Cirencester Agricultural college proved to be an inspired choice for the 2004 National Conference providing not only good food and excellent facilities but also the use of the beautiful chapel for our Masses. In turn Cotswold Serra Club supplied us with excellent speakers, Fr Dermot Power, Sr Amadeus Bolger, Fr John Reville, Fr Kevin Dring and Dwight Longenecker Retreats for Priests ¡V Fr. Dermot Power Fr Dermot Power was instantly recognisable as a charismatic, if somewhat eccentric, speaker who held the whole conference spell-bound with his talk delivered entirely without notes. As he moved around the front of the hall those nearest to him may have felt a little nervous while those further back probably congratulated themselves on their foresight He compared his retreats for priests to taking them into the desert for a time of prayer. He became their teacher as Jesus had taught his disciples, leading them to spiritual renewal. Our priests, like Mary (sister of Martha), need to spend time listening to the Teacher hence the requirement to go on retreat once a year, a period fundamental to their survival. Ministry to Seminarians ¡V Sr. Amadeus Bolger It may have come as a surprise to discover that Sister Amadeus has been a part of the Staff at seminaries, in Spain and in Rome, for some ten years, actively involved in the training of our future priests. Her ministry is to befriend the students, listen to them compassionately and assess their attitude to life and then leave the rest to God. As an independent observer she tries to appreciate the individual`s call, his personal relationship with Christ and his capability to love. According to Sister the students fall into four groups „X Those with a good understanding „X Recent converts „X Those with minimal knowledge of faith „X Those with rigid understanding Not all of these groups will be likely to go on to be priests. As the seminarians go on into parish life she looks for the ability to give good homilies, enthusiasm and being ready to act as servants of the people. Ongoing formation of Priests ¡V Fr John Reville There is low morale among some priests, this may be due to loneliness, stress of a heavy workload, damage caused to their standing in society by recent revelations and lack of opportunity to get together with their fellows. Priests leaving the ministry only serve to aggravate this situation. The need to address this problem was recognised by the Council of Priests in the 1990s. They recommended that diocese appoint a Personal Director for Clergy. Clifton Diocese accepted this idea and Fr John Reville was appointed. They also recommended the appointment of a team of counsellors comprising another priest, a doctor, a therapist and a trained counsellor. Fr John refers to this group as The Safety Net. Fr John`s own work includes setting up quarterly study days for priests ordained in the previous two years, organising monthly meetings of priest groups, arranging an annual retreat and organising regular courses for priests and deacons. The Barnabas Society ¡V Dwight Longenecker In the late eighteen hundreds at the time of Newman`s conversion it was expected that a lot of Anglicans would come over to the Catholic Church. Many of the possible problems were foreseen, particularly those of married Anglican clergy, and the Converts` Aid Society was set up to help. When Rome refused to recognise the validity of Anglican Orders the expected wave dwindled. However, in the late nineteen hundreds many men left the Anglican ministry and the renamed Barnabas Society was there to help. Many men had to find new homes and new jobs. The society helped by paying rents and helping to educate the children This sort of help is available to convert clergy and religious from any Christian denomination. Dwight himself is a married convert clergyman.

Mary, mother of Vocations ¡K. After much searching of the Vatican Archives, it has been discovered that Pope Paul used this form of address for Our Lady. We therefore have a precedent and so, from now on, we can address Our Lady in these terms. ¡K. pray for us

. the editor is delighted to announce that this edition of ¡§focus¡¨ is one of the first to have been produced entirely from outside contributions. He is grateful for the inputs of Gerald Murphy, John Westlake (and his photographer wife) and John Rowlands and the author of the following letter: To the Editor Dear Sir I have great difficulty in understanding the worry you express in the Editorial of the August edition of Focus Serra GB Serra Intenational`s first objective is the fostering of Vocations to the Priesthood and the Religious Life, and all members acknowledge and respect this. Nor can any semantics with a concluding `s` affect this in any way. We live in an age when the idea of commitment has been put on the back burner. The first call of Baptism is to Holiness and Service. We have three alternatives, we can accept the call, reject it or be indifferent. Those who accept will have a strong commitment to their vocation, the indifferent are there to be worked on ¡V is it not here that Serra should have an input/ If we can see our work as gardeners, preparing the soil so that the seed of vocation may flourish, then it is a matter of finding how we can best fertilise the soil that is yielding a poor crop. If we in Serra help to encourage everyone to respond to their baptismal call the garden would be revitalised and a prize-winning array of priestly and religious vocations would spring forth. Yours faithfully Jack Andrews NOTE All items submitted are subject to editing

