The Future Pope Pius VII

Barnaba Niccolò Maria Luigi Chiaramonti, the future Pope Pius VII, was born on August 14, 1742. He joined the Benedictine order when he was 14 years old and made his final vows on August 20, 1758, taking the name Gregory or Gregorio. He was ordained a priest on September 21, 1765. The Catholic Encyclopedia describes the circumstances of his papal election:

According to an ordinance issued by Pius VI, 13 Nov., 1798, the city where the largest number of cardinals was to be found at the time of his death was to be the scene of the subsequent election. In conformity with these instructions the cardinals met in conclave, after his death (29 Aug., 1799), in the Benedictine monastery of San Giorgio at Venice. The place was agreeable to the emperor, who bore the expense of the election. Thirty-four cardinals were in attendance on the opening day, 30 Nov., 1799; to these was added a few days later Cardinal Herzan, who acted simultaneously as imperial commissioner. It was not long before the election of Cardinal Bellisomi seemed assured. He was, however, unacceptable to the Austrian party, who favoured Cardinal Mattei. As neither candidate could secure a sufficient number of votes, a third name, that of Cardinal Gerdil, was proposed, but his election was vetoed by Austria. At last, after the conclave had lasted three months, some of the neutral cardinals, including Maury, suggested Chiaramonti as a suitable candidate and, with the tactful support of the secretary of the conclave, Ercole Consalvi, he was elected. The new pope was crowned as Pius VII on 21 March, 1800, at Venice. He then left this city in an Austrian vessel for Rome, where he made his solemn entry on 3 July, amid the universal joy of the populace. Of all-important consequence for his reign was the elevation on 11 Aug., 1800, of Ercole Consalvi, one of the greatest statesmen of the nineteenth century, to the college of cardinals and to the office of secretary of state. Consalvi retained to the end the confidence of the pope, although the conflict with Napoleon forced him out of office for several years.

One of the Cardinals at this election was Henry Benedict Cardinal Stuart, Bonnie Prince Charlie's brother.

Like his predecessor, Pope Pius VI, Pius VII endured exile from Rome during Napoleon I's reign. Consalvi successfully negotiated the Concordat of 1801 with Napoleon, re-establishing some of the Catholic Church's rights in France. Pope Pius VII was present at Napoleon and Josephine's coronations in the Cathedral of Notre Dame in Paris in 1804. When France occupied and annexed Rome, Pius was sent to Savona on the coast of Italy.

From Pope Benedict XVI's homily during a visit to Savona, Italy in 2008:

It is a pilgrimage that is also a memory and a tribute to my Venerable Predecessor Pius VII, whose dramatic experience is indissolubly linked to this City and its Marian Shrine. Two centuries later, I come to renew the expression of gratitude of the Holy See and of the entire Church for the faith, love and courage with which your fellow citizens supported the Pope under house arrest in this City, imposed upon him by Napoleon Bonaparte. Many testimonies of the manifestations of solidarity for the Pontiff, sometimes even at personal risk, have been preserved. They are events that the people of Savona can well be proud to commemorate today. As your Bishop rightly observed, through the power of the Holy Spirit, that dark page of Europe's history has become rich in graces and teachings for our day too. It teaches us courage in facing the challenges of the world: materialism, relativism, secularism without ever yielding to compromises, ready to pay in person while remaining faithful to the Lord and his Church. The example of serene firmness set by Pope Pius VII invites us to keep our trust in God unaltered in trials, aware that although he permits the Church to experience difficult moments he never abandons us. The episode the Great Pontiff went through in your land invites us always to trust in the intercession and motherly assistance of Mary Most Holy.

From 1809 to 1814, Pope Pius VII was held prisoner at Fontainebleau. When Napoleon fell, he returned to Rome. Pius began the process of restoring the Jesuits; he established several new dioceses in the United States; and he worked to restore Rome after the French occupation. He died on August 20, 1823 after a fall, breaking his hip. He died on the 65th anniversary of his profession as a Benedictine monk.

Pope Benedict XVI named him a Servant of God in 2007.

