Christmas in Middlesbrough

At the church of St Alphonsus, North Ormesby, Middlesbrough.

Christmas Eve 5.30pm Vespers in Gregorian Chant

Midnight Solemn High Mass in the Usus Antiquior

Christmas Day 9.15am Lauds in Gregorian Chant

4.00pm Vespers and Benediction in Gregorian Chant

St Stephen's Day 10.00am Sung Mass in the Usus Antiquior.

In addition, Fr Charlton will be celebrating a Sung Mass with carols in the Novus Ordo at 7pm on Christmas Eve and a Low Mass in the Novus Ordo at 8am on Christmas Day.

Christmas Services in Middlesbrough

I've been asked by Fr Bill Charlton to publicise his Extraordinary Form Christmas Services, which I'm more than happy to do. They include the *only* Solemn High Mass, in this part of the country that I'm aware of. Solemn High Mass is a rare treat, even during the year, so to have one at Christmas is an opportunity not to be missed! If you live in the North of the Diocese, and/or reasonable travelling time from North Ormesby, than I urge you to go to what will be a very special Mass.

Here's the complete schedule, including his Ordinary Form Masses, should you be unable to get to Midnight Mass.

Christmas Services. St Alphonsus' Church, North Ormesby.

Christmas Eve

5.30 pm First Vespers (Gregorian chant)

7.00 pm Sung Mass (OF)for all the family (with carols)

12 Midnight Solemn High Mass

Christmas Day

8.00 am Mass of the Dawn (OF)

9.15 am Sung Lauds (Gregorian chant)

10.00 am Sung Mass (OF)

4.00 pm Vespers & Benediction (Gregorian chant)

St Stephen's Day

10.00 am Missa Cantata

Sunday 27th December

6.00 pm Missa Cantata

Servers & singers would be welcome and are asked to give him a ring to let him know if they can help. 01642-245043 also 01642-318587

Many thanks, Mike

Some Pictures from Ushaw 2009

St Cuthbert's Chapel at Ushaw

Fr Brown offering a votive Mass of the Blessed Virgin Mary, with Fr de Malleray as deacon and Fr Cahill as sub-deacon.

Picture taken after the final Mass

Although not the best of photographs, these pictures may give some idea what went on at Ushaw 2009.

Priests' training Conference at Ushaw

Information is spreading around the blogosphere about the next priest's training conference to be organised by the Latin Mass Society. It will be held at Ushaw College, near Durham, from 12th to 16th April is in Low Week. Further information can be found on the LMS website or on Fr Blake's or Fr Finigan's blogs amongst other places.

The point that I would like to make is that we need to get priests to attend. There are many priests who would like to attend one of these conferences, but never get to hear about them. There are others who may get to hear about them, but need a little encouragement to attend. It may be that they do not know what to expect, or that they think that it will be too difficult or that their Latin is not good enough, or that they fear criticism from other clergy.

My response is that they need fear none of these things. The Latin Mass Society has already held four of these conferences and over 100 priests have attended. The vast majority have gone on to be regular celebrants of the usus antiquior. Some have come back to a second or third conference to improve their skills. The conferences are streamed to cater for all levels of ability, ranging from complete beginners to regular attenders. Knowledge of Latin is also taken into account, and many priests have attended who have never studied Latin before.

I would urge readers to spend some time thinking whether they know any priests who might benefit from attending the conference, and then to encourage them to attend. Apart from what they might learn about the older form of the Mass, they will certainly benefit from the excellent liturgies, the spiritual atmosphere and the friendship of other priests.

Missa Cantata on Gaudete Sunday

Fr Stephen Maughan will celebrate his first Sung Mass in the usus antiquior on Gaudete Sunday, which this year is 13th December. This Mass will be at 6.30pm in the church of the English Martyrs, Dalton Terrace in York.

Fr Maughan, who has been celebrating Low Mass at the English Martyrs' Church each Sunday for several weeks now, is musically tallented, so I am sure that his singing will be of a high standard. Nevertheless, the various tones used at a Sung Mass are fairly complicated, and there are extra rubrics to be mastered concerning the incensation of thr altar etc. Please pray that everything goes well.

The Mass will be the plainsong setting for Sundays of Advent and Lent with Credo I. The schola of the Rudgate Singers will sing the propers and lead the congregation in the peoples' parts.

Masses outside the Diocese

There are two Masses coming up that might be of interest.

Leeds Cathedral
Saturday 28th November 3.00pm
Requiem Mass
for the repose of the soul of Bishop Wheeler.

St Mary's, Brigg, Lincolnshire
Tues 8th December 7.30pm
Solemn High Mass
Feast if ther Immaculate Conception.

