Statistics from New Zealand

The Institute of Christ the King in America

It is well worth while visiting the American website of the Institute of Christ the King to see how the traditional movement is thriving that side of the Atlantic. The Institute has twelve churches in the USA, and most of these are large impressive buildings.  In fact, many of them are so large that they had been shut down on the grounds that they were too expensive to maintain.  Under new management these churches are prospering.


The centre of operations is the State of Illinois, where the Institute has three churches.  In Chicago is the very large shrine church which is the headquarters of the American operation.  Before the Institute took over, it had been closed for many years and became burnt out as the result of a mysterious fire.  Now it is gradually being restored. Also in Illinois, there are churches in Cahokia and Rockford.


Not far away in the State of Missouri, the Institute has Churches at St Louis and Kansas City.  The Church of St Francis in St Louis is especially impressive with a very high spire.  That at Kansas City was also taken over as a burnt out shell, and has undergone complete restoration.


There are three churches in the State of Wisconsin, located at Milwalkie, Green Bay and Wassau.  Towards the West Coast there are churches at San Jose and Oakland in California, and on the East Coast, there is a church at West Orange in New Jersey.


Currently, a convent is being established in St Louis by the associated order of nuns, the Sister Adorers of the Royal Heart of Jesus.

Priest and Server Training

In Low Week, the Latin Mass Society will be organising its tenth conference for the training of priests and servers wishing to study the older form of the Roman Rite.  It will run from Tuesday 29th April to Friday 2nd May, and be held at Belmont Abbey, near Hereford.


Separate courses will be run in Low Mass, Missa Cantata and Solemn Mass, so there will be something for all levels of ability, including complete beginners.  For priests attending the conference, tuition will be given by priests who are experienced in celebrating Mass in its usus antiquior form, and the teaching of servers will generally be undertaken by laymen.


Seminarians will be especially welcome at the conference, with those in the more junior years learning to serve and more senior students studying the roles of sub-deacon, deacon and celebrant.  This year, seminarians will be able to join the conference completely free of charge.


For priests and other laymen, the fee has been set at £100, with a concessionary rate of £50 for full time students.  These rates include full board and lodging.  For further details and application form, go the website of the Latin Mass Society.

Traditional Seminary Plan Thwarted

The Institute of Christ the King Supreme Priest has been thwarted in its efforts to open a second seminary.


The former papal seminary of Cuglieri in Sardinia has been empty since 1970.  In that year, ownership was transferred to the Conference of the Bishops of the Mediterranean Islands.  They, having no use for the buildings, sold the property in 1976 to the regional government of that part of Sardinia. 


The seminary continued to be unused until 2012 when The ICKSP reached a deal to purchase the property with the view of opening a second seminary for their order.  We now hear that the bishops of Sardinia intervened and persuaded the owners not to sell to the ICKSP, but instead to allow the buildings to be developed as an inter-religious and inter-cultural centre.  This is now what is happening.


The buildings, which date back to 1927 and are set in unspoiled countryside, would have been ideal for the ICKSP, whose seminary at Gricigliano near Florence is bursting at the seams with students.  As a former papal seminary, it is not surprising that the buildings are rather grand, and include a chapel that would suit the style of ceremonies that the Institute favour.


It really does seem more than a coincidence that, after the buildings lying empty for more than 40 years, the bishops came up with their scheme at exactly the time that the Institute were negotiating to purchase. Could it be that traditionalists were unwelcome!


This story has been picked up from Eponymous Flower, and was in turn picked up from a German site.

Demolishing our Terrible Heritage

I strongly advise readers to go to the blog, New Liturgical Movement, and look at the post about the Church of the Holy Name of Jesus in Brooklyn, New York.  The story is about a church built in the neogothic style about 150 years ago.  It had a rather remarkable sanctuary with a spectacular altar and reredos.  In 1980, this was considered outdated, and the church was subjected to a particularly bad reordering scheme - in fact the scheme was so bad and so poorly executed that you have to see a video of it to believe how bad it was.


Two and a half years ago, an new priest, Fr Jim Cunningham, arrived in the parish and he determined to restore the church back to something like its original form.  He has raised $2.35million towards this work and the diocese has supplied him with an altar and reredos from a disused church.


The video tells the rest of the story.  I have been unable to embed it here, so go over to New Liturgical Movement.

Is There Rreally a Shortage of Priests?

