The End of the Reformation in England?

Archbishop Vincent Nichols, the Archbishop of Westminster, hails it:

The outpouring of public grief over the death of Diana Princess of Wales marked the moment England returned to its Roman Catholic roots almost 500 years after the reformation, according to the leader of the Catholic Church in England and Wales.

Acts such as showering the Princess’s hearse with flowers show that the public is reverting to a “Catholic” approach to death after centuries of protestant reserve, the Archbishop of Westminster, the Most Rev Vincent Nichols suggested.

He said that the Princess’s funeral in 1997 marked a watershed in British history and would be remembered as the “end of the Reformation in England”.

Catholic practices such as prayers for the souls of the dead and a belief in saints, which were dismissed by protestant reformers in the 16th Century, are now being rediscovered, he said.

The recent growth in unofficial roadside shrines commemorating people killed in accidents – often filled with flowers photographs and mementos – has also been widely interpreted as marking a change in the way the British respond to death.

Interviewed in a BBC documentary about shrines and other places of religious significance in Britain, the Archbishop said that English people were rediscovering their ancient Catholic “voice”.

“I remember vividly the cortege carrying the body of Princess Diana coming up the Edgware Road,” he said.

“The Edgware Road was crowded with people, and they were throwing flowers forward to catch them on the hearse as it went by.

“And somebody said to me ‘each of those flowers is a prayer for Diana’.

“The same man went on to say ‘I think this moment marks the end of the Reformation in England’.

“The English people are discovering again their voice: at the point of death we do pray for those who have died.

“And they are discovering again their vision of the future which is so vividly expressed in the lives of the saints.”

He added: “The Catholic understanding of saints is that they are alive in heaven and they are attentive to our efforts here, and help us with their prayers.

“So there’s – if you like – not just a memory of a relationship but a living relationship with saints.

“I think sometimes it is a misunderstanding that we worship saints.

“We don’t, we offer them our love and we ask for their prayers and we draw great strength from their example and their continuing presence as part of the living church.”

The Archbishop appears in “Pagans and Pilgrims: Britain’s Holiest Places” on BBC Four on Thursday.

 

‘Gay Masses’ Abolished, Church Where They Were Held to Go to the Ordinariate

Damian Thompson:

A big story has just broken on the Catholic Herald website:

Archbishop Vincent Nichols of Westminster has announced that Masses in Soho organised for people with same-sex attraction are to end.

He also revealed that the church where the Masses took place will be given to the Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham.

The fortnightly “Soho Masses” at Our Lady of the Assumption Church in Warwick Street were established by the diocese almost six years ago. They were intended to be “particularly welcoming to lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered Catholics, their parents, friends and families”.

Archbishop Nichols said today that, while the Masses will stop, pastoral care of the community will continue at the Jesuit Farm Street church in Mayfair on Sunday evenings.

He also announced that Our Lady of the Assumption church will be given to the ordinariate in Lent. The archbishop said: “I hope that the use of this beautiful church, in which the young John Henry Newman first attended Mass, will enable Catholics in the ordinariate to prosper and to offer to others the particular gifts of the ordinariate.”

Read more here. Both these moves should be welcomed. The “gay Masses” were an embarrassment, a relic of old-style gay rights campaigning that scandalised large numbers of Catholics. To give this lovely 18th-century church to the Ordinariate is a huge boost for ex-Anglicans who are setting up their own structure, worshipping as Catholics in a style informed by Anglican spirituality. Archbishop Vincent Nichols should be congratulated. So should the Papal Nuncio, Archbishop Antonio Mennini, whom I’m sure strongly approves of these developments.

PS: My sources suggest that the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith has had a hand in this. Read this article by William Oddie for background.

It’s a lovely looking Church (if the above pic is anything to go by).

 

Archbishop Vincent Nichols Hostile to the Ordinariate?

That’s the inference made in the Catholic Herald:

At Westminster Cathedral this Saturday, another milestone for the Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham will be reached, with the ordination of another 17 former Anglican priests as deacons on their way to the Catholic priesthood. The ordination Mass will be celebrated by Auxiliary Bishop Alan Hopes of Westminster. “I have been informed”, says the author of the excellent A Reluctant Sinner blog, “that it has been quite some time since Westminster Cathedral will have witnessed the ordination of so many men at the one Mass.”

