New Appointment for Bishop Roche

The Vatican announced today that Bishop Roche of Leeds is to become the secretary of the Congregation for Divine Worship.  This is the Vatican department that deals with liturgy.  He will also acquire the title Archbishop.  I imagine that he will take up his new appointment at the end of the holiday period.

No doubt, this promotion is, at least partly, in recognition of his work at ICEL, the body that is responsible for the translation of the missal into English.  Congratulations are due to Bishop Roche.

The move does, of course, open up another episcopal vacancy in England and Wales. When Bishop Roche takes up his new appointment, the Diocese of Leeds will join the Diocese of East Anglia in having no bishop.  In addition the Dioceses of Brentwood, Hallam, Portsmouth and Wrexham have bishops who have already passed the age of 75, the normal retirement age for bishops.  Assuming there is no move to amalgamate dioceses, there will be six sees where an appointment can be expected soon.  Six imaginative appointments could make a big difference to the complection of the Bishops' Conference of England and Wales.

The Padley Martyrs

Yesterday, I attended Mass at the Padley Martyrs' Chapel.  It was part of a pilgrimage organised by the Latin Mass Society in the Diocese of Hallam.  Although the congregation was much smaller than I remember from attending this pilgrimage several years ago, there was some very good singing, and the Mass was very beautifully celebrated by Fr Martin Clayton.

All that remains of Padley Hall is the gatehouse and a few tumbledown ruins.  However, the gatehouse has been restored and now serves as a chapel and place of pilgrimage.  The martyrs concerned are Nicholas Garlick and Robert Ludlow who were priests discovered there in July 1588 by a raiding party instigated by the Earl of Shrewsbury.  Both were subsequently executed for High Treason.

Padley is set amidst beautiful countryside in a corner of the Peak District that is only a few miles from Sheffield.  The chapel can be accessed by a rough track that leads form Grindleford Station up into the high ground of the northern Peak District National Park.  It is much visited by walkers.

Much can be learned about Padley by reading Hugh Benson's classic book, Come Rack, Come Rope.  It tells of the persecution of Catholics in that part of Derbyshire during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I.

Visit of Bishop Rifan

The visit of Bishop Rifan will soon be on us.  Bishop Rifan heads the Apostolic Administration of St John Vianney at Compos in Argentina, an organisation akin to a diocese which uses only the the ancient rites of the church. Unlike the Society of St Pius X, the Administration of St John Vianney is in full communion with the Church of Rome.

Bishop Rifan will be celebrating a Solemn Pontifical Mass at the Church of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, Harrogate Road, Moortown, Leeds at 3pm on Saturday 30th June.  I believe that Bishop Roche of Leeds Diocese will be in attendance.

At 2.30pm on the following day, Sunday 1st July, Bishop Rifan will be celebrating a Solemn Pontifical Mass in honour of St Winifrid at Holywell in North Wales.  This will be followed by a procession, devotions at the holy well and Benediction.  Holywell is easy to get to by road, being only a few miles from the motorway system at Chester.

Bishop Rifan will then be departing for Scotland, where he has some engagements, but will be returning to England for the AGM of the Latin Mass Society in London on Sat 7th July.  There will be more about that in a later post.

Next Mass in York

Low Mass will be celebrated in the traditional rite at the Church of the English Martyrs, Dalton Terrace in York on Sunday 24th June.  The celebrant will be Fr Stephen Maughan.

Correction

I made a mistake in the last post, giving the incorrect time for the Mass on York.  I apologise to anyone who was inconvenienced by this error.  For the record, the Masses in York are at 4pm on the second and fourth Sundays of the month.

Sunday 10th June Mass in York

There will be a Low Mass at the Church of the English Martyrs in York this Sunday at 6pm.  The celebrant will be Fr James Callaghan OSB, as Fr Maughan will be busy with Corpus Christi devotions in his parish.