2023: A year of opportunity on our journey of faith

Friday 13th January 2023

Another year has been and gone but as we head further into January, we take a look ahead at what’s in store for 2023.

Packed full of regular Masses, retreats, and other events, 2023 already looks set to offer a fulfilling and faith-filled experience for many across the diocese, and with some landmark opportunities on the horizon, we hope this year will be truly transformative for our whole diocesan community.

Continue reading below to find out more about what’s in store and how you can get involved.

Synod

This year will see the launch of our diocesan synod, giving us the opportunity to come together in a spirit of prayer to discern what God is asking of His Church in our diocese.

The diocesan synod follows on from the Universal Synod announced by Pope Francis in 2021. Last year, over 1500 individuals responded to the questions in universal synod, a summary of which you can read here.

Now, we are called to consider our Church on a more local level, and explore more about how God is calling us to grow and progress as a diocesan community.

Hope in the Future

This year also sees the launch of the fifth and final stage of our Hope in the Future programme.

Entitled “Sharing the Hope”, this stage will place an emphasis on building on existing outreach and resourcing and providing new opportunities for the parish to be a beacon of hope within the local area.

Over the coming months, a series of Deanery Days will be held across the diocese to help individuals, parishes, and deaneries learn more about the specific needs in their community and how to prayerfully discern how best to respond to those needs.

To find out more about the Sharing the Hope Deanery Days, please click here.

Pilgrimages

2022 saw the return of some of our much-loved pilgrimages, and this year they’re back once again with an exciting addition.

Our pilgrimage season begins on 20th May with the return of our annual diocesan pilgrimage to Walsingham. Last year, more than 500 pilgrims from across the diocese joined us on the visit to Our Lady’s shrine, and we were delighted to introduce a special young people’s pilgrimage, led by our Youth Ministry Team.

For more information on the 2023 pilgrimage and to register your interest, please call 0161 817 2214 or 07436 077509, or email walsingham.pilgrimage@dioceseofsalford.org.uk

On Friday 28th July, people from across the diocese will be heading to France to take part in our 89th diocesan pilgrimage to Lourdes. Last year, we celebrated a joyful return to Lourdes, following the pandemic, and were delighted to welcome the relics of St Bernadette to our cathedral in September.

More information regarding the Lourdes pilgrimage will be announced soon. Head to https://www.salfordlourdes.co.uk/ to find out more.

Finally, our Youth Ministry Team will be taking a group of Young Adults to World Youth Day in Lisbon in August. World Youth Day is a joyous gathering of young people from across the globe, coming together in faith, prayer, and celebration to promote peace, unity, and fraternity among people throughout the world. This wonderful celebration offers a range of faith-filled events and opportunities, culminating in a huge Mass led by Pope Francis himself. If you’re aged 18-35 and would like to join us, you can register online now by clicking here – but be quick! We have just a few places still remaining.

Vocations

A new series of monthly Masses for Vocations is set to begin in January to encourage people across the diocese to get talking about and praying for vocations to the priesthood.

The Masses, beginning on Friday 20th January, are set to take place across the length and breadth of the diocese by moving from deanery to deanery each month.

It is hoped that the Masses will provide an opportunity for people who may be discerning a vocation to the priesthood to meet with our vocations team and other discerners, whilst also inspiring a culture of prayerful support within our parishes.

To find out more about these Masses, please click here.

Environment

Our environmental work continues into the New Year by building on the fantastic work carried out by our parishes, schools, and very own Laudato Si’ Centre. In 2022, a full-scale, in-depth survey was carried out on diocesan properties to help create an achievable decarbonisation strategy. The project helped identify a number of opportunities across the diocese to help reduce our carbon emissions, and work is set to continue this year to put some of those suggestions and proposals into action.

Cathedral Restoration

In September 2022, work officially begun on Phase 1 of our Cathedral Restoration Project, which involves restoring the cathedral’s exterior. This phase is expected to finish in late Spring 2023, after which the cathedral will then close for Phase 2. This next phase will include the internal restoration and redecoration, which we hope to be completed by December 2024. During this time alternative accommodation for the Cathedral Parish will be provided.

The work coincides with the cathedral’s 175^th anniversary in 2023 and will use modern-day techniques to preserve its sacred ambience and accommodate its growing congregation. The work will include:

Reordering of the Cathedral, including relocating the altar back to its original position
Redecoration of the Cathedral to restore original design features that have been lost over the years
New seating with a changed layout and increased capacity

We have grown to understand historical buildings in a different way over the last few decades and the restoration project will look to renew the interior while remaining sensitive to the Cathedral’s Grade II Listed status.

We can’t wait to see what it look like! To stay up to date you can follow the Cathedral on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram!