Oxford University Newman Society

FIFTH WEEK: Science, Religion, Priesthood

2011-11-07T19:40:00.002Z

Our Fifth Week Event MT11 will be a talk by the Rev. Dr. Andew Pinsent (Oxford University) on 'Science, Religion and Priesthood'. Come along and find out more!

Tuesday 8th November 2011, The Old Palace (Catholic Chaplaincy), Rose Place, St. Aldates, 8.30pm. Ring the general door bell. Drinks afterwards. All welcome.

About the Speaker ...

Fr. Andrew Pinsent is Research Director of the Ian Ramsey Centre for Religion and Science at Oxford University, a Research Fellow of Harris-Manchester College and a member of the Faculty of Theology at Oxford. He is also a priest of the diocese of Arundel and Brighton in England.

Fr. Pinsent has a doctorate in particle physics from Oxford, a degree in theology from the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome and a doctorate in philosophy from St Louis University. He is a named author on thirty-one papers of the DELPHI experiment at CERN, Geneva and a member of the United Kingdom Institute of Physics. His licentiate dissertation in philosophy examined the specifically divine nature and end of the Christian virtuous life, especially in the spiritual anthropology of Thomas Aquinas. His doctoral dissertation continued this work by examining the unity of the non-Aristotelian virtues, gifts, beatitudes and fruits in Aquinas's work, drawing an analogy between Aquinas's virtue ethics and the findings of contemporary experimental psychology, especially joint attention and the second person. He has published articles, reviews and popular books, including a critically acclaimed catechetical course Evangelium.

THIRD WEEK: Newman's Pastoral Idea of a University

2011-10-23T08:58:00.000+01:00

Dr. Paul Shrimpton

‘Newman’s Pastoral Idea of a University’

The Old Palace (Catholic Chaplaicny), Rose Place
Tuesday 25th October, 8.30pm

Dr. Shrimpton is a member of Opus Dei and has taught at Magdalen College School for twenty-four years. He has published A Catholic Eton? Newman’s Oratory School and is currently working on a book on Newman’s pastoral idea of a university education. He will examine how the idea of human flourishing underpins Newman’s conception of education, influencing his idea of the university in which the true object is not instruction in a particular subject, but the development of a mature human individual.

LMS Oxford Pilgrimage

2011-10-21T11:15:00.000+01:00

LATIN MASS SOCIETY

OXFORD PILGRIMAGE

SATURDAY 22 OCTOBER 2011

Mass in Blackfriars at 11am.

Procession from St Michael at the North Gate in Cornmarket,

leaving at 2pm, to the site of the martyrdoms of 1589 and back to Blackfriars.

Benediction at Blackfriars at 3pm.

As a special incentive this year the Mass will be a Solemn Mass in the Dominican Rite: the first time we've had this at the Oxford Pilgrimage, and one of the first such Masses in the country since the 1970s.

The preacher will be Fr Guy Nichols, Cong Orat.

Fr Thomas Crean OP will lead the procession and Benediction.

The Schola Abelis will provide polyphony as well as Dominican Chant for Mass,

and will lead the singing for the Procession and Benediction.

St Frideswide's Day Evensong

2011-10-19T09:53:00.000+01:00

Today is the feast of St. Frideswide, patroness of the University and City of Oxford. The Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham will be celebrating Solemn Evensong and Benediction in honour of the feast. This will be the first occasion on which the Order of Evensong, newly approved by the Holy See, will be used solemnly in Oxford.

Aquinas and Eastern Orthodoxy

2011-10-19T09:31:00.000+01:00

Our Second Week event will be a talk by Prof. Andew Louth of Durham University on St Thomas Aquinas and Eastern Orthodoxy. All welcome!

Thursday 20th October, 7pm
Danson Room of Trinity College
(ask at the lodge for directions)

- A joint event with Oxford University Orthodox Society and Oxford University Catholic Society -

Term Card: Michaelmas Term 2011

2011-10-04T17:48:00.000+01:00

Unless otherwise stated, meetings start at 8.30pm and are held in the Blue Room at The Old Palace (Catholic Chaplaincy), Rose Place, just off St. Aldates. Please ring the general door-bell for admission.

The dates and times of some events are still to be confirmed (‘TBC’). Details will be posted on the website in due course.

FIRST WEEK

Freshers’ Drinks Party - Tuesday 11th October, from 8pm

We have reserved the Wadham Room at the King’s Arms, Broad Street, for drinks from 8pm. The President will say a few words of introduction about the society. Wine will be served at the start and afterwards drinks can be purchased from the bar.

SECOND WEEK

Professor Andrew Louth

‘Aquinas and Eastern Orthodoxy’ - Date & time TBC

Porf. Louth taught theology at the universities of London and Oxford, before taking up a post at Durham University, where he currently holds the chair in Patristic and Byzantine Studies. His writings include Origins of the Christian Mystical Tradition and Discerning the mystery: An essay on the nature of theology, as well as books on Dionysios the Areopagite, Maximos the Confessor and John Damascene.

Eight years ago Prof. Louth was ordained a priest of the Russian Orthodox Patriarchal Diocese of Sourozh and he currently serves a parish in Durham. He will provide an assessment of St. Thomas Aquinas, Western Christendom’s greatest theologian, from an Orthodox perspective. - A joint event with the O.U. Catholic Society and the O.U. Orthodox Society -

Evensong of St. Frideswide & Benediction

Wednesday 19th October, Blackfriars, St. Giles, 7.30pm

The Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham was created by Pope Benedict as a means of enabling Anglicans to enter into full communion with the Catholic Church. The service of Evensong forms an essential part of what the Holy Father has called ‘Anglican patrimony’ and the Vatican, in an historic move, has authorised its use by the Ordinariate. This service of Evensong for the feast of St. Frideswide, Patroness of the University and City of Oxford, will be one of the first occasions in which the new liturgy is solemnly used. The Celebrant will be Monsignor Andrew Burnham (who will speak to the society later this term) and the Preacher will be the Rt. Rev. Aidan Bellenger, Lord Abbot of Downside. The service will be followed by a drinks reception, to which all are invited.

THIRD WEEK

Dr. Paul Shrimpton

‘Newman’s Pastoral Idea of a University’ - Tuesday 25th October, 8.30pm

Dr. Shrimpton is a member of Opus Dei and has taught at Magdalen College School for twenty-four years. He has published A Catholic Eton? Newman’s Oratory School and is currently working on a book on Newman’s pastoral idea of a university education. He will examine how the idea of human flourishing underpins Newman’s conception of education, influencing his idea of the university in which the true object is not instruction in a particular subject, but the development of a mature human individual.

FOURTH WEEK

Speed Dating!
- A joint event with the O.U. Catholic Society - Date & time TBC

Dr. Roger Litten

‘Psychoanalysis and the Church’ - Tuesday 1st November, 8.30pm

Dr. Litten has a degree in Research Psychology from the University of the Witwatersrand in South Africa. He came to England in the early 1990s to complete a doctorate in Psychoanalytic Studies and a Postgraduate Practitioner Diploma in Counselling Psychology. He is currently is chairman of the London Society of the New Lacanian School. His talk will examine Roman Catholicism from a psychoanalysist’s perspective.

FIFTH WEEK

The Rev. Dr. Andrew Pinsent

‘Science, Religion and Priesthood’ - Tuesday 8th November, 8.30pm

Fr. Pinsent is Research Director of the Ian Ramsey Centre for Religion and Science at Oxford University and a member of the University’s Faculty of Theology. He has a doctorate in particle physics from Oxford, a degree in theology from the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome and a doctorate in philosophy from St. Louis University. He is a named author on thirty-one papers of the DELPHI experiment at CERN, Geneva, and has also published articles, reviews and popular books, including a critically acclaimed catechetical course, Evangelium. Drawing on his own experience as a Catholic priest and as a scientist, Fr. Pinsent will speak to us about ‘Science, Religion, and Priesthood’.

The Rev. Monsignor Andrew Burnham and others

‘One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic: Possibilities for Church Unity’ - Date & time TBC

Two years ago the Right Rev. Andrew Burnham, Anglican Bishop of Ebsfleet, visited the Newman Society and spoke about the possibility of re-union of Anglicans with the Roman Catholic Church. This term he returns as one of four former Anglican Bishops now ordained for service as priests within Pope Benedict’s newly-created Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham.

Pope Benedict has been described as the ‘Pope of Christian Unity’. His dialogue with the Orthodox Churches, with Anglicans, and with the followers of Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre is recognised as one of the hall-marks of his papacy. In conversation with a panel of experts drawn from the church’s Religious Orders, Fr. Burnham will discuss how Christ’s injunction ‘That they may all be one’ can be realised today. - A joint event with the Catholic Society -

SIXTH WEEK

Ambrose Hogan & Rashad Ali Merton College - 15th October, 8.30pm

‘Religion in the Media: Misrepresentation of the Church and Islamic communities in Britain’

A Christian and a Moslem will lead a discussion on the presentation of religious groups in the British media. Does our media have a secularist bias, or is its religious reporting balanced and impartial?

Ambrose Hogan is an Education specialist and is Programme Co-ordinator of a Master’s Degree in Moslem Societies and Civilisation at London University’s Institute of Education. He also writes regularly for the Jesuit’s on-line journal ‘Thinking Faith’.

Rashad Ali lectured and taught in Saudi Arabia and has an interest in Islam related issues. He was also involved with non-violent Islamist extreme political parties for several years, before renouncing these views for a more traditional version of Islam. He currently works for CENTRI, a counter-extremism consultancy specialising in issues related to Islam, faith, cultural diversity, and integration.

SEVENTH WEEK

The Very Revd. Dr. John Drury

‘The poetry and religious significance of George Herbert’ - Tuesday 22nd October, 8.30pm

Dr. Drury is an Anglican clergyman and holds Oxford University’s highest degree, that of Doctor of Divinity. Since 2003 he has been Chaplain and Fellow of All Souls’ College and he previously served as Dean (Head of House) of Christ Church. He is an expert on the poetry of the seventeenth century Anglican Divine, George Herbert, and has a particular interest in Herbert in his historical context and his poetry’s relevance for the present-day.

EIGHTH WEEK

Termly Mass and Dinner - Date & time TBC

The termly Mass will be a Sung Mass in the extraordinary form. In his Apostolic Letter Summorum Pontifcum Pope Benedict encouraged re-engagement with the Church’s ancient Latin liturgical tradition. Writing to the world’s Bishops the Holy Father identified the tradition’s relevance for young people, saying ‘it has clearly been demonstrated that young persons have discovered this liturgical form, felt its attraction and found in it a form of encounter with the Mystery of the Most Holy Eucharist’.

Following the Mass there will be the society’s termly black-tie dinner. Details about dates, venues, and times will be announced in due course (check the website).

MEMBERSHIP – Membership forms are available at meetings or upon request from one of the Society’s officers. The rates are: life membership: £20; university membership: £12; annual membership: £6.

SPEAKER DINNERS – Members are invited to dine with the speaker before meetings. Places are limited and there is a small charge. To enquire about attending e-mail the President: sofia.abasolo@merton.ox.ac.uk.

COMPLINE & DRINKS – We conclude each Speaker Meeting with drinks. When the meeting takes place at the Catholic Chaplaincy, there is also Compline or another form of prayer in St. Thomas More’s Chapel.

ELECTIONS – Nominations for the positions of President-Elect (to be President in Trinity Term), Treasurer, Secretary, Social Secretary, and Publicity Officer can be submitted to the Returning Officer at the above address until 1pm on Friday of Sixth Week. See the website for the full Constitution.

THE ‘FAITH IN OXFORD’ APPEAL – Our Patron, Cardinal George Pell, has launched an appeal to raise an endowment to support the society. See the appeal section on the website for further details.

TIES – Society ties (gold, red & blue) can be purchased at Walters on Turl Street. Ask at the counter.

PATRONS
HRH The Duchess of Kent
His Eminence George Cardinal Pell
The Rt. Rev. Arthur Roche
The Rt. Rev. Peter Elliott

EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE
President: Sofia Abasolo, Merton
Senior Member: John Eidinow, Merton & St. Benet’s
Past-President: Emeric Monfront, Christ Church
President-Elect: Krishan Nadesan, Christ Church
Treasurer: Richard Pickett, Exeter
Secretary: Timothy Sherwin, Merton
Social Secretary: Charlotte Irwin, St. Anne’s
Publicity Officer: Michael Towers, Christ Church
Junior Officer: Thomas Treherne, St. Catherine’s
Returning Officer: Gregory Stacey, Trinity

Lawrence England at the society

2011-05-20T04:42:00.001+01:00

Joe Shaw has a post about Lawrence England's recent talk to the society on his blog. Click here to read it.

Fr Timothy Finigan: 'Jansenism, Dissent and the Liturgy'

2011-05-17T11:20:00.000+01:00

Fr Tim Finigan, of 'The hermeneutic of continuity' blog (http://the-hermeneutic-of-continuity.blogspot.com/) and parish priest of Blackfen, Kent, is coming to talk to us about Jansenism, Dissent and the Liturgy.

This is happening today (17th June) at 8.30pm at the Catholic Chaplaincy.

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=167198833341696

Trinity Term First Event

2011-05-03T22:19:00.000+01:00

Pilgrimage in Honour of Blessed John Henry

In conjunction with the Oxford Newman Society, Oxford Gregorian Chant Society and the Latin Mass Society.

Join us on the exciting pilgrimage to the place where Blessed Newman was received into the Catholic Church!

2.30pm: Sung Traditional Latin Mass at Greyfriars (Ss Edmund & Frideswide)
Walk to The College, Littlemore for Vespers (Sung, Latin)
Followed by convivial supper

FACEBOOK
Juventutem Oxford

Homily on Bl John Henry Newman

2011-02-09T11:26:00.000Z

Homily by Fr Daniel Seward, Cong Orat

for the Newman Society’s termly Mass, 8th February 2011

Oriel College

Our Cardinal has now been beatified. So it’s important for us to ask: what is a saint, and why should we want Newman to be raised to the altars of the Church? To have a saint of our own is not just a feather in our cap, or even an excuse to promote the different causes to which Newman devoted his life. It is about much more that that: the Church beatifies and canonizes men and women from among her number in order to glorify their sanctity. Holiness – that is what it is all about. The saints show us that heroic sanctity is possible and necessary for us as Christians. They remind us of that call to holiness which is addressed to each of us, and they encourage us on our journey towards that perfection for which God has created us. Whatever the value of Newman’s theology, or his prose, or the interest of his many letters; all this is as nothing in comparison with the importance of his holiness – the extent to which he imitated Christ in his earthly life.

St Philip [Neri] used to say that we should never marvel at what the saints do, but rather at what God does in His saints. So here is the first qualification for holiness. If a person is merely a human marvel, that is no doubt a good thing, but it is not enough. He must point us beyond Himself to the God who is the source of all holiness. So to make someone a saint is not the equivalent of giving them the Nobel Prize or a kind of celestial knighthood, it is done for the glory of God alone.

The deep wish to do God’s will and to pursue holiness marked out John Henry Newman from a young age, in a way that he saw very clearly to be a mark of Divine Providence. The Calvinist religion in which the young Newman began his spiritual journey attached great importance to God’s grace but very little to personal holiness. Yet his inner conversion at the age of fifteen was accompanied by an unusual conviction that God was calling him to a celibate life. St Paul said, “The world as we know it is passing away. I should like you to be free of all worries. The unmarried man is busy with the Lord’s affairs, concerned with pleasing the Lord”. So the young Newman, while still a Protestant, made that sacrifice of himself in witness to the transience of this world and the endurance of the kingdom of heaven. Celibacy is certainly not the only route to holiness of course, but for Newman, it was part of his conviction that God had a mission for him, a definite service, a work committed to him not given to any other.

Loss and Gain: The story of a convert's chapel

2010-07-26T00:01:00.002+01:00

After yesterday's article about Our Lady of Oxford, readers might be interested to see how her chapel has developed over the years. Here is the first Oxford chapel, as it stood up until 1907 in Hartwell de la Garde Grissell's house at Number 60, High Street, in Oxford. Many of the features still observable in today's chapel can be seen: the lavish baroque frame with the picture of Our Lady of Oxford, the altar (carved in Rome) and its canopy, and the reliquary cupboards. Under the altar is the body of the boy-martyr St. Pacificus.

Grissell kept a register of the clergy who celebrated Mass in his chapel. They included Fr. Bowles (who had been at Littlemore with Newman), Henri Brémond, abbé Loisy, Dom Bede Camm, the future Cardinals Mercier and Gasquet, Bishops Hedley and Ilsley, and the great Dominicans Bede Jarrett and Vincent McNabb.

1900s - Foundation

The fate of Grissell's collection preoccupied him. He contemplated the foundation of a 'Newman Memorial Chapel' in Oxford and corresponded with Cardinal Vaughn, who was eager to obtain the collection for Westminster Cathedral. However, Grissell was determined that the collection should remain in Oxford and, when he died in 1907, his will stipulated that it be enshrined in a chapel of St. Aloysius' Church, Oxford. This next photograph shows the chapel as it was fitted out to receive the collection in 1908. Grissell's original relic cubboards were reconstructed to right and left of the altar. The paintings on the ceiling are by Gabriel Pippet and depict iconography from the Roman catacombs, alluding to the relics of many of the Roman martyrs housed within the chaepl. A sacristry was erected to the epistle side of the chapel and was accessed through a door where St. Aloysius' statue stands today. Here were kept a valuable collection of vestments, books, objects from the catacombs, and other artefacts.

1950s - Grey

The next stage of the chapel's development came in the 1950s. The florid Victorian stencilling of the chapel had fallen out of fashion and the ceiling was painted battleship grey, leaving Pippet's paintings floating in mid-air. The iron railings seen in the previous picture were removed and the bottom of the relic cupboards were cut away to house radiators for a new heating system.

1970s & '80s - Loss

The 1970s and 1980s witnessed the saddest period in the chapel's history. The cult of relics did not chine with the spirit of the age. Despite Grissell's fastidiousness in ensuring that all his relics were authenticated by ecclesiastical authorities, the entire collection was declared to be 'inauthentic' and was dispatched to the local crematorium. The physical remains of St. Pacificus had survived the Roman persecutions of the church, but did not survive the twentieth-century. The top of the altar still bears the marks of an asiduous 'recker' who chiselled out a relic of St. Peter's altar enshrined there. The other artefacts of Grissell's collection were dispersed and the sacristry was turned into a public conveniance. The chapel stood empty and Mass was no longer said there. Thankfully, the image of Our Lady of Oxford survived in place above the altar.

1990s - Gain

With the arrival of the Oratory Fathers in the 1990s efforts were made to restore the chapel. In late 1994 a new collection of relics, most of which were given by the Carmelites of Chichester, was installed in the chapel. The Carmelites also gave a cast iron screen, which can be seen in the above picture. Happily, the present screen is rather finer than the original one. Visible on the altar is the inscription announcing the indulgences granted to Our Lady of Oxford by Blessed Pius IX in 1869. A statue of St. Aloysius was placed in the chapel and its walls (which had become damp and were in a poor state) were draped with temporary hangings of red damask.

2000s - The threshold of hope

In 2009 the chapel was restored as part of the Oxford Oratory's 'Reaffirmation and Renewal' campaign. The original ceiling stencilling was reinstated, contextualising Pippet's paintings in their original artistic setting. The relic cupboards were given state of the art lighting, showing off the new relics on display.

Among the relics on display is a first class relic of Blessed Lucy of Narnia, given by the C.S. Lewis scholar Walter Hooper! The ashes from the relics of Grissell's collection have be re-enshrined in a glass urn, bearing an inscription which translates as 'From the ashes of ten thousand martyrs'. Thus, St. Pacificus and his celestial companions continue to interceed upon supplication of the faithful!

There follow some photographs of the newly restored chapel and of Pippet's paintings.

See Oxford Oratory and James Bradley.

Society's Patronal Feast Day of Our Lady of Oxford

2010-07-24T10:21:00.003+01:00

Today - the Saturday before the fourth Sunday in July - is the feast of Our Lady of Oxford and is the patronal Feast Day of the Newman Society. The image of Our Lady of Oxford depicts the Madonna under the title Mater Miserecordiae ('Mother of Mercy') and is enshrined in a chapel at the Oxford Oratory.

The image was originally brought from Rome by the Newman Society's co-founder, Hartwell de la Garde Grissell (wikipedia article here), who housed it together with his vast collection of relics in a private chapel on the High Street. Upon his death Grissell left the image and relics in trust to the Archdiocese of Birmingham, with the proviso that they be enshrined in a special chapel at St. Aloysius' Church in Oxford. The church's former baptistery was hastily prepared to receive the collection and was opened to the public in 1908. A number of ex voto offerings, including several silver 'miracle hearts', are preserved in the parish and attest to miraculous favours attributed to the intercession of Our Lady of Oxford.

The Newman Society was formally dedicated to Our Lady of Oxford by Cardinal George Pell on 7th March 2009. After a Mass said at Our Lady of Oxford's altar the Cardinal consecrated the society to her and placed its members under her special patronage. The photograph on the right shows His Eminence celebrating the Mass.

Click on the images of the prayer card below for information about the indulgences which Blessed Pius IX gave to Our Lady of Oxford and for the special prayer to her: O Blessed Virgin Mary, whom we venerate in this thy Sanctuary under the sweet title of Mother of Mercy: thou who wast of old so loved and honoured in this University and City ...

Society launches Newman beatification website

2010-07-10T15:54:00.000+01:00

The society has a new section of its website dedicated to Cardinal Newman's forthcoming beatification. The society is planning a number of events to mark the occasion and details will be posted on the site shortly. Visit the site by clicking here.

'Are you in the club?' The Newman tie featured in Country Life magazine

2010-07-10T11:21:00.003+01:00

The people at Country Life magazine have kindly written to us about an article which they recently published on tie fashion, 'Are you in the club?'. The Newman tie - which is a broad stripe of Papal gold, Oxford blue, and Cardinal red - is featured in the article and is pictured above. Members will be pleased to learn that the Newman tie makes the top twenty in the list of 'Notable neckwear' appearing in the article, whereas the Bullingdon tie does not! To read the article click on the image below and then click again to zoom in.

Members may purchase the Newman tie from Walters of Oxford on Turl Street.

'Loyal to Peter' - The Newman Society's lost statue of Saint Peter

2010-07-01T12:10:00.004+01:00

The Newman Society gave a bronze statue of St. Peter to St. Aloysius’ church in 1893. The gift commemorated the departure of the much loved Fr. Walter Strappini SJ, who had served as Rector of the parish for eleven years and had been a formative influence in those early years of the society’s history.

The statue was a scaled replica of the famous statue of St. Peter which stands in the Vatican Basilica and is attributed to the thirteenth century sculptor Arnolfo di Cambio. The original model for the sculpture can be seen in the Basilica’s crypt, where there can be found a classical sculpture of a seated philosopher which has been transformed into a christianised image of the Prince of the Apostles teaching from his cathedra.

On Ss Peter and Paul’s day the bronze statue is vested with a cope, Episcopal ring, and Papal tiara. A special indulgence can be obtained by kissing its foot, which has been worn down to a smooth surface by the veneration of pilgrims over the centuries. The gesture has a two-fold meaning: it is an act of veneration of St. Peter and - as the traditional gesture of obeisance upon meeting a Pope - is also an expression of loyalty to the person of the Holy Father as successor of 'the Fisherman' Peter.

In St. Aloysius’ parish records there survives a papal grant giving this same indulgence to the Newman Society’s statue and Fr. Martindale’s history of the parish records that it was much venerated by people entering and leaving the church.

The statue was removed from the church and decapitated (!) several decades ago. The head was rescued by a parishioner and has recently been returned to the parish. It can now be seen in the Oratory House, where it serves as a sad reminder of the reprehensible destruction of so much of our Catholic patrimony falsly carried out in the name of the Second Vatican Council (see below).

The above photograph has recently come to light. The astute observer will notice that the marbled base of the sculpture is now used as a plinth for St. Joseph’s statue in the church.

The Fathers of Vatican II on sacred art:

Very rightly the fine arts are considered to rank among the noblest expressions of human genious. This judgment applies especially to religious art and to its highest achievement, which is sacred art. By their very nature both of the latter are related to God’s boundless beauty …

The practice of placing sacred images in churches so that they may be venerated by the faithful is to be firmly maintained …

Ordinaries must be very careful to see that sacred furnishings and works of value are not disposed of or allowed to deteriorate; for they are ornaments of the house of God.

(Vatican II, S.C., 122, 125, 126)

Archbishop Diarmuid Martin's address to the Newman Society

2010-06-15T14:40:00.001+01:00

“THERE ARE MANY YOUNG PEOPLE WHO ARE STRUGGLING TO FIND A REASON TO REMAIN IN THE CHURCH”

Speaking Notes of Most Rev. Diarmuid Martin
Archbishop of Dublin and Primate of Ireland

Newman Society, Oxford, 4th June 2010

The title that I have chosen for my reflections this evening – There are many young people who are struggling to find a reason to remain in the Church” – may seem slightly puzzling to some of you. Let me explain its origin. It is a line taken from the comment of the Parish Pastoral Council of one Dublin parish sent to me in the light of the publication of the Murphy Report into the sexual abuse of children by priests within the Archdiocese of Dublin.

The Murphy Report was a very significant examination of how allegations of sexual abuse by priests were managed by Church and State authorities in Ireland. The Report was the fruit of a Government instituted Commission which was established to examine a representative sample of how abuse cases were managed in the period of time between 1975 and 2004.

The findings of the Murphy Report were disastrous. Certainly much of what was dealt with took place in different times and in a different culture. Medical science and juridical reflection may have underestimated the damage done to children who were sexually abused. But what the Murphy Report narrated was nonetheless catastrophic. I have repeated on numerous occasions that for me the only honest reaction of the Church to that Report was to publicly admit that the manner in which that catastrophe was addressed was spectacularly wrong; spectacularly wrong “full stop”; not spectacularly wrong, “but…” You cannot sound-byte your way out of a catastrophe.

The cultural situation was different; abuse takes place in many other sectors of society. This is all true. But it cannot be used as an excuse to down-play the gravity of what took place in the Church of Christ. The Church is different; the Church is a place where children should be the subject of special protection and care. The Gospel presents children in a special light and reserves some of its most severe language for those who disregard or scandalise children in any way.

It is hard to understand why, in the management by Church authorities of cases of the sexual abuse of children, the children themselves were for many years rarely even taken into the equation. Yes, in the culture of the day children were to be seen and not heard, but different from other professions Church leaders should have been more aware of the Gospel imperative to avoid harm to children, whose innocence was indicated by the Lord a sign of the kingdom of God. Where innocent children are failed, the Kingdom of God and the message of Jesus Christ have been distorted.

It is not my intention this evening to enter deeply into the question of the management and cover-up of the problem of sexual abuse by priests. It is a question which has influenced me deeply over the six years in which I have been Archbishop of Dublin. I have dedicated a great deal of time to the question and I do not regret that. I have met with and listened to survivors; I have been often so angry when I witness the horrendous damage that was done to people’s lives. I have worked to ensure that we have sound child safeguarding procedures in all our parishes. I have cooperated in three investigations and am now engaged with two others.

I often feel that he Archdiocese of Dublin will turn out to be the most investigated diocese in the world: It has dealt with the Murphy Commission – for which I submitted almost 70,000 documents; it has dealt with two large scale police investigations, one currently on-going; it has responded to a detailed audit by the State’s Health Service Executive. The Church’s National Board for Safeguarding Children in the Catholic Church in Ireland is due to conduct a further audit and an Apostolic Visitation of the Diocese have been announced for the coming months.

The Church must recognise the failings and cover ups of the past but it cannot be imprisoned in its past. That is the challenging dilemma which I have to face as Pastor of a diocese of about 1,200,000 Catholics, by far the largest diocese in these islands.

The Catholic Church in Ireland is coming out of one of the most difficult moments in its history yet the light at the end of the tunnel is still a long way off. The Catholic Church in Ireland will have to live with the grief of its past, which cannot and should never be forgotten or overlooked. There is no simple way of wiping the slate of the past clean, just to ease our feelings. Yet the Catholic Church in Ireland cannot be imprisoned in its past. The work of evangelization must if anything takes on a totally new vibrancy.

I would not however like what I say about moving onwards to be in any way interpreted as turning my back on the survivors of sexual abuse. They had their childhood stolen and the words of Jesus about his special care for children will apply to them until that day, whenever and if ever that will be, when the hurt of their stolen childhood will be healed. In my years as Archbishop I have learned enormously from survivors as they allowed me to know something of their pain and of their hopes and also of the spiritual void which many experience as a result of betrayal by their Church. I use the term spiritual void because it is an expression which some survivors have used to express how they feel in their lives. In my encounters with survivors, however, I have found their spiritual fragility somehow has given them in a deep spiritual strength, from which I have profited. For that I thank them.

I have begun my reflections by looking at some aspects of the effects of the abuse scandal within the Archdiocese of Dublin. I do so to situate the context in which young people in Ireland today engage with their faith and with their Church.

There are indeed many young people in our parishes who are struggling to find a reason to remain in the Church. There are many more who have long since made their decision not to remain. There are those for whom the Church is totally off their radar screen.

This is not just the common situation in which the young people of each generation question or even reject the Church at a particular moment in their personal development. I believe that the crisis today goes much deeper. For many young people who were already doubting their faith, the abuse scandal was just the ultimate confirmation that they had been looking for of the fact that the Catholic Church in its current expression is for them much more than a wounded organization, but a failed organization if not indeed a hypocritical organization.

Parents who go to Church tell me that the have to listen to the comments of their children regarding why they keep going “to those people”. This is very frustrating for parents who themselves may be still hanging in there by what a seventy year old wrote to me this morning “the fingernails of faith”.

There is no way then that we can underplay the effect that the abuse scandals have had on young people. But it must be said very clearly that the crisis of belief among young people has far deeper roots and roots which were there well before the abuse scandal.

I visit parishes where I encounter no young people. I enquire what is being done to attract young people to parish life and the answers are vague. Everyone knows that there is a missing generation in our Church attendance and perhaps more than one, yet there are very few strong pastoral initiatives to reach out to young people. Parishes offer very little outreach to young people and I feel that an increasing number of young people find parishes a little like alien territory.

There are structural and cultural factors which are unique to the Irish Church which have contributed to this alienation of our young people. The Irish Church has traditionally stressed the central role of Catholic schools. In the nineteenth century, after Catholic Emancipation, the Irish Church was determined that it would have an education system not just open to Catholics, as had hitherto not being the case, but which gave the strongest possible guarantee of being truly Catholic.

The only Irish bishop who took a strong strand in favour of Catholic participation in the initial National School system or in the Queens University system was the Archbishop of Dublin, Daniel Murray. His successor in Dublin, the first Irish Cardinal, Paul Cullen, on the other hand strongly supported the idea of specifically Catholic education in schools and universities and definitively won the Holy See’s support for his views.

It was Cullen who invited Newman to come to Dublin to establish the Catholic University of Ireland. There is a fascinating temptation for me to ask the “What if” question: what if the model of Archbishop Murray had been followed with Catholic children attending public schools and secular universities? Might the faith in Ireland have been stronger and less parochial?

Newman’s University, in fact, was not a great success; its degrees were not recognised and apart from the medical school failed to attract public interest. I have to be careful not to make many critical comments about the effectiveness of Newman’s University, not just because I am addressing a Newman Society, but because I am actually the current Rector of the Catholic University of Ireland which still exists in law. It exists in law but it has little more than Trustees, a Rector and a beautiful University Church designed in great part under the direct influence of Newman. I will come back to that Church later.

The particular religious history of Ireland led to great emphasis being placed on the school as the principal vehicle for religious education. The school in Ireland then became a rather authoritarian school system, with Victorianism, Jansenism and older Irish penitential spirituality combining. Questioning was not encouraged. Questions of faith were to be accepted in obedience. It was presumed that all students in Catholic schools were believers and that they would make the First Communion and Confirmation when they reached the appropriate class. In my younger days parents were not even allowed to be in the Church for Confirmation. In more recent years, due to the drop in the number of priests and the increase of their work load, the link between sacramental preparation and school deepened and the link between sacramental preparation and parish diminished.

A form of religious education which is separated from the parish or some other non-school faith community will almost inevitably cave in the day that school ends. Sacramental formation belongs within the Christian community which welcomes and supports each of us on our journey. We need a more demanding catechesis, within a parish framework, for those who wish to come forward for admission to the sacraments. Admission to the sacraments is not something which is automatically acquired when one reaches a certain class in school. I have just begun a long term pastoral project in the Archdiocese of Dublin to find new solutions to this challenge.

The curious demography and history of the Irish Church meant also that the Church developed and pioneered all sorts of valuable services within the community. This was often done at no expense to the State. As Irish society became wealthier, it was rightfully claimed that such services deserved appropriate support from public authorities because of the social benefit they provided.

This resulted in two consequences. Today to many who have no understanding of the historical roots of this situation it can easily appear that the Church uses its role in social services because it wanted to and still wants to maintain dominating control of many aspects of society. This is another source of alienation for young people. Secondly as the years went on and salaries were paid by the State, many of these Church services lost something of the Christian concept of gratuitousness and became little different to any other professional service. A Church which looses that sense of gratuitousness looses something of the essential dimensions of its witness to Jesus. I believe that it is no coincidence that the consistent generosity people show towards the Saint Vincent de Paul Society comes precisely because of the gratuity of its witness.

A further problem emerged as the Catholic Church in Ireland, which was provider of many services, began to be blamed as responsible or co-responsible for the defects of these services. The situation emerged in which rather than being an uncompromising witness to the values of the Gospel, Church-run institutions became embroiled in all sorts of disputes which were not really matters for the Church. Again in this context the Church, even in those areas where the it was seeking to provide care and support to the poor, appeared to many young people, as a Church seeking power.

The Church will continue to provide services for the poor and recognises the need for professionalism in its services. Hopefully the Church has learned the lesson that it should not allow itself to be involved in providing poor quality services for the poor. When Church services become simply ancillary to State then they run the risk of loosing their ecclesial originality and will one day end up being incorporated into the public service structure and subordinated to its goals. Already the structures of some Catholic services are being altered to respond to financial policies of the State.

The Catholic Church in Ireland has to adapt itself to the changing society within which it lives. My reflections this afternoon are principally about the Catholic Church in Ireland. I am not an expert in nor would I presume to talk much less to lecture to the Church here in the United Kingdom. For that I have neither the mandate nor the competence. The pastoral situation in Ireland is quite different to that in the United Kingdom.

The Catholic Church in Ireland has to adapt itself to the changing society within which it lives. One non-Catholic observer, speaking at a recent meeting of the Dublin Council of Churches, noted that all of our Churches were today “wearing the wrong clothes”, clothes that were measured in times when we were all a lot fatter and when styles were very different. In the future the Roman Catholic Church in Ireland will have to find its place in a very different, much more secularised culture, at times even in a hostile culture. The Catholic Church has to look again at the dominant role it assumed in Irish society, while at the same time not renouncing its prophetic role in society and in the formation of consciences through opening to the teaching of Jesus Christ.

This will involve a much greater degree of parish-based catechesis and evangelisation within our parishes. Our parishes are changing. In Dublin we are now preparing a third cohort of lay pastoral workers who have brought new charisms and dynamism in to the ministry of our parishes. It has not been easy. Parishes are often not yet ready and willing to face the radical nature of the change that is inevitable. The introduction of full time lay parish pastoral workers has had a number of important effects. The clearly lay character of the mission of these Parish Pastoral Workers has opened up new possibilities of encounter and welcome to enhance lay charisms both directly within the Church and in the presence of lay Christians in the world in which they work. Their presence challenges any remnants of a culture of clericalism. Lay pastoral workers have found ways of involving more lay people in Church activities and above all in formation in theology and spirituality. Lay pastoral workers are called not to bring volunteerism to an end, but rather to enhance the participation of lat people in the life of the Church. Parishes must become real centre of on-going faith formation.

Renewal in the Church requires more involvement of lay people. Involvement requires also formation and not just structural changes. Looking at the Churches, especially the Orthodox Churches, which have a long tradition of synodality one sees that synodality is lived out within deep theological, ecclesiological and historical roots. The tradition of synodality has not been as strong in the Western Church, yet it is quite developed in the current Code of Canon Law. However for synodality to function at the service of evangelization it requires a deep ecclesiological sense. Synods are not parliaments; synods are not talking shops.

Stressing renewal of the sacramental and spiritual dimensions of the Church does not mean that the Church intends to retreat into the sacristy. The Irish Church may once have dominated social reflection. Those days are gone and the Church must recognise that the weight of its voice in a much more secular society has changed. To return to my friend’s analogy, the Church must change its clothes, not just as cosmetic change or to look more fashionable, but to have clothes which make us more agile for the task that is ours.

There are as I have said certain structural challenges in the Irish Church which must be faced, some of which are unique to Ireland and its social and religious history. But the challenge of helping you people to remain active members of the Church is not simply a structural one. It is much more about the quality of the faith of young people and the very manifestation of the Church itself. I am struck by the comments I had quoted earlier from parents whose children ask them why they are still going “to those people”. The alienation of young people is not with the message of Jesus but with “those people” – which means me – which means the current structures and culture of those with responsibility within the Church. Their alienation with the Church is not that “Mass is boring” which we have all felt at some stage or other. It is that young people fail to find in their experience of Church the experience of a lived and living Gospel community. New evangelization will only take place within a Church which is purified and renewed. There will be no renewal without purification and purification is never a half measure.

Young people today are as idealistic and generous as any generation of young people if not even more so. The Church in Ireland has failed to capture that generosity and idealism as the foundation for building up a renewed Church. The generosity and idealism of young people hesitates in the face of remnants of a culture of authoritarianism in the Church. Such authoritarianism was inappropriate even in the past. It is especially alien to the culture of young people. There is no way in which faith can be imposed. Young people need to be led into the fundamental question about God, within a culture where there are many other very attractive gods with which young people encounter day by day.

One can only be led into the question of God through a process of dialogue and reflection. To face the question about God, young people have first of all to ask the question about God, to be aware that this is a question which does not just belong to the pre-scientific past past, but needs to be addressed today and in the concrete today of our lives. They need to see that such dialogue between faith and science, faith and culture are not just taking place here and there but are characteristic of the culture of the Church today at all levels.

There is no way in which the process of engaging with the question about God can be developed on the basis of simple dogmatic imposition. The process is a much more difficult one where we are all called to be witnesses which attract others to the message of the Risen Lord. Dialogue between faith and science, faith and culture can only take place outside the framework of ideological pre-conditions and in terms of real honesty and integrity.

The question about God is a fundamental question within our modern Western societies and addressing it is vital if we wish to find ways of rooting the values which should underlie our interaction as individuals and as society.

But young people need to be initiated into the search for God in another manner, through encountering the God who is revealed in Jesus Christ. They have to be led to encounter Jesus Christ as a person with whom they can enter into a relationship and who will lead them to understand that God is not just an ultimate cause, but that God is love. The Catholic Church in Ireland needs new form of evangelization which involves strong scriptural renewal. I have had 250,000 copies of the Gospel of Saint Luke printed this year and distributed in our parishes. I hope that this will be one contribution to such a biblical renewal. Each month a group of biblical and pastoral scholars prepare an “e-good news letter” helping priests and people to know how to use and interpret the scriptural texts that will be found in the liturgy in the month ahead. We have interactive link ups between parish scripture and lectio divina groups.

I am happy that we are finding good use for new communications technology to reach out to young people. We need a new dynamic of catechesis which meets people where they are and leads them into the mysterious presence of God in their lives.

Let me come back to Newman’s’ Church. I do not know if any of you may ever visited Newman’s University Church. Walking along Saint Stephen’s Green in the heart of Dublin you would hardly notice that there was a Church there. There is a small porch with a cross on it. If you enter into a porch you find yourself in a long, nondescript corridor which gives little indication where it might be leading. Then you suddenly enter a quite unique Church, of great beauty and mystery, quite unlike other Churches built in its time, very much Newman’s Church.

I often link that experience of entering Newman’s Church with the challenge of evangelization. The task of evangelization is to challenge these who walk our cities to stop and be curious about this small signs of God’s presence which are all around us but which so often we chose to ignore. We need to stimulate the curiosity of those who walk directionless or just going about day to day activities. But we have to realise that such curiosity will not provide immediate results. There is still, for all of us, the long, nondescript corridor which gives you no indication of what you might expect if you journey onwards. This is the challenge and the risk of faith But through perseverance and especially through the helping hand of other people of faith we can be led to enter into the surprising, into a presence of God which brings us way beyond the sphere of normal human imagination.

Experiencing the beauty of faith is not something that will happen to us every day. There is no way however we can expect young people to remain in the Church if we do not at least attempt to open up that experience for them or at least glimpses of it which can enlighten and encourage them in the ups and downs of their life within their culture and the characteristics of their generation.

As a Bishop there are many reasons for me to be disillusioned and discouraged. Yet there are many reasons for being optimistic and hopeful and indeed for being motivated myself to work with others who wish to make that journey from living in the pure day-by-day to finding beauty and love in an encounter with Jesus Christ.

There are many reasons why young people would not remain within the Church. There are many reasons why they should remain, should feel a part of the Church and should enrich the Church with the charisms that they have received.

We all have reasons to be discouraged and to be angry. There is a sense, however, in which true reform of the Church will spring only from those who love the Church, with a love like that of Jesus which is prepared also to suffer for the Church and to give oneself for the Church.

Thank God there are many who love their Church: lay persons, religious and clergy. We love the Church because the Church is our home, the pace where we encounter the love of God revealed in Jesus Christ and where we gather in love to break bread in his memory.

Visit of the Archbishop of Dublin

2010-06-15T14:19:00.000+01:00

The Archbishop of Dublin and Primate of Ireland, the Most Rev. Diarmuid Martin, visited the society earlier in the term. He gave a lecture at the Catholic Chplaincy, which was followed by Ecumenical Evensong in Christ Church Cathedral and the society's termly black-tie dinner, which was also held in Christ Church.

Here is Patsy McGarry's report on the Archbishop's lecture, which appeared in the Irish Times (click here for original article):

Children 'rarely in equation over abuse'

PATSY McGARRY

CATHOLIC ARCHBISHOP of Dublin Diarmuid Martin has said it was hard to understand why in the church’s dealing with the sexual abuse of children, “the children themselves were for many years rarely even taken into the equation”.

Speaking last night, he said: “Yes, in the culture of the day children were to be seen and not heard, but different from other professions church leaders should have been more aware of the Gospel imperative to avoid harm to children, whose innocence was indicated by the Lord as a sign of the kingdom of God.”

Archbishop Martin was addressing Oxford University’s Newman Society.

Last month the Catholic primate, Cardinal Seán Brady, withdrew from a lecture he had been invited to deliver to the same society at Oxford on May 12th when authorities there expressed concerns about his attendance.

It was feared his presence might provoke protests following recent revelations about the cardinal’s handling in 1975 of canonical investigations into allegations of child sex abuse by Fr Brendan Smyth.

The Newman Society at Oxford did not want negative incidents associated with Cardinal Newman as he is to be beatified by Pope Benedict during the papal visit to England and Scotland in September.

“The findings of the Murphy Report were disastrous,” Archbishop Martin continued last night. “The cultural situation was different; abuse takes place in many other sectors of society. This is all true. But it cannot be used as an excuse to downplay the gravity of what took place in the church of Christ.”

He said the church was a place where children should be the subject of special protection and care; and that the Gospel reserved “some of its most severe language for those who disregard or scandalise children in any way”.

He said he felt that the light at the end of the tunnel for the Catholic Church in Ireland was still a long way off.

He said the grief of the past could and should never be forgotten. “There is no simple way of wiping the slate of the past clean, just to ease our feelings.

“Yet the Catholic Church in Ireland cannot be imprisoned in its past. The work of evangelisation must if anything take on a totally new vibrancy,” he said.

There was no way “that we can underplay the effect that the abuse scandals have had on young people. But it must be said very clearly that the crisis of belief among young people has far deeper roots and roots which were there well before the abuse scandal.”

There were “structural and cultural factors which are unique to the Irish church which have contributed to this alienation of our young people”, he said.

“The particular religious history of Ireland led to great emphasis being placed on the school as the principal vehicle for religious education.” This “became a rather authoritarian school system, with Victorianism, Jansenism and older Irish penitential spirituality combining. Questioning was not encouraged. Questions of faith were to be accepted in obedience.”

He added: “In more recent years, due to the drop in the number of priests and the increase of their workload, the link between sacramental preparation and school deepened and the link between sacramental preparation and parish diminished. A form of religious education which is separated from the parish or some other non-school faith community will almost inevitably cave in the day that school ends.”

Presidential league table!

2010-05-12T20:11:00.003+01:00

If you become President you have over a one in four chance of becoming a priest! Over the past fifteen years twelve of forty three Presidents have gone on to be ordained or are currently training for the priesthood. The number soon looks set to rise still further …

Since 1995 the top three colleges in the presidential league table are St. Benet’s, with eight Presidents, Keble with five, and Exeter and Merton in joint third place with four each.

Here is the list:

TT10 - Conor Ganon (Wolfson)

HT10 - Hubert MacGreavy (St. Peter’s)

MT09 - Emeric Monfront (Christ Church)

TT09 - Jocky McLean (Christ Church)

HT09 - Patrick Milner (Keble) [second term]*

MT08 - Patrick Milner (Keble)*

TT08 - Mark Hamid (Corpus) [one day Presidency]

TT08 - Paul Fleming (Mansfield)

HT08 - Yaqoob Bangash (Keble)

MT07 - Michael Ryan (Brasenose)

TT07 - Laura Barrosse-Antle (St. John’s)

HT07 - Darren Collins (Keble)*

MT06 - Alexander Morrison (Oriel)*

TT06 - Matthew Allen (St. Benet’s)*

HT06 - Alexander Stafford (St. Benet’s)

MT05 - Samuel Jacobs (St. Benet’s)

TT05 - Katherine Shaw (Merton)

HT05 - Sinead Doyle (Trinity)

MT04 - Sede vacante

TT04 - Patricia Boon (St. Hilda’s)

HT04 - Francis Murphy (Trinity)

MT03 - Richard Pickett (Exeter)

TT03 - Richard Eschwege (Balliol)

HT03 - Jonathan Gress-Wright (Merton)

MT02 - Edward Davies (Oriel)

TT02 - James Mearns (Keble)

HT02 - Dom John Wisdom (St. Benet’s)*

MT01 - Edmund Lovett (St. Benet’s)

TT01 - Christopher Guyver (Keble)

HT01 - Br. Hugh Allan, OPraem (St. Benet’s)*

MT00 - Julian Waterfield (Exeter)

TT00 - Richard McCarthy (Oriel)

HT00 - Emily Boon (St. Hughs)

MT99 - Lee Barrett (Queen’s)

TT99 - Gregory Flash (St. Hugh’s)

HT99 - Marcus Williams (Christ Church)*

MT98 - Francis Lee (Merton)*

TT98 - Adam Fimister (Exeter)

HT98 - Marcus Holden (St. Benet’s)*

MT97 - Alexander Anderson (St. Benet’s)

TT97 - Uwe Lang (St. John’s)*

HT97 - Marie Cabaud (LMH)

MT96 - Alexander Master (Corpus)*

TT96 - Mark Richmond (Balliol)

HT06 - Nicholas Schofield (Exeter)*

MT05 - Ashley Paver (St. Hugh’s)

* Priest or seminarian

Cancellation of Cardinal Brady's lecture

2010-05-08T10:46:00.001+01:00

Oxford University Newman Society regrets to announce that Cardinal Seán Brady has cancelled his visit to Oxford, which was scheduled to take place on 12th May 2010. The following message has been received from Cardinal Brady’s Office:

As he continues a gradual return to normal duties following a short period of illness Cardinal Brady has, with deep regret, decided to cancel his proposed visit to Oxford.

He was due to deliver a lecture to the Oxford University Newman Society on the subject of the ‘Challenges Facing the Church in Ireland in the Twenty First Century’; in addition to celebrating Mass in Trinity College and attending a Dinner in St Benet’s Hall, on Wednesday 12th May before travelling to Lourdes with the Armagh Diocese.

Cardinal Brady expressed the hope that he would be able to visit the members of the Oxford University Newman Society in due course and conveyed his good wishes and prayers for the work of the Society and the University, especially for those students preparing for examinations at this time.

Cardinal Seán Brady to visit Newman Society and deliver major lecture on Irish Catholicism - Wednesday 12 May

2010-05-05T17:30:00.000+01:00

The Archbishop of Armagh and Primate of All Ireland, Cardinal Sean Brady, will be visiting Oxford at the invitation of the Newman Society on Wednesday 12th May 2010. The Cardinal will deliver the society's termly Thomas More Lecture in the Divinity School of Oxford University on the subject of "The Challanges Facing the Church in Ireland in the Twenty-First Century". After the lecture His Eminence will celebrate a Solemn Pontifical Mass in the Chapel of Trinity College, the College where Newman studied as an undergraduate. Following this, the Cardinal will attend a dinner hosted by the society at St. Benet's Hall.

Press release: click here

Programme for the visit - Wednesday 12th May

Thomas More Lecture, Divinity School, Bodliean Library, 5pm
Solemn Pontifical Mass, Trinity College Chapel, 6.15pm
Dinner in honour of His Eminence, St. Benet's Hall, 7.30pm

Members of the public are welcome to attend the lecture and Mass.

Members of the society wishing to attend the dinner should contact newman@herald.ox.ac.uk.

Further information about the lecture

Cardinal Brady's lecture tales place in the wake of the Holy Father's recent letter to the Catholics of Ireland on the issue of sexual abuse of children. The Cardinal will use his speech as an opportunity to respond to the issues raised by the Holy Father and to reflect on how the church can move forward seeking healing, forgiveness, and renewed dedication.

The Cardinal's lecture will be the last in the 2009-2010 series of Thomas More Lectures, which have examined the subject of 'Religion in the Public Square'. The previous lecturers in this series included Cardinal George Pell (Archbishop of Sydney), Francis Campbell (HM Ambassador to the Holy See), and Paul Murphy MP (Former Secretary of State for Northern Ireland).

Hartwell de la Garde Grisell, co-founder of the Newman Society

2010-04-25T19:26:00.001+01:00

Hartwell de la Garde Grissell was born in 1839 as the son of Thomas Grissell, a prosperous public works contractor. He was educated at Harrow School and in 1859 matriculated to Oxford University as a commoner of Brasenose College.

During his time at Oxford Grissell came under the influence of the leading tractarian, Dr. Henry Parry Liddon. He became increasingly involved with the Anglican High Church movement and was admitted to the Brotherhood of the Holy Trinity, a movement existing to promote High Church principles within the University.

It was at also Oxford that Grissell developed a strong interest in ecclesiastical ritual. He came to believe that the Book of Common Prayer had its roots in the Catholic liturgy and argued for greater ritualism in Anglican worship. In 1865 he published a work called 'Ritual Inaccuracies', in which he attempted to 'bring the rubrics of the Protestant Communion Service into line with those of the Roman Missal'.[1] Reminiscing about this period of his life he was to write:

I soon came to the conclusion myself that this exhumation of scraps and snatches of an ancient rite, and the profane distortion of the rubrics of the Roman Missal for the disguise of Protestant worship was little better than an imposture.[2]

Whilst working on his book Grissell came into contact with a number of Catholic priests and developed a leaning towards Roman Catholicism. Under the direction of Fr. Edward Caswall, a priest of the Birmingham Oratory, Grissell began to read Catholic works. Writing in the year of his death, he recalled his conversion:

I came, after careful study of the question, to the conclusion that the Church of England, being purely a national Church, could hardly be considered Catholic and universal, in the sense of its being the Divine teacher of all nations, and that it was in schism … Prayer at length obtained for me the inestimable happiness of submitting myself to the Church, and of obtaining thereby the full certitude of my possessing undoubted and valid sacraments, and the enjoyment of that peace on earth which the true old faith can alone assure.[3]

Grissell was received into the Catholic Church on 2 March 1868, at the hands of Henry Edward Manning, the Archbishop of Westminster.

In 1869 he moved to Rome, where he served as Cameriere (a Chamberlain of Honour) to Pope Pius IX. The Cameriere wore a Spanish-style costume with cape and sward and had the duty of attending upon the Pope during ecclesiastical and state functions. With his love of ritual Grissell relished life in the Papal Court, and writing in later life he reminisced:

Having had the privilege for a period of some thirty-five years of being Chamberlain to three successive Pontiffs, [I have] many diaries … These many interesting reminiscences include an Œcumenical Council, four Jubilees, three Canonizations, two Papal Consecrations of Bishops, many Consistories (including those at which Cardinals Manning, Howard, and Newman received their hats), a Blessing of the Golden Rose, and of the Ducal Sword and Cap, an 'Anno Santo,' two Conclaves, and two Coronations, as well as many pilgrimages and visits of Sovereigns to His Holiness.[4]

The temporal power of the Pope came to an end in 1870, when Victor Emmanuel II seized Rome, but Grissell nonetheless continued to serve under Pius IX and his two immediate successors, Leo XIII and St. Pius X. He was rewarded for his service, being created a Knight Commander of the Order of St. Gregory the Great and, in 1898, one of the four Papal Chamberlains 'di numero' (an honour usually reserved to the Roman nobility). Writing from Rome in 1900 Oscar Wilde referred to Grissell as a stalwart of the conservative Papal Court:

We came to Rome on Holy Thursday ... and yesterday, to the terror of Grissell and all the Papal Court, I appeared in the front rank of the pilgrims in the Vatican, and got the blessing of the Holy Father - a blessing they would have denied me. He was wonderful as he was carried past me on his throne--not of flesh and blood, but a white soul robed in white and an artist as well as a saint-the only instance in history, if the newspapers are to be believed. I have seen nothing like the extraordinary grace of his gestures as he rose, from moment to moment, to bless-possibly the pilgrims, but certainly me. [5]

Whilst residing in Rome Grissell amassed a vast collection of relics and sacred curios, including a portion of the Crown of Thorns and the entire body of St. Pacificus. The centrepiece of the collection was the reputedly miraculous image of the Madonna called 'Mater Misericordia' (now housed in the Oxford Oratory and popularly known as 'Our Lady of Oxford'), to which Pius IX granted indulgences at Grissell’s request. Besides being an expert in matters liturgical, Grissell was a noted numismatician and was elected to a fellowship of the Society of Antiquaries of London.[6]

When not serving at the Papal Court, Grissell resided at 60 High Street in Oxford. Here he set up a private oratory, which was frequented by many early convert members of Oxford University. In 1877 he suggested the possibility of establishing a society for the University's Catholics and in the following year this idea came to fruition with the foundation of Oxford University Newman Society (which prior to 1888 was called Oxford University Catholic Club). Grissell was also to be influential in persuading Leo XIII to lift the papal ban on Catholics attending the English universities; this was to result in the foundation of Oxford University's Catholic Chaplaincy.[7]

Grissell died in Rome on 10 June 1907, leaving his relic collection to the parish of St. Aloysius Gonzaga in Oxford.

To mark the centenary of his death in 2007 the Newman Society mounted an exhibition commemorating his life and times, which was held in his Oxford alma mater, Brasenose College. Details were posted here on the Newman Society's blog.

