Peace be with you!

I do hope that you have managed some time for rest and refreshment over the summer. If not, then I hope that you have some planned soon! Time for rest, prayer, reading and refreshment with family and loved ones is a gift of re-creation.

Looking back over the past few months there has been much to encourage and strengthen us and our life together.

A consistent joy has been confirming new Christians across the See. Encountering them and hearing them give an account of the hope that is within them, their hope in Christ, never fails to delight. Thank you to all who are involved in the vital ministry of catechesis and the formation of new Christians. As I reflected on in my last Ad Clerum, this is an essential ministry, particularly one for lay people to be actively involved and engaged with as part of their lay apostolate.

In June I was privileged to ordain a deacon: Fr Michal Kmet. The ordination mass was celebrated on a scorchingly hot summer evening in Leicester Cathedral. It was wonderful to see so many of the Richborough Family from across the Diocese gathered there to support Fr Michal and to pray for him as he was ordained to serve his Title in the parishes of Scraptoft and St Chad’s.

Fr Ben Almond was also ordained to the Diaconate in Norwich Cathedral this Petertide and is serving his Title in All Saints’, Kings Lynn and St Peter West Lynn. Please continue to also hold him and these parishes in your prayers,

Later this month, September 27th 2025, it will be a joy, God willing, to ordain Fr Jeff Graham to the Sacred Priesthood. The ordination Mass will be celebrated in his Title parish of St James, Colchester, at 2pm. Please pray for Fr Jeff as he prepares for his ordination.

The Walsingham Youth Pilgrimage was, as always, a joyful and exuberant week of catechesis, worship rooted in the daily celebration of mass, and the wonder of pilgrimage. Our Lady did indeed welcome us to her home in England’s Nazareth, as she has welcomed countless pilgrims across the centuries. She continues to point us to her Son, in whom we find fulness of life and joy and peace. This pilgrimage is a great gift to all of us who live out our vocation as Catholic Christians in the Church of England and I would strongly encourage you to bring any young people to it next year. The dates for the diary are 3rd-7th August 2026.

Evangelisation of our young people continues to be a priority for us all. Attached with this Ad Clerum is a poster/flyer on the ‘Encounter Conference’ which will take place at the Shrine of Our Lady of Walsingham from 7th-9th November. It promises to be an excellent and affordable weekend for anyone involved in ministry with children, youth, and families, in an Anglo-Catholic context. Please promote it appropriately in your churches.

Following on from the Youth Pilgrimage we gathered in Portsmouth for a regional Richborough festival. The Assumptiontide ‘Stella Maris’ Mass in Portsmouth Cathedral was a beautiful celebration and a great witness to our Catholic life and faith. Concluding with Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament followed by afternoon tea at Holy Spirit, Southsea, we all returned home full of faith and cake. Thanks be to God, and to all who offered hospitality and worked to ensure that this was such a happy occasion.

The next regional Richborough festival will be an October Devotion to Our Lady on Saturday 18th October 2025 in St Mary de Castro, Leicester. There will be a concelebrated Mass at 12noon at which Fr Ben Eadon CMP will preach. After a picnic lunch (please bring your own) we will conclude the day at 3pm with the Rosary and Benediction. Advice about travel to St Mary de Castro can be found at the end of this letter.

If you would like to concelebrate the Mass then please follow the link to the Form confirming your attendance and that you are licensed/PTO https://forms.office.com/e/RpfnZ34UVt?origin=lprLink

Amidst the festivals, confirmations, ordinations, pilgrimages and patronal festivals the vital work of attending to the appointment processes and pastoral needs of our clergy, ordinands, faithful and parishes continues.

When a parish vacancy is advertised the advert features on the See of Richborough Facebook page and also on the See of Richborough website. Please keep an eye on these and share the adverts with clergy you know who may be discerning a possible move. It may also be that you are thinking of a move to a different parish.

