Please take notice of the Chrism Mass this Friday (27/11/20). I know that some of you may be unable to watch the livestreaming of the Mass due to prior commitments but you can watch a recording of the service later on the same link - https://www.churchservices.tv/salfordcathedral by scrolling to the bottom of the page.

DUE TO THE GOVERNMENTS DECISION TO IMPOSE A SECOND LOCKDOWN, THE RULES OF THIS LOCKDOWN STATE THAT THERE SHOULD BE NO PUBLIC CELEBRATION OF MASS. THEREFORE UNTIL THE END OF THIS LOCKDOWN ON 2ND DECEMBER, THERE WILL BE NO MASSES AT ST. STEPHENS. AS SOON AS THERE IS A FUTHER DECISION REGARDING THE CELEBRATION OF MASS, I WILL INFORM YOU ON THIS SITE. THANK YOU.

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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.