Catholics must never lose sight presence of the Risen Christ in the Eucharist, the Bishop of Shrewsbury has said.
Preaching at a Mass of the Sacred Chrism in Shrewsbury Cathedral on Wednesday, the Rt Rev. Mark Davies encouraged the faithful to make the Blessed Sacrament always the focus of their worship and devotion.
The Bishop told the congregation that they were gathering “in anticipation of Easter when here and in churches across the diocese, the country and indeed the Western world new converts, in ever increasing number and youthfulness, are being received into the life of the Church.
“At the heart of the Church they will always find the mystery of the Eurcharist”.
“In entering the life of the Church we must all have eyes only for Him,” continued Bishop Davies.
“Here the sacrifice of the Cross is perpetuated in the offering of the Mass. Here the risen Christ comes to us in His Body and Blood under the lowly forms of bread and wine.”
He said: “You and I might go on pilgrimage to many places on earth, even the sites of Our Lord’s birth and death and Resurrection . . . and places where Our Lady has called us to pray yet all of these places lead us to the altar and tabernacle of the lowliest church on earth.
He added: “We are to find in the Eucharist the Church’s entire spiritual wealth – Christ himself – so we will never have far to go to find him.”
Bishop Davies said the Eucharist was central to the vocation of every Christian to holiness.
He warned the faithful that to “disregard” the Holy Eucharist would be to deny themselves the means of overcoming spiritual deficiencies.
During the Mass of Sacred Chrism, Bishop Davies blessed the Oil of the Sick, the Oil of the Catechumen and consecrated the Oil of Chrism. These will be used in the administration of the Sacraments.
Dozens of priests attending the Mass were also invited to renew their priestly promises.
At the beginning of Lent, Shrewsbury Cathedral held two services to prepare for record numbers of adults seeking Baptism and admission into the Catholic Church this Easter.
The numbers of people asking to become Catholics in the Diocese of Shrewsbury – which includes all of Shropshire, Cheshire, the Wirral and parts of Greater Manchester – has almost doubled in the past three years.
The surge in new converts has meant that instead of the one Cathedral service to welcome those adults preparing to enter the Catholic Church, the numbers have required two successive celebrations of the Rite of Election on the same afternoon. It was the first time it has been necessary to have two celebrations on the same day.
A total of 171 adults from 31 parishes took part – many of them young adults. The compares with 100 last year and 82 in 2024. The increase in converts in Shrewsbury is consistent with other Catholic dioceses in the UK who are reporting similar rises.
During the Rite of Election, candidates made public commitments to entering into full communion with the Catholic Church in the final stage of their preparation. They will be fully received into the Church in their local churches during the Easter Vigil Mass.
The numbers may be statistically small, but analysts say they are significant largely because most new Catholics are young people including many men.
The phenomenon was widely reported in Britain’s national press last year following a 2023 study called the ‘Quiet Revival’ conducted jointly by the Bible Society and YouGov.
The study surveyed 13,146 adults and found that Christians who go to church at least once a month make up 12 per cent of the total population, a rise from eight per cent in 2018.
But for people in the 18-24 age group, churchgoing had soared to 16 per cent from just four per cent in 2018.
Their determination to attend church makes this cohort the second most likely group to go to church regularly after people aged over 65.
(Photo by Simon Caldwell, Diocese of Shrewsbury)