Roman Catholic Diocese of Hexham and Newcastle

National Conference with Sr Helen Prejean

A national conference featuring Sr. Helen Prejean, author of ‘Dead Man Walking’, took place at the Newcastle City Hall in November. The two day conference also featured Fr Timothy Radcliffe, a Dominican priest and leading international spiritual writer, and David Wells, co-director of the Department for Formation in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Plymouth, also a renowned speaker and writer.

Sr Helen’s visit and the conference was organised by Hexham & Newcastle’s Youth Ministry Team.

Newcastle City Hall was filled with people from all parts of the diocese and beyond for the conference which began on November 17th.

Fr Dermott Donnelly of the Diocesan Youth Ministry Team welcomed everybody and introduced David Wells who was helping to facilitate the conference. The conference began with an opening liturgy and prayer led by the Youth Ministry Team and Bishop Kevin.

 

Fr Timothy Radcliffe gave a talk focusing on eternal life. He told the conference that eternal life "begins now when we see the face of Christ". He said that, like the apostles, we do not always recognise the risen Christ who is fully present to us. Jesus is our peace, he said, and this peace can never be destoyed. "The Sign of Peace," he said,"is when we recognise Christ in the other person and they recognise Christ in you."

Sr Helen Prejean spoke about her life's journey and what led her to campaigning against the death penalty, and counselling death row prisoners. She originally wanted to be a basket ball player, she told the audience, but became a teacher and later attended a life changing conference on justice. This changed the direction of her spiritual trajectory, she said, when she heard that "Jesus inaugurated a society where everyone was treated with equality and dignity."

Integral to the Good News that Jesus preached to the poor was that they would be poor no longer. Justice, she said, means you ask "Why are they suffering?"
She spoke movingly of her experiences on death row and how for her ministry the words of scripture "You can become a new creation" were so important and life-giving. She has accompanied four men to their deaths. Sr. Helen is the author of ”Dead Man Walking”, a moving story of an encounter between Sr. Helen and a rapist and murderer with whom she journeyed to the electric chair.

During the day a market place was made available where books and refreshmentscould be bought. Traidcraft and CAFOD stalls and many more were also in the hall.

Also available was an oasis of peace and prayer in St James' church throughout the Saturday of the Conference, with the Diocesan Evangelisation Team on hand for prayer ministry and talking, and evangelisation.

 

The market place and prayer place were kindly provided by St James' United Reformed Church which is next to the City Hall. St James' Church is a city centre church and although their membership is small, they have adapted their building for use by many community and charitable organisations and different Christian traditions. During the conference they were pleased to offer a welcome to the Roman Catholic Church.

Later in the day David Wells gathered together the threads, experiences and, perhaps, the emotions of the day in his entertaining and lively talk on five ways to respond to the day. These five ways were:

Be grateful

Be joyful

Be available

Be generous

Be courageous

At the end of the afternoon Richard Moore, who is the Director of the Irish Charity Children in Crossfire, gave a testimony about how he coped with his blindness caused by a rubber bullet fired at him in 1972 when he was 10 years old.

Richard has no resentment or anger towards the soldier who fired the bullet, and over the years he has thrown himself into community work in an effort to give back something to the people who offered him unwavering support from the age of ten.

 

The day finished with a moving liturgy and music led by the Youth Ministry Team and by Bishop Kevin.

The Conference continued on Sunday with more talks and a celebration of Mass, including a commissioning of 150 young people from Parishes throughout the Diocese to give a message on Youth Sunday to their Parishes, schools and communities.

See also Sister Helen Prejean to return after success

and Sister Helen gives Youth of Diocese a Message for Youth Sunday