As I have already written in this column, I am beginning to wonder if the warm welcome with which even formerly hostile members of our hierarchy greeted the establishment of the ordinariate was genuine. Was their conversion authentic? Or were they being devious? Is the truth that their warm words were what they knew the Pope wanted them to utter, but that their true intention, hidden this time, in contrast to their open hostility to the original “Roman Option”, was to allow the whole thing to get under way and then quietly and over time to strangle it? I think that is the real truth.

If it is not, why, unlike the new American ordinariate and the even newer Australian ordinariate (who were both assigned a church building on their erection), has the Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham still not been given a principal church? In the words of Damian Thompson: “The failure to address the matter is so morale-sapping that I really can’t blame those Anglicans who are hesitating to take the plunge…”

This is not the first time I have voiced these anxieties…

This certainly looks like a convincing answer to Damian Thompson’s question: “where is the London church that will serve as the ordinariate’s headquarters?” The answer is that it exists in the imagination and the aspirations of the Ordinary and his entourage: but that it has no existence in reality and never will without the firm intervention of the Pope. The following is the answer that Archbishop Nichols gave at a press conference, to a question about the provision of an ordinariate “cathedral”:  “I think that is something probably beyond their resources at the present time, and I don’t think the ordinariate would thank us, actually, to simply give it responsibility for a church that it would have to then maintain and upkeep.

The fact is, however, that those who have crossed the Tiber to the ordinariate do regard a main church as a priority. The fact is also that those 17 new deacons (so many more than are usually ordained at Westminster Cathedral) weren’t being ordained for the Archdiocese of Westminster but for the ordinariate: they ought to have been ordained at the ordinariate’s principal church. The reason that they haven’t got one is simple: it is that Archbishop Nichols has decided that he will not make one available — not because he hasn’t got one but because he is hostile to the ordinariate . To say he won’t give them one because of the costs of maintenance is utterly ridiculous: the archbishop could easily help with that problem for a year or two out of petty cash: it would make up just a little for the extreme meanness of the financial help given by the mainstream English Church thus far. I would not be at all surprised if the very unusual recent gift by the Holy Father of £150,000 wasn’t at least partly intended by him as a rebuke to the English church for its parsimony, and also a way of reminding them of his own very strong support for this brave venture.

There is something else going on. I have a suspicion that there is a hidden ecumenical agenda here, behind the policy of keeping the ordinariate homeless. And behind that lies another intention. At the same time as the Anglican Bishop of London was making it plain that he would sooner demolish an unused Anglican building or turn it into a carpet warehouse than allow an ordinariate parish to use it, Archbishop Nichols was saying that the natural place for ordinariate Catholics to worship would be their local Catholic parish church. Well, it would certainly be the best place if you just want to absorb them within the local parish, while hijacking their clergy – at first to “help out”, and then, who knows? – rather than give them the independent ecclesial existence envisaged in Anglicanorum coetibus.

I really do hope that the nuncio Archbishop Mennini is keeping his eye on this one. For, if he isn’t, and if Rome simply assumes that Archbishop Nichols is doing everything that is necessary for the Pope’s vision to be realised, I fear that the whole enterprise may run into the sands. Everything depends on its maintaining its momentum. But it cannot do that entirely alone in the early stages. In the US and in Australia, the local hierarchy is getting behind the ordinariate. Not here. Why is that?

Read it all here.

The hostility aimed at the Ordinariate is palpable in parts – both from within (certain Catholic quarters) and from Anglican sources. This is my personal opinion.  In fact I would go as far as to suggest that pretence is a common response which frequently gives way to veiled persecution. It is exacting and regrettably now a notable aspect of the history of the Ordinariate.

As this great work of ecumenical unity continues to unfold, pray that all opposition and resentment will soon come to pass…

 

Churches Silent in Face of Islamic Persecution of Palestinian Christians

Instead of blaming Israel, this is far more honest and responsible reporting:

Op-ed: World, churches silent in face of Islamic persecution of Palestinian Christians.

Veteran CBS News anchor Bob Simon just reported on the Palestinian Christians, indicting Israel’s “occupation” as responsible for their dramatic disappearance. The 60 Minutes story caused Israel tremendous PR damage.

Yet largely ignored by Western media, a systematic campaign of Muslim persecution against the Christians is taking place in Palestinian areas. It’s a religious and ethnic cleansing campaign silenced by the global churches.

