Raymond Friel OBE
@friel_raymond
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Speaker & writer | Catholic Social Teaching | Leadership | Spirituality | Visit website for booking enquiries | Hon. Prof. @YourStMarys | CEO of @CSANonline
South West, England
Joined January 2017
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Pinned Tweet
“Returning hate for hate multiplies hate, adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid of stars. Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.”
Dr Martin Luther King Jnr.
#RefugeesWelcome
#HopeNotHate
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Primary headteachers are amazing. They’re often the designated safeguarding lead, data protection officer, a subject lead, experts in curriculum, assessment, and early social skills. They’re on the gate, know every child and family and know how to fix the boiler as well. Etc....
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Happy birthday to Pope Francis, who is 86 today. His papacy has been a remarkable gift to the Church, showing us the Gospel path of humility, service and graced encounter.
#PopeFrancis
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Pope Francis is 87 today. May God grant him a little more time to help the Church on its path of reform. Happy birthday Papa Francesco.
#PopeFrancis
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"Children who are loved at home, come to school to learn; those that aren't, come to school to be loved."
From a headteacher a while back and it stayed with me. For many children, going back to school this week is a return to a stable and loving environment.
#backtoschool
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Young people who are loved at home come to school to learn; those who are not, come to school to be loved, and they ask for this in unconventional and sometimes challenging ways.
Every time I share that insight with staff in school it’s met with wholesome agreement.
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Today I received my OBE medal from King Charles III. It’s been a great journey, a lot to be thankful for, a lot to look forward to, but for now we’ll raise a glass!
#grateful
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Well, I am chuffed to be awarded an OBE in
#NewYearHonours
for services to education, but this is all about my family and everybody I’ve worked with in Catholic education. It’s always a team effort. Thanks for all the kind messages. Happy new year.
#NewYear2022
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We’re so sad tonight. Our dear old dog, Mabel, was put down today. Such a gentle friendly presence in our lives and so much part of the family. We were all in bits, as those who have these companions in their lives will understand.
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A prayer please for our school leaders today, who will be standing under a tidal wave of guidance for full opening in September. It will grate against what they know is workable in a school, it will bring stress. The good people leading our schools need support and prayer today.
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Schools are becoming key hubs of the common good, re-stitching the torn fabric of community. So resource them as such and don’t judge them solely on academic performance. And pay attention to their context. And show them some love.
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Lord, I’m 60 today! How did that happen? No matter. I’m still here, still enjoying life, still grateful.
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Those who are loved at home, go to school to learn.
Those who are not, go to school to be loved, but often ask for love in the least loving way.
Since I heard a wise and wonderful headteacher say this it has always stayed with me.
#edutwitter
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Then the boy from Greenock got a medal from the King!
Official photo. We had a great day, thanks for all the kind messages.
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Let nothing
disturb you,
let nothing
frighten you.
All things
are passing;
God
never changes.
Patience obtains
all things.
Whoever has God
lacks nothing;
God alone suffices.
St Teresa of Avila
#WednesdayMotivation
#Prayer
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In the Catholic tradition, we pray for the ‘repose of the soul’ of those who have died. Today we offer a prayer for the 126,172 people who have died of Covid in the UK (as of 23 March). May they rest in peace and may we comfort and support those who grieve them.
#COVID19
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Teachers are not ‘whingeing’ when they talk about increased workload. All my meetings this week tell the same story: they’re teaching pupils in school, adapting resources for online, increased pastoral and safeguarding issues, dealing with technical problems, parental concerns..
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This is the moment for Catholic Social Teaching. We need a deeper understanding of the common good, of our interconnectedness, of the dignity of being human, of the preferential option for those on the margins. Or before much longer the new normal looks sadly familiar.
#Covid
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In prayerful solidarity this evening with all our school leaders, teachers and support staff who are preparing for a new term in the most difficult of circumstances. They need all the support they can get, a kind word on here is a start.
#schools
#NewYear2022
#StaySafe
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Night Prayer
May the knots
of this day
loosen
May the storms
of this day
pass
May the wrongs
of this day
wither
May the good done
take root
and last
#Prayer
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Tomorrow is the 60th anniversary of the opening of the Second Vatican Council, that extraordinary movement of the Holy Spirit through the Church which is still being worked out, not least in the synod process and our understanding of governance. Thank God for its inspiration.
