‘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).

 

Answering the Critics

Do take a moment to read what Fr Ed Tomlinson has to say:

Yesterday I explained why the Ordinariate, the freshest expression of unity within the Catholic Church, has endured criticism as well as friendship. I examined the predominant reasons why this vision, which the Pope labelled ‘prophetic’, can be challenging and/or uncomfortable.

To demonstrate the progress being made by the Ordinariate what now follows is an examination of the criticisms stemming from those wanting to pour cold water over the initiative. I will then show how, in every instance, the accusations are proving hollow. For the vision is strong and, I believe, the Holy Spirit is present in it.

1) The Ordinariate will never take off This was the first accusation and came days after the Vatican announced the initiative. It was followed by assurances that even if it did happen then it would take years to form. Instead everything came together within an incredibly short timescale. What became obvious was that this was seen as a pressing need in the eyes of Pope Benedict.

2) The Vatican is losing interest Once it became clear that the ordinariate would take off detractors began to claim the Vatican had lost interest having imagined that take up would be larger than it was. The aim was to sow doubt in the minds of those drawn to it. But far from losing interest the Holy Father repeatedly called for generosity in supporting the venture from the wider Catholic church. He also ensured that he visited England to beatify our co-patron John Henry Newman and ensured we were the last thing he spoke of before returning to Rome. He has gifted us financial assistance from his own resources and several key members of the CDF have visited to encourage and support us. Why at a recent meeting of Catholic clergy in Reading Archbishop Di Noia positively embraced me on discovering I was Ordinariate and assured me of how excited many people in the Vatican are!

3) The Ordinariate as second class option Perhaps the favourite put down of the detractors and first voiced by the Archbishop of York. I refer to the suggestion that those wanting to become Catholic would be better “doing it properly”. The idea being that the Ordinariate is a poor alternative to ‘real’ membership of RCC. But of course the truth is that we who joined saw clergy ordained into the Latin Rite by Catholic bishops of England and Wales. We then took up posts serving not only the Ordinariate but diocesan parishes and chaplaincies. The obvious point being that the ordinariate door places you in the same place as the Diocesan route. That is what unity is about. One is either Catholic or not and we Ordinariate members are.

4) The Ordinariate will never attract members I was one of the first to publicly endorse the Ordinariate option. I was then barraged with accusations that I would not join. I received hate mail and even had a blog erected against me by someone called Poppytupper which ridiculed my physique and character. Then letters were sent to Catholic bishops which made complaints against me and suggested I was not suitable for ordination. These all failed. The next accusation then was to suggest that growth would never happen. But I am delighted to report that this too is being shown to be untrue. The ordinariate now numbers 81 priests, 1 deacon, 3 seminarians, 3 nuns and 1350 lay members. It has recorded growth of over 15% in the last 12 months and I am currently in dialogue with some who are hoping to join us in the third wave. Slow, steady and manageable growth – exactly what is needed.

5) The Ordinariate has no Anglican patrimony Only yesterday the ever negative Canon Godsall tried to rubbish the Ordinariate by claiming that our Anglican patrimony is non existent. But again this is going to be proved wrong as the new Ordinariate Customary and Rite make clear. Those joining are at liberty to use all the liturgical practice of the Roman Catholic Church but will also be enriched by a new Mass stemming from the English Missal, we have our hymnody, Evensong and so much more besides. This will ensure that we find the balance between remaining part of the church we have joined whilst keeping our own history and traditions alive. It means we can cater not only to those versed in the Roman Rite from within the C of E but also those from a Prayerbook background and tradition.

These are just five of the ways people have tried to undermine us since our inception. Isn’t it wonderful that we have been so blessed as to overcome these and answer the critics on each occasion? The truth is that there has been a struggle at times and a spiritual battle has raged. My own sense is that the devil really doesn’t want this to happen!

However slowly but surely we are finding our feet and, through God’s grace, the tiny seed planted by Pope Benedict is starting to grow. Please continue to pray for us as we seek to overcome the remaining hurdles and ensure the vision is enabled to perform whatever purpose God has in store for it. These are exciting times and it is a privilege to be part of something that could play a part in the faith of this land in the future. Being Anglo-Catholic was, so often, about looking backwards to the 19th  Century movement of Newman and the like. Whereas the ordinariate is about looking forwards very much to something which God is now doing in our day. We walk where Newman once led….

Oh and a final answer to the person who sent me a rude message yesterday wondering when I find the time to blog and hinting it must mean I do no work in the parish….the answer stems from another part of my Anglican patrimony. A baby in the family means I rise at 5am and have plenty of time to type before the day starts!