Heroes and Sages and Their Consciences

Two years ago this October, I presented on Blessed John Henry Newman: Conversion and Conscience at the Spiritual Life Center. During the presentation on conscience I discussed Newman's depiction of the false idea of conscience he described in his Letter to the Duke of Norfolk in response to Gladstone's pamphlet warning against the divisive effects of Papal infallibility in England:

When men advocate the rights of conscience, they in no sense mean the rights of the Creator, nor the duty to Him, in thought and deed, of the creature; but the right of thinking, speaking, writing, and acting, according to their judgment or their humour, without any thought of God at all. They do not even pretend to go by any moral rule, but they demand, what they think is an Englishman's prerogative, for each to be his own master in all things, and to profess what he pleases, asking no one's leave, and accounting priest or preacher, speaker or writer, unutterably impertinent, who dares to say a word against his going to perdition, if he like it, in his own way. Conscience has rights because it has duties; but in this age, with a large portion of the public, it is the very right and freedom of conscience to dispense with conscience, to ignore a Lawgiver and Judge, to be independent of unseen obligations. It becomes a licence to take up any or no religion, to take up this or that and let it go again, to go to church, to go to chapel, to boast of being above all religions and to be an impartial critic of each of them. Conscience is a stern monitor, but in this century it has been superseded by a counterfeit, which the eighteen centuries prior to it never heard of, and could not have mistaken for it, if they had. It is the right of self-will.

In my post-Easter mystagogical reading, In The Redeeming Christ by F.X.Durrwell, that author presents a higher standard of personal judgement in his chapter on Christian Obedience. He compares and contrasts The Greek Ideal of perfection and human excellence to the Old Testament and then New Testament ideals. I was struck by his characterization of Greek moral ideals according to a humanist standard:

Pagan man saw perfection as belonging to the order of reason; he expected to find it in the fullest human development of his own faculties. This humanism found its purest expression in the Greek world. This Greek ideal lay not in holiness in the biblical sense--consecration, union with God's will--but in the autonomous development of all that is noblest in man. This search for perfection achieved its goal most characteristically in the hero and in the sage. The hero's heroism consisted in an affirmation of himself whereby he was superior to all adversity, a lofty kind of egoism. The wisdom of the sage lay in grasping the great principles of human life and living in conformity with them. In both cases the result was complete freedom: each obeyed only himself, his own will to be great, the truths learnt from his own reason. Even when the Greek was obliged to carry his heroism as far as death, it remained always a heroism of fidelity to himself.

It may be a higher standard, but it's the same autonomy that Newman described as a false image of conscience and the standard it responds to: the individual decides what is excellent, good, and true--for him. It is still "the right of self-will". By that standard, what's excellent, good, and true for me might not be excellent, good, and true for you. We can establish no objective standards to respond to and measure ourselves by. If this rule applies to all areas of human endeavor, we can soon have no science, no arts, no literature, no history that we can share--we can hardly discuss the standards by which we judge the success of a scientific experiment, a painting, a novel, or a narrative, because of individual subjectivity. Judgment of excellence and perfection becomes a matter of taste, and de gustibus non disputandum est (of taste, there is no disputation or discussion). This is that "dictatorship of relativism" that Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger spoke of to the College of Cardinals in 2005 before his election as Pope Benedict XVI:

We are building a dictatorship of relativism that does not recognize anything as definitive and whose ultimate goal consists solely of one's own ego and desires.

We, however, have a different goal: the Son of God, the true man. He is the measure of true humanism. An "adult" faith is not a faith that follows the trends of fashion and the latest novelty; a mature adult faith is deeply rooted in friendship with Christ. It is this friendship that opens us up to all that is good and gives us a criterion by which to distinguish the true from the false, and deceipt from truth.

We must develop this adult faith; we must guide the flock of Christ to this faith. And it is this faith - only faith - that creates unity and is fulfilled in love.

On this theme, St Paul offers us as a fundamental formula for Christian existence some beautiful words, in contrast to the continual vicissitudes of those who, like children, are tossed about by the waves: make truth in love. Truth and love coincide in Christ. To the extent that we draw close to Christ, in our own lives too, truth and love are blended. Love without truth would be blind; truth without love would be like "a clanging cymbal" (I Cor 13: 1).

Here the standard--and Father Durrwell would certainly agree--is not myself but Jesus Christ, my Redeemer and Lord, His love and true humanism.

More on In The Redeeming Christ soon. And FYI: I will be speaking on Blessed John Henry Newman this summer at the Spiritual Life Center in the Docentium Series on August 18. My topic is "John Henry Newman on Faith, Family and Friends".

Richard Crashaw's Shepherd's Hymn

From Richard Crashaw's Steps to the Temple.