Anglicanorum Coetibus

Readers who have been following developments within the Church of England since the publication of Anglicanorum Coetibus, may be wondering how many convertions there might be within the area of the Middlesbrough Diocese. At present, we can only guess because most groups of potential swimmers are delaying their decision until February. That is when it is expected that the Church of England will decide what provision it will make to accommodate its members who are opposed to women bishops.

The likelihood is that no satisfactory provision will be made, and the current system of "flying bishops" will come to an end. The prevailing arguement amongst synod members seems to be that there should be no discrimination between male and female bishops; and consequently it would not be acceptable for the jurisdiction of female bishops to be restricted by having parishes within their territory over which they did not have full control.

It seems inevitable that next February, another wave Anglican bishops, priests and laity will begin to move out of the Church of England. Most will be heading towards the Catholic Church, but it is far from certain that they will all make use of the provisions for Ordinariates set out in Anglicanorum Coetibus. It seems to me that that would only work if whole parishes converted en Masse and they were lucky enough to have use of a suitable church. Furthermore, it would have to be a sizable parish for it to be able to support a priest financially. I would be surprised if there would be more than three viable Ordinariate parishes established within the Middlesbrough Diocese. It is more likely that most conversions will be by the conventional route of joining established Catholic parishes.

In the Church of England, parishes that use the oversight of flying bishops belong to a movement called Forward in Faith. The Forward in Faith website lists nine parishes within the boundaries of the Catholic Middlesbrough Diocese. Three are in Middlesbrough itself, two are in North Thornaby and two are in York. In addition, there is one at Cottingham, one at Carlin How and one at Loftus. Of course, conversions are not limited to F in F parishes, neither is it necessarily the case that the majority of members of a F in F parish (or indeed any members) will convert.

So one can only guess what might happen. My stab in the dark is that about 10 clergymen and maybe 200 laity will take the plunge.

Il y a un Elephant dans la Salle

Fr Sean Finnegan in his blog Vale Adurni discusses some statistics that he has found in the French periodical, Paix Liturgique. It makes interesting reading.

Apparently, there are nearly 9,000 diocesan priests in France. At first, this seemed an impressive number to me, but one must remember that France is supposedly a Catholic country, where the majority of the population are nominal Catholics. France is vastly greater in area than England and Wales and its Catholic population is something like ten times as large.

As in England and Wales, the number of priests has been in steady decline for decades, but the shortage is far more accute in France than it is over here. The supply of priests is also far more patchy in France. Apparently in some dioceses it is common for priests to have to look after as many as six churches.

The bishops of France are gathered for their autumn conference; and, although they must all be very aware of this issue, they are apparently unwilling to discuss it, preferring to make optimistic statements about how well parishes are managing without a parish priest. They are also unwilling to acknowledge the existence a growing, and now substantial, section of the clergy, namely those who belong to the traditional movements. Here are the figures.

There are about 260 French priests belonging to traditional orders. [In this article, the term traditional orders includes the SSPX.] This represents about 3% of the total number of active priests, and one might conclude that they are of little significance. However, one should look at trends. As in England, the age profile of diocesan priests is heavily skewed, with the majority nearing retirement. The age profile of priests belonging to the traditional orders is skewed in the oppositee direction. On current projections, the 3% will grow to 25% within 15 years. Here are some more figures.

In 2009, there were 90 priests ordained for diocesan ministry. This is nowhere near the number that would be required to maintain the already inadequate complement of 9,000. Priests are currently retiring in France at about the rate of 300 a year. The traditional orders managed to ordain 15, which may seem a tiny number, but it does represent more than 14% of all ordinations. Expressed this way, it begins to look far from insignificant. What about the longer term?

There is a total of about 900 men studying in French seminaries. 160 of them are within the traditional orders and 740 are in diocesan seminaries. Expresses another way, 18% of the men who have joined a French seminary in the last six years have chosen the traditional orders. However, an analysis of the 740 in diocesan seminaries, shows that relatively few of them are at the junior end. In other words, the numbers of ordinations are going to decline further. The opposite applies with the traditional orders.

If we look at admissions to French seminaries in 2009, there were 41 entering traditional seminaries and 120 entering diocesan seminaries. These are startling figures. In France one in four vocations to the priesthood is a vocation to a traditional order.

As in England and Wales, it is inevitable that the priest shortage in France will worsen over the next 25 years, the only difference being that the effects will be felt more accutely in France. However, France has a growing reserve of priests, which, at present, their bishops refuse to acknowledge. In a few years, the number of traditional priests will grow to such an extent that the bishops will surely have to recognise the elephant in the room.

In fact, there is the first sign that this is about to happen. Bishop Rey of the Diocese of Frejus-Toulon seems to have broken ranks with his fellow bishops and included instruction in the traditional form of the Mass in his diocesan seminary. The result is that this seminary is attracting more than its share of students and becoming the one bright spot amongst all the gloom. Historically, it has been regarded as a small seminary serving a small relatively diocese. It now has 80 seminarians. This compares with, for example, the formerly large seminary serving Paris and the surrounding region which now has 50 students.