2004 INTERNATIONAL CONVENTION Theme: A confluence of Cultures and Serra`s mission Some leading points taken from major speakers at the convention Cardinal Justin Rigali Homily at opening mass Serra has a very special relationship with the Pope, the Vatican and the Church, because of the importance of its relationship to priesthood, and because of its work and prayers for the encouragement of vocations to the priesthood and the religious life. Cardinal Francis Arinze Keynote speaker The Church does not reject any culture but it accepts that all cultures have good and bad aspects. We must welcome the good and fight against the bad. Christ`s call is for all cultures and all cultures are open to the Gospel Small families do not produce vocations. Contraception and abortion militate against vocations. Bishops who care for their priests are more likely to get vocations than those who do not. Bishops who have good and recognisable structures for their priests to work in will do better than those who run a more liberal ship. Seminaries should be orthodox and spiritually motivated. Those who cannot fit in should be rejected even in times of shortage. Serrans should not see their work as being for their Bishop but for the Universal Church. Prof. Fr. Mark Gruber OSB A main session speaker The study of human nature is in effect the study of the different cultures of man and, as such, is a sacred science The problems of our present adolescents are different from those of their ancestors, and from those of other cultures in other countries. But there are common threads. Many of them are retaliations against the rigidity of life that pertained at the beginning of the last century. Life-long promises or commitment are no longer acceptable anywhere. A famous model for our youth today is Britny Spears. She has entered marriage and there is a child of that marriage. There is another child by another man, and yet another man is now in tow. And she is just out of her teens! The universal norm is one man and one woman, we all arrived here that way. Creating a family is what God made us for. Marriage is no longer working ¡V [in the USA] less than 40% of family units with children are based on marriage. We no longer see procreation as a beautiful thing. Sex for its own sake has become all important. We have become a market-driven society. We are educated to seek everything we desire. Restraint is outlawed. The father figure is undermined. Free choice is everything. We must forever replace what last year was the best with what this year is seen as better. To adopt one thing for life limits choice. We Catholics appear, to the society in which we live, to be advocating non-acceptance of the way society is travelling. We are against divorce, living together outside marriage, euthanasia, abortion, gene therapy and gene development. Our Media is a great advocate of these changes and, therefore, against the safeguards we aim to achieve from our politicians. The way to achieve support for our views is to sell them positively and not be seen as always criticising negatively. We need to take support from the fact that there are more than just ourselves who are unhappy with many of the signs of the times

A TREASURE CONCEALED Part 1 Serra Club of South Lancs For many years this club has been very concerned about the content of the Religious Syllabus in our schools. The most recent reminder of the legacy we have inherited came after reading the article written in the May edition of Focus by Rev Stephen Ferns. Many of us will also recall the talk given at last years National Conference by Fr Kevin Dring of the National Office for Vocation. Is the RE Syllabus responsible? In the recommendations of Pope John Paul ll to the Northern Bishops on March 26, 1992 he stated o Pupils` experience cannot be set in opposition to the handing-on of the Church`s doctrinal tradition o Religious Education must include catechesis o Respect for non-Catholic children should not alter the fundamental nature of the school`s identity o The New Catechism of the Catholic Church is a further gift of the Holy Spirit to the Church. Quite recently we became aware of a book entitled A Treasure Concealed written by Frederick Taylor, a retired Head Teacher of a Primary School. He has very professionally written a full account of how the hierarchy`s decisions have affected so much of what is taught in our schools today. To quote from his final chapter, The Way Forward, ¡¨The New Catechism of the Catholic Church, available now in English, is a surprisingly easy read. Clear and well-indexed, it can be used by Catholics in any walk of life to check on things they read and hear, and broaden their knowledge.¡¨ The aspects of our religion most readily understood, to which we can most easily relate, are those to do with our neighbour. (¡§Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.¡¨) The obvious reason is that they are about people. We grow up in families, we meet lots of other people at school, in college, at work and at leisure. The Gospels provide a guide and framework for relationships. To be continued