Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ
As I am sure you are all aware Pope Benedict plans to visit our country for four days from 16-19 September. The visit will be a mix of State and pastoral activities which will start with him meeting the Queen at Holyrood Palace in Scotland on 16 September, and completing his visit with the Beatification of John Henry Newman in Coventry on 19 September.
When the Holy Father formally told the Bishops of the planned visit he said, “Encourage your people to pray that it will be a time of grace for the whole Catholic community. Assure them that the Pope remembers them in his prayers and holds them in his heart”. So my first request to everybody in our diocese is that we do pray that it will be a time of grace for us all and that there will be lasting benefits for evangelisation of our country. At this time, we need especially to remember the Holy Father in our prayers.
Now I have to turn to the difficult subject of money. The Church’s share of the visit is around £6.5m. We need to raise this through as many routes as possible and already we have started fundraising at national level and this will gather pace as we approach the date of the Holy Father’s visit, but we do need the support of the whole Catholic community. I know that so many of you are under financial pressures at this time, but I do ask you to be as generous as possible, and if you are a tax payer, please remember to Gift Aid any donation you give – this increases every £1 you donate to £1.28. In addition, if you can organise any parish events or are able to make personal donations, I would be very grateful.
As I write this letter to you, we are still awaiting detailed arrangements for allocation of places for the various events, but I will let you know of these as soon as possible.
Again, may I ask for your prayers for the Holy Father for the success of his visit and the hope that it will bring long term benefits to the Church in our country?
Yours in joyful hope,
Rt Rev Terence Patrick Drainey
Bishop of Middlesbrough