The International federation Una Vove

Many readers may not know that the Latin Mass Society of England and Wales is a member of the International Federation Una Voce. This federation has thirty or more members from around the world, all of which areorganisations campaigning for greater use of the traditional liturgies in their own countries.

The LMS has been a prominent member of the federation since it was formed, Michael Davies having been its Executive President for many years. The current Executive President, Leo Darroch, is again an Englishman; and has been very active recently. At the end of October, he was able to arrange a short audience with the Holy Father and present him with a report on the implementation of Summorum Pontificum worldwide two years after its introduction. You can read all about it on the federation's website: www.ifuv/docs/rome_20091028.html

Masses Continue in York

There have now been three Sunday evening Masses at the church of the English Martyrs in York. The first two were celebrated by Fr Stephen Maughan and the third by Fr Alex Redman. Fr Redman is a priest of the Clifton Diocese, but working full time as Catholic chaplain to Wakefield Prison. He has free time on Sundays and has volunteered to say Latin Masses whenever he is available. So we will have backup for the occasions when Fr Maughan is away.

About 40 attended the first mass, but the numbers were down a little at the following ones. The problem in one of publicity. It seems that very few people know about these Masses. I have asked the parishes in the York area to include an item on this Mass in their newsletters; but, so far, I am not aware that anything has appeared. For the first Mass, I arranged for an item in the local paper, which probably accounted for the larger number. I have sent information to the diocesan newspaper, Catholic Voice, but this will not appear until the December issue, due to the lead times. Does anyone have any ideas of how to spread the news around?

Italian Opinion Poll

Rorate Caeli has reported on an opinion poll conducted in Italy by one of that country's leading polling organisations. I understand that the results can be considered reliable. Apparently, three questions were asked.

1. Are you aware of the motu proprio, summorum pontificum, by which Pope Benedict XVI approves both forms of the Roman Rite?

64% of practicing Catholics said YES
58% of all catholics said YES

2. Would you find it normal to have both forms celebrated in your parish?

71% of practicing Catholics said YES
71% of all Catholics said YES

3. If the Extraordinary Form were available in your parish, would you attend

a) at least once a month?

63% of practicing Catholics said YES

b) at least once a week?

40% of practicing Catholics said YES


These are all remarkably high percentages. I would guess that if the same questions were asked in England, the figures would less than half the Italian ones. However, this is only my guess. It would be interesting to see the results of a similar poll conducted here.

The most significant result is the one that found that 63% of practicing Catholics would attend a usus antiquior Mass at least once a month if there was one in their parish. This must surely be a compelling argument for provision of at least some older rite Masses in most Italian parishes. The result that as many as 71% of Catholics would consider this normal, would seem to suggest that opposition amongst parishioners would be minimal.

Another result that I find surprising is the level of awareness of summorum pontificum in Italy. Of course, being aware of the existence of summorum pontificum is not the same as knowing exactly what it decrees; nevertheless, 64% is a remarkable figure for a country where there is no equivalent to the Latin Mass Society, and very few old rite Masses are celebrated.

Fr Stephen Maughan's First Mass in the Usus Antiquior

Yesterday, Fr Stephen Maughan celebrated his first Mass in the Usus Antiquior, and he did it very well. From now, at least until Christmas, there will be a Low Mass at 6.30pm every Sunday at the church of the English Martyrs in York. Fr Maughan will be the usual celebrant.

About 40 attended yesterday, which was quite good since it is nine months since the last Latin Mass in York. Interestingly, many of the congregation were people that I had not seen before. In the other hand, some who were regulars last year were not there. Hopefully, the attendence will build up so that there are enough for this Mass to continue indefinitely.

Please pass on information about this Mass to anyone you know who might be interested.

Good Appointment in Birmingham

I think that we can be well pleased with the Holy Father's choice for the see of Birmingham. It was announced today that Bishop Bernard Longley, Auxiliary in Westminster, will be moving to the Archdiocese of Birmingham.

Bishop Longley is considered orthodox, and is known to be reasonably sympathetic to the traditionalist point of view. He is also well educated, having an Oxford degree.

This is an imaginative appointment, bypassing several bishops who are already ordinaries in their dioceses, and might have considered themselves ripe for promotion.

Well Attended Mass in Howden.

The Mass celebrated last night at the church of the Sacred Heart in Howden was well attended. I did not get a chance to count, but going bey the number of booklets used, the congregation was around 35. Fr David Smith of St Marie's Church in Hallifax celebrated and the propers were sung by the Rudgate Singers. The congregation joined in Missa de Angelis.

