WEEKLY MASSES:
Saturday (1st mass of Sunday) - 5.30pm
Sunday (Mass and children's liturgy) - 10:30am 
Monday to Saturday - 10am
CONFESSIONS:
Saturday, 10:30am - 11am
NEWSLETTER:
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   NEWS
Please take a look in the Thoughts for the Week page where Father has added his thoughts on the Ascension, which was last Thursday (21-05-20). 
     As you will see most information and news is relative to the time our church closed in line with diocese guidelines
​  On this page there is news updates from the diocese in relation to coronavirus, a message from the Bishop and guidelines for making online donations for your weekly offering. As soon as we get any clarity on a way forward this will be shared through this website.  Prayers to God that everyone remains safe.
​    In the Diocese section there is latest news from the Diocese regarding the Coronavirus and what it implies to our Church family.
      In the 'Thought for The Week' section, Father Wilson shares his thoughts on the terrible Coronavirus and for the previous weeks in Lent.
Baptisms   
   In future, the Child to be Baptised and both parents will be required to be regular participants at Sunday mass with the worshipping community for many weeks prior to the actual Baptism day and of course to bring their child on a regular basis to Sunday mass following the Baptism.
     Baptisms are require to take place at the current parish of residence, it is not appropriate to seek Baptism at a Parish where there is no current or regular practice.
​Fathers,


During this week I have spoken with many priests and I am so pleased and relieved to find such levels of cheerfulness and positive thinking. I am sure that we are all finding aspects of the lockdown to be difficult but I have heard so many good stories about the kindness of parishioners and the good sense of collaboration and community. I can also tell you that I have many appreciative comments from parishioners about how they value the prayers and presence of their priests in these times. Thank you.
 
I have been enjoying a re-read of the book I mentioned before: “Finding Your Hidden Treasure” by Benignus O’Rourke. I particularly like the fact that the chapters are literally two pages and each one has a good thought for further consideration. I think I am probably typical of many people who make private prayer too wordy and vocal and who could well benefit from the silence and stillness that the author promotes. A quote:
 
“All our lives, perhaps, we have strained to please God by trying to keep or minds attuned to our words in prayer. We have struggled to ward off stray thoughts. We have failed again and again. But we have gone on believing that we must keep trying. The result so often is a weariness with prayer, a feeling of guilt, or we resign ourselves to simply reciting set prayers. Of course, no time spent in prayer is ever wasted. Our efforts are always of value. God accepts all our prayers, delighting in the gift we make him of our time…… But he must weep for us as he sees us wear ourselves down by our struggles and exhaust ourselves in our battles to fight the mind’s wandering. He must weep for us, too, when we get so discouraged. All he wants from us is to rest in him, and allow him to give us rest for our souls. ….. ‘Come to me all you who are weary and I will give you rest,’ says Jesus. How easy it is for us to miss that invitation.” (Chapter 23).
 
This week DLT asked me to choose a book that they could offer to priests and people of the Diocese at 50% discount. I am recommending this book and the following are the instructions for purchase:
 
To order a copy of the book, follow this link to the website of DLT. Add the book to your basket and, when you reach the checkout stage, type DLT50 in the box marked ‘Discount code’ for a 50% discount. This code can also be used for other purchases from the DLT website between now and the end of July. If you would like to buy 25 copies or more, perhaps for a church or a reading group, contact David Moloney at DLT (davidm@darton-longman-todd.co.uk) rather than ordering through the website and he will be able to arrange an additional discount for you.
 
As I mentioned above, I have had many encouraging conversations with priests this week. Several have spoken about having time to think. I would like to suggest that if ideas or concerns about priesthood or the Diocese come to mind which you feel merit further consideration, please feel free to write them down. Canon Jude Harrison, as Chair of the Presbyteral Council, would be pleased to receive ideas and comments and to speak with any priests on the telephone. In addition, of course, I and the Vicars General and Episcopal Vicars are also contactable. We will soon be engaging on a new consultation about the future of structures in the Diocese in a project called “Journey to 2030” in which important decisions will need to be made after careful diocesan-wide discussion.
 
