Author Archives: archbishopjohnwilson

Dear friends, exactly two weeks ago today, I was sitting in the sunshine of St Peter’s Square in Rome as our Holy Father Pope Francis created five new saints. Alongside four holy women from Italy, India, Brazil and Switzerland, St John Henry Newman was canonised, the first English saint in forty years, and the firstContinue reading “Commemorating the Canonisation of St John Henry Newman, 27 Oct 2019”

Dear friends, for the past twenty three years my grandparent’s mahogany fruit bowl has sat on the coffee table in my lounge. It’s not filled with apples or oranges, but pebbles gathered from the seashore of Galilee. I like to think that perhaps, just perhaps, the Lord Jesus walked across at least one of them,Continue reading “10th Anniversary of the Friends of the Holy Land, 14 Oct 2019”

Dear friends, last November I had the privilege of making a pilgrimage to the Holy Land.  While there, I saw the boat discovered in the mud of the Sea of Galilee during a drought in 1986. Called the Ancient Galilee Boat, or The Jesus Boat, it dates back to the time when the Lord JesusContinue reading “Apostleship of the Sea, 1 Oct 2019”

Aylesford Priory Dear Friends I think it’s unlikely that those founding members of the Knight of St Columba, who gathered in Glasgow back in 1919, could ever have foreseen that we would be here today, at Aylesford Priory, celebrating this wonderful centenary anniversary. In the words of St Peter, on the mountain of the Transfiguration,Continue reading “Centenary Mass for the Knights of St Columba, 14 Sep 2019”

Homily for the Mass of Installation Feast of St James the Apostle, 25 July 2019 St George’s Cathedral, Southwark My dear friends We have a hope in the Lord Jesus. As your new Archbishop, these are the most important first words I could ever say to you. In the Lord Jesus we have a hopeContinue reading “Installation as Archbishop, 25 July 2019”

Written for Good News Magazine in January 2019 when Auxiliary Bishop in Westminster I recently gave a day of recollection to a group of priests during which I admitted to being obsessed with a woman called Caryll Houselander. Looking slightly perplexed, I quickly reassured them that she is, in fact, no longer alive in thisContinue reading “Caryll Houselander – Hidden Intercession”

At the root of our faith is a divine promise. It comes to us through the Mother of the Lord Jesus. She cooperated uniquely with God to bring this promise to fulfilment. ‘Mary,’ the Angel Gabriel said to her, ‘do not be afraid.’ ‘You have won God’s favour…you are to conceive and bear a son,Continue reading “Our Lady of the Rosary, Our Lady of the Rosary, Sunday 7 October 2018”

Written for an edition of ‘The Preacher’ when an Auxiliary Bishop in the Archdiocese of Westminster In his Apostolic Exhortation called the Joy of the Gospel – Evangelii Gaudium (EG) in Latin – Pope Francis offers insights into preaching that are well worth reading. He writes that preaching within the liturgy ‘calls for serious considerationContinue reading “The Art of Preaching Better”

Requiem Mass on the Centenary of the start of the Third Battle of Ypres (Passchendaele) 31 July 2017 If you’ve passed through Trafalgar Square in recent days you may have seen the sculpture, by the Dutch artist Damian Van Der Velden, placed there to mark the Centenary of the Third Battle of Ypres commonly referredContinue reading “Centenary of Passchendale, 31 July 2017”

Mass for Blessed Nicholas Postgate 2 July 2017 – Diocese of Middlesbrough, preached at the Diocesan Shrine “I am sure the man who is constantly passing our way must be a holy man of God.” (2 Kings 4:9) Those words, spoken in the first reading about the prophet Elisha, could easily have been said ofContinue reading “Blessed Nicholas Postgate, 2 July 2017”