HOME NEWS IN BRIEF

Choirboy
THE Choirboy of the Year Competition will take place on October 13 after the finalists have been selected from regional heats. The winner will win £2000 for his choir and £250 for himself.
Church/City Partnership
THE Bishop of Birmingham will outline plans for a commission made up from Church leaders and local experts to tackle the problems of the city. It is hoped that the commission will produce a report in the Autumn of 1988.
New Provincial
THE new Provinelai Superior of the Divine Word Missionaries in Britain is Fr Bede Smith. Fr Smith was previously Prefect of the Seminary in London.
Joe Gladwin
JOE Gladwin, alias Wally Batty in Last of the Summer Wine, died last week aged 82. Joe, originally from Manchester, was made a papal knight for his charity work, and leaves a widow, Lily.
Herald Cartoonist
DENIS Tegetmeier, cartoonist for the Catholic Herald in the 1930s and son-in-law of Eric Gill, died last week at the age of 91. He became a Catholic in 1922 and leaves a wife and six children.
Married Priests
Support for the abolition of compulsory celibacy is increasing, according to the Movement in the Ordination of Married Men. The movement shows an increase in membership from 120 in 1982 to 450 last month. The movement suggests that the ordination of married men would go a long way to resolve the problem of the shortage of priests.
Football Final
THE Newman College Five-aside football team have won through to the final of the Knights of St Columba National Competition. The team is undefeated in both local and provincial rounds and beat Our Lady!s Youth Club, Blackburn, and Barrow Youth Club in the semi-finals.
Heritage Awards
CARDINAL Basil Hume will present the Sandford awards for Heritage Education in the Cathedral of St Alban, Hertfordshire, on Tuesday 31 March.
NUS and abortion
THE National Union of Students Conference will see 5 "Independent pro-Life" candidates standing for election this week at its annual meeting in Blackpool. 200-300 pro-Life students are expected to march against the present NUS policy and to demand that the union adopts a "no policy" stance on the issue.