Ordinations in France

The website of the conference of the bishops of France gives the numbers of priestly ordinations in 2013 for each diocese. There are 108 dioceses in France. During the year, there were 92 ordinations for diocesan priests, which is less than one per diocese. The top performing dioceses were:- Frejus-Toulon 10, Verseilles 8, Paris 6, Gap 5, Grenobles-Vienne 4, Avignon 3, Lille 3, Chartres 3, Autan 2, Bayonne 2, Bordeaux 2, Dijon 2, Le Mans 2, Le Puy 2, Orleans 2. There were 21 dioceses with a single ordination, leaving 72 dioceses without any at all. There were also 38 ordinations for priests belonging to religious orders. I am not sure whether this includes the traditional orders or not. The striking feature is how much the top performing dioceses are ahead of run of the mill. Needless to say, Frejus-Toulon has a bishop who is well disposed to the traditional Mass. England and Wales performs rather better than France with an average of just over one ordination per diocese. Scotland, regrettably is doing less well.

Trouble in the USA

Supporters of the older form of the Mass in the Middlesbrough Diocese have reason to be thankful to Bishop Drainey. Soon after Bishop Drainey was appointed as Bishop of Middlesbrough, I had a meeting with him, and it immediately became obvious that he acknowledged the need to improve the provision of usus antiquior Masses in the diocese. He understood that this would require additional priests able and willing to celebrate Mass in that form, and promptly set about the task of finding suitable priests. One priest responded to his request, and this was Fr Stephen Maughan, who became the regular celebrant of the Sunday Masses in York. Later, the shortage of priests in the diocese became so acute that Fr Maughan was required elsewhere, but he continued to offer monthly Masses in York, and Bishop Drainey arranged for Fr James Callaghan OSB to offer Mass on another Sunday each Month. By good fortune, Fr David Smith, who serves as an army chaplain, was able to offer Mass on the remaining Sundays, although this was an arrangement which would have had to come to an end when Fr Smith was posted elsewhere. A more permanent solution to the availability of the traditional Mass in York has now been found, and again we can thank Bishop Drainey for this. He has welcomed Oratorians into the diocese, and part of his reason for doing this is to ensure the continued provision of Mass in the older form. Regrettably, there are other dioceses where those attached to the traditional Mass are not treated as well by their bishops as we have been in Middlesbrough. An example is the Diocese of Fort Worth in the USA, where the students of More Fisher College have been denied the right given to them by Pope Benedict XVI in his motu proprio, Summorum Pontificum. The letter that a student of that college has received from his bishop can be seen on Rorate Coeli and other blogs.

Margaret Clitherow & the Martyrs of York

The annual pilgrimage organised by the Latin Mass Society in honour of St Martgaret Clitherow and the Martyrs of York will take place on Saturday 29th March in York. Here is a picture of the pilgrimage of 2012 which was attended by Bishop Drainey.

The pilgrimage will start with a Solemn Mass at 1.30pm in the church of St Wilfrid and will be followed at 3.15pm by a procession through the city streets, passing through The Shambles and over Ouse Bridge, before returning to St Wilfrid's Church for Benediction at about 4pm. This year, all of the 51 martyrs who were executed in York are being included.

Ash Wednesday

There will be a Mass with distribution of Ashes at St Wilfrid's Church in York at 6pm on Wednesday. It will be a Missa Cantata.

Extra Masses in York

Fr Duffield has given me a list of additional Masses in the usus antiquior planned for St Wilfrid's Church in York. The are a follows: Ash Wednesday 5th March 6pm Wednesday The Annunciation 25th March 6pm Tuesday The Ascension 29th May 6pm Thursday Corpus Christi 19th June 6pm Thursday The Assumption 15th August 6pm Friday All Saints 1st November 11am Saturday All Souls 3rd November 6pm Monday It is not clear at the moment whether any of these will be Sung Masses. Apologies for the layout. I cannot get the return to work for new lines.

Clifton Cathedral

Over at Auntie Joanna Writes, Joanna Bogle reports on her recent visit to Clifton Cathedral. Usually this author chooses her words carefully so as not to cause anyone any offence. In this post, she pours scorn on the building and on the Sunday Mass that she attended. She has not a good word to say about the place, or the liturgy offered there. The one and only time that I have visited Clifton Cathedral was in the 1960s, soon after it opened. I thought then that, architecturally, it was totally devoid of merit. Nearly 50 years later, Joanna Bogle has come to the same conclusion. Probably, the only thing to have changed is that there are now rows of buckets on the floor to collect the water from the leaking roof!

There is so much in a Name

At this time of the year, I often think about the differences between the new and old forms of the Mass when it comes to the naming of Sundays. We have the succession Septuagessima, Sexagessima and Quinquagessima. How much more interesting these are than sixth, seventh and eight Sundays of Ordinary Time. The expression Ordinary Time seems so mundane. I often think that the modern nomenclature is what one might expect from a Communist state, where people might live on the 9th Floor of Block 17 in District 34 of a particular town.

Missa Cantata on Sunday

This is a reminder that as from this coming Sunday, 23rd February, which is Sexagessima Sunday, the regular Sunday evening Mass at St Wilfrid's Church in York will be a Missa Cantata. Music, usually plainsong, will be provided by the Rudgate Singers. The Rudgate Singers are looking for more singers, as the church is quite large and requires a lot of filling with sound. Additional servers are also needed, especially during university holiday times, as some of the regular crew are students.

San Francisco to get Oratory

There are reports on the internet that Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone, the Archbishop of San Francisco has asked Fr Joseph Illo, who is currently chaplain to Thomas Aquinas College to found an Oratory in downtown San Francisco. The initial community is likely to consist of Fr Illo, another priest and two brothers. It seems that the archbishop will provide a suitable church, on the condition that Fr Illo comes up with some financial guarantees that will tide the new Oratory over its first three years. Fr Illo launched an appeal earlier this month, and has already received pledges for two thirds of the $220,000 that is required. So the financial hurdle is well on the way to being met. It has not been disclosed which church the archbishop has in mind, but it is likely to have a prominent position in the city centre, as the Oratorian mission is very much one to city dwellers.

More FSSP Priests on the Way

During the first two weeks of February, 15 young men were ordained to the major order of Sub-deacon, and it is likely that they will become deacons later this year. All could be ordained priests in 2015.