I have just been looking at a leaflet published by the Diocese of Lincoln in Nebraska, USA.  It is an appeal from their former bishop, the Most Reverend Fabian Bruskewitz, for funds towards the cost of training the diocese's seminarians.  The bishop had good reason for appealing for this cause, as I suspect that the Diocese of Lincoln might have the highest costs of any diocese in the world for training its priests.


In the centre fold of this leaflet, which is a couple of years old now, are the photographs of all the seminarians of the Diocese of Lincoln in the year 2010-2011.  They are 41 in number.  I understand that there are now 44.  Looking at the photographs, there are only two who look as if they could be over the age of 30.


So it seems unlikely that there will be any shortage of priests in the Lincoln Diocese during the next 50 or so years.


When asked why the Diocese of Lincoln was so successful in attracting priestly vocations, Bishop Bruskewitz said that it was all down to payer.  Although I am sure that this is part of the answer, I suspect that another part is to do with the way that the bishop has run the diocese.  He always expected his priests, to set a good example in their holiness, and insisted that all liturgies were carried out with great reverence and dignity.  It is noticeable that every one of the seminarians is very smartly turned out and in full clerical dress.


Maybe there are some bishops this side of the Atlantic who could learn from Bishop Bruskewitz.  Maybe we would not have such a shortage of priests this side of the Atlantic if our bishops had started to follow the example of Bishop Bruskewitz twenty years ago.

News from Chicago

It has been reported that 40 major seminarians from the Mundelein Seminary - that is the seminary of the Archdiocese of Chicago, although it also serves other dioceses - will be attending a Solemn High Mass on 19th January at the Church of St Odilo in Berwin, which I believe is a district of Chicago.  This church has a regular Sunday Mass in the usus antiquior, and apparently an accomplished choir.  On  this occasion, they will be singing Palistrina's Missa Aeterna Christi Munera.


According to their website, the Mundelein Seminary, also known as the University of St Mary of the Lake, has about 190 students studying for the priesthood, so I would presume that "40 major seminarians" represents most, if not all, of the seminarians in their final years. It would certainly seem that this visit to the church of St Odilo has some official backing from the seminary authorities. 


Again, I am not sure whether instruction in the celebration of Mass in the usus antiquior is included in the seminary curriculum, but it certainly seems to be the case that Mundelein students do have the opportunity to experience the usus antiquior in its most impressive form.  This is in stark contrast to the practice in the seminaries of England and Wales, where students are kept far away from the traditional Mass.

Regular Missa Cantatas at York

The 5pm Mass on Sunday 26th January at St Wilfrid's Church in York will be a Missa Cantata.  The intention is that this will be the  regular pattern on the final Sunday of each Month.


The music will be provided by the Rudgate Singers, and a team of servers is being trained.


For the time being the 5pm Masses on other Sundays will remain as Low Masses.

St Margaret Clitherow and the Martyrs of York

The Latin Mass Society will be holding its annual pilgrimage in honour of St Margaret Clitherow  in York on Saturday 29th March.  As usual, it will begin with Mass at St Wilfrid's Church at 1.30pm and be followed by a procession through the streets of York, taking in The Shambles and Ouse Bridge. 


Rather than continue to the Church of the English Martyrs as in previous years, the procession will return to St Wilfrid's for Benediction at about 4pm.  This change is in response to comments that the procession has been too long in previous years, and will shorten the distance walked considerably.


Another innovation is to include all the Martyrs of York in the dedication of the pilgrimage.  York, as a city, has more Catholic martyrs associated with it than any other in England, and it is appropriate that these should not be forgotten.

Offertory Collection at York Masses - Gift Aid

When there were regular Latin Masses at the Church of the English Martyrs in York, all the organisation, including paying stipends to the priest, were made by the Latin Mass Society.  Consequently, it was appropriate for the benefit of any gift aid to accrue to the Latin Mass Society.  Envelopes were provided so that those people wishing to take part in the gift aid scheme could do so.

Now that the Mass is held at St Wilfrid's Church, and is a parish Mass. it is appropriate that any gift aid should accrue to the parish, So LMS gift aid envelopes are no longer provided.  People wishing to contribute in a tax efficient way can do so by making a standing order and signing a gift aid declaration.  Please see Fr Duffield for the form.

I was interested to see that the Church of England reclaimed £83million in gift aid in the year 2011, and 8% of all gift aid payments that the government makes are made to the Church of England and related charities.  The Cof E is remarkably efficient in exploiting this source of income.