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Aid to the Church in Need Annual Mass and Hope Without Fear event: Westminster

Aid to the Church in Need Annual Mass and Hope Without Fear event: Westminster

Father Michael Shields of Magadan in Russia and Bishop Eduardo Hiiboro Kussala of Tombura-Yambio in Sudan

16 October 2010 10:30

Westminster Cathedral
Ambrosden Avenue
London
SW1P 1QW

Over 400 Aid to the Church in Need benefactors were at the annual Westminster Event on Saturday 16th October – the feast day of Saint Margaret Mary Alacoque – to hear messages of thanks and inspiration from the suffering Church.

And if you missed the event – or you would like to hear our guest speakers again – you can listen to all the talks on this page.

At the event, Bishop Eduardo Hiiboro Kussala of Tombura-Yambio in Sudan underlined growing tensions in the run-up to what he called “a delicate moment, an historic moment” –  the referendum on possible secession of South Sudan from the north.

Listen to Bishop Hiiboro’s keynote address

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Bishop Hiiboro asked Aid to the Church in Need's benefactors to join in a prayer crusade for peace being organised in Sudan in the run-up to next January’s referendum.

He said: “We call again for your friendship – the land is still in need of peace.”

Bishop Hiiboro went on to thank Aid to the Church in Need for its work helping the Church in Sudan, saying how his own seminary training and doctorate had been partly funded by the charity.

He said: “I want to pay tribute in a very special way to the friends and benefactors of Aid to the Church in Need, so many of whom have come here today.

“When I think about Aid to the Church in Need I think about the Good Samaritan, the one – the only one – who helped the person that had been left abandoned and forgotten.”

Guest speakers and clergy grouped together before Mass at the Westminster event on Saturday 16th OctoberBishop Eduardo Hiiboro Kussala of Tombura-Yambio, Sudan, celebrates Mass at Aid to the Church in Need’s annual Westminster eventBrigid O'Neill, an appealer for Aid to the Church in Need, reads Bidding prayers during the Mass in Westminster CathedralFather Michael Shields reads at Mass in Westminster Cathedral on Saturday 16th OctoberFather Michael Shields reads the Homily at Mass in Westminster CathedralFather Michael Shields signs his book, Martyrs of Magadan after the talks of the Westminster EventAid to the Church in Need staff prepare the trading stall, awaiting ordersFather Michael Shields with John Pontifex, ACN Head of UK Press and InformationBishop Eduardo Hiiboro Kussala of Tombura-Yambio, Sudan, inspiring benefactors with his talk at Aid to the Church in Need’s annual Westminster eventBishop Eduardo Hiiboro Kussala of Tombura-Yambio, Sudan, speaking at Aid to the Church in Need’s annual Westminster eventThe audience listen to all of the Hope Without Fear Event keynote speakers in Westminster Hall

Guest speakers and clergy grouped together before Mass at the Westminster event on Saturday 16th October

Bishop Eduardo Hiiboro Kussala of Tombura-Yambio, Sudan, celebrates Mass at Aid to the Church in Need’s annual Westminster event

Brigid O'Neill, an appealer for Aid to the Church in Need, reads Bidding prayers during the Mass in Westminster Cathedral

Father Michael Shields reads at Mass in Westminster Cathedral on Saturday 16th October

Father Michael Shields reads the Homily at Mass in Westminster Cathedral

Father Michael Shields signs his book, Martyrs of Magadan after the talks of the Westminster Event

Aid to the Church in Need staff prepare the trading stall, awaiting orders

Father Michael Shields with John Pontifex, ACN Head of UK Press and Information

Bishop Eduardo Hiiboro Kussala of Tombura-Yambio, Sudan, inspiring benefactors with his talk at Aid to the Church in Need’s annual Westminster event

Bishop Eduardo Hiiboro Kussala of Tombura-Yambio, Sudan, speaking at Aid to the Church in Need’s annual Westminster event

The audience listen to all of the Hope Without Fear Event keynote speakers in Westminster Hall

Also addressing Aid to the Church in Need’s benefactors at both events was American priest Father Michael Shields, who for 16 years has worked in Magadan, a former gulag town in Siberia.

Listen to Father Shields’s talk

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Father Shields spoke of “the inner conversion of the heart” which had taken place in Magadan and how the Church had helped rehabilitate gulag survivors, who had previously been marked with a social stigma.

Describing his first meeting with the survivors, he said: “I expected no one to turn up because of the stigma – not only for them but for their families.”

But a number did come and now, thanks to Father Shields’s pioneering work, those who were seen as enemies of the state are hailed as heroes and survivors of fierce oppression.

Afterwards, Aid to the Church in Need’s UK Director Neville Kyrke-Smith gave a first-hand report about the Church in Ukraine – a key area of the charity’s project work.

Listen to Neville Kyrke-Smith’s talk on Ukraine

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And the charity’s UK Head of Press and Information, John Pontifex, spoke about the conditions of Christians in Pakistan.

Listen to John Pontifex’s talk on Pakistan

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Earlier in the day Bishop Hiiboro presided at Mass in Westminster Cathedral and Father Shields preached the sermon.


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