A letter from Calais

Seeing refugees as our sisters and brothers Fr Dominic Howarth gives his latest update after a visit to Calais with an entirely new crew of young volunteers from Basildon and beyond. “They each approached it with apprehension but soon found that refugees are as normal as you and I, goodhearted, hard-working people, caught in hideous

St Mark’s celebrates 50th anniversary with Bishop Alan Williams

  St Mark’s West Essex Catholic School is celebrating its 50th Anniversary this academic year and, as part of the celebrations, Bishop Alan Williams SM visited the school on 5th May to celebrate Mass for Years 7 & 8 and to meet staff, governors and pupils. He also met members of the Student Council and Student

Bishop faces challenging questions at Grays Convent

On Wednesday 11th May Grays Convent welcomed Bishop Alan, accompanied by Fr Brian O’Shea, parish priest at Grays, to the school. The school’s media officer, Amy Chapman, said: “We gave Bishop Alan a tour and he seemed to really enjoy meeting the girls and our wonderful staff. The day ended with a beautiful celebration for the 36 young people

Church welcomes prison reform ideas in Queen’s Speech

The Rt Rev Richard Moth – the lead Bishop for prisons at the Catholic Bishops’ Conference – has welcomed the announcement of prison reform legislation in the Queen’s Speech.   “This is a remarkable opportunity to place reform and redemption at the heart of our prisons. It is only through a properly resourced system focussed on genuinely