By Richard Pickett

Exeter College

The founders of the Newman Society

outside St. Aloysius' Church, Oxford, 1878;

standing, second-from-right, Gerard Manley Hopkins,

fourth-from right, Grissell

This article has been posted on wikipedia.

Notes:

[1] Hartwell de la Garde Grissell, Ritual Inaccuracies (J. Masters & Co, 1865)

[2] 'Hartwell de la Garde Grissell, Esq, MA, Brasenose College, Oxford' in J. Godfrey Rupert, Roads to Rome: Being Personal Records of Some of the More Recent Converts to the Catholic Faith (Kegan Paul, Trench, Trubner & Co, 1908).

[3] 'Hartwell de la Garde Grissell, Esq, MA, Brasenose College, Oxford' in J. Godfrey Rupert, Roads to Rome: Being Personal Records of Some of the More Recent Converts to the Catholic Faith (Kegan Paul, Trench, Trubner & Co, 1908).

[4] Hartwell de la Garde Grissell, Sede Vacante, being a Diary written during the Conclave of 1903, with additional Notes on the Accession and Coronation of Pius X (James Parker & Co, 1903).

[5] http://www.readbookonline.net/read/9873/23977/

[6] John Evans, Numismatic Chronicle and Journal of the Royal Numismatic Society Vol VII (Read Books, 2006, p.35)

[7] Alberic Stackpoole OSB, 'The Return of Roman Catholics to Oxford' in New Blackriars, vol. 67, issue 791, p. 225

Term Card TT10

2010-04-25T16:20:00.000+01:00

FIRST WEEK
Tuesday 27th June from 8.30pm
The Rev. Fr. James Pierero (Opus Dei)
Reflections on the Beatification of John Henry Newman: An Historical Perspective

SECOND WEEK
Tuesday 4th May, 8.30pm
The Very Rev. Richard Duffield, CongOrat (Postulator of Newman's Cause and Past-President)
Preparing for the Beatification of John Henry Newman

THIRD WEEK
Wednesday 12th May
THOMAS MORE LECTURE
His Eminence Sean Cardinal Brady (Archbishop of Armagh and Primate of All Ireland)
The Challanges facing the Irish Church in the Twenty-First Century

SOLEMN PONTIFICAL MASS AND TERMLY BLACK-TIE DINNER IN THE PRESENCE OF HIS EMINENCE

FOURTH WEEK
Tuesday 18th May, 7-9pm
Newman Society Jazz Evening at the Oxford Union

Saturday 22nd May
Pilgrimage to Newman's 'College' at Littlemore
A joint event with the Catholic Society. Depart from the Catholic Caplaincy at 9.30am. Mass to be celebrated by Fr. Daniel Seward, CongOrat (Past-President)

FIFTH WEEK
Tuesday 25th May, 8.30pm
The Rev. Fr. Antoni Uccrler, SJ
Celebrating the 500th Anniversary of Matteo Ricci: Missionary and Scholar in the Middle Kingdom

SIXTH WEEK
Tuesday 1st June, 8.30pm
Mr. Damian Thompson (Blogs Editor of the Daily Telegraph)
Universtanding the Relationship Between the Church and the Media

Friday 4th June
SOLEMN PONTIFICAL VESPERS
Celebrated by The Most Rev. Diarmuid Martin (Archbishop of Dublin and Primate of Ireland)
Followed by dinner and lecture at the Catholic Chaplaincy

SEVENTH WEEK
Tuesday 12th June
Meeting with The Most Rev. Vincent Nichols (Archbishop of Westminster)
Leaving Oxford Railway Station at 7.30am. Morning Coffee with Archbishop Nichols. Lunch in London and a tour of Westminster Cathedral in the afternoon.

EIGHTH WEEK
Tuesday 15th June
The Rev. Fr. Jerry Hughes SJ and The Rev. Fr. Philip Endean SJ
What is the Point of Being a Jesuit Today?

Saturday 20th June
Garden Party (A joint event with the Catholic Society)
Campion Hall, 3-6pm

Unless otherwise stated meetings take place at The Old Palace (Catholic Chaplaincy), which is located in Rose Place, just off St. Aldates and opposite Christ Church Memorial Gardens.

Speaker dinners are held at 7pm prior to Tuesday evening speaker meetings at a cost of £10 (three courses and wine). Please contact the President by the preceding Monday if you wish to dine.

Trinity Term 2010

2010-04-24T09:33:00.000+01:00

The programme for Trinity Term is now up on the web-site!

A highlight of the term with be the visit of His Eminence Sean Cardinal Brady, who will deliver this term's Thomas More Lecture, celebrate Pontifical Mass, and be present at the termly black-tie dinner.

Paul Murphy MP delivers Thomas More Lecture

2010-03-17T15:47:00.005Z

‘The Apostle Paul’ on making politics dull:
Paul Murphy MP reflects on peace in Ireland

From The Catholic Herald, 19 March 2010 (click here for the original article):

As an architect of the Good Friday Agreement, and subsequently as Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, Paul Murphy MP played a pivotal role in bringing an end to violence in the province, writes Richard Pickett.

Despite being a practising Catholic he has succeeded in gaining respect from across the political and religious divide and has even won the nickname "the Apostle Paul" from arch-Unionist politician Ian Paisley.

In a recent lecture given to the Oxford University Newman Society Mr Murphy spoke about his role in driving forward the Northern Irish peace process. He told his audience: "My mission is to make politics as dull in Northern Ireland as they are everywhere else."

He said that he hoped the continuing process of devolution of power would bring about a situation in which schools, hospitals, policing and other bread-and-butter concerns would become the principal focus of political activity in the province.

Mr Murphy told the Newman Society that over a 30-year period 3,500 people had been killed out of a population of just one and a half million.

But one of the most remarkable things about recent Northern Irish politics, he said, had been the willingness of age-old enemies to come together in the face of this trauma.

As an avowed Labour politician Mr Murphy joked that he could never bring himself to enter into coalition with the Conservatives.

Despite this, he said that he felt privileged to have worked alongside people who had been able to set aside a painful and often very personal history for the sake of achieving a lasting peace.

The former Secretary of State observed that the role of religion in the conflict has often been mischaracterised.

Although the names Catholic and Protestant are employed as a common shorthand, the real divisions giving rise to violence have always been political.

Differences over national identity, and not religion, he said, have presented the most significant bar to achieving lasting stability.

Mr Murphy then turned to examine the positive role played by the churches in driving forward the desire for peace.

With Sunday church attendance at around 70 per cent of the province's population Northern Ireland remains the most religiously observant part of Britain and the churches wield a significant moral influence.

Mr Murphy said he felt privileged to be part of the Northern Ireland story, but that the real credit must be given to the people [of the province] themselves. His speech was part of a series of lectures put on by the Society [to examine the role plaid by religion in public life. Cardinal George Pell and Francis Campbell, British Ambassador to the Holy See, have given previous lectures in the series].

Photographs by James Bradley

Click here for the full flickr set.

Newman's beatification confirmed to take place during Papal State Visit to Britain

2010-03-16T16:03:00.000Z

PRESS RELEASE FROM THE ENGLISH ORATORIES

16 MARCH 2010, 12 noon

BEATIFICATION OF CARDINAL NEWMAN

BY POPE BENEDICT XVI CONFIRMED

The Fathers and many friends of the English Oratories are delighted by the official announcement that our Holy Father Pope Benedict XVI will beatify our founder, the Venerable John Henry Newman, in the Archdiocese of Birmingham during his visit to Britain in September. Newman made his home in the Archdiocese for all his adult life, first in Oxford, where he lived as an Anglican and was received into the Catholic Church, and later in Birmingham itself where he founded and worked in the Birmingham Oratory for over forty years.

The Holy Father's life-long devotion to Newman has made a profound contribution to understanding the depth and significance of our founder's legacy. His decision to beatify Newman in person confers a unique blessing upon the English Oratories and all who have drawn inspiration from Newman's life and work.

We joyfully look forward to welcoming the Holy Father, as well as the many pilgrims and visitors who will come to the Beatification ceremony and visit Newman's shrine at the Birmingham Oratory.

We also look forward to the challenging work of preparing for the Beatification in conjunction with Church and civil authorities. We pray that the Beatification will fittingly reflect both Newman's significance for the Universal Church and the honour paid to our Archdiocese and our country by the Holy Father's presence among us.

Very Rev. Richard Duffield

Provost of the Birmingham Oratory
and Actor of the Cause of John Henry Newman

Fr. Aidan Nichols Criticises the Critics

2010-03-10T12:11:00.000Z

A talk which Fr. Aidan Nichols OP gave to the society a few years ago has appeared in print as Chapter I of his most recent book 'Criticising the Critics'. The chapter is titled 'For Modernists' - not, we hope, a reference to its original audience!

In this book, Fr Aidan Nichols O.P. turns his attention onto contemporary critics of the Catholic Church: those who are inspired by modernist rationalism to reject the supernatural; those who regard the New Age as an acceptable surrogate for the Christian doctrine of salvation; academic theologians who reject the historical and biblical basis for Christianity. Also coming under scrutiny are feminists who see the Church as an expression of a patriarchal society; Protestants who play down Christ’s nature as a priest; progressive Catholics who hesitate about proclaiming the Gospel of Life; those who regard the Church’s sexual ethics as ‘unrealistic’, and critics of Fr Nichols' book The Realm.

Copies can be ordered from Family Publications.

Content:
Preface . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
1. For Modernists . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
2. For Neo-Gnostics . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . .29
3. For Academic Exegetes . . . . . . . . . . . . .51
4. For Feminists . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69
5. For Liberal Protestants . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88
6. For Progressive Catholics . . . . . . . . . .103
7. For the Erotically Absorbed . . . . . . . .121
8. For Critics of Christendom . . .. . . . . . 137
Notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .157

Preface:

Catholicism — and the Catholic Church at each stage of her history — is always well supplied with critics. When the Church is not all she should be — morally, intellectually, pastorally, aesthetically — such critics will often have useful points to make. And whenever, we may ask, is she all that she should be, short of the Parousia?

Critics essentially both benign and right-thinking are not, however, the only kind of critics that exist. Others, far from benign, may well be intemperate, even irrational, in their passions. Others again, possibly benign, offer their criticisms — whether from without or within — owing to a failure to grasp certain aspects of Catholic truth. This last category includes the critics this book has it in mind to criticise in turn.

I offer here a series of apologias for different facets of the truth of faith and morals held by the Church. The apologias are, it may be said, ill-assorted, and I can hardly deny the claim. It is part and parcel of the present conjuncture that intellectual assaults come from very different quarters at one and the same time. Those considered here are by no means all there are, but they are among those I personally have encountered and sought to answer. The audiences have been very varied — the Oxford Newman Society (Chapter 1); the annual conference of Kirkelig Fornyelse, the umbrella organisation of catholicising movements in Christianity in Norway (Chapter 2); the Walsingham Retreat of the (Anglican) Federation of Catholic Priests (Chapter 3); a summer school of (what became) the International Institute for Culture at Eichstatt in Bavaria (Chapter 4); the international bi-lateral dialogue of the Catholic Church with the Disciples of Christ at Klosterneuburg in Austria (Chapter 5); a day of recollection of the Association of Priests for the Gospel of Life (Chapter 6); a conference to the young clergy of the Giffard Society (Chapter 7); the Craigmyle lecture of the Catholic Union (Chapter 8).

With the partial exception of the opening chapter, I have not spent a great deal of time in describing the positions I oppose. I have preferred to concentrate on the positive exposition of Catholic truth. Each chapter might be described as a quid pro quo, an offering appropriate, in its own way, to each of the categories of person involved. Readers of The Lord of the Rings may recall how, after his ‘eleventy-first’ birthday party, Bilbo Baggins left a set of carefully selected and labelled packages for various miscreant family members and friends. Clearing out the hobbit-hole of my room, these essays serve mutatis mutandis a like end.

Finally, I would like to thank Fr Vivian Boland, of the Order of Preachers, for contributing a number of helpful suggestions and corrections.

Blackfriars, Cambridge
Memorial day of St Francis Xavier, 2009

Hat tip: In Hoc Est Veritas.

Pontifical Mass and termly dinner HT10

2010-03-10T11:26:00.002Z

Our old friend and Past-President, Fr. Tim Finigan, has posted the following report on the termly Mass and dinner on his Hermenutic of Continuity blog:

Yesterday evening the Oxford University Newman Society arranged for Pontifical High Mass at the Oxford Oratory, celebrated by Abbot Cuthbert OSB of Farnborough Abbey. (The photos of Mass are from Joseph Shaw's Flickr set.) I was Assistant Priest, which obliged me to some intensive study of Fortescue since this was the first time that I have acted in this capacity. The MC Yaqoob Bangash directed us all expertly and the choir sang Monteverdi's Mass for four voices as well as Victoria's Te Deum after Mass.

It was an "Et in Arcadia Ego" evening for me since I used to attend daily Mass at St Aloysius as an undergraduate, and lived just round the corner at 14 Wellington Square. Dinner after Mass was at St Benet's Hall and I had the opportunity to meet the Master, Rev J Felix Stephens OSB, a monk of Ampleforth Abbey who was a most gracious and genial host. The Newman Society seems to be thriving and the after-dinner speeches had various arcane references to shenanigans on the committee which, as I commented, were impenetrable to the outsider but all seemed to be good fun. It brought back memories from my own term as President in Hilary 1979.

My rambling as guest speaker was partly (and I hope excusably) taken up with reminiscence of 30 years ago, including the conclave of 1979 and the "Habemus Papam" announcement which I listened to on Vatican Radio in John Hayes' set at Keble. John was always an ardent follower of Vatican affairs and probably one of few people in the world to have exclaimed immediately at the word Carolum "My goodness: it must be Wojtyla!"

After dinner I got to re-visit Keble College for a gathering in the MCR. As ever, it was a little sad to have to take the train back to London after a brief opportunity to catch up with old friends and young friends. One of the men drew my attention to the number of vocations that have come from the Newman Society - a fact to which I had not explicitly adverted before. Long may heart speak to heart in that most venerable of Oxford societies.

For further reports on the Mass see LMS Chairman Blog and Rorate Caeli.

RINUNCE E NOMINE

2010-03-04T13:55:00.002Z

Conor Gannon of Wolfson College, Junior Officer, has been appointed as next term’s President.

Tim Sherwin of Merton College, Treasurer, has been elected unopposed as President-Elect. He will be President in MT10.

Next term Hubert MacGreevy of St. Peter's College, President, will continue to sit on the Executive Committee as a Past-President.

Demelza Shaw of All Souls has been co-opted to the Executive Committee as a Junior Officer.

Congratulations to them all!

Bishop Andrew Bernham speaks about realising Pope Benedict's vision for Angican unity

2010-03-03T23:42:00.000Z

Last Tuesday Dr. Andrew Bernham, the Anglican Bishop of Ebbsflet, addressed the Newman Society on the subject of Pope Benedict XVI's Apsotolic Constitution Anglicanorum Coetibus. Dr. Joseph Shaw, Tutor in Philosophy at St. Benet's Hall, reports on the talk in his blog:

Last night Andrew Burnham, Bishop of Ebbsfleet, addressed a packed meeting of the Newman Society on the subject of Anglicanorum Coetibus. I was there. (Picture: Bishop Burnham is introduced by the President of Newman Society, Hubert MacGreevy)

Andrew Burnham is the Anglican Bishop of Ebbsfleet and one of the 'flying bishops' who has been ministering to Anglicans who can't accept the ordination of women since these ordinations were authorised in England in 1994. He and his fellow 'flying bishops' administer a third of the country each, looking after any parishes who sign up for this.

I don't intend to give a summary of his talk but here are a few of the things he said.

--------------------------

First of all, the Apostolic Constitution on the Anglicans was a response to discussions he had with the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith and also with Cardinal Kaspar of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Chrisian Unity about two years before it was published. It is also a response to discussions between Rome and the Traditional Anglican Communion, and no doubt other groups and individuals, but in no sense is the English 'Forward in Faith' / 'flying bishop' set-up a side issue for the Apostolic Constitution.

When he was first ordained in the Anglican church the 'Anglo-Papalist' position was to recognise the Pope and work to re-unite Anglicanism with him. This was not such an extravagent view since the ARCIC talks seemed to be heading in this direction, but eventually the issue of the ordination of women pulled Anglicanism the other way. When he was made a 'flying bishop' he did so on the understanding that he would be continuing this stalled ecumenical project.

Since 1994 he has worked to create a sense of community among the very idiosyncratic and geographically scattered Anglo-Catholic parishes under his care. A good deal of progress has been made, making it much more likely that a good proportion of them will be able to come over to full communion with Rome as a body. His ideal would naturally be that they all came over, but this is clearly not going to happen.

He was very interesting on the subject of how the typical Anglo-Catholic parish is similar to, and different from, a Catholic one. Anglo-Catholic parishes tend not to have medieval buildings; they are the successors of the High Anglicans who built churches for the unchurched poor in the growing cities of the 19th Century. Their liturgy tends to be the 1970 Missal in English, distinguished outwardly from that of a Catholic parish mainly by the hymns. But they do have a different attitude to church-going: whereas a Catholic, at least a serious-minded one, will go to great lengths to get to some Mass or other on a Sunday if things disrupt his usual routine, an Anglo-Catholic who can't make the usual 9.30 service won't bother going to something else instead. They are very attached to their physical church, and lack the sense of 'Sunday obligation'. The attachment to the church, as has often been pointed out, will be a sticking point for many in joining an Ordinariate.

He was cautious not to make any promises about what he or anyone else would do, and when, but is was clear enough that he is going to join the Ordinariate and will be bringing others with him. Nothing will happen until the Anglican Synod debate on provision for Anglo-Catholics when women are ordained to the episcopate: he said he didn't want to go down in history as the man who scuppered the chances of a good deal for Anglo-Catholics staying in the Anglican Communion.

On the Ordinariate itself, he said that what happened after 1994 was that Anglican clergy who wanted to 'swim the Tiber' and become Catholic priests received three years' training before ordination. This created the problem that by the time they were back in circulation the Anglican laity who might have gone with them had dispersed. The key issue with the Ordinariate is to make possible the continuity of the communities and pastors so that whole groups will be able to come accross together.

--------------------------------

Bishop Burnham spoke with great fluency and charm, in a witty and self-deprecating way, and without notes. His talk was less than an hour long and there are many issues which he didn't settle, but it gave the audience many important insights into the situation.

As I have written before [Dr. Shaw is Chairman of the Latin Mass Society], the conversion of groups of Anglicans is a matter of great interest to Traditionally-minded Catholics, for a number of reasons, not all of which may seem obvious.

First, the Anglican converts we have seen since 1994 and, come to that, since 1558, have been a huge boon to the Church, in terms of their talents and zeal; many convert clergy have come to the Latin Mass Society's Priest Training Conferences.

Second, the existence of an Ordinariate with a certain Anglican spirit and its own hierarchy is itself exciting. I do not accept the argument often made by Anglicans that 'if England is to be Christian again, it will only be in the uniquely English way represented by Anglicanism': Edmund Campion, Richard Challoner, and Pugin are quite English enough, to my mind. Nevertheless, the Ordinariate will clearly remove psychological obstacles to conversion for many Anglicans, and that is a good thing.

Third, it will create a degree of legimate diversity in the English Catholic Church which will be healthy. Fr Aidan Nichols OP argued forcefully at the LMS Priest Training Conference at London Colney last Summer that we need to recover a sense of legitimate diversity. In the past the Catholic Church was far more characterised by a diversity of Missals and also by jurisdictional complexity than it is today. The monolithic Post-Vatican II uniformity of the Church has in many ways been stifling.

Whether or not they make use of the 'Anglican Use' based on the Book of Common Prayer, parishes in the Ordinariate will have far fewer qualms about allowing the Traditional Mass. And they will also serve as a model of jurisdictional diversity, of a very similar kind to that proposed for Traditional Catholics in the context of the reconciliation of the SSPX.

So we await developments with interest!

Former Northern Ireland Secretary to deliver Thomas More Lecture

2010-03-03T15:02:00.010Z

THE THOMAS MORE LECTURES 2009-2010

‘Religion in the public square’

The Rt. Hon. Paul Murphy, MP

Secretary of State for Northern Ireland 2002 - 2005

Catholicism and the Northern Ireland Peace Process

Tuesday 9th March, Catholic Chaplaincy, 8.30pm

The inaugural series of Thomas More Lectures is examining the role of religion in public life and discourse. As the Western World increasingly identifies itself as 'post-believing', can Christianity continue to play an effective role promoting the common good in the public forum?

The previous lectures in this series were given by Cardinal George Pell and Francis Campbell, British Ambassador to the Holy See. They examined the positive role which religion can play in public life. Last term's Thomas More Debate between Bishop John Arnold and Even Harris MP illustrated the challenges presented to religious communities in the face of increasing secularism.

In this lecture Paul Murphy, the former Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, will address the historic challenges presented by religious affiliation in the province. He will argue that instead of seeing faith as the problem, we can find in it the building blocks to take forward peaceful and constructive dialogue.

Further details about the Thomas More Lectures, including the text of past lectures, can be found here.

Paul Murphy - Biography
Paul Murphy has been Labour MP for Torfaen since 1987. He has served twice as Secretary of State for Wales; from 1999 until 2002 and most recently under Prime Minister Gordon Brown from January 2008 until June 2009. Upon leaving the Cabinet, he was elected British Co-Chair of the British-Irish Assembly.

He was previously Secretary of State for Northern Ireland from October 2002 until May 2005. When he was last Secretary of State, Paul Murphy was also Minister for Digital Inclusion, and given responsibility for overseeing the British-Irish Council and the joint ministerial committees. He has also chaired Cabinet committees on Local Government and the Regions, and on data security and information assurance.

In May 2005, Paul Murphy was appointed Chair of the Intelligence and Security Committee, serving until his re-appointment to the Cabinet in 2008.

Paul Murphy was Minister of State for Northern Ireland with responsibility for Political Development from 1997 to 1999, acting as Mo Mowlam's deputy in the talks that culminated in the signing of the Good Friday Agreement. In 1999, he was named 'Minister to Watch' at the Spectator Parliamentary Awards.

In opposition, he served as Shadow Welsh Office Minister (1988-1994), Shadow Minister for Northern Ireland, Shadow Foreign Office Minister and Shadow Minister for Defence.

Paul Murphy was born in 1948 and was educated at St Francis Roman Catholic School in Abersychan, West Monmouth School in Pontypool and Oriel College, Oxford. He was a management trainee with the CWS, before becoming a lecturer in Government and History at Ebbw Vale College of Further Education.

Mr. Murphy joined the Labour Party at the age of fifteen. He is also a member of Unite, formerly the Transport and General Workers Union. He was Secretary of the Pontypool/Torfaen Constituency Labour Party from 1971 to 1987. Mr. Murphy was a member of Torfaen Council from 1973 to 1987 and was Chair of its Finance Committee from 1976 to 1986. He contested Wells Constituency in Somerset in the 1979 General Election.

Mr. Murphy was made a Papal Knight of St. Gregory in 1997, a Privy Counsellor in 1999, and an Honorary Fellow of Oriel College, Oxford, in 2000. He was Visiting Parliamentary Fellow of St. Anthony's College, Oxford from 2006 to 2007 and in 2009 was made a Fellow of Glyndwr University, Wrexham.

Mr. Murphy's leisure interests include classical music and cooking.

(Biographical text adapted from Paul Murphy's website)

Termly Mass and dinner

2010-02-28T09:34:00.000Z

The termly Mass will take place at the Oxford Oratory on Monday 8th March at 7.15pm. The Mass will be a solemn Mass in the 'extraordinary form' and will be celebrated by the Abbot of Farnborough (NB Not the Abbot of Belmont, as previously scheduled).

The society is grateful to the Latin Mass Society, the St. Catherine of Sienna Trust, and Mr. Julian Chadwick for their generosity in sponsoring the music (which should be excellent) and other expenses associated with the Mass.

The termly black-tie dinner will follow after Mass and will take place at Benet’s Hall at 8.30pm. The cost is £40 (members), £45 (non-members). Cheques are payable to ‘Oxford Newman Society’. RSVP to Mr. President: newman @ herald.ox.ac.uk.

Dom Anthony Sutch on Catholic education

2010-02-27T08:53:00.000Z

At the society's meeting this week the former Headmaster of Downside, Dom Antony Sutch OSB, spoke on Catholic education, not just in schools, but in the wider world. His talk took the form of a lively discussion for the last twenty minutes, in which was discussed the matter of teaching the faith to one's children and the need to educate others in the world around us about the faith.

Re-reading Shakespeare

2010-02-20T18:11:00.000Z

Last Tuesday, 16th February, the independent Catholic academic, Claire, Viscountess Asquith of Oxford addressed the Newman Society on the Catholic readings behind Shakespeare’s Titus Andronicus. Viscountess Asquith shed light on this highly dramatic, but complex tragedy, drawing on the language and symbolism of the play that reflected the brutal world of 1590s Elizabethan England. Her argument was stimulating as both an historical insight into violent, troubled era of religious persecution, and also as a spiritual reflection upon the cruelties carried out both by and upon Catholics in past centuries.

Newman Society stars in major BBC series

2010-02-20T10:02:00.001Z

Well, not quite. The BBC's excellent Our Man in the Vatican series follows a year in the life of Francis Campbell, HM Ambassador to the Holy See. If you look very carefully at around 11.50 in episode one you can see the society's recent invitation letter on his desk. Woo! Hurry, the programme expires on the iPlayer in just 19 days!

Francis Campbell delivered our second Thomas More Lecture on the subject of 'Faith and Foreign Policy' back in May. The text of his lecture appears here on the Foreign Office website.

Cardinal Pell visits Newman's Oratory at Birmingham

2010-02-17T08:21:00.000Z

During Cardinal Pell's visit to the society last year some of our members accompanied him on a trip to the Birmingham Oratory. The following report has recently gone up on the Bishops Conference's web-site.

Cardinal George Pell, Archbishop of Sydney, took the opportunity during a visit to England to make a short private visit to the Oratory House in Edgbaston, opened by Cardinal Newman in 1852, writes Peter Jennings.

Cardinal Pell was shown the shrine of Cardinal Newman's remains in the Oratory Church, visited Newman's Library and celebrated Mass in Latin at the altar in Newman's Room, on Thursday, 5 March.

Fr Paul Chavasse, Provost of the Birmingham Oratory and Actor of the Newman Cause, showed the Australian visitor Cardinal Newman's galero - the famous red hat once given to new Cardinals by the Pope.

Cardinal Pell shared his thoughts about his first visit to the house where Cardinal Newman spent much of his Catholic life: "I was profoundly moved. I thought it was deeply significant that Cardinal Newman's desk and chapel were together in the same room. All of his work was very much of a unity and I prayed that a smidgen of his ability to preach the word of God effectively to his contemporaries would pass to me.

"I noticed that there was a crucifix in front of me as I stood at the altar. I always find this a big help to recollection in celebrating Mass. This is the same at every altar where Mass is celebrated but is especially true of the altar where Cardinal Newman celebrated Mass."

Asked about Newman's beatification, Cardinal Pell replied: "I would very much like to see Cardinal John Henry Newman beatified. All of his many admirers would like to see this happen soon."

Asked about the significance of such a beatification, the Australian prelate emphasised: "Cardinal Newman knew well the two worlds of learning, Catholic and Secular. We need his memory and example to inspire many other Catholic writers and preachers today."

Cardinal Pell added: "Their task is to explore the opportunities now open to us to explain the Christian message - the romance of orthodoxy - to the many people throughout the world who are uneasy and searching."

At the end of his visit to Newman's Room, Cardinal Pell wrote in the visitors book: "A special thanks for the privilege of celebrating Holy Mass in this room where the work of the Kingdom was carried forward so wonderfully."