 

Three New Priests for the Ordinariate

On the Personal Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham website:

Three more men have been ordained as priests for service in the Personal Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham. Fr Kenneth Berry, Fr Paul Gibbons, and Fr Donald Minchew, were ordained to the sacred priesthood by the Archbishop of Southwark, the Most Reverend Peter Smith, on Saturday morning.

During his homily to a packed church of Our Lady of Reparation, West Croydon, Archbishop Smith recalled the particular ministry of the ordained priest in the service of Christ and his Church.

Fr Minchew and Fr Berry served as Anglican clergy at St Michael & All Angels, Croydon, which is across the road from the church of their ordination, and will now lead the Croydon Ordinariate Group. Fr Gibbons served in Maidstone where he will now serve the Ordinariate as pastor to a group of faithful there.

Amongst the clergy present at the ordination were the Ordinary, Mgr John Broadhurst, Mgr Edwin Barnes, Mgr Robert Mercer, and Ordinariate priests resident in the Archdiocese of Southwark. They were joined by local diocesan clergy and by a seminarian of the Blessed Sacrament Fathers from Liverpool, who as a young Anglican was encouraged to consider ordained ministry by Fr Minchew.

A spokesman for the Ordinariate said, “Today we witnessed the ordination of three men whose lives have led to this point – the fulfilment of the call from Christ to serve him as priests of the Catholic Church. As priests of the Ordinariate, serving the local community and the wider Church, their fidelity to a vision for unity and truth has been borne out; they now continue the task of proclaiming that vision to the world”.

After the Mass, a celebratory luncheon was given in the parish hall, joined by the Ordinary and the Archbishop.

Photo source: Fr Ed Tomlinson

 

The New Ordinariate Office

For the Personal Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham.

We’ve had space to work in the offices of the Bishops’ Conference since January 2011, but now we’ve very kindly been given use of our own room there, which should give us a little more scope as things continue to grow.

And it has this for a window:

The stained glass reads: O Mary, Mother of God, bring England & Wales back to the Faith of our Fathers.

 

‘The Ordinariate Opens Up a New Chapter in the Long History of Christianity in Our Land…’

A Glorious traditional walking pilgrimage…

Writes the well and widely respected Aunty Joanna Bogle:

…to Walsingham. The John Paul II Walking Pilgrimage for the New Evangelisation….a good crowd, mostly young but with some older people including Auntie, gathered at the ancient ruined abbey in Bury St Edmunds. Ruined by Henry VIII – but on this golden summer evening suddenly alive again as Mass was celebrated there, the sound of voices saying “I confess to Almighty God…” and singing Kyrie Eleison, and Sanctus, Sanctus, Sanctus… and the sight of people kneeling on the soft green grass and lining up to recieve Holy Communion. We sang “For all the saints…” and thought of St Edmund, boy-king and martyr…

The Mass was celebrated by a priest of the Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham, and this seemed especially appropriate as the Ordinariate opens up a new chapter in the long history of Christianity in our land…. the Abbey ruins carry a plaque, placed there in the 19th century, noting that bishops gathered there to discuss and plan for Magna Carta, the first part of which insists that “the English Church shall be free…”

After Mass was over, we gathered in the church hall, and Sister Hyacinthe of the Dominican Sisters of St Joseph, organisers of the Pilgrimage, got us all introducing ourselves and sorting out arrangements for the days ahead.

The Sisters are splendid. There was a good supper waiting for us, and then we trooped into the church for Night Prayer. It’s a lovely building – a real piece of Catholic history – Georgian, with box pews, and we sang the Dominican form of Night Prayer, going turn-and-turn-about with the psalms. Then we settled down for the night in the church hall, which is actually the crypt of the church. Separation sections for men and women were created by sheets hung on a long line down the centre. It was a warm night and I opened the door into the large walled garden and wandered there for a while before tiptoeing back in and snuggling down…we had all brought mats and sleeping-bags and so on.

The next morning saw us gathered again in the church for Monring Prayer, and then setting off for the village of Brandon. Here we had Mass in the Catholic church, concelebrated by our two Ordinariate priests, and with some splendid singing. Then a hearty breakfast provided by volunteers from the local parish, who also gave us a grand send-off, as we walked out out in a great column, with a banner of Our Lady of Walsingham…

 

Solemn Mass

Msgr Andrew Burnham celebrated the Solemn Mass and preached at the 2012 #Evangelium Conference.

