De Omnibus Dubitandum Est.

Listen to Bishop of Brentwood, The Rt Rvd Alan Williams SM reflect on true discipleship in the Year of Mercy.





Below are a couple of pictures of the Holy Door at Brentwood Cathedral. Above the door you can see a sign written in Bishop Alan's own hand and recreated in neon. Pope Francis explains the meaning of the Holy Door thus: "There is only one way that opens wide the entrance into the life of the communion with God: this is Jesus, the one and absolute way to salvation. To him alone can the words of the Psalmist be applied in full truth: "This is the door of the Lord where the just may enter" (Psalm 118:20)"  In a Jubilee Year we are all invited to pass through the Holy Door as a symbolic gesture of leaving the past behind and crossing the threshold from sin to grace, from slavery to freedom, and from darkness to light. The neon art outside the Holy Door has been created by Chris Mitchell of Neon Sign Store. The words are the motto for the Year of Mercy. The …

Habemus episcopum!!!
Welcome the new Bishop of Brentwood the Rt. Rvd. Alan Williams...






A new era begins for the diocese of Brentwood after 34 years, we have a new bishop. Deo gratias!

I will continue to add pictures as I come across them.

At Brentwood Cathedral over Lent this year, Fr. Martin Boland, Dean of Brentwood Cathedral, and one of Brentwood's best and brightest is indulging his personal fantasy to be Michael Parkinson by interviewing six priests about books which have influenced them in their spirituality.

Last night, for his first interview, Fr. Martin spoke to my own Parish priest, Fr. Kevin Hale. I know Fr. Kevin well and feel very privileged to be a parishioner of Leigh-on-Sea for the last four or five years. Privileged largely because through his gentle ministering, I have found an ever deeper love of Christ and His Church.

Being a parishioner at Leigh-on-Sea has taught me so much, largely through the example of a man who puts himself at the service of his flock in a way I have not experienced before. Because of Fr. Kevin, I have discovered the importance of time spent in prayer and reflection. I have been given opportunities to discover and understand the true beauty of the liturgy of the Church and …

Brentwood Diocese, purportedly, has the best Youth Service in the Country. This is more than just conjecture, it is the opinion of many people involved with Youth Work I have spoken to over the years, and was certainly affirmed by all who attended Sunday's  wonderful Mass of Thanksgiving at Brentwood Cathedral.

Brentwood Youth Service has been a success due to the involvement of many characters over the years, but perhaps it would be reasonable to say none more so than Sarah Barber and her husband James, here pictured together in Lourdes at a joint Brentwood/Liverpool pilgrimage in 1987.


Sarah has been Diocesan Youth Director for twelve years and has made a huge contribution to the spiritual life of young people in our diocese over that time. She has now secured a position with CAFOD, which is very exciting. I'm sure she will continue to make a huge contribution to the life of the Church in her new role.



The Mass was con-celebrated by three of our Brentwood clergy, Fr. James M…

Last weekend I was fortunate enough to travel to the West of Ireland for my first cousin Alan's stag weekend celebrations. Next weekend I will be privileged to attend his wedding to the beautiful and erudite Michelle. They're a wonderful couple and I am really proud to be able to attend both legs of the wedding.

Despite a 5am start on Saturday, a car (well van) journey, the joys of Stanstead Airport, the joys of Ryanair, a plane journey during which I was constantly called upon to purchase various items of paraphernalia I neither wanted or need, the joys of Knock Airport and another car journey, and an afternoon and evening spent sampling the Guinness in every bar and pub in Galway City, I managed to haul myself out of bed, eat a hearty breakfast, and wander from the hotel through the quaint Galway streets, now horribly decorated with the necessary and somewhat unavoidable product of the over-exuberant libationary extravagance of literally thousands of Galway students, to Galw…