Cardinal George Pell was in Oxford (4-7 March) at the invitation of the Newman Society of Oxford University, to deliver the inaugural Thomas More Lecture on the subject: "Varieties of Intolerance - Secular and Religious." (Friday, 6 March).

Cardinal Pell also visited Newman's two Oxford Colleges, Oriel and Trinity.

During a previous visit to England the Cardinal had visited Littlemore, where Newman was received into the Catholic Church on 9 October 1845, by Fr (now Blessed) Dominic Barberi.

Phogrographs by Peter Jennings

Fr. Timothy Radcliffe calls for compassionate Catholicism

2010-02-10T14:29:00.001Z

Fr Timothy Radcliffe OP, the former world wide Master of the Dominicans, addressed an audience of sixty at the Newman Society on the theme of 'Being a Christian in the 21st Century'. He spoke movingly about the significance of the Trinity as a realisation of God's love for humanity, and the importance of dialogue on this basis. At the heart of his talk lay the core theme of the Church as both a dynamic, relevant force in the world today, which still adheres to ancient tradition and principles. Fr Timothy spoke about the Catholic's life being enriched by the appreciation of both, and how this in turn fosters a greater understanding and compassion towards those of other faiths.

Events for Hilary Term 2010

2010-01-08T23:17:00.000Z

FIRST WEEK
Tuesday 19th January from 8.30pm
Start of Term Drinks Party
Join us in the Blue Room at the Chaplaincy for free drinks and canapés. All are welcome. If you are interested in becoming a member or simply want to learn more, please do come along.

SECOND WEEK
Tuesday 26th January, 8.30pm
Mr. Charles Moore
The role of the Church in modern British society
Charles Moore, renowned Catholic journalist, former editor of the Telegraph and Spectator, and chairman of Policy Exchange, will be speaking about the role of Catholicism in modern society.

THIRD WEEK
Tuesday 2nd February, 8.30pm
Speaker to be announced

FOURTH WEEK
Tuesday 9th February, 8.30pm
The Most Rev. Timothy Radcliffe, OP
Being a Christian in the twenty-first century
Father Timothy Radcliffe, former Master of the Order of Preachers (Dominicans), is one of the most renowned British Catholic theologians. He will be speaking on Christianity today, from a Dominican perspective.

FIFTH WEEK
Tuesday 16th February, 8.30pm
Viscountess Asquith
Catholic readings behind Shakespeare’s ‘Titus Andronicus’
Clare Asquith, the author of Shadowplay, will be talking about the Catholic background behind Shakespeare’s most bloody and violent play, and explaining thereby, why the Shakespeare wrote the play as he did.

SIXTH WEEK
Tuesday 23rd February, 8.30pm
Dom Anthony Sutch, OSB
Catholic education in schools today
Father Anthony Sutch, former headmaster of Downside School, and now a regular speaker on ‘Thought for the Day’, will be speaking about Catholic education, drawing on his own experience as a headmaster.

SEVENTH WEEK
Tuesday 2nd March, 8.30pm
Dr. Andrew Burnham, SSC, Anglican Bishop of Ebbsfleet
Coming Over to Rome - Realising ‘Anglicanorum Coetibus’
As one of the most enthusiastic leaders in the Anglican Communion regarding the Holy Father’s invitation to Anglo-Catholics to ‘come over’ to Rome, his Lordship will speak about the situation faced by High Church Anglicans in the wake of the Pope’s recent Apostolic Constitution.

EIGHTH WEEK
Monday 8th March
Pontifical Mass and termly black-tie dinner
Celebrant and after-dinner speaker:
The Rt. Rev. Paul Stonham, OSB, Abbot of Belmont
The termly Mass will be a Pontifical Mass in the ‘extraordinary form’ celebrated by the Abbot of Belmont. The Mass will take place at the Oxford Oratory at 7.00pm and will be followed by our termly black-tie dinner, which will be held at at St. Benet’s Hall. More details will be given out by the President nearer the time. To reserve a place at the dinner e-mail: newman@herald.ox.ac.uk.

Tuesday 9th March
The Rt. Hon. Paul Murphy, MP
Catholicism and the Northern Ireland Peace Process
Paul Murphy, Labour Member of Parliament for Torfaen and Pontypool, played a major role in the Northern Ireland peace process, as Minister of State for Northern Ireland from 1997-99. As a Catholic politician, he will be talking about his role in helping to resolve an era of sectarian violence.

Some of our speakers for next term ...

2009-12-13T14:17:00.000Z

Charles Moore
Mr. Moore is a journalist who writes for the Spectator and was Editor of The Daily Telegraph from 1995 to 2003. He will speak on his experience of being a Catholic journalist and political commentator.

Clare Asquith
Viscountess Asquith is an independent scholar and author of Shadowplay: The Hidden Beliefs and Coded Politics of William Shakespeare. She has addressed the society before and returns to speak about the Catholic background of Shakespeare’s Titus Adronicus.

Dom Anthony Sutch OSB
Fr. Sutch was formerly Headmaster of Downside and new serves as a Parish Priest in Suffolk. He will speak of Catholic education today, particularly in view of his experience as former Headmaster of Downside.

Further details will be announced shortly.

The Tablet reports on Bishop Arnold at the Newman Society

2009-12-03T13:01:00.000Z

A respected canon lawyer said this week that Catholic bishops cannot sit in the House of Lords, writes Christopher Lamb.

Bishop John Arnold, an auxiliary in Westminster, said that canon law forbids an ordained person from taking up a position in the legislature.

His comments suggest that Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O’Connor would not be able to take a seat in the House of Lords. Earlier this year the Prime Minister suggested that the cardinal might be given a peerage.

“Jonathan Sacks [Chief Rabbi] is there but Catholics won’t be there because there is a canon in the code of canon law that says ordained clerics should not take part in any legislative forum in Government,” Bishop Arnold told a debate on religion in public life arranged by the Oxford University Newman Society.

Canon 285 states “clerics are forbidden to assume public offices which entail a participation in the exercise of civil power.” Other canon lawyers argued that the cardinal could exempt himself from parts of canon law, as long as he kept the Holy See informed. Bishop Arnold also said he was ambivalent about the position of Church of England bishops in the House of Lords.

“I’m really quite open to the question as to whether bishops in the Church of England should be in the House of Lords or not,” he said. “At the moment on the balance of things they do a reasonable job and they are their own men in terms of the opinions they hold.”

The bishop was debating opposite Dr Evan Harris, the Liberal Democrat MP about the role of religion in public life. Dr Harris, who this year was awarded the title “Secularist of the year” by the National Secular Society, recently put forward amendments in the House of Commons to repeal the Act of Settlement, which forbids the monarch from marrying a Catholic. Bishop Arnold said that while he thought the law was “anachronistic” and should be changed, he “wasn’t going to lose sleep over it”. Dr Harris and Bishop Arnold agreed that people should not talk about Britain as a Christian country. “We shouldn’t talk about Christian Britain but Christianity in Britain,” the bishop said.

Click for a summary of the report in The Tablet

and here for commetary made in Damian Thompson's Telegraph blog.

Bishop John Arnold and Evan Harris MP debate Christianity and the constitution

2009-12-02T12:34:00.001Z

The third in the Newman Society’s current series of Thomas More Lectures on ‘religion in the public square’ took place on Monday. Bishop John Arnold and Evan Harris MP debated ‘the role of religion in the British constitution’.

Dr. Evan Harris MP is an Oxford graduate and practices as a Medical Doctor. He also sits as Member of Parliament for Oxford West and Abingdon. He was recently given the ‘Secularist of the Year’ award in recognition of his role in the abolition of the common law offence of Blasphemous Libel.

Bishop John Arnold, another Oxford graduate, practiced as a barrister before training for the Catholic priesthood. He now serves as an Auxiliary Bishop in the Diocese of Westminster.

A train power failure at Didcot meant that Dr. Harris was delayed by over an hour. Substantial quantities of tea and coffee mollified the more than patient crowd until he arrived in a taxi.

Each speaker began with a ten minute presentation. In his opening remarks Bishop Arnold noted that The Tablet had billed the event as a bust up between the Church and secularism. He told the audience that he did not think that such an approach would be useful and said that he preferred to see the debate as an opportunity to have a constructive conversation: ‘There is always something to be learned by both sides. Dr. Harris and I are both here to try to evaluate an enormous subject and, hopefully, to discover some common ground.’ The Bishop continued his opening remarks by making the case for Christianity’s positive contribution to society.

Dr. Harris responded by saying he broadly agreed with the Bishop Arnold that the Christian churches made a valuable contribution to society; however, he believed that a constitutional bias towards Christianity was discriminatory and counterproductive to achieving social cohesion.

Following the opening submissions a civilized exchange took place addressing four key questions: Is Christian Britain dead? Is there a place for Bishops in the House of Lords? Can Christianity hold a privileged place in a pluralistic society? and Is Britain doing better with secularism?

After questions from the floor each speaker concluded with a short summation of what had been said. The speakers were thanked by Francis Davies, Director of the Las Casas Institute, who had moderated the discussion with great poise.

The occasion built on the two previous Thomas More Lectures examining the role of religion in the public forum, which were given by Cardinal George Pell and Francis Campbell earlier in the year. Next year the Thomas More Lectures will focus on the theme of ‘religion and science’.

The Tablet will be carrying a report of the lecture in its forthcoming edition. It is hoped that we will be able to post some more photographs shortly.

Bragging!

2009-12-01T23:12:00.001Z

The drinks party this evening provided a good opportunity to relax after the business of yesterday's Thomas More Lecture. Reviving the tradition of students giving papers, Yaqoob Bangash gave a short talk on 'Christianity in India' which was followed by questions. It being the feast day of the Blessed Martyrs of Oxford University, Fr. John Moffatt then treated us to a rendition of 'Campion's Brag', in which the martyr St. Edmund Campion called the bluff of the Privy Council (click here for the full text). Here are just two of the nine articles from the 'brag':

v. I do ask, to the glory of God, with all humility, and under your correction, three sorts of indifferent and quiet audiences: the first, before your Honours, wherein I will discourse of religion, so far as it toucheth the common weal and your nobilities: the second, whereof I make more account, before the Doctors and Masters and chosen men of both universities, wherein I undertake to avow the faith of our Catholic Church by proofs innumerable—Scriptures, councils, Fathers, history, natural and moral reasons: the third, before the lawyers, spiritual and temporal, wherein I will justify the said faith by the common wisdom of the laws standing yet in force and practice.

vi. I would be loath to speak anything that might sound of any insolent brag or challenge, especially being now as a dead man to this world and willing to put my head under every man's foot, and to kiss the ground they tread upon. Yet I have such courage in avouching the majesty of Jesus my King, and such affiance in his gracious favour, and such assurance in my quarrel, and my evidence so impregnable, and because I know perfectly that no one Protestant, nor all the Protestants living, nor any sect of our adversaries (howsoever they face men down in pulpits, and overrule us in their kingdom of grammarians and unlearned ears) can maintain their doctrine in disputation. I am to sue most humbly and instantly for combat with all and every of them, and the most principal that may be found: protesting that in this trial the better furnished they come, the better welcome they shall be.

Dr Sheridan Gilley addresses the Newman Society

2009-11-29T23:29:00.003Z

Last Tuesday, Dr Sheridan Gilley, Emeritus Reader of Theology at the University of Durham, addressed the society on "Newman and the Crises of Capitalism". We are extremely grateful to Dr Gilley as a long standing contributor to the society, this being the seventh time he has visited us. Dinner with the speaker was attended by committee members and by the Fr John, Fr Roger and Fr Simon of the Catholic chaplaincy amongst others.

Although Newman may not at first hand have much to contribute to our understanding of modern economic theory and its impact on society, Dr Gilley drew our attention to Newman's attacks on the character of Sir Robert Peel. Peel, Prime Minister of Britain briefly in 1834 and during 1841-46, can be seen as one of the greatest implementers of a free market capitalist policy during the 19th Century. The liberal Toryism of the heirs of Pitt was marked by its growing belief in the free market as shown by Hutchinson (the chap who died being hit by a train) and others at the Board of Trade. It is this programme that Peel is seen to have implemented.

Newman's basic attack against Peel lies in what he saw as the overly simplistic understanding of human nature by the free market policies that Peel was introducing. Dr Gilley made much of Newman's distrust of an unregulated market as a force against humanity and the integrity of the person. Perhaps such misgivings have been shown right by recent events. In all, the lecture proved to be an interesting contribution to a relevant topic as the apparent failure of fluctuations of the free market.

The Newman Revisted

2009-11-26T18:02:00.000Z

Its amazing to see from a google book search just how many times the Newman Society is mentioned in print. Most famously the society appears twice in Evelyn Waugh's novel Brideshead Revisited. Here's a list of just a few more titles:

- Squires in the slums: settlements and missions in late-Victorian Britain

- Monsignor Ronald Knox, fellow of Trinity College, Oxford
- The Old Palace: a history of the Oxford University Catholic chaplaincy
- A medley of memories: fifty years' recollections of a Benedictine monk
- The life of Evelyn Waugh: a critical biography
- Oxford in the twenties: recollections of five friends

Click here for the full list.

Some interesting events

2009-11-25T14:23:00.000Z

Oxford always has 'too much' going on. We've been asked to spread the word about a number of events, all of which look very interesting:

OXFORD UNIVERSITY ORTHODOX SOCIETY
Talk by Fr Timothy Curtis: "The Orthodox Worldview"

Wednesday 25th November:

6 pm - Vespers (in the church on Canterbury Rd.)

7 pm – Talk and Dinner (St. Gregory’s House - across the yard to the left of the church)

Fr Timothy Curtis, from the University of Northampton, will be giving a talk about the Orthodox worldview, how it leads us to the beliefs we hold, and how it differs from other, non-Orthodox worldviews. This talk is especially suitable to invite your non-Orthodox friends to who might be curious about your faith. The more people of different backgrounds in attendance, the more potential for a very interesting discussion!

THE LAS CASAS INSTITUTE
Rt Hon Greg Clark MP - "Rethinking Enterprise And Climate Change"
Blackfriars, Friday 27th November, 1pm

Greg Clark was formerly Head of the Conservative Research Department and a leading international consultant. He holds the Phd from LSE and is a rising star in David Cameron's Conservative Party. Today he is on the Conservative frontbench as Shadow Secretary of State For Climate Change And Enterprise

RSVP Leah Mansfield on lascasas@bfriars.ox.ac.uk Tickets are free.

CHURCHES TOGETHER
Discussion panel on the 'News from Rome'
University Church, Monday 30th November, at 4.45pm.

The pannel will discuss the implication of Pope Benedict's recent Apostolic Constitution allowing the establishment of Anglican Ordinariates within the Catholic Church.

Chairman: Canon Brian Mountford, Vicar of the University Church
The Revd Dr Myra Blyth, Fellow and Tutor in Pastoral Studies and College Chaplain, Regent’s Park College
The Right Revd Andrew Burnham, Bishop of Ebbsfleet
Canon Dr Judith Maltby Chaplain and Fellow of Corpus Christ College, Reader in Church History
Fr Ladislas Orsy SJ D’Arcy Lecturer, Canon Lawyer, Peritus at the Council
Fr Felix Stephens OSB Master, St Benet’s Hall

Questions will be welcomed. Anyone wishing to raise a particular issue, or to make a brief statement, is welcome to send an e-mail beforehand to: john.paton@chch.ox.ac.uk.

Follow-up on termly Mass

2009-11-23T23:07:00.002Z

People may like to read the reports appearing about our termly Mass on the Hermenutic of Constinuity and What does the prayer really say. James Bradley, who put up photographs of the Mass on his flickr account, got over 1000 hits on his Newman page today!

Termly Mass and Dinner MT09

2009-11-21T19:03:00.006Z

The Abbot of Downside, The Rt. Rev. Dom Aidan Bellenger OSB, visited the society yesterday to celebrate its termly Mass. The Mass took place in Corpus Christi (College!) and we were treated to a wonderful rendition of Haydn's Little Organ Mass, complete with strings. James Bradley has put up some photographs on flickr, a few of which can be seen below. Click here for the rest.

Following Mass the termly black-tie dinner was held in Pembroke. The Abbot is a Cambridge man and in his after-dinner speech he humorously reminded members not to forget that both Cambridge and Cardinal Manning (who was famously hostile to Newman) are very important. Emeric Monfront then paid tribute to the President, Jocky McLean, who has organised a wonderful term.

New Officers

2009-11-21T18:53:00.002Z

Hubert MacGreevy (Peter's) is to be next term’s President. James Jordan Jalili (Hilda's) and Tim Sherwin (Merton) have been co-opted as Junior Officers.

Termly General Meeting

2009-11-21T18:49:00.000Z

The Termly General Meeting for Michaelmas Term 2009 will be held after Dr. Sheridan Gilley's talk on Tuesday 24th November. The Society's Constitution contains full details about the function of the TGM. Any members wishing to propose items for the agenda should contact the President: newman@herald.ox.ac.uk.

Change of time for Thomas More Lecture

2009-11-19T00:52:00.000Z

The Thomas More Lecture at which Bishop John Arnold and Evan Harris MP will debate the place of religion in the British 'constitution' will now take place at 8.30pm on Monday 30th November, and not 5pm, as previously advertised.

Termly Dinner

2009-11-18T13:36:00.002Z

Deacon Jack Sullivan visits Oxford

2009-11-12T23:32:00.003Z

Deacon Jack Sullivan, who was cured of a debilitating spinal condition through the intercession of Cardinal Newman, is currently visiting Oxford. The Vatican's recognition of this miracle on 3rd July 2009 has paved the way for Newman's beatification, which is expected to take place in Birmingham next year. The press has suggested that the beatification ceremony may coincide with the anticipated visit of the Holy Father to England.

Tonight Mr. Sullivan attended a dinner held in his honour at Newman's former college, Trinity College. The dinner was hosted by the college's President, Sir Ivor Roberts, and was held in the presence of HRH Princess Michael of Kent, who spoke of her admiration for Cardinal Newman.

Tomorrow, Mr. Sullivan will visit Oriel College, the college at which Newman held his Fellowship. On Saturday he will preach at the Oxford Oratory.

Thomas More Lectures - Press Release

2009-11-11T13:05:00.001Z

The Society has put out a Press Release for the forthcomign debate between Bishop John Arnold and Evan Harris MP. The debate, which is part of the 2009 series of Thomas More Lectures, will examine the role of religion in public life.

Growing Up in the Catholic Church

2009-11-10T00:48:00.000Z

Fr Roger Dawson SJ, Assistant Chaplain to Oxford University, recently spoke to the society on the subject of 'Growing Up in the Catholic Church'. In his talk Fr. Roger drew on his experience as a pscychologist to examine the challanges and possibilities involved in living as a young Catholic today.

Click here for a transcript of the talk.

A reply to Professor Dawkins

2009-10-21T00:47:00.009+01:00

The first Speaker Meeting of term got off to a cracking start with around fifty people packing the Blue Room to hear Fr. Thomas Crean OP speak on the subject of ‘Incoherencies of Atheism’. Fr. Crean is an Oxford alumnus and is well know for his stance against Prof. Dawkin’s celebrated book ‘The God Delusion’. In his talk Fr. Crean identified a number of philosophical inconsistencies in modern atheistic thought. Belief in God, he said, provides us with the answer. Those wishing to find out more should read his book ‘A Catholic Replies to Professor Dawkins’, which is available from Family Publications. Some of Fr. Crean's sermons can be read here.

Among those attending the talk it was good to meet two old friends of the society, Fr. Marcus Holden and Fr. Andrew Pinsent, the co-authors of the Catholic Truth Society’s excellent catechetical project ‘Evangelium’. Fr. Marcus is a Past-President of the Newman Society (the picture from his term as President hangs in the Chaplaincy’s Meeting Room) who is now serving as a curate in the Southwark diocese. Fr. Andrew, another old member of the society, has recently taken up a position as Research Fellow at the Ian Ramsey Centre for Religion and Science at Oxford University.

Bishop John Arnold to debate with Dr Evan Harris MP on 'Religion in the Public Square'

2009-10-14T15:46:00.002+01:00

THE THOMAS MORE LECTURES 2009

The third of the Newman Society's inaugural series of Thomas More Lectures will take the form of a symposium in which Evan Harris MP and Bishop John Arnold will debate the place of Christianity in the British Constitution. The event will take place at Oxford's Catholic Chaplaincy at 5pm on Monday 30th November 2009 (Eighth Week). [NB the time has now changed to 8.30pm]

The Right Reverend John Arnold is an Auxiliary Bishop of Westminster. He is is a graduate of Oxford University and practiced as a barrister before training for the priesthood. He is chairman of the Oxford and Cambridge Catholic Education Board.

Dr. Evan Harris is Oxford’s local Member of Parliament and a prominent member of the Liberal Democrat Party. Also a graduate of Oxford University, he practiced as a Doctor of Medicine before entering Parliament. In 2009 he was awarded the ‘Secularist of the Year’ award in recognition of his role in the abolition of the common law offence of Blasphemous Libel.

The inaugural series of Thomas More Lectures is focused on the theme of 'Religion in the public square'. The two previous lecturers in the series were Cardinal George Pell (Archbishop of Sydney) and His Excellency Francis Campbell (HM Ambassador to the Holy See). The 2010 Thomas More Lectures will examine the theme of 'Science and Religion'.

HRH The Duchess of Kent becomes Patron

2009-10-14T13:10:00.000+01:00

The Newman Society is delighted announce that HRH The Duchess of Kent has kindly agreed to become a Patron of the Society. Her Royal Highness visited the society in Hilary Term 2008 as part of its 130th anniversary celebrations.

'Faith in Oxford' appeal site launched

2009-10-13T14:21:00.000+01:00

www.faithinoxford.co.uk

This new web-site has been launched to support the Newman Society's 'Faith in Oxford' appeal. The site contains information about the appeal, a message from Cardinal Pell (Patron), and links to on-line giving facilities.

The £100,000 appeal is taking place in association with the University of Oxford Development Trust and benefits from the University's charitable status. There has been a good initial response from alumni and we are working hard to acheive our target.

Photograph of Committee with Cardinal Pell

2009-10-13T00:39:00.004+01:00

We just got some great pictures of Cardinal Pell's visit back from the photographer. Here's one of His Eminence with the committee.

Programme for Michaelmas Term 2009

2009-10-01T11:57:00.002+01:00

Unless otherwise stated meetings take place at The Old Palace (Catholic Chaplaincy), which is located in Rose Place, just off St. Aldates and opposite Christ Church Memorial Gardens.

Speaker dinners are held at 7pm prior to Tuesday evening speaker meetings at a cost of £9 (three courses and wine). Please contact the President by the preceding Monday if you wish to dine.

Speaker meetings are followed by drinks and then Compline in the Chapel of St. Thomas More.

NAUGHTH WEEK

VISIT OF THE RELICS OF ST THÉRÈSE OF LISIEUX TO OXFORD

Thursday 7th and Friday 8th of October.

The Newman Society will participate in the visit of the relics of St Thérèse of Lisieux at the Oxford Oratory. Holy Hour for students on Thursday at 9.30pm and Sung Latin Mass in the Extraordinary Form on Friday at 8.30am.

FIRST WEEK

START OF TERM DRINKS PARTY

Tuesday 13th October from 8.30pm

Join us in the Blue Room at the Chaplaincy for free drinks and canapés. It is the perfect opportunity to meet the Committee and other members of the Society over a drink; all are welcome. If you would like to learn more about the activity of the society or become a member, do come along.

SECOND WEEK

FR THOMAS CREAN OP

Tuesday 20th October from 8.30pm

“Incoherences of Atheism”

Fr Thomas Crean will be speaking against the arguments proposed by the recent atheist attacks to religious faith. A graduate of St John’s College, Oxford and Blackfriars, Fr Crean has written “God is No Delusion” as a response to Richard Dawkin’s publications against religious faith.

THIRD WEEK

FR ROGER DAWSON SJ

Tuesday 27th of October from 8.30pm

Fr Roger will be speaking on the challenges presented by modern culture to young Catholics. Fr Roger Dawson works with Fr John as a Chaplain of Oxford University. He not only holds a Doctorate in Psychology, but has also practiced psychology in the NHS and served in the British Army and has extensive teaching experience.

FOURTH WEEK

KATHRYN BARUSH, WADHAM COLLEGE

Tuesday 3rd November at 8.30pm

“Pilgrims, Prophets, Painters: art and religion in early nineteenth century England”

Kathryn Barush is a graduate student at Wadham College researching early 19th Century religious imagery and its relationship with the changing religious movements of the time. From this term on, the society will introduce greater student participation in inviting members of the university to deliver a talk on their current research project or a particular topic they may be interested in.

FIFTH WEEK

DR HELEN WATT, DIRECTOR OF THE LINACRE CENTRE

Tuesday 10th November at 8.30pm

“A Catholic response to Abortion”

Dr Helen Watt is involved in the running of the Linacre Centre for Healthcare Ethics, one of the most prominent bioethics institutes in Britain and the World. She has written much to address the ethical issues of abortion from a Catholic perspective, and published material on the subject in cooperation with the Catholic Trust Society. This talk will address one of the most debated ethical topics in society, parliament and in Oxford, and should be extremely instructive to all in the fundamental principles in the Church’s position against abortion.

VISIT OF DEACON SULLIVAN TO OXFORD

Friday 13th and Saturday 14th of November

SIXTH WEEK

TERMLY MASS AND DINNER

Friday 20th of November

This term’s Mass will be celebrated by the Very Revd DOM AIDAN BELLENGER OSB, ABBOT OF DOWNSIDE ABBEY, on the 20th of November. Mass will be followed by the Termly Dinner to which all are invited. Further details will be available from the President nearer the time.

SEVENTH WEEK

DR SHERIDAN GILLEY, EMERITUS READER OF THEOLOGY, DURHAM UNIVERSITY

Tuesday 24th November at 8.30pm

“Newman and the Crises of Capitalism”

Dr. Sheridan Gilley is a renowned Newman scholar, author of celebrated “Newman and His Age” and a specialist in 19th Century British ecclesiastical history. He has contributed much to the Newman Society over the years and returns to deliver his yet unpublished work for the 2009 Annual Newman Lecture at Maynooth.

EIGHTH WEEK

THOMAS MORE LECTURE

BISHOP JOHN ARNOLD IN CONVERSATION WITH DR EVAN HARRIS MP

Monday 30th November at 5pm.

'The place of Christianity in the British Constitution'

In the last of our series of Thomas More Lectures examining the theme of 'Religion in the public square' a Catholic Bishop will debate with an atheist politician about the role Christianity should play in shaping contemporary political discourse and governance.

The Right Reverend John Arnold is an Auxiliary Bishop of Westminster and chairs the Oxford and Cambridge Catholic Education Board. Dr. Evan Harris MP is a Liberal Democrat politician and winner of the 2009 'Secularist of the Year' award.

E-mail newman@herald.ox.ac.uk to reserve a place.

STUDENT SPEAKER AND END OF TERM DRINKS PARTY

FEAST OF THE BLESSED MARTYRS OF OXFORD UNIVERSITY

Tuesday 1st December at 8.30pm in the Blue Room of the Old Palace

A student speaker will deliver a short paper to the society and all guests on a topic of his choosing. General debate will follow during the society’s end of term drinks party. Again all are welcome.

Oxford's Chancellor endorses Newman Society's appeal

2009-09-14T14:17:00.000+01:00

From the Chancellor of the University of Oxford:

Oxford's ancient motto Dominus illuminatio mea (The Lord is my light) is reflected in John Henry Newman's Understanding that a University should be a place where faith and learning can come together in their common search for the truth. The Newman Society was founded by the Catholic members of the University in 1878 and has sought to realise this vision ever since.

I hope that the Faith in Oxford appelal will enable the Newman Society to build on its past acheivments through establishing an annual lecture series, a scholarship programme, and an association maintaining the link between the Society;s alumni and its present day members. I encourage you to support this valuble contribution to the life of the University of Oxford. May Newman's legacy continue to flourish for many years to come!

