Nostalgia at the Newman Center

Last Friday (April 26) I attended Adoration and Mass at St. Paul's University Parish at Wichita State University, my alma mater. When I was an undergraduate and graduate student, it was known as St. Paul Parish-Newman Center. And on Friday, when I looked at the bulletin, I was reminded even more than I usually am when I'm there of one of the decisive events of my life: The Newman School of Catholic Thought (NSCT) I attended in January 1979.

The reminder last week was that today's 11:45 a.m. Mass is being celebrated for the repose of the soul of Reverend Stephen Almagno, OFM, who was one of the speakers during that great week. I am attending that Mass today, to pray for him in gratitude for his great influence from those five days so many years ago. 

Here is one obituary from Providence, RI where he was born, and one from his conference of the Orders of Friars Minor.

His topic at the January 1979 NSCT was "Newman's Spirituality": I still have my notes from those lectures:

On Tuesday, January 2, his first lecture introduced major themes in his topic, primarily Newman as a champion of forgotten truths, with a sense "that God is and has revealed himself", a sympathetic pastoral sense to help his congregations follow the Faith and live it.

On Wednesday, January 3, Father Almagno spoke on themes like "holiness is wholeness", holiness is the "result of a moral struggle and intellectual understanding", and Newman's spirituality as striving "to come closer to God" while seeking truth in our hearts and our minds, concluding that doctrine and submission to God's revelation were essential.

On Thursday, January 4, he started speaking about Newman and the Fathers of the Church and what he learned from them about handing on the Faith and the truth.

On Friday, January 5, Father Almagno talked more about Newman's conversion and becoming a Catholic, what it cost him but how it was part of his spiritual journey to be closer to God and obedient to the Truth; and Newman's concern for the formation and education of the laity.

Then in his last lecture on Saturday, January 6, he talked about Newman's later years: his efforts to found an Oratory at Oxford for Catholic men to help maintain their Catholic faith; his reactions to the doctrines of the Immaculate Conception and Papal Infallibility; his Grammar of Assent; the late recognition of his efforts: the Honorary Fellowship at Trinity College and the Cardinal's Hat. Father Almagno summed up Newman's spiritual life--in a seeming paradox since we acclaim his scholarship and his influence so highly-- as "being ordinary carried to perfection", especially in those later years as he led the Oratory in Birmingham.

It's interesting that neither of Father Almagno's obituaries mention his interest in St. John Henry Newman, instead highlighting his study of Father Teilhard de Chardin, but memorials are to be sent to National Institute for Newman Studies!

Eternal rest grant to him, O Lord, and may the perpetual light shine upon him. May Father Almagno's soul and the souls of the all the faithful departed rest in peace. May Father Almagno rest in peace. Amen.

Saint John Henry Newman, pray for us!

+Bishop Bill Fey, OFM Cap., RIP

Each September, I receive several mailings from religious orders and other organizations offering Masses for the Poor Souls for All Souls Day and throughout the month of November. A couple of days ago, I got the one from the Capuchins, highlighting several from their order who had died since last All Souls Day. One of the faces looked familiar and then I recognized the name: Bishop Bill Fey, OFM Cap, who died January 19, 2021 (just 17 days after my brother Steven here in Wichita, KS) in Pittsburgh, PA. You may find his obituary here. He had retired as the Bishop of Kimbe, Papua New Guinea in 2018 and returned to the USA in 2020; he'd suffered a couple of strokes before his retirement and became ill with COVID-19 after joining a Capuchin friary in Pittsburgh.

The reason I recognized his name is because he was a Newman scholar:

Bill completed his theological studies at Capuchin College in Washington, DC, in 1969 and received a Master of Arts degree from the Catholic University of America in 1970 before enrolling for doctoral studies at Oxford University in England, where he was awarded the degree of D.Phil.Oxon (doctorate in Philosophy) in 1974. His doctoral thesis was entitled John Henry Newman, Empiricist Philosophy and the Certainty of Faith. His interest in the work of that future saint would continue throughout his life; his doctoral thesis was published in book form entitled Faith and Doubt: the Unfolding of Newman’s Thought on Certainty (Patmos Press: 1976). He went on to contribute scholarly articles and to deliver numerous papers and lectures on Cardinal Newman’s thought and writings over the years.

He came to the Newman Center at Wichita State University sometime in the early 1980's to give a day-long program based upon his book. I still have my notes from that day but have lost the program that was printed for the occasion.

The last time I'd seen his name in association with St. John Henry Newman was this blurb for John Henry Newman: Spiritual Director, 1845-1890 by Peter C. Wilcox, STD: 

Drawing on Newman's vast correspondence, Wilcox has given us a very human portrait of a spiritual master of remarkable sensitivity. Readers will find Newman's account of the development of revealed doctrine reflected in his understanding of the spiritual development of ordinary people. Newman comes across as someone who listens with respect and then speaks with careful balance--promoting devotion without excessive piety, reasonableness without rationality, and compassion without sentimentality--always challenging without demanding. --William Fey, OFM Cap., Bishop of Kimbe, Papua New Guinea

May his soul and the souls of all the faithful departed, rest in peace.