Chorus. Come, we shepherds whose blest sight 

Hath met Love's noon in Nature's night ; 

Come lift up our loftier song, 

And wake the sun that lies too long.

To all our world of well-stol'n joy 

He slept, and dreamt of no such thing, 

While we found out Heaven's fairer eye, 

And kissed the cradle of our King ;

Tell him he rises now too late 

To show us aught worth looking at.

Tell him we now can show him more 

Than he e'er show'd to mortal sight, 

Than he himself e'er saw before, 

Which to be seen needs not his light : 

Tell him, Tityrus, where th' hast been, 

Tell him, Thyrsis, what th' hast seen.

Tityrus. Gloomy night embraced the place 

Where the noble infant lay : 

The babe look'd up, and show'd His face ; 

In spite of darkness it was day. 

It was Thy day, sweet, and did rise, 

Not from the East, but from Thy eyes. 

Chorus. It was Thy day, sweet, &c.

Thrysis. Winter chid aloud, and sent The angry 

North to wage his wars : 

The North forgot his fierce intent, 

And left perfumes instead of scars. 

By those sweet eyes' persuasive powers, 

Where he meant frosts he scatter'd flowers. 

Chorus. By those sweet eyes', &c.

Both. We saw Thee in Thy balmy nest, 

Young dawn of our eternal day ; 

We saw Thine eyes break from the East, 

And chase the trembling shades away : 

We saw Thee, and we blest the sight, 

We saw Thee by Thine own sweet light.

Full Chorus. Welcome all wonders in one sight ! 

Eternity shut in a span ! 

Summer in winter ! day in night ! 

Heaven in earth ! and God in man ! 

Great little one, whose all-embracing birth 

Lifts earth to Heaven, stoops Heaven to earth !

Welcome, tho' nor to gold, nor silk, 

To more than Cæsar's birthright is : 

Twin sister seas of virgin's milk, 

With many a rarely-temper'd kiss, 

That breathes at once both maid and mother, 

Warms in the one, cools in the other.

She sings Thy tears asleep, and dips 

Her kisses in Thy weeping eye : 

She spreads the red leaves of Thy lips, 

That in their buds yet blushing lie. 

She 'gainst those mother diamonds tries 

The points of her young eagle's eyes.

Read the rest here. Crashaw's poem has been redacted into a Christmas carol, At the Nativity or Gloomy Night Embraced the Place. As befitting a man of classical university education, Crashaw uses names from ancient Latin and Greek bucolic poetry: Tityrus is the name of a shepherd poet in Virgil's Eclogues and Thrysis is the shepherd who tells the story of Daphnis in Theocritus' first Idyll.

Pope Benedict XVI spoke about the shepherds at the nativity in his homily for Midnight Mass in 2009:

The Lord is here. From this moment, God is truly “God with us”. No longer is he the distant God who can in some way be perceived from afar, in creation and in our own consciousness. He has entered the world. He is close to us. The words of the risen Christ to his followers are addressed also to us: “Lo, I am with you always, to the close of the age” (Mt 28:20). For you the Saviour is born: through the Gospel and those who proclaim it, God now reminds us of the message that the Angel announced to the shepherds. It is a message that cannot leave us indifferent. If it is true, it changes everything. If it is true, it also affects me. Like the shepherds, then, I too must say: Come on, I want to go to Bethlehem to see the Word that has occurred there. The story of the shepherds is included in the Gospel for a reason. They show us the right way to respond to the message that we too have received. What is it that these first witnesses of God’s incarnation have to tell us?

The first thing we are told about the shepherds is that they were on the watch – they could hear the message precisely because they were awake. We must be awake, so that we can hear the message. We must become truly vigilant people. . . .

Merry Christmas to All!

A Catholic Martyr in Oxford: Blessed George Napier

His name is variously given as Napper or Napier. From the Catholic Encyclopedia:

English martyr, born at Holywell manor, Oxford, 1550; executed at Oxford 9 November, 1610. He was a son of Edward Napper (d. in 1558), sometime Fellow of All Souls College, by Anne, his second wife, daughter of John Peto, of Chesterton, Warwickshire, and niece of William, Cardinal Peto. He entered Corpus Christi College 5 January, 1565-6, but was ejected in 1568 as a recusant. On 24 August, 1579, he paid a visit to the English College at Reims, and by December, 1580, he had been imprisoned. He was still in the Wood Street Counter, London, on 30 September, 1588; but was liberated in June, 1589, on acknowledging the royal supremacy.

