News & Events

Covid-19

Dear Parishioners,

You will no doubt have seen and heard the news that churches can reopen as from 4th July. But this is not as simple as it may first appear. Stringent safety precautions are still understandably in place. Among others things, these requite numerous volunteers to help steward people safely and to sanitise the church each time it is used. The number of people entering a church for Mass are strictly limited.

In the light of this, and the fact that the pandemic is still virulent, Bishop Arnold has proposed that in the Diocese of Salford we do not reopen our churches for public Mass just yet. This advise came via email from the Bishop on Friday of last week. The relevant parts of that email are copied below.

After giving it much thought and seeking further advice, and keeping everyone's well-being in mind, I think it wise to be guided by the Bishop's proposal. We will resume public Mass as soon as it it is safe to do so for everyone. The situation is changing rapidly, and we may not have long to wait.

Our Lady of Walsingham, pray for us.

God Bless you all.

Fr John

RE-opening of Churches

With regard to the re-opening of churches, in this Diocese of Salford it has been decided to approach a few of the larger churches spread around the Diocese to make sure that some churches will be ready to open immediately the Government announces the date for re-opening (possibly on 4th July). At this moment in time, no church in either Hyndburn nor Rossendale has been approached about re-opening. Churches in these areas, and other parts of the Diocese, will re-open once the health and safety conditions implemented in the re-opened larger churches have proven to be effective and successful. Obviously, a period of time will be needed in order to monitor this. More churches will then re-open on a rolling -programme. Before re-opening, all churches will be inspected by a diocesan representative; only when the conditions laid down by the Archbishops have been met (see below) and the diocesan Bishop's permission has been given can a church re-open for private prayer only. There is still no mention of the re-introduction of public Masses.

At this time of uncertainty when we need to ask  God for His grace we find ourselves in a position where we cannot enter our church even for private prayer. With this in mind and to give our parishioners an opportunity to partake in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass the following links maybe useful:-

https://www.clonard.com/web-cam/ Redemptorists in the Falls Road (3 masses daily)

https://www.strabane-parish.com in Derry

Also this is the link to Vatican's own media outlet MondoVisione Vatican News :-

https://www.vaticannews.va/it.html

https://www.ewtn.com

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Seventeenth Sunday in ordinary time

Dear All,

In line with the Bishop's advice to move cautiously towards opening churches, we can now begin to ask for volunteers to act as stewards for when the church opens for weekday Mass. Please note, the Sunday obligation of attending Mass is still suspended.

Two volunteers are required to be present whenever the church is open. People who have an underlying health condition and/or those who have been shielding, including those in their household or social bubble, should not volunteer.

The diocesan guidance for re-opening churches asks that safeguarding training to be undertaken by one of the two stewards on duty. A video of basic safeguarding training relevant to the role of volunteer steward has been made available, along with other useful information on the diocesan Website. You can access this training by the following link: 

https://www.dioceseofsalford.org.uk/churches-opening-for-private-prayer/

The volunteer pack is attached to this email. If you would like to volunteer please let me know via email.

Our Lady of Walsingham, pray for us.