THE P RTAL
July 2015
Page 3
Portal Comment
Will Burton has his say
Woolly Hats
M
any of you will remember that a few months
ago Jackie Ottaway and Ronald Crane visited
the Chaplaincy at Tilbury Docks. Whilst there, they
discovered that the Chaplaincy gives out over 2,000
Christmas presents every year to seafarers. Always
included in the present is a balaclava or a woolly hat.
We at The Portal thought it would be a good idea
to invite our readers to knit a woolly
hat or two and send them to the
seafarers. Most of the seafarers come
from Africa or Asia, and the climate
in the North Sea is, to put it mildly,
cold! They are so happy to receive a
woolly hat that in fact the hats are at a
premium.
If you knit, and would like to help
us with this Christmas Appeal, go to
our web site - www.portalmag.co.uk where you will find all the details, including a pattern
for a woolly hat!
Send them to the address on our Web Site. Let us
see just how many woolly hats we can produce.
Commercial Manager
W
e are still looking to appoint a commercial
manager at The Portal. This would be
someone who would generate income for The Portal
by selling advertising space in our magazine.
So far, we exist on a grant from the Ordinariate
of Our Lady of Walsingham, together with some
generous donations and fees for classified adverts.
It would be so much better, if we could finance
ourselves without the need of a grant. Applications
should be made to the Editors at our usual address [email protected].
Ordinariate Festival 2015
S
aturday September 19th 2015 is the date,
and Westminster Cathedral Hall is the place.
Archbishop Joseph Augustine Di Noia O.P. of the
Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith will be the
main speaker. We begin at 1030 and end about 1600.
contents page
For those coming on Friday evening, we are at
Precious Blood, O’Meara Street SE1 1TA when Fr
Gerard Sheehan of Opus Dei will be speaking about
groups in the Catholic Church, like Opus Dei and the
Ordinariate. We start at 1900, and Fr Sheehan’s talk
will be fo llowed by a reception.
Posters and publicity for the whole Festival is now
available via your Group Pastor.
The Synod on the Family
W
e detect much nervousness about this Synod
to be held in Rome this Autumn. There is
much discussion about it on the Blogosphere, and
Catholic journals almost always have at least one
article about it. This is not surprising as it is obviously
very important to the life of the Catholic Church.
Here at The Portal we have been sent some
literature by “Voice of the Family”. There is a narrative
account of the first part of the Synod held last year,
analysis of its final report, one hundred questions
answered and an address by His Eminence Raymond
Leo Cardinal Burke. It is well presented and well
worth reading. You may obtain copies from “Voice
of the Family”, Unit B, 3 Whitacre Mews, Stannary
Street, London SE 11 4AB. Their web site is www.
voiceofthefamily.info and the e-mail address is
[email protected]. They are on the
telephone at 020 7820 3148.
At this stage, The Portal has just one question
to ask. Would it be a good idea if one, two or three
of the Ordinaries were to be invited to attend the
Synod? After all they probably know more about
these issues than most. They are all married, and have
been in such discussions many times before.