They think they have located Richard III's mortal remains under a Leicester car-park. So here is what is proposed: 'The Dean of Leicester, the Very Revd Vivienne Faull, said that the cathedral had worked "very closely" with Leicester City Council and the University of Leicester on the search for Richard III's remains. (she said:) "If the identity of the remains is confirmed, Leicester Cathedral will continue to work with the royal household, and with the Richard III Society, to ensure that his remains are treated with dignity and respect, and are reburied with the appropriate rites and ceremonies of the Church."'Now the only Rites and Ceremonies known to the last Plantaganet king were those of the Holy Roman Catholic Church. So are these the rites Dean Faull envisages? And is that the Church which she expects to conduct the re-interment? I only ask, seeking as ever to be helpful.
Very good question! If I were a betting man I would wager that you WIll get a typical and deluded answer from C Of E
ReplyDeleteThe specious claim of the Church of England remains that it is in entire continuity with the pre-reformation Church in England; and as the church of the monarchy it is the appropriate body to conduct royal ceremonies.
ReplyDeleteDon't hold your breath!
ReplyDeleteI believe the (then-)Dean of Salisbury, David Stancliffe, decided that a form of the Latin Sarum Rite should be celebrated for the burial of bodies from the Mary Rose which sank in 1545 - this being considered to be the most appropriate. It is to be hoped that a similarly sympathetic decision might be made by Dean Faull which will allow a proper celebration of the appropriate rites of the Catholic Church should the occasion arise.
ReplyDelete@Doodler: the service for the Mary Rose bodies was the worst form of pastiche. better that they should have had a protestant service taken by somebody who believed in what he was talking to God about than a sham fake. If it's not a Mass by a priest who is in communion with Richard III (NB, N very B, the present tense), then it's not what RIII's own faith demands.
ReplyDelete@Ttony. I agree - hence my reference to 'a proper celebration of the appropriate rites of the Catholic Church.' Such a celebration could only be celebrated by a Catholic priest. I would offer myself but suspect that the offer would not be accepted!
ReplyDeleteI don't suppose the princes in the Tower got 'a proper celebration of the appropriate rites of the Catholic Church'.
ReplyDeleteOne can only speculate as to what Richard III or his successor Henry VII would have thought of a lady Dean.
ReplyDelete