Lord Patten of Barnes CH

Annual Report for the Accademic Year 2008 - 2009

2009-08-02T00:09:00.003+01:00

The Newman Society has witnessed a busy year, the highlight of which was the visit of its Principal Patron, Cardinal George Pell. The Cardinal spent a week in Oxford as the guest of the society, during which time he inaugurated the Thomas More Lectures and launched the society’s ‘Faith in Oxford’ appeal.

Thanks are due to the Chaplains, for their continued encouragement and support. A further note of thanks should be addressed to Patrick Milner and Emeric Monfront, both of whom have served as President over the past year and have worked tirelessly for the society.

Speaker meetings
Tuesday evening speaker meetings continue as the society’s staple event at the Chaplaincy. There is always a dinner with the speaker before the talk, to which all are welcome. Following most talks there have been drinks and then Compline in the Chapel. The average has been between twenty and thirty five. The following talks were given over the past year:

• Rev. Dr. Alcuin Reid (Liturgical Scholar), ‘Benedict XVI’s Summorum Pontificum: One year on’

• Rev. Dr. Ian Ker (Oxford University), ‘Newman, Vatican II and the English Church today’

• Lord Alton of Liverpool, ‘A Culture of Life vs a Culture of Death’

• Rt. Rev. Patrick O’Donohue (Bishop of Lancaster), ‘Fit for Mission: Church’

• Baroness Julia Cumberlege (Chairman of the Cumberlege Commission), ‘Safeguarding with Confidence’

• Rev. Jonathan Baker (Principal of Pusey House), ‘A Benedictine theology’

• Rev. Edward Clare (Vocations Director, Archdiocese of Birmingham), ‘Is there a vocations crisis’

• Dr. Michael Nazir-Ali (Anglican Bishop of Rochester), ‘The nature and future of the Anglican Communion’

• Sr. Judith Lancaster, SHCJ, (Cherwell Centre), ‘Cornelia Connelly and the role of women in the Church’

• Rev. Andrew Wadsworth (Chaplain of Harrow & designate Executive Secretary of ICEL), ‘The challenge of contemporary youth culture for anyone serious about being a Catholic’

Thomas More Lectures
The Thomas More Lectures have been inaugurated as a means of promoting the society’s academic apostolate and expanding the society’s presence within the University. The lectures revive the Thomas More Lectures, which were organised at the Chaplaincy in former years. Each year there will be a series of three major lectures focusing on a specific theme. The theme for the 2009 series is ‘Religion in the public square’. Cardinal George Pell, an alumnus of Oxford, launched the lectures in Hilary Term with a lecture titled ‘Varieties of intolerance: religious and secular’. The Cardinal delivered his lecture in the dramatic setting of the mediaeval Divinity School to an audience of two hundred, which included a good mix of senior and junior members.

In Trinity Term Francis Campbell, HM Ambassador to the Holy See, delivered the second lecture in the series to an audience of one hundred at Blackfriars. The Ambassador spoke on ‘Faith and Foreign Policy: A perspective from the Vatican’. The event was held jointly with Blackfriar’s Las Casas Institute, which is enthusiastic about future collaboration.

A third lecture in the 2009 series will take place in Michaelmas Term and the name of the lecturer will be announced shortly. The 2010 lectures will focus on the theme of ‘Religion and science’ and speakers are currently being invited. The society is looking forward to Cardinal Newman’s widely anticipated beatification, which it is expected will take place in Rome. Plans to hold a special Thomas More Lecture in Rome marking the occasion are being developed.

Further events
The Mass and black-tie dinner continues to provide a highlight in each term. In Michaelmas Term Rt. Rev. Hugh Allen O.Praem. (Past-President) celebrated Mass in Oriel College and spoke at the dinner.

In Hilary Term Cardinal Pell celebrated a Solemn Pontifical Mass in intercession for Newman’s beatification at the Oxford Oratory and Solemn Vespers in Merton College. He also spoke after the termly dinner in Keble College. In addition to the above events, the inaugural Thomas More Lecture, and the launch reception for the ‘Faith in Oxford’ appeal, the Cardinal’s programme included further engagements facilitated by the society at the Chaplaincy, Blackfriars, Campion Hall, St. Benet’s Hall, Merton College, Exeter College, the Oxford Oratory, the Birmingham Oratory, and Newman’s ‘College’ in Littlemore, as well as various private meetings and a press conference.

In Trinity Term Abbot Cuthbert Brogan OSB celebrated Pontifical Mass ‘from the faldstool’ in Merton College and Fr. Daniel Seward (Past-President) preached. The after dinner speaker was Archbishop Angelos, the bishop responsible of the Coptic Orthodox Church in Britain.

Two of the above services took place according to the ‘ordinary form’ of the Roman Rite and two according to the ‘extraordinary form’. All were were accompanied with polyphony and plain chant. The Trinity Term Mass was a particular musical highlight with Mozart’s ‘Coronation Mass’ being performed with orchestral accompaniment.

On several Sundays the society has organised a secondhand book stall at the Chaplaincy in order to raise funds for the Aid to the Church in Need. Prices were set at just £1 or £2 per book and in addition to raising funds for charity the book stall has proven a useful means of disseminating religious literature.

Other events have included a termly drinks party, an ‘Advent Happening’, and a party to mark the Feast of Bl. Agnellus of Pisa (who is buried in Oxford). In Michaelmas Term there was a discussion evening focusing on Bishop O’Donohue’s document ‘Fit for mission: Church’. In Trinity Term there was a pilgrimage to St. Birinus’ Church in Dorchester, which was held as a joint event with the Society of St. Catherine of Siena. Two Officers represented the society at the Mass for the translation of Newman’s remains held at the Birmingham Oratory.

The Newman Society Foundation
This new body has been created to advance the society’s academic apostolate. It is run by a committee comprised primarily of postgraduates and is responsible for the organisation of the Thomas More Lectures. It also has responsibility for the society’s ‘Faith in Oxford’ appeal. The Foundation has convened an Academic Advisory Board to give direction on the Thomas More Lectures and its other activities. The Board is comprised of the Senior Chaplain and six Catholic academics and has so far met twice.

The ‘Faith in Oxford’ appeal
The decision to open events up to non-members has led to a decline in subscriptions and the society’s finances have been precarious. To remedy this the society has launched the ‘Faith in Oxford’ appeal, though which it intends to raise an endowment fund which will be used to support the Thomas More Lectures and the society’s ongoing activities. The society is working in collaboration with the University of Oxford Development Trust and the appeal benefits from the University’s charitable status (allowing tax on donations to be retrieved through the 'Gift Aid' scheme).

The initial phase of the appeal has involved soliciting donations from alumni through sending them promotional material (copies enclosed). In the second phase of the appeal approaches will be made to potential major donors and to funding bodies. The society is being advised (free of charge) by a professional fundraiser and has also received advice from the University’s Development Office.

In addition to donations from private individuals funding has been forthcoming from the Chaplaincy, The Catholic Herald, the Las Casas Institute, and Oxford University Clubs Committee.

The society has worked hard to promote itself in the national media. There have been news items reporting events in The Times (Cardinal Pell/Dr. Nazir-Ali), The Catholic Herald (Cardinal Pell/Launch of Appeal/Francis Campbell), The Tablet (Bishop O’Donohue/Cardinal Pell/Francis Campbell), and The Church Times (Dr. Nazir-Ali). Internet news sites and Catholic blogs have also provided extensive coverage of the society’s events. The society’s history on wikipedia has been updated and work is underway on expanding its web-site. See http://users.ox.ac.uk/~newman/ (which will soon be accessible through the http://www.newmansociety.org.uk/ address).

Cardinal George Pell, Bishop Arthur Roche, Bishop Peter Elliott, and Fr. Paul Chavasse (Provost of the Birmingham Oratory and Postulator of Newman’s Cause) have become Patrons of the society. Their involvement has been an enormous help in supporting the appeal. Both Cardinal Pell and the Chancellor, Lord Patten, have written letters of endorsement for the appeal.

In the Chancellor’s words - ‘May Newman’s legacy continue to flourish for years to come!’

Cardinal Newman's beatification announced - Te Deum laudamus!

2009-07-03T00:30:00.004+01:00

From The Times

By Ruth Gledhill

Pope Benedict XVI has today promulged the decree that paves the way for the beatification of Cardinal John Henry Newman, England’s most significant convert to Roman Catholicism. Read the background to the Cause at Birmingham Oratory's home page devoted to this.

There is more detail in our news story on the front of Times Online, plus a brief outline of how to become a saint, and the original obituary of John Henry Newman as it appeared in The Times on 12 August 1890. The Catholic Church here has issued the Oratory's release.

Latest news is that the most likely date for the rite of beatification is next spring. That would pave the way for a Papal visit to Britain next September, pegged to a Newman theme.

The way is now clear for Cardinal Newman, who founded the high church Oxford Movement in the Church of England before going over to Rome in 1845, to be made a saint. He would then become the first non-martyr saint in England since the Reformation.

The Pope cleared the path for the beatification by officially recognising the healing of Jack Sullivan, pictured left, a Catholic deacon in the US, in 2001 as a miracle resulting from the intercession of Newman. I reported this for The Times last month. Read an earlier report about the medical progress of the miracle itself from the Catholic Herald.

This is how the Catholic Herald reported the cure itself:
'In 2000 Mr Sullivan, a married father of three grown children and a long-serving court magistrate for Plymouth District Court, was in the middle of his diaconal studies at St John's Seminary when he began experiencing severe and incapacitating back pain. Tests and scans revealed that several of Mr Sullivan's lumbar vertebrates and disks were squeezing his spinal cord and affecting the nerves going to his legs. Doctors told him that, without surgery, he could become paralysed.

"I was in agony. There was no traumatic event that occurred that would have caused this pain. It just suddenly happened," explained Mr Sullivan. "I was doubled over in agony and experienced constant pain."

'Not only was Mr Sullivan shocked by the diagnosis, but he was also devastated that he could not return to his diaconal studies, which started up in a month. "I enjoyed the first two years of the process and my heart was really set on being ordained because I wanted to be of service to the Church and to serve God in the best way that I knew how," he said.

'To distract himself from his pain and disappointment, he left his doctor's office and went home to watch television. A programme on the beatification process for Cardinal Newman happened to be on the Eternal Word Television Network.

'After the programme Mr Sullivan said he decided to recite this simple prayer to Cardinal Newman: "Please, Cardinal Newman, intercede with God to help me go back to classes and be ordained."

'When he awoke the next morning Mr Sullivan was pain-free and could walk upright for the first time in months.'

The news of the imminent beatification, which trickled out in the quads at Oxford early this morning, has been welcomed by all involved for years with the cause.

Father Daniel Seward, Parish Priest of the Oxford Oratory, said, 'The beatification of John Henry Newman will be a great moment for the Catholic Church in England and for the English Oratory which he founded. Newman's pursuit of truth, his defence of conscience and his kind and faithful exercise of the priesthood make him a figure for us to imitate and a friend whose prayers will help us from Heaven.'

There will be a Solemn Mass of Thanksgiving and Te Deum at the Oxford Oratory at 11am on Sunday 12th July. 'We await eagerly further news of the date of the beatification ceremony,' said Father Seward.

Yaqoob Bangash, past president of the Newman Society in Oxford, said, 'I am delighted to hear the news. Newman has always been regarded as a great thinker and scholar, and now there is also true recognition of his holy virtues. Being in Oxford, where Newman studied and lectured, we now have a another reason to imitate his zealous search of truth in all fields of life— something which the Oxford University Newman Society, of which I am Past President, continues to promote through its series of lectures and other events in Oxford and beyond.'

One question now is where will the rite of beatification take place? Rome or Westminster? And might it herald a visit here by Pope Benedict?

Clues can perhaps be found in the recent changes the Pope introduced for beatifications. The Pope has made it possible for him personally no longer to have to preside at the rites.

The document says: 'The Holy Father Benedict XVI's recent decision not to preside personally at Beatification rites is a response to the widely felt need to: i) give greater emphasis in the celebration to the substantial difference between Beatification and Canonization; and ii) to involve the particular Churches more visibly in the Beatification rites of their respective Servants of God.

'It became clear in the many Beatifications celebrated by John Paul lI in every part of the world that it is more pastorally suitable that Beatifications take place preferably in the particular Churches, while allowing for the possible choice of Rome for special reasons to be assessed, case by case, by the Secretariat of State.'

This means there could be a local ceremony in Westminster for the beatification, with the big one saved up for the canonisation, which could be sooner rather than later, and the perfect opportunity for the Pope to visit Britain.

Here's praying - invoking the intercession of one Cardinal John Henry Newman of course!

Bishop of Lancaster Tells Oxford Students to Challenge Dissent, Even in Priests or Bishops

2009-06-16T12:24:00.000+01:00

From Life Site News
By Patrick B. Craine

OXFORD, June 16, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Most Rev. Patrick O’Donoghue, who retired as Bishop of Lancaster at the end of April, delivered a powerful address to the Oxford University Newman Society in January, calling the Catholic students to faithful service of the Church.

Bishop O’Donoghue’s talk dealt with his recent instruction Fit for Mission? Church, published in August 2008, which called for the restoration of authentic Catholicism in England.

In his address, Bishop O’Donoghue highlighted the importance of the Second Vatican Council for the contemporary Church, calling for a fuller and more authentic implementation. “It’s now up to us to fully embrace the ‘true’ teaching and decisions of the Council,” he said, “and abandon the ‘fictions’ foisted on us by some clergy, religious and laity who are disobedient and arrogant in their will-to-power. So, I am calling for an enquiring fidelity to the teaching of the Council”.

The bishop called on the students to challenge the false teachers within the Church, no matter their stature. “If you hear any Catholic say or teach something that goes against the teaching and discipline of the Church, as safe-guarded by the Pope,” he said, “politely, but firmly, challenge them, be they a lay catechist, teacher, deacon, priest or even a bishop”.

He highlighted several major obstacles to a true implementation of the Council: “rejection of the past”; “rejection of the moral authority of Church in favour of the authority of conscience”; “influence of secularism in the Church”; “scepticism or at least down playing of the supernatural”; and “humanity becomes the measure of everything”.

Bishop O’Donoghue said he is convinced, “that the remedy for all these trials and troubles in the Church in England and Wales is for each one of us to embrace sacrifice as the hallmark of our lives in the world and in the church, the hallmark of our spirituality”. The bishop suggested a number of sacrificial acts to embrace.

First, “embrace the Tradition of the Church,” he said, emphasizing the need for personal, family, and liturgical prayer. Second, the bishop said, “embrace a self-critical conscience….I want you to re-discover the ancient Catholic attitude of a self-critical conscience that includes suspicion about the obsessions and cravings of human nature”.

Third, the bishop called the students to “embrace obedience to the teachings of the Church”. “Start from the assumption that the Church has good reasons for teaching the doctrines and morals that she teaches” he said. “Search out those reasons, make the Bible and the Catechism of the Catholic Church the most thumbed and creased books in your libraries.”
Fourth, he told them to “embrace the total Catholic world view”, and fifth, to “embrace the divinity and humanity of Jesus”.

Bishop O’Donoghue concluded his address by calling the students to spread the truth throughout Great Britain.

For Bishop O’Donoghue’s talk to the Newman Society: http://www.lancasterdiocese.org.uk/admin/Uploads/media/35/Newman%20Talk.pdf

See related LifeSiteNews.com coverage: English Catholic Bishops have Failed to Admit “Sickness” of Dissent in the Church: Lancaster Bishop http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2008/nov/08111901.html

Bishop of Rochester visits society

2009-05-15T11:47:00.000+01:00

From The Church Times

Pope could help, says Nazir-Ali
by Bill Bowder

THE Bishop of Rochester, Dr Michael Nazir-Ali, who resigns on 1 September, spoke last week of the part the Roman Catholic Church might play in healing splits in the Anglican Communion (News, 3 April).

The Pope could still provide a focus of unity for the Anglican Church, he said, speaking after an address to the Newman Society in Oxford on Friday. “To some extent it depends on how the Bishop of Rome and other Vatican officers behave.”

Dr Nazir-Ali (above) is a former member of the Anglican-Roman Catholic International Commission (ARCIC). The Pope had “a right” to such a unifying role; but it would have to be in “strict fidelity to scripture”, he said. The goal of ARCIC was to find unity “in which all that we value is respected”. People wished to be “united but not absorbed”.

Speaking of the cool relations between Rome and Canterbury since the ordination of women, Dr Nazir- Ali said: “I do not want to let the hard labour of the last 50 years go to waste.” He said that a new ARCIC, expected to reconvene later this year, would address the central issue of the relationship between the local churches and the worldwide Church.

Last year’s Synod of Bishops in Rome had said that all churches and all Christian families should own and read the Bible. “Tom Wright [the Bishop of Durham] said that, if this had been said in 1523, there would never have been a Reformation”, said Dr Nazir-Ali.

Anglicans had never claimed to be the one true Church. Several Lambeth Conferences had said that Anglicans stood ready to disappear in the cause of greater Catholic unity, he said.
However, there were certain things that they brought to the worldwide Church: the vernacular liturgy, the formation and discipline of clergy, and moral reflection. He recalled that the question of how the Roman Catholic Church could receive “these gifts” had been of concern to Pope Paul VI when he had canonised the English martyrs in the 1970s. He had spoken of a time when “the Roman Catholic Church is able to embrace its ever-beloved sister”.

Recalling the reasons why John Henry Newman had left the Church of England to become a Roman Catholic, he said: “It had to do with the ecclesial deficit. I think Anglicans have not addressed this ecclesial deficit properly yet.”

There was in the Anglican Communion “the logic of fragmentation” and “the logic of catholicity”. “The question now is: Which will prevail?”

British Ambassador to the Holy See visits Newman Society

2009-05-15T11:31:00.000+01:00

PRESS RELEASE - FRIDAY 15 MAY 2009

Francis Campbell, the British Ambassador to the Holy See, spoke at Oxford University on hursday 14th May. Addressing an audience of academics and students at Blackfriars, the niversity Hall of the Dominicans, the Ambassador delivered a ‘Thomas More Lecture’ which was jointly organised by Oxford University Newman Society and the Las Casas Institute. Mr. ampbell began the lecture by arguing that faith issues had, until relatively recently, been eglected in the formation of foreign policy. He told his audience “While no doubt the marginalising of religion started with the Enlightenment, it was more likely fuelled in recent ecades by ecularisation/modernisation theory ... It was commonly assumed that the world was following a trajectory set off in north Western Europe at the time of the Industrial Revolution. For much of the 20th century the theory went unchallenged.”

The Ambassador stated that “there is scarcely a month without a religious story dominating the media” and provided examples of the resurgence of religious issues on the world stage. Mr. Campbell went on the say that “Increasingly today religion is perceived as a threat because of its association with terrorism. A major challenge is to bring it back to a situation where we have a more balanced perspective and see it as much as a vehicle for peace and helping resolve conflicts.” He posed the question “How do we arrive at a situation where foreign policy is better equipped to deal with religion?” and argued that “First, we must sensitise ourselves to a world in which religion is alive and well; not the world in which some might feel more comfortable. Secondly, we must begin to see religion as much as a source of healing as it is now seen as a source of division.”

In the second part of his lecture Mr. Campbell drew on his experience as Ambassador to the
Holy See to reflect on the importance of Vatican’s diplomatic role on the world stage. He argued that the Holy See occupies a unique position as a world opinion former with grass root networks in almost every country. Focusing on issues of international development, climate change and the environment, and military disarmament the Ambassador outlined areas of concrete corporation between the UK Government and the Holy See.

In his concluding remarks the Ambassador told his audience “Faith is a feature of modern life, including our foreign policy. But when viewed exclusively through a negative prism we are selling our societies short and abandoning a valuable asset which can help us address many contemporary challenges… [R]eligion has played a much needed positive role in bringing peace and stability to many situations. Now, the challenge is to see the bigger canvas: it is to realise that religion can serve to propel us forward to achieve the greatest challenge of our time, feeding the hungry, educating the young, housing the poor and caring for the sick and resolving and preventing conflict. In all of those tasks, the Holy See is a vital partner for the UK.”

The lecture was given as part of Oxford University Newman Society’s 2009 series of Thomas More Lectures’, which are centred on the theme of ‘religion in the public square’. It was held in conjunction with the Las Casas Institute of Blackfriars Hall, as part of the institute’s Martin de Porres programme, which is sponsored by CAFOD.

For further information see:
www.newmansociety.org.uk

H.E. Francis Campbell 'Faith and foreign policy'

2009-05-14T23:42:00.001+01:00

OXFORD UNIVERSITY NEWMAN SOCIETY

THOMAS MORE LECTURES 2009 - 2010

'Religion in the public square'

Francis Campbell

HM Ambassador Holy See

'Faith and foreign policy:

A perspective from the Vatican'

Blackfriars, Oxford University

14 May 2009

At the outset I would like to thank the organisers – Oxford University’s Newman Society and the La Casas Institute - for their kind invitation this evening to give a talk on ‘Faith and Foreign Policy’ as part of the Thomas More lecture series.

It is great to see some familiar faces and to be able to witness first hand the work of the new La Casas Institute and I wish Francis and the team the very best in the coming years. I would also like to pay tribute to our Chair this evening – John Battle MP. I have known John from my very first days in the Foreign Office. Again, in No.10 we worked closely together when John served as Tony Blair’s envoy for interfaith.

As we know John has announced that he will not be standing at the next election, and if you forgive me I would like to pay tribute to John tonight for the life of service he has given our society. It is fitting that as we talk this evening about ‘religion in the public square’ we praise the work of one who did so much in his career in public life. We think in particular of John’s work on East Timor and Interfaith where he made a real and lasting difference. John - Thank you.

This evening I have been asked to talk about faith and foreign policy and to give a perspective from my current standpoint at the Vatican. I want to speak to two areas – the first area which will set the context, will look at foreign policy and religion more generally; why religion was often ignored in foreign policy considerations; and why it now deserves to be taken seriously and in a balanced perspective. The second area of the talk will give application by focusing on aspects of the UK’s diplomacy at the Holy See.

The views expressed here this evening are done so in a personal capacity and should not be taken as the official position of Her Majesty’s Government.

Why was religion ignored in foreign policy?
Let us begin by considering this question and look at some shifting perspectives in the last ten years. The July 2007 report by the Washington based Centre for Strategic and International Studies said “Religious leaders, organisations, institutions and communities can mobilise religion to sanction violence, draw on religion to resolve conflicts, or invoke religion to provide humanitarian and development aid.”

Yet for much of the 20th century religion was ignored in foreign policy. In all the strategic reports at the time of the Millennium on the next decade, century, etc, I don’t recall one which identified religion as a serious issue. Indeed Time in 1966 and The Economist in 2000 repeated Nietzsche’s prediction of the ‘Death of God’ (or at least the demise of God).

Professor Scott Thomas of the University of Bath writes that the ignoring of religion started with the Enlightenment and was pushed along by thinkers such as Max Weber. He describes elements of the mindset which wanted to marginalise religion by presenting it as little more than a form of reassurance – a psychological compensation for people in societies or countries with low levels of human development or poorly developed welfare states. You are familiar with the idea that over time, societies would develop themselves out of religion; and therefore, it was a passing phase not worthy of consideration. The Political Scientist Bernard Lewis wrote in 1977 “Westerners, with few exceptions, have ceased to give religion a central place among their concerns, and therefore have been unwilling to concede that anyone else could do so. For the progressive modern mind, it is simply not admissible that people would fight and die over mere differences of religion”.

A former US Secretary of State, Madeline Albright, when reminiscing about her own diplomatic career, had the honesty to admit that religion was often ignored or left out of the equation. She wrote, “I found it incredible, as the twenty-first century approached, that Catholics and Protestants were still quarrelling in Northern Ireland and that Hindus and Muslims were still quarrelling off against each other in south Asia; surely, I thought, these rivalries were the echoes of earlier, less enlightened times, not a sign of the battles to come”. But she continues later in the same paragraph; “since the terror attacks of 9/11, I have come to realize that it may be I who was stuck in an earlier time. Like many other foreign policy professionals, I have had to adjust the lens through which I view the world.”

She gives a practical example. In the mid 1970s the CIA dismissed an internal proposal to study religious leaders in pre-revolutionary Iran as useless sociology. Of this, Albright says, “Because we underestimated the importance of tradition and faith to Iranian Muslims, we made enemies that we did not intend to make….Even in Vietnam, from the outset the anti-communist cause was undermined because the government in Saigon repressed Buddhism, the largest non-communist institution in the country.” As recently as 2006, Bob Woodward tells us that former President Bush was asking at internal White House strategy meetings on Iraq, ‘if Iraqi nationalism trumped religious identity?’.

And what of the consequences of ignoring religion as an issue in foreign policy? Albright writes, “We were caught off guard by the revolution in Iran for the simple reason that we had never seen anything like it. As a political force, Islam was thought to be waning, not rising. Everyone in the region was presumed to be pre-occupied with the practical problems of economics and modernisation. A revolution in Iran based on a religious backlash against America and the West? Other than a few fanatics who would support such a thing?”

This begs the question, why or how did a sort of ‘group think’ manage to ignore religion as an issue in international affairs? To address this we have to broaden the cultural context beyond foreign policy. While no doubt the marginalising of religion started with the Enlightenment, it was more likely fuelled in recent decades by secularisation/modernisation theory. As you know that broadly holds that as societies modernise they secularise. The theory is broadly based on empirical data from north Western Europe, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. It was commonly assumed that the world was following a trajectory set off in north Western Europe at the time of the Industrial Revolution. For much of the 20th century the theory went unchallenged.

However, about 20 years ago it became clear that the statistics were telling a different story. Professor Peter Berger, the eminent American sociologist and expert on religions, was long an advocate of the secularisation theory, but changed his view on the basis of the empirical data.

So, those who predicted the ‘Death of God’ were they simply wrong? Those who extrapolated the European experience to the rest of the world – were they too wrong? Those who said there was a correlation between economic, social and political modernity to decreasing religious practice were they also wrong? The evidence from the United States, Africa, Latin America, Asia and Eastern Europe points to religious practice either walking hand in hand with progress, and in some cases actually being the spur, or at least being a neutral variable.

Berger said recently ‘We don't live in an age of secularity; we live in an age of explosive, pervasive religiosity.’

Scott Thomas writes “Many scholars and policymakers are still committed to the modernization mythology of the 20th century and believe that the global resurgence of religion is the result of incomplete modernisation.”

But to be fair to the advocates of secularization theory, it is easy to look back equipped with data and disprove a theory. The advocates of the secularisation theory were right in part, but only in part. Secularisation theory described a particular pattern in a particular region, namely industrialised and post industrialised Europe, where there was a dramatic drop in church attendance from agrarian societies to industrial and post-industrial societies. The reasons for that drop off are complex and beyond the remit of this evening’s talk.

Religion is now seen as one of the key issues in International Affairs and Foreign Policy. There is scarcely a month without a religious story dominating the media. We have seen in these first nine years of the millennium stories about the Saffron revolution in Burma, a debate on Europe’s Christian roots, debates on the nature of Europe’s migration, a re-examination of the parameters between the secular and religious realms, not to mention those using religion as a justification for their terror.

Albright says that when travelling round the world she is always asked, “Why can’t we just keep religion out of foreign policy?” She responds “my answer is that we can’t and shouldn’t. Religion is a large part of what motivates people and shapes their views of justice and right behaviour. It must be taken into account.”

Certainly from a purely evidential base Albright is right - let us look at some of the facts we know about religion in the contemporary world.

