PROGRAMME OF THE BISHOP'S VISITATION
I visited the parish from 6.00 p.m. on Saturday 28th April until 7.00 p.m. on Sunday 29th April 2007.   On Saturday evening, there was an open parish meeting, with a talk from me, opportunities for questions and discussion, and a social. On Sunday morning, I celebrated and preached at the 9.30 and 11.30 Masses, in between which I met parishioners over coffee and visited the thriving catechesis groups. I celebrated the baptism of the baby of a Polish family from the parish, and visited their home in the afternoon before calling on a housebound parishioner. I then celebrated and preached at the 6.00 p.m. Mass before concluding my visitation. Over the course of the weekend, I spent time with Fr Simon to discuss various aspects of parish life. Fr Bob McCormick was away for the weekend, and I was therefore unable to carry out my customary visit to any other clergy resident in a parish.   It was very good to meet and talk with many parishioners over the course of my busy visitation, at the public meeting, after each Mass and over coffee.   The Carmelite Monastery at Quidenham (with its Sunday Mass) lies within the parish; I did not include it in my visitation, but I have visited there a number of times in the last year.

OBSERVATIONS
Sunday Mass attendance has remained relatively stable over the last ten years or so, but rose significantly in 2006 with the addition of the Quidenham community (e.g. 206 in 1996; 176 in 2000; 203 in 2001; 239 in 2004; 265 in 2006). It is good to see parish life being enriched by new parishioners from overseas (Poland, Kerala, etc).

Holy Trinity Church is a small building which seats only 100.   There is clearly a need for a significantly larger church, as has been recognised also in the past. This will be increasingly important, not only because it would be good to gather both Sunday morning congregations into a single celebration, but also because it is unlikely in the future that the parish priest of Diss will be responsible only for the community there.   It will be important to be able – as in many other places in East Anglia – to have a single Mass at Diss so that the priest can celebrate Mass elsewhere as well. I am sure the parish in general understands that, and will respond with a readiness to be flexible and adaptable regarding the way ahead. Various options remain open, but it may well be that providing a larger church will only be possible by fruitfully and thankfully harvesting the generosity of those who helped provide the current church site and complex, and by moving elsewhere. Once everyone has had their say, and a financially viable way forward is agreed, it is very important that everyone in the parish take on the project together as their own in a positive and creative spirit.   A great opportunity lies ahead for the Catholic community of Diss and its surroundings: there may well be obstacles, difficulties, and pitfalls ahead, but a united community will have the strength to overcome these together. The guiding principles for moving towards one Mass, perhaps in a new church, are laid out in the Diocesan Pastoral Plan (p. 65).

All three Masses were celebrated prayerfully and reverently, with good participation by the congregation. A Children’s Liturgy Group is held monthly at the Sunday 9.30 Mass.   This ‘Family Mass’ was a joyful celebration, and it is good to see a real sense of ‘family’, with people of all ages gathered together.  
There seem to be a good number of young families and children, along with several teenagers and young adults: I was delighted to see so many children involved in the Sunday morning catechetical programme. It was also good to see a number of altar servers at the 9.30 Mass, and the Offertory Procession and Holy Communion from the chalice at each Mass; I strongly encourage even more parishioners to receive from the chalice.

A Parish-in-Council meets on an occasional basis, open to all parishioners, and a new Parish Finance Committee has just been appointed to assist the parish priest in his oversight of financial matters. Parish finances are currently reasonably healthy, and parishioners are generous with their weekly giving.   If a new church project gets under way, the parish will need to be creative and enthusiastic in its fundraising ventures; this is in itself often a good way of helping the whole parish to ‘own’ a project.   I was pleased to see the use and sale of Fair Trade goods, and it is very encouraging to hear of parishioners’ generous giving to CAFOD.

The parish is represented on Churches Together (Fr Simon was chairman last year), and a clergy fraternal meets regularly.
Parishioners need to be aware that Fr Simon’s pastoral responsibility for the parish goes alongside his important diocesan responsibilities as Judicial Vicar, which involves two days a week at the diocesan offices (as well as his role as Chair of Governors at St Edmunds’ School in Bury St Edmunds).

Current parish priorities are focused on the hope to provide a larger church for the future, as well as encouraging and empowering more lay people to take on a range of responsibilities in parish life (from   taking on sacristy duties to reaching out with the Gospel message to the people of Diss).

Many parishioners already give much of their time and energy to forms of service in the parish.   There is clearly a need for more to do so if the parish is to continue to develop and move forward. There are a range of parish responsibilities currently exercised by Fr Simon but better taken on by lay people (sacristy duties are but one example).

BISHOP'S RECOMMENDATIONS
(a) Diss, as every parish, might benefit from the kind of ‘Needs and Skills Audit’ suggested on pages 30-31 of the Diocesan Pastoral Plan. This might be an opportunity to draw more lay people into positions of responsible service in the parish.

(b) Children and young people could be further encouraged to participate in different ways, including as altar servers, readers, offertory bearers, and (once confirmed) Extraordinary Ministers of Holy Communion.   Although there may be too few teenagers to organise regular activities, could someone in the parish take on coordinating and enabling such young people being able to attend at least some of the range of annual diocesan youth events? Anyone aged 16-21 in the parish who has been confirmed and is regularly at Sunday Mass would be warmly welcome to join the Diocesan Youth Council, which meets with me twice a term to organise diocese youth activities.

(c) The parish can contribute to work for priestly vocations especially by making prayer for vocations still more a central part of its life, including the prayer that vocations to the priesthood, diaconate and religious life will emerge from Diss itself.

(d) It might also be worth the parish exploring the possibility of establishing something like the Parish Link Scheme proposed in the Diocesan Pastoral Plan (p. 66).

(e) At some stage, the parish might consider taking part in the diocesan ‘twinnings’ with Cambodia and the Holy Land.

(f) Any Catholic parish is an integral part of the diocese it belongs to, and I strongly encourage parishioners when possible to join the diocesan family of East Anglia when we gather for special celebrations at the Cathedral, our mother church, or at Walsingham.

(g) Any parish will naturally wish to reach out in welcome with the Gospel message to those beyond the parish community, including young families, migrants, the ‘lapsed’ and the ‘unchurched’. How this can best be done might be initially explored at a meeting of the Parish-in-Council.

FINAL COMMENTS
Diss is a growing community, with young families moving in and the many children giving much hope for the future.   Everyone was invited to the parish meeting on Saturday evening; those who came showed an enthusiasm for the life of the parish, and a sense of opportunity (and even excitement) about the possibilities for the future, building on the foundations already laid by Fr Bob and his predecessors. I thank those many lay people who serve the parish so well, and Fr Simon for his pastoral and priestly leadership of the parish. I conclude this report by thanking Fr Simon and the whole parish community for their warm welcome and hospitality during my visitation.   It was good to be with you all for the weekend.