Christians have long been the frontrunners of Arab nationalism. The most prominent Palestinian intellectual was a Christian, Edward Said. The propaganda term “Nakba” has been penned by a Christian, Constantin Zureiq. The terrorist George Habash was a Christian, as was Yasser Arafat’s wife. Azmi Bishara, the Arab MK who leaked secrets to Hezbollah, comes from a middle-class Christian family from Nazareth.

Since the first Intifada, Palestinian Christians created a Muslim-Christian unity to portray Israel as the aggressor, colonizer and invader. They thought that the Islamic-Christian front against Zionism would help secure their position in the Arab world. Indeed, Arab Christians, and especially their judeophobic clergy, have been in the vanguard of the battle for the destruction of Israel. It was a political operation that also served to cover the crimes committed against Christians by the PLO and the Islamic groups: forced marriage, conversions, beatings, land theft, fire bombings, commercial boycott, torture, kidnapping, sexual harassment, and extortion.

The latest victim has been the Baptist Church in Bethlehem, which the Palestinian Authority just declared as illegitimate, as the US church’s message of reconciliation flies in the face of the hateful propaganda permeating Palestinian society. Arab Christians were obliged to make continual compromises, afraid to mention their own suffering for fear of irritating the Muslim authorities. Soon it became a taboo subject even in the West.

When last month Ayaan Hirsi Ali penned the Newsweek cover story on the persecution of Christians under Islam, she did not mention the Palestinian areas, where Christians dropped from 15% of the population in 1950 to just 2% today. With the PA refusing to reveal accurate statistics, the real extent of Christian emigration is unknown.

Christian shops firebombed

As the CBS report showed, Palestinian Christians today have to speak out against “Israeli occupation,” because if they don’t, their silence will be perceived as pro-Israeli by the Muslims. Christian leaders don’t mention the fact that they have suffered the most from the mafia-style rule of Yasser Arafat’s kleptocracy, that slogans like “Islam will win” and “First the Saturday people then the Sunday People” have been painted on their churches, and that PLO flags were draped over crosses.

After the 1948 war, Christian communities suffered most in the West Bank, not under “Israel’s occupation,” but because Muslim refugees were cynically settled in their midst by the Arab leadership. Ramallah was 90% Christian before the war, while Bethlehem was 80% Christian. By 1967, more than half of Bethlehem’s residents were Muslim, while Ramallah is a large Muslim city today.

In a process of “Lebanonization,” Arafat changed Bethlehem’s demography by bringing in thousands of Muslims from refugee camps. Arafat then turned the city into a safe haven for suicide bombers and transformed the Greek Orthodox monastery, located next to the Church of Nativity, into his residence. Christian cemeteries and convents were desecrated and Christians became the PLO’s human shields.

In the first year of the second Intifada, when Arafat’s terrorists ravaged Christian towns by gunfire and mortars, 1,640 Christians left Bethlehem and another 880 left Ramallah.

In 2007, one year after Hamas’ Gaza takeover, the owner of the Strip’s only Christian bookstore was murdered. Christian shops and schools were firebombed. Ahmad El-Achwal is just one of the many Palestinians converted to Christianity killed by Islamic militants.

Astonishing silence

The silence of the Vatican and the World Council of Churches has been astonishing. Only a few Christian leaders have been brave enough to denounce what is taking place on the ground. With harsh and unexpected words, in 2005 the Custodian of the Holy Land, Pierbattista Pizzaballa, said to an Italian newspaper: “Almost every day – I repeat, almost every day – our communities are harassed by the Islamic extremists.”

When Palestinian Christians approached their organizations and complained that terrorists were using Christian homes to fire on Gilo, international Christian solidarity did not meet the challenge.

A few days ago, the head of the Roman Catholic Church in England, Archbishop Vincent Nichols, urged William Hague, the UK Foreign Secretary, to address the “tragic situation” faced by Palestinians – not because Islamist threats, but because Arabs were “displaced” by the Israeli barrier in Beit Jala, despite the fact that in constructing the security barrier no land has been annexed by Israel, no houses have been demolished, and no-one has been required to leave their home.

In fact, the bigger truth ignored by the Western press and the Churches is that Israel’s barrier helped restore calm and security not just in Israel, but also in Bethlehem. The Church of the Nativity, which Palestinian terrorists defiled in 2002 to escape from the Israeli army, is now filled again with tourists from around the world.