I was well pleased by the size of the congregation. I had guessed that about 20 would come.

Pope to visit Britain in September 2010

The fantastic news is on the BBC here.

John Paul II visited York in 1982 so it's not out of the question that His Holiness may decide to do so next year...

Resumption of Masses in York

Starting on Sunday 11th October, there will be a regular weekly Sunday Mass in the usus antiquior at the Church of the English Martyrs, Dalton Terrace in York. It will be at 6.30pm, not 6pm as previously. For the time being, it will be a Low Mass. The celebrant will be Fr Stephen Maughan.

Please pass this information on to anyone who might be interested.

Coming shortly to York

The Sunday Latin Mass in York that was suspended last January is to resume. The target date is Sunday 11th October, although we cannot be sure of this at the moment. Neither can we be sure of the timing or venue. What we do know is that for the time being, it will be a Low Mass.

The celebrant will be Fr Stephen Maughan, who has had to learn the ars celebrandi of the usus antiquior, and readers will understand that we cannot proceed until he has satisfied himself that he is proficient.

Full details will be posted here as soon as they are available.

Mass at Howden

There will be a Mass in the usus antiquior at the Church of the Sacred Heart, Knedlington Road, Howden at 7.30pm on Tuesday 29th September, which is the Feast of St Michael the Archangel. Fr David Smith of St Marie's, Halifax will be the celebrant.

It is proposed that it should be a Missa Cantata, and in view of the the feast, Missa de Angelis is appropriate. Of course, this is only practical if enough people turn up to sing.

The church is very close to the M62 motorway so is easy to get to. Leave the M62 at junction 37. When you reach a roundabout, turn left; and, after 100 yards, just before a pertol station take a very minor road on your right. At the next junction, turn right, follow this road around a curve. You will find the church on your left just before you reach a crossroads junction.

Priests' Training

I have just returned from London Colney in Hertfordshire, where the Archdiocese of Westminster has its Pastoral Centre. All Saints Pastoral Centre is an impressive range of buildings in extensive grounds which, until 1973, was a convent for Anglican nuns. It has cloisters arranged round central courtyard and a sizable chapel in the gothic style designed by Sir Ninian Compar. Although the buildings were conceived on a grand scale, with elegant parlours and a spacious great hall, the bedrooms, being the former nuns' cells, are small and make few concessions to the modern age. Throughout the five days that I was there, I found the food good and the staff helpful.

More than 20 priests attended with the intention learning to celebrate Mass in the usus antiquior. Some were beginners and studied Low Mass; others, who had attended previous conferences, studied the rubrics of Missa Cantata or Solumn Mass. Tuition was given by six experienced priests who regularly celebrate in the older form. During the course of the week, at least five priests offered their first Mass in the extraordinary form.

Besides tuition in the ars celebrandi, there were spiritual lectures and a range of liturgies which were designed to be examples of best practice. These included Vespers, Compline and Benediction, as well as daily public Mass. Plainsong and polyphonic settings were provided by the Charles Finch Singers who also lead the singing of the office.

Private Masses began at 6.15am and and took place at various side altars, providing plenty of early morning work for the team of servers, who were on duty later in the day at the public liturgies.

Masses in the Usus Antiquior in the Middlesbrough Diocese

A reminder that Fr William Charlton celebrates a Mass in the traditional rite every Sunday at 6pm at the Church of St Alphonsus in North Ormsby in Middlesbrough. It is usually a Low Mass and is preceded by Rosary and Benediction at 5.30.

The Mass that was formerly held twice each month at the Church of the English Martyrs in York is temporarily suspended, due to the transfer of Fr Charlton to Middlesbrough. It is hoped that it will be resumed in September. News will be posted on this site as soon as information becomes available.

Straight Talking from Swiss Bishop

Fr Zulsdorf on his blog, What Does the prayer Really Say, has a very good piece written by the Bishop of Basel.

The Church in Switzerland is extremely liberal, even to the extent that the Bishop of Basel is elected by the laity, with the Vatican having little say in the matter. It seems that the liberals of the Diocese of Basel have elected the wrong man, and have found themselves with an extremely orthodox Bishop who is not afraid to speak his mind. He has recently hit out at his Vatican II obsessed critics, by pointing out that Vatican II requires pride of place to be given to Gregorian Chant and that Latin be retained.

Go over to WDTPRS and read it for yourself. It is really good.

Reminder. Missa Cantata this Saturday!

For those of you able to go, we have a Missa Cantata this Saturday at 3pm in the church of St Alphonsus, North Ormesby, Middlesbrough for the Patronal Feast of the Diocese, Our Lady of Perpetual Succour. The Mass will be sung by The Rudgate Singers, who will sing Palestrina's Missa 'Veni Sponsa Christi' with motets by Elgar and Croce. The Gregorian Chant Propers for the feast will be sung, and the Mass will conclude with the singing of the Solemn Salve Regina.

