A message from Fr John

Dear Friends

Good morning

A few different themes this morning. I was impressed that the BBC gave reasonable coverage throughout the day on the Pope’s statement regarding he possible vaccine for Covid-19. It went as follows:

Pope Francis has said the world's poorest people must have access to a coronavirus vaccine if one becomes available. “How sad it would be if access to a Covid-19 vaccine was made a priority for the richest. It would be sad if the vaccine became property of such-and-such nation and not universal for everyone," the Pope said during his general audience.

The pandemic “has uncovered the plight of the poor and the great inequality that reigns in the world”, he said. “On the one hand, it is imperative to find the cure for a small but terrible virus, which is bringing the whole world to its knees," he added. "On the other hand, we must cure a great virus, that of social injustice, inequality of opportunity, marginalisation and lack of protection for the weakest."

Regarding another of the Pope’s themes in Laudato Si:

The Department for Formation is delighted to welcome Sr. Margaret Atkins, CRSA, to present a Talk on The God who speaks through creation on Wednesday 26th August at 7pm. This talk will be delivered via Zoom as part of the series The God who speaks which was to be hosted at the Hidden Gem but postponed due to the pandemic. We hope this will lead to a resumption of some of the other planned evenings.

Sister Margaret Atkins is a Canoness of St Augustine in the community at Boarbank Hall, Cumbria. She is a lecturer and author in Theology with special interest, amongst other things, in the ethics of the environment.
If you wish to hear Sr. Margaret please email formation@dioceseofsalford.org.uk and mark it ‘God who speaks’ in the subject line. You will receive a link for the zoom meeting on the morning of 26th August. Please, for security
reasons do not disclose the code to anyone else.

A propos of which - The Dispensary in Walkden Town Centre is now re-opened (just down the way from Lowry’s). It sells eco-friendly cleaning products of all kinds at a reasonable price - take your own containers.

And a job vacancy at the diocese:

Vacancy - Heritage Project Manager
Heritage Project Manager, St John's Church, Rochdale
Appointment Type: Part time, fixed term contract until May 2021
Working Hours: 14 hours per week, with some flexible working required
Location: St John the Baptist RC Church, Rochdale
Salary: £33,670 per annum (subject to pro-rata)

St John’s Church, Rochdale, situated within the Diocese of Salford, has been awarded round 1, development phase funding from the NLHF to enable the preparation of a round 2 application for delivery phase funding. A successful delivery phase application would enable repairs of this Grade II* Listed Church and a full programme of heritage activities.
Among other things, you will need:

• Previous relevant work experience and a degree or professional project management qualification and/or substantial experience in a similar role.
• Excellent time management and presentation skills with the ability to organise and prioritise the workload to meet deadlines for themselves and others.

Closing date for applications: 12 noon on Friday 4th September 2020

For a full role description and an application pack, please visit: https://www.dioceseofsalford.org.uk/news/vacancies/

For any queries please contact the HR team: HR@dioceseofsalford.org.uk

Let’s please remember to pray for our young people who receive their GCSE results today

St Joseph, guardian of the young, pray for us

Every blessing

Fr John

reasons, do not pass this link on to anyone else.