He entered the English College, Douai, in 1596, and was sent on the mission in 1603. He appears to have lived with his brother William at Holywell. He was arrested at Kirtlington, four miles from Woodstock, very early in the morning of 19 July, 1610, when he on him a pyx containing two consecrated Hosts as well as a small reliquary. Brought before Sir Francis Eure at Upper Heyford (Wood says before a justice named Chamberlain), he was strictly searched; but the constable found nothing but his breviary, his holy oils, and a needle case with thread and thimble. The next day he was sent to Oxford Castle, and indicted at the session soon after under 27 Eliz., c. 2 for being a priest. The possession of the oils was held to be conclusive and he was condemned, but reprieved. In gaol he reconciled a condemned felon named Falkner, and this was held to aggravate his crime, but as late as 2 November it was believed that he would have his sentence commuted to one of banishment.

As he refused the oath of allegiance, which described the papal deposing power as a "false, damnable, and heretical" doctrine, it was decided to execute him. He suffered between one and two in the afternoon, having said Mass that morning. His head according to Wood was set up on Tom Gateway; according to Challoner's less probable statement on Christ Church steeple. His quarters were placed on the four city gates, but at least some were secretly removed, and buried in the chapel (now a barn) of Sanford manor, formerly a preceptory of Knights Templar.

In October of 2010 (just a month after Pope Benedict XVI's visit to Scotland and England), Archbishop Bernard Longley of Birmingham dedicated a plaque to the martyr:

During his homily Archbishop Longley said: "Today we gather as pilgrims to celebrate the Mass of the Martyrs of Oxford University and to commemorate the 400th Anniversary of the martyrdom of Blessed George Napier. As pilgrims we are part of a long tradition of Christians setting out from home on a journey of faith to some place particularly associated with the life of our Lord - of those most closely associated with him as Christian witnesses.

"The life of a pilgrim is touched and transformed through the experience of pilgrimage and of the ways that are linked with the life and witness of the saints we honour. For us this pilgrimage is characterised by the fidelity to the Church and teaching of Christ demonstrated by Blessed George Napier and his companion martyrs – and by the courage of the Holy Spirit at work within them and strengthening them in the final act of love and of witness in this city."

The Archbishop of Birmingham said: "The lives of our martyrs were taken from them because they adhered to their faith in Christ within the Catholic Church. Their witness is echoed for me whenever we sing the beautiful words of Blessed John Henry Newman: 'And I hold in veneration, For the love of him alone, Holy Church as his creation, And her teaching as his own.'"

Archbishop Bernard Longley concluded: "One month ago an apostolic witness came to strengthen our faith. We continue to benefit from the impact of Pope Benedict’s visit to this diocese. Paradoxically in the time of Blessed George Napier and his companions the role of faith as the foundation of civil society was hardly questioned, yet the liberty to practice faith was narrowly defined.

"Today the Holy Father has reminded us of the importance of faith in strengthening civil society and of the opposition we can encounter. He said: 'There are some who now seek to exclude religious belief from public discourse, to privatise it or even to paint it as a threat to equality and liberty. Your religion is in fact a guarantee of authentic liberty and respect, leading us to look upon every person as a brother or sister."

You may see a picture of the plaque here.

My Latest Article for PraytheMass.org

As you may note by the badge on the right side of my blog, I'm a regular contributor to the PraytheMass.org site (although I skipped December!). Here's my latest, covering one of my favorite topics, the Liturgical Year:

St. Augustine of Hippo meditated on the meaning of time in his great Confessions, exploring the mystery of time as God lives in its eternal present in contrast to Augustine living in the past, the present and the future (Book Eleven). We may be more inclined to talk about time management, trying to control time, maximize its use and our productivity—scheduling our lives and activities, squeezing more items in, multitasking (we think) and bemoaning our ultimate lack of control over time. Liturgical time as we celebrate the mysteries of Christ and His Paschal Mystery might offer us a better insight into St. Augustine’s great meditations.

For example, we have just experienced the beginning of the liturgical year with the great season of Advent. Time was a major theme in Advent as we looked forward to the coming of Christ: His Second Coming at the end of time; His coming as an infant, born to the Blessed Virgin Mary at a particular time, in a particular place (as St. Luke’s Gospel tells us and as Pope Benedict XVI brilliantly elucidates in his study of the Infancy Narratives); and His coming to each of us at the end of our time on earth, when we face our particular judgment and enter eternity. At every Mass, in every Sacrament, Jesus is present to us in the present; thus we meditate on all the times Jesus comes during the Season of Advent.

