Recognition for the Tradition

Fr Michael Gollop, writing in his "Let nothing you dismay" blog, commented on the Holy Father's decision to create three more former Anglican Bishops "capellani" - that is, they are nominated to be among his Chaplains; and that has the result of according them (us) the title of Monsignor. Here is part of what Fr Gollop had to say: "These latest honours seem intended as a recognition not only of former individual Anglican ministries, but of an entire tradition".

Fr Brian proposes a toast

I am sure he is right; and our Group in Bournemouth on Sunday toasted the Holy Father, and thanked him for all he is doing to enable us and so many former Anglicans to find a home in the Roman Communion. As the next crucial Synod comes ever closer for the Church of England, I hope those of us who have joined the Ordinariate will pray for them. Perhaps the worst possible outcome would be yet another delay - but that is their business, not ours. All we can do is offer our prayers that all we knew which was good in the Church of England and the Anglican Communion may somehow continue and flourish - and only the Good Lord knows if that is possible, and if so where and how it might occur.

[I am indebted to Brian Harrison for the picture he took in the Hall after our Ordinariate Mass.]

Camera obscura

That is to say, I have lost it - my camera, that is. Either at Allen Hall or on the train home. So until it returns, or I get an old one working again, this blog will only have documents or drawings to offer.

Yesterday deserved some pictures. We were at Allen Hall for the meeting of all the ordinariate priests and those soon to be ordained. So many of us that the student body was nowhere to be seen; I think their vacation has already begun. It was especially good meeting old friends in the "second wave". Those in the archdiocese of Southwark are still awaiting a date for their deaconing - the Archbishop was away at a crucial moment so documents did not get to Rome in time. It will be good though to be able to attend the Ordinations of Paul Gibbons and Donald Minchew Before then there are still a few outstanding Priestings: Fr John Hunwicke's in Oxford (which alas I cannot attend) and Fr David Boundy's in Salisbury at the end of July when I hope to concelebrate. (Incidentally I fancy "Deaconing" and "Priesting" are not words commonly used among Catholics - maybe part of our Anglican Patrimony?)


The train was late yesterday, the buses even worse, so I crept into the Library - we were too many for the usual lecture room - to find our Ordinary in full flow. He seemed in particularly good form, and we had helpful contributions from Mgr Broadhurst and Mgr Burnham. It seems the book now in production (our temporary "Ordinariate Use" for the Offices, Calendar &c) is a little delayed and will not be available until September.


After lunch, a Group Photograph (already on the Ordinariate site), then another of the second wave of former Anglican clergy, and after that single mug-shots so that "celebrets" can be produced - documents to enable us to be accepted as Priests anywhere in the world. Then a major contribution from Fr Kristian Paver, the Chancellor for the Ordinariate. He was hugely helpful in answering all the questions thrown at him, many of which concerned Marriage - marriage breakdown, divorce, annulments &c. Perhaps the most important part of his message was simply this: "Care for the divorced and remarried is a pressing and central part of the Church's ministry today". All of us in local Groups have our part to play in exercising that care, and seeking to help regularise the situation after remarrige, if that is at all possible.


The oddest thing about arriving late was to discover Mgr Keith speaking about me - he was waving a document (reproduced above) with the news that the three of us who had been Anglican Bishops but were now retired were to be made Monsignori. It will be good to catch up (as I hope) with Mgr David Silk at Buckfast next week : and Mgr Robert Mercer's elevation will be a great encouragement to many especially those in the TAC or who have been in his care in time past. As for me, members of our Group and other friends have been inundating me with congratulations, and I was also warmly greeted when I said Mass this morning (of SS John Fisher and Thomas More) in Lymington. Mgr Mercer was typically self-deprecatory: 'it doesn't mean a lot', he said. Certainly the accompanying letter mostly told us what we could no longer wear... the purple cassock, the ankle-length sleeveless purple mantle, the sash with tassels, the buckled shoes - all were abolished in 1969. Rather a mercy - I always found purple a very unflattering colour! And since I rarely wear a cassock the one remaining piece of finery will not often be on view (black cassock with purple trimmings, and a purple cincture). But it was very kind of our Ordinary to commend us to the Holy Father for this honour, and I have to admit to being rather happy about it.

