November4
1st Aug 2017, 20:33
Campaign to start looking into making Leonard Cheshire a saint (http://catholicherald.co.uk/news/2017/07/27/diocese-to-begin-campaign-for-the-cause-of-leonard-cheshire/)
A centenary Mass in September will mark the start of formal efforts to promote his possible canonisation
The Diocese of East Anglia is launching a campaign to promote the Cause of Leonard Cheshire, the war hero who founded a worldwide network of homes for disabled people.
The campaign will begin with a centenary Mass on September 7 celebrated by Bishop Alan Hopes.
Cheshire, an RAF bomber pilot during the Second World War, was awarded the Victoria Cross, Britain’s highest military honour, for his bravery in carrying out over 100 missions.
After the war he cared for sick ex-servicemen. It was the faith of one of these men, Arthur Dykes, which inspired him to become a Catholic aged 31.
He went on to set up residential homes for disabled people. By the time of his death in 1992 his charity, now known as Leonard Cheshire Disability, operated 270 homes in 49 countries.
Fr James Fyfe, who will be promoting the Cause, explained: “It means to begin to try to collect any evidence for sainthood from among the faithful. There is a prayer which invites people to pray to Leonard for a particular reason. If the prayers are answered then evidence is collected, examined and presented. This does not mean that we already think he is a saint – that part is a very long way off and it may be 50 or 100 years hence – it is a discovery process.
“Bishop Alan and the Diocese are embarking on the process because Leonard lived in Cavendish. But he is a worldwide figure and many people will be praying for the success of the Cause and we shall reach out to them. However, we shall begin in East Anglia first because there are people here who knew him and remember him and who may have something to tell us.”
Cheshire married Sue Ryder, a fellow peer who had set up her own homes for sick, disabled and elderly people, in 1959. Remarkably, there is already a campaign underway for her Cause. In Poland, where she worked after the war, she is a national heroine, with schools and public places named in her honour.
Polish-born Halina Kent, who was involved in the campaign, told the Herald in 2006 that “almost all of the letters that have started to pour in have said the same thing: why not a joint canonisation of both Leonard Cheshire and Sue Ryder, as a married couple who gave so much to the Church and to humanity, serving God together in the most magnificent way?”
Anyone interested in the campaign for the Cause of Leonard Cheshire is invited to contact: Fr James Fyfe, 69 Queen’s Road, Wisbech, PE13 2PH for more information.
The Requiem Mass will be held in the Parish Church of St Mary the Virgin, Cavendish, Suffolk, at 7pm.
A centenary Mass in September will mark the start of formal efforts to promote his possible canonisation
The Diocese of East Anglia is launching a campaign to promote the Cause of Leonard Cheshire, the war hero who founded a worldwide network of homes for disabled people.
The campaign will begin with a centenary Mass on September 7 celebrated by Bishop Alan Hopes.
Cheshire, an RAF bomber pilot during the Second World War, was awarded the Victoria Cross, Britain’s highest military honour, for his bravery in carrying out over 100 missions.
After the war he cared for sick ex-servicemen. It was the faith of one of these men, Arthur Dykes, which inspired him to become a Catholic aged 31.
He went on to set up residential homes for disabled people. By the time of his death in 1992 his charity, now known as Leonard Cheshire Disability, operated 270 homes in 49 countries.
Fr James Fyfe, who will be promoting the Cause, explained: “It means to begin to try to collect any evidence for sainthood from among the faithful. There is a prayer which invites people to pray to Leonard for a particular reason. If the prayers are answered then evidence is collected, examined and presented. This does not mean that we already think he is a saint – that part is a very long way off and it may be 50 or 100 years hence – it is a discovery process.
“Bishop Alan and the Diocese are embarking on the process because Leonard lived in Cavendish. But he is a worldwide figure and many people will be praying for the success of the Cause and we shall reach out to them. However, we shall begin in East Anglia first because there are people here who knew him and remember him and who may have something to tell us.”
Cheshire married Sue Ryder, a fellow peer who had set up her own homes for sick, disabled and elderly people, in 1959. Remarkably, there is already a campaign underway for her Cause. In Poland, where she worked after the war, she is a national heroine, with schools and public places named in her honour.
Polish-born Halina Kent, who was involved in the campaign, told the Herald in 2006 that “almost all of the letters that have started to pour in have said the same thing: why not a joint canonisation of both Leonard Cheshire and Sue Ryder, as a married couple who gave so much to the Church and to humanity, serving God together in the most magnificent way?”
Anyone interested in the campaign for the Cause of Leonard Cheshire is invited to contact: Fr James Fyfe, 69 Queen’s Road, Wisbech, PE13 2PH for more information.
The Requiem Mass will be held in the Parish Church of St Mary the Virgin, Cavendish, Suffolk, at 7pm.