- In a 2005 Gallup poll, two thirds of the world’s population claimed to be religious.
- The proportion of people attached to the world’s four biggest religions, Christianity, Islam, Buddhism and Hinduism – rose from 67% in 1900 to 73% in 2005 and may reach 80% by 2050.
- In terms of sheer number of adherents, the world’s largest religions have expanded at a rate that exceeds that of global population growth. At the beginning of the 20th century, a bare majority of the world’s population (50%) were Catholic, Protestant, Muslim or Hindu. At the beginning of the 21st century, however, nearly 64% of the world’s people belonged to these four religious groups.
- In 1900, Africa had 10 million Christians representing 10 % of the population; by 2000, that was up to 360 million, to 46 percent of the population. That is the largest quantitative change that has ever occurred in the history of religion.
- “Most Nigerians identify themselves by their religion first. In a recent Pew survey, 91% of Muslims and 76% of Christians said that religion is more important to them than their identity as Africans, Nigerians, or members of an ethnic group.”

So religion counts

So “Is God Dead” as asserted by Nietzsche, Time and The Economist? Perhaps it is more accurate to talk, as Giles Kepel did in 1994 about the ‘Revenge of God’ rather than the death of God!

Let’s look at some key dates and examples. Some have said that 1967 marked the beginning of the end of the hegemony of the belief that religion did not matter in foreign policy. Tim Shah of the Council of Foreign Relations writes “In that year, the leader of secular Arab nationalism, Nasser, suffered defeat in the Six Days War”. Shah says that “By the 1970s, Iran’s Ayatollah Khomeini, “born again” President Jimmy Carter and Pope John Paul II had dramatically demonstrated the increasing political clout of religious movements and their leaders.”

The signs of the power of religion in foreign policy were evident throughout the period, but often religious considerations were ignored or marginalised as coincidental. The title of a recently published book ‘God is Back’ illustrates the point. I would argue that God was never gone; it was the research methodology and the selection bias that ignored the variable. Tim Shah writes “a combination of rosary-welding Solidarity workers in Poland and Kalishnikov-weilding mujahideen in Afghanistan helped defeat atheistic Soviet communism. Albright says “In Poland, John Paul II helped construct a bridge that would ultimately restore the connection between Europe’s East and West.” She says, “the Pope’s visits sparked a revolution of the spirit that liberated Poland, brought down the Berlin Wall, reunited Europe, and transformed the face of the world.”

But it was not just in Poland or Afghanistan that religion mattered. The late Harvard Professor Samuel Huntington argued that some of the religious movements helped to usher in the ‘third wave’ of democracy in Latin America, Eastern Europe, Sub Saharan Africa and Asia from the 1970s to the early 90s. For example in Nicaragua and El Salvador, Christian Churches played a prominent role within the reformist and revolutionary movements of the 1980s. And in the 1990s, religion, ethnicity, and nationalism collided with devastating force in the Balkans. In the Philippines, Cardinal Sin and Catholic organisations openly condemned the Marcos regime.

Obviously, religion, like ethnicity continues to be a major source of identity. And often the clash of identities can lead to conflict. A recent study found that “the majority of contemporary conflicts are not between nation states; rather they involve state and non-state actors and are often based on identity.” There is also significant scholarship which documents the positive role of the mainline Christian churches in helping the democratising process in Africa or the positive role that Pentecostal Churches are having on political reform in Latin America. The US Council of Foreign Relations cites more than 30 of the 80 countries that became freer in 1972-2000, owed some of that improvement to religion.

So religion matters in the world and if foreign policy is to be effective it too must address religion as an issue.

What is the purpose of foreign policy and thus diplomacy? Put simply: the purpose of foreign policy has been described as “persuading other countries to do what we want.” Now if Diplomacy is captured as “the art of persuading others to act as we would wish, effective foreign policy requires that we comprehend why others act as they do.” That, it could be argued, leads to the need for a greater appreciation and understanding of religion.

For a diplomat it is crucial to understand deeply the society you are in. How you do this is not as easy as it sounds. Religion can pose a serious challenge for many western Diplomats. Much of that is cultural. It is difficult to act as a bridge between the society one represents and one’s host state. The temptation is to see the world through the prism of one’s own domestic society; and perhaps be favourable towards that which is familiar. But this may lead to miscalculation which can result in serious strategic errors.

In July 2007, the Centre for Strategic and International Studies produced a report on religion and foreign policy. The CSIS report states that “miscalculating religion’s role has sometimes led to failure to anticipate conflict or has actually been counterproductive to policy goals. It has kept officials from properly engaging influential leaders, interfered with the provision of effective development assistance and at times harmed national security.” Professor Bryan Hehir of Harvard says “there is an assumption that you do not have to understand religion in order to understand the world. You need to understand politics, strategy, economics and law, but you do not need to understand religion. If you look at standard textbooks of international relations or the way we organise our foreign ministries, there’s no place where a sophisticated understanding of religion as a public force in the world is dealt with.” Hehir says that “policy makers must learn as much as possible about religion and incorporate that knowledge into their strategies. It’s like brain surgery – a necessary task – but fatal if not done well.”

So where to from here? How do we arrive at a situation where foreign policy is better equipped to deal with religion? It must start with two things. First, we must sensitise ourselves to a world in which religion is alive and well; not the world in which some might feel more comfortable. Secondly, we must begin to see religion as much as a source of healing as it is now seen as a source of division.

Getting the perspective right?
Now that religion is on the agenda, is the perspective right? One could simply catalogue the negative by-products or uses of religion. Such a negative focus would naturally raise questions about the foundations which would produce such negative results, in this case God or religion. Those questions would be justified. But simply cataloguing a series of negatives while ignoring any counter prevailing evidence would fail the most elementary scrutiny.

So religion is back on the agenda. How is foreign policy to approach religion? For a start you can’t get away from it. Centres for the study of religion are springing up everywhere. But what of the approach? And what of this new paradigm in foreign policy and faith?

There is another major risk apart from ignoring the elephant in the room and that is seeing the ‘elephant’ in every room. The risk now is that we go too early to the other extreme and see a religious cause or base to issues and problems which are essentially about race, ethnicity, or some other factor. That major risk is casting religion exclusively in a negative frame of reference. The CSIS Report found that “The tendency to see religion as a problem prevents fuller engagements with religion as a solution, and the over emphasis on Islam prevents more holistic approaches to religion and faith based analysis…Despite the fact that religion is seen as powerful enough to fuel conflict, policymakers less often engage with its peacemaking potential.” Ultimately, our task is to take religion seriously as an issue in foreign policy, yes; to recognise that it can be a source of good or evil, of course; but not to allow a situation to arise where it is presented exclusively as the determining negative variable.

Some say that the reason people reject religion especially in Europe, is because in the past it was so often tied to war, violence and power. Today, the association of religion and violence is once more to the fore. But not all associations are justified. There can be a tendency to identify conflicts as religious when they are more accurately geo-political conflicts. Labeling a conflict as “religious” can be a lazy way to reduce complex struggles into simplistic frameworks.

Increasingly today religion is perceived as a threat because of its association with terrorism. A major challenge is to bring it back to a situation where we have a more balanced perspective and see it as much as a vehicle for peace and helping resolve conflicts. There are powerful practical illustrations to be made which show that the picture is more nuanced than simply condemning religion out of hand as a source of terror or war.

Former President Clinton said “In the wrong hands, religion becomes a lever used to pry one group of people away from another….Does this mean that policy-makers should try to keep religion walled off from public life? The answer to that question is a resounding no. Not only shouldn’t we do that; we couldn’t succeed if we tried. Religious convictions, if they are convictions, can’t be pulled on and off like a pair of boots.”

Let’s draw an analogy with politics. Some would say that we do not condemn politics because it has sometimes in the past delivered us tyrannies or dictatorships. This is broadly one of the points explored in the work of the historian Michael Burleigh who describes the political ideologies of the 20th century, namely National Socialism, fascism and communism among other things, political ideologies which have led, throughout the 20th century to the murder and bloodshed of tens of millions of human beings. Yet politics still governs our life. We have the ability to appreciate the good of the concept, while recognising its capacity to be manipulated for violent ends.

The same is true of religion. Albright writes “We know what a globe plagued by religious strife is like, we do not know what it would be like to live in a world where religious faith is absent. We have, however, had clues from Lenin, Stalin, Mao Zedong, and Nazism”. She continued “it is easy to blame religion – or more fairly, what some people do in the name of religion – for all our troubles, but that is too simple. Religion is a powerful force, but its impact depends entirely on what it inspires people to do. The challenge for policy makers is to harness the unifying potential of faith, while containing its capacity to divide.”

I am not contesting that people, states, or faiths themselves have not used religion to foster violence or hatred. Such a view would fly in the face of history. Monica Toft has shown that “from the 1940s to the 1960s, religious conflicts represented no more than a quarter of civil wars, but in the 1970s, they jumped to 36%, then to 41% in the 1980s, and up to 43% in the 1990s. Since 2000, 47% of Civil Wars have been religious. My contention is to try to re-balance our view of religion in foreign policy. Let’s change the perspective. We can see in certain contexts where faith has not served to fuel a conflict, but has acted as a restraint on ethnic violence, etc. At the same time, religion has mobilized millions of people to oppose authoritarian regimes, inaugurate democratic transitions, support respect for human rights, and relieve human suffering. It is also a growing source of ethnic and national identity. Religion contains an immense capacity to define and mobilise people within and across state boundaries, both for good and for ill.”

There is often little examination of the successes which are in part down to religion or what might be termed ‘faith based diplomacy’. For example the actions in the Philippines which brought down the Marcos regime or the role of the Buddhist Monks in their peaceful protest against the Burmese Junta or closer to home the witness and action of countless people motivated by faith who helped to bring peace to Northern Ireland.

According to the Journal of International Affairs, “Religion can be one of the most powerful healers in post conflict situations. It can play a significant role in establishing peace in the present and dealing with the past.” The Political Scientist Paul Martin wrote “when conflict has ceased, only a few agencies are equipped to address the specific religious values, attitudes and loyalties that underlie ongoing tensions, let alone use them as tools in peace-building. The above factors pose a challenge for policy makers seeking to improve relations among religious groups. The very same elements of social capital that can be conducive to alleviating poverty, such as group loyalty, empathy and trust, can just as easily reinforce animosities.” Albright writes “There are people who are willing to die – and kill – for their faith. This was true a thousand years ago and it is no less true today. But also religion at its best teaches forgiveness and reconciliation, not only when those acts are relatively easy, but also when they are almost unbelievably difficult.”

What are some of those faith inspired movements out there working away for peace? Let me give some examples. There is the International Centre for Religion and Diplomacy – founded by Doug Johnson a former US Diplomat who has played a central role in Sudan, Pakistan and other parts of the world. He outlines in his pioneering 1994 book, the costs of overlooking religion’s critical role in international affairs. He says a faith based mediator has means that a conventional diplomat lacks. One illustration of that could be the international agreement which the Holy See brokered between Chile and Argentina some 30 years ago. Or the role played by the Organisation of Islamic Conference in brokering a settlement between the Philippine government and the Moro National Liberation Front.

Other scholars say that “Governments must ensure that that their approach to conflict includes examining the ways in which religious resources, knowledge and identity are available to advance peace processes.” Then there is the Church of England Vicar – Canon Andrew White who was the driving force behind the Alexandria Process bringing Christian and Muslims together. Today, Andrew White is in Baghdad working for reconciliation. Canon White said recently, “I believe that religion is indeed the major cause of much conflict in the world today. And I would say that if it is a cause, it must also be a cure.” Then we have the Rome based Sant’Egidio community which takes its inspiration from the Second Vatican Council. Its crowning moment was the successful brokering of the ceasefire which ended the Mozambique Civil War. It is active today in over twenty trouble spots across the world. What this shows is that religion can be as much a force for peace as a source of violence.

Why is religion’s conflict resolution capacity not more positively perceived? Scott Thomas writes that some studies of religion get it wrong. He says they equate serious religiosity with fundamentalism. “Like the concept of Fascism, fundamentalism simply becomes a sweeping term of abuse used to denigrate any social or political groups assumed by the West to be a threat to peace, democracy, progress and social order.” In the recent Centre for Strategic and International Studies report, it was said that when government and military intelligence communities acknowledge religion, their analysis is limited to terrorism and in, particular the misuse of Islam.

There is a risk that I too am engaging in selection bias and over-stressing a positive emphasis. But my point is to arrive at a balanced perspective on the role of religion in foreign policy, it is not to deny that religion, like politics, can lead to bad ends, but it is simply to present another critique to the one we often hear. I want to approach religion and faith in foreign policy, not from the prism of violence or terror, as I feel that has been sufficiently covered elsewhere, but rather from a more neutral prism.

This brings me to the practical application of religion and foreign policy.

Diplomacy and the Holy See
The most frequent question which I am asked in this job is what exactly I do in representing the UK at the Holy See. The puzzlement is not confined to the public, but includes specialists, politicians and church people – even at times in the FCO! It is an interesting and legitimate question because ultimately the embassy to the Holy See is not like other bi-lateral embassies which have sections dealing with trade, defence, consular affairs, etc. The Holy See is closer to one of our multi-lateral diplomatic missions than one of our bi-lateral missions in terms of the work that it does. But it still begs the fundamental question what do you do? The best way to answer this, I believe is by giving an insight into how we view the Holy See.

First the Holy See is a hybrid of the global and the local. The Catholic Church is a force on the world stage: a global religious institution with over 1.1 billion adherents (17.5% of the world’s population); reach into every corner of the planet through its 500,000 priests, 800,000 sisters/nuns, 219,655 parishes; serious influence in as many countries as are in the Commonwealth, a privileged status as interlocutor with the two other Abrahamic faiths – Islam and Judaism – and two generations of intense experience in inter-faith dialogue and many centuries of co-existence. The global diplomatic spread of the Holy See has increased dramatically in the 20th century in particular. In 1936, there were 34 states with diplomatic ties to the Holy See: today that stands at 176 with the establishment of ties between the UAE and the Holy See. Pope John Paul II’s funeral in 2005 brought together the single largest gathering of Heads of State in history. The Holy See has a highly respected diplomatic corps with sharp eyes and ears which gets far closer to the ground than any ordinary diplomatic corps through its network of bishops in each region and clergy in each locality. The Holy See knows what is going on in the world at governmental and grass roots level, has extraordinary access at the highest political level in most Catholic countries, and knows who’s who in the world’s faith communities.

Second: the Holy See is a respected interlocutor which pursues a policy of neutrality. Added to its global reach is the Holy See’s central role in the wider/global intellectual and moral debate where religion and public policy are joined. The Holy See is taken seriously in the religious world and in particular in the world of ideas. The Holy See is a key stabilising influence in the global faith/politics debate. This global presence, and the experience it brings, means that the Holy See’s thinking on a wide variety of themes and areas, far beyond the normal foreign policy subjects, carries weight.

Third the Holy See is a global opinion former. While the Vatican, which is the headquarters of the Holy See, is exceedingly small in physical size, the Holy See is a sovereign entity with an unusually large global reach which touches one sixth of the world’s population and many more beyond. The Papacy is one of the world’s key opinion formers. Though global figures are hard to measure, many media specialists saw that the late Pope’s funeral in 2005 was the most watched event in the history of television.

Fourth a hybrid of state and religion. The Holy See is the world’s oldest organisation. It is perhaps also one of the most complex and interesting when it comes to governance and decision-making. On the one hand, in matters of doctrine and episcopal appointments it is very centralized, yet in other areas it follows a very well practiced model of subsidiarity, which devolves power to the most effective level. It is both a state and a religion. That is part of its uniqueness. It has a direct connection (or what some might call a quasi citizenship type relationship) to over 1.1 billion Catholics world-wide (including over 12% of the UK population).

Taking these four characteristics - global and local; respected interlocutor; state and religion; global opinion former - it creates a potentially significant force in global diplomacy. But it is not about projecting global power, but projecting global ideas. Those ideas are captured in a body of thought known as Catholic Social Teaching which covers a very broad spectrum from social justice, discrimination, state-society relations, church and state to human rights, etc.

For these reasons the United Kingdom maintains an embassy to the Holy See. But what do we do? We do not maintain an embassy to the Holy See for sentimental reasons even if it is our oldest overseas post dating from when the Crown first sent an ambassador overseas in 1479. At the Holy See today we are focused on climate change, international development, disarmament, interfaith dialogue, migration, conflict resolution and prevention, in addition to the regular bi-lateral and third country reporting. The Holy See knows what is going in the world and it is a very valuable listening post for the UK. For reasons of our continuing diplomatic relations it would not be prudent to elaborate on the third country reporting which we do from the Holy See. We can look at three of our priority areas for 2009-10: international development, climate change and disarmament.

International development
On international development, the Holy See is a crucial partner to the international community if we are to deliver on the MDGs by 2015. To this end, the Pope and Prime Minister exchanged letters in June and July 2008. The Catholic Church alone is reckoned to be the world’s second largest international development body after the UN. More than 50% of the hospitals in Africa are operated under the auspices of faith-based organisations, with the Catholic Church in Africa being responsible for nearly one quarter of all health care provision. In education too the Catholic Church is a huge provider. It provides places in school to some 12 million children each year.

The UK has worked with the Holy See to develop the International Finance Facility - IFF. It is a novel way to use the capital markets to front load development spending. Pope John Paul II gave it his full moral support. In November 2006, Pope Benedict XVI went one step further and gave it his full practical support. He bought the first Bond. The Bond raised over $1.6 billion dollars. IFFIm has been designed to accelerate the availability of funds to be used for health and immunisation programmes in 70 of the poorest countries around the world. It is expected to help prevent five million child deaths between 2006 and 2015, and more than five million future adult deaths by protecting more than 500 million children in campaigns against measles, tetanus, and yellow fever. There are few more practical illustrations of what we do at the Vatican than the immunisation Bond and Pope Benedict’s participation helped spread the global message about the Bond and the mechanism.

Climate change and the environment
On Climate Change too we have a strong record of working with the Holy See. The Vatican City State is the world’s first carbon neutral state through offsetting its emissions and installing solar panels. It also recently announced plans to build Europe’s largest solar farm on 740 hectares to the north of Rome. That solar farm will produce enough energy to power over 40,000 homes and exceed the EU's renewable energy targets of 20 percent of demand by 2020.

But it is not just the Holy See’s practical elements on climate change which are important to us. Climate change is a curious mix of moral cause and strategic interest. The moral dimension is crucial in addressing climate change. Why? Because action can be motivated in any number of ways; some will be persuaded by self-interest through the economic or scientific evidence. But historically it has always been the moral argument that shifts the momentum toward political and social action in righting a wrong. Morality can help us to alter our personal behaviour towards a more sustainable form of living. Second, it can create the necessary sense of solidarity, not only between this generation and the next, but also between us and those living beyond our immediate experience in the Developing World. To this end, the Vatican is actively working with the UK as part of our South America Climate Change Network which aims to raise awareness of climate change ahead of the UN Copenhagen Climate Conference to be held at the end of this year. And more recently, the Prince of Wales and the Pope discussed how the Vatican could co-operate on the Prince’s Rainforest Project.

Disarmament
2010 is also a very important year for disarmament and Arms Control talks. We will see the Review of the Non-Proliferation Treaty. The Holy See has much bring to bring to the debate – not only through its moral perspective, but also through its global diplomatic spread – which could bridge the divide in the talks. We have good reason to hope for a positive role for the Holy See. In the most recent breakthrough in disarmament – the Treaty on Cluster Munitions – the Holy See played a unique behind the scenes role in getting agreement between the different camps. Without that help it is unlikely that we would have been able to sign the Cluster Munitions Treaty last December. The UK is also actively working together with the Holy See at the UN to deliver an Arms Trade Treaty, which would introduce a more responsible global framework for the arms trade.

Conclusion
In summary, ‘religion matters’ as much in foreign policy as domestic. ‘God is neither back nor dead’ because religion was always there. Rather it was the dominant western perspective that was too narrow and deterministic and did not pick it up. To understand the world in which we live, we have to comprehend religion as a source of influence and motivation in peoples lives. Religious motivations simply do not disappear because they are not mentioned. Simplistic and catch-all sentiments rarely if ever convey the complexity of our world, so too when talking about religion and foreign policy. It is not sufficient to see our faiths as being alien to our cultures or being exclusively associated with negative frameworks such as violence or terror. Nor is it the case that we should move from a position which ignores religion as an issue in foreign policy to seeing it as ‘The’ issue in foreign policy. That too would be flawed.
For many people religion is a source of fundamental values and principles which underpin our civilisations. Faith is a feature of modern life, including our foreign policy. But when viewed exclusively through a negative prism we are selling our societies short and abandoning a valuable asset which can help us address many contemporary challenges.

As we have seen here this evening – indeed as we have seen in our own society over the past 40 years - religion has played a much needed positive role in bringing peace and stability to many situations. Now, the challenge is to see the bigger canvas: it is to realise that religion can serve to propel us forward to achieve the greatest challenge of our time, feeding the hungry, educating the young, housing the poor and caring for the sick and resolving and preventing conflict. In all of those tasks, the Holy See is a vital partner for the UK.

Ambassador calls for a return of religion to policy at Newman Society

2009-05-06T11:27:00.000+01:00

From The Catholic Herald

The British Ambassador to the Holy See, Francis Campbell, delivered a major lecture "Faith and Foreign Policy: a perspective from the Vatican" at Blackfriars, Oxford University, on May 14 as part of the Thomas More lecture series.

Mr Campbell argued that for much of the 20th century religion was ignored in foreign policy. He said: "How do we arrive at a situation where foreign policy is better equipped to deal with religion? It must start with two things. First, we must sensitise ourselves to a world in which religion is alive and well; not the world in which some might feel more comfortable. Secondly, we must begin to see religion as much as a source of healing as it is now seen as a source of division."

Religion was perceived as a threat because of its association with terrorism and "a major challenge" was to bring back a "more balanced perspective", he said, and see religion as much as a vehicle for peace and as helping to resolve conflicts.

Religion mattered in foreign policy and has never gone away, he said, but "rather it was the dominant western perspective that was too narrow and deterministic".

Cardinal Pell launches Newman Society's 'Faith in Oxford' appeal

2009-03-20T11:07:00.000Z

From The Catholic Herald

The Archbishop of Sydney, Cardinal George Pell, launched the Oxford University Newman Society's "Faith in Oxford" appeal during his recent visit to Britain which aims to raise £100,000 to support lectures and scholarships.

Cardinal Pell praised the work of the Newman Society in promoting the Church's mission in the university and collaborating with Catholic chaplains as well as the religious communities and churches in Oxford. "The society plays host to prominent speakers," the cardinal said, "and organises a varied programme of religious and social events which help contribute to the vibrant Catholic environment within the University and City of Oxford. As patron of the Newman Society, and as an alumnus of the University of Oxford, it gives me great pleasure to launch the Newman Society's 'Faith in Oxford' appeal."

"The Newman Society draws its inspiration from one of Oxford's greatest modern theologians - the Venerable John Henry Newman. Past members include Evelyn Waugh, Gerard Manley Hopkins, Mgr Ronald Knox, Mgr Robert Hugh Benson, Hilaire Belloc and J R R Tolkein.The "Faith in Oxford" appeal will establish an endowment of £100,000 to support the Newman Society in its work of promoting Newman's legacy in Oxford, in particular through the Thomas More lectures, scholarships for students whose work contributes to the wider deposit of Catholic scholarship and annual events for alumni and benefactors.

Cardinal Pell tells Newman Society: Confront Secular Intolerance

2009-03-13T11:13:00.000Z

From The Catholic Herald
By Mark Greaves

Cardinal George Pell has said a crucial task for Christians today is to "regularly and publicly" confront secularists who want to push religion out of the public sphere.

The cardinal - one of the Church's most influential voices - said Christians needed to show secularised societies that "there are better ways to live".

He made the comments at a lecture at Oxford last week on "Varieties of Intolerance: Religious and Secular", organised by the Oxford University Newman Society and sponsored by The Catholic Herald.

He spoke of a "dangerous" new trend across the English-speaking world to use anti-discrimination legislation to curb religious freedom. To fight this intolerance, he said, Christians needed to regain their "self-confidence and courage".

"Put simply, Christians have to recover their genius for showing that there are better ways to live and to build a good society; ways which respect freedom, empower individuals and transform communities," the Archbishop of Sydney said.

"The secular and religious intolerance of our day needs to be confronted regularly and publicly. Believers need to call the bluff of what is, even in most parts of Europe, a small minority with disproportionate influence in the media. This is one of the crucial tasks for Christians in the 21st century."

As a primary example of intolerance Cardinal Pell cited the treatment of Christians and Mormons who supported Proposition 8, the amendment that reversed California's gay marriage law last November.

He described how churches and temples were subjected to violence, vandalism and intimidation, and how supporters of the amendment were forced from their jobs and blacklisted.

He then argued that criticism of violence by Muslim extremists was being proscribed by western democracies by punitive legislation."

What do these two tales of intolerance tell us?" the cardinal asked. "We should note the strange way in which some of the most permissive groups and communities, for example Californian liberals in the case of Proposition 8, easily become repressive, despite all their high rhetoric about diversity and tolerance."

There is the one-sidedness about discrimination and vilification," he said, because "Christianophobic blacklisting and intimidation is passed over in silence".

He added that in a healthy democracy people should be free to discuss and criticise each other's beliefs. Reciprocity, he said, was essential to this but "some secularists seem to like one-way streets", seeking to drive Christianity from the provision of education, healthcare and welfare services.

He said that courts in the US were winding back exemptions for religious groups to provide services in line with their own beliefs.

In Australia, he said, a law decriminalising abortion in the state of Victoria "made a mockery" of conscientious objection by forcing doctors to refer patients to healthcare workers who would provide it. "

Clearly there is an urgent need to deepen public understanding of the importance and nature of religious freedom," he said. "Believers should not be treated by government and the courts as a tolerated and divisive minority whose rights must always yield to the minority secular agenda."

He explained that the effect of the "totalitarian tendencies" of modern liberalism was to "enforce conformity" and to strip Christianity of the power of its public witness.

"There is no need to drive the Church out of services if the secularisation of its agencies can achieve this end," he added.

The pressure against religion in public life, he argued, stemmed mainly from a misplaced belief in "absolute sexual freedom".

The cardinal said: "At the level of the individual, the possibilities of happiness are greatly restricted by the lovelessness, fear and despair that the assertion of the autonomous self against others usually leaves in its wake." In a press conference before the lecture the cardinal discussed a number of subjects, including the crisis afflicting the Legion of Christ, a congregation which recently admitted that its late founder, Fr Marcial Maciel, had secretly kept a mistress and fathered a child.

Cardinal Pell said it was not reasonable to expect the Legion to deal with the revelations without outside help. He said an authority in the Church should intervene to investigate Fr Maciel's corruption and potentially to re-examine the Legion's charism.

On Europe, he said that in the Netherlands "radical liberalism has been tried for 40 years and has almost destroyed the Church".

He said: "I think we've been tempted in the past to try to make Catholicism more attractive by going quiet or softly on the so-called hard teachings, the call to faith, the call to forgiveness, the call to sexual fidelity. Cut-price Christianity doesn't work - it's never going to be cost-free."

On the lifting of the SSPX excommunications, he said he supported efforts to reconcile the Lefebvrists with the Church, but that "it remains to be seen just how much this lifting will help". He added: "The whole operation was not a brilliant success - and I think that's understating it."

After his lecture in the Divinity Hall at Oxford University he answered questions on moral relativism, science and the role of the laity. He also clarified his opposition to gay marriage, saying he believed some recognition of gay relationships was "appropriate". He said: "I would agree that in a long-term homosexual relationship, it's appropriate for them to be recognised in law. I don't think the rights should be equivalent to the state of heterosexual marriage because I regard that as the basic cell of our society which is truly important for the future and for the protection of children."

Cardinal Pell had been invited to Oxford by the Newman Society to launch its appeal for £100,000 to fund a lecture series, a scholarship programme and an alumni association. His lecture is available in full on the society's website, http://www.newmansociety.org.uk/.