The Catholic and Orthodox Churches also frequently asked Israeli authorities to change the route of the fence. They simply didn’t want to live under the Palestinian autocracy. Thus, for example, the Rosary Sisters School in the Dachyat El Barid neighborhood north of Jerusalem was included on the Israeli side of the fence, in light of requests from the Mother Superior of the order.

Today, Palestinian Christians risk the same fate of their brethren in Lebanon. Everyone remembers the Phalange atrocities at Sabra and Shatila. But very few know that the first ethnically cleansed community during the civil war was a Christian town. In November 1976, Palestinian forces came into Damour and dynamited homes and churches, massacring entire families. They exhumed the dead from the Christian cemetery and scattered skeletons throughout the rubble. Some 500 Christians died that day. Will Bethlehem be a second Damour?

 

Archbishop Vincent Nichols: Secularists are Holding Back the Faithful

We started blogging this morning with the post, Britain has gone from God-fearing to God-jeering (here). Well still with Britain:

The Archbishop of Westminster has said that intolerance is preventing believers from making “some of the best contributions” to the common good in Britain.

Archbishop Vincent Nichols has that secularists are holding back the faithful.

Speaking after an official state visit to the Holy See, Archbishop Vincent Nichols said that secularists, “with a kind of stubbornness, with a dogmatism, want to isolate faith and privatise it”, adding: “It is often that kind of intolerance of the reality of faith which is holding back some of the best contributions that can be made to the common good.”

His comments followed a speech to the Vatican by Cabinet Minister Baroness Warsi, who said that Britain was under threat from a rising tide of “militant secularisation”.

Baroness Warsi, who was leading an official visit to Rome, said that Britain had “got to the stage where aggressive secularism is being imposed by stealth, leaving us with the ironic situation where, to stave off intolerance against minorities, we end up being intolerant towards religion itself”.

She said that the most worrying part of “this militant secularisation” is that at “its core and in its instincts it is deeply intolerant”.

Baroness Warsi, Britain’s first Muslim female Cabinet Minister, led a ministerial delegation to the Vatican to mark the 30th anniversary of the establishment of full diplomatic relations between the United Kingdom and the Holy See.

Archbishop Nichols said that the visit marked the highest point in the modern history of diplomatic relations between Britain and the Holy See…

More here.

 

Maybe Next Time: Chaput and Nichols

Pope Benedict XVI named 22 new Cardinals today, but notably absent from the list was Philadelphia’s Archbishop Charles Chaput and Westminster’s Archbishop Vincent Nichols.

On Archbishop Chaput:

(CBS) – Pope Benedict XVI named 22 new Cardinals Friday, including two from America. But, neither of them is Philadelphia Archbishop Charles Chaput. Was it a snub?

“There are always more people who are in line to become Cardinals than there are slots to make them Cardinals,” says Philadelphia-based Catholic journalist Rocco Palma, who runs the website WhispersInTheLoggia.com.

Palma says it is not a snub from the Vatican and puts this in historical perspective.

“Cardinal Dougherty had been here three years before he was made a Cardinal. Cardinal O’Hara had been here eight years. Cardinal Kroll had been here six years. Cardinal Bevilacqua had been here three years.”

And Archbishop Chaput has been here for only four months. He is highly regarded in the Vatican, according to Palma, but there’s just too much to do. Palma says extra responsibilities of being a cardinal would get in the way of issues at home like school closures, next year’s parish planning and others.

“The archbishop’s focus would want to be on what’s going on in Philly and he wouldn’t want to be diverted by added international responsibilities right now.”

Palma says the 67-year-old’s time could come within the next few years. The new cardinals will be officially elevated next month.

And on Archbishop Vincent Nichols:

… Heretofore, Benedict has been a stickler for the custom that a new cardinal is not named until the previous cardinal of that diocese turns 80 (unless, of course, the retired cardinal dies in the meantime). That’s likely the reason, for instance, that Archbishop Vincent Nichols of Westminster is still in a holding pattern; his predecessor, Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O’Connor, doesn’t turn 80 until August…

But Fr Z sums up matters well:

The list is out.

I was pleased to see that one of my profs from the Augustinianum was on the list, though he is over 80, Prosper Grech, OSA.  Trappé never had the red hat.

I was sad that good old Archbp. Luigi De Magistris was not included. It is a heavy burden.