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A prayer for Pope Francis, who has been admitted to hospital in Rome for “scheduled surgery.” His health and energy since taking office has been remarkable. Please God he continues for several more years.
#PopeFrancis
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“A Church that doesn’t provoke any crises, a gospel that doesn’t unsettle, a word of God that doesn’t get under anyone’s skin, a word of God that doesn’t touch the real sin of the society in which it is being proclaimed - what gospel is that?”
St Oscar Romero, pray for us
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My prayers are with the headteachers especially this evening. I know that feeling so well, the knot in the stomach at the return to work for a new term, a break that passed too quickly, challenges ahead I never had to deal with. A prayer for you my friends, stay strong.
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Nobody is “scum”, no matter what they stand for, if you’re serious about the foundation of Catholic Social Teaching, which is the dignity of the human person made in the image of God. That’s all human persons. You don’t need to agree, but that dignity is non-negotiable.
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My new role has been announced today. Delighted that next April I'll be the new CEO of Caritas Social Action Network
@CSANonline
. Cannot wait to work with such an inspiring network of people on the front line combating poverty and injustice.
@iamCARITAS
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Hearing of churches opening as a 'cool sanctuary' in the heatwave to rough sleepers, the vulnerable, people in flats that are hard to cool down. A simple offer of welcome, respite, water, toilet facilities, human contact. This is a good space for the Church to be.
#heatwave
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One of my son’s best friends is transgender. I’ve been so impressed by the careful and sensitive way he talks about his friend and the way they’d like to be known. To me it’s non-judgemental attention to a friend, a person, a child of God. He’s teaching me now.
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May those who died in the waters of the Channel today rest in peace. May those who arrive on our shores receive a welcome that befits their dignity as human beings.
“We need a system that builds bridges, not walls.”
@JRSUK
@CaritasDio
@CaritasWestm
@CaritasSalford
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Today was my last day in Catholic education after 31 wonderful years. Off to a different part of the vineyard
@CSANonline
but very much want to keep in touch with our schools and all the great work that is done on social justice and forming agents of change. With heartfelt thanks
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New print by my wife, Janet. She’s so talented. I tell her, we all tell her. We just need her to believe it!
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This is how fake news travels - you appoint yourself as the spokesperson for a global community and then tell them how they’re feeling. I for one, Eric, refute your characterisation of the Catholic community. I for one am saddened by this desecration. I for one support the pope.
The spontaneous explosion of joy Catholics around the world are feeling today over the drowning of the Pachamama idol is due to decades of pent-up frustration at our leaders for refusing to stand for Christ and His Church and instead bowing at the altar of Diversity and Dialogue.
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Never quite got why any Catholic school or parish would be celebrating
#BonfireNight2022
. It’s not just ‘a bit of fun’. It has deep roots in anti-Catholic bigotry, which is undisguised in some parts of the UK.
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A campaign is underway to “ignore” the Synod on Synodality. This is a dangerous moment. I believe that the Synod is the work of the Holy Spirit, the fulfilment of Vatican II in the Catholic Church. The future of the Church. I see its fruits in my own parish.
#CatholicTwitter
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About this time on a Friday a few years ago I had a last quick check of work emails, and there was a nasty one waiting for me. The interior ‘conversation’ it generated destroyed the weekend. So my top tip this evening, dear friends, is leave the work emails alone. It’s downtime.
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Possibly the best birthday present ever....a linen jacket made for me by my wonderfully talented wife. Feeling very blessed, and well dressed, in a casual kind of a way.
#grateful
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Dear staff in Catholic schools, as you prepare to welcome back the pupils tomorrow, remember that you are a living mission statement. You can have what you like on the walls and the brochures but it’s the pupils’ experience of dignity, which you mediate, that’s the real mission.
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Thirty years married to Janet today. Best thing that could’ve happened to me. So grateful.
#love
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Dear friends in leadership: many of you have shared the phenomenon of the Sunday evening ‘knot’ of anxiety, the dread of stepping back into the storm. This in solidarity, you’re not alone. You know you can do this, and within five minutes tomorrow morning you’ll remember that.
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My next job has been announced. From September I’ll be interim CEO of the Diocese of Westminster Academy Trust. Looking forward to working with those great schools and coming back to
@RCWestminster
where it all started for me 30 years ago this September, in London W10!
