Eurobishop

  The Roman Catholic World Youth Day (which lasted a week from 1 to 6 August!) was likely the largest gathering of youth within the geographic territory of the Diocese. 1.5 million young people from around the world gathered in Lisbon for the week’s events which included times of prayer, teaching, worship, cultural activities and meetings with Pope Francis. St George’s Anglican Church in Lisbon, with their priests, Mthr Ruth Bendrey and Fr Iain Bendrey, had a vision of collaborating with a key Roman Catholic movement, the Chemin Neuf Community to host a series of ecumenical gatherings at St George’s during the week. They were assisted  by Honourary Assitant priest at St George's, Fr Steve Danzey.  The Archbishop of York, Stephen Cottrell and the Director of the Anglican Centre in Rome, Archbishop Ian Ernest, were among the key speakers invited for the week. Young adults from the Diocese in Europe joined us, from Spain, Portugal, Italy, Switzerland, France, Germany, Russi...

  The Anglican Church in Finland, whose principal congregation is St Nicholas Helsinki, was founded by refugees from St Petersburg, fleeing the Russian Revolution. The cross above is one of the historic artifacts brought with them.  Today, almost 100 years later, St Nicholas's congregation comes from around the world, a vibrant community of people of all ages.  The children and young people of St Nicholas parish have prepared and released this video, in which they express their Easter hopes and prayers:   for a greener and fairer world for all God's creatures,  for Coronavirus to leave the planet  to see family abroad  to have birthday parties again  to be with friends and eat chocolate eggs!   It is a delightful and joyful piece, which summarises our hopes before God this Easter. Thank you to the young folk of St Nicholas!       

MES interns at All Saints, Rome Dr Clare Amos, the Diocesan Director of Discipleship, also directs the MES programme of the diocese (the Ministry Experience Scheme, formerly known as CEMES, the Church of England Ministry Experience Scheme). We have 5 interns on placement for this academic year, in Brussels, Vienna, Copenhagen, Rome and Warnham Sussex (the intern is from Heidelberg). Together with their supporting advisors and mentors, Clare brought the interns to Rome recently for their official orientation to the programme. Pastoral Advisor Mary Talbot and Dr Amos taking a drink from a fountain in Rome. (The figure in the fountain is damaged as it was believed (mistakenly) that it was Martin Luther, not a popular figure in 16th century Rome.) At the PCPCU in Rome The orientation in Rome included a visit to the PCPCU, the Vatican's Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, where Bishop Brian Farrell, the Secretary of the Council met with the interns and their ...

Celia Paterson is a Reader who serves in St George's Madrid. She is also one of Europe's leaders in Godly Play , a creative and imaginative approach to Christian nurture for those in early, middle and late childhood. It is without doubt a significant movement supporting the exploration of faith by children and young people in today's Church. The diocese is justifiably proud of Celia's leadership in Godly Play internationally and ecumenically, a clear outworking of her Reader vocation to teach the faith and nurture disciples.  Here is an account from Celia of a recent event in Northern Spain: _____________________________________________________________ I was invited to take part in a Young people’s retreat run by the De La Salle brothers in the north of Spain. It was immediately after Christmas – 26th-28th December – and was held in a beautiful monastery in Bujedo in the Province of Burgos. I knew the brother organising it, Guillermo Moreno Barrero, ...

Six interns on the Diocese in Europe CEMES scheme, (a Church of England programme to encourage young vocations to the sacred ministry), 4 mentors and guests were led by Fr William Gulliford, the Director of Ordinands, on an 8 day pilgrimage to the Holy Land from 12 - 20 November. I was privileged to be part of the pilgrimage for a few days, along with the Revd Dr Matthias Grebe, (a former ordinand of this diocese and now on the staff at the Council for Christian Unity). Director of Ordinands, Fr William Gulliford The purpose of the Study Pilgrimage was to give a focus for the first term’s academic study for the interns and for to research one site of historic importance, about which a 4000 word essay is being written. On site, at each place, respectively each intern introduced the location to the group, and then fielded questions. For the many other sites, the group was most fortunate to have in support Dr Clare Amos, Director of Lay Discipleship in the Diocese, Hebrew Scholar...

The article below is not directly connected to the work of the Diocese in Europe, but is a project to which I am indirectly linked through my co-chairmanship of the International Anglican-Roman Catholic Commission for Unity and Mission, IARCCUM, which has endorsed this ground-breaking work. But furthermore  this programme could not have happened without the active leadership of Anglicans in Rome, Fawn and Ken White, and long-time friends of our Diocese, namely Archbishop Sir David Moxon (former Director of the Anglican Centre in Rome), and Fr Keith Peckers SJ, (Director of the Caravita Community in Rome).  The project is an outstanding witness to fruitful Anglican-Roman Catholic cooperation, jointly serving the poor. I hope will be an encouragement to other projects and programmes, whether great or small, which demonstrate Anglican and RC commitment to working and witnessing together throughout the world.  ________________________________________________________...