A Cry for Help

We see Syria on TV: now here is a plea from the Church in Syria for our help. It's a pretty rough translation I've made from contact@aed-france.org (L'aide a L'eglise en detresse) where you can read the original in French. I guess it is the French branch of Aid to the Church in Need - but if the English section has made a similar appeal I have not found it yet.





Dear friends. Today is the 'World day for Refugees' announced by the Holy Father at the Angelus last Sunday. He deplores as we do the situation of "so many people, families especially, who have to flee their homelands, menaced by armed conflict and severe forms of violence".


It is precisely to help these refugee families that I write to you today with such urgency. We have just received a pressing appeal from the Church in Syria, aiming to help several hundred families from Homs which thay have had to leave.


Syria is plunged into violence and chaos. And in this conflict which paralyses the country, it is the weakest who suffer the most. Econonic embargo, inflation, utter devaluation of money, rapidly spreading unemployment, destruction, the displacement of civilians and victims by the thousand... Their suffering is intensified by the misery and hatred which grips them ever more in the absence of humanitarian aid.


Syrians are in a state if shock. They are fearful. The Church in Syria has directed an appeal to us. An appeal to help five hundred Christian refugee families who have fled the warfare in Homs, and taken refuge in Marmarita, not far from the border with Lebanon. The bishop has done his best to provide basic food, temporary shelter and medical help for them, but the needs are immense.


So, while Muslim refugees are helped by the Arab States such as Saudi Arabia and Qatar, the church represents the only hope for Christian refugees. In all, around a thousand families are waiting on external help. AED is seeking to raise 80,000 Euros. That amount could sustain the basic requirements for five hundred families for six months.


In these exceptional circumstances I ask you


1. To pray the Lord that this ravaged country might find a peaceful outcome which respects the faith of Christians.


2. To make a gift whcih will help the immediate survival of five hunder Christian refugee families, and so to respond to the appeal of the Syrian Church.


3. To offer Masses for the priests remaining in Homs, to help them to survive - as the Syro-Catholic bishop of Homs, Mgr Kassab, has asked of us.

Joining in

'It must be a bit of a balancing act', said Bishop Peter Doyle of Northampton (above.). He was speaking about the Ordinariate, and our need to preserve our identity yet also be seen to be no less Catholic than the parishes around us. We were at a celebration in Sacred Heart, Bournemouth. Fr Bruce Barnes, the parish priest, had invited me and members of our Ordinariate Group to join his parish for the Feast of the Sacred Heart. He himself had been an Anglican (he was a lad in the parish where I served my Title in Portsmouth) and was ordained into the Catholic Priesthood back in '97. At one time he was Fr Peter Doyle's colleague in St Peter's Winchester - hence the invitation to Bishop Peter to celebrate and preach, It was a marvellously multi-cultural Mass, with a reading in Portuguese and the Gospel repeated in Polish. Besides Fr Peter who ministers to the Polish Community in Bournemouth we had a Mill Hill Father with us concelebrating who is off to Kenya later this week.

That was a great occasion; and Fr Bruce explained that Catholics were not as good as Anglo-Catholics at celebrating Patronal Festivals. So he has retained that part of the Patrimony, together with a liking for incense, good liturgy, and congregational singing led by a very good choir. Those of us who attended from the Ordinariate felt entirely at home, and met many of the congregation at a bunfight in the palatial Hall after Mass.