No, Archbishop Chaput wasn’t named, but there are two living Cardinal Archbishops of Philadelphia, one of whom can still vote.  Archbishop Nichols of Westminster will remain without the red hat for a while longer, for his predecessor is still of voting age.  Archbishop Dolan is president of the conference and his predecessor is just a few months from turning 80.

Lot’s of Italians, which I don’t think is a great move.

Pray for the new Cardinals.

Atheism is cool, So Says Archbishop Rowan Williams

‘Atheism is cool, so books about atheism are cool.’

Speak for yourself Archbishop! 

Dr Rowan Williams argued it has become difficult for the Church to convey its message because of the popularity of non-believers such as Richard Dawkins and Christopher Hitchens.

He said attempts to reverse the decline in worshippers had begun but that there will be “no quick fix”.

His remarks came despite new research, released by the Roman Catholic Church, suggesting that the Pope’s visit to Britain a year ago has brought a lasting rise in the level of spiritual and religious feeling in the country.

Speaking at Canterbury Cathedral in a public conversation with Frank Skinner, the comedian, Dr Williams argued that the growing popularity of atheism had not necessarily led to a fall in the number of people who believe in God.

“I’d want to know how many atheists [Richard Dawkins' book] The God Delusion created,” he said.

“The book sold, but did it make a difference to the number of people who were actually committed one way or the other?

He continued: “I’m not avoiding the point that the coolness of atheism is very much in evidence. The problem is it’s become a bit of a vicious circle. Atheism is cool, so books about atheism are cool.

“They get a high profile, and books that say Richard Dawkins is wrong don’t get the same kind of publicity because atheism is the new cool thing…

But mercifully, a voice of sanity:

Opinion poll findings released by the Roman Catholic Church show there has been a rise in the level of religious belief in this country following last year’s papal visit. Crowds of up to 600,000 lined the streets and attended big set-piece events when Pope Benedict XVI came to England and Scotland last September.

A survey for the Church found that the number of Britons claiming to be spiritual or religious rose from 38 per cent before the papal visit to 47 per cent immediately after. One year on, half of the population now shares this sentiment. According to the poll by Opinion Research Business, the number of atheists in Britain has fallen slightly from 18 per cent before the visit to 16 per cent now.

The ORB survey, which interviewed 2,049 adults, found 59 per cent of Britons agree there should be a place for religion in public life. Nearly half of those polled said the Catholic Church should take a moral lead in British society by defending the family.

The Most Rev Vincent Nichols, the Archbishop of Westminster, said the findings showed there is sympathy for the Pope’s call for greater recognition to be given to religious faith in society.

“The important, ongoing debate about the moral principles and values which are needed to underpin a stable, flourishing society is illuminated by the light of Religious faith.”

In a statement released to mark the one year anniversary since the Pope’s visit, the Prime Minister said he is “deeply proud of the enormous contribution people of faith have made to our society.”

He continued: “The Pope’s message is just as relevant today. The shocking riots in the UK underline that we need more than ever to build a new culture of social responsibility.”

Now if only the Anglican leader would provide a voice of relevance. Atheism is ‘cool’? My foot!

London Riots: Archbishop Calls for Prayers

The Archbishop of Westminster, Most Rev Vincent Nichols said in a statement today: “The scenes of the last few nights in parts of London and elsewhere are shocking. The criminal violence and theft that have been witnessed are to be condemned. They are a callous disregard for the common good of our society and show how easily basic principles of respect and honesty are cast aside. “

“I ask that Catholics pray especially for those directly affected by the violence, for those facing danger on the streets, for those whose livelihood has been ruined, for those whose lives are marked by fear, for those whose parents are worried about the behaviour of their youngsters and for those who, at this time, are being tempted into the ways of violence and theft.”

“In the face of these difficulties, a forthright common effort is needed to ensure that these times bring out the best in our society and not the worst. I am sure that, as Catholic citizens, we shall play our part with clear principles for living, both as individuals and as a society, with honesty, compassion and prayer.”

“May God grant us courage and determination to shape our lives with dignity, self respect and care for the common good.”

The above was here.

For live coverage  of the riots, click here.

Archbishop Vincent Nichols and the Cross in Holy Week

In the course of talking about four different crosses he uses to meditate during Holy Week, the Archbishop of Westminster found special pause for reflection on the words of journalists and the ‘Word’. Find out what happened next!

