NEWS IN BRIEF

'ME SHIP for Poland' appeal launched hr Aid to the Church in Need has collected more than El 0.0110 from British Catholics. The proceeds will go towards providing food for those hardest hit by current shortages in Poland.
THE VOLUNTEER Centre, a national advisory agency, warned this week that too much emphasis on the needs of the disabled may obscure the tremendous potential they have to help others. .4 spokesman said that many disahled people were involved in work "which nor only builds on an infinite variety of human skills and talents. but which sees people as resources to each other, not as bundles of problems to be dealt with as efficiently as possible".
CHRISTIAN Aid is asking people to 'Soak the Poor as it prepares to launch a mammoth fund-raising campaign to mark the 25th Christian Aid Week, which runs from May 11 to 16. The slogan seeks to highlight the need for water to make crops grow and to improve health and hygiene in the Third World. It also pleads for a more generous attitude from the rich countries.
BISHOP Thomas McMahon of Brentwood stressed the importance of helping small Catholic communities to worship together on a local basis, when he addressed the public meeting of the Guild of Our Lad). of Ransom last Friday. The bishop spoke with warm appreciation of the grants made by the Guild to support small parishes and pointed out that as parish priest of Stock in Essex he had often been one of the beneficiaries. The meeting was to have been chaired by Archbishop Derek Worlock of Liverpool but he was unable ot attend because of pressure of other engagements. Bishop Patrick Casey, the retired bishop of Brentwood. took the chair.
BENEDICTINE nuns of Cockfosters in north London will hold a weekend of prayer, work and discussion_ for young women -between the ages of 18 and 30 who are interested in the monastic life. Details from the Priory of Our Lady Queen of Peace, Priory Close, London N14 (01-449 83361.