A Call to Restore Holy Days To Their Mid-Week Dates in England and Wales

To:  Cardinal Cormac Murphy O'Connor and The Bishops' Conference of England and Wales

Your Eminence

As you know, as from the first Sunday of Advent 2006 three of our beloved Holy Days in England and Wales – Epiphany, Corpus Christi, and the Ascension were moved from their weekday dates and are now celebrated on the nearest Sunday.

We know that Mass-attendance on many of these days is low, and that you hope that by moving the dates of the feasts you may improve people’s “understanding of these mysteries of the life of Christ”. However, it is our belief that merging these great feasts with the ordinary Sundays, will only serve to make people’s faith more mediocre and luke-warm. The move is “not the sort of thing to inspire anyone” as one parish Priest – former Anglican minister – said.

Holy Days during the week help build our identity as Catholics; God and the Faith are brought into our every-day lives, our colleagues and friends see that we are going to Mass. A Holy Day is a 'holy day', a time when we can build our relationship with God and unite ourselves with all other Catholics; militant, suffering and triumphant.

In many Catholic schools where religious education is often poor and there are often non-Catholic students, an occasional Mass on a Holy Day is the only good Catholic teaching some children might receive.

In today’s religious atmosphere, with the rise of fundamentalist religions; we respectfully suggest that this move is not pragmatic as it weakens people’s Catholic faith and identity at a time when they are needed most. A time when they are needed to stay strong against attempts to convert us, and against slanders thrown at us from every angle, such as 'The Da Vinci Code'.

It is to that end, that we humbly petition Your Eminence to restore the Holy Days, which have been moved.

Yours in Jesus and Mary

Sincerely,

The Undersigned

The A Call to Restore Holy Days To Their Mid-Week Dates in England and Wales Petition to Cardinal Cormac Murphy O'Connor and The Bishops' Conference of England and Wales was created by and written by Nicholas Griffiths (n.e.griffiths@btinternet.com).  This petition is hosted here at www.PetitionOnline.com as a public service. There is no endorsement of this petition, express or implied, by Artifice, Inc. or our sponsors. For technical support please use our simple Petition Help form.

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