The Guadalupe Centre

The Guadalupe Centre has relocated to a new more central location in Knock village. We are almost directly opposite the Shrine.

Beside the Guadalupe Centre is our NEW CHARITY SHOP called The Cloak

 

 

The Mission of the Guadalupe Centre

 

Since opening in 2010, the Guadalupe Centre is an information and resource centre of Catholic excellence.

It is the street front interface of the work of Human Life International (Ireland) with the general public, and in particular the 1.5 million pilgrims who visit Knock every year. It is the ‘show-case’ of our projects and work and thus plays a key role in our public profile and the promotion of our message.

It is an initial point of contact for new donors as well as and established ones, and is a point of enlistment for new volunteers to enter into the service of the ‘Culture of Life’.

As one of our projects, it has an essential role to play in its own right, in the distribution of literature and information, and a liaison point in Knock for the pro-life, pro-family cause. It is not merely a book shop.

 

The Guadalupe Centre has the following principal aims:

· A principal point of information / resources dissemination of the materials promoted/ endorsed by HLI (Ireland), equipping patrons and the general public with the tools and resources to promote the ‘Culture of Life’ and oppose the ‘Culture of Death’ in their local areas.

· A point of personal contact with our supporters and general public and a showcase of our principal projects and activities.

· Enlisting new supporters onto our prayer/fasting and newsletter databases.

· A source of charitable donations towards our work.

 

With time and changing needs, new aims or adaptations may emerge. The promotion of Catholic excellence we seek to disseminate at all levels of the centre.

 

Everyone who visits the Centre receives a special complimentary pro-life gift pack.

Why are we opening this centre? Patrick McCrystal, chairman of HLI Ireland had this to say:

“In the face of the onslaught against the Church, the Gospel, the beauty of human sexuality and all many in Ireland hold dear, ordinary people countrywide feel helpless. We want to provide the tools for the ordinary people to fight back for their Church, for their marriages, for their children and their grandchildren and for the good of our society in general and for the spiritual well being of our country.”

Sited on Knock’s Main Street, the centre is just beside the pharmacy opposite the underground reconciliation chapel. Providing world class books, DVDs, leaflets, devotional materials and resources for all ages, Mr McCrystal went on to comment:

“Christ has promised us that HE will always be with us. We must never lose Hope. It is a hugely exciting project and we look forward to welcoming people to the centre so that we can encourage them to take Heart and to lift their heads high in proclaiming Jesus as our saviour.”

So what plans have HLI for this centre in Knock? Patrick again,

“As well as our present ongoing projects, we are planning monthly training on counteracting key issues: new age, contraception, reiki, enneagram, yoga, moral deviations, abortion arguments, how prayer works, catechetical evenings, the beauty of the Church and our Catholic faith.

“We will outreach to Irish seminarians and priests, given our unique position and international contacts to connect Irish clergy and seminarians with priests throughout the world who support our work.

“In brief, we also want to:

• – develop pro-life presentations to secondary school pupils who visit Knock and devise colouring/art competitions and projects to stimulate young minds at primary level in pro-life themes.
• – establish pro-life groups on third level campuses and invite youth groups to pro-life activism training weekends.
• – build a country-wide network of volunteers through our parish and diocesan contacts and train them to do pro-life presentations and disseminate literature.

Our message to Bishops and priests is “How can we serve you?.”We have the information, the know-how and the determination.Now in Knock, where the nation converges, we can bring our message to a whole new level.

“In addition,

• – We plan to sponsor family days in Knock and propagate anew a family rosary campaign.
• – We want to encourage the sick, housebound and elderly to offer their incapacity for the success of the “culture of Life” in Ireland so that they know their suffering is not in vain.
• – We want to outreach to prisoners, who have a lot of time on their hands and who are remarkably open to receive faith-based literature.
• – We will have an active internet presence where people can leave their prayer requests. They will be able to find out what presentation we have next coming up and be able to purchase goods online and organise a speaker for their parish / prayer group.
• – We have secured a base where we can deliver seminars and training evenings, hosting national and international speakers.

HLI (Ireland) will promote their Ask Majella Pregnancy counselling work and the Holy Face devotion which they believe is heavens remedy to the litany of ills afflicting our country.

WE hope on occasion to have the Vatican authenticated relic of the Holy Face onsite which accompanied us on your recent nationwide speaking tour.

· A principal point of information / resources dissemination of the materials promoted/ endorsed by HLI (Ireland), equipping patrons and the general public with the tools and resources to promote the ‘Culture of Life’ and oppose the ‘Culture of Death’ in their local areas.· A point of personal contact with our supporters and general public and a showcase of our principal projects and activities.

· Enlisting new supporters onto our prayer/fasting and newsletter databases.

· A source of charitable donations towards our work.