Diocesan News

Pope Benedict XVI RIP

Papal Visit of Pope Benedict XVI to Scotland.
Photo By Paul Mc Sherry

We will celebrate a Requiem Mass for Pope Benedict XVI on Thursday Morning 5th Janurary 10 am at Westhill Church.

It will be in the small chapel preceded by Adoration and Rosary.

 

There will also be three Requiem Masses at the Universities Chaplaincy on 7 High Street, Aberdeen AB24 3EE. 

These will be at 5:30 pm on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday, the 3rd, 4th, and 5th of January respectively.

 

Bishop Hugh, whom Pope Benedict appointed as Bishop of our Diocese, will concelebrate the Funeral Mass in Rome with Pope Francis.

 

“Do not be afraid of Christ! He takes nothing away, and he gives you everything. When we give ourselves to him, we receive a hundredfold in return. Yes, open, open wide the doors to Christ – and you will find true life.”

Pope Benedict XVI, Mass of Inauguration, 24/3/2005

 

Image from Pope Benedict’s State Visit to the UK and his Mass at Bellahouston Park used by permission of the Scottish Catholic Media Office.

Synod Update

The Diocesan synthesis of the various Synodal meetings held across the diocese has now been published.

You can access it here: Diocesan Synthesis

Thank you again to all who took part.

The Scottish dioceses will now bring together their various reports to synthesise them into a document that they hope will reflect Scotland as a whole.

Lenten Station Masses

This year our Lenten Station Masses continue on Fridays as usual. 

 

They will kick off with Confessions from 6 -7 pm

Stations of the Cross will be from 6:30 pm to 7 pm and Mass will follow these.

After Mass, we will have light refreshments of Tea, Coffee, and Biscuits.

The Station Masses are as follows:

Friday 8th April St. Joseph’s, 2 Tanfield Walk, Woodside. (Map Location)

Do come along if you can.

Pastoral Letter to the Catholics of Scotland On the Restoration of the Mass Obligation in the Dioceses of Scotland 

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

The obligation for Catholics to celebrate Sunday as a Holy Day by gathering together for Mass will be restored from the First Sunday in Lent, Sunday 6th March.

Given the easing of restrictions in every other walk of life, the Church looks forward to welcoming Catholics back to Holy Mass. As always, the obligation does not apply to those who are sick and their carers or to those aware of their greater vulnerability to the virus. May the continuing recovery of our country bring new hope to us all especially those who are ill, those who mourn loved ones, those who are apprehensive and those who have sustained us in so many ways throughout the Pandemic.

We, the Bishops of Scotland, take this opportunity to thank our clergy and our parish volunteers for all their efforts. May our Lenten journey this year lead us to a renewed appreciation of our Catholic faith, of the celebration of the Eucharist and of the presence of the Risen Christ who is always at our side.

Bishop Hugh Gilbert
President
Bishops’ Conference of Scotland

Synod Update

The Holy Father has convoked a ‘Synod on Synodality’ to be held in 2023.

As part of this, there will be a phase of parish consultations and conversations to be held from mid-January till Pentecost 2022.

When exactly this will happen in Trinity has yet to be agreed.

You can find more information on the whole Synodal process here on the Diocesan Website: Synod 2021-2023

Bishop Hugh has written a letter on Synodality and has asked that we make it available.

It’s a lovely reflection on the whole process and well worth a read. Here is a link to the letter: Pastoral Letter on Synodality

In the meantime, I would commend the whole process to you in your prayers.

Below is a modified version of a prayer, recommended to us by the Church, which has been used at Councils, Synods, and other Church gatherings for centuries which you may find helpful:

 

The Sunday Obligation

The Bishops have issued the following Statment regarding the Sunday Obligation:

“At the beginning of Advent, the Bishops of Scotland looked forward to welcoming the faithful back to Holy Mass and anticipated that the restoration of the Sunday Obligation might be possible as we begin the New Year.

Sadly, there has been a serious worsening of the situation and the restoration of the obligation will be postponed until a more favourable time.

For us Sunday is always a Holy Day and we invite those who are unable to be with us in person to continue to join with us in prayer and spiritual communion either by personal or family prayers or by online celebrations of Mass.

We ask everyone to continue to pray for a speedy end to the Pandemic and for the good health of you and your loved ones in 2022.

We also pray for all those who passed away during 2021 and those who grieve. May Our Lady Health of the Sick pray for us and may Saints Andrew and Margaret protect us.”