As members will know the church has just finished the first gathering in Rome of the Synodal process. At our BGM we thought it valuable to reflect on what is happening in the church and the implications for CPW.

A Zoom session for anyone who has been unable to attend a regional meeting to discuss the first part of the See, Choose, Act Process. Please register on the website and discussion material will be sent out nearer the time.

In 2023, Pope Francis and the rest of the bishops will be meeting in Rome to discuss synodality, and the whole church is invited to contribute ideas.

AMOS: A Prophet For Today? Old Testament prophets not only warned of God’s anger at institutional corruption on the part of religious and secular powers. Amos is especially known as the prophet of social justice.

Church in Motion: Facing up to racism - The pitiless murder of George Floyd in May 2020 compelled attention to the racism embedded in all parts of society. A year later, England footballers were jeered by their own fans for taking the knee - jeers which some defined as a reaction against “identity politics”. After the tournament’s final, three young England players - Marcus Rashford, Jadon Sancho and Bukayo Saka - were racially abused.

As our year of celebration for the first 75 years of CPW comes to a close, we will take time to consider our discoveries together in the two preceding years of study: in 2019 we examined our understanding of Priesthood in its many forms - in community, celebration, ceremony, prayer, parenting, symbol and play. In 2020 and 2021 we will be responding to prophetic voices and listening for our own call.

Our first event of 2021 will be a Candlemas lecture with Paul Vallely, author of Philanthropy: From Aristotle to Zuckerberg. Paul will talk about his new book and what we can learn from history that can help inform our understanding of modern philanthropy and our thinking about where it should go in the future.

Our 2020 Autumn Lecture will be given by Professor Monica Grady, Professor of Planetary and Space Science at the Open University. A practicing Catholic, Prof Grady will speak about the dialogue between Science and Faith.

This is CPW’s first non-residential Autumn Lecture. We hope that this new annual lecture will further enrich our educational offer to existing members, whilst also extending our appeal to new audiences. Our first Autumn Lecture will be delivered by Mike Kane, Shadow Minister for Schools and MP for Wythenshawe and Sale East.