We will be publishing an exclusive interview with Cardinal Pell next week.

— As we went to press, the Pope was expected to issue a letter to the world's bishops about the lifting of the excommunications of the SSPX bishops.

Pictures of Cardinal Pell's visit

2009-03-11T17:47:00.001Z

Br Lawrence Lew OP has put up some excellent photographs of Cardinal Pell's visit on flickr:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/paullew/sets/72157614800392865/detail/

Visit of Cardinal Pell to the Newman Society

2009-03-08T17:05:00.000Z

The Newman Society has been honoured with a week-long visit of its Principal Patron, Cardinal George Pell, the Archbishop of Sydney. His Eminence studied for a doctorate in church history at Campion Hall and is an old member of the society.

The Cardinal came in response to an invitation from the society to deliver its inaugural Thomas More Lecture and launch the ‘Faith in Oxford’ appeal (about which more later). In a wonderful but exhausting week His Eminence also attended events organised or facilitated by the society at Trinity College, Merton College, Exeter College, Campion Hall, Blackfriars, and the Catholic Chaplaincy. He also visited Newman’s ‘College’ in Littlemore (where he met with Area-Bishop William Kenny CP), Stonor Park, and the Birmingham Oratory. The Cardinal also gave a witty address at a formal dinner held in his honour at Keble College.

His Eminence celebrated two public liturgies for the society, both of which were accompanied by magnificent plainchant and polyphony and were filled to capacity. The first was a celebration of Vespers according to the Extraordinary Form in Merton College. The second, a solemn Mass of the Holy Spirit in intercession for Cardinal Newman’s beatification at the Oxford Oratory. The Cardinal told the congregation of his deep admiration for John Henry Newman and assured them he would do all within his power to promote his cause for beatification.

During his visit Cardinal Pell formally dedicated the Newman Society to Our Lady of Oxford during a Mass held in her chapel at the Oxford Oratory. The miraculous image of Our Lady of Oxford was brought from Rome to Oxford by Hartwell de la Garde Grissell, one of the founding members of the society.

The society is tremendously grateful to the Cardinal for his wonderful encouragement. Ad multos annos, Your Eminence!

Visit to Newman's 'College' in Littlemore

At Newman's desk in the Birmingham Oratory

Vespers at Merton College

Programme for Cardinal Pell's visit to the Newman Society 2009

2009-03-01T11:52:00.001Z

Monday 2 March

His Eminence met at airport
Private engagements

Tuesday 3 March

Private Mass
Visit to Stonor Park accompanied by Newman Society officers, tour, tea with Lord and Lady Camoys

Wednesday 4 March

Private Mass
Private engagements
Dinner with Chaplains and officers of Oxford University's catholic societies, Catholic Chaplaincy

Thursday 5 March

Visit to Birmingham Oratory accompanied by Newman Society officers, meeting with Provost, Mass in Newman's Chapel, tour, lunch
Solemn Vespers for Newman Society (Extraordinary Form), Merton College
Reception, Merton College
Newman Society dinner in honour of His Eminence, speech by His Eminence, Keble College

Friday 6 March

Press Conference, Exeter College
Newman Society inaugural Thomas More Lecture 2009, Divinity School
Reception, speech by His Eminence to launch Newman Society's Faith in Oxford appeal, Divinity School
Newman Society Solemn Pontifical Mass in intercession for the Beatification of Cardinal Newman, Oxford Oratory
Dinner, Oxford Oratory

Saturday 7 March

Mass, consecration of Newman Society to Our Lady of Oxford, Our Lady of Oxford's Chapel, Oxford Oratory
Private tour of Oxford
Lunch with Heads of the Catholic Halls, Campion Hall
Tour of Trinity College, including exhibit of Newman-related items, with Sir Ivor Roberts (President of Trinity) and invited guests, followed by tea
Recital of music and readings inspired by Cardinal newman, Trinity College Chapel

Sundya 8 March

Breakfast with University students preparing for Receition into the Church, Old Parsonage Hotel
Mass, St Benet's Hall
Lunch, St Benet's Hall
Anglican 'Passiontide Service, homily by His Eminence, Merton College
Dinner, Merton College

Monday 9 March

Mass and meeting with Bishop William Kenny (Episcopal Vicar for Oxfordshire), Newman's 'College', Littlemore
Tour and meeting with The Sisters of the Work, Newman's 'College', Littlemore
Depart airport

Attorney General visits Newman Society

2008-06-20T17:34:00.009+01:00

We welcomed as Guest-of-Honour at our termly black-tie dinner Baroness (Patricia) Scotland of Asthal, the Attorney General of England and Wales. After a dinner, which was held at Pembroke College, Lady Scotland gave a moving talk in which she offered a personal reflection on the importance of her Catholic faith.

The dinner followed an 'extraordinary form' High Mass of Requiem at which Fr. Dominic Jacobs CongOrat was celebrant and Rev. Dr. Lawrence Hemming preached. The Mass was offered for the departed members and benefactors of the society and we remembered especially Mrs Margaret Wheeler, who died earlier in the year. Margaret was a long standing member of the society and will be remembered with affection by generations of Oxford students. R.I.P.

A few pics from the Trinity Term drinks party

2008-04-24T16:39:00.001+01:00

Br. Lawrence Lew OP's talk to Newman Society's Colloquium on 'Blogging'

2008-04-13T12:30:00.000+01:00

From Godzdogz
"Virtue and Vice on the Blogosphere"

The Oxford University Newman Society hosted a 'Bloggers' Colloquium' in the Catholic Chaplaincy on 15 February 2008 to discuss the phenomenon of blogging and its impact on the Church and the world. Br Lawrence Lew OP was invited to give one of the talks; an abridged version follows:

That blogs can be a force for good but also for that which is less than good should not surprise us. For social communications through the media is just an expression of our flawed humanity, and indeed the anonymity which the internet affords sometimes exacerbates our flaws. Like everything we do, blogging does not always achieve the good it ought to although I believe that it is essentially ordered towards it. As such, we should treat it like the rest of life – as something with a potential for good, but which can be abused, and where that happens, it should be healed and redeemed. There is no place that the Gospel may not touch, and as a preaching friar, I passionately believe that it is essential that we bring the light of Christ’s truth and the teachings of his holy Church to the blogosphere. It is with this in mind that I have tentatively entitled my reflection: Virtue and Vice in the Blogosphere.

Those Catholics who blog and those who read such blogs are a select few, but they are united by love. At its best, I hope that we are united as Catholic and Christian bloggers in a love for Christ and his Gospel. As this is not a dis-interested love, so the passions and heated exchanges that are elicted online are in many ways understandable and, indeed, to be expected.

However, it is in the area of the passions, that is, the emotions, that we have to be most careful, for sometimes these can get out of control. St Thomas Aquinas, rightly saw that emotions were good and proper for us to possess because they are part of what it means to be a rational animal, to be human. However, they fall within our animal capabilities and so have to be integrated with our rational powers. Thus Aquinas says that passions are “good when they are controlled by reason; and evil when they are not controlled by reason”; the passions have to be moderated by reason. However, this does not mean that one can circumnavigate the emotions or employ the force of sheer ‘will-power’ to control one’s emotions. As the French Dominican Chenu said, one ought to resort to neither “dualistic Manichaeism nor Christian Stoicism”. Aquinas’ answer is that “both acts of the will and the emotions must be given direction, order and guidance; they do not automatically unfold in morally mature directions.” This guidance comes from the acquisition of virtues and the elimination of vices. Developing good habits and virtues will help a person to mature emotionally and grow morally so as to make the right choices in response to one’s feelings and desires; we grow from spoilt brats to mature right-thinking adults. I’m afraid that quite often one sees a lot of the former on display on the blogosphere’s comments boxes! Aquinas taught that “in affirming or rejecting opinions, we shouldn’t be influenced by our liking or dislike of those who propose the ideas, but rather by the certitude of truth”. Thus, we act rationally, guided by prudence and not by our passions. Aquinas’ position is that the passions can be regulated by reason such that “the passions of the wise man are an integral part of his moral life” and indeed, it is a person who delights (and so has an emotive attraction) in doing good who does more good. So, what I want to suggest is that the blogosphere can be a training ground for virtue, but also a temptation to vice.

There is little doubt that prudence is the chief virtue that we must develop in blogging and using the internet. Aquinas says that prudence “is reason itself rendered perfect in its judgments and in its choices.” Often it seems that when one decides what to blog or what to comment, one can take refuge in the truth. That is, something blogged or commented about is justified simply because it is true, or deemed to be quite simply what the Church teaches, and we have to say it no matter what the consequences. I would suggest that prudence, temperance and wisdom require us to judge how and when to act, not just that we are to act. Children may be expected to act without prudent judgment, but mature adults are expected to show some discernment. Otherwise, we can become like the secular press who report whatever they will on the basis that it is fair comment or truth that is in the public interest.

Pope Benedict has said: “The call for today's media to be responsible - to be the protagonist of truth and promoter of the peace that ensues - carries with it a number of challenges. While the various instruments of social communication facilitate the exchange of information, ideas, and mutual understanding among groups, they are also tainted by ambiguity. Alongside the provision of a ‘great round table’ for dialogue, certain tendencies within the media engender a kind of monoculture that dims creative genius, deflates the subtlety of complex thought and undervalues the specificity of cultural practices and the particularity of religious belief. These are distortions that occur when the media industry becomes self-serving or solely profit-driven, losing the sense of accountability to the common good.” I would suggest that the Holy Father’s warning applies not just to the secular media but also to us. For it is easy for us to become embroiled in our cause, our vision of the Church, our idolisation of those things an Aristotelian might call ‘accidents’. As such, I believe that we should hearken to Pope Benedict’s words. Moreover as he also said, albeit in a different context, “Let us generously open our hearts and make room for everything that the faith itself allows”, and so, not just what we would desire in an ideal world. To be sure, one might argue that we are doing this for the good of the Church and for Christ’s sake, but I also think that a certain humility requires us to ask if we are so sure that God has mandated us to do this work for him: for one of the dangers of the blogging phenomenon is that every person becomes his own editor and publisher, every blog becomes a pulpit and there is no accountability. One of the benefits of a group blog like Godzdogz and of writing as a religious friar is that I am accountable to my community, and this, I think, is no bad thing if we want to learn prudence and humility.

A particular vice that aggrieves me and that is not infrequently seen on the blogosphere is detraction, which in Aquinas' great Summa falls under the area of justice. Detraction “strictly speaking is taking away a person’s character by drawing attention to anything that detracts from that character”. Although the intention of admonition does take away the sinfulness of the act, Aquinas notes that “all the same, a man should pick his words carefully, since uttered incautiously they might take away a person’s character, and a fatal wrong might be done without even intending it.” I think this is even more serious if it is directed at our pastors and especially a bishop who is, by consecration, a successor of the apostles. I think the blogs have helped in some areas to fuel such discussions and they have certainly been a tempting place for people to comment and say such things. We may complain – as the flock has always done – about decisions made by our superiors, but to impugn their character, or to judge them guilty of heresy, or to speculate maliciously about their motivations is clearly not good for the Church or for us. The fact is that the blogosphere can be a forum for vicious activity and we should seek not to defend that but to guard our tongues and typing fingers. While our modern world defends free speech, and freedom of opinion, let us be on guard for these can lead to great vice. As the Scriptures say in many places, but here, I am quoting from the Wisdom of Ben Sira: “As you hedge round your vineyard with thorns, set barred doors over your mouth; as you seal up your silver and gold, so balance and weigh your words. Take care not to slip by your tongue and fall victim to your foe waiting in ambush.” Moreover, freedom is a gift that we have to exercise responsibly and this requires the exercise of virtues like courage and temperance, that is, not only the strength to say the truth but to do so wisely and in the right way and time.

So, what can we say in our blogs? St Paul says: “Woe to me if I do not preach the gospel”. And so, I believe that the blogosphere, and indeed, other instruments of the internet, can help us in the mission given to all the baptised. This is not surprising, for if we are preachers of the gospel, we will naturally use everything in our lives and in our world to give glory to him who has saved us and to preach his Word to all nations. Joseph Ratzinger once said: “The Church will have to develop a great deal of imagination to help the gospel remain a force in public life, so that it may shape the people and pervade their life and work among them like yeast.” The internet is just one such area of public life, and it will work for good if we write about the Gospel, seek to disseminate truth and balanced opinion, and help shape our readers in virtue. Perhaps we can take other pointers from Ratzinger. He noted that “nowadays, particularly among the most modern representatives of Catholicism, there is a tendency toward uniformity… I believe that a great deal of tolerance is required within the Church, that the diversity of paths is something in accordance with the breadth of Catholicity – and that one ought not simply to reject it, even when it is something contrary to one’s own taste.” So, there are blogs for every taste, and it is good that these flourish in the Church and work together for the common good and serve the mission of the Church.

In an aphorism commonly attributed to St Augustine, he is believed to have said, “in essentials, unity; in doubtful matters, liberty; in all things, charity.” This should be the creed of all our social communications. It is with care, study and prudence that we are able to distinguish between essentials and doubtful matters, and if we should fear anything in blogging, let us fear a failure in charity.

Newman Society's Sarum Rite Masses

2008-02-26T14:50:00.000Z

In 1997 and 1998 the Newman Society organised two celebrations of Mass according to the Sarum Rite. The Sarum Rite was the rite of Mass generally celebrated in England up until the Reformation. Fr. Sean Finnigan, who was celebrant of the Masses, has now posted a video of the Candlemass 1998 Mass on Youtube. He provides a full account of the ceremonial and links to the videos on his blog Valle Adurni.

Fr Finnigan writes - For a while I worked as a priest in Oxford, and there became involved in a couple of celebrations of the Use of Sarum. Both were videod, in an amateurish way, and I thought it worth posting at least some of this to YouTube.

A clip from the offertory of the second Sarum Mass (Candlemas 1997) was posted to YouTube a while ago, and much appreciated; now it seems time to put up some more.The Sarum Use is the mediæval English rite of most mediæval English dioceses, and by the close of Catholic England at the death of Queen Mary was the Use for the whole country (Henry VIII had made it compulsory for everyone, and I don't suppose Hereford, Bangor &c did much to revive their own Uses, unless anyone out there knows different).

Vigil at the Chaplaimcy

2008-02-20T16:45:00.001Z

From The New Liturgical Movement By Br. Lawrence Lew OP

On Friday 15 - Saturday 16 February, the Oxford University Catholic Chaplaincy held a Eucharistic Vigil that was jointly organised by the Catholic Society and the Newman Society with the Chaplains. Over 50 people gathered for the Vigil which opened with a votive Mass of the Eucharist in the Ordinary Form with Gregorian chant Propers and the Ordinary from Mass VIII and Byrd's Mass for three voices. Fr Benjamin Earl OP was the principal celebrant and preached at the Mass; the Liturgy of the Word was in English, and the Liturgy of the Eucharist was in Latin.

Mass was followed by a Eucharistic Procession during which the 'Pange lingua' was sung, followed by the Litany and a psalm. This was followed shortly afterwards with Compline sung by Dominican friars and then Latin Benediction given by Deacon David Rocks OP.
Vigil was kept until dawn, interspersed with the Divine Office and the public recitation of the Holy Rosary and the Vigil ended with Mass celebrated by the chaplain, Fr John Moffat SJ. A cooked breakfast welcomed all those who kept vigil before the Lord and recalled, in a small way, His fast in the desert.

Oxfordblogging

2008-02-20T09:24:00.001Z

From Liturgical Notes
Fr John Hunwicke SSC writes ...

The Oxford Newman Society's colloquium on blogging was great fun; indeed, what a splendid body that society is. How fortunate the Catholic Chaplaincy is to have such a strong, intelligent group with praiseworthy views on everything; one of two bright beacons (the Pusey House congregation is of course the other) in the University (or am I being unfair to leave out the Oratory and Blackfriars?). And how fortunate Oxford is to be so rich in Catholic blogs. I learn a lot from that highly literate and engaging blog, massinformation, run by three Catholic Anglican seminarians. And, of course, there is the New Liturgical Movement to keep us updated on everything truly progressive in liturgical matters; and that's not all. Those with an interest in Dominican liturgy and/or the Anglican Book of Common Prayer can this week hear the great chant Media Vita , sung during Lenten Compline in the Dominican and Sarum (medieval English) rites and incorporated by Dr Cranmer into the Anglican funeral service (it is to be sung by the clerks, or else said, while the body is made ready to be laid into the earth). It can be heard on another great blog, Godzdogz. I wonder if anybody has ever thought of using this Dominican version and melody at Anglican funerals? It would make a lovely change from that nonsense from Scott-Holland about how Death is Nothing, which so many of the bereaved have heard at other funerals that the officiating priest is repeatedly persuaded into allowing it again ... thereby compounding the problem.

It was good to hear Fr Zed; knowledgeable about the Inside liturgical history of the last couple of decades and with his fingers on many pulses internationally. He left us with a strong sense of the grip Pope Benedict has on the cultural life of the Church: in the last year we really have turned a corner. As an Anglican, I found myself thinking: in the late 1960s and thereafter, as the RC Church lurched in the wrong direction in so many areas but especially the liturgical, Anglicans, and not least Catholic Anglicans, deemed it the proper thing slavishly to adopt each newly minted absurdity. Now that things are getting back on the rails in Rome, will the Anglican faith-community follow healthy leadership as readily as then it did the unhealthy? Many of our younger Catholic Anglican clergy are already doing so; but what about the dominant gerontocracy?

A jolly good supper, too, cooked by Mr President Yaqoub himself.

Blogging colloqium

2008-02-19T08:59:00.003Z

From Lacrimarum Valle

Dr. Matthew Doyle writes ...

'Rubbing sholders with the great'

A couple of weeks ago I received an unexpected email from the President of the Oxford University Newman Society, inviting me to partake in a colloquium entitled "Blogging and the Church". I had heard very little about this Catholic Society before now, but learn it is the example for other universities to follow. It was established in 1878, and has only recently (1990) been challenged with a separate "University of Oxford Catholic Society" which sought to counteract the overt conservatism of the Newman. It is with pleasure I learn that these two societies cooperate a great deal, and had jointly arranged an all-night vigil of eucharistic adoration the same evening that the colloquium finished. It was a joy to see the standard of liturgy on offer; truly obedient to the current climate in the Church (ie. lots of Latin!)

The President made sure that I was aware of such distinguished speakers who have featured in their weekly meetings: "Archbishop Michael Ramsay, G.K. Chesterton, Evelyn Waugh, the Patriarch of All Spain, Baroness Williams and the Duke of Norfolk." Amongst others I'm sure. And, failing to be able to provide such itinerant bloggers as Fr Tim Finigan, Damien Thompson, and Fr Nicholas Schofield, they evidently broadened their horizons to the simple 'little guys' such as myself. As a result, not only did they have the key-note appearance of Fr John Zuhlsdorf, but also a balanced account of the role of Blogging in the Church from other perspectives.

At this juncture I should note that it was only possible for me to attend such an event due to the kindness of my co-workers, who thoughtfully covered for me at the hospital so that I could leave a little early and race down the M40. Upon arrival in Oxford, I was filled with the unique atmosphere I am always pleased to encounter there: streets full of noble youngsters persuing their dream of learning and truth(?), and the general hustle and bustle that go with any university town. But coupled with the welcome life of the people, there is also the matchless and timeless beauty of the university buildings, transforming this little city into a fortress of academia. The Catholic Chaplaincy is located in The Old Palace on St Aldates, just opposite Christ Church. It is a quaint wooden Elizabethan building, which on this occasion was perishingly cold owing to a broken boiler.

I was warmly greeted on entering by the President, complete with apron, who ushered me upstairs to a holding room, where the other bloggers were gathered. It was an interesting room, clearly basking in the glory of its long history, being decorated with portraits of past chaplains. Little did we know, an eastern banquet awaited us (or certainly that is how I would class it in student terms!). An amusing touch when we sat down to dinner, was a tiny statue of St Peter (modelled on the great 'foot' in the Roman Basilica) placed in the middle of the table by the President's place. A good model for leadership, by any measure! After Fr John Zuhlsdorf's Latin table blessing a good three course curry was had by all.

The actual colloquium followed, which took place in the library around a large table. I was suddenly glad to have scribbled out a short biographic to prompt myself; looking at the other bloggers, and hearing their eloquent talks one by one, made mine an impossible act to follow. Firstly Fr John Zuhlsdorf gave an excellent history behind his courageous endeavour to engage with the potential for on-line catholic communications from the very beginning, leading to the foundation of his blog "What Does the Prayer Really Say?" in the new millennium, and its recent change of course in recent months following the publication of Summorum Pontificum. Fr Z is adamant that this is the single most important document issued in recent years, and crucial for understanding the will of the Holy Father for the direction of the Church. He described the Liturgy as the spearhead of the Faith, and something which obviously needs to be sharpened to the utmost for greatest influence in the world.

Next up was Fr John Hunwicke, who is the Anglican priest-in-charge of St Thomas the Martyr. He is also compiler of the Ordo, published by Tufton Books (a volume which he wielded, but which, alas, I have very little idea of). Amusingly, introducing himself as an Anglican in a "hotbed of Popery", he declared he felt entirely at home! He gave an interesting take on the whole liturgical discussion, since his Church is fortunate enough to have use of noble English translations by Cranmer ("heretic though he was!") He suggested that if a sad barrier to the Latin tongue is what prevents priests from using the 1962 missal, would not an entire vernacular translation be a bridge to it, and preferable to the current state of affairs?

Friar Lawrence brought a beautiful spiritual dimension to the discussion, having prepared a paper entitled "The Virtues and Vices of Blogging" which was interspersed with Thomist philosophy on our battle with the tendency to sin. This is a topic which I had hoped to pick up on, and was glad that Lawrence could do so with such precision and learning. I hope he will be able to publish his talk in its entirety. [17 April 2008 - A transcript can be found here]

In conclusion, I will quote one of the bystanders from massinformation:

What emerged, then, was a sense of renewed confidence in what the Church proposes to the World, and that that ought to be presented in as many ways as possible. The Church must beat the drum to which the World marches, because if the rhythm is handed over to the World, the Church suffers. It is the Church's experiences of engagement with the World which need to be reflected on, and assimilated or discarded as She deems appropriate, rather than the other way around. We need to balance Fr Zuhlsdorf's confidence in the rights of the laity with Br Lawrence's concern to respect the bishops and their pastoral and teaching office. We need, too, to balance this with the experiences of laymen like Matthew Doyle and parish priests like Fr Hunwicke.

The whole evening was a joy, and I was very pleased to be able to partake also in the overnight vigil afterwards. With slightly sore knees, I stumbled down the dark streets of St Aldates, grabbing a quick coffee-to-go from the "open till midnight" cafe of G & Ds, which was just enough to keep me awake on the dreaded M40 on the way back to Brum!

Newman's beatification is "imminent"

2008-01-09T11:55:00.000Z

Vatican City, Jan 8, 2008 / 05:16 pm (CNA).- Cardinal Jose Saraiva Martins, Prefect of the Vatican’s Congregation for the Cause of the Saints, has announced that the beatification of the great British convert and scholar, Cardinal John Henry Newman, is "imminent."

In an interview to be published on Wednesday in the daily Italian edition of L’Osservatore Romano, Cardinal Saraiva said that among the most important personalities to be beatified "soon" is "the case of Cardinal Newman, a relevant intellectual, and an emblematic figure of conversion from Anglicanism to Catholicism."

"Personally, I wish his beatification to happen very soon because it would be very important at this moment for the path of ecumenical dialogue,” Cardinal Martins said.

Cardinal Saraiva Martins also revealed the beatification, latter this year, of the parents of St, Therese of Lisieux, Louis Martin and Azelia Guérin. The heroic virtues of the parents of St. Therese, who is now one of the most popular saints in the Catholic Church and a Doctor of the Church, were proclaimed on March 26, 1944.

Cardinal Saraiva implied that the miracle needed to proclaim them Blessed has been approved by his congregation, and will be announced at the next Consistory.

"The Permanence of the Sacred" - Talk by Fr. John Saward

2007-11-29T17:50:00.001Z

Last Tuesday the acclaimed theologian and local priest Fr. John Saward, whom Fr. Aidan Nichols OP has called "the Balthasar of the English-speaking world," spoke to the Society. His subject was Pope Benedict's recent motu proprio liberalising use of the traditional Latin Mass. The talk, which was called The Permanence of the Sacred: Some Reflections on Summorum Pontificum, was held following the Society's High Mass using the "extraordinary form," which was celebrated in the previous week.

Dr. Joseph Shaw has posted the following report on the New Liturgical Movement blog:

Fr John Saward is Priest in Charge of the parish of SS Gregory and Augustine in North Oxford and Lisieux Senior Research Fellow in Theology at Greyfriars Permanent Private Hall of Oxford University. In his earlier life he studied Philosophy and Psychology at St John’s College, Oxford, trained for Anglican orders at St Stephen’s House, Oxford, and was Chaplain of Lincoln College, Oxford. He was received into the Catholic Church in 1979, and after many years teaching theology at Catholic institutions, including the International Theological Institute at Gaming, Austria, St Charles Borromeo Seminary, Pennsylvania, USA, and Ushaw, England, he was ordained priest in 2003. Over the years he has published numerous books and articles, notably Redeemer in the Womb (1993), The Way of the Lamb (1997), and Cradle of Redeeming Love (2002); he was also the English translator of the Holy Father’s Spirit of the Liturgy (2000). He is married with three grown-up daughters.

There are pages giving his CV on several websites; the most complete appears to be the Gaming one; he also has a Wikipedia entry.

Fr Saward has not only a very serious academic interest in the liturgy (a current project is a ‘A spiritual commentary on the Roman rite of Holy Mass’, to be called Catena Eucharistica; something to look out for), but he has long celebrated the Traditional Roman Mass as a private devotion. When I became the local representative of the Latin Mass Society in 2005, I saw that he was a member; as assistant priest at SS Gregory and Augustine’s, he suggested celebrating regular First Friday Masses; it was not long before it was established that these would be sung in Term time. These have proved to be a staple for local singers wishing to participate in the Traditional liturgy. Since becoming Priest in Charge at that church, we have had Gregorian Chant Training days there, and regular Low Masses on Wednesdays. He has also extended the use of Gregorian Chant at his regular Novus Ordo Sunday Masses, with the assistance of the remarkable Dr John Caldwell, a musicologist and composer who is also the organist and director of the parish choir.

As advertised in advance on the NLM, he gave a talk this week to the Oxford University Newman Society on the Holy Father’s Motu Proprio Summorum Pontificum. He spoke to a capacity crowd in the Catholic Chaplaincy’s library, in the presence of the Senior Chaplain, Fr John Moffat SJ, several Dominicans, and me. In what follows I summarize his talk.

He began by noting that he was not (thank heavens) a ‘liturgist’, so would be talking about the dogmatic, not simply liturgical or indeed church political implications of the MP. The starting point of a dogmatic approach to the MP is St Thomas Aquinas’s remark ‘sed contra’ to objections to the rituals of the Mass (ST IIIa q.83 a.5 sc): ‘The custom of the Church stands for these things: and the Church cannot err, since she is taught by the Holy Ghost.’ (Sed in contrarium est Ecclesiae consuetudo, quae errare non potest, utpote spiritu sancto instructa.) It is not just the propositional statements of the Church which, when they have the appropriate degree of authority, can be relied upon as guided and guaranteed by the Holy Ghost, but the customs of the Church. What is practised for long ages by the most universally revered authorities cannot suddenly be said to be defective. This is exactly the point made repeatedly by Joseph, Cardinal Ratzinger in his books, and which is repeated clearly by Papa Ratzinger in his Letter to Bishops accompanying the MP. What was holy yesterday cannot be harmful today; indeed, the denial of this principle ‘calls the very existence of the Church into question’ (Feast of Faith). It is for this reason that it must be understood that the previous liturgical tradition was never abrogated. This is a dogmatic matter, and in making this dogmatic point the Holy Father is doing what he always does in the exercise of his office, which is guarding the Faith.

