THE P RTAL
January 2015
Joanna Bogle enthuses about the
huge success of the “Towards Advent”
Festival and about real coffee!
It was
a happy day, and the Ordinariate was right there in
the very heart of it. Westminster Cathedral Hall was thronging
with people for the 2014 “Towards Advent” Festival – opened by
Mgr Keith Newton and with glorious music from the choir of the
John Fisher School, Purley – well known to Ordinariate members as
they sang at the Croydon Ordinariate’s “Called to be One” day.
The Festival brings together Catholic organisations,
groups, religious orders, publishers, youth movements
and more, from across Britain. There are stalls and
displays, and opportunities to buy books, DVDs,
rosaries, statues, wall-charts, pamphlets, holy pictures,
Christmas cards, Advent calendars...oh, you name it
– plus home-made jam, craft goods, knitted goods,
Christmas tree ornaments and more...and during
the day there are talks and workshops, plus the
opportunity to network and meet friends, over homemade sandwiches and cakes...
Auntie Jo a n
A happy day
Page 4
na
wri tes
Francesca Nash.
The picture will be carried next year to Walsingham
by the John Paul II Walkers on their 10th anniversary
pilgrimage. It will then be carried every year, along
with a small statue of Mary from a Polish shrine.
joint winners
Mgr Keith also had another task – to hand over
the prize to a winner of the Towards Advent Essay
Project. Catholic secondary schools in the diocese of
Westminster took part – pupils were invited to write
an essay explaining the role of the Pope, showing
evidence of having studied the Scriptures and the
Catechism of the Catholic Church, and with reference
to the two Popes canonised this year, St John Paul
II and St John XXIII. There were two joint winners,
Maddie Carling and George Ezekiel, from St Mary’s
School, Bishop’s Stortford. Our picture shows Maddie
and her parents with Mgr Keith after the presentation
of her prize.
Anglicans and Catholics –
a way forward
hidden behind a craft mountain
The Ordinariate was well represented at the
Festival – although the Ladies Ordinariate stall was
almost hidden behind a mountain of craft goods,
woolly hats (from the Darlington Ordinariate) twirly
scarves (from South London) calendars and notepads
(from Croydon), and jam...but there was a display
of children’s work from the “Our Father” project for
schools for those prepared to look for it...and plenty of
LOGS members happy to talk and enthuse about the
group’s activities.
Then, after touring the hall and visiting the various
stalls, Mgr Keith went to the Hinsley Room for his
main task of the day, as the special guest speaker in
the series of talks and workshops that are the core of
the Festival. He spoke on the theme “Anglicans and
Catholics – a way forward” to an enthusiastic audience,
many of whom had come to the Festival specifically to
learn about the Ordinariate and hear how it is going.
we had Real Coffee
A happy day. Oh, and from this cradle Catholic,
a special thanks to the Ordinariate – we had Real
Coffee. Festival organisers have invested in a brandnew and highly efficient proper coffee percolator, the
same model as the one at Warwick Street. Decent
Mgr Keith Newton not only opened the Festival, but coffee, served in attractive cups. Farewell to horrid
blessed a new picture of St John Paul the Great – carried brown powder and polystyrene. Hurrah for Anglican
carefully up to the platform by two children, Hugh and patrimony!
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