Please do come if you can, and encourage others to do so!

A further note: we desperately need servers for this Mass! Please email me via the Rudgate Singers link if you are able to serve.

Thank you.

LMS AGM & Annual High Mass

The AGM

After all the furore earlier in the year caused by the resignations of Julian Chadwick and John Eidenow there was a great deal of anticipation as to how this would be covered by the AGM. However anyone expecting any detailed explanations will have left sorely disappointed. The issue was not glossed over and to their credit the committee did tackle the issue head on but there is a clear perception that, for whatever reason, the committee is unwilling to explain the issues that caused them to vote for a motion of no confidence in Julian Chadwick. Whilst they may have their reasons and I don't doubt they are genuinely held; I cannot believe this secrecy is in either their interests or those of the society. At the moment, rightly or wrongly, there is still a great deal of discontent over Mr Chadwick's removal as chairman. If the committee felt strongly enough to vote for a motion of no confidence in him then I am prepared to accept their decision but I would still like to know what caused them to make take that course of action. In the absence of a clear statement there are a lot of ridiculous rumours flying around on the blogosphere and elsewhere. There was the absurd 'class divide' nonsense commented on at Holy Smoke and the pro and anti Merton stances on the priests training conferences and then there are the comments about Deacon Hemming's dubious philosophical writings. Clearing this up is in the interests of the society and the new committee. The committee might actually find that we, the members, support their actions but without knowing it's very difficult. There was also no explanation as to why Mgr Conlon decided to resign as the society's chaplain although the AGM did note their thanks by acclamation.

Anyway, onto the good news, despite the controversy surrounding their appointments, the LMS does have an excellent committee in the shape of the new chairman, Joseph Shaw, and the new treasurer, Paul Waddington. They both look set to be an energising force to drive through the changes necessary in the society to enable it to flourish in the post Summorum Pontificum world. Both have excellent ideas on how to take the society forward and to ensure that, as Fr Martin Edwards stated in his address to the AGM, we build on the past successes and ensure that the Mass of Ages spreads throughout the dioceses and parishes so that in time it is celebrated, in the words of Cardinal Hoyos, not just in some of the parishes but all the parishes. The triumph of the priests training conference at Ushaw will be followed by another training conference at London Colney this time with the full approval and support of the Archdiocese of Westminster – who will even be paying for the first Mass, which will be in the Ordinary Form. As the chairman stated, this is not out of place - for when priests return to their parishes they will celebrate both forms. So it is important that they (and one might add the bishops!) can see that both forms can co-exist side by side.

The Mass

After the phenomenal occasion of Cardinal Hoyos' visit last year this was never going to approach the scale or impact of that event and yet even ones decreased expectations were not met. In it's favour we had his Lordship Bishop Arnold as celebrant, the vestments were beautiful, Mass was celebrated at the High Altar (the other Altar seems to have been permanently removed – Deo Gratias) and the schola of the Cathedral Choir sang. On the downside, the music was simply dreadful (Duruffle's Messe Cum Iubilo). Without criticising the singing of the schola, which was as good as one would expect, the choice of music was just awful and sounded as if they were singing Mass IX through a toilet cistern. Why they could not simply sing the original chants I do not know as it would have been far preferable to this. When the LMS is prepared to fund polyphonic choirs at Maiden Lane, where the maximum congregation must be barely 200, it would be hoped that they could manage the same for the premier Mass organised by the Society. Also the Salve Regina was not sung at the end (at a Mass for the BVM!) and there was no pontifical blessing as Bishop Arnold processed down the nave. When large numbers of people had travelled so far to attend this Mass it would be hoped that the LMS could do better.

Latin Masses in the Diocese of Middlesbrough

Fr Charlton continues to celebrate a Mass in the usus antiquior at 6pm each Sunday at the Church of St Alphonsus in North Ormesby, Middlesbrough. It is preceded by Rosary and Benediction at 5.30pm.

The Sunday Masses at the church of the English Martyrs in York have been suspended since February due to Fr Charlton's removal to Middlesbrough. It is expected that they will resume in September when Fr Stephen Maughan has been fully trained. In the meantime, people living in the York area are advised that there is a Low Mass every Sunday at 3pm at the church of St Joseph in Castleford, which is in the Leeds Diocese.

