Welcome to St Anthony’s Parish

By Barry O'Halpin, chairman of the Pastoral Councili

Kraainem (11 September 2005).- WELCOME!!! Another summer is past and, as every year, we have lots of new people joining the parish. It is always a great pleasure to see new people coming to join us and to welcome you. This is particularly important to us as we are an international parish and while many people join us, many sadly have to leave.

Our parish, as you will see on our website (www.saint-anthony.be), is one of the longest established English speaking parishes in Belgium. Since our creation in the early seventies, we have grown from having a predominantly Irish and English membership to having members from all over the world, literally from the five continents! It is this diversity that gives the parish its special flavour.

This year is a particularly important one. Not only have we recently received good news about the continued presence in service of our pastors, Fr Vincent and Fr John, we have also instituted many new projects. Not the least of which is the foundation of a Youth Group for teenagers. This group had its inaugural meeting in June and will be led by the young people themselves under the guidance of some deeply committed adults, notably Dorothy Boyer, whom God has kept here in Belgium for a few more years. She will be delighted to meet you, especially the teenagers who may wish to join. It is a great way to get to know people and to have a bit of fun. We are NOT a heavy parish, by any means so don’t be shy.

We also have many activities, in which you are more than welcome to participate. There is a branch of the International Order of Knights, a vibrant GIFT (Growing In Faith Together) group, several faith deepening courses and series of talks every year, and numerous other activities. We are blessed, further, with one of the finest church Folk Groups in the whole of Belgium and they are celebrating their silver jubilee this year. There will be a special celebratory concert to mark this occasion so watch out for details. If you have a voice, or even a tuneful croak, please feel free to come forward for this or any of the other music groups that form such an important part of the liturgy.

Catechesis is at the core of the parish and its work. We work very hard here to ensure that everyone, of whatever age, has the opportunity to learn more about our Faith and to educate and lead our children in the Faith. This is a vital ministry and one in which you are invited to take part. Registration for next year’s education programme is on the day of this year’s Meet and Greet. For adults, watch out for the CaFE Group (Catholic Faith Experience), and we expect to have an Adult Discussion Group as well. Watch out for details of this also.

Finally, this year sees the institution of a new Pastoral Council. If you think that you would like to ‘jump in at the deep end’ contact me, Barry O’Halpin, or Susanne Christmas or Judith Carr. New blood is what keeps us growing and stretching ourselves and your experience can only benefit us, whether on the Council or in any other way.

Once again, and on behalf of the entire Parish, may I welcome you all. We have a great year ahead of us and we look forward to sharing it with you and many more years into the future.

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