Courtney McGrailMore than 500 people attended Down and Connor’s third annual Faith and Life Convention on September 24.
Taking place at Our Lady and Saint Patrick’s College in Belfast, the event gathered representatives from parishes across the diocese to hear from speakers and to participate in a host of workshops exploring the place of faith in many areas of everyday life. The workshops included ‘Faith in a Broken Culture’, the pastoral response to suicide, ‘Faith and the Public Square’, ecology, and ‘Faith and the Family’.
Conflicts
This year’s keynote speaker was Sarah Teather, Director of the Jesuit Refugee Service UK (JRS) and former Liberal Democrat MP. She shared her own story of how her faith had led her from Britain’s parliament to her current role with the JRS where she now works with many of those forced by conflicts across the Middle East into migration, “a defining issue of our lifetime”.
According to Fr Alan McGuckian SJ, director of Down and Connor’s Living Church Office, who chaired a Q&A session with Ms Teather, her story was inspiring for all, not least when she quoted from JRS founder Pedro Arrupe that “there is nothing more practical than finding God”.
Fr McGuckian further pointed out that Faith and Life attracted at least 100 young people eager to participate in the day – many of them drawn from their part in the JPII Awards. “They took a full part in the day,” Fr McGuckian was happy to report.
Overall, he added, participants reported “feeling enthused and uplifted” by the range of activities in a jam-packed day of faith. Among those seeking information already about next year’s event, he said “there is a real desire for the gathering”.