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Be inspired, informed and uplifted!

Premier Heart to Heart is a monthly media-rich e-send with interviews and news from the Catholic community. This contains audio interviews and articles from Premier news and views from across the Christian Catholic community. Why not join us? Be informed, inspired and encouraged with the best Christian stories from the Premier platforms.

APOSTOLIC BLESSING FOR PREMIER

From the Vatican, Secretariat of State 17th May 2013:

“His Holiness Pope Francis has asked me to express his gratitude for the kind message of good wishes which you sent to him on behalf of Premier Christian Media following his election to the See of Peter. With appreciation for this gesture and the respectful sentiments that prompted it, His Holiness cordially invokes upon you and your colleagues God’s blessing of joy and peace.”

CURRENT FEATURES

The Pope's Astronomer

Brother Guy Consolmagno, S.J. is the lead astronomer for Pope Francis. Listen to this interview in which he gives Premier's Justin Brierley an insight to life in the Vatican, what his work actually entails, faith and science, and his own personal story. Author of The Heavens Proclaim, he shares with us how he even has an asteroid named after him!

Brother Guy

Life of Christ – Wintershall Players interview

Dave Rose speaks to members of the cast and the director, Ashley Herman, about the forthcoming daily performances of the Life of Christ in the grounds of the Wintershall Estate in Surrey. Listen in to hear more from the Wintershall Players and find out details of the Life of Christ, to be staged daily from Tuesday 25 - Sunday 30 June. To find out more about the live performances and book your tickets please click here.

Part 1

Part 2

World Youth Day (WYD) 2013 – Rio

Coming soon, interviews with UK Pilgrims and news and views on WYD in Rio and related events here in the UK. To read more about the preparations in the run up to the event click here.

Listen to Ooberfuse, talk about their forthcoming visit to WYD 2013 Rio and performing for the crowds there.

Ooberfuse

Edwin Fawcett

Listen to the song You Are Precious by the very talented Edwin Fawcett – which he will be performing out in Brazil.

More on Edwin Fawcett: website // Twitter // Facebook // Youtube 

Premier meets Lord Alton

This year’s CSAN Residential Conference will focus on the vital debate of how the Church should be addressing the poverty crisis. It will address this issue from various perspectives throughout the course of the event including from a political, economic and theological perspective, as well as the Caritas response. The key note speaker will be Lord David Alton and the mass will be celebrated by Archbishop Vincent Nichols.

Listen to Premier's interview with Lord Alton below. 

Lord Alton

SVP – Celebrating the bicentenary

Long-time volunteers Sr Maria Parcher, spiritual advisor to the St Vincent de Paul Society (SVP) and Adrian Abel National President of the SVP in England and Wales, speak to Dave Rose about one of the largest voluntary organisations in the world.

We hear about a million hours of volunteering in one year, work inspired by St Vincent de Paul’s spirituality and Blessed Frédéric Ozanam’s example which translate into a much needed outreach with the poor, lonely, needy and marginalised.

Listen now to hear about amazing people and acts of kindness.

SVP bicentenary

Jimmy - A Legacy of Peace

You may remember hearing the shocking story on the news, five years ago this May. It was a day after Jimmy Mizen's 16th birthday, when he was fatally wounded in an unprovoked attack in a London bakery. The event was tragic but his parent's response was ultimately triumphant. Barry and Margaret Mizen, although devastated, reacted peacefully and forgave their son's killer. 

In the past 5 years they haven't stopped responding to this tragedy with peace. They've since set up The Jimmy Mizen Foundation to help make young people feel safer.

Prisoners, Families, Communities: A Fresh Start Together

Every year, churches up and down the country mark Prisoners' Sunday - a day for you to think about, pray for and act for all those affected by imprisonment. This year, Prisoners' Sunday 18th November was marked here at Premier Christian Radio with a short documentary about the work Pact is doing through the Basic Caring Communities resettlement scheme (“BaCC”). Premier visited Brixton Prison, where the BaCC scheme operates. 

To find out more about the Basic Caring Communities scheme, please go to www.prisonadvice.org.uk or to discuss, contact Maggie Rich on 020 7735 9535.

Prison Sunday documentary

Maggie Rich on Prison Sunday

June 2013: PACT are running the “Inside Stories” project – strengthening the bond between children and parents in prison. To find out more please visit the Global Giving website.

Alpha in a Catholic context

Alpha first ran in a Catholic context after Cardinal Basil Hume invited Alpha pioneers Nicky Gumbel and Sandy Millar to a lead an Alpha conference in 1996 at Westminster Cathedral. Alpha has since been rolled out globally in the Catholic Church, and now runs in thousands of Catholic parishes in 70 countries around the world. Listen to Michael Roche, Relationship Manager at Alpha Catholic UK, talk about Alpha’s on-going appeal to UK Catholic parishes.