Appointment: I thank Mgr John Daly VG for accepting the appointment as parish priest of St Augustine in Manchester. His contact details are St Augustine’s Presbytery, Clitherow House, All Saints Manchester M15 6BY; Tel: 0161 670 5110. Fr Richard Howard is now Priest in Charge at St Mary, Horwich.
 
I think it important to tell you that the whole question of the re-opening of churches, and how and when and in what way this might be achieved, is in constant discussion among the Archbishops. It will be important that we have a single uniform policy for all dioceses of England and Wales. But it is good to know that the various aspects of re-opening are already under careful consideration. We must pray that it can be safely achieved as soon as possible.
 
You will have heard the sad news that Fr Paul Dillon died unexpectedly but peacefully at his home in County Kerry on 25th April. Fr Liam Comer, of the Diocese of Kerry, who some of you may have known from his ministry here in the Diocese of Salford 1974-1978 died on 18th April. May they rest in peace.


Bishop John Arnold
Bishop of Salford
Wardley Hall | Wardley Hall Road | Worsley | Manchester M28 2ND
Tel: 0161 794 2825
Parish and Diocesan Finances Coronavirus Pandemic – April 2020 A note from the Moderator of the Curia Clearly the unexpected and unprecedented closure of our churches in March presented issues for us in relation to many aspects of parish and diocesan life. Naturally, our first concern was to see how we could continue to serve our people in terms of access to the Mass and this has been successfully achieved both by the ability to stream servicesfrom the Cathedral or a good number of churches and by the fact that people know that their priests are continuing to offer Mass for them even if this has to be done privately. It was good that this could be established speedily, especially in regard to celebrating the Easter Triduum. Alongside the closure of our churches, we took the decision to close Cathedral Centre just slightly ahead of the government imposition of lockdown. By that stage, we had already established that a good number of staff could (or should) work from home and we were making provision for others to also be able to do this. We have continued to monitor this situation and I will say more about that in a moment. Parish Income One significant consequence of our churches being closed is the drop in weekly income that parishes will be experiencing. This will largely be through the lack of offertory collections but also other sources of regular income such as monthly draws (where subscriptions have not been collected in advance), sales of votive candles and piety stall items, rental from the hire of parish facilities by various groups, stole fees for baptisms and weddings (though these may come in later when we can celebrate these sacraments again). Even a few weeks without these regular sources of income will have a big impact on the ability of most parishes to meet their annual expenditure which is likely to remain much the same as in previous years. Thankfully, a good number of parishioners will be aware of this impact and will be concerned to see how they can continue to support the parish financially even when unable to attend church. I know that some have taken to dropping off their offertory envelopes at presbyteries whilst out for their permitted exercise. Some might (hopefully) be saving up the envelopes to bring along whenever we return to using our churches. Others will have enquired about donating by standing order. It’s important that we recognise that many individuals and families will also have been financially affected by the present situation and may not be able to continue contributing or may need to reduce their normal contribution. So, in a sensitive way which respects the financial state of various parishioners at the present time, it would be good to encourage them to think about what they can afford to give and how they might best go about making their contributions. Standing orders are of course the best way of guaranteeing a regular income, so perhaps you might want to have a push on that (however gentle) and getting them to gift aid it if they are taxpayers. To provide for more ad hoc donations, we are in the process of setting up a means for individuals to give online. This will be through the diocesan website, where it will be possible for someone to donate to a specific parish or to a particular diocesan fund. The donations will come into one central account but with a breakdown of who they are intended for and so they will be re-distributed as appropriate. There will be a slight charge by the organisation providing this service but we have explored a number of such options and we believe this one is reasonable. The system should be up and running in the next week to ten days, as it requires our website creators to do some work in the background of the site. If you have a parish website, then you could put a link on there to the relevant section of the diocesan website in due course. If you are still producing a parish newsletter (perhaps distributed by email) then you could give the details on it over the coming weeks. We are also exploring whether parish Facebook pages or other social media platforms might provide a means for parishioners to make donations and we will advise you about that when we have the relevant facts. We won’t recoup all our lost income but, as they say, “every little helps”. Restricted Income Another victim of the closure of our churches is of course the range of charities and organisations that we normally support by our special collections throughout the year. Pope Francis has already decreed that the annual collection for the Shrines of Palestine, which we were unable to take on Good Friday, will be transferred to the weekend of 12/13 September, the nearest weekend to the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross. The Bishops’ Conference are looking at dates in the autumn to which they can transfer the various special collections we would normally be having during this forthcoming period of the year and there may be a knock-on effect for some that normally take place in those later months. We will need to do the same for our own diocesan collections, the Ecclesiastical Education Fund (which clearly won’t be taking place on the weekend of 2/3 