Thanks!

Jane and I would like to thank everyone who has remembered us in prayer for our Reception today into the Catholic Church. It was a lovely occasion; a beautiful, cold morning, and a very good number of the faithful in church. Anglican friends had turned up (one couple having set off very early indeed from Caversham), another couple who are preparing to be received came from Bournemouth. To my amazement there was a choir, augmented with singers from the Catholic Church in Brockenhurst. Fr Danny, the parish priest, generously stood aside to let Mgr Peter Ryan celebrate the Mass and Confirmation. Peter was an Anglican priest himself, but became a Catholic many years ago and served in Liverpool. Now, like us, he is retired in Lymington. He kindly undertook the task of preparing us in a 'crash course'. He spoke to us this morning with great warmth, and with affection for the Church of England.
I had asked Norah, one of the regular congregation at Our Lady of Mercy, to act as my sponsor; Jane had an old friend, yet another fomer Anglican now a Catholic Priest, to sponsor her, so Fr John Catlin drove over from Winchester to support us. After Mass we had a great reception in the parish room, with tea and coffee and home-made cakes and biscuits; a bun-fight to remember!
It is so good to be in Communion with the Catholic Church, to be part of it. We were so warmly welcomed, not least by two Dominican Sisters from their House in Sway - the picture above is of their Chapel. Thanks to everyone; but above all, Thanks be to God for his loving care for us and for all his children.

Money, Money, Money

Whenever we get together to talk about the Ordinariate, the question of Finance always arises. In his first Press Conference on being appointed as the Ordinary, Fr Keith spoke of the way members of the Ordinariate would have to get used to supporting the ministry of their clergy. It is very good, therefore, to be able to reproduce (from The Anglo-Catholic - thank you, Christian) the following information:

"The Catholic Bishops' Conference has advised that a Restricted Fund has been established to hold donations towards the formation and support of the Personal Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham in England and Wales, under the auspices of the Catholic Trust for England and Wales (CaTEW). There may be a facility in the future to make donations by standing order, but for the present, donations can be made by cheque, made out to CaTEW, and sent to:

The Catholic Bishops' Conference of England and Wales
39 Eccleston Square
LONDON
SW1V 1BX

Donors are asked ensure that a note is enclosed with the cheque indicating that the donation is for the Restricted Fund for the Ordinariate".

I have posted off my first cheque today, with a note asking to be told when the Standing Order facility is available; and also saying I would like tax to be reclaimed on this and future payments. If all of us heading for the Ordinariate were to convert our present donations to the CofE into a regular payment to the Ordinariate, and add more as we are able, it would show just how serious we are about getting the Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham off to a good start.

Ancient and Modern

Well, it was a lovely Baptism, and Amy Louise behaved impeccably, as did older sister Caitlin. Here they are with mum and dad in the magnificent Norman parish church of Faringdon. There was something of a family service which led up to the Baptism, which was not quite my cup of tea. However, the Vicar must be doing something right for the place was crowded (and not just with our extended family) and there is clearly a good deal of youth involvement. When they one day discover the joy of simply sitting in the presence of the Lord in the Reserved Sacrament - 'He looks at I, and I looks at E' as the old farmhand is reported to have said - then they will have a marvellous balance. At present there seems to be a bit of a disconnect between Ancient and Modern; summed up for me in the picture below of a Tudor lady, removed from the context of the family tomb, and trying to say her prayers and not get distracted by the drum kit next to her.

Out of the Ordinary

Not so very Ordinary!

The blogging paparazzi were out in force in Westminster Cathedral today. There was Fr Ed, looking as though he owned the place, and he already has three postings! But then, Jane and I did have to travel further - and longer. The Railway had decided to play its customary weekend games, so we had to drive to Winchester to avoid being replacement-bussed and took the train from there. Even forty-five minutes before kick-off, the place was heaving. So many friends, it was beginning to look like a Forward in Faith Assembly - but bigger, much bigger.

Fr Bradley was wielding his camera, so I shall not post any of my feeble efforts from half-way back in the Cathedral. Instead, you might like to see Fr Keith, our new Ordinary. He spoke for us all at a reception in the Archbishop's House, thanking particularly Bishop Alan Hopes, who has borne the heat and burden of the days - and nights - of setting up a new part of the Catholic Church in record time.


Bishop Alan Hopes
It was good to see the other two new priests - but I only managed to catch Bishop John with my camera (together with some of his vast family) surrounding Archbishop Vincent as they listed to the Ordinary.



The Archbishop had greeted the crowds as they left after Mass; here I think it was some of the contingent from Bridport saying their thanks. It had been so good to hear him, a Liverpudlian, announcing the name of the new Ordinary, no less a Merseysider. I shall have to polish my CV ... let's see, we were bombed in Birkenhead during the war - does that count?






Bishop Keith thanked the Archbishop, and everyone at the Cathedral, but most especially the Holy Father Pope Benedict in taking this historic step. We had been reminded in Archbishop Nichols' sermon that this was a historic day; and it certainly felt like it. Such a joyful occasion, tinged with sadness because some of those present are not yet able to join the caravan. But they will, surely they will. My own best memory will be the three former Walsingham Sisters, delighted to be taking part and even more delighted that the Ordinariate has been named for Our Lady of Wlasingham. There's Patrimony for you!