 

The Ordinariate Grows

Fr Edwin Barnes on his blog:

The grass was still being mown at the Church of the Holy Redeemer, on the outskirts of Salisbury, as we arrived. In the distance Bishopsdown glowed in the evening sun. David Boundy was to be ordained priest in this church by Mgr Declan Lang, Bishop of Clifton, to serve in the Ordinariate. It is good that Fr Keith Robinson, the Pastor of that Group, will now have a colleague. 

The Group shares the church with the local parish, and evidence of the generosity of the Parish Priest, Fr Michael Fitzpatrick, is the notice on the church door announcing the Ordinariate’s times of services. Perhaps other parishes will follow suit? Or maybe most already do and it’s just that I have not experienced it. Fr Keith was previously Vicar of St Martin’s Salisbury, and Fr David had assisted him there in his retirement, so it is good that the same team is now working together in the Ordinariate.

There were four Deacons of the Mass, and ten concelebrating priests. The diversity of chasubles indicated old friends of Fr David from the diocese of Plymouth (David had parishes in west Cornwall and north Devon), from Clifton (where the Cathedral is in Bristol, but the Diocese covers Somerset and stretches as far east as Salisbury), from Portsmouth and London and, of course, from the Ordinariate. Servers came from all the Catholic parishes in Salisbury.

Making a dash for the Reception after Mass

Afterwards there was a photocall; Fr Keith is on the left here, next to him Mgr Andrew Burnham, then Bishop Declan and the newly ordained Fr David.

He also wrote a piece Sarum Rite in the Anglo-Catholic.

 

More on Fr Brian Gill’s Ordination

In the Ordinariate:

At two ordinations over the past weekend, three new deacons and a new priest were ordained for service in the Personal Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham.

Fr Brian Gill was ordained to the sacred priesthood by the Bishop of Menevia on Saturday, in the presence of Mgr Keith Newton. Fr Gill was Vicar General of the Traditional Anglican Church (TTAC), a part of the Traditional Anglican Communion in the United Kingdom, from 2003 to 2009. As such, together with Anglican bishops from around the world he signed the Portsmouth Declaration in 2007, the hopes of which are fulfiled in the establishment of Personal Ordinariates.

Fr Gill was born in the West Indies, and trained under the Mirfield fathers at Codrington College, Barbados. He travelled to Jerusalem with the Lambeth Bishops before moving to Britain in 1974 to serve in the Anglican diocese of Hereford. He left the Church of England for the TTAC following the ordination of women in the Church of England in the 1990s.

Saturday also saw the ordination of the Revd Kenneth Berry, the Revd Paul Gibbons, and the Revd Donald Minchew, by the Right Reverend Paul Hendricks (Auxiliary of Southwark). Celebrated at the church of the Precious Blood, Borough, the ordination was attended by friends and family of the candidates, as well as priests of the Personal Ordinariate and the local diocese.

We look forward to the ordination of the three men as priests in September. 

 

When an Ordinariate Group is as Small as Ours…

Writes Fr Edwin Barnes on his blog Ancient Richborough:

When an Ordinariate Group is as small as ours – not many more than twenty of us, originally from half a dozen different Anglican churches – we need everyone to pull together. And goodness, they do – often supported by a few longstanding Catholics from neighbouring parishes. So it was last Saturday, when to our astonishment we managed to raise £260 from a two-hour coffee morning. Brian Harrison took the photos, which you will find on our Ordinariate website.

http://www.ordinariate.org.uk/bournemouth No sooner was that over than we began planning for our next great moment. Together with members of the Portsmouth & Isle of Wight Group we have the task of arranging the Ordination for our two deacons; John Maunder from Portsmouth and Brian Copus from Bournemouth. That will be on September 22nd, not in either of the churches where our Groups normally worship but in the much larger central church in Bournemouth, Sacred Heart, Richmond Hill – by kind permission of the parish priest, Fr Bruce Barnes. We will update you on this nearer the time; at present we are deciding on musical setting (favourite at present are amended Merbecke for Kyrie and Gloria, and a setting by our own Organist, Peter Cook, for Sanctus and Benedictus and Agnus … but we have a little way to go yet.

Meanwhile we have a few enquirers who, we hope, will soon become firmly committed to joining the Catholic Church and our Ordinariate Group. Your prayers would be welcome for them and us.

 

Remember Former-TAC VG UK (Fr) Brian Gill

In your prayers today.

Once Ordained, he will work at establishing the Ordinariate in Wales.