SAINT THOMAS MORE PARISH, CHELTENHAM

Below is a communication from the Catholic Bishop’s Conference, approved at the Plenary Assembly of Bishops in Leeds on Thursday 18th November 2021.

Liz Baldwin will give an on-line presentation, summarising the situation with COP 26 from the Church’s perspective.  The Pope is encouraging all to talk, listen and pray for our planet

Catholic communities like ours are invited to respond to Pope Francis’ invitation in Laudato Si’ to “work with generosity and tenderness in protecting this world which God has entrusted to us”.

An important part of our faith is to care for creation and to develop respect for other people in the world – how can we live out this invitation?

The CAFOD Live Simply Award is one such way; becoming a Live Simply Award parish helps us all go deeper and take action. Come and hear about the Award from local CAFOD staff member for Clifton, Liz Baldwin at an online Zoom meeting on Tuesday November 23^rd at 7.00pm. Newly appointed Clifton Diocesan Caritas and Environmental Officer Jason Charewicz will also be at the meeting, to update us on this new role and what it means for Clifton Diocese for both local social action and participating in Climate Change Action.

To join the meeting, see details below:

Meeting ID: 856 6564 8384

Passcode: 107882

Pope Francis and the Synod office in Rome are inviting the whole Church to become Synodal.

We are invited to journey together, listening to the promptings of the Holy Spirit in our lives and in the lives of the people we meet. 

The whole ‘Synod’ will be a two-year process beginning in every diocese in October 2021 and moving on to a national then international listening exercise.

The Synod prayer, Preparatory document and the Synod Vademecum provide us with an in depth understanding of what the synod entails.

Information sessions to help us with understanding the process in Clifton are to be held in early November. These will be followed by parish meetings with specific areas for reflection during the season of Advent.

The process has started with representatives from our parish receiving an introductory talk on line from Sarah Adams. Resources are expected to arrive at St Thomas More soon so that we can come together to talk together, listen to one another and pray.

Please continue to look at the Clifton Diocese website for updates.

This website is for parishioners and visitor alike to use. It is maintained by our Administrator Chris Davies in Tewkesbury who would be happy to receive feedback and contributions.

The times of our various Masses both here in Saint Thomas More Church and in the two neighbouring parishes of Tewkesbury and Winchcombe, can be found on the latest edition of the parish newsletter.

A strong Polish community in the area also have two Masses each week [Sunday morning and Tuesday evening, served by Father Dariuz Mazur. Father Dariuz resides in the Presbytery on Princess Elizabeth Way.

St Thomas More parish is indeed multi-cultural. A number of people from Kerala also use the church to celebrate Mass in their own tongue on a regular basis. It is reassuring to know that our faith is enthusiastically celebrated and shared over such a wide population in the area.