@JPAMDG
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Good to hear a homily this morning not slating the secular approach to Christmas. People with no religion have an instinct for light in the darkness, a desire to love and belong, a need to celebrate. To dismiss it all as godless consumerism misses the point.
#sundayvibes
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My new book on Catholic Social Teaching has arrived! A huge thank you to the team at
@Redemptorist
for all your work on this. It looks and feels great. I just hope the content helps folk to get to know this rich teaching, and examples of inspiring practice.
#CatholicTwitter
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I had a message from a headteacher saying I'll get that to you over the weekend. I said please don't, you need a break. All our school staff need a break, they're exhausted. It's been such a draining, demanding year. Look after yourselves good people. To your health.
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May the knots
of this week
loosen,
may the storms
of this week
pass,
may the wrongs
of this week
wither
and the good done
take root
and last.
#FridayThoughts
#education
#weekend
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A prayer this evening please for our school leaders, teachers and support staff as they prepare to welcome back 8m pupils in England tomorrow as most prepare for lockdown. They do a remarkable job in creating a joyful ‘normal’ for the pupils and still manage to teach.
#education
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When I’ve been low, or grieving, or just at the end of my tether, every single kind word or message, no matter how small, has helped, sometimes out of all proportion. Never underestimate the power of a kind word. Right now I think a lot of people need that.
#BeKind
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#Twitter
never sleeps. Neither does the liturgy of the Church (Divine Office). Wherever the sun is rising, somebody, some community, is saying morning prayer. Not for their own needs, but for the the world, praising God in union with the Word made flesh.
#monday
#nunsoftwitter
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Secondary headteachers, you’re amazing too, but in a different way. I look at this as a former secondary head and I’m in awe of what a really good primary head covers in a typical week. People in ‘industry’ have little idea of the range of skills involved. Hats off to the heads
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Next writing project bubbling up. Catholic Social Teaching: An Introduction. Think there’s a need for a short, accessible way in for the folk in our schools, parishes and charities. Then signpost the programmes and bigger volumes. What do you think? Collaboration always welcome.
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Let us mourn the loss of every Israeli life.
Let us mourn the loss of every Palestinian life.
Every person is made in the image of God, with intrinsic worth and dignity.
Love insists on peace and justice, not revenge.
There is no peace without justice.
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The new book has landed! Not the final word on anything (what book is?) so if you get round to reading it, please join the conversation. I hope it helps in some small way to deepen faith and encourage loving action in difficult times. From
@Redemptorist
. Royalties to
@CSANonline
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Just been stopped by a man (maybe mid 50s) standing outside a closed takeaway. He asked when it opened, “Cos I can’t read like, mate,” he said pointing at Opening Hours. Kind of got to me. This is why we teach, and do our level best to help people to fullness of life.
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"I imagine that the first question which the priest and the Levite asked was, 'If I stop to help this man, what will happen to me?' But the good Samaritan reversed the question: 'If I do not stop to help this man, what will happen to him'."
Martin Luther King Jnr
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This weekend’s gospel, the story of the rich man and Lazarus, speaks so strongly to our moment. The rich man feasts, Lazarus starves at his gate, ignored. No trickle down to help him. In the vivid scenes from Hades, it’s clear God condemns such injustice, as the prophets did.
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“I feel that, within me, I have the vocation to be a priest.”
St Thérèse of Lisieux
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Memo to the next Prime Minister: fund the NHS, fund education, fund social care, commit to ending poverty and starvation in this country, give workers dignity, take care of the earth our common home, give us a vision for human flourishing and the common good.
#Leadership
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Today is the feast of St John XXIII, of happy memory, the so-called ‘safe pair of hands’ Pope who was inspired to convene the Second Vatican Council, which opened on this day in 1962.
St John XXIII, pray for us, pray for the Church.
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Tomorrow morning, the leaders I know will do what they do every Monday morning: navigate normality, crisis and complexity with as much grace, wisdom and moral integrity as they can. On a Sunday evening, please pray for them. This is a tough time to be a leader.
#leadership
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A “Vatican II Catholic” is what we used to call a tautology, saying the same thing twice. Vatican II is mainstream magisterial Catholic teaching. Those who say otherwise are the ones who are pulling away. And doing damage in the process.
