Archbishop Hollerich has published his annual Lenten letter, which is available (in French) here.

Fr Ed

We have received the following invitation for Safeguarding/Child Protection training; it is an opportunity for members of our parish community to become more aware of the issues around keeping our children and vulnerable people safe:

‘As the Child Protection Officer, I would like to invite you to some of the child protection courses we are running at the school. We have Robin Watts from Kidscape coming out again on the 26-28 March. I wondered if you would be interested in having a few places for any leaders etc from the church? This year, there is a small charge of €100 per company/group to cover some of the expenses of Robin’s visit.
I have several options for you for the Level 1, basic training, that really, all people should have who work with children:
Wednesday 26th March: 8.30-11.30
Friday 28th March: 8.30-11.30 or 12.30-3.30
Robin Watts, from Kidscape, is very well-known on the international circuit for his child protection training. As an ex-police officer working with victims of child abuse etc, he has working knowledge and experience of child protection and aims to ensure that all people who work with children are aware of how to recognise child abuse, how to prevent it and how to support victims.’

This is an opportunity for myself and members of our parish community to make sure we are aware and up-to-date when it comes to Safeguarding. If you are able to attend one of the sessions, please let me know and we can make a group enrolment. The parish can cover the necessary expenses.

Draft Safeguarding Guidelines: see the item below posted here in October 2014. Suggestions for improving the draft guidelines are always welcome.

Thank you.

Fr Ed

For over a year our Parish Council has been working on Safeguarding: seeking a strategy and practical guidelines to help ensure that children, young people and vulnerable adults are protected, and that catechists and others who work in our community are equally protected. This task has proved challenging, given the particular nature of our parish, the geographical spread of our community members and the variety of cultures and church backgrounds we all come from. However, the challenge must be met, and at our recent Council meeting (22nd October) we agreed to publish draft guidelines for Safeguarding. These do not represent a fully developed strategy, but the first, necessary steps towards such a strategy. It is vital that this draft is considered, reflected upon and discussed in our community, and suggestions for improvement are invited and welcomed. When we do have what we consider to be a developed strategy which we wish fully to implement, we will then pass it to the archdiocese for approval, and publicise it for all who are part of, or visitors to, our community.

It would be helpful if suggestions (proposed amendments, additions or subtractions) followed the following format:

1. Your name; any particular experience/expertise you might have (eg. parent, teacher, carer, experience from previous parish/diocese)
2. Your suggestion/s (what you think should be added, taken away or amended)
3. The reasons for your suggestions (to help us understand the concerns you are addressing)
4. Any other comments and observations.

Your comments may be emailed to me, to any member of the Parish Council, or handed in at the sacristy.
To repeat: this text is a draft, an early stage in our formulation of a policy; as such, it is necessarily inadequate. We must begin somewhere, however, in formulating a policy that is ‘best practice’ and suited to our particular situation; transparency in this is essential, and your help greatly appreciated.

Safeguarding Guidelines (draft 1)

Thank you.  Fr Ed

This coming Wednesday, 18th February, is ASH WEDNESDAY. As announced, celebrations of Mass with Imposition of Ashes will be celebrated at :

07:30 (English)
12:15 (FR/SP/EN) followed by a bowl of soup
18:15 (FR)
19:00 (English)

Each Wednesday of Lent, the 12:15 Mass will be celebrated, followed by a bowl of soup and bread.

All Masses at St Alphonse, rue de Capucins, centre-ville.

The Telstar scouts are holding a sale of second-hand goods on 21 March from 10:00 until 14:00. More information on the flyer.

At the FNEL Headquarters: 61A Rue de Trèves, L – 2630, Cents Luxembourg.

Donations of items welcome — De-clutter and help a good cause!

Fr Ed

Many thanks to the choir and musicians from the Latvian community who joined us for Mass on Sunday and gave a concert afterwards — some of them had flown in especially to sing at St Alphonse. The musicians were joined at Mass by our own music group, and the result was truly inspiring and uplifting. In spite of the snowy conditions, many people stayed from the concert and were delighted they had done so. So thank you again to all involved, and ‘until the next time!’

Fr Ed

Previous post:

I attended the rehearsal yesterday evening for today’s Mass and concert (details below). I highly recommend the concert, and I know the music at Mass will be extra special. If you’re not snowbound (conditions centre-ville are fine) do come and enjoy the musical feast and special Mass.

Fr Ed

‘Gentle and lowly of heart’ is the title of a concert of Latvian folk songs which will take place in the church of St Alphonse at 12:20 on Sunday 1st February. The concert, organised by a member of our music group, focuses on the image of God which permeates Latvian folk songs. The musicians playing at the concert will also be playing alongside our own Music Group at the 11:15 Mass on the same day — something that promises to be a musical feast, and something which further enhances our Sunday worship. Entry is free, and there will be a freewill collection towards expenses, and to help fund an art and music project in the European School called Identity — exploring cultural identity amongst Latvian students.

Fr Ed

A flyer for the concert can be found here:

Further information on Latvian folk music, the ‘kokle’ instrument, and the musicians, can be found here.