May) and the Retired Clergy Fund in November (which might be impacted by the changes made nationally), though there will be the option to donate to these diocesan funds via the online giving we are developing at the moment. The director of Missio has already been in touch with diocesan bishops, explaining that the Holy Father has established an emergency fund to come to the aid of those people and communities who are being tragically impacted by the Coronavirus pandemic. He has designated US$750,000 as an initial contribution to this fund and has asked the Church in each country to contribute what they can through Missio. Whilst there is no specific appeal at present, Missio will be in touch again over the next few weeks, to invite Catholics to take part in this initiative through their prayer and solidarity with our sisters and brothers in greatest need. They will also be inviting people to support the work of their partners, the Mill Hill Missionaries, many of whom are serving in Coronavirus hotspots around the world. Again, we could add an online donation button for this appeal in due course. Whilst being alert to that specific appeal (in due course) we also need to bear in mind the impact on the work of Missio if funding from parishes/dioceses was to be severely reduced this year. We should no doubt give the same consideration to our normally generous support of CAFOD and Caritas and there may be other specific charities your parish supports. Then there are the mission appeals that have been arranged but cannot at present take place. Given that this year’s income for many of these charities and organisations may well be reduced or at the very least delayed, can I ask that if you have any restricted income in your parish accounts, either from 2019 or from the early part of this year, that you make arrangements to pay it over to the appropriate body as soon as possible. Many of the collections go through our Finance Office and so you can simply email your list of amounts to be passed on (to finance@dioceseofsalford.org.uk) and they can be deducted from your parish account and transferred on your behalf. Our own diocesan charity Caritas Diocese of Salford is of course very much on the front line in terms of continuing to provide services to people in need at this time. They are very grateful for the ongoing support of so many parishes and individuals, either through the donation of goods that can be distributed or money that can be used to purchase what is needed. They are also becoming aware of the increase in destitution and so are looking to establish a relief fund, jointly with the diocese and perhaps some other Catholic charities, so there may be some further information about this shortly. Furloughing of Employees I noted above that, in the run up to the closure of Cathedral Centre, we had thought carefully about whether or not our staff would be able to work from home and we have continued to monitor that situation over the past few weeks. Once the decision to close Cathedral Centre had been made, we implemented the decision of the diocesan trustees (made in anticipation of that event) that we would guarantee all our employees 100% of their salaries for the first 12 weeks regardless of whether or not they were able to work from home. We also informed staff that we would be reviewing that decision after 8 weeks in order to plan what will happen beyond the 12 weeks. At the time that we implemented that decision, there was no mention of the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS) but this is something which, like many charities and businesses, we are able to benefit from. The scheme pays 80% of an individual’s salary (up to a maximum of £2,500 per month) provided that they agree to be furloughed. This means that they cannot do any paid work and nor can they volunteer for the charity/organisation that normally employs them. The scheme was introduced with effect from 1 March and has currently been extended through to the end of June. The whole purpose of the scheme is that it is designed to help protect employees’ jobs and help employers to stay afloat. Our HR department have worked hard to help us implement this CJR scheme across both the central diocesan staff and those employed in our parishes. Our subsidiary companies (SDC and CTS) and our sister charity (Caritas Diocese of Salford) have also taken this matter seriously and sought to furlough staff wherever possible. The table below shows that, as a result of this action, some 63% of those employed by the main charity and its subsidiaries have been furloughed. I am grateful to parish priests who responded so speedily and at short notice in Holy Week to the request to consider furloughing parish employees; that meant we were in a strong position to make our submission to the government once the portal for applications opened on 20 April.
Dear Father
We are looking at ways that we can help parishes deal with some of the impact of the pandemic and ways to help parishes function more effectively with any longer-term impacts.
One of our immediate priorities was to make online donations easier for those who wish to continue to support our parishes and their work. We have done this by putting a ‘donate’ button on the Diocesan Website, anybody will be able to donate to their own parish or a number of the other funds we have.
You can access the diocesan website via this link:
https://www.dioceseofsalford.org.uk/
The donate button is found in the right-hand corner of the main page when on a desktop and it directs you this this page.
https://www.dioceseofsalford.org.uk/supporting-your-parish-financially/
On a mobile device the donate button is listed in the main menu. We are currently working on improving the access and making the button more prominent when on a mobile device.
Visitors to the donations page will find two options:
  1. Setting up a standing order
  2. Make a donation
Setting up a standing order
This button takes you to a page on the website where parishioners can access a standing order form for each parish. This page is currently being populated and will be ready next week.
To help with this work please send a copy of your current standing order form to communications@dioceseofsalford.org.uk
Make a donation
This button is already live and accepting donations.
Visitors to this page with see five options.
 
