Fr Mark Morris Gets the Sack

Fr Mark Morris is Parish Priest of the Church of the Immaculate Heart of Mary at Balornock in Glasgow.  It was in this church that Cardinal Burke celebrated a Pontifical Mass last year.  Fr Morris has attended many of the Priest and Server Training Conferences organised by the Latin Mass Society, usually bringing with him other priests and servers from Scotland. 

Amongst Fr Morris's duties has been that of Catholic Chaplain to Glasgow Caledonian University - or that was the case until a few days ago when he was dismissed from that position bu the University authorities.  He had offered Rosary, Benediction and a Litany at his church in reparation for the "gross offence against God" caused by Glasgow Pride.

It is pleasing to see that the Catholic students of Glasgow Caledonian University have reacted in a very measured but firm way saying that they were "extremely disappointed" at the move and that it was "abhorrent that a priest should be dismissed for affirming the teachings of the Catholic Church".

The Sin of Pride

As I was collecting Mass books etc at the back of St Wilfrid's Church in York after the Latin Mass last Sunday, an elderly man approached me and asked why it was that he had been refused Communion.  He went on to express his outrage that Communion could only be given on the tongue.  I responded that it was the law of the Church that at Older Form Masses for Communion is given on the tongue.  At this point, he became fairly aggressive and spoke in such a loud voice that he attracted the attention of people nearby, some of whom decided to join in the debate.  He then said that he was a priest, and had been for 62 years, and claimed that he had been ordained long before all those around him were even born.  This could not be true in my case, but he probably did not realise how old I am, so I will forgive him for that error.

Although I would have liked to debate with him, he was so aggressive that no reasonable discussion was possible.  I was anxious to calm the man down, as such a public row in a church seemed improper.  I asked him where he came from, and he replied: Australia.  Eventually he moved on to do battle with Br Henry, who was outside the church. 

I had noticed this elderly man when he entered the church before Mass, perhaps because he was particularly tall.  He went to sit in the front row.  At Communion time, he stood up and remained standing at his place in a conspicuous way.  He did not go to the altar rails to receive Communion, so his allegation that he was refused Communion was not true.  What was true was that, as is normal in St Wilfrid's, there was an announcement that the "law of the Church required that Communion is received on the tongue and kneeling....".  This is presumably what annoyed him, as it was clear from the way he stood at the front of the church whilst others were receiving Communion time that he was trying to make some point.

Why am I relating this story?  It is only to illustrate how how irrational some people (including priests) are when they encounter traditional practices.  This priest claimed that he was not able to receive Communion because it was being distributed on the tongue.  As Br Henry pointed out this is an example of the sin of Pride.  What is more serious is that he was prepared to have a major row inside a church on the issue.  Everything is compounded by his being a priest.

Sunday Mass at Hedon

There will be a Latin Low Mass at 5pm on Sunday 8th July at the Church of St Mary & St Joseph in Hedon.  The celebrant will be Fr Mark Drew.

Traditional Ordinations in 2018

The blog of the gild of Blessed Titus has a post about the number of traditional priestly ordinations this year. It gives the following figures.

Society of Saint Pius X:   16

Priestly Fraternity of Saint Peter:   16

Institute of Christ the King Sovereign Priest:   6

Institute of the Good Shepherd:  4

One of the FSSP ordinations was, of course, that of Seth Phipps at Warrington.  
If we exclude the SSPX, which the LMS does not promote, we can expect 26 ordinations this year., worldwide.  This excludes traditional religious communities.  These numbers are down a bit on last year, which produced a bumper crop of traditional ordinations, although taking the longer view, the trend is upwards.

With both the Institute of Christ  the King and the Priestly Fraternity of St Peter getting better established in England and Wales, we can expect more home grown vocations.  The Institute seem to have been doing particularly well of late.  I understand that two of the young men who joined their House of Discernment in Preston last year have been accepted to start at their seminary this year, and a further one is to train to be an Oblate.  I also understand that there are applications to join the House of Discernment later this year.

Feast of St Peter & St Paul

Friday 29th June is the Feast of St Peter and St Paul, and a Holyday of Obligation.  There will be a Sung Mass in the Extraordinary Form at 6pm at St Wilfrid's Church in York.

Ordination of Seth Phipps FSSP on Saturday 9th June

The priestly ordination of Seth Phipps FSSP will take place at St Mary's Church, Warrington, at 11am on Saturday 9th June.  Archbishop Malcolm McMahon of Liverpool will be the ordaining bishop.

A year ago, at the same church, Archbishop McMahon ordained two new priests for the Priestly Fraternity of St Peter.  These are now both working in the USA.  In recent years, there has been a steady trickle of ordinations of Englishmen (and Scotsmen) in the FSSP, although, before last year, all took place abroad. 

Sunday 10th June.

As is usual on the second Sunday of each month, there will be a Low Mass at 5pm on Sunday 10th June, at the Church of St Mary & St Joseph in Hedon.  It will be offered by Fr Mark Drew, the Parish Priest.

Feast of the Sacred Heart

There will be a Latin Mass at 6pm on Friday 8th June, the Feast of the Sacred Heart,  at St Wilfrid's Church in York.  It will be part of two days of Eucharistic adoration and prayer for the City of York, taking place on the Friday and Saturday.

There will be a procession of the Blessed Sacrament around the streets of York at 9.45pm on the Friday, and adoration in the church from 8am on Friday to mid-day on Saturday.  See the parish website for details.

Last year, this was a very successful event, and attracted much attention from the tourists and revellers of York.

Corpus Christi

There will be a Sung Latin Mass for the Feast of Corpus Christi at St Wilfrid's Church in York on Thursday 31st May at 6pm.  The Choral Scholars will be singing Josquin's setting of the Mass, Pange Lingua.

The Latin Mass in Uganda

According to the Ugandan newspaper, the Daily Monitor, a Latin Mass is offered every Sunday at the Catholic Management and Training Institute in Rubaga in Uganda.  This Institute is associated with the local cathedral.  The Mass is celebrated by Fr Christophe Nouveau, who, it seems, is the only priest in Uganda able to offer mass in the traditional form, although two more have now been sent to France for training.

Parishioners of Rubaga had contacted Fr Nouveau in 2004 when he was stationed in Kenya, but had to wait until 2015, when Fr Nouveau moved to Kenya, for a regular Latin Mass.  Fr Nouveau also travels to Rwanda, Tanzania and Burundi to celebrate occasional Latin Masses.

The fact that Ugandan priests are being sent to France to be trained in celebrating the Latin Mass, is a very encouraging move, and suggests that at least some Ugandan bishops are accepting, if not encouraging, greater availability of the Latin Mass.  This and similar reports suggest that we can expect a great expansion in the availability of the Latin Mass on the African continent.