Some Good News! Young Catholic Adults Douai Abbey Retreat Gets Bigger and Better

During the weekend of the 18-20 September 2009. Young Catholic Adults (YCA are part of the international Juventutem Federation) will be running a Traditional Retreat at Douai Abbey in the south of England, the weekend will be led by Juventutem Ecclesiastical Assistant Fr de Malleray. Summorum Pontificum must be working - at least in a "brick by brick" fashion, just look at the following:-

-For the first time Young Catholic Adults will be using the main Abbey Church for Mass

-For the first time YCA will be organising a Missa Cantata, sung by the Douai Singers; this will be followed by a Marian Procession

- YCA has booked out the whole of the retreat complex this year, on the advice of Douai Abbey itself, as the monks were so pleased with the YCA retreat last year

Places are limited so please book early

-YCA will have the retreat centre to itself
-There will be a social in the evening
- Fr. de Malleray FSSP head of Juventutem will preach the retreat, all Masses will be in the Extraordinary form
- There will be a Sung Mass (Missa Canta) on Saturday 19th September 09’ at 10am. The choir will be the Douai Singers, in the main Abbey Church, followed by a Marian Procession at 11am (starting from the main Abbey Church) around the extensive grounds of the Abbey (weather permitting, if the weather is poor there will be Marian devotions in the main Abbey Church )
-The weekend will be full-board (except for the Sunday lunch)

How to book

The cost of the weekend will be from as little as 25 pounds for students (or 48-88 pounds for non students) for more details, please see http://www.youngcatholicadults.co.uk/news.htm or email juventutemcatholicam@yahoo.co.uk or ring 07908 105787

Events Open to the Public

The Sung Mass (Missa Canta) on Saturday 19th September 09’ at 10am followed by a Marian Procession around the extensive grounds of the Abbey at 11am (starting from the main Abbey Church) are open to the public.

There are also a few rooms allocated for all age groups (not just YCA) so please book soon.

There are limited places so please reserve your place early!

For photographs of previous Douai Retreats go HERE!

Aid to the Church in Need

THIS SATURDAY - ACN EVENT AT ENGLISH MARTYRS

ACN York Event: Faith in a Time of Crisis
16 May 2009

English Martyrs Church, Dalton Terrace, York
YO24 4DA

Mass at 12 noon followed by talks

Please join us to hear about the Faith’s modern-day martyrs at the Church of the English Martyrs, York. Mass will be celebrated by parish priest Fr Dominique Minskip at 12 noon, prior to talks on the persecuted Church.

Middle East expert Fr Samer Nassif – himself a Maronite priest from Lebanon – will highlight the challenges that confront Christians in Lebanon and the Holy Land.

In a region tormented by conflict and extremist terrorism, Christians are courageously living out their faith against the odds. Hear how – thanks to you – Aid to the Church in Need is promising the hope of Christ’s resurrection to those who carry the Cross in the lands of the Bible today.

The event is free.

Refreshments will be provided.

The Week at Ushaw

In the end 26 priests attended the Priests' Training Conference at Ushaw College, including the six tutors. As you can see from the photographs we were able to make extensive use of The magnificent St Cuthbert's Chapel with daily sung Mass as well as Lauds, Vespers and Compline. One priest told me that he had longed all his priestly life to see the high altar used for for the traditional rite with full solemnity.

A great advantage of having the conference at Ushaw is the availability of numerous side altars. We used ten altars which allowed the 26 priests to say their private Masses in three sessions. The photographs show some of these altars in use.

Ushaw Day 4 - Solemn High Mass of St George

Ushaw Day Three - Solemn Vespers & Benediction

Ushaw Group Photo

Taken after Solemn High Mass for St George. Many more photos to follow...

Ushaw College LMS Priests' Training Conference - Private Masses

Ushaw Day Three - Mass for Ss Soter & Caius

Ushaw Day Two - Benediction

Ushaw Day Two - Mass of S. Anselm

Ushaw Day One - Vespers

Ushaw Day One - Solemn High Mass

New Archbishop of Westminster - confirmed

From the Archdiocese of Westminster website:

His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI has today appointed the Most Reverend Vincent Nichols, who has been Archbishop of Birmingham since March 2000, as the next Archbishop of Westminster. Pope Benedict XVI has accepted the resignation of Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O’Connor as Archbishop of Westminster. The Cardinal will now become the Apostolic Administrator of the Diocese of Westminster until Archbishop Nichols is installed at Westminster Cathedral on Thursday, 21 May 2009.

Archbishop Vincent Nichols said: “As the Cardinal so graciously says, it is for me something of a return. I spent 16 very happy years here in Westminster, eight of them as General Secretary of the Bishops’ Conference and eight of them as an Auxiliary Bishop to Cardinal Hume in North London. I learnt a great deal from him, not least about the demands of the office of the Archbishop of Westminster and I am daunted by the task that lies ahead.”

“It’s sad departing from the Diocese of Birmingham which I have learnt to appreciate, cherish and love. I will miss the priests and the people of Birmingham very much indeed.”

