It’s wonderful that so many Poles who are presumably devout Catholics are among us, but will they remain devout for very long in our society, and is the answer to offer them separate Churches?
One of the most commonly talked about topics in the Catholic Church in England and Wales today is the large number of recent immigrants, many of whom are Catholics. Of course, Catholic immigration is nothing new in Britain: some London parishes boast of having speakers of over 100 languages, and have become skilled at celebrating their diversity both in the liturgy and around the meal table. Today there is scarcely anywhere that is untouched by the presence of Polish workers, Filipino nurses, Chinese students, and asylum seekers from various countries, and the Church is beginning to ask what are the implications for the Gospel.
Any question connected with evangelisation is both simple and complex. It’s as simple as the initial proclamation by Jesus of the kerygma: “Repent and believe the Good News for the Kingdom of God is at hand.” It’s as complex as all the ways in which Jesus, in his earthly lifetime, and his Spirit, through the Church, has unfolded its implications across the centuries and within each culture.
When I was beginning work as a parish priest and getting thoroughly into the swing of things in a lively suburban London parish, a woman from Malaysia stopped me in my tracks by commenting how dead the parish seemed to her. Back home, she pointed out, the singing is lively, the sermons last half an hour at least, and Catholics have a tangible joy in living and sharing their faith. More recently I was similarly challenged by a young man from Eastern Europe who had joined one of the new movements here and was organising a series of meetings. When I inquired as to their purpose, he replied: “The conversion of England, of course.”
It is easy to smile at the simplicity of these voices, but behind the smile is our painful realisation that the Western Church is declining in numbers and often lacking in vitality, yet faithfully reflects the kind of society we live in: complex, confused and unsure where it is going or whether it even has any shared values which would take it on a common journey. Looking around we see churches in other parts of the world that suffer poverty, persecution, and many problems we do not have, but are vibrant, confident and growing. Their life we admire, their simplicity and black-and-white attitudes we feel ambiguous about.
Through increased immigration these other churches are very much with us in Britain, and that raises many questions for us. Here are just a few, selected at random:
These questions are just the tip of the iceberg and you will be able to think of many more. Perhaps they can be summed up in the following single question with four elements:
How can we create evangelising communities where we can:
By Mgr. Keith Barltrop, Director of CASE
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