Cardinal Vincent Nichols, President of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales, has recorded a message encouraging Catholics, particularly young adults, to be “willing to get involved and vote” as the opportunity to vote in a general election is a “privilege”.
The Prime Minister has called a general election for Thursday, 4 July, and Cardinal Nichols is asking voters to be active rather than passive in order to engage with politicians to ascertain their views on the key issues.
“You want to know what your candidate will think and say on your behalf when that candidate gets into Parliament,” says the Cardinal. “I would like to put forward a theme for us all to think about. How do we seek to construct a society in which families can flourish? That’s the bedrock – many positive things flow from that.”
In his message, Cardinal Nichols signposts resources that offer guidance on seven key topics of interest to Catholics. The information and guidance can be found on the Bishops’ Conference website and covers the following areas:

• Criminal Justice
• Domestic poverty, family life and taxation
• Education
• Environment
• International relations, human rights and peacebuilding
• Life Issues
• Migration

“I ask you to look at these resources, explore them, become a bit more familiar with them so that when it comes to 4 July, you’ve got in your mind what you want to see the next government strive to achieve,” says Cardinal Nichols. “My view is that our next government should strive to create the circumstances in which families can flourish. So please get ready to vote on 4 July.”

Thank you Mollie and Lillie for sharing your beautiful May Altar which you made with Nanna. We know you will enjoy saying your prayers there. Thanks Sonia for sharing your lovely May Altar that adorns your family home.  Our Lady, Mother of us all. Pray for us! 

Join Fr Toby on the next episode in this series of reflections on prayer 

We offer prayers and good wishes to Mgr. Timothy Menezes and Canon Richard Walker, priests of our Archdiocese who have been appointed by Pope Francis as new auxiliary bishops for the Archdiocese. Please pray for them as they prepare for ordination and their new ministry in the Church.