23 November 2003

Dear Father,

At the Council of Priests in June 2003, Frs Peter Harris, Norbert Fernandes and Michael Lambert were nominated to assist Mgr John Arnold in the first stage of the “Future Pastoral Plan of the Diocese”. Working together, we now need to gather information and begin the process of consultation.

The group considered how other Dioceses had approached their future planning. Most Dioceses have already faced serious questions of manpower and resources. Their approach has varied a great deal, both in the priorities that they wished to consider and

the means they employed for their planning. We took a view, early on, that consultation is vital. Consultation gives sound knowledge of the local church, drawn from the people who live there and it also values people and their opinions, giving them the opportunity to shape their own future to a greater extent.

It is inevitable that the pastoral organisation and administration of the Diocese of Westminster must change. This is due to two particular factors: the shift of the Catholic population and the decreasing number of priests available for pastoral appointments. But when and how these changes should come about should ideally be left to the people who understand the tradition of a given parish and its sustainability. We suggest the following process for consultation: The Process - a timeline.