Read the rest here!

More on December 1 @ the Venerabile in Rome

Pope Benedict XVI sent this message to the bishops, students, and alumni celebrating the feast of the Martyrs at the Venerable English College in Rome:

Through God’s grace, the Catholic community of England and Wales is blessed with a long tradition of zeal for the faith and loyalty to the Apostolic See. At much the same time as your Saxon forebears were building the Schola Saxonum, establishing a presence in Rome close to the tomb of Peter, Saint Boniface was at work evangelizing the peoples of Germany. So as a former priest and Archbishop of the See of Munich and Freising, which owes its foundation to that great English missionary, I am conscious that my spiritual ancestry is linked with yours. Earlier still, of course, my predecessor Pope Gregory the Great was moved to send Augustine of Canterbury to your shores, to plant the seeds of Christian faith on Anglo-Saxon soil. The fruits of that missionary endeavour are only too evident in the six-hundred-and-fifty-year history of faith and martyrdom that distinguishes the English Hospice of Saint Thomas à Becket and the Venerable English College that grew out of it.

Potius hodie quam cras, as Saint Ralph Sherwin said when asked to take the missionary oath, “rather today than tomorrow”. These words aptly convey his burning desire to keep the flame of faith alive in England, at whatever personal cost. Those who have truly encountered Christ are unable to keep silent about him. As Saint Peter himself said to the elders and scribes of Jerusalem, “we cannot but speak of what we have seen and heard” (Acts 4:20). Saint Boniface, Saint Augustine of Canterbury, Saint Francis Xavier, whose feast we keep today, and so many other missionary saints show us how a deep love for the Lord calls forth a deep desire to bring others to know him. You too, as you follow in the footsteps of the College Martyrs, are the men God has chosen to spread the message of the Gospel today, in England and Wales, in Canada, in Scandinavia. Your forebears faced a real possibility of martyrdom, and it is right and just that you venerate the glorious memory of those forty-four alumni of your College who shed their blood for Christ. You are called to imitate their love for the Lord and their zeal to make him known, potius hodie quam cras. The consequences, the fruits, you may confidently entrust into God’s hands. . . .

When I visited the United Kingdom, I saw for myself that there is a great spiritual hunger among the people. Bring them the true nourishment that comes from knowing, loving and serving Christ. Speak the truth of the Gospel to them with love. Offer them the living water of the Christian faith and point them towards the bread of life, so that their hunger and thirst may be satisfied. Above all, however, let the light of Christ shine through you by living lives of holiness, following in the footsteps of the many great saints of England and Wales, the holy men and women who bore witness to God’s love, even at the cost of their lives. The College to which you belong, the neighbourhood in which you live and study, the tradition of faith and Christian witness that has formed you: all these are hallowed by the presence of many saints. Make it your aspiration to be counted among their number.

Please be assured of an affectionate remembrance in my prayers for yourselves and for all the alumni of the Venerable English College. I make my own the greeting so often heard on the lips of a great friend and neighbour of the College, Saint Philip Neri, Salvete, flores martyrum! Commending you, and all to whom the Lord sends you, to the loving intercession of Our Lady of Walsingham, I gladly impart my Apostolic Blessing as a pledge of peace and joy in the Lord Jesus Christ. Thank you.

Read the rest here in The Catholic Herald.

The Final Episode of The English Reformation Today

Today's program is the last in the series and I plan to address some historical details about the 20th century and some very recent events:

1) More converts, following the Oxford Movement pattern: from Gerard Manley Hopkins to J.R.R. Tolkien;

2) Beatifications and Canonizations of the English Catholic Martyrs: 1935, 1970 and 1987

3) Papal Visits: Blessed John Paul II and Pope Benedict XVI

4) Newman's Beatification and the Personal Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham

But, more importantly, I want to address the meaning and lessons of the English Reformation and what Catholics endured in its long aftermath--again, citing its relevance to us today. Why do we need to know about this story--how can we apply it to the situation of religious freedom and, even more generally, to living our Catholic lives today? In this new Year of Faith, the Catholic martyrs of the 16th and 17th centuries are great examples of giving all for the faith, but the people who lived and died in the Faith, struggling, paying fines, enduring imprisonment, etc, are great confessors of the Faith, too. That's just one example--I'll have more!