#CatholicTwitter
#CatholicChurch
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Woke has its roots in scripture. Stay awake, be alert to injustice, be ambassadors for the breaking in of a new world view, a new way to be human and be together. I’m suspicious of those who use woke to dismiss all that would challenge (their) entrenched privileges.
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Can’t say I’m a great fan of Holydays of Obligation being moved to the Sunday. You lose the Ordinary Sunday and you lose the traditional celebration. 15 August is the Assumption, it’s ingrained.
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Keeping vigil at my mother’s bedside as she prepares for her final journey into eternity. Pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death has never meant more than right now.
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Today is the feast of St Thomas More and St. John Fisher, martyrs who did not bend to the will of a king. Executed within days of each other in 1535, they were canonised together in 1935. It is a narrow gate that leads to life.
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Being a husband is what saved me from myself. On the feast of St Joseph, thank you to my wife for lifting me out of a young man's drama of self-absorption. When you realise that your life is not about you, you've got a chance to live a life.
#grateful
#StJosephsDay
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On this day 2013, Jose Maria Bergoglio was elected Pope. Asked if he would accept, he said, “Although I am a sinner, I accept.” He took the name Francis, after St Francis of Assisi. Among his first comments was a desire to see “a poor church, for the poor.” God bless the Pope.
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Pope Francis has reinvigorated my faith and my belief in the Church in the last ten years. I thank God for him and pray he is with us for a few more years. He has put his finger on how the Church needs to reform and grow to be more faithful to the Gospel.
#CatholicTwitter
I ask you to accompany my journey to Marseille with prayer. This journey coincides with Recontres Méditerranéennes which hopes to promote avenues of collaboration and integration around the mare nostrum paying special attention to the phenomenon of migration.
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It’s taking its toll on this brave man, on all the brave men and women and children of
#Ukraine
- Mother of God protect them from this butchery.
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My heart goes out to the headteachers and school staff dealing with tough child protection issues late on a Friday. The job has never just been about teaching, but about caring, stepping into trauma, adult behaviour, and that takes its toll. Rest up good people.
#edutwitter
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Where has the time gone? We were married twenty-nine years ago today. We’ll go out for lunch and raise a glass to the blessings of this life.
#grateful
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Our young people at
#WYD2023
this week have shown us that Catholicism - joyful, prayerful, in communion with the Pope - is alive and well, with good news for the world, despite the disinterest of most of the media and the snarling minority in our own ranks.
#CatholicTwitter
The sound of 1.5 million young people kneeling in silent prayer in front of Our Lord in the Eucharist!
#catholic
#eucharist
#wyd23
#worldyouthday23
#WorldYouthDay
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We lost our way as a Church on the dignity of life. For so-called progressives it was all about life after birth, for conservatives it was all about life before birth. We need to patiently re-weave the ‘seamless garment’ of the dignity of life from womb to tomb.
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Let nothing disturb you,
let nothing frighten you.
All things are passing away:
God never changes.
Patience obtains all things.
Whoever has God lacks nothing,
God alone suffices.
St Teresa of Avila
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There are lots of fine people in industry of course but they generally have little idea about the leadership involved in the care, education, formation, supervision, support, mentoring, coaching, in loco parenting of hundreds of young humans in the same space every day.
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I’m with
@GaryLineker
on this one. He has every right as a concerned citizen to speak out against the dreadful Illegal Migration Bill. Fair play to
@IanWright0
for his solidarity. This Bill is not who we are, we are better than this.
#GaryLineker
Gary Lineker to step back from presenting Match of the Day until agreement reached on social media use - BBC statement
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Today, as well as the feast of the Archangels, is also Michaelmas, one of the ‘quarter days’ marking the end of harvest, the turn to winter and colder days, the need to gather in, protect, look out for the vulnerable ones. Saints Michael, Gabriel and Raphael, pray for us.
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Today is Pentecost Sunday. Those who receive the Spirit are sent out to proclaim a new way of being human, being together, founded on forgiveness, compassion and justice.
#PentecostSunday
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Today is the solemnity of All Saints. In the Catholic tradition, the saints are our inspiration, friends of God who intercede on our behalf.
Who is your ‘go to’ saint and why?
I’d start with St Oscar Romero, champion of the poor, who spoke truth to power.
