mass on this evening is available here.
19th February - RIP Fr John Denton Harris, who was taken into Northampton General Hospital from Nazareth House on 15th February, and died early on Tuesday in the Intensive Care Unit. May he rest in peace. Ordained in 1955, he served in Aylesbury, High Wycombe, Rushden, Beaconsfield, and seventeen years at St Gregory's, Northampton, from where he retired in 2000. His funeral was on 5th March at 11am at the Cathedral.
11th February. Pope Benedict XVI has announced that he proposes to resign at the end of the month, citing his "advanced age" and poor health. See the Vatican and BBC websites for more. There is need for concerted prayer in the situation and Mgr McGinnell has supplied versions of the Missal prayers for a serving Pope and for the eventual Conclave to elect his successor - click here.
1st-3rd February. The NYMO winter residential weekend "lux.maiden" was a great success. Around seventy young people of secondary school age gathered at the Kings Park Centre in Northampton for a weekend of prayer, fun, friendship, worship, and teaching about the Blessed Virgin Mary. Organiser Neil Roseman says he was blown away by the depth of participation by the young people. Fr Damien Walne spoke for 45 minutes on the Icon of Our Lady of Perpetual Succour and his audience was profoundly attentive, and keen to ask questions. They were a credit to their parents, schools, parishes and the Diocese.
5th January 2013 - Wayne Coughlin and Christopher Perry were ordained as priests of the Diocese at St Josephs, Luton, on this day. "About 350 people attended the ordination of these two former Anglican priests by Bishop Peter Doyle, supported by the Diocesan clergy. Family members from Cornwall and South Wales, friends - including some Anglican clergy and laity, travelling from as far away as Rome and Sweden - joined Oscott seminarians to celebrate this wonderful day, followed by a superb buffet reception. In his homily, Bishop Peter likened the two former Anglican priests' faith journey to that of the Magi—who travelled on from Bethlehem “by a different route” in order to find the Christ Child. The Bishop was the first of many to receive a blessing from the new priests who will take up their posts in February - Fr. Coughlin at Our Lady of Charity & St.Augustine in Daventry, and Fr. Perry at Our Lady of Walsingham in Corby." Thanks to Pauline Watson for this report - photos courtesy of Margaret Busby (sorry, we used a mistaken photo previously).
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