The Bishops of The Society will be celebrating the following Chrism Masses:

Bishop of Beverley

6pm on Sunday 6^th April at St Peter & St Leonard, Horbury in Wakefield

6pm on Sunday 13^th April at St Aidan, Grangetown in Sunderland

12pm on Monday 14^th April at St John & St Mary Magdalene, Goldthorpe

11:30am on Tuesday 15^th April at Manchester Cathedral

Bishop of Blackburn

6pm on Sunday 13^th April at St Christopher, Blackpool

Bishop of Chichester

12pm on Wednesday 16^th April at Chichester Cathedral

for all clergy and for all parishes in the Diocese of Chichester

Bishop of Fulham

11am on Tuesday 15^th April at St Andrew, Holborn in London

Bishop of Oswestry

11am on Thursday 10^th April at Exeter Cathedral

11am on Saturday 12^th April at Holy Nativity, Knowle in Bristol

11am on Monday 14^th April at Lichfield Cathedral

Bishop of Richborough

11am on Saturday 12^th April at Winchester Cathedral

12pm on Monday 14^th April at Chelmsford Cathedral

12pm on Tuesday 15^th April at Rochester Cathedral

12pm on Wednesday 16^th April at St Mary, Walsingham

2025 marks the 1,700th anniversary of the Council of Nicaea, and the Nicene Creed which we recite at Mass each Sunday as a proclamation of our faith.

In Advent, we began our 'Year of Faith' with the launch of a four-session course that looked at the themes of faith, the creeds and liturgy.  These resources are available HERE  

Now available is a six-session course that looks more closely at some of the key themes of the Nicene Creed to help us go deeper into what this says about our faith and how we can live it out in our lives.  Ideal as a Lent course, but can be used at any time of the year, this resource has been produced by Bishops and Priests of The Society.  Each session has an introductory video and some study notes, with suggested questions for discussion, which will allow the resources to be flexible to adapt to individual parish needs.

The videos are available as YouTube videos and can be accessed by the links below.  If you require downloadable versions please contact Fr Adam Edwards father.adam@hotmail.com

Session One - God the Father

The video is available HERE

Study notes are HERE 

Session Two - The Incarnation

The video is available HERE

Study notes are HERE 

Session Three - Redemption

The video is available HERE

Study notes are HERE 

Session Four - The Holy Spirit

The video is available HERE

Study notes are HERE 

Session Five - Holy, Catholic and Apostolic

The video is available HERE

Study notes are HERE 

Session Six - The Last Things

The video is available HERE

Study notes are HERE 

The Ordination and Consecration of the Bishop of Richborough will take place in Canterbury Cathedral at 2:30pm on Thursday 27th February 2025

With grateful thanks to the Dean and Chapter of Canterbury and the Archbishop of York, the ordination will follow the established custom used for the Ordination of the Bishops of Oswestry and Beverley.
 
All are welcome. Links to register your attendance will be made available in the coming week for those wishing to attend.
Clergy wishing to robe will need to book a ticket once further information is released and must be on the National Clergy Register.

The service will also be livestreamed via the Cathedral YouTube channel.
 
Please continue to pray for Fr Luke as he prepares for his ordination and consecration as a Bishop in the Church of God and for all those whom he will serve across the See of Richborough and the wider Church of England. A novena, which begins on Wednesday 19th February, is provided here.

Register to attend in the congregation.

The Society and Forward in Faith welcome the announcement that His Majesty the King has approved the nomination of Fr Luke Irvine-Capel SSC, currently the Archdeacon of Chichester, to the See of Richborough, with pastoral and sacramental oversight for Society parishes in the eastern half of the southern province of the Church of England.

The Right Reverend Jonathan Baker, Chairman of The Society's Council of Bishops, said: "I extend a warm welcome to Fr Luke to the Council, and assure him of the support and prayers of the Society bishops as he prepares to become the Bishop of Richborough."

The Right Reverend Paul Thomas, Chairman of Forward in Faith, said: "I have no doubt that Fr Luke will teach and promote the Catholic Faith across the See of Richborough with dynamism and good grace, enriching the life of the See in so doing."

Fr Philip O'Reilly, on behalf of the Richborough parishes, said: "It is wonderful to be able to welcome Fr Luke to the See of Richborough, and we greatly look forward to his ministry among us."

Fr Luke Irvine-Capel said: "It is a great honour to accept this nomination, and I undertake to serve the Richborough parishes as their bishop prayerfully and faithfully."

The date and venue for Fr Luke’s ordination to the episcopate have yet to be confirmed. They will be made publicly available as soon as they are available.

Please pray for Fr Luke, and for his family, as he prepares for episcopal ministry.

In common with Christians across the world, The Society is delighted to be marking in 2025 the 1,700th anniversary of the Council of Nicaea, that highly important moment in the process of the Church setting out what it believes through it creeds, and repeated Sunday-by-Sunday in our churches in the form of the Nicene Creed. The Society is offering:

(i) An introductory note accompanied by a general video, including some filming from the most recent Walsingham Youth Pilgrimage. They are available here and here.

(ii) An Advent course raising general themes of faith, the creeds, and liturgy. The course is not particular to Advent, and can be used at other times of the year too. The materials - a short video accompanied by a study note compiled by Society priests - will be available week-by-week over Advent 2024.

(iii) A Lent 2025 course, to be released early next calendar year, will look in detail at the content of the Nicene Creed.

Introductory Note

Session One: The Nature of Faith

Study Note

Session Two: The History of the Church’s Creeds

Study Note

Session Three: Why the creeds matter

Study Note

Session Four: The role of creeds in liturgy

Study Note