Thanksgiving Mass at Cardinal Hume Centre

Incoming Cardinal Hume Centre Chief Executive, George O'Neill with outgoing CEO Cathy Corcoran image: Mazur/CCN

Friends of the Cardinal Hume Centre attended a special anniversary Mass on Wednesday 27 June, giving thanks for life and legacy of Cardinal Basil Hume, the charity's founder. The chief celebrant was Bishop Nicholas Hudson, Auxiliary Bishop of Westminster and a trustee of the Centre, with music provided by Clare Dawson, Director of Music at the London Oratory School. The Mass took place in the Sacred Heart Church at the Centre's premises in Westminster.

This year's Thanksgiving Mass marks 19 years since the passing of Cardinal Hume, who set up the Centre in 1986 in response to the growing number of homeless people and badly housed families in the community. Over the past three decades the Cardinal Hume Centre has extended its services, reaching out to the growing number of people living in poverty or at risk of losing their home, while remaining true to the Centre's longstanding ethos - to provide a warm and non-judgmental, along with practical support, to those who come to us for help.

Cathy Corcoran, Chief Executive of the Cardinal Hume Centre said: "Our annual Thanksgiving Mass is a time for us all to remember the deep compassion of our founder, Cardinal Basil Hume, and his steadfast determination to help individuals and families living in desperate situations. It is also an opportunity for us all to reaffirm our commitment to the Centre and recognise that, by working together, we can help those people in need to turn their lives around."

The Mass was followed by a reception at the nearby St Stephen's Church on Rochester Row. Attendees had the opportunity to bid farewell to Cathy Corcoran OBE, who stepped down from her role as Chief Executive at the end of June, and meet with her successor George O'Neill who joined the Centre on 2 July.