It is in this light that we can understand the recent remarks by Archbishop Ranjith, who is working closely with the Pope on this matter, that the liberation of the Traditional Mass is a condition for the renewal desired by the Second Vatican Council. Respect for tradition is the basis for Catholics’ search for truth.

Fr Saward then gave a series of examples in which the teaching of the Church, revealed and made vivid by the Traditional form or the Roman Rite, as other ancient Rites, is obscured in the Missal of Paul VI. First, many of the orations of the 1962 Missal are addressed to the Second Person of the Trinity, and two prayers, the Suscipe, sancta Trinitas at the Offertory and the Placeat tibi, sancta Trinitase are addressed to the whole Trinity, despite the fact that the majority of the orations and other prayers use the familiar form of addressing the Father through the Son in the Holy Ghost. This twofold pattern of liturgical prayer reflects and makes manifest the Catholic dogma of the Holy and Undivided Trinity. The 1970 Missal removes almost all of the orations addressed to the incarnate Son and both of the prayers addressed to the whole Trinity. These amputations from the liturgy open the way to misunderstanding. Participants in the liturgy are no longer reminded of the co-equality and consubstantiality of the Persons of the Trinity. This is not a merely theoretical point since a whole series of Trinitarian and Christological errors, tending to the denial of Christ’s Divine nature and co-equality with the Father, have been condemned or censured by the Holy See in recent decades (cf the cases of Edward Schillebeeckx OP and, more recently, of Roger Haight SJ).

A second example, mentioned by the then Professor Ratzinger in his textbook on Eschatology, is the disappearance of the word anima, ‘soul’, from the reformed liturgy of the dead and elsewhere. Prayers addressing the soul of the dead man or woman to be buried are replaced or adapted to refer to God’s ‘famulus(a)’, God’s servant or handmaid. Again, there is no heresy in the new prayers, but the loss of the references to the metaphysical reality of the soul, and especially the soul separated from the body at death, is most unfortunate in light of theological errors on this subject, which have had to be censured (e.g. by the SCDF in 1979).

A third example is the suppression, even in prayers otherwise retained, of references to the priest’s sinfulness and compunction. Do priests no longer need to express sorrow for their sins? In the cold light of day, this and the other changes enumerated seem bizarre: what positive reason could be adduced for them?

A fourth example is the ceremonial of the Mass, such as the signs of the cross, so many of which have been suppressed in the 1970 Missal. These actions had in the past given rise to a whole genre of spiritual commentaries on the Mass, which assigned dogmatic meanings to the rituals with great consistency. Many saints, including St Thomas Aquinas, contributed to this literature, and took these signs extremely seriously. With the 1970 Missal, not only are these books rendered obsolete, but the signs themselves are no longer there to communicate their dogmatic significance to the onlooker.

Fr Saward then turned to the Pope’s exhortation Sacramentum Caritatis, which is linked to the MP in an important way. The Eucharist is the sacrament of love, and the MP has charity as both its source and it object: not merely the reconciliation of Traditionalists to full communion with the Church, but more fundamentally an increase of faith and charity among the Faithful. The Mass is a source of charity since, as Aquinas teaches, the worthy reception of Holy Communion actualises charity, and makes the recipient ‘spiritually gladdened’. This is possible only, of course, to the communicant who is properly disposed, and to achieve this proper participation in the Mass, uniting oneself in intention with Christ the High Priest, is necessary.

With this is mind, we turn to the remarkably strongly-worded critique of misleading or unhelpful aspects of the 1970 Missal found in Ratzinger’s works. In The Spirit of the Liturgy Ratzinger made an extremely strong critique of Mass facing the people, warning that such Masses could and in some times and places had become a ‘closed circle’, where attention which should be fixed on God became fixed on Man; he even likened such ‘self-initiated’ and ‘self-seeking’ liturgy to the worship of the Golden Calf: the ultimate substitution of a human artifact for God as the object of worship. In that book and elsewhere, Ratzinger noted the problem of silence in the New Mass, since for the most part periods of silence in the course of Mass were only possible by bringing the liturgy to a temporary halt. On the contrary, Ratzinger argued, to be fruitful silence needs to be an integral part of the liturgy, what he calls ‘filled silence’, and not merely an artificial pause. In these and in other ways the reformed liturgy actually militates against effective participation.

In concluding, Fr Saward warned against the temptations faced by those who, like him, are ‘attached’ to the Traditional liturgy, notably pride and over-emphasis on externals. Charity, again, must be our object. To facilitate the flow of charity from our participation in Mass to our ordinary interaction, we should heed the advice of St Thomas Aquinas once more, and seek the intercession of Our Lady, always the model for the reception of Jesus Christ, and who in every danger will come to the assistance of her suppliants.

The talk was followed by questions. In the course of these Fr Saward noted the paradox that the Roman Rite, long noted for its conservatism and austerity, had lost these features in its reformed form by the addition of elements from other Rites.

He urged his audience to read books in preference to blogs!

He noted the immense importance of the published works of Cardinal Ratzinger, over the years, in forming his own thinking and that of many others, on the subject of the Mass, and how with the MP the Holy Father’s openness to criticism of the reformed liturgy was a very liberating experience. Faithful Catholics no longer feel they must suppress doubts and worries and concerns about the reform, for they have been expressed by the Pope himself.

The final question from the floor concerned the pastoral difficulty of widening the use of the Traditional Mass. There are clearly many who would, if confronted with it without further ado, find it an ‘alien experience’. One option at this point, the questioner suggested, would be to contemplate a ‘two-tier’ liturgy, the Traditional one for those who can really grasp it, and the reformed Mass for everyone else.

In response to this, Fr Saward acknowledged the seriousness of the difficulty, which he had experienced himself in his own parish. However, a two-tier liturgy is not the right answer. The Eastern Churches, Catholic and Orthodox, have no special liturgy for special groups, no ‘children’s liturgy’ for example, but one Divine Liturgy which is always sung and always rather lengthy, by Latin standards. This does not seem to create difficulties for them with regard to the young, or the less educated; on the contrary, this kind of liturgical experience is something that everyone can appreciate. It will certainly be difficult to bring the liturgical tradition, in its fullness, back into every corner of ordinary parish life, but it must at least be attempted with the help of God. The key to liturgical formation is the receptivity of children and the capacity for wonder with which all human beings are endowed. The great liturgical tradition of the Church, East and West, has the power to touch hearts.

Society honours founding member, Hartwell de la Garde Grissell

2007-11-24T16:42:00.001Z

2007 marks the centenary of the death of a founding member of the Newman Society, Hartwell de la Garde Grissell, MA, FSA. Following yesterday's termly mass in Brasenose College, there was a drinks reception and small exhibition commemorating Grissell. A biography was also printed in the service book:

Born in 1839, Hartwell was the son of Thomas Grissell, a prosperous public works contractor. He matriculated to Oxford University as a commoner of Brasenose College in 1859 and graduated MA in 1866. Whilst at Oxford he moved in Tractarian circles and, in 1865, published “Ritual Inaccuracies,” an attempt to reconcile the Prayer Book to the rubrics of the Roman Missal.

Grissell converted to Catholicism in 1868 and in the following year moved to Rome, where he became Cameriere (a Chamberlain of Honour) to Bl. Pius IX. The temporal power of the Pope came to an end in 1870, when Italian troops entered Rome, but Grissell nonetheless continued to serve under Pius IX and his two immediate successors, Leo XIII and St. Pius X. He was rewarded for his service, being created a Knight Commander of the Order of St. Gregory and, in 1898, one of the four Chamberlains “di numero” (an honour usually reserved to the Roman nobility).

Whilst in Rome Grissell amassed a vast collection of relics and sacred curios, including a portion of the Crown of Thorns and the entire body of St. Pacificus. The centrepiece of the collection was the miraculous image of the Madonna called “Mater Misericordia” (now housed in the Oxford Oratory and popularly known as Our Lady of Oxford), to which the Holy Father granted indulgences at Grissell’s request. Besides being an expert in matters liturgical, Grissell was a noted numismatician and was elected to a fellowship in the Society of Antiquaries.

When not serving at the Papal Court, Grissell resided in Oxford, where he lived at number 60 The High. Here he set up a private oratory, which was frequented by many early convert members of the University. In 1877 he suggested the possibility of establishing a society for University Catholics and in the following year this idea came to fruition with the foundation of the Newman Society (which was first called the Catholic Club). Grissell was also to be influential in persuading Leo XIII to allow Catholics to enter the University; this was to result in the foundation of the Catholic Chaplaincy.

Grissell died in Rome on 10 June 1907, leaving his relic collection to the parish of St. Aloysius Gonzaga in Oxford.

Newman Society celebrates 'Summorum Pontificum'

2007-11-21T14:37:00.000Z

From The New Liturgical Movement
By Joseph Shaw

Today I can report a great breakthrough for liturgical renewal in Oxford: a Catholic student society has not only held its Termly Mass in the usus antiquior, but had an extremely splendid Traditional Solemn High Mass. It took place in the presence of the University Chaplain, Fr John Moffat SJ, in the chapel of Brasenose College, on Monday 19th November, at 6pm.

The student society in question is Oxford Newman Society, (and here) founded in 1878, the oldest Catholic student group in Oxford, which must be one of the oldest Catholic student societies in the world, and one of a very small number, I should imagine, to own its own altar cards. These highly decorated altar cards have been screwed to a wall for a very long time, but now they are back in use, and with them, the Church's liturgical patrimony.

The venue, Brasenose College Chapel, available by kind permission of the College authorities, is a curious mixture of styles. Most obvious from the pictures is the classical marble surround of the altar; the chapel also boasts brightly coloured fan vaulting.

The sacred ministers were Fr Dominic Jacob of the Oxford Oratory, celebrant, Fr Anton Webb, also of the Oratory, deacon, and the NLM's own Br Lawrence Lew OP as subdeacon. Mr Richard Pickett was MC; he was assisted by a team of Newman Society servers.

The Mass was a Votive Mass of Our Lady, Salve sancta parens, offered for the repose of the soul of one of the Newman Society's founders, Papal Chamberlain Hartwell de la Gard Grissell, whose centenary it was. Grissell was a great collector of relics, which established the relic chapel at St Aloyesius, now the Oratory church but in his day a Jesuit church. Unfortunately most of the relics he bequeathed to the church were destroyed by the Jesuit fathers in a moment of iconoclastic madness in 1971. It is a remarkable act of providence that one of the few that remained to await the arrival of the Oratorians was one of St Philip Neri, housed in a splendid metal bust of the saint.

This was the Oxford Gregorian Chant Society's third Mass since its formalisation this term, and the first at which they collaborated with a polyphonic choir. In my view this is the ideal, Rolls Royce option for a Mass on a special occasion: two separate groups of singers, a Gregorian schola doing the propers and a polyphonic group doing the ordinaries and motets. I am glad to say that we, the schola side of it, didn't let the side down: with the assistance of our professional coach, Mr Adrian Taylor, our usual director Mr Julian Griffiths and another experienced local singer, Dr Brian Sudlow, the eight student singers put in an extremely polished performance.

The polyphonists were organised by Mr Andrew Knowles, who did the same thing for the Masses at the LMS Priests Training Conference. Four professional singers, two violinists and an organist (with Mr Knowles conducting) performed the Missa in G by Antonio Caldara, Christian Geist's Quam pulchra es Maria as an Offertory motet, and Alba Trissina's Vulnerasti cor meum and Luca Marenzioat's O Sacrum Convivium at Communion.

The two groups of singers balanced each other extremely well, and I don't think anyone could have left that Mass without understanding at least a little about what former generations of Catholics meant by the beauty of the liturgy.

Despite torrential rain Mass was attended by about 90 people. It was followed by a the Newman Society's splendid termly black tie dinner, which was addressed by Mr Julian Chadwick, Chairman of the Latin Mass Society, who had attended the Mass

Fr. Nicholas Schofield gives talk on 'Oxford's Cardinals'

2007-11-14T17:52:00.000Z

From Fr. Nicholas' blog -

Last night I spoke to the Oxford University Newman Society on the subject of 'The Oxford Cardinals - from Robert Pullen to George Pell.' As far as I know, 27 Cardinals have connections with the University - some famous (like Wolsey, Manning and Newman), others less so (like the anti-pope Alexander V or William Theodore Heard, who rowed in the 1907 Boat Race). It was a highly enjoyable occasion, preceded by a meal at the Chaplaincy prepared by the members and followed by some lively discussion over port. Among the 20 or so who attended were three Dominicans, including blogger Br Lawrence Lew. Since the talk was quite late, I enjoyed some Jesuit hospitality at Campion Hall.

It brought back many memories since I was President of the Society back in Hilary Term 1996 - indeed, I was surprised to see my term's committee photo hanging on the wall in the room where I gave the talk. Looking at the youthful faces, I counted three students who are now priests. And judging from the people I met yesterday, there will probably be a significant crop of vocations over the coming years.

A visit to Oxford provided an opportunity to visit some old haunts - including the HQ of Family Publications, the Oratory Church of St Aloysius and my alma mater, Exeter College. A message on the door reported the tragic events of Monday which have been (I later discovered) reported in the papers. Two 'freshers' (first years) died within a few hours of each other: Sundeep Watts and Harcourt ("Olly") Tucker. The first died of of meningitis, while the other suffered a heart attack during a game of hockey. Oxford colleges are small communities and Exeter only has about 300 undergraduates, so the death of two promising undergraduates after just 7 weeks of University must be a terrible shock. May they rest in peace.

Mgr. Ronald Arbuthnott Knox 1888 - 1957

2007-11-12T10:58:00.000Z

This year sees the fiftieth anniversary of the death of Mgr. Ronald Arbuthnott Knox, former Chaplain and a keen member of the Newman.

Educated at Eton and Balliol, Knox was elected as fellow of Trinity College in 1910 and served for a time as Chaplain there. He converted to Catholicism in 1917 and was ordained to the Priesthood. Between 1926 and 1939 Knox served as Chaplain to Oxford University and was created a Domestic Prelate of His Holiness the Pope in 1936.

Knox single-handedly produced a translation of the entire Vulgate Bible and was well known for his essay writing and novels, especially his detective stories. He had an advanced sense of humour and in 1926 sparked national panic in a spoof BBC news broadcast reporting the invasion of Britain (click here to listen to a BBC reconstruction).

A fuller biography can be seen here.

R. I. P.

Fr. Tim Finigan speaks about 'Humanae Vitae: 40 Years on'

2007-10-31T10:59:00.000Z

From The Hermeneutic of Continuity

Last night, I was the guest at a joint meeting organised by the Oxford University Pro-Life Society and the Oxford Newman Society. There was first of all a magnificent dinner at the Chaplaincy, attended by 24 students and cooked by members of the Newman Society. The Library was full for the talk with about 40 students attending. I spoke about Humanae Vitae, 40 years on.I pointed out that Humanae Vitae was addressed particularly to married couples whereas now most people arguing about contraception are referring to non-married relationships. I looked at the breakdown of traditional Christian morality (as predicted by Pope Paul VI) and the response that we could make by upholding the teaching of Humanae Vitae and encouraging people to see that teaching as offering a nobler way of life.It was really very encouraging to meet these students and I came away with great hope for the future. The chaplains kindly arranged for me to stay at Campion Hall, the Jesuit house in Oxford. This morning, in response to requests from the students, I celebrated Mass in the old rite. The Fathers were most helpful in providing everything for the Mass which I celebrated in the St Joseph's Chapel. Jospeh Shaw took a couple of pictures of the Mass - here is one:

Joanna Bogle on her talk to the Newman Society

2007-01-14T17:54:00.000Z

Recently I was invited to address the Newman Society at Oxford University. This group is proud of its claim to be the oldest of the many societies established by the student body. It takes its name, of course, from the great Cardinal John Henry Newman, who, as a Fellow of Oriel College, and Vicar of the University Church, was one of the greatest figures of the Oxford of his day.

The Newman Society meets at The Old Palace, the Catholic Chaplaincy, and an excellent dinner was provided before the meeting by a team led by the chaplain Father Jeremy Fairhead -- who met me at the front door clad in a smart white chef’s apron over his clerical attire. Conversation over the meal was lively and enjoyable. We then hurried upstairs to the large drawing-room, which was simply packed for the meeting, extra chairs being carried in and a great buzz of talk: Catholic life is thriving in Oxford at the moment.

It is all very encouraging. Adjoining the beautiful 14th-century buildings of the Old Palace is the modern chapel and associated rooms -- necessary because some 300-400 people attend Mass here every Sunday, and a good number on weekday mornings too, at the smaller weekday chapel of St. Thomas More. The modern part of the chaplaincy is ugly (it was built in the 1970s!) but serviceable. It seems absurd that in this city of churches something new had to be constructed for the Catholic chaplaincy -- but making use of some Medieval or Victorian Anglican church still presents legal and other difficulties so building something new is actually simplest.

As the meeting began, I had the delight of meeting, among the undergraduates, one who had been the winner of an award presented by The Keys, the Catholic Writers’ Guild of England and Wales, a couple of years earlier as a schoolgirl. The award, presented annually for the best essay contributed by a Catholic school pupil in Britain on a given theme, had been presented at the House of Commons by Catholic MP Anne Widdceombe, and the memory of this evidently still glowed. I was thrilled to see how much it had meant to this young student, and to see that she had continued to develop her faith and was here to attend a Newman Society meeting and enjoy being part of the university’s Catholic life.

Topic for the evening was “Women and the Catholic Church”, with the sub-title “Does the Church oppress women?”, which is the title of my booklet on the subject produced by the Catholic Truth Society. It covers, among other issues, the question of whether or not women can be ordained as Catholic priests, and gives some background and thought-material on the subject. In exploring this, it emphasizes the consistent teaching of the Church on the subject, from Christ’s choice of His Apostles -- twelve men, despite the fact that it was normal among all the pagan religions of His part of the world to have priestesses, and indeed a female priesthood was virtually taken for granted in the Roman world -- right down through all the different eras of Christian history to Pope John Paul II’s authoritative statement on the subject in Ordinatio Sacerdotalis.

I was surprised to note, in conversation with the young award-winner, that she considered it quite normal to believe that women ought to be ordained. But I remembered that, in conversation with her religious education teacher, I had become aware that this teacher certainly supported female ordination -- and she had evidently been only too successful in communicating this to her pupils.

It’s important to understand that this support for priestesses does not necessarily come as part of a “package deal” of dissent on other issues: while such dissent is certainly the norm among older campaigning feminists, this is not the case among the younger generation of Catholics. They tend, if they are practicing the Faith at all, to be generally supportive of the Church’s message on, for example, sexual morality and particularly on abortion. They have already decided that they do want to be associated with the Church -- it isn’t just a cultural thing as it may have been in the past, and of course they are acutely aware of their many friends who have simply abandoned a Faith that was poorly taught as a result of the poor religious education and ugly liturgies that have marked the Church in recent decades.

These young practicing Catholics of the John Paul II generation have a certain openness to the possibility of Catholicism being something positive. They may even be quite keen on things like use of Latin in church, once regarded as something no one young could want. They aren’t the 1970s generation and they aren’t terribly impressed by the language and literature of dissident nuns and sloganizing ex-priests. They don’t necessarily feel any sense of resonance with talk of a “patriarchal and oppressive” Church, and they don’t buy into the whole women-have-been-oppressed-by-male-clergy-down-the-centuries idea. It’s more simple than that: they have something very positive in their attitude to Christ and to the Church, but they lack formation and a sense of belonging to a great tradition of teaching.

On the subject of priesthood, for instance, many will merely assume that, just as women are now admitted to colleges that were formerly for men only (even when I left school in the 1970s, the number of women attending both Oxford and Cambridge Universities was small: most colleges were for men only and places for women were few), and just as women now do things like fly in space and fight in front-line armies, so they will and should naturally take their place in the Catholic priesthood too.

It’s a difficult message to counter: not because it’s a profound or intellectually well-grounded message, and not because it’s a particularly valuable one, but simply because it’s so superficial. It presupposes that the priesthood is simply a job -- a very beautiful one, requiring special sorts of insights and presumably a great devotion to Christ -- but a job nonetheless.

It’s worth noting that, actually, even the basic suppositions -- that it’s right and useful to have women in a front-line army, for example -- are worth challenging. It may well be that in a couple of decades’ time -- or even earlier -- we will be questioning the current fashion for encouraging young girls in the idea that wielding a sub-machine-gun is the best use of their talents.

There is certainly a need to challenge the clichés of the “unisex” culture, which has given rise to the notion that any and every difference between the sexes should always be minimized, and that, if necessary, biological, emotional, and psychological facts should be bent, twisted, or ignored in order to fit feminist ideology. But the real issue here, when discussing the Catholic priesthood, is deeper and relates to the nature of the priesthood itself: to Christ and His Church, Bridegroom and Bride, in God’s original plan.

I think we need to start with a recognition that God doesn’t make mistakes: we may see a greater understanding of His message and teachings, but He doesn’t require that we correct things that He got wrong. He didn’t and doesn’t get things wrong. In His plan, for example, marriage was always to be between a man and a woman, always to be open to the passing on of new life to the next generation, always to be lifelong, always to be faithful. We may need to teach this in new ways, and we may gain new insights into how best to live out this teaching (compare the richness of John Paul II’s “Theology of the Body” with the terse and frankly somewhat bleak sternness of the Catechism of the Council of Trent on matrimony) but the teaching itself does not and cannot change.

In looking at the priesthood, we need to understand how Christ always sees Himself as the Bridegroom: we should note how His public ministry begins at a wedding, at Cana, and how the (interesting nameless) Bridegroom and Bride are there in the picture from the start. When Christ turns water into wine -- and in this we already see a foretaste of the Eucharist, as Mary’s “Do whatever He tells you” will become Christ’s “Do this in memory of me” -- we have the beginning of something priestly, which is of crucial importance.

Christ went out of His way to show that both men and women were to be carriers of His message and part of His Church. It is to a woman at the well that He speaks of Himself as the Messiah. It is to Mary Magdalene in the garden that He shows Himself first after His Resurrection. It is a little girl -- Jairus’s daughter -- that He brings back to life and to whose parents He offers the instruction “give her something to eat”. Women will know Him as Messiah, they will rejoice at His Resurrection and in His very presence, they will be fed at His command.

Who, then, are the priests? They are certainly a mixed bunch. The call to priesthood is clearly something specific: it’s not a matter of rewarding good behavior or of using specific gifts. One denies Him, but then goes on to be the leader of the new little flock, and the rock on which the Church will be built. One betrays Him -- and alas other priests have done that since, including in our own day. One stays with Him loyally, standing at the foot of the Cross along with the women. We know the names of the Apostles, and we see the very different backgrounds from which they come -- one the owner of a small fishing business, and other a tax collector. And we note that they are all men, and all specifically called. No special gifts -- not of preaching, or of personal charm, or of spiritual insight -- seem apparent. It is just a specific call, and to men.

“But some women feel they are called too” came a voice raised at my Oxford meeting, not from the young woman with whom I had been speaking earlier, but from another, similarly placed within this Catholic community, evidently not openly disloyal to the Church, certainly not seeking to be offensive or confrontational, just genuinely puzzled. But what do we mean by “called”? Is it just a feeling? We can all have feelings that seem genuine but are unreliable and fickle. We may feel -- genuinely feel -- that we are called to marry a particular person, only to discover that he or she doesn’t feel the same way. We may feel called to have a family, yet remain childless. We may know we have certain talents, only to find that, in unexpected ways, God uses our quite different gifts and in a career or country or situation wholly different from the one we had been planning.

To check whether our “call” is from God, we have to test it against reality: to see if what we feel called to do is technically possible. If women cannot actually be priests -- if we cannot be the Bridegroom at the wedding -- then it is idle to say that we feel that we ought to be.

It is all much more nuptial than we had supposed. That Cana imagery is not mere pictures: there really is a wedding theme going right through Christ’s life and ministry -- as well as back to Genesis and forward into the vision of Heaven that we find in the last book of the Bible. Christ did not marry in this world: He had no human wife and children. But He did have a Bride -- His Church -- and you and I and all the baptized are children of that union. That is why we now refer to His Bride as Mother Church. And the wedding is celebrated again and again at every Mass -- and at the Marriage Feast of the Lamb in Paradise.

Merely feeling that we ought to be the Bridegroom can’t turn us into bridegrooms. We have to ask what we are, and why God made us what we are, and whether He loves us or not. God has plenty of plans for each one of us. Discerning these need not be done in a vacuum: Mother Church helps us. She explains His teachings, shows us how (and when, and where) to pray, gives us treats and traditions, mild reproofs and gentle nudges, food for our journey and lots and lots of encouragement. The Church’s women saints and heroines show us the way: often more saintly than the priests who served or even taught them, often better known, and more worthy of being better known.

When we explore this issue of women and the priesthood we should, I think, keep in mind what happens in the life of the Church when heresies emerge: the universal pattern is for the heresy to sweep ahead and then for the Church to check it. This means announcing the truth and binding us all once again to what is right -- a service that, incidentally, is the humblest and best of the papal tasks, and one which Pope Benedict has described as being done as “washing the feet”, i.e., done in a spirit of service. With the announcing of the truth will come much -- often passionate -- debate, and perhaps the emergence of real heroes who defend the Church’s authentic teaching against all the odds. In the end, the truth will emerge more brightly: we may even have cause to be grateful for the original error, as it did enable us to be enriched by a deeper understanding.

Thus with the priesthood. A male priesthood is more important than we had thought. The notion of a priest as Bridegroom, as a Father, is one deserving of new emphasis. The nuptial imagery of each Mass is something we need to appreciate and study. The importance of marriage -- today under threat as never before -- and its true nature as a sacrament, is bound up with this. The understanding of the Church as a Bride and a Mother is important.

When we explain and discuss all this, we should do so knowing that many younger Catholics -- certainly in Western Europe and in America -- have had poor formation and catechesis, and are living out their faith in a very hostile environment. Merely to live as decent Christians -- to be faithful to prayer and to Sunday Mass, to be chaste, to live without endlessly being obsessed with material possessions and greedy for more of them -- is really commendable, given the huge pressures from all sides to live otherwise. As recently as the 1950s, it was fairly normal to be a churchgoer, absolutely odd to be openly “living in sin”, a public disgrace to be pregnant outside of wedlock, illegal to engage in homosexual acts, and crucial to be seen to dress with general modesty and to refrain from blasphemy or sexual expletives in speech if you wanted to hold down a respectable job. None of that now applies. Young people trying to live as Catholics in a modern university and take up positions in modern Western nations have to struggle to work out just what they do believe and why, and how they should live and whether it really matters.

When we tackle issues like the priesthood, feminism, and the transmission of the great truths of the Faith, we probably need more courage and more wisdom than we had perhaps once thought necessary. I enjoyed my evening with a young University audience. As the evening finished -- and it was still at the port-and-discussion stage when I left, with the conversation lively and the atmosphere good -- I knew that the Church’s authentic teaching would be discussed and explored with rigor, humor, honesty, and passion, as well as with the occasional cliché, some pomposity, loss of temper, and, inevitably misunderstanding, and confusion.

But it can stand up to all of this. In the end the truth triumphs -- and the task of the Catholic is to communicate that truth with confidence and with generosity, knowing that the work has already been done and grateful for the ministry of Peter, which keeps us all on the right track. In another hundred years, there’ll be some other young people genuinely asking questions about some other aspects of Catholic teaching (“Why bread and wine?” “Why a Cross and not some other form of death?”), which by then will seem crucial. And the Church will go on exploring the truth and re-teaching it and giving the unchanging answers with new insights.