#AllSaintsDay
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Delighted to be appointed as Honorary Professor
@YourStMarys
. I’ll be teaching Catholic Social Teaching on the MA programme. Teaching on a Saturday, so no impact on my role with
@CSANonline
or my freelance work. Taking bookings now for spring and summer 2025.
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I thought of a few things I might say. When the time came, I just said, “Grazie, Papa Francesco.” Because for me he has led the way again to the conversion of the Church inspired by the Gospel.
God bless the Pope.
#CatholicTwitter
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Today is the tenth anniversary of the election of Pope Francis. Pray for him, as he asked us to, that he will be inspired to continue to lead the Church on the path of renewal. Ad multos annos.
#PopeFrancis
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I won’t be handing back my OBE, not because I don’t have any issues with the British Empire, but because I’m honoured that (yet another) Catholic educator has been recognised by the British state. Janet and I will be at Windsor Castle next month in our best bib and tucker.
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On this day in 2013, Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio was elected Pope Francis. Let us pray for the Holy Father, that he is given the strength to lead the Church through the second Synod on Synodality and on into Jubilee 2025. God bless the Pope.
#PopeFrancis
#CatholicChurch
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Today is the feast of St John Bosco (d. 1888). A Catholic priest who dedicated his life to the education of street children in northern Italy who suffered due to the impact of industrialisation. Founder of the Salesians, he developed teaching methods based on love, not fear.
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A lot of schools don’t break up until this week. Last few days of term, in a heatwave, at the end of this year of all years. Some serious love and attention needed for all the good people in our schools. A prayer for them, of your charity.
#mondaythoughts
#edutwitter
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May the knots
of this week
loosen
May the storms
of this week
pass
May the wrongs
of this week
wither
May the good done
take root
and last.
#FridayThoughts
#Prayer
#weekend
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Words ‘deleted’ by the Oxford Junior Dictionary in 2015 as irrelevant to modern childhood: acorn, bluebell, conker, dandelion, fern, heather, heron, lark, nectar, otter, pasture, willow.
What we cannot name we will forget.
#intent
#curriculum
#vocabulary
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Still meeting a lot of Catholics who have never read or heard of the social encyclicals of the popes, in other words Catholic Social Teaching. Here’s a list of the main ones. Gaudium et Spes (Vatican II) highlighted as it’s the highest teaching authority of the Church.
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Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI has died. He was a great gift to the Church for his intellect, his spirituality, and for his courage, not least for resigning when he knew he did not have the strength to continue as pope. May he rest in peace and rise in glory.
#PopeBenedictXVI
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Delighted to find out today that my forthcoming book on Catholic Social Teaching has been granted an Imprimatur (a bishop’s declaration that a book is free of doctrinal error). Means a lot to me and hopefully provides schools and parishes some extra assurance when considering it.
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Thirty-one years ago today, Janet and I said “yes” to each other. Thank God for the life we’ve had and its blessings.
#grateful
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To the staff in our schools, it must feel as if you've been back a month. The way you've coped with everything that's come at you this week has been extraordinary. Thank you. Time to get offline, rest up, recharge. To your health!
#schoolsreopening
#education
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Congratulations to Jamie (our eldest) and Cat, married today. Love them, love our new daughter-in-law.
#Family
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Our parish church is now closed to Mass and private prayer. I’ll miss going but I think it’s the right call. The situation is worse than it was in the spring but this lockdown is much looser. We can lead by example where we can. We can be fed from the table of the word
#lockdown
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Happy Easter friends, believers and non-believers and all those in between. All us believers are asking for is some space in the public arena to be able to tell an extraordinary story of good news, about a new way of being human, a new way of belonging.
#Easter
#HeIsRisen
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Our lovely mum died this morning, fortified by the rites of the Church - Ellen Friel, born in Greenock 2 May 1933, wife to Frank (1930-2010), mother to Raymond and Martin, grandmother to Jamie, Callum and Euan. Rest in peace much loved, beautiful spirit.
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I’ve taken down the Judas Iscariot post. It was overheated because this is personal to me. A dear friend of mine died by suicide when we were at university. A brilliant, beautiful soul. I know he rests in the bosom of our loving Father.
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Caritas Social Action Network’s statement on yesterday’s fiscal statement by the Chancellor. Please share if you support the content.
@CSANonline
#minibudget2022
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