If you have comments about what the history of the English Reformation means to us today, please call in to the program at 1-866-333-6279 or submit them to me on my facebook page for Supremacy and Survival: How Catholics Endured the English Reformation. Thanks for listening!

Blessed John Paul II in the United Kingdom

Starting on May 28, 1982 (30 years ago!), Blessed John Paul II became the first Catholic Pope to visit Great Britain, specifically, England, Scotland and Wales. His pastoral visit was filled with celebrations of the Seven Sacraments and with ecumenical gestures, like the visits to Her Majesty the Queen and to the Archbishop of Canterbury in Canterbury Cathedral. Throughout his visit he paid tribute to the Reformation martyrs and the Catholic heritage of England and last year I posted a series on those events and homilies as a lead up to his beatification on the lst of May. Here is a digest of those posts:

On May 28, he celebrated the Sacrament of Baptism at Westminster Cathedral, during which he paid tribute to the architecture of the church building, and mentioned not only St. John Fisher and St. Thomas More, but also Bishop Richard Challoner, Vicar Apostolic during the 18th century.

He was very busy on May 29: he spoke to the religious orders, mentioning the Dissolution of the Monasteries and Mary Ward, at Roehampton; he and Robert Runcie prayed at the spot of St. Thomas a Becket's murder at Canterbury Cathedral, and he celebrated Mass at Wembley Stadium, speaking of England as Mary's Dowry and of the shrine at Walsingham.

On Pentecost, Pope John Paul celebrated the Sacrament of Confirmation at Coventry Airport on May 30th, highlighting the contributions of Cardinal John Henry Newman and of St. Boniface, two great English Catholics to emulate.

On May 31st, in Manchester, he celebrated the Sacrament of Holy Orders with a homily that mentioned the great martyr priests of the recusant era in Lancashire and highlighted the efforts of Blessed Dominic Barberi, Passionist missionary to England in the 19th century, who received Blessed John Henry Newman into the Catholic Church on October 9, 1845. He ordained 12 men that day, so hopefully there are 12 priests in Lancashire celebrating their 30th anniversaries this year on May 31! Then in York, Blessed John Paul celebrated the Sacrament of Marriage and mentioned St. Margaret Clitheroe (sic) and other martyrs of the area.

Like Pope Benedict XVI in September 2010, Blessed John Paul II visited Scotland and said Mass at Bellahouston Park on June 1, giving an overview of Catholic history in Scotland and highlighting--just as Pope Benedict did in 2010--St. John Ogilvie.

He also visited Wales, where he celebrated the Sacrament of Holy Communion and took his farewell from Great Britain from Cardiff Airport:

My pastoral visit to the countries of Britain has now come to an end. I came here as a herald of peace, to proclaim a Gospel of peace and a message of reconciliation and love. I came also as a servant - the servant of Jesus Christ, my Saviour; and the servant, too, of the Christian people. As I have travelled round England, Scotland, and finally Wales, in fulfilment of my pastoral duty to confirm my brethren, I have sought to remind Catholics of the whole saving activity of Christ, the Redeemer, our Risen Lord. In each of the countries I have also been able to meet and to pray with our brethren from other Christian communities. For these wonderful opportunities and for the friendship and brotherly welcome I have received everywhere, I give praise to God and I thank you all.
To the civic authorities of the countries and of the cities I have visited, I wish to express my deep gratitude. The help, support and cooperation you have given to the Catholic people in your areas, and the way you have made available suitable places for my pastoral visit, have reminded the world of the great blessing of mutual understanding and respect which are a part of the British inheritance. I also wish to thank the police and all those who have been responsible for public order and for the smooth running of the events of these past few days.
And now, as I prepare to return to Rome, I express once more my good wishes to all the people of Britain, and in particular to Her Majesty the Queen, especially on this the anniversary of her Coronation. As I leave you, I do so with the prayer that God may bless all the people of Wales, among whom I have spent this memorable day, I say:

Bentith duw arnoch!

You can find more of these addresses here on the Vatican website and an overview of the visit here.

Just a Year Ago Today . . .

