Cardinal Vincent Nichols, Archbishop of Westminster, introduces this key evangelisation initiative with a letter to parishes.
My Dear Friends,
In 2015 a significant evangelisation initiative called Proclaim ’15 is being launched to support, inspire and encourage new expressions of parish evangelisation. A project of the Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales, it is designed to affirm the good work that is already being done by the Catholic community, and to provide resources and events to profile and develop new expressions of Catholic joy and missionary outreach. A major highlight of what is being offered next year is the organisation of a National Catholic Evangelisation Conference on 11 July 2015.
Proclaim ’15 has five parts:
1. PREPARATION
Parish small group sessions – three evangelisation-themed sessions will be provided for download from mid-January 2015.
2. PRAYER
Network of prayer vigils - parishes are invited to host an evening of prayer on 11 July 2015.
3. EVENT
National Catholic Evangelisation Conference - on 11 July 2015 in central Birmingham for 850 evangelisation representatives from across England and Wales. There is a quota of places allocated to each diocese, with live streaming also being explored to potentially enable every member of the Catholic community to participate.
4. LEGACY
Local events - templates will be provided online to enable dioceses, deaneries and parishes to have their own Proclaim ’15 gatherings in autumn 2015.
5. RESOURCES
New Evangelisation resources – these will also be made available as a fruit of the National Conference to equip parish evangelisation in autumn 2015.
Proclaim ’15 has a practical and ‘how to’ focus because while there is enthusiasm within the Catholic community to share confidently and joyfully our Faith, it can at times be hard to discern where to begin. This initiative aims to address that difficulty and is inspired by Pope Francis’ Apostolic Exhortation, Evangelii Gaudium, in which he writes:
“I wish to encourage the Christian faithful to embark upon a new chapter of evangelisation marked by this joy, while pointing out new paths for the Church’s journey in years to come.”
Accompanying this cover letter is a booklet summarising the content of Proclaim ’15, including an invitation to get involved so that together we can discover, and perhaps rediscover, ways of joyfully sharing our faith as missionary disciples. Please do use and share it with those who may play a role in developing evangelisation locally.
Thank you in advance for your support and please do remember this initiative in your prayers.
Cardinal Vincent Nichols
Archbishop of Westminster
“I wish to encourage the Christian faithful to embark upon a new chapter of evangelisation marked by this joy, while pointing out new paths for the Church’s journey in years to come.”
Pope Francis, Evangelii Gaudium
Cardinal Vincent Nichols Press Conference
Cardinal Vincent Nichols and Bishop Nicholas Hudson host a press conference to talk about a major event in the life of the Catholic Church in 2015. Proclaim '15 is a national evangelisation event taking place on Saturday 11 July at the Birmingham Repertory Theatre. The press conference took place at the offices of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of England and Wales on Tuesday, 7 July 2015.
Press Conference Link
Keynote speech videos from the Birmingham Conference
Can be found at www.catholicnews.org.uk
My Dear Friends,
In 2015 a significant evangelisation initiative called Proclaim ’15 is being launched to support, inspire and encourage new expressions of parish evangelisation. A project of the Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales, it is designed to affirm the good work that is already being done by the Catholic community, and to provide resources and events to profile and develop new expressions of Catholic joy and missionary outreach. A major highlight of what is being offered next year is the organisation of a National Catholic Evangelisation Conference on 11 July 2015.
Proclaim ’15 has five parts:
1. PREPARATION
Parish small group sessions – three evangelisation-themed sessions will be provided for download from mid-January 2015.
2. PRAYER
Network of prayer vigils - parishes are invited to host an evening of prayer on 11 July 2015.
3. EVENT
National Catholic Evangelisation Conference - on 11 July 2015 in central Birmingham for 850 evangelisation representatives from across England and Wales. There is a quota of places allocated to each diocese, with live streaming also being explored to potentially enable every member of the Catholic community to participate.
4. LEGACY
Local events - templates will be provided online to enable dioceses, deaneries and parishes to have their own Proclaim ’15 gatherings in autumn 2015.
5. RESOURCES
New Evangelisation resources – these will also be made available as a fruit of the National Conference to equip parish evangelisation in autumn 2015.
Proclaim ’15 has a practical and ‘how to’ focus because while there is enthusiasm within the Catholic community to share confidently and joyfully our Faith, it can at times be hard to discern where to begin. This initiative aims to address that difficulty and is inspired by Pope Francis’ Apostolic Exhortation, Evangelii Gaudium, in which he writes:
“I wish to encourage the Christian faithful to embark upon a new chapter of evangelisation marked by this joy, while pointing out new paths for the Church’s journey in years to come.”
Accompanying this cover letter is a booklet summarising the content of Proclaim ’15, including an invitation to get involved so that together we can discover, and perhaps rediscover, ways of joyfully sharing our faith as missionary disciples. Please do use and share it with those who may play a role in developing evangelisation locally.
Thank you in advance for your support and please do remember this initiative in your prayers.
Cardinal Vincent Nichols
Archbishop of Westminster
“I wish to encourage the Christian faithful to embark upon a new chapter of evangelisation marked by this joy, while pointing out new paths for the Church’s journey in years to come.”
Pope Francis, Evangelii Gaudium
Cardinal Vincent Nichols Press Conference
Cardinal Vincent Nichols and Bishop Nicholas Hudson host a press conference to talk about a major event in the life of the Catholic Church in 2015. Proclaim '15 is a national evangelisation event taking place on Saturday 11 July at the Birmingham Repertory Theatre. The press conference took place at the offices of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of England and Wales on Tuesday, 7 July 2015.
Press Conference Link
Keynote speech videos from the Birmingham Conference
Can be found at www.catholicnews.org.uk