From Fr Quentin: Spring

The Second Spring

In 1850 The Hierarchy was re-established in England & Wales. Every place now had a bishop. They called it the Second Spring. Parishes multiplied. They built first the Catholic schools, and then the churches. For more than a century Spring gave way to a summer of growth and progress. The church grew dramatically. We basked in the assumption that our church would only continue to grow. But then some time after the war cracks started to appear. Priests were fewer. An autumn feeling had crept in. And then the pandemic put us all into winter.

A third spring?

Now new hope of a return of the parish life we knew is spreading. But what will it be like? Voices are telling us it will not be as before. Cautiously wise start to enjoy some of the good things that we had taken for granted. We are not yet free. We look around and wonder: how much of what we enjoyed before will come back? How much of our parish life with all its company, fun and vitality will we have by the end of this year?