This Sunday has been appointed as " Schools Sunday " in the diocese of Nottingham. The Vicar Capitular, Mgr. Charles Payne, has ordered special sermons to be preached on the schools crisis, and has given permission for Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament in the evening.
He has also directed the parish priests to form a Parents' and Electors' Association in every parish. " This," he writes, " is a lay organisation under the direction of the Vicar Capiiillar, and his ecclesiastical representatives the parish priests. Two representatives of each parochial association should be elected as soon as possible to the Diocesan Central Committee, so that an early meeting can be called. Where feasible, parishes or deaneries should combine to form joint councils. All parents and electors," adds Mgr. Payne, " are invited to become members of the Association, as are also non-Catholic sympathisers. particularly if they are the husbands or wives of Catholics."
In an accompanying letter, addressed to the parish priests of the Nottingham diocese, the Vicar Capitular declares: " Section iv, paragraphs 41-62, of the White Paper on Educational Reconstruction may crush our schools by imposing impossible financial burdens. The Nottingham deanery is holding a public meeting from which a resolution will he forwarded to the President of the Board of Education. in the Albert Hall, Nottingham, on Thursday, septenther 9 next. The speakers will be the Bishop of Leeds, Dr. Halliday Sutherland and Mr. S. F. Spratt. The Vicar Capitular will be in the chair.