Voice Editorial...July Issue

In September we will be celebrating the first anniversary of Pope Benedict XVI’s highly successful state visit to the United Kingdom. Looking back on those four days when the Holy Father not only encouraged the Catholics of this country but also affirmed and challenged the whole of British society, it is only natural to ask – Has anything really changed?

During his various homilies and addresses the Holy Father exhorted Catholics to re-discover their identity, to live lives of faith and commitment. Since then the bishops have acted on Pope Benedict’s words and have begun to take steps to help us do exactly that, re-discover what it means to be Catholic.

Archbishop Nichols has encouraged Catholics to take up traditional devotions again, such as Stations of the Cross and prayer before the Blessed Sacrament.

Bishop Conry, who heads the Bishops’ Conference Department of Evangelisation & Catechesis, has called on Catholics to wear their Ash Wednesday ashes on their foreheads with confidence
as a witness to their faith.

Furthermore, the bishops in conference have decided to re-introduce the prophetic practice of abstaining from meat on Friday in order to ‘re-establish the practice of Friday penance in the lives of the faithful as a clear and distinctive mark of their own Catholic identity.’

The Catholic Voice of Lancaster also welcomes the news that the bishops are considering re-establishing the Holy Days of Obligation for the Ascension and Epiphany to their original dates. Again, this step would be a prophetic witness to the distinctive way of life Catholics seek to follow.

However, not only have Pope Benedict’s words borne fruit in the way we live our lives as Catholics but they have also led to really positive developments in the political sphere. In his remarks at the conclusion of the State Visit by the Prime Minster, David Cameron said to Pope Benedict, ‘Your Holiness, this common bond
has been an incredibly important part of your message to us. And it's at the heart of the new culture of social responsibility we want to build in Britain. People of faith – including our 30,000 faith-based charities – are great architects of that new culture’.

These words of David Cameron have not proven to be the usual warm, but empty words, we hear from some politicians. He has acted on them and made significant overtures to faith-based charities, inviting some to work with, and advise, the government.

For the first time a British government has invited a pro-life charity, in this case, Life, to be a member of its sexual health advisory committee. Instead of pro-abortion and pro-contraception agencies monopolising the debate on teenage pregnancy and sexual behaviour there will be one voice officially advocating the rights of preborn children and their mothers, and promoting abstinence instead of sexual permissiveness. Furthermore, the government has set up a working panel to enable faith leaders to co-operate with the
Department for International Development on delivering aid to the developing world. The International Development Secretary, Andrew Mitchell, has written that there was ‘overwhelming common ground between his department and the Catholic Church’.

It’s easy to be cynical when listening to the high ideals and lofty visions of leaders in public speeches, because, sadly, we’ve been let down by such promises so many times before. But this time it appears that some of our leaders really did mean what they said when they so warmly welcomed Pope Benedict’s words during those four wonderful days.

The Catholic Voice of Lancaster sincerely hope that in another year we’ll be able to report even more positive developments inspired by the Holy Father’s visit to our country and the momentum for spiritual conversion that this grace-filled visit has created.