“I would like to thank Cardinal Cormac, who has been an outstanding Archbishop of Westminster. He knows what it’s like to live through really hard times and he has come through them with great dignity and strength. He has been an outstanding public leader of the Catholic community in this country today and I know I speak for many when I express our steadfast admiration and thanks to him for all that he has done.”

“I feel a real need to acknowledge my openness to and dependence on God above all else. But in this I am not unique. Everyone who seeks to follow the ways of God learns to depend on the truth, love and compassion of God more than on their own strength. I know that as I prepare to take on this new office in the Church many people will pray to the Lord that I will be strengthened for this task – and that is what I definitely need.”

“We often hear of the challenges facing our country in finding cohesion in the face of great diversity. Our churches are places where people are from a wide variety of different racial, ethnic and cultural backgrounds. They come together, work together and contribute together to the wider good of our society. The Church in this country has a great deal to offer and I hope to do my best to contribute to that project in this new role.”

New Chairman and Treasurer appointed

PRESS RELEASE FROM THE LATIN MASS SOCIETY

23 March 2009

Latin Mass Society Appoints New Chairman and Treasurer

At its meeting on Saturday 21 March 2009 the Committee of the Latin Mass Society made the following appointments:

Dr the Hon. Joseph Shaw (LMS Representative for Oxford) was elected Chairman;

Mr Paul Waddington (LMS Representative for Middlesbrough) was elected Treasurer.

Dr Joseph Shaw said: “I am greatly honoured to be asked by the LMS Committee to take over as Chairman. There is much work to be done in furthering the cause of Traditional Catholicism in England and Wales, in loyalty to the Holy See and in accordance with the provisions of Summorum Pontificum. The emphases of my Chairmanship will be on supporting our hard-working diocesan representatives, and on priests’ training, families and the young. These three categories in particular represent the future both of the LMS and the Church.

“I am pleased to say that our Priests’ Training Conference at Ushaw College, Durham during Low Week is almost fully booked. The LMS will shortly make an announcement confirming our southern-based priests’ training conference in August.

“Further it is now confirmed that Bishop John Arnold of Westminster will celebrate the LMS’s High Mass in Westminster Cathedral at 2.00 pm on Saturday 20 June; that Bishop Fernando Rifan of Campos, Brazil, will lead the LMS National Pilgrimage to Holywell on Saturday/Sunday 11/12 July; that Bishop George Stack of Westminster will confer Confirmations in the Traditional Rite at St James’ Church, Spanish Place, London W1 at 11.00 am on Saturday 7 November; and that Bishop Alan Hopes of Westminster will celebrate the LMS’s High Mass of Requiem in Westminster Cathedral at 2.00 pm on Saturday 14 November.

“It is evident that the LMS is responding to the Holy Father’s request that Catholics give an account ‘of the hope that is in us’.”


. . . . ENDS . . . .

Tablet attacks Fr Finigan

Fr Finigan is the parish priest of of the church of Our Lady of the Holy Rosary at Blackfen in south east London. He is an exceptionally active priest, lecturing part time at St John's Seminary in addition to running a busy parish. He is also very active in the Faith Movement and on Life issues.

Fr Finigan has provided an extra Mass every Sunday (He says four including the vigil one) and this Mass is in the usus antiquior. It seems that some parishioners (I think about six) are trying to make things difficult for him and have complained to the Archbishop of Southwark. Bishop Lynch, the auxiliary responsible for that area, had a meeting with them and it seems that they were disappointed when he refused to at on their complaint. Their next tactic was to contact the Tablet, whose the deputy editor, Elenor Curti, was dispatched to visit the parish. The result is an article in today's issue attacking Fr Finigan. The article can be read on the Tablet website..

I would recommend that anyone who takes the Tablet should cancel their order. I would also suggest that readers send a letter of complaint to the editor. The e-mail address can also be found on the Tablet website.

I know Fr Finigan quite well. He was a tutor at both the training conferences held at Merton College. He also went to the same school as me, although not at the same time. He is probably best known for his blog, the Hermeneutic of Continuity.

Masses in Middlesbrough

Readers are reminded that Fr Charlton now celebrates a Sunday Mass in the usus antiquior in Middlesbrough. It is at 6.00pm in the Church of St Alphonsus in North Ormesby. The postcode is TS3 6EW for those who don't know the area.

Why not make a special effort to attend this Mass.

TRAINING OF PRIESTS

The Latin Mass Society is organising a conference at St Cuthberts College, Ushaw at which priests will receive training in the celebration of the Mass in the usus antiquior. It is open to all priests, but priests of the northern dioceses are particularly welcome. Bookings are coming in steadily, but alas, none have been received so far from priests of the Middlesbrough Diocese. This is a great shame because Bishop Drainey is supportive of moves to improve the provision of traditional rite Masses in the diocese.