. . . Pope Benedict landed in Scotland to begin his state visit to Great Britain, which included the beatification of John Henry Newman. The official website has updated information for the anniversary. One big change is that the bishops of England and Wales have proclaimed Fridays during the year days of Abstinence, starting today:

Friday is set aside as a special day of penitence, as it is the day of the suffering and death of the Lord. The Bishops of England and Wales believe it is important that all the faithful again be united in a common, identifiable act of Friday penance because they recognise that the virtue of penitence is best acquired as part of a common resolve and common witness. The Bishops have decided to re-establish the practice that this penance should be fulfilled simply by abstaining from meat and by uniting this to prayer. Those who cannot or choose not to eat meat as part of their normal diet should abstain from some other food of which they regularly partake. This comes into effect from Friday 16 September 2011 - the first day of the anniversary of the visit of the Holy Father.

Because:

The Visit of Pope Benedict XVI evoked for many people the spiritual reality of life and rekindled hope and faith: hope in the goodness that is within people and in our society, and faith in God. Even if it is not easily articulated, a spiritual yearning is to be found within most people. This yearning is found also among Catholics who have lost touch with their faith or whose faith was never deeply rooted in a personal relationship with Christ. Wishing to respond to this yearning but perhaps lacking in confidence in talking about their own spiritual life, many Catholics are asking how they can witness to their faith; what can they do to help introduce their faith in Christ to others in simple and straightforward ways?

The Bishops of England and Wales recognise that simple acts of witness, accompanied by sincere prayer, can be a powerful call to faith. Traditional Catholic devotions such as making the sign of the cross with care and reverence, praying the Angelus, saying a prayer before and after our meals, to name only a few, are straightforward actions which both dedicate certain moments in our daily lives to Almighty God and demonstrate our love and trust in His goodness and providence. If these devotions have been lost or even forgotten, particularly in our homes and schools, we have much to gain from learning and living them again.

The Bishops have looked again at the role of devotions and the practice of penance, both of which can help to weave the Catholic faith into the fabric of everyday life. Our regular worship at Holy Mass on Sunday, the day of the Lord’s resurrection, is the most powerful outward sign and witness of our faith in Jesus Christ to our family, friends and neighbours. Sunday must always remain at the heart of our lives as Catholics.

The Bishops also wish to remind us that every Friday is set aside as a special day of penitence, as it is the day of the suffering and death of the Lord. They believe it is important that all the faithful again be united in a common, identifiable act of Friday penance because they recognise that the virtue of penitence is best acquired as part of a common resolve and common witness.

The law of the Church requires Catholics on Fridays to abstain from meat, or some other form of food, or to observe some other form of penance laid down by the Bishops’ Conference. The Bishops have decided to re-establish the practice that this penance should be fulfilled simply by abstaining from meat and by uniting this to prayer. Those who cannot or choose not to eat meat as part of their normal diet should abstain from some other food of which they regularly partake.

Pope Benedict has been thinking about the visit too, as he welcomed the new British Ambassador to the Holy See:

The Holy See and the United Kingdom have enjoyed excellent relations in the thirty years that have passed since full diplomatic relations were established. The close bond between us was further strengthened last year during my Visit to your country, a unique occasion in the course of the shared history of the Holy See and the countries which today compose the United Kingdom. I would therefore like to begin my remarks by reiterating my gratitude to the British people for the warm welcome which I received during my stay. Her Majesty and His Royal Highness the Duke of Edinburgh received me most graciously and I was pleased to meet the leaders of the three main political parties and to discuss with them matters of common concern. As you know, a particular motive for my Visit was the Beatification of John Henry Cardinal Newman, a great Englishman whom I have admired for many years and whose raising to the altars was a personal wish fulfilled. I remain convinced of the relevance of Newman’s insights regarding society, as the United Kingdom, Europe and the West in general today face challenges that he identified with remarkable prophetic clarity. It is my hope that a fresh awareness of his writings will bear new fruit among those searching for solutions to the political, economic and social questions of our age. . .

Read more here.

Report on the Oriel Newman Lecture in Oxford

From John Whitehead's blog Once I Was a Clever Boy comes this report on a lecture about the reception of Newman in Germany from the 19th to 20th centuries:

The lecture was a masterly exposition of its subject, and indicated how from the time of his reception into the Church Newman was and has continued to be of interest to, and influenrtial of, German Catholic opinion.

Prof. Arnold identified four phases or groups who appropriated parts at least of Newman's thought and how it transmuted according to the circumstances of the time. These correspond to the circumstances facing Catholics, and other Christians, in Germany rather than the English context of Newman's life and legacy.

1840-1870: The Ultramontane Model Convert.