Four picture options for specific diocesan funds and the ability to search for a specific parish and make a donation to that parish.
 
Details of transactions for every parish will be recorded and on a monthly basis the relevant funds from online donations will be transferred into parish accounts.
Each online transaction will have a small fee attached and there is also an opportunity to gift aid every donation.
You will notice when searching for your own parish that the address listed on the forms is the Cathedral Centre. This is for administrative purposes to meet the requirements of the financial services authority.
How can you share in your parish?  
The best way to promote is to do so by sharing this link https://www.dioceseofsalford.org.uk/supporting-your-parish-financially/
You can send this directly to any parishioner who has asked how they can continue to give their offertory donation, add the link to your website or mention (if you feel appropriate) during your live streams.  
When promoting the donation function, we must remain mindful of the changing financial position many of our parishioners find themselves in during this time. You may make the decision that circumstances in your parish mean you do not want to actively promote this option.
If you would like to discuss the options for having a button integrated into your parish website please email communications@dioceseofsalford.org.uk
If you would like to discuss anything to do with your parish finances please email finance@dioceseofsalford.org.uk
If you have any further questions please let me know.
​Fathers,
Despite the current low risk to the public from coronavirus, Bishops’ Conference have issued guidelines to enable Catholic churches and organisations to find the relevant information in one place. The complete document – which will be amended in the future if necessary – is attached but please note the following key messages:
 
  • At the time of writing there is no need to take special measures on suspending the Chalice or Sign of Peace. Should that become necessary, more detailed pastoral care guidance will be issued.
 
  • Ask anyone with cold or flu symptoms to refrain from taking communion from the Chalice and receive the host on the hand only. (We should be doing this anyway, every ‘flu season.)
 
  • Ensuring ministers of the Eucharist wash their hands before distributing communion or sanitise them is a good practice to encourage always.
 
  • The best way of protecting us from spread is for everyone to use universal good hygiene, which will effectively disrupt spread of the virus. We should be doing this all the time for ‘flu:
§ Catch it - sneeze into a tissue
§ Bin it - bin the tissue
§ Kill it - wash your hands with soap and water
§ Do not touch your face unless you’ve washed your hands
§ Ensure good regular cleaning of surfaces lots of people touch regularly


  • There is a government campaign on hygiene and posters can be downloaded and placed in parishes. It would be sensible to place these in churches and premises and alert people to this in newsletters and bulletins. The link can be found in the further materials section in the document.
 
  • Pastoral care remains important
 
o Chaplains and others working in institutions where people with coronavirus are being cared for should seek and follow hygiene guidance from that institution
 
o Those who have been asked to self-isolate in the community as a precaution by medical staff will understandably be anxious but equally it is important not to breach this isolation. “In person care” should be kept to a minimum and advice taken from NHS 111 or call NHS Direct Wales on 0845 4647 on any precautions needed.