In the Vatican: Alpha speaker Nicky Gumbel is presented to the Pope, who has called for a ‘new evangelisation’, at the end of a General
Audience in the Papal Audience Chamber in February.

Source http://uk.alphacourse.org/runningacourse/news/2004/03/papalaudience.htm

March 2004

Mr Gumbel – along with his wife Pippa and son Jonny – were presented to the Pope by Father Raniero Cantalamessa, Preacher to the Papal Household, at the end of a General Audience in the Paul VI Audience Hall in the Vatican.

Father Raniero has been a friend since the two men met at a conference in Frankfurt in 1999.

Also introduced was Kitty Arbuthnott, head of Alpha for Catholics, who presented the Pope with a painting of the Prodigal Son by Christian artist Charlie Mackesy, whose drawings illustrate the Alpha manuals.

It was part of a five-day visit to Rome during which they met representatives of the Congregation on the Doctrine of the Faith, the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, the Sant’Egidio Community, the Focolare Movement and the Rome School of Evangelisation run by the Emmanuel Community.

They also met Cardinal Stafford, who was until recently President of the Pontifical Council for the Laity, and the Rev’d Nicholas Hudson, Rector of the Venerable English College.

An increasing number of cardinals and senior Catholic clergy are encouraging the course’s growth as they seek to fulfil the Pope’s call for a ‘new evangelisation’.

Cardinal Philippe Barbarin, Archbishop of Lyon, France, has taken a close interest in the growth of Alpha in the country.

Speaking on the new Alpha introductory video, he said, ‘For the French church, Alpha is a great opportunity for our time. It is a wonderful gift that we have received from England.’

In January, around 600 Catholic lay leaders and priests attended an Alpha conference in Paris, where a fifth of all Catholic churches now run the Alpha course. The conference was run by the French Alpha office.

The Catholic church in Scotland is being encouraged to use Alpha by Cardinal Keith O’Brien, Archbishop of St Andrews and Edinburgh.

Writing in the brochure for the forthcoming Glasgow Alpha conference, he said, ‘A priority for me on my appointment as Cardinal was the “re- Christianisation of Scotland”.

‘I see the Alpha course as an initial and very important tool for this programme – bringing together those who are seeking the way ahead through the following of the Christian faith.’

In America, the course is having an impact on hundreds of Catholic parishes – and it is spreading fast.

In April 1999, more than 500 Catholic clergy and lay leaders attended a conference in Baltimore introduced on video by Cardinal William H. Keeler, Archbishop of Baltimore.

Catholic parishes using Alpha all over the world are experiencing a new dynamism and sense of mission in their local congregations.

One Catholic lay leader, Mrs Mary Hagar, of Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA, runs Alpha in two parishes near her home.

She said, ‘I have been doing evangelisation programmes in the Catholic church for 30 years.We have been trying to evangelise people with minimal to poor to dismal success.

‘I went to an Alpha training programme on the east coast and I came out saying, “This is what I’ve looked for my whole life. This is the programme that is going to change lives.”

‘The first course far exceeded our expectations in numbers of people signing up and after the Holy Spirit weekend, the testimonies verbally and in writing were astounding.

‘For those of us who are Catholic, Alpha is the tool that is bringing into reality in our lifetime the church we have always dreamed of.’