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Twin Parish

Please click here for the Twin Parish Newsletter July 2007 & August 2007 Read about the Twin Parish in Spanish Visit the Twin Parish website

Carols Fiesta raises £1394.05
Dear Friends at Westminster,
I am most grateful for all your goodness to my mission parish. You have done so much to help us with the church, the convent, the religious education centre and so many other things. If it were not for you and your efforts, we would not be enjoying the use of these facilities.
Your donations on behalf of the meal programme for children are also greatly appreciated and I will apply your recent cash gift to the children. We are proud and grateful to be considered a “Twin” to a great cathedral in the heart of London!
Sincerely, Fr. Tom Oates.

Twin Parish DVD at Gift Shop & Kitchen
A 15-minute narrated slideshow on DVD from Fr. Tom Oates in Ecuador presents us with a challenging though engaging model for parish life. See photos of the consecration of our Twin Parish church. The disc is available from the Cathedral Gift Shop and the Cathedral Kitchen for a £5 mission donation.

While our feast goes on
Parish priest Fr. Tom Oates is planning to move the old pre-fab chapel to a more remote, yet fast-growing part of the parish. This will open up space for a proper parish hall, canteen and residence for the two Spanish lay missioners Ancelea and Josefina. Their home suffered much water damage over the winter, which was exceptionally stormy. The mission team and Mother Teresa Parish have promised to keep us in their prayers.

	8000 attend consecration Our Twin Parish in Ecuador hosted the consecration of their church on 18 December 2005. It was an unforgettable day of food and games, prayer, music and ethnic dancing. Our monetary contributions built 5 catechism classes that are just opened. Fr. Tom Oates sent the Cathedral a handsome Bible stand to thank us. It’s now in the sacristy. To contribute, simply place your gift in a clearly marked envelope and deposit it in any of our donation receptacles.

“twins” is a partnership between Westminster Cathedral and Blessed Mother Teresa Parish in Guayaquil, Ecuador.

* We pray for one another
* We stay in touch
* We give material help

I met Fr. Tom Oates on a retreat several years ago. He’s an Irish-American priest of the Missionary Society of St. James. Fr. Tom has served in Bolivia for 7 years, and now for 2 years in Ecuador. I got to visit his new parish and was deeply impressed.

The parish is located on the outskirts of a city of 2 million people. It’s a barrio, where people have been arriving from the poorer countryside in hope of finding work. They come to the Church in a most vulnerable state of heart, and Fr. Tom and his parishioners are really doing all they can to help them to be at home in their new surroundings. Two lay volunteers from Spain Josefina and Ancelea and the Missionaries of Charity (Mother Teresa’s nuns) help bring the Good News to these needy people. In addition, the local parishioners teach catechism and run a canteen where 125 children get a free hot meal every day. For most of them, it’s their only meal of the day.

We’ve decided to do what we can to help. It all starts with prayer, so please do keep our friends in your prayers. Then from that spiritual foundation, we try to treat them well as a twin would treat his or her twin sibling. They’re in need, so we’re here to help.

The Archdiocese of Westminster has set up an account for the Cathedral’s Twin Parish. We gratefully accept donations on Fr. Tom’s behalf of cash and cheques made out to “WRCDT - Fr. Tom Oates.” Periodically, the Archdiocese transfers the money to Fr. Tom’s parish account in Ecuador, with absolutely no administrative overhead.

In addition to the amount of money that you are able to donate, the British government is willing to make a bonus contribution of 28% to this mission! All you need is to be a UK taxpayer and to submit the “Gift Aid” form found on the reverse side of this letter with your donation. You’re welcome to use this envelope.

You may…
* return it with your gift to the information desk
* drop it in the Sunday collection or the glass collection box in church
* post it to Clergy House, 42 Francis Street, London SW1P 1QW

Be a part of something really positive. It’s a sacrifice worth making, since you’ll be making a difference in the lives of some wonderful children, our “twins!”
Fr. Dwayne Bednar

COLLEGE OF CHAPLAINS

CATHEDRAL PARISH

SACRAMENTS

CENTRE FOR SPIRITUALITY

HOMELESS

OREMUS

	Father Tom Oates on the web To read more about Fr Tom and the Missionary Society of St James the Apostle please click here.

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