It is a regrettable fact that in this diocese, we are desparately short of priests able to celebrate Mass in the older form. In fact we are at the bottom of the league. Even smaller dioceses like Hallam, Menevia and Wrexham do better than us in this respect. If you know of a priest who you think might be interested, please suggest to him that he attends the conference. They need some encouragement.

The conference is from Mon 20th to Thurs 23rd April, and the fee for attending is £85. The magnificent St Cuthbert's Chapel will be used for all the liturgies and the rural setting is just perfect.

Latest Newsletter

The Latin Mass Society

in the Diocese of Middlesbrough

NEWSLETTER No 19

January 2009

I must apologise for the length of time since the last newsletter. It has been a busy time and, until now, there has not been a great deal of news to report. However there are now some significant changes in the provision of old rite Masses in the diocese.

FR WILLIAM HUDSON

Fr Hudson, who had been saying most of the Masses in York, has found it necessary to spend more of his time at the Brussels International School, where he is headmaster. From the beginning of the Autumn term it became necessary for him to be in Brussels on Monday mornings, consequently he could no longer say Sunday evening Masses in York. Fr Hudson still says Sunday morning Masses in the Liverpool and Shrewsbury Dioceses.

FR WILLIAM CHARLTON

By good fortune, Fr Charlton was able to take over at York and has said most of the Masses in the latter part of 2008. He had been expecting a new appointment for many months, and in mid January moved to the Church of St Alphonsus in Middlesbrough. There, he will celebrate a weekly Mass in the usus antiquior every Sunday at 6pm. This is a great gain for Middlesbrough and I hope that it will be well supported by members living in that part of the diocese.

FR STEPHEN MAUGHAN

The departure of Frs Hudson and Charlton from York has left us with some difficulty. When I met Bishop Drainey a year ago, he did undertake to seek out diocesan priests who would be willing to learn to celebrate Mass in the older form. This has borne fruit in the person of Fr Stephen Maughan who is currently being trained. He moved from Hull to York in January, and when he has completed his training, will offer Mass in the older rite at York. I am not sure when this arrangement will begin, but will send out another newsletter with details when we have a starting date.

MGR JOHN HESLIN

Bishop Drainey is aware that there will be occasions, for example holiday times, when Fr Charlton will not be able to say the Sunday Mass in Middlesbrough. To cover these circumstances, he has asked Mgr Heslin to provide cover, which he is very willing to do. However, a consequence of this is that the First Friday Masses at St Clare’s in Middlesbrough will be discontinued. I know that this will be a disappointment to those who have been supporting that Mass, but with limited resources, we can only do so much.

MASSES IN OTHER DIOCESES

The regular 9.00am Sunday Low Mass celebrated by Fr Elkin at Barnard Castle in the Hexham and Newcastle Diocese continues. Also, a regular Mass has been introduced by the Leeds Diocese each Sunday at 3pm in the Church of St Joseph in Castleford. This is celebrated by a variety of priests. In the Nottingham Diocese, there is a regular Mass every Sunday at Holy Souls Church in Scunthorpe. It is generally a sung Mass on the third Sunday of the month. See the supplement to Mass of Ages for other times and locations.

TRAINING OF PRIESTS

The Latin Mass Society is organising a residential conference at Ushaw College for priests wishing to learn to say Mass in the usus antiquior. It will take place in Low Week from Monday 20th to Thurs 23rd April and tuition will be provided by priests experienced in the older rite. At the time of writing, no priests from the Middlesbrough Diocese have signed up for this conference, although there is considerable interest among clergy from other northern dioceses.

It would be a shame if no Middlesbrough priests took advantage of this opportunity, as there is no prospect of getting further old rite Masses until we have more priests trained in the rubrics. If any members know of priests who might be interested in attending, please give them some encouragement to attend. Application forms can be downloaded from the LMS website. It will be run along the lines of the very successful conferences held at Merton College, Oxford in the last two years.

NEW MASS ARRANGEMENTS

MIDDLESBROUGH

Every Sunday Low Mass 6.00pm Church of St Alphonsus, North Ormesby.

First Friday Masses at Church of St Clare of Assisi discontinued

YORK

Sunday Masses temporally suspended.

Paul Waddington

Provision of Mass in the Extraordinary Form in York

The bi-monthly Masses in the Extraordinary Form in York have come to a temporary halt. This is because we've lost the priest who was offering these Masses to a Parish in Middlesbrough (St Alphonsus, North Ormesby) and his replacement is still learning the EF. I don't yet know when 'Normal Service' will be resumed, but am looking forward to sung Masses with Fr Stephen when he's given the Green Light after his training as he is an excellent singer.

Meanwhile, Compline by candlelight continues every Friday 8pm at St Mary's, Bishophill Junior.