Then the following day we joined with the Parish of Our Lady Queen of Peace for a Jubilee Party, which involved more eating and drinking, and a Quiz! It was all very jolly; but the night seemed pretty short for I was still preparing notices for today at Midnight, and we were back in Southbourne at 9am this morning ready for our Ordinariate Mass. Later today many of our Group were at a 70th Birthday Party, where we were joined by old friends who (at present) remain in the C of E. There I had the pleasure of blessing the new home of the Birthday Boy, Trvor Vendy, one of our stalwart band of servers.

The best thing of all today was the news that our Deacon, Fr Brian Copus, is to be ordained Priest by Bishop Alan Hopes in Bournemouth at Noon on September 22nd - but more of that later. For now, just put it in your diary.

[There may be more photographs added to this blog later - some of the Group were clicking away at all these events]

Ugly Duckling?

A former parish priest of the Catholic Church in Ringwood used to give directions: "Just look out for the sewage works". Certainly the old church used to look like some public utility - just a flat-topped box which, like all flat-roofed buildings, was prone to constant leaks.

But no more. In his sermon the present parish priest, Fr Anthony Pennicott (left: in the Narthex before Mass) said the introit hymn might well have been "There once was an ugly duckling". You will see from the attached pictures that it is ugly no longer - instead a rather resplendent swan.

My wife and I were invited because the church where our Ordinariate Group worships is in the same Pastoral Area, and the principal celebrant was Fr John Lee, who is co-ordinating Pastor (in Anglican terminology Rural Dean)of the Area. Other concelebrants were Fr Gerry and Fr Vitalis, parish priests in the Area and both from Nigeria. It was good to meet many of the Ringwood Congregation after Mass, and also to meet the Vicar of Ringwood, the Revd Dr David Miell together with his wife who is also in Anglican Holy Orders. I am not sure if I should be flattered or worried that David seemed to know my name already.



I took the interior photo (above) when people were gathering; by the time Mass started the Church was comfortably full. Afterwards, despite the chilly evening, some of the hardier souls spilled out from the Presbytery onto the lawn.



The Architect, Philip Proctor, told me how he tried to give a hint of Italy in the transformed building. He has achieved that, while it looks perfectly at home in its Hampshire setting. Congratulations to all concerned.

HAPPY and GLORIA

On the day the Queen succeeded her Father as monarch (have I told you George VI died on my 17th birthday?) we were in sombre mood at school assembly; until it came to singing the National Anthem. Very strange singing "God Save the Queen" - and surely it should be "send her victoria, happy and gloria?" Hence the name of this blog.



We seldom seem to win anything in tombolas or lotteries, so we put our names into the hat for tickets to the Queen's Jubilee. Imagine our surprise when two tickets arrived just a week ago, anabling us to be present on this final day of the Jubilee weekend.



We had to be seated by 9.15am; which entailed a journey to London on the first train of the day, the 6.10 from Brockenhurst. Then by bus to Victoria - a diverted and diverting journey because of the Jubilee, which meant we had a route march before getting into the security queue. Eventually we went under the stands erected outside the Palace (a little like entering the Roman Arena in Verona, we thought, though without the "We about to die salute thee" bit. The performance was certainly every bit as rivetting as Aida. Military bands in all manner of gear, from the overdressed scarlet and gold of the cavalry to the modest and subdued uniforms of the Royal Air Force (did I tell you I was in the Air Force?)

Of course, I managed to forget two things; money (so Jane had to pay for our coffee stops) and the camera. The result is that I was driven to sketching. There were long periods of sitting with only images on the large screen to watch, so there was planty of time for scribbling. The advantage against the camera is that you can give a hint of two events at the same time; so in the last of these images Archbishop Rowan is on the screen on the right (very hastily done - he was only shown for a few moments) and in front of the palace an impression of a few horses and riders - tho' you will have to look very carefully to find them.

We had marvellous seats, in the next-to-top row, just below the box where the Royals had watched last evening's concert. Some of the staging was still there, which will have obscured the view for some. We were luckier, with a clear sight of the entire facade of the Palace.


