Newsletter, Christmas 2012

STOP PRESS ROME PILGRIMAGE FOR FAMILIES AND GRANDPARENTS We have information from a very reliable source in the Vatican that the pilgrimage for Families in Rome to be arranged over 26th and 27th October 2013 will include Grandparents as divinely instituted and very important God-given members of the family He goes on to make this public statement which he has authorised us to use in our publicity material “In recognition of the important work and apostolate of the Catholic Grandparents Association, the Pontifical Council for the Family has invited us to join in this pilgrimage, as well as ask our Founder and Director, Ms. Catherine Wiley, to represent the association in all the preparatory meetings for this pilgrimage which are being held and directed in Rome by this Holy See Dicastery.” We feel very honoured and encouraged by this recognition of the Catholic Grandparents Association that this be given to us at such a high

level in the Church

AYLESFORD Hundreds of Grandparents and their families gathered at Aylesford

Priory on July 14th. This day of Faith and fun was the result of months

of preparation by Fr. Graham Preston and a dedicated team from the

CGA and the Dioceses of Arundel & Brighton, Brentwood, Southwark

& Westminster. Two well attended workshops were led by Katherine

Bergin and Phil Butcher and Catherine Wiley, Founder of the CGA,

spoke of the important role that Grandparents play in Passing on the

Faith. Bishop John Hine (Chair of the Bishops Committee for Marriage

& Family Life) presided over Mass which he concelebrated with Bishop

Kieran Conroy. Beautiful singing was provided by two schools from

Southwark & Brighton

KNOCK Our 6th Pilgrimage to Knock took place on 9th September and as

always drew a crowd of thousands including two coach loads from the

Union of Catholic Mothers in Scotland - their National President,

Agnes Long read a prayer. Fr. Benny McHale was chief celebrant and

gave a wonderful homily. We were privileged to have Bishop Bill

Murphy with us. Very special guests were four generations of the

Lambert family including Michael, 104 years young

PALM BEACH

The 4th American Grandparents pil-

grimage was celebrated in Palm Beach

Florida on August 20th. Archbishop

Gerald Barbarito spoke warmly about

the vocation of Grandparents and it was

a happy family day shared by around

300 Grandparents and families. Special

acknowledgement is due to Janice

Petersen and her dedicated team whose

hard work made it all possible

CARFIN Bishop Emeritus Peter Moran led the 2nd pilgrimage to the shrine of Our

Lady at Carfin in Scotland on 19th August. Hundreds of Grandparents and

their families shared a lovely afternoon of prayer and thanksgiving. We are

delighted to announce that His Eminence Cardinal Keith O’Brien will lead

the Scottish Grandparents pilgrimage on 18th August next year. Heartfelt

thanks to Una Delaney and her team for all they are doing to promote the

CGA in Scotland

OUR LADY’S ISLAND

Our “first” pilgrimage to Our Lady’s

Island in Co. Wexford took place on

June 30th. This initiative came from

CGA member, Joe Lambert who this

year was awarded a Papal medal for

his services to Eucharistic Adoration -

Congratulations Joe!

PILGRIMAGES

Fr. Gerard Condon in an article to be purlished in the ‘Messenger of St. Anthony’ says -

“The pilgrimages are occasions of rest and renewal where the Grandparents’ vocation to hand on the Faith would be

celebrated and encouraged

In June we attended the International Eucharistic Congress in Dublin, where

Catherine addressed over 1,000 delegates both clergy and laity, from every

corner of the globe. Her inspiring and passionate speech entitled “Will our

Grandchildren be Catholics?” which received a standing ovation, can be

purchased on CD from the CGA Office in Westport (00353 (0) 98 24877) price

€10.00 (incl. P&P)

WALSINGHAM Bishop John Hine led the 10th Grandparents pilgrimage at Our

Lady’s Shrine in Walsingham on July 22nd. Again hundreds of

Grandparents and their families enjoyed a lovely day of

celebration. As always a central feature of this special day was

the crowning of Our Lady’s statue by the children

MALTA

The first pilgrimage in Malta

took place this year on 20th

July at the shrine of our Lady

of Mellieha. Our heartfelt

thanks to our CGA member,

Stephen Gatt and his wife

Georgette for organising the

day and to their son-in-law

for designing their beautiful

banner

Other European

Grandparents

pilgrimages took

place this year in

Croatia on June 14th,

Slovakia on July 12th,

Fatima & Brittany on

July 26th &

Slovenia on

September 8th

SPREAD OF THE CATHOLIC GRANDPARENTS ASSOCIATION

In May of this year our founder, Catherine Wiley was invited to give a presentation at

the three day World Family conference in Milan which was attended by clergy and

laity from all parts of the world. It was a wonderful occasion and really made us

appreciate the universality of the Catholic Church. It was a great opportunity for us

to meet people from all over the world and to make contact with many who would be

influential in helping the CGA to move forward

As a result of being present at these two international meetings,

we now have contacts everywhere with clergy and laity

clamouring for the CGA to be established in their area. Special

mention is due to Carmel & Bernard Righetti who are establishing

the CGA in Australia under the patronage of Cardinal George Pell.