Archbishop Vincent Nichols' Homily: Ordinations to the Personal Ordinariate

Is available:

Ordination to the Priesthood of Reverend John Broadhurst, Reverend Andrew Burnham, Reverend Keith Newton.

Westminster Cathedral, Saturday 15 January 2011

Archbishop Vincent Nichols’ homily

Many ordinations have taken place in this Cathedral during the 100 years of its history. But none quite like this. Today is a unique occasion marking a new step in the life and history of the Catholic Church. This morning the establishment of the first Personal Ordinariate under the provision of the Apostolic Constitution ‘Anglicanorum Coetibus’ has been announced in our hearing. So I too salute John Broadhurst, Andrew Burnham and Keith Newton who are to be the first priests of the Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham. In particular I offer my prayers and best wishes to Keith, chosen by the Holy Father to be its first Ordinary.

This is indeed an historic moment. In these opening words I welcome you warmly, Keith, Andrew and John. You have distinguished pasts, full of real achievements. Now, ahead of you, you have an important and demanding future! In welcoming you I recognise fully the demands of the journey you have made together with your families, with its many years of thought and prayer, painful misunderstandings, conflict and uncertainty. I want, in particular, to recognise your dedication as priests and bishops of the Church of England and affirm the fruitfulness of your ministry.

I thank so many in the Church of England who have recognised your sincerity and integrity in making this journey and who have assured you of their prayers and good wishes. First among these is Rowan, Archbishop of Canterbury, with his characteristic insight, and generosity of heart and spirit.

This journey, of course, involves some sad parting of friends. This, too, we recognise and it strengthens the warmth of our welcome.

Of course it was John Henry Newman who spoke movingly of this ‘sad parting of friends’. We thank our Holy Father Pope Benedict for not only placing this Ordinariate under the protection of Our Lady of Walsingham but also for giving it Blessed John Henry Newman as its patron.

At Lambeth Palace, in September, Pope Benedict said: ‘In the figure of John Henry Newman we celebrate a churchman whose ecclesial vision was nurtured by his Anglican background and matured during his many years of ordained ministry in the Church of England. He can teach us the virtues that ecumenism demands: on the one hand, he was moved to follow his conscience, even at great personal cost; and on the other hand, the warmth of his continued friendship with his former colleagues led him to explore with them, in a truly eirenical spirit, the questions on which they differed, driven by a deep longing for unity in faith.’ (Lambeth Palace, 18 September 2010)

Then, speaking in Rome on 20 December, Pope Benedict reflected further on Cardinal Newman. He spoke these words. They are of relevance and hope for today:

‘The path of Newman’s conversions is a path of conscience – not a path of self-asserting subjectivity but, on the contrary, a path of obedience to the truth that was gradually opening up to him. His third conversion, to Catholicism, required him to give up almost everything that was dear and precious to him: possessions, profession, academic rank, family ties and many friends. The sacrifice demanded of him by obedience to the truth, by his conscience, went further still. Newman had always been aware of having a mission for England. But in the Catholic theology of his time, his voice could hardly make itself heard…

In January 1863 he wrote in his diary these distressing words: “As a Protestant, I felt my religion dreary, but not my life ‐ but, as a Catholic, my life dreary, not my religion”. He had not yet arrived at the hour when he would be an influential figure. In the humility and darkness of obedience, he had to wait until his message was taken up and understood. In support of the claim that Newman’s concept of conscience matched the modern subjective understanding, people often quote a letter in which he said – should he have to propose a toast – that he would drink first to conscience and then to the Pope. But in this statement, “conscience” does not signify the ultimately binding quality of subjective intuition. It is an expression of the accessibility and the binding force of truth: on this its primacy is based. The second toast can be dedicated to the Pope because it is his task to demand obedience to the truth.’ (December 20, 2010)

Today we thank the Holy Father for the courageous leadership he gives in establishing the first Personal Ordinariate. His intentions are clear. It is, as he has said, ‘a prophetic gesture’. It is to contribute to the wider goal of visible unity between our two Churches by helping us to know in practice how our patrimonies of faith and living can strengthen each other in our mission today. At Oscott College, the Holy Father said to us bishops: ‘It (the Ordinariate) helps us to set our sights on the ultimate goal of all ecumenical activity: the restoration of full ecclesial communion in the context of which the mutual exchange of gifts from our respective spiritual patrimonies serves as an enrichment to us all.’

