ST JAMES’S PARISH, TWICKENHAM

All church going parishioners were invited to make their views known. Mass goers were invited to take a handout listing a number of areas which they might like to consider, but to limit their views to two topics printed out on a sheet of foolscap. Mass attendance is probably about 300-350 now, a considerable drop from pre-covid times when the attendance was in the region of 500-550. Many children are brought to mass which limits the size of the constituency likely to make part in the exercise. There were thirty-two responses. Some of these were collective which means that there were more than 32 taking part. Fr Ulick preached about the synod in the period leading up to Christmas, and his homilies were printed out on the back of the mass sheet.
The majority of the respondents were women, and generally older women, though this was not uniform. Some men and younger families also responded.

Covid epidemic. One person thought the Church had sent out the wrong message that the virus was more important than God. Churches should never be closed again completely and some had become too dependent on livestreaming.

Healing family life physically and mentally. Spiritually there should be more emphasis on lay led prayer groups. There should be a weekly prayer for the Church in uncertain times. Speakers should be invited to help people understand the importance of the mass. Evangelisation is essential for the Church on a big scale with greater importance being given to Our Blessed Lady. A personal relationship with God should be sought through programmes such as Alpha.

The role of women in the church. Everyone who commented on this topic maintained that women should have a greater role in church life though not necessarily to be ordained to the priesthood. One person suggested that with the proper training they should be ordained as deacons. The thrust was rather that since women play a major role in the life of the church they should have a greater role in the running affairs. Women priests will be like a breath of fresh air.

The priesthood. Many contributors commented on the shortage of priests and the fact that the tended to be ageing. Most of these spoke of the need to end compulsory celibacy. The opinion was voiced that we needed the right men and women, married or not, who are willing to serve in the ministry. No one acknowledged that some priests wouldn’t want to get married. There was still too much clericalization in the Church with some priests still hanging on to power. On the other hand, there was little idea as to how people became priests. Priests needed companionship, mental wellbeing and support, and should not have to remain single and lonely.

Gay matters. Anyone regardless of their sexual orientation should be welcome into the Church. Two people were in favour of the church supporting Gay marriage. One respondent spoke of the need to address contradictions in Church teaching on homosexuality, and how this conflicted with the existence of gay priests. How do we address the questions of homosexuality and bi-sexuality? Is homosexual marriage and adoption acceptable? There was a view that if was the case adopted children would have the chance to be brought up in the Catholic faith. It was argued that blessings of gay civil marriages should be possible.

LITURGY A couple of correspondents thought that supporters of the Latin mass were getting a raw deal from the church. One of these regarded bidding prayers as unnecessary and though that these tended to be banal. But there were also those who thought that the mass should be more child friendly with a shorter liturgy and more child participation, and that there should be a children’s liturgy. There should be more variation in music. One correspondent thought our liturgy should be made more attractive to young people and cited St Stephen’s CofE church in East Twickenham in this respect. One person said we should be looking at how we incorporated technological change into the liturgy. We had done this with on-line mass, but were there other possibilities? One correspondent thought that more attention should be paid to indulgences and to the role of exorcism. The same person decried the decline in the Sacrament of Reconciliation. There should be time after mass for private prayer and the opportunity to speak to the priest. Prayer messages might be read out during or after mass.

Education. Catholic schools were praised, but it was pointed out that there were problems in finding committed Catholic teachers. Catholic teachers should know what they are supposed to be achieving with a proper curriculum. Parish priests should be involved in the life of schools. Here there did not seemed to be any awareness that our system of Catholic education with voluntary aided schools is limited to a handful of countries. For some there was the sense that Catholic schools were being forced to teach what is against the Catholic faith.

YOUTH Initiatives should be given to young people themselves. Music, collective prayer and worship were central to celebrating our faith. be a greater sense of community in parishes. The mass should be more engaging for young people. The celebration of the mass must remain relevant and less formalised. Small groups should be set up. Music should be more modern. Key important issues e g addiction and gender should be discussed. There should be more witness at mass.

PUBLIC SPHERE The Church should keep out of public/political affairs as this was a source of division. This correspondent cited the Church of England. Others welcomed the statements of the church for example on climate change, and in Pope Francis’s attitude to the poor and oppressed. A Hong
Kongese writer was highly critical of the Church’s attitude to the Communist government in mainland China and thought it was too conciliatory. A father in the parish wrote of the need for the Church to be involved on a local, national and global scale. He wrote: ‘’This means that the church needs to take active participation and leadership on issues of climate change, migration – the human misery and exploitation of people for profit and show a clear break with the past.’’

FINANCE Monies at both a diocesan level seem to disappear down a ‘black hole.’ To what extent do parish donations end up in the right place?

THE MORAL AUTHORITY of the Church has been undermined by abuse cases. A means must be found for the Church to lead the way here. How is the Catholic Church dealing with child abuse? We should acknowledge what has happened but redefine ourselves.

FAMILY LIFE What should be the attitude to young people sleeping together in the family home? The impact of failed marriage is far greater than a failed exam or a failed job. More could be done to prepare Catholic couples for marriage and especially on the level of the commitment involved.