Bishop launches schools’ celebration of Jubilee Year

Friday 31st January 2025

The beginning of the Holy Year of Jubilee was marked by schools across the diocese today with a special blessing from Bishop John.

Headteachers from diocesan schools gathered together for our annual Headteachers Conference, during which they were invited to make “hope” a key focus of school life over the coming months as our Church celebrates the “Pilgrims of Hope” Holy Year of Jubilee.

Each headteacher was given a small anchor to take back to their schools as a reminder of the Jubilee message of hope, while three larger anchors were given to schools representing each of our Academy Trusts: Romero Catholic Academy Trust, St Teresa of Calcutta Catholic Academy Trust, and Emmaus Catholic Academy Trust.

Bishop John blesses the three wooden Jubilee anchors

After Bishop John blessed all of the anchors, the three large anchors were taken back St Chad’s Primary School in Cheetham Hill, St Mary’s Primary School in Littleborough, and Thorneyholme Primary School in Dunsop Bridge, where they will begin a journey around every school in our diocese, within the geographic area of the Academy Trusts.

Following a short prayer reflection led by Jubilee Coordinator for the Diocese of Salford, Fr Chris Lough, and Youth Ministry Manager Lorraine Leonard, Bishop John shared his thoughts on the significance of Jubilee theme of hope in our world today.

He said: “If I may, just for a moment, go on the darker side, just to see where we need hope because I don’t suppose there’s a single person in this room who doesn’t have challenges, problems, difficulties somewhere, whether it’s in school or private life, things that concern and then we’ve got the children in our care, our pupils.

“That’s why we need to celebrate the Jubilee of Hope and hope is a Christian virtue that says that no matter what may surround us, we know that there is a resolution, even if the ways of reaching that resolution are not clear.

“We live with hope, but we can’t just sort of say, “Well, God will sort it out.” No. We have to acknowledge, as Pope Francis says, each and every one of us has our part to play and it’s so important we recognise our importance.”

Image shows three large wooden Jubilee anchors

With these words, Bishop John challenged each school to make the anchor a focal symbol throughout the year, reminding pupils, teachers, staff, and governors of the grounding hope of our faith as we work together towards a brighter future in Christ.

He said: “So we celebrate this Jubilee of Hope, and we symbolise that hope in that sense of the firmness, of being held firm and steady by an anchor, and we ask that these anchors can be an image around our schools this year.

“Thank you very much for all that you do and let’s celebrate that certainty that hope is a reality to which we work and in which we live in our religious life and vocation.”

Click here for a video message from Bishop John.

Bishop John, Jubilee Coordinator Fr Chris Lough, and Episcopal Delegate for Education Simon Smith stand with schools holding the Jubilee anchors

 

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Tagged | Bishop John | Diocese | Education | Jubilee 2025 | Resources | Salford Youth Ministry


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