On the weekend of Fri 27th – Sun 29th Sept, students from five Catholic Secondary schools in the diocese came together for the first ever joint year 11 retreat organised by the chaplains of St Augustine’s, St Bernadette’s/Bede’s and St Gregory’s.  As...

On a fairly wet Tuesday October 1st St Francis School Nailsea were gathered together with Bishop Declan to celebrate their 40th Anniversary. This day also happens to be the start of Pope Francis’ Extraordinary Month of Mission. The pupils and staff decided...

Clifton Cathedral parishioner Paul Williams has just returned from speaking at the Vatican, where he also met the Holy Father, Pope Francis.Paul is Emeritus Professor of Indian and Tibetan Philosophy at the University of Bristol. He was invited to the...

Cardinal Nichols, Archbishop of Westminster and president of the Bishops’ Conference of England & Wales, welcomed the annual report of the work of safeguarding in the Catholic Church in England & Wales. This report has been published every year...

In response to Christus Vivit and the Synod on Youth, Faith & Vocational Discernment, Youth Ministry in the Clifton Diocese is taking a step forward in its support and ministry to Parishes.To facilitate this, we have developed a new vision for Youth...

Clifton Diocese Youth Ministry is holding formation sessions for Confirmation Catechists across the diocese. If you are an experienced catechist, or just interested in accompanying young people towards, and beyond the Sacrament, these evenings are ideal....

Canon Thomas Atthill was ordained a Priest in Downside Abbey by Bishop Joseph Rudderham on July 18th 1969. On the 21st August, he was joined by many priests from Clifton Diocese and from  other dioceses as well as many friends and family to celebrate the...

The idea of celebrating 1 September as a day of prayer for creation was first introduced by Ecumenical Patriarch Dimitrios in 1989, and was endorsed by Pope Francis in 2015, following his encyclical Laudato Si’ which calls on ‘every living person on this...

Bishop Declan is inviting our diocesan community to come together ahead of the launch of the 'Year of Communion'. There are two events to which the bishop extends an invitation to our parishes, schools and communities.On Saturday 19 October we gather at St...

St Bernadette’s parish, Whitchurch hosted their first Youth retreat in July.The theme of ‘Masks we wear' was inspired by scripture and was explored during the retreat.‘We all wear masks in our lives. We wear makeup to make ourselves feel prettier, we act...

By Fr. Anselm, Downside AbbeyArchaeology, Masses, Cable Cars, Prayer, Rafting, Swimming. Bethlehem, Jerusalem, Jericho, Masada, Qumran, Caesarea Philippi. These are just a few of the elements that made up the Downside Abbey and Clifton Diocese pilgrimage...

‘Who are you, Lord?’"I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting," He replied, when Saul, who supposedly knew all about God posed that question to him.Today we are still asking the same question that Saul asked Jesus 2000 years ago,  and yet seem to be groping in...

On Friday evening, 19 July, a number of our deacons and their wives, along with our diaconal students in formation, gathered at the Church of the Immaculate Conception, Stroud, to celebrate admission to the Ministry of Reader of two of our students – Eric...

The Celebration of Marriage took place in our Cathedral on Saturday 13 July. Bishop Declan gave the Homily at this now annual celebration for the whole diocesan community, especially our married couples. You can hear his full Homily and blessing below.A...

A team of twenty-five parishioners from the Franciscan Church of the Immaculate Conception took the church out on to Hill Rd, Clevedon on Saturday 13th July.With the gazebo and stall erected the team went to work sharing their love of Jesus and a care for...

Yet again the sun shone down on Our Lady of Glastonbury as around 1,400 people from our diocese gathered in her honour and come on pilgrimage to her shrine. People came from far and wide – from London to Swindon, Middlesbrough and Scotland to Salisbury…...

It is with sadness that we announce that Father Conrad Lowry died on Tuesday 9th July 2019. Father Conrad’s body will be received into St Thomas More, Bradford-on-Avon on Monday 22nd July at 6.00pm followed by the celebration of Mass by Bishop Crispian Hollis and...

On Saturday 6 July, hundreds of parishioners from our diocese gathered at St Brendan's College in Bristol to reflect, to celebrate and consider once more what it means for us to be Church at  to enjoy and engage in a full Diocesan day.We were blessed to...