The visible unity of the Church, then, is central to our thoughts today. Indeed, it was never far from the heart of St Paul as is well expressed in his Letter to the Ephesians and, a little earlier, to the Philippians. His appeal is steadfast: that believing in Christ as Lord, that sharing in one Spirit, that worship of one God and Father create a unity which must be constantly served by the practice of humility, gentleness, patience and love. In Philippians he is more explicit about the attitudes and behaviours that threaten this unity: selfish ambition for the power of office; the search for personal approval or prestige; a focus on the importance of self within a competitive spirit, all taking us away from ‘the mind of Christ Jesus’. (cf Phil 2.1‐5).

History shows how right he is. These patterns of failure mark our histories. They also find expression in the lives of each of us today. So we ask pardon for our failings and seek to renew within ourselves that mind of Christ Jesus himself.

The quest for the visible unity of the Church remains an imperative. In it the role of the successor of St Peter is crucial. Pope Benedict expressed it thus in Westminster Abbey: ‘Fidelity to the word of God, precisely because it is a true word, demands of us an obedience which leads us together to a deeper understanding of the Lord’s will, an obedience which must be free of intellectual conformism or facile accommodation to the spirit of the age. This is the word of encouragement which I wish to leave with you this evening, and I do so in fidelity to my ministry as the Bishop of Rome and the Successor of Saint Peter, charged with a particular care for the unity of Christ’s flock.’ (Westminster Abbey, 18 Sept 2010)

The Pope’s ministry to the visible unity of the Church is central to the faith of the Catholic Church. It is central to the faith of those who enter into full communion in this Ordinariate. It is central to the welcome, encouragement and support the Catholic community in England and Wales gives to this development and to all who seek to be part of it.

In his Letter to the Ephesians, St Paul speaks about the variety of gifts given to the community of believers. While recognising that variety, in this Mass we focus, in particular, on the gift of the ordained priesthood within the Catholic Church. It is a priesthood which takes it shape, its purpose, its experience from the Cross of Christ, the great cross above us, referred to so movingly by Pope Benedict. Through this ordained priesthood, the one, same sacrifice of Christ is made real at the altar and offered again to the Eternal Father. It is made present as the sacrament of our salvation. This Mass, every Mass, is at once the prayer of Christ and the prayer of the Body of Christ, his people. Through it Christ constitutes the Church afresh each day, both in Himself and in its visible unity, in the world. This is the work of the ordained priest – the daily constituting of the Church ‐ and it is a priceless gift and service for which we thank God constantly. To this one sacrifice we bring our own small sacrifices, the losses and hardships we carry through failure and sin, through the pursuit of truth and love, through the passing of time. All is offered to the Father in one sacrifice of praise to become a means of our salvation.

In today’s Gospel passage from St. John, we have heard again of the appearance of the Risen Christ to his disciples. At that moment he brought to them the fruits of his triumph over death: the forgiveness of sins and the gift of peace. Here too we come to the work of the ordained priest: to pronounce with confidence the forgiveness of God and to bring peace to a troubled soul and a troubled world.

To this service, to this ministry we welcome our three priests today. But we must be attentive to the words of the Gospel. In bestowing these gifts, the Risen Lord also employs an eloquent gesture: he shows them his hands and his side.

He shows them his wounds. The mission they receive, the mission of reconciliation, comes from the wounds of Christ. This is the mission we share and at every Mass we once again gaze on the wounded, broken body of the risen Lord. Our mission is characterised by woundedness: a mission to a wounded world; a mission entrusted to a wounded Church, carried out by wounded disciples. The wounds of sin are our business. The wounds of Christ, even though we have caused them, are also our consolation and strength.

The first to witness these wounds, the first, perhaps, to grasp their true significance, was Mary, Mother of Jesus. Standing at the foot of the cross she witnessed the inflicting of those wounds. Holding his dead body she must have been marked by the blood shed from them. Now she looks down on our new priests from the other side of this Cathedral crucifix above me. Mary always holds before us her Son, presenting him to us as our hope and salvation. Nowhere does she do so with more grace and elegance than in the image of Our Lady of Walsingham. As this Ordinariate, her Ordinariate, comes into being so may we entrust to her the work of bringing it to fulfilment.

Our Lady of Walsingham: pray for us.
Blessed John Henry Newman: pray for us.

Amen.

Archbishop Vincent Nichols
Archbishop of Westminster
President, Catholic Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales

Download it in pdf here.