The captions and images shown below give an idea of activities and special events held at our SDC centre in London. Our main contribution in parishes mainly involves running catechism groups but other activities are held throughout the year for other groups for young people and adults.

See other years here:

Catechism programmes 2016-17

Our contribution in parish catechism programmes continued this year in a number of parishes in south London where we lead or contribute to the running of First communion or Confirmation programmes. Our programmes usually follow the school year. Some groups meet in the evenings while others meet at weekends. Apart from the regular sessions for children a number of parents meetings are held for each programme – a good opportunity to meet parents and share ideas for family catechesis.

SDC Juniors Activities

A number of activities are regularly organised for our group of SDC Juniors. Apart from our youth group meetings at the Rosary parish, Brixton, we also meet once a month at the SDC House in Upper Norwood. A number of trips were also organised this year such as football or sports activities, barbecues and others especially during school holidays.

Christmas Activities

Christmas is always a most important event for all of us in SDC as we reflect on ‘The Word of God that became flesh’. As in other years we continued to hold meetings about the real meaning of Christmas for all those in the different groups we run. In a number of parishes we were also able to give our Christmas gifts to children and young people in the form of cribs or statues of Baby Jesus which are always treasured so dearly by all those who get them. Our Christmas carol service in Brixton took place on Saturday 17th December 2016.

Pilgrimage to Aylesford - SDC Juniors

On the 25th September 2016, a pilgramage to Aylesford Priory was held for the SDC Juniors Group. Apart from attending mass we had reflection sessions as well as a Rosary walk. This was also an opportunity to do the Year of Mercy prayers and go through the Jubilee door at this shrine in Kent. At the end of the day we went for a bowling game and food in nearby Maidstone.

Founder's Feast 2016

For the feast of our founder we had presentations for children of different ages from the various groups we work with including first communion and Confirmation Groups. On Sunday 8th May a mass was organised at the Holy Rosary Parish in Brixton, which was followed by a reception in the parish hall. Other presentations and discussions were prepared for the Bible study group as well as the group who attended the Year of Mercy pilgrimage at Aylesford. We also invited a group of young people from St Andrew's parish where we run a youth group to come over to the SDC House where we also had a presentation on the life of our Founder.

Year of Mercy Pilgrimage

A year of Mercy pilgrimage was organised on Sunday 1st May 2016. A group of twenty one people took part - some from our monthly Bible study group and others from nearby parishes. We went to the Shrine of Our Lady and Saint Simon Stock in Aylesford, Kent and we had a programme of activities which included Holy mass, Bible reflection; prayers and reflections taken from writings of our Founder as well as a Rosary walk which ended with prayers and entrance through the Jubilee Door.

Holy Week Programm

For this year’s Holy Week programme we were accompanied by Tonio Caruana and Ruben Pace from the SDC General Council. Some of the sessions were held at the SDC House in Upper Norwood while others were held at the Rosary parish in Brixton. We also took part in the Holy Week Triduum Liturgies in different parishes. At the Saturday Easter Vigil a number of children as well as adults from some of our groups were baptised or received into the Church. In the afternoon of Sunday 27th March SDC Juniors were invited for a sports afternoon and Barbeque.

The Echo Newsletter

More issues of The ECHO, a newsletter continued to be published every term. The last edition of this newsletter which is mainly intended for catechists and RE teachers, included a reflection on the role of the catechist and an article about Eugenio Borg – a role model catechist and first superior general of SDC. The ECHO can be downloaded from the SDC London website www.sdc.me.uk.