All together now for the NPC

We were very surprised by the headline "Westminster 'goes it alone' on NPC" in your otherwise valuable News Analysis of April 6 on the National Pastoral Congress.
The NPC is an opportunity for all parts of the Church to evaluate their effectiveness, discover local needs and assess future priorities, and through this to rediscover our enthusiasm for serving Christ together. What is being done in Westminster is entrely consistent with these objectives.
We are not "going it alone". What we are attempting is to prepare for the Congress in a way which enhances local pastoral activity.
The value of the Congress will be in the way it encourages honest thinking, humble sharing and renewal at the local level. Our chief concern, with that of the whole Church, is to follow the guidance of the Spirit to discover God's will.
As needs and priorities vary from place to place, the Westminster bishops decided it was more consistent with the objectives of the Congress to have different preparations in each of the five pastoral areas of the archdiocese. On top of this is the extensive Programme involving organisations and "fringe groups" in the diocese.
And there is a programme to involve young people, which will include an invitation from tic Cardinal to every fifth and sixth former in Catholic schools in the diocese to participate in the Congress preparations. Also, most youth clubs attached to parishes arc being approached.
The real difficulty facing all diocesan co-ordinators is how to reach those Catholics on the edge of the Church who do not come to meetings. who do not belong to organisations or even to a parish, Do any of your readers have any suggestions for this?
Finally, you raise the question of what happens if through our diocesan report Westminster draws up an agenda of priorities totally different from the rest of the country. We do not see this as a problem. We are confident that the NPC committee will define the topics for discussion at the Congress in a way which opens debate rather than closes it.
And our diocesan delegates will have six months to study the report and prepare themselves for the Congress itself. They should be able to apply the content of the report to whatever topics the Congress is considering.
For example, if we have been discussing the effects of living in tower blocks, we might have something useful to contribute from this point of view to a discussion on marriage breakdown, or even on the role of religious! In any case, we certainly will have a lot to learn.
Fr Gerard Barry James Pitt Co-chairmen, Westminster DiocesAn Co-ordination Group for the National Pastoral Congress.
London, NI.
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