Calm down, Dears

Signs of over-excitement in the blogosphere. Since my last posting it has had over a thousand hits a day - which shows there must be a few people interested in the Ordinariate. Oh, I know Fr Ed will regularly get two thousand hits per diem, but you don't come here looking for controversy. Let's just take Michael Winner's advice in the ads, and calm it.

So today is nice and sober. Some thirty or so, including four clergy, met this afternoon in a Catholic Church just over the Dorset border in Christchurch for our latest session on the Ordinariate. After an Anglican eucharist, celebrated by Fr Brian Copus, Fr Graham Smith was able to give us all news of the Timetable for those seeking to join the Ordinariate. My own experience of the eucharistic fast (before being Received and Chrismated in two weeks' time) was explained, to help some realise just what was meant by not being able to receive Communion throughout Lent. In preparation for all this the Bishop of Portsmouth is calling together members of the various groups exploring the Ordinariate in his diocese. We shall be invited to St John's Catholic Cathedral on Saturday March 12th, when this stage on our journey will be marked liturgically.

The completion of this period of fasting will be on Maundy Thursday, when the Group will be received together into the fulness of Communion in the Catholic Church. Through Lent too those former Anglican priests joining the Ordinariate will undertake a special course at Allen Hall, the Catholic Seminary in Chelsea, as part of their preparation. The five former bishops will participate in this, too.

It is a busy and exciting time. Several at the meeting are planning to be at the Ordination of the three recent PEVs in Westminster next week, and any day now we should know who is to be our Ordinary. To me, this seems like the fulfilment of what the Reformation and the Counter-Reformation both set out to achieve - the renewal of the Faith. This time not through schism but by beginning the work of re-uniting Christ's Church, his Body. I lived through the seond world war (just); these events seem to me every bit as historic. Never has persistent prayer been more necessary.

Amazing (G)Race

* * * * * * * * * St John's Cathedral, Portsmouth * * * * * * *

Forgive the punning title, but it does seem to have been a sprint rather than a marathon, heading towards Catholic priesthood. Certainly there has been much grace involved, on the part of the Catholic authorities, from the Holy Father via the Diocesan Bishop and our Parish Priest to the local congregation here. Everyone has done everything possible to smooth our path and make us welcome.

So it is good to be able to announce that the intention is that Jane and I should be received here in Lymington, at the Church of Our Lady and St Joseph, at the 9.30am Mass on January 21st. Bishop Crispian says he will ordain me Deacon in his private chapel on the morning of February 11th, and my ordination to the Priesthood will follow three weeks later at 2.30pm on Saturday March 5th in Portsmouth Catholic Cathedral.

It would be helpful if any Catholic priests who wish to concelebrate in the Cathedral could let me know, so that I can send their names on to the Bishop. But whoever you are reading this blog, please be kind enough to remember Jane and me in your prayers at this exciting and slightly nerve-wracking time.

Words, words, words

'Sticks and stones may break my bones, but names can never hurt me'; except that they do, sometimes they hurt more than physical wounds. Religious words are constantly taken over and given negative meanings in the secular world. We don't like being told off; so we say we don't want to be preached at; or we find an argument too hard to follow, and we call it theological - the media are especially good at this, when the word they want is theoretical.

There is one word which seems to be used by everyone when writing about the Bishops who are leaving the Anglican Communion. That word is 'defecting'. Now you might expect those who dislike the Catholic Church - the BBC, much of the Press - to delight in such a pejorative term. It is a little surprising, though, to see it in more friendly reporting - the Telegraph uses it, and so does "America; the National Catholic Weekly" and other Catholic journals.

The meaning of the word itself is bad enough; "to fail, fall short, become deficient or wanting, to fall off from (a standard &c)". So the Oxford English Dictionary. The associations of the word, though (like theological and thoretical) are worse. They connect with 'defective' (maybe mentally or morally defective) or having a defect, being faulty.

It may be this is what some people think of those who, for reasons of conscience, can no longer stay in the Church of England, and who are persuaded that the Catholic Church is the home which they seek. It surely is not the way our friends think of us, though? If they need a word to describe our action, I would suggest one which is at least neutral. A good word might be CONVERT. It is neutral, inasmuch as it is used to describe, for instance, changing from one sort of electrical supply to another - from Alternating to Direct Current, maybe, or from 240 to 110 volt supply, or from FM to DAB radio.

It has, too, happier subconscious connections; Conviction , Constant, Conscientious.

In feeling compelled to leave the Church in which I have served for more than fifty years, I am doing so not out of pique. It is with great sadness that I perceive that once-great church to have fallen away from its standards of belief and of morality, and to be taking ever easier options. For instance, once it was not possible for those remarried after divorce to be ordained. Now, that has been changed; and soon (perhaps already, I am not up to speed with the legislation) it will be possible for such people to become bishops in the Church of England.

So I am converting, moving from a church which has to my mind abandoned its catholic principles into one which stands firm. I hope that this action might yet persuade the Church of England to look once more at its foundation documents, and decide that, for example, St Paul's first letter to Timothy, Chapter 3, gives better moral advice to its clergy than decisions of a General Synod. If there has been a "falling off from a standard", that may apply more to the Church of England than to those who, with great sadness, are leaving it.