Wrightington St. Joseph’s stood in need of priestly assistance that Sunday, and so the two morning Masses, plus the Baptisms, became part of my duties. As usual, It was a privilege to be able to preside at these quite wonderful, Godly moments. Lunch was a 10 minute affair, because at 2.00 pm a group of 20 of us were due to prepare a beautiful, and simple, four-part song that we hope to perform on Saturday 26 October, at Hope University; it was entitled: “We believe in Love”. We learnt it, and sang it with enthusiasm and joy, because it was based on a saying of the girls, during the bombing in Trent, North Italy, during the Second World War, 1943, a meeting that became the origin of the Focolare Movement. The Spirit that God generated in them has since spread throughout the world; that same spirit affected all of us, learning the song, some seven decades later.  Should they have died under the bombing raids, they were adamant in wanting on their tomb-stone those simple words: “We believed in Love” – so simple, yet so profound!

The year 2013 marks the Golden Anniversary of the Focolare Movement, in Liverpool, and Hope University will host the Celebrations; it is, perhaps, significant that Hope University  was the seat of learning at which Chiara Lubich received an honorary degree, January 2008, in Divinity, for the contribution of the Focolare Movement: “to the life of the Church, to peace and harmony in society, to the unity of Christians of different denominations, and to dialogue and understanding between religions”.  On 26 October, Professor Pillay, the Anglican Vice Chancellor of Hope University, who presented Chiara Lubich with her degree, will give a talk on the contribution of Chiara Lubich and the Focolare to the future of the Church – all part of what is sure to be a joyous day.

Chiara Lubich (left) and some of her first companions in the 1940’s

In the middle of our joyful and lively experience, that Sunday, the telephone rang and a friend and parishioner told me: “The school is on fire on Royal Avenue”. This, of course, is the location of our High School, so I quickly rang the Head Teacher and off I went.  What followed was a devastating experience watching the school burn down in front of my eyes, despite the calm, professional, hard-working fire-fighters doing all they could to contain, and control, the fire – 145 of them, with at least 15 different fire engines, and innumerable other items of equipment. Their job was nigh impossible! However, their valiant efforts saved one third of the school buildings. The teachers present, and myself, wept – if not externally – certainly internally. It was like seeing a friend being killed, before our very eyes. Respite came late that Sunday night, after watching the fire for so long.

St Mary’s Catholic Technology College Leyland on fire

“We believe in Love”! On that day, as I saw the School burning, I could not help but think of Syria and the wicked use of chemical weapons on the people of Damascus. How much burning there is in that war – lives lost, too – without any of the calm professionals who came to help us. Many die from fire, and other ghastly things, in war, and to what end? What was the point of this fire, tragically started by some young lads? In our case, nobody was injured, nobody died. School buildings, that had just had £250,000 spent on them, were destroyed – yes! Bricks and mortar, plus contents went up in smoke. In Syria, at least 100,000 have died, many more have been injured and there are in excess of two million refugees – a tenth of the population of some 20 million people.

That same day, Pope Francis at his Angelus message, spoke out strongly against further violence in Syria. I would suspect that, all over the world, the suffering of the Syrians over the past two years is searing the hearts of men and women of every religion (and none). It certainly tears my heart apart and the hearts of many I meet. His Holiness was very forceful:

“Today, dear brothers and sisters, I wish to add my voice to the cry which rises up with increasing anguish from every part of the world, from every people, from the heart of each person, from the one great family which is humanity: it is the cry for peace! It is a cry which declares with force: we want a peaceful world, we want to be men and women of peace, and we want in our society, torn apart by divisions and conflict, that peace break out! War never again! Never again war! Peace is a precious gift, which must be promoted and protected….. My heart is deeply wounded in particular by what is happening in Syria and anguished by the dramatic developments which are looming……

How much suffering, how much devastation, how much pain has the use of arms carried in its wake in that martyred country, especially among civilians and the unarmed! I think of many children will not see the light of the future! With utmost firmness I condemn the use of chemical weapons: I tell you that those terrible images from recent days are burned into my mind and heart.

 May the plea for peace rise up and touch the heart of everyone so that they may lay down their weapons and be let themselves be led by the desire for peace.

To this end, brothers and sisters, I have decided to proclaim for the whole Church on 7 September next, the vigil of the birth of Mary, Queen of Peace, a day of fasting and prayer for peace in Syria, the Middle East, and throughout the world, and I also invite each person, including our fellow Christians, followers of other religions and all men of good will, to participate, in whatever way they can, in this initiative.”

At the same time, I am touched by the generosity of so many in our local community, who want to help us in the aftermath of our dreadful fire. Parents and children are worried – and so are the teachers! There has been so much work, behind the scenes, and it is good news that is proposed, but not yet finalised.

Generosity breeds generosity, and we at St. Mary’s, propose a day of fasting and prayer, on Saturday, alongside the whole world for Syria. We will have a vigil, in Church, from 7.00 pm until midnight, this at the same time that Pope Francis will be praying.  All are welcome, and we will try to make it as light as possible.

Finally, the following images of the cross, salvaged from the entrance of our burnt-out school, and the little statue of the desolate Virgin Mary the only thing left in the teachers’ staff room, give a profound meaning to what underlies all these tragedies: they show the reason why all of us are invited: “to believe in Love”.

The Remains of the School Crucifix and Statue of Our Lady, Desolate

 Father Jonathan