When we are discerning the next steps in priestly ministry the first thing to do, of course, is to pray. It is also important to talk with me as your Bishop so that I can support and guide you, knowing both you and the needs of the parishes that are looking for a new priest and pastor. Don’t hesitate to be in touch. Please be assured of my prayers, too, each day as we seek to be faithful to the Lord’s call in our life and ministry.

It is in prayer that we are close to one another in the Lord. You are all remembered each day, with thanksgiving, atthealtarasIofferMassprayingfortheneedsoftheSeeandtheclergyandpeopleI serve.

Please do remember that there is also a monthly opportunity to join together, clergy and people, in praying Compline via Zoom. This is at 8:30pm on the first Thursday of each month (except August). The link is https://us05web.zoom.us/j/82530656559?pwd=Y8l6lbidn34pJl0UlNSrZvpFKSb50a.1 and I hope that you can share this with your faithful through your usual parish newsletters/mass sheets etc The next Compline will be this Thursday, 4th September.

Looking ahead, I am planning the 2026 diary. The pattern of visiting dioceses/regions for several days at a time seems to be working well but it’s also important to get particular dates or events into the diary to help shape the pattern and rhythm of the year. If you would like me to join you for a patronal festival, confirmation, parish mass or celebration, please don’t hesitate to be in touch with me or with my PA, Claire Rumbold.

Claire works part time Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday (9.30 am to 2.30 pm) and can be contacted via email on office@seeofrichborough.org.uk or on 07447 103358.

As I write this Holy Cross Day is approaching. For those of us who are brothers of the Society of the Holy Cross there will be Chapter Mass and fellowship. I am mindful that the Rule (3 vi) exhorts the Brethren to “take every opportunity to adore the presence of Christ in His Blessed Sacrament so that their lives might be permeated with a tremendous reverence towards this mystery of faith.”

At an ordination mass in St Peter’s Basilica on 27th June this year Pope Leo emphasised the importance of Eucharistic adoration in his homily to the ordinands about to be ordained priest. May his words encourage and strengthen us, renewing in us our first love for the One who has called us to serve him who has loved us to the end:

Love God and your brothers and sisters, and give yourselves to them generously. Be fervent in your celebration of the sacraments, in prayer, especially in adoration before the Eucharist, and in your ministry. Keep close to your flock, give freely of your time and energy to everyone, without reserve and without partiality, as the pierced side of the crucified Jesus and the example of the saints teach us to do. Remember that the Church, in the two thousand years of her history, has had – and today continues to have – wonderful examples of priestly holiness. From the earliest communities on, the Church has raised up priests who have been martyrs, tireless apostles, missionaries, and champions of charity. Cherish this treasure: learn their stories, study their lives and work, imitate their virtues, be inspired by their zeal, and invoke their intercession often and insistently! All too often, today’s world offers models of success and prestige that are dubious and short-lived. Do not let yourselves be taken in by them! Look rather to the solid example and apostolic fruitfulness, frequently hidden and unassuming, of those who, with faith and dedication, have spent their lives in service of the Lord and their brothers and sisters. Keep their memory alive by your own example of fidelity.

“Under God, in the power of the Cross, all things are possible and in this Sign, conquer!” With my constant prayer and every blessing,

Travel to St Mary de Castro

St Mary de Castro is on Castle View, Leicester. LE2 7BY

By Car:
On street parking near to the church is limited both in availability and time allowed. Multi storey car parks are expensive.

Leicester City provide a number of Park and Ride Services. The best two for travel to St Mary are:

Meynell’s Gorse
Ratby Lane, Leicester LE3 3LF Bus service 103

Enderby (next to Junction 21 motorway M1)
Leicester Lane LE19 2AB
Bus service 203

For both services alight at Jubilee Square, St Nicholas Circle. (The church is a 300yds walk)

Journey time 20mins. Cost £4.85 (Bus pass £1) Group fares up to 5, £6. Buses every 15 mins from 7.00am to 7.00pm

By Train:
There is a free bus service from the Railway Station. Alight at Jubilee Square, St Nicholas Circle.
The bus runs every 10 mins and is a circular route round the city centre (one direction only) Its called the HOP.