A chaplain for the 300 thousand gipsies of the United Kingdom, the majority of whom are Catholic. It was decided by the Bishops Conference of England and Wales, that thus aims at reviving the announcement of the Gospel to the Romany communities, many of whom come from Poland and Romania. The decision was taken at a recent meeting at Wistaston Hall, in Central England, which gathered over thirty priests, lay and religious people involved in administering the catechesis to the Romany population, under the coordination of the Bishop of Lancaster, mgr. Patrick O’Donoghue, the auxiliary Bishop of Westminster, mgr. Bernard Longley, the chaplain of the Irish gipsies, father Joe Browne, and Caroline Keightley, a member of the taskforce of the British Government for the nomads. According to father Browne, gipsies and nomads in the United Kingdom are “amongst the most marginalised in the country and have to reckon with such serious problems as the lack of stopping places and appropriate sanitary and educational services”. For 40 years, the gipsies of the United Kingdom had been able to rely on a chaplain, father Elton Daly, who was never replaced after his death in 2002. Over the last 2 years, the Bishops Conference has set up a support network for people involved in pastoral work with gipsies and nomads with a letter, “Pilgrim Catholic”, which is handed out in 12 dioceses in England and Wales.
