Our 2025 Assembly took place at the Frassati Centre in Leicester, on Saturday 20 September. The theme of the day was ‘Mission’, in particular, the recent letter from the Master of the Order in which he asked us to think about the ‘4 Publics’ for our preaching. Our guest speaker was fr. Cristóbal Torres Iglesias OP, General Promoter for the Laity.

Mission: the 4 Publics

Fr. Cristóbal reminded us of the background to the Master’s letter: it was a document in preparation for the General Chapter in Poland, but was shared widely as the Master’s message was that it is very relevant for all parts of the Dominican family. We need to look at our mission to the 4 publics.

In the church: the people in the pews, where we always have to be aware of the context, which may be the different character of different parishes, or th fact that we all have different politics, and different visions of the the church.

In the margins: people who feel they do not have a place in the church. We need a spirituality of listening, navigating ‘hot button’ issues which may be key to how people are living their lives.

Ad gentes: reaching out to the world. This includes those who have never encountered Christ and also those whose Christianity has distorted Christ. We should always remember that we are all programmed for God, so the Gospel is, in some sense, already present.

Young people: particularly in our secular world. Youth ministry changes constantly, and we meet many young people who are indifferent, rather than hostile, to the church, but who are still thirsting for spirituality and transcendence.

Fr. Cristóbal reminded us of the importance of listening without rushing to an answer, of building relationships, and of prioritising how we help people to fall in love with Christ.

Annual General Meeting

Our AGM gave people the opportunity to ask questions about the Annual Report, together with the reports from Sara the Formation Officer and Philip the Treasurer.

We also discussed:

• Plans for a Chapter meeting in 2026
• Practical issues such as the design and availability of scapulars, and the availability of the booklets with our Directory and prayers.

We finished the day with Mass, which fr. Cristobal concelebrated with fr. Nicholas Crowe, the Prior provincial, fr. Thomas Mannion, our Provincial Promoter of the Laity and fr. Matthew Jarvis, the Prior from London.