Michael Roche

Saving slave children in India

Iris India is a charity that does amazingly inspiring work to bless the people within their reach by proclaiming and demonstrating the love of God. This might be in simple ways but they also work in a very active and practical way. They are reaching children in India who have been exploited and enslaved, or in some cases, simply forgotten and left behind by society. Listen to this moving and inspiring account of how one lady has been called to live out her faith.

Iris India

Was CS Lewis a reluctant prophet?

This year marks the 50th anniversary of the death of author CS Lewis - a man who’s influenced generations with his remarkable stories and faith. One man who has been on a similar journey from atheist to Christian, and knows all things CS Lewis, is one of the world's foremost theologians, Prof Alister McGrath. Here he discusses his latest book CS Lewis: A Life - Eccentric genius, reluctant prophet.

McGrath

FORTHCOMING PROGRAMMES

Apostleship of the Sea

Listen to Sunday Breakfast on 23 June from 8am to hear all about Sea Sunday, and the work of Apostleship of the Sea. 

The Wisdom of Fr Groeschel 

Franciscan friar and author is on Premier Christian Radio every Sunday at 9pm.

Catholic Commentary 

Father James Cassidy is Ecumenical Officer for the Catholic Diocese of Northampton. Listen below to his weekly roundup of key stories in the Catholic press.

PAST FEATURES

Year of Faith: Faith Matters

The Holy Father Pope Benedict XVI announced that the Catholic Church will celebrate a Year of Faith from 11 October 2012 - 24 November 2013. Our thanks to RC Diocese of Westminster for providing recordings of the Diocese of Westminster Faith Matters Lecture series summer 2013 which will be broadcast on Premier Christian Radio. 

Talk 1: A Catholic Conversation with the Earth by Mary Colwell

Mary Colwell

Talk 2: Credo but not credulous! Christians’ conditional loyalty by Dr Patrick Riordan

Patrick Riordan

Talk 3: The Ten Commandments: Do they still matter today? by Fr. Michael Kirwan

Michael Kirwan

Next talks to be broadcast on Sundays 2 & 9 June at 7pm.

Listen here online or via DAB Digital Radio, Freeview 725 or in London on MW 1305, 1332 and 1413. To listen to past series and other programmes to mark the Year of Faith please visit the page.

Kairos Forum: Cristina Gangemi 

Cristina Gangemi spoke with Maria about how churches can make their services accessible to - and inclusive of - those with disabilities. How can Church be for everyone - regardless of physical or intellectual abilities? Cristina has just completed extensive research into how to best serve those with intellectual disabilities so as to enable faith communities to be places where all belong. Listen below to find out more.

LISTEN

Everybody Belongs - Cristina Gangemi

READ

Radio transcript published courtesy of the Kairos Forum. 

For further information on Kairos Forum please email Cristina.

Kairos Forum: Professor John Swinton

Professor John Swinton co-founder of the Kairos Forum speaks to John Pantry about caring for and including those in our community who have learning disabilities.

Keynote speakers for The Word of the Lord conference

Renowned speakers, including Fr Timothy Radcliffe OP and Fr Henry Wansbrough O.S.B., share about the foundation and inspiration that Scripture provides for our beliefs, identity and practice. The series takes place at Ushaw College, Durham from 24-26 April 2013. Click here to find out more.

Fr Timothy Radcliffe talked to Premier about his faith, the importance of scripture, and The Word of the Lord conference.

Timothy Radcliffe

Fr Henry Wansbrough O.S.B. talked about his life as a monk and  being taught football by Cardinal Hume.

Henry Wansbrough

Theatre on the R!SE

R!SE Theatre is a dynamic community-interest company creating original drama across the UK. From inspiring performances to innovative workshops, they constantly aim to deliver fresh, creative, forward-thinking theatre and are passionate about inspiring people of all ages and abilities. Here actor John Bosco recounts how R!SE is bringing the good news to people around the UK.

Rise

Britain's Got Faith

Fr Dermott Donnelly speaks about family, faith and youth ministry in the North East. He shares an insight into his faith journey, his priestly vocation and his work at the Youth Village in the Derwent Valley. Thanks to the support of his famous brother, Dec (of 'Ant and Dec' fame), Fr Dermott and others are positively impacting the lives of the youth in the North East, many of whom are searching for faith and meaning in their lives. Listen now to hear more about his inspiring work and the forthcoming CYMFED conference at The Sage, Gateshead.

Fr Donnelly

The Hope Project

Are you a budding filmmaker or media creative? Would you relish the chance to travel with an experienced Christian media team to a developing world destination to work hands-on using your skills on a media project? Then here is your opportunity! We've teamed up with our Online Evangelism Partner 2013 - yesHEis.com - to launch this chance of a lifetime competition.

Top Tips for Online Safety

Find out how you can protect your young ones online by reading our Top Ten Tips for internet safety.

PAST FEATURES

For more historical items please visit our Year of Faith page.

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