For the third year running, our Diocese in Europe is participating in the "Church of England Ministry Experience Scheme" (CEMES) which offers year long placements for young adults (under 30) wishing to test their vocation to the sacred ministry. This year 6 persons will be placed in our parishes in Lyon, Leuven, Brussels, La Côte (near Geneva), Ostend with Brugge and Vienna. They will be given practical experience in ministry, some time of theological reflection and exposure to the challenges of Anglican life on the continent of Europe. Our Director of Ordinands, Canon William Gulliford, oversees the CEMES programme in our diocese, and works with a team of volunteer priests and laity in the supervision of the participants. A special orientation session for this year's cohort was held on 31 August to 1 September in Rome, hosted by All Saints Church.    The scheme is part of the Church's effort to encourage more young people to consider Holy Orders.    ...

Are you under the age of 30? Are you interested in exploring a possible vocation to ministry in the Church of England? If so, there are still a couple of places left for participants in the CEMES programme for 2017-2018 in the Diocese in Europe. CEMES, the Church of England Ministry Experience Scheme, is intended for young adults to provide a way to help with the discernment of possible vocation in the Church of England. Information on the entire scheme is available on the Church of England's "Call Waiting" website, here . Essentially the scheme offers an opportunity to: Explore and deepen faith Discern where and to what God might be calling you Spend a year learning about yourself and your faith tradition with a caring support structure Acquire life-long life-skills and formative experiences which will enrich your life and your Christian discipleship and faith. The CEMES programme in the Diocese in Europe consists of three basic elements: Practical exper...

The Church of England parish in Hamburg has existed since 1612. However, St Thomas Becket Church is far from being an "old" community nor even a particularly ethnic English one today. It is, as its website proclaims, "a welcoming, active, inclusive Church". The electoral roll includes folk from many national backgrounds. Indeed the international make-up is at the heart of its leadership. The Chaplain, the Revd Canon Dr Leslie Nathaniel, is originally from India. His wife (who assists at St Thomas's when she is not at St Catherine's Stuttgart), the Revd Dr Julie Lippe-Nathaniel, is German. Many on the servers guild are from Ghana. The excellent choir and other musicians come from around the world and make the liturgy at St Thomas's rich with music. Discussing details of the liturgy before the service One of the exciting and growing dimensions of ministry in St Thomas's is the inclusion of children and young people. Already an integral part of church l...

The Feast of Christ the King was celebrated with great joy in All Saints Rome with four people receiving the sacrament of Confirmation and the Revd Dana English receiving a new licence as Assistant Chaplain. This past year, Dana completed the Church of England's mandatory "post-ordination training" period. Thus her status changes from being an Assistant Curate, which indicates the training phase, to Assistant Chaplain. The Revd Dana English is licensed as Assistant Chaplain; while Churchwarden James Hadley (right) looks on One of the features of this congregation is its thriving ministry to families and young persons, through Sunday School, confirmation classes, and other activities. Besides her regular liturgical, pastoral and preaching duties, Dana has particular responsibility for these Christian Education programmes, both for youth and for members of the parish in general. Many young persons are involved in the servers' guild, a good way to use their gi...

The Church of England is embarking on a programme to attract younger vocations to the priesthood. Many of us who were ordained in our 20s remember that the first inkling of a call to the sacred ministry often occurred when we were servers or acolytes, perhaps while still in our teens or even younger. The experience of being given a responsibility in the liturgy, and being entrusted with the privilege of handling "holy things" was powerful and formative. The Revd Tuomas Mäkipää, Chaplain of St Nicholas's Helsinki, has already incorporated this insight into his own parish strategy. For example, Fr Tuomas's young daughter Linnea now takes her own leadership as an acolyte very seriously. With great care and dignity she leads the procession of the ministers in to the service, carrying the cross. The cross she carries, incidentally, was the one that was once in our congregation in St Petersburg. The last members of that congregation brought it with them when the...

Fr Walter Raymond, the Chaplain of St Paul's Monaco, has reported on Earth Sunday celebrations at Saint Paul's which took place on 8th May. These celebrations were organised and led by the Sunday Club. Members of the Sunday Club gave a group reading of the story of the Creation in Genesis 1 and provided an "Eco Challenge" in the place of the sermon, with each child representing one important element in God's creation: trees, water, air and more. A colourful poster helped illustrate their message, and the message was quite clear: we have a responsibility and it is in our best interests to care for the beautiful world God has provided as our home. During the service the children distributed seeded hyacinths in biodegradable pots to each of the households represented at the service. The Sunday Club children also served as greeters, helped take up the collection, and led the congregation in some very joyful singing! The leadership of the young folk at St Paul's i...