Cathy Corcoran, we salute a quarter century of phenomenal service!

Cathy Corcoran at Westminster Cathedral Hall

A reception for Cathy Corcoran, retiring director of the Cardinal Hume Centre, was held at Westminster Cathedral Hall on 15 June. Brendan Walsh, editor of the Tablet chaired the evening, Cardinal Vincent Nichols, Julian Filochowski, staff and users paid tribute to Cathy work at the Centre and earlier at CAFOD.

"There will be people who are alive today because of the Cardinal Hume Centre" Jamilla Corley and Natalie told the gathering: "Cathy was a security blanket for staff and users alike - she P persistently challenged - was A assertive activist; T talented tenacious; and H honourable hopeful."

Cardinal Vincent thanked everyone present. Recalling a freezing cold CAFOD visit to Albania with Cathy, he praised her hard work and dedication. He said: "Not so long ago Catholic Social Teaching was the Catholic Church's best kept secret. Now, in communities, in parishes .. it's there. Please give yourself a round of applause."

Julian Filochowski gave the following address:

Like our MC, Brendan Walsh, and like me, Cathy Corcoran hails from Loidis, the word the Venerable Bede used to describe Ancient Leeds - today the West Riding of Yorkshire. So, with the self-confidence characteristic of all those from 'God's Own Country', Cathy is a good-humoured Yorkshire woman, forthright, principled and just occasionally a little stubborn. That - and being a fun-loving, 'Enneagram 7' - set her up well for life in CAFOD.

Without a shadow of doubt Cathy is one of the key figures in CAFOD's history. And today we can recognise her years of deep-felt compassion for the poor and the exploited, translated into genuine partnerships between the Church in Britain and communities in the global South. Cathy made solidarity real and tangible - through projects and through lobbying. With skill and courage, she communicated the urgency for action from us in Europe. Without ever being preachy or pious, she was the gospel in action; at CAFOD, Cathy became a credible witness to Catholic Social Teaching at work in our world.

She arrived in 1977 when the total staff of 12 worked from the basement of St Patrick's, Soho Square, with rattling Adler typewriters and a Gestetner duplicator. There followed 25 exciting years of change during which CAFOD evolved from relative obscurity, as a tiny Catholic Fund, to become an international Catholic agency recognised and respected in Britain and in the worldwide Church. Cathy played a pivotal role in all that. Together with talented colleagues, Cathy could be described as the spinal column, the Backbone, of CAFOD's evolution. She learned a lot, and she flourished. Those years, during which she had three different CAFOD lives, were an excellent preparation for her ministry at the Cardinal Hume Centre.

First was Development Education. Cathy brought Education Campaigns to CAFOD by adapting for our use the continental European Lenten campaigns. It introduced adult education about poverty and development into the Church in England and Wales in a novel form. It was a stunning initiative - creative, bold and, with Charity Law at the time, quite risky. Materials were produced first on the Philippines, and subsequently on Brazil and South Africa. With vigils, road shows and annual training conferences, education campaigns became a CAFOD fixture - largely due to Cathy.

In 1982, Cathy transferred to take charge of CAFOD's Africa projects. It was a baptism of fire; not only learning about Africa: but learning about project work - based not on 'doing business with a project client' but on 'building a relationship with a project partner'.

Then the horrific Ethiopian famine hit us; and in 1984 Cathy organised Cardinal Hume's visit to Ethiopia. It was a life-changing experience for him, for Cathy and for me - the experience of having your heart ripped open and changed by what you encounter. Pursued by ITN News at every turn, we developed a colossal admiration for Cardinal Hume as, quite literally surrounded by starvation and death, he clenched his Pectoral Cross and responded, simply and humbly, to the journalists forcing questions on him. It sealed a mutual affection between Cathy and Fr Basil - in whose memory she has lived out these latter years so loyally.

South Africa was a priority for CAFOD funding towards the end of the apartheid era. She and I witnessed the proceedings of a Pass Court in Pretoria where a scarcely sober magistrate handed down fines and imprisonment to black people found without their Pass Book when stopped in the street by police. The experience made us sick. Apartheid made Cathy so angry. She was determined to play her part, and ensure CAFOD did too - in supporting those brave people in the Church who were struggling for an end to apartheid. Her hero was Denis Hurley, Archbishop of Durban, or 'Uncle Denis' as she always called him. Through Cathy (and through CIIR) the Church here played an honourable role in South Africa's transition.

Then, Head of the International Division, a senior manager: Cathy formed and trained her teams, guiding, supporting and challenging them, but without micromanaging. She oversaw a new department responding to the AIDS pandemic. Another deadly emergency.

Another controversial area of engagement. But Cathy backed a prophetic response from CAFOD.

And she took us into Eastern Europe after the Berlin Wall came down - a pioneering response to the urgent needs which emerged with the collapse of the communist regimes. Cathy was there, as CAFOD, on the new frontlines in Armenia, Albania, Serbia and Romania.

A great communicator. Cathy has a gift for connecting people - she is a networker extraordinaire. She generates trust; and for a long period she was the principal spokesperson for CAFOD. I think we should award her another honorary degree, but this time in Networking!
Recalling Newman's famous Prayer, 'I am link in a chain…a bond of connection between persons…a preacher of truth in my own place…" - that is Cathy.

She was at the heart of what CAFOD is all about; she travelled the globe and served with colossal generosity - in the words of St Ignatius "To give and not to count the cost". That is Cathy. Generosity is still her middle name.

Cathy Corcoran, we salute a quarter century of phenomenal service!