United Kingdom: Catholic and Anglican Advent initiatives. The diocese of Salford gets on to help poorer families

#BeeThere is the hashtag associated with the campaign launched by the Catholic diocese of Salford, which includes Manchester City and the Lancashire County, some of the poorest areas in the United Kingdom. The goal is to help those families that will be evicted in the winter because they cannot pay their mortgages or have to choose between heating their homes or buying food. The promoter of #BeeThere, which tells the story of a homeless bee, is Caritas, which in Salford’s parishes handed out a guidebook about how to reach out to those people who have been affected by the rising cost of living. Then, the Advent fund-raising campaign in schools and churches of Cafod, the agency of the Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales that helps the third-world countries, is dedicated to Nyanguet Ket and her children who live in South Sudan, a region that has been hit hard by drought. Also Cafod is providing an interactive online calendar with daily reflections until December 25th. The Church of England (Anglicans) will propose again #FollowTheStar, enriched this year by a new theme, “The Great Invitation”. As every other year, the devotees can follow a link online to find the nearest church and download reflections to get ready for Christmas. This year, people are called to invite their relatives and friends too to attend the services, by sending them a digital invitation with the address of the Church where the service is held.
Silvia Guzzetti