We had watched on earlier days on TV: there really is no substitute for being there. The crowd was enormous, and enormously good humoured. We talked with our neighbours (how un-English, you might think) a Hampshire couplemarried only in March, a lady of uncertain age from Norfolkwho goes off to Australia nexct week. We did not complain when people came back and forth along the row, we cheered everything in sight, from the wonderful black horses of the Cavalry to the ambulances and dust carts which came along in their wake. Best of all, the Queen looked truly happy, with her son and grandsons beside her - to say nothing of her glamorous grand-daughter in law, the lovely Kate.

On previous days there had been rain; we came prepared (no umbrellas, they would spoil the view from the stands) but the rain held off all morning and right until mid-afternoon. There was only one sadness to the day, the absence through illness of HRH the Duke of Edinburgh.

As the Royal Party came back from Westminster Hall to the Palace in open carriages, a few drops began to fall. It was really raining by the time they came onto the balcony, but no-one minded. And the Royal Air Force (did I tell you I was in the Royal Air Force?) put on a marvellous fly-past. Seeing the Lancaster flanked by Spitfires and Hurricanes brought a lump to my throat. I had drawn them in school exercise books when even Princess El;izabeth was only a girl.

The exit took a long while, but again with no complaining, and a cup of tea in Shepherd's Market (a very up-market former village in deepest Mayfair) revived us for the journey home. Forgive this very self-indulgent blog. You really should have been there.

The Intemperate Zone

A packed three days in London, just as the temperatures passed 80 Fahrenheit. It was a little unkind of Allen Hall to give Fr John Saward the graveyard slot on Thursday - two hours after a very filling lunch. By the end of his lecture even he was clutching a bottle of water.



So far as I can tell it was a masterly account of St Thomas Aquinas on the Incarnation and the Sacraments - fortunately his talk was recorded and will be available on line from Allen Hall, so we shall be able to fill in the bits when Morpheus overtook us.



Perhaps though I was the only one whose eyes became a little heavy at times - certainly in the shot above we are all very alert and bushy tailed.
So that was Thursday in Chelsea.

Jane had come up to town with me, and we went to Croydon for two nights staying with a cousin of mine. We returned on Friday to do our cultural bit - the Zoffany exhibition at the Royal Academy.



A revelation - I had thought of him as a court painter to George III, which he was, but he also travelled widely, even as far as India, and produced some wonderful images there. Then too he was enchanted by the theatre, and gave us images of Garrick and all the great thespians of his time. If you are able to get there soon, do: and the catalogue is greatly reduced and a wondefful bargain. We also went to the Queen's Gallery to see the Leonardo anatomical drawings - which produced in me a degree of visual overload.



Today it was London for the third day running, this time Westminster where seventeen former Anglican clergy were admitted to the Diaconate of the Catholic Church. Bishop Alan Hopes ordained, our Ordinary, Mgr Keith Newton, was a benign presence throughout, and Mgr Andrew Burnham preached splendidly on the Diaconate. Above is a picture from the moments before the Mass began. Frs Page and Elliott-Smith were no doubt glad that today, unlike Thursday, the tube did not let them down. They had struggled to get to Allen Hall and missed much of the morning session.

Many of those being ordained are old friends of mine, and it was particularly good to have Brian Copus from our Bournemouth Ordinariate Group once more properly dressed in clericals. Good too to have two other residents of Portsmouth Diocese among the candidates - John Maunder from St Agatha's Portsea and John Hunwicke (for he lives in Oxford on the Portsmouth side of the Thames). After Mass, members of the Bournemouth Ordinariate repaired to the Victoria Pub, to drink the new deacons' health.



Here on the right of the picture are Fr Brian and his wife Bärbel. On this occasion the new deacons' wives were welcomed to the sanctuary and given a special blessing just before Mass ended. What a great day! Now we eagerly await news of when Fr Brian is to be ordained priest - some of those deaconed today will be priested in their home parishes or local cathedrals as early as next week.