WHEN Father Stuart Wilson circulated a questionnaire to Roman Catholic laity in the Westminster diocese, he received 1500 replies, all confessing to a need for renewal. The respondents described their concern at falling numbers, the need for an improved liturgy and for better preaching. Father Wilson is director of “At Your Word, Lord”, the programme of renewal to be launched later this month by the Archbishop of Westminster, Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O’Connor in response to the Pope’s millennial encyclical in which he challenged diocesan bishops worldwide to begin programmes of spiritual and pastoral renewal.

Father Wilson says: “Part of it is an internal challenge for us to have a better quality of parish life, including liturgy.” The second challenge is for Catholics to look outwards to aid renewal of a society where problems of divorce, drugs and alcohol are endemic. “We cannot do this unless we are renewed ourselves,” said Father Wilson.

The cardinal’s programme has been developed from Renew International in the United States. Some changes have been made though. The material addressed to US teenagers was found to be “too young” for their British counterparts. At the heart of the programme is the development of community, explains Father Wilson, and through this the challenge to individual Catholics to live more “authentically Christian” lives.

Consequently, at least 12,000 parishioners are expected to attend the launch Mass at Wembley Arena on Friday, which will be the largest Mass held in England since the visit of the Pope in 1982. As many as 100,000 parishioners, nearly half the 250,000 Catholic population of the diocese, will be involved in the programme itself, starting next month.

But tomorrow could be said to be the key day. It has been labelled “Enrolment Sunday”. Each worshipper at a Mass in a Catholic church in London north of the Thames, in Hertfordshire and in a few other neighbouring churches that fall within the Westminster boundaries, will be invited to join a small “faith-sharing community”. They will meet for an hour and a half each week in someone’s home and follow a booklet which will guide them through various prayers, meditations and reflections. This is in line with the cardinal’s belief that the most important aspect of the whole process is prayer, both private and communal.

Over cups of tea after Mass in some of the capital’s churches, there has inevitably been some cynicism about the need for the programme or its likely effectiveness. Evangelistic phrases such as “renewal” and “core communities” do not always come easily to the tongues of those who prefer the understated and modest Catholicism of this country. There are even dark mutterings comparing it to the evangelical Alpha programme.

But elsewhere the excitement is almost palpable. As The Catholic Herald reports, the administrator of Westminster Cathedral has even seen it as a possible solution to his Byzantine financial problems. The cathedral last year showed a deficit of one third of a million pounds. Mgr Mark Langham, writing in Oremus, the cathedral’s monthly magazine, says sometimes he is tempted to despair, but then he experiences a parish event, a wonderful liturgy in a packed cathedral, or a sunny afternoon with visitors there. Referring to At Your Word, Lord he says: “It is my strong feeling that a sense of community is the key to many issues, not least the financial deficit. If people care about their parish, money will follow — perhaps we have got that the wrong way round in the past.”

The cardinal himself, who ran a similar programme in his former diocese of Arundel and Brighton, is also energised. In a pastoral letter read at parishes across the diocese, he said: “Ever since I came to the diocese, it has been my most urgent prayer that all of us called to follow Christ will truly hear His voice and deepen our faith in Him.

“This is the reason why I have initiated the programme of renewal, At Your Word, Lord,” he continued.

In the handbag-sized daily meditations booklet that comes with the programme, the Friday message for week two tackles the mystery of suffering. “There is a purpose and order in all that our God does. There are times in our lives when we may begin to doubt this, especially when we are confronted with suffering, illness and tragedy. Then, out of the quiet depths of our innermost self, we hear the invitation: trust! Often, there is no more than that — just the simple, unexplained invitation to trust. That is the call of God, in faith.”

The cardinal has not had an easy time himself over the past couple of years and great trust must have been required of him as allegations of all sorts were flung around. That he is launching this programme at all is a sign of trust, and is certain to inspire renewed confidence in other bishops around the country, many of whom are already planning similar initiatives.

It seems possible that by the time Christmas comes this year, the cardinal, his Church and his parishioners might well have found the renewal they will all be seeking over the next few weeks. Then will begin the far harder, if not impossible, task: of taking this renewal back out into the society in which they live.