ACTIONS SPEAK LOUDER than words was the message of Bishop Alan Hopes as he celebrated a Mass at St John’s Cathedral in Norwich, 25 June, to show spiritual solidarity with front-line medical, care and voluntary workers across the country.“The Lord Jesus teaches us by his life and by the words of the Gospel, that our deeds are more important than a passing sentiment.

Archbishop Bernard Longley, Archbishop of Birmingham, celebrated Mass in St Chad’s Cathedral to show prayerful gratitude for all our nurses and doctors, carers in hospices, hospices and care homes and, indeed, those who are carers at home.

Fr Jeremy Howard of the Archdiocese of Birmingham reflects on hospital chaplaincy in the time of Coronavirus

Nottingham Cathedral was the venue for this week’s special Mass offered for the sick, their families, NHS workers and social care staff.

On the feast day of St Barnabas, the saint after whom the city’s Catholic Cathedral is named, Bishop Patrick McKinney held up the witness of Saint Barnabas as a man who always desired to encourage and support people.

In his homily, Bishop McKinney shared a conversation he’d had with one of his diocesan deacons who works for a Hospital Trust. This gave a fascinating insight in the unprecedented challenges faced by the NHS and hospital staff as they battled to cope with the rapid spread of COVID-19.

In his homily, Bishop Arnold said he believed that we are being asked to “think globally” about health and wellbeing during the COVID-19 pandemic. How we care for our common home as custodians of the environment, he said, was one of a number of inter-connected global factors impacting on our care for each other.

PREPARATION We will only be opening once we have been granted permission from our Bishop to do so but would like to begin ‘getting ready’. It is highly likely that supervision (to ensure social-distancing) and cleaning protocols between prayer-visits will have to be put in place. We would like to compile a list of nonvulnerable potential volunteers who may be prepared to assist us on a rota basis to enable us to open our Churches when we are given the ‘green light’. If you think you may be able to assist for an hour (or more!) per week on a rota basis, please email us: [email protected] or ring 01722 562703. Many thanks.

Cardinal Vincent Nichols spoke to presenter Justin Webb on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme on 14 May about how Catholic Churches can be safely re-opened for private prayer as the UK government eases its lockdown restrictions to combat the spread of COVID-19.

A Message from the Metropolitan Archbishops of the Catholic Church in England and Wales

This prayerful, meditative reflection comes from Fr James Hanvey SJ, former Master of Campion Hall, Oxford and currently serving in Rome at the Jesuit Curia.

It’s a thought-provoking piece for these times of uncertainty and anxiety as we look to arrest the global spread of COVID-19.