We are truly grateful to them The world is starting to realise the

enormous power for good of the vocation of Grandparents in the

Passing on of the Faith

In September and November Catherine was invited to meet

with the Pontifical Councils for the Family and the New

Evangelisation. These meetings were very fruitful and our

heartfelt thanks and appreciation go to Archbishop Fisichella,

Monsignor Carlos Simon Vazquez, Monsignor Graham Bell,

Monsignor Riccardo Mensuali and Father Victor Ghio who

are working closely with us to promote the work of the CGA

and to increase the awareness of the great vocation of Grand-

parents particularly in the transmission of the Faith

The Pontifical Council for the Family are launching a new

website on 21st December in conjunction with the CGA.

This will help make Grandparents and “elders” aware of the

enormous contribution they make to the Church, Family and

Society at every stage of their life

OTHER NEWS

Our sincere congratulations go to Fr. Richard Gibbons on

his appointment to be Parish Priest of Knock shrine as suc-

cessor to Mgr. Joe Quinn. We look forward to working

with Fr. Richard as we prepare for our 8th annual Grand-

parents pilgrimage which will take place on Our Lady’s

birthday, September 8th 2013 when our keynote speaker

will be Sr. Briege McKenna. We expect a capacity crowd

so better book your bus now !!

Fr. Philip Graystone of the

Marist Fathers in

Walsingham who celebrates

his 92nd birthday in March

has been a rock for Cath-

erine since before the CGA

started and continues to be

so giving of his wisdom and

advice whenever he is asked

- and sometimes when he is

not! Sincere and heartfelt

thanks to Fr. Philip for all

his assistance to us.

We have a new website

www.catholicgrandparentsassociation.org

Check it out for news of what’s happening

around the world

EWTN have completed a series of six pro-

grammes entitled “The 3 Wise Women!” featur-

ing Catherine Wiley, Dana and Kathy Sinnott.

These will be screened early next year. Very

entertaining and informative. Watch this space!

We are very privileged to

have been given permission

by the Vatican, to use the

Logo for the Year of Faith on

our stationery. We encourage

all our members to recite the

Creed every day during this

wonderful initiative of Pope

Benedict XVI

We take this opportunity to say a

huge “Thank you” to Cardinal

Sean Brady for his support, to all

the Bishops who welcomed us to

their dioceses and to the many

priests who invited us to speak in

their parish and are keen to see the

CGA established in their area

If you would like Catherine or

Maire to come to your parish,

please call us on 00353 (0) 98

24877 or email us at

catholicgrandparents@gmail.com

THANKS Catherine and Maire wish to extend sincere and heartfelt thanks to all those faithful members of the

CGA in Westport who have been unstinting with their time and talents in helping to design and

manage our Grandparents shop. Your help is appreciated more than you will ever know.

To Clara Donnelly and Katherine Bergin and all the Marriage & Family Life teams in England who

have done so much to spread the work of the CGA, including the pilgrimages, masses and

workshops in Bristol, Stockport & Leeds

Finally to all our members who support us with prayer and donations throughout the year. May the

Christ Child fill your hearts and homes with love and peace this Christmas and throughout 2013

FUNDRAISING Our warmest thanks go to Maudie McGing, Ann Corcoran and

Teresa Conway and their sponsors for running the

mini-marathon to raise much needed funds for the CGA - the

total collected was €860.

During the year we accepted

invitations to speak about the CGA in

many parts of Ireland and beyond e.g.

Kerry, Mullingar, Cork, Stockport,

Leeds, Glasgow, Dublin, Navan,

Carlow, Ballinrobe, Waterford

Our thoughts and

prayers go out to the

families of all those

who died in the recent

shootings in

Connecticut

especially to the

Grandparents

“May Our Blessed

Mother fold her man-

tle around them and

give them comfort”

Cardinal Sean Brady said

“I would like to see a branch

of the Catholic Grandparents

Association in every parish in

Ireland”

The CGA is the only organisation totally devoted to passing on the Faith. It is a volunteer based organisation and we rely completely on your contributions to help you and us in this valuable work. Please give generously

Catholic Grandparents Association, Castlebar Street, Westport, Mayo , Ireland Tel: (+353) 098 24877 www.catholicgrandparentsassociation.org Registered Charity: 19038