Nine lay workers awarded new Campion Medal

Nine people who work with the British Jesuits or who share their Ignatian ideals have been honoured at the inaugural awarding of the Campion Medal. Recipients range from a retired head teacher to the Director of Music at the Jesuit parish in Glasgow, and from the National President of the Christian Life Communities to the former gardener at St Beuno's Spirituality Centre in North Wales. The medals were presented at the first ever Directors of Work Conference held by the British Jesuits in Oxford. In making the presentations, the Jesuit Provincial, Father David Smolira SJ, described the Campion Medal as "a way of recognising publicly those who work with the Society in particularly praiseworthy ways" and said that they "represent the variety and breadth of those who share our ideals and mission". Struck to commemorate the bi-centenary of the Restoration of the British (then English) Province, the medal features on one side a likeness of St Edmund Campion who was martyred in 1581 with the designation Society of Jesus British Province; and on the other side the IHS monogram and the motto For the Glory of God and the Common Good, taken from the Jesuits' 1550 founding document. The full list of recipients of the Campion Medal is as follows: Mr Michael Blundell, Donhead School, Chair of Governors and formerly Head Master of St Ignatius College, Enfield Mrs Cristina Connolly, Baptism Co-ordinator and Parish Team, Sacred Heart, Wimbledon and Inigo Enterprises Mr Daniel Divers, Assistant Head Master St Aloysius College, Glasgow and Director of Music, St Aloysius Church Mr Bert Edwards, former gardener at St Beuno's Spirituality Centre, North Wales Mr Michael Edwards, Deputy Director of Southwark Catholic Education Service and formerly senior teacher at Wimbledon College Mr Peter Hardwick, St Michael and St John's Parish, Clitheroe and formerly of Stonyhurst College, Lancashire Mrs Rita McManus, National President of Christian Life Communities, England & Wales Mr Pat Sutton, Secretary of Parish Council, Corpus Christi Parish, Brixton Mrs Yogi Sutton, formerly Chair of Parish Council, Corpus Christi Parish, Brixton Source: Jesuit Media Office