Here's a curiosity for the cognoscenti. On the Ordinariate Calendar, today is the feast of S Magnus the Martyr, of Orkney. Is he there
(1) to show that the British Ordinariate includes even the Northern Islands of the Kingdom of Scotland; or
(2) because of the fact that Fr Henry Joy Fynes Clinton, for decades the undisputed leader of the Papalist Party in the Church of England, was Rector of S Magnus the Martyr, London Bridge?
In either case, both the fact and the reason are excellent!
When the Ordinariates were erected, I did think how lovely an ecumenical gesture it would be if the Diocese of London had lent S Magnus's to us. But the C of E is not really ecumenical except in the formal sense of asserting that it is; and playing the daft games epitomised by the expensive white elephant called ARCIC. It is rumoured that one official in that diocese said that he would rather see a Church bulldozed than getting into the hands of the Ordinariate! Nice lot! Happily, in an act of real generosity and genuine Catholic Ecumenism, the Diocese of Westminster assigned us the wonderful historic Church of the Assumption and S Gregory in central London, which, among its battle honours, proudly claims to have been sacked during the Gordon Riots. I have no difficulty discerning there the approving spirit of that superbly combative old ecumenist, Fr FC. Additionally, as all sound chaps and chappesses know, it was once the Bavarian Embassy Chapel and contains the beautiful Flag of the House of Wittelsbach. Vivat Rex!
BUT ... for me, if I may become personal, the Feast of S Magnus sings most joyously in my heart because of my memory of an amazing visit to my dear friends, the Redemptorists of Papa Stronsay. They showed me round the Cathedral of S Magnus in Kirkwall, exquisite Romanesque in beautiful pink stone, and still housing the relics of S Magnus. And this enables me to complete the circle by returning to Pope Benedict XVI, in whose happy pontificate, of course, the Redemptorists of Papa Stronsay were able to regularise their canonical relationship with the Holy See. Another splendid act of true, Catholic, Ecumenism!! May they continue to flourish and to give such a wonderful witness of prayer, work, and common life to the Catholic World!
As for Benedict XVI, the Pope of Ecumenism ... Eis polla ete, Despota!
I think this Post exceeds my usual daily allowance of sincere hyperbole ... Megamarvellous!!
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In my ramblings about London, I visited every church that I could get into. And everywhere else. I saw many vestiges of anti-Catholicism. A dishonest historic marker in Smithfield, oddly protected by an iron grille, basically giving Foxe's version of sanguinary Catholicism, catty comments about Mrs. Fitzherbert by her portrait in the National Gallery, and a hundred other things, some very obscure, others blatant. The churches were the most fascinating. None of them had anything to offend, except for a little independent Protestant church, by the back door of the Portrait Gallery, that had very aggressive notice boards, condemning both Anglicans and Catholics to eternal flames. One manifesto stated "This is a Protestant Church!" I went to one Anglican church after another, and I saw concerts, exhibits, archaeological digs, and even a tourist center. But I saw very little worship. That is, until I went to St. Magnus, where I was greeted by perhaps the friendliest man in London, an elderly man who was volunteering to watch the church. It was obvious that this was a very active center of Christian worship. Not a tourist destination, concert hall, or haven for Modernism. Sadly, I never got into Westminster Abbey, because I balked at paying the 16 Pounds, when all I wanted to do was say a prayer to St. Edward. Instead, I went to Westminster Cathedral, and said my prayers there. I think that it is fair to say (although it may surprise you) that the English have an instinct for Catholicism. They may have been taught to hate the Church, but only a minority of them ever really took to Protestantism. There are those who are thoroughly Protestant, of the extreme variety, yet that has no vitality. Methodism shore it up for a while, before running out of steam, but only Catholicism has any real future- if the British survive as an ethnic group in the face of continued population change, they will be Catholic, or nothing.
I wonder, Fr John, if you have ever read George Mackay Brown's novel about St Magnus? It might interest you...
Bravo! Bishops' Conference E&W likewise would rather close parishes and demolish churches than allow the sale of same to SSPX. My own diocese would rather do so than allow Traditional Orders into the Diocese. On the Continent some diocese exhibit co=-operation with SSPX in such respect. However, Franciscus has now exhibited further disdain for Traditional Orders, with persecution of the same. As for ARCIC a useless talking shop.
You might be interested, if you do not know it already, the novel 'Magnus' by George Mackay Brown. I recall the far-off days when Fr Michael Woodgate was at St Magnus.... a world ago, now...
Is Father Henry Joy Fynes Clinton the same Henry Fynes Clinton who was author of "Fasti Hellenici: The Civil and Literary Chronology of Greece"?
St Magnus and the Pope Emeritus, what more could one wish in a post?
May I recommend "Magnus" by George Mackay Brown as a most moving novel?
Alan
The C of E should have given the Ordinariate St Cyprian's Clarence Gate.
As a member of a sept of the Gunn clan, we trace ourselves to Saint Magnus, our ancestor. Many of us here, across the Pond, have returned to the Faith. Would that that were the case among those of us still in the Orkneys or Scotland. Although it's a bit more of a young adult work, Susan Peek also has a work on the life of Saint Magnus, though I've no knowledge of its worthiness as compared to Mr. Brown's book.
Arthur Gallagher, can you really Speak of the British as an ethnic group? 'Britishness' has always been an idea rather than an ethnicity.
And Albrecht, why should the Church of England have given any church to the Ordinariate? It was not their project.
Dear Ms Lash
You are undoubtedly right in saying that the C of E was under no obligation to lend (or give) any church to the Ordinariate, But a Man from Mars, surveying the number of churches which the C of E makes available to other ecclesial bodies, often citing ecumenism, might in his enormous innocence wonder etc. etc. etc..
Dear Fr Hunwicke,
Far greater, surely, is the wonder that the Catholic Bishops of England and Wales, especially in the northern dioceses, are so slow to hand over to the Ordinariate any of their redundant churches.
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