1870-1918: The Model for a Culturally Acceptable 'Reform Catholicism'

1918-1945: Newman for and against the "Zeitgeist"

1945-1962: The Model for a Re-Christianisation of Germany in an Ecumenical and European spirit.

Thanks to John for such a great summary!

Sister Mary Christopher Luddens, RIP

Sister Mary Christopher Luddens died on May 15, 2011. Catholic New York carried this obituary. The Sisters of Charity, New York posted this notice of her death. A friend of hers wrote me a nice note telling me of Sister's death.

Sister Mary Christopher read my book and liked it--she watched my interviews on EWTN and was thrilled to see John Henry Newman beatified in September 2010 by Pope Benedict. She was very kind to me, sending notes and enclosing mementos--she promoted me to Doctor Stephanie Mann.

She suffered a heart attack last year but recovered to celebrate her 90th birthday on May 9, 2011.

When she translated Archbishop of Tours Jean Honore's book about Newman spirituality, she relied on her high school French and the aid of John Henry Newman. The friend who wrote me of Sister Mary Christopher's death was also one who aided her in the translation and preparation of the text.

Prayer for a Happy Death, by Blessed John Henry Newman:
O my Lord and Saviour, support me in my last hour by the strong arms of Thy sacraments, and the fragrance of Thy consolations. Let Thy absolving words be said over me, and the holy oil sign and seal me; and let Thine own body be my food, and Thy blood my sprinkling; and let Thy Mother Mary come to me, and my angel whisper peace to me, and Thy glorious saints and my own dear patrons smile on me, that in and through them all I may die as I desire to live, in Thy Church, in Thy faith, and in Thy love. Amen.
My Jesus, mercy.

May He support us all the day long,
till the shadows lengthen,
and the evening comes,
and the busy world is hushed,
and the fever of life is over,
and our work is done.
Then in His mercy,
may He give us a safe lodging,
and a holy rest, and peace at last.

May she rest in the peace of Christ. Amen.

News on the USA Ordinariate

Joan Lewis of EWTN recently spoke to Cardinal Wuerl of Washington, DC. He is the Episcopal Delegate to the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops for the implementation of the Apostolic Constitution Anglicanorum coetibus in the USA.

An excerpt:

JL: I’d love right now to turn to another subject that actually is dear to both of us – the Ordinariate. That’s the new structure in the Church for welcoming numbers of Anglicans – faithful bishops, priests – into the Catholic Church. We’re not talking a single layperson who wanted to become Catholic – they would go through the normal procedure. But so many people have been asking for years – certainly in the UK – to be welcomed into the Church because they felt that the Anglican Communion was moving pretty far away from its’ Christian and, really, Catholic origins: we won’t go through the history of Henry VIII or everything, but… {for that, of course, you may turn to Supremacy and Survival: How Catholics Endured the English Reformation!}

So, now, you’ve been put in charge of a committee in the US to look at this. Is it just the US? Is it Canada? What’s the structure you’re working with?

+DW: When the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith responded to the Holy Father’s request that somehow the Church be able to respond to those Anglicans who were asking to come into the Church corporately – as a body – and, if you remember, the initial ecumenical conversations between Archbishop Ramsey and Paul VI were about corporate reunion – how does the Anglican Communion, as a communion, how does it reunite with the Catholic Church? Well the idea of Pope Benedict was – let us provide some mechanism for those who would like to do this because on the wider level the conversations are going on but the ecumenical conversation has slowed down. That led to the idea of this Ordinariate.

I was asked to be the delegate for the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith for the United States – there will be and are other delegates for different parts of the English-speaking world where the Anglican Communion is represented. In the United States we have found, in response to the announcement that there is a possibility of an Ordinariate, we received a great number of enquiries from Anglican congregations and their clergy asking is there some way they can come into the Catholic Church through this vehicle.

So, where we are right now. We have gathered up as much information as we can from all of these groups that have asked about the possibility of being part of an Ordinariate, and we’ve put it together so that we have some data to pass onto the Congregation and we’ve been asked now to prepare dossiers on each of those members of the Anglican clergy who would like to be ordained and be part of this Ordinariate, and profiles of the communities. Once that’s all in the hands of the Congregation, they’ve indicated they intend to announce – down the road – the formation of an Ordinariate. And one of those – just as happened in England – one of those will be chosen to be the Ordinary and and to head it. Basically, the structure will be – this Ordinariate will be a diocese for the whole country.