Diocesan News
Belfast Cathedral's Black Santa Sitout 2009 to begin on Thursday 17th
The Black Santa Sitout for charities at St Annes Cathedral, Belfast will commence at 10.30 this Thursday, 17th December with presentations of cheques to the Order of St John and the Order of Malta for their work at home and in Israel. The presentations will be made by Dean Houston McKelvey of St Annes Cathedral, and Very Rev Hugh Kennedy, of St Peters Cathedral.
Dean McKelvey said, "both Cathedrals - St Annes and St Peters - have been actively involved with these orders over the past year. A service was held in St Annes and a concert in St Peters. The donations from the Sitout to the two orders is to enable their work here and in the hospitals which the Orders maintain in the Holy Land".
The Order of St John maintains an eye hospital in Jerusalem, and the Order of Malta supports a maternity hospital in Bethlehem, on the West Bank, about fifty yards from the birtplace of Jesus Christ. These hospitals open their doors to everyone regardless of national origin, religion or ability to pay. For further details on the Orders and their hospitals - click here.
The Back Santas will be on the street in front of the catedral from Thursday until Christmas Eve - exclduing Sunday 20th - from 9.00 am to 5.00 pm until Christmas eve.
This will be the ninth annual Sitout organised by Dean McKelvey. A special Sitout was organised after the Boxing Day 2004 tsunami disaster which raised 1.6 million.
Further comment by the Dean of Belfast, Very Rev Dr Houston McKelvey.
"The Back Santa team are looking forward to their week long Sitout. We have been somewhat taken aback this year at the increase in the number of charities and good causes seeking suport from the Sitout. It is up by over 50 on last year. Almost 300 charities are looking for help.
"These are difficult times in which to be raising funds. Whilst Northern Ireland has not been hit as badly as other parts of the UK in the current recession, The credit crunch has left its mark here. We know that some companies which have been good supporters of the Sitout have had to reduce staff members. That obviously has impacted severely upon the individuals involved.
"However, we have a prayerful optimism in our community. Our optimism is not based on fantasy. It is based on firsthand experience. We know that the people of our community are generous, even in times which are tough personally.
"Such responses and at such times of hardship are essentially spiritual. The Christ whom we seek to serve through our efforts at the Sitout and in the Cathedral, is the same Christ who commended the widow for giving in abundance despite her own meagre personal circumstances. We have witnessed this many, many, times at the Sitout barrel and in postal donations. Christ also lived at a time when there was immense poverty and many needy people. Take his concern for the poor and those in need of help out of his Gospel teaching and there is not much left over in terms of our duty towards our neighbours - and especially to those neighbours who need help and healing.
"Once more we appeal for your help to enable us to encourage those groups which work voluntarily on behalf of our community, making it a much better place for an uncountable number of our fellow citizens. Each year at our annual Good Samaritans Service when the cheques are presented to the representatives of the various charities, I am overcome by the quality of the people present. You can feel it in the air at this service.
"These people really give me hope for our society and its future. They represent causes which it is a privilege to be able to support, and I hope that those indiiduals, families and groups who support of the Sitout will also have that experience of hope which is at the very heart of Christmas. They are supporting good people serving on the front line for good causes in our community and abroad."
The Very Revd Houston McKelvey
Further details on the Orders and their hospitals
The Order of St John of Jerusalem is one of the oldest institutions of Western and Christian civilisation. Founded in the 11th century in Jerusalem, it was first a monastic community, which administered a hospice-infirmary for pilgrims to the Holy Land.
The majority of the St John Eye Hospital group patients come from the West Bank, Gaza and East Jerusalem. Access to specialist healthcare is limited. Most cannot move freely to see family or friends. Nearly half live below the poverty line.
Eye disease causing blindness is ten times more common in this region than in developed countries. 30% of the population is under the age of ten. Common conditions affecting children are squint, infantile glaucoma, cataract and trauma. In adults cataract, glaucoma and the complications of diabetes are the main blinding conditions. Up to 80% of all blindness is preventable.
The Hospital Group treats patients regardless of race, religion, or ability to pay.
The main Hospital is in East Jerusalem and is ISO accredited. It has a 49-bed capacity and is staffed by both foreign and local specialist surgeons, doctors, paramedics, overseas medical volunteers and nurses. There is a large, modern Outpatients Department and very busy specialist Retinal, Corneal and Paediatric services. The operating theatre, with the most modern equipment, provides a 24-hour emergency service, where all kinds of major eye surgery are performed. We also have a research unit.
Treatment is not easy because of the restrictions on employment and general movement of staff and patients by the Authorities. The Group attracts a substantial number of volunteer doctors from around the world who not only care for the patients but also help in the teaching and training of the local doctors. The international surgeons cover certain sub-specialties. In time, the groups teaching programmes will help make this provision less necessary.
Each year, nearly 40,000 patients are treated at the main Hospital. The dedicated team of medical staff and volunteers are helping to reduce suffering both now and in the future.
Now that the Separation Wall is nearly complete, travel to East Jerusalem and the Hospital is very expensive and difficult. It is particularly hard for very young and very old patients. There is therefore an even greater need for the groups Mobile Outreach Clinics, which first started work in 1982. They have become a well-known sight in the remote towns, villages and refugee camps of the West Bank.
They have two teams, one of which is funded by ECHO (European Community Humanitarian Aid Office). They start at 7.30 every morning and return after dark. They are often held up at military checkpoints or even turned back and not allowed to enter a particular village where generally 50-60 patients are waiting expectantly for their arrival. But their motto - we will get through - usually means that they find a way around the many obstacles they face. Each year, the mobile outreach teams see in the region of 12,000 patients and nearly one third are under the age of ten.
The Order of Malta
Today, the Order of Malta is a lay religious Order of the Catholic Church. Throughout the world, all of the 12,500 Knights and Dames of the Order, whether professed friars or lay members, are devoted to the exercise of Christian charity. Members of the Order, inspired by the Gospel, seek to glorify God through his or her work with the sick and the poor.
The Holy Family Hospital is a maternity hospital owned and operated by the Order of Malta since 1989. It is located in Bethlehem, in the West Bank, approx. 500 yards from the birthplace of Jesus Christ. The hospital provides a comprehensive neonatal intensive care unit for premature infants. The hospital opens its doors to everyone regardless of national origin, religion or ability to pay.
Holy Family Hospital is a referral hospital to four refugee camps operated by the United Nations Relief Works Agency. 25% of those served reside in refugee camps. An average of 13% of the deliveries at the hospital must be admitted into the intensive care unit (the only one in the region).
Holy Family Hospital operates Mobile Outreach Clinics to remote areas. The fully equipped van provides medical care, medicines to families living cut off from society. These families live in total destitution with neither water nor electricity.
Palestine, with an unemployment rate of 75%, has neither a social welfare nor health insurance system. For those unable to pay, charges are waived which leaves an annual deficit of approx. US$2m to be found by the Order of Malta.
Order of Malta Holy Family Hospital, Bethlehem. Ireland provides some financial support for the hospital but it is primarily concerned with the provision of midwifery training and professional education to Holy Family Hospital in conjunction with the National Maternity Hospital, Holles Street and Bethlehem
The Very Revd Houston McKelvey
Dean of Belfast
Belfast Cathedral
Donegall Street
Belfast BT1 2HB
Tel - 028 9032 8332
Mob - 07802207825
www.belfastcathedral.org
[email protected]