THE P RTAL
April 2011 Page 5
and to make things happen , but I advise on Church Law and if I do not know the answer , I know someone who does . For example , I have drafted the constitution of the Governing Council of the Ordinariate . It will have to be adopted , of course .”
Ronald asked if there was a national pay scale for clergy . Fr Marcus said , “ No . Each Diocese has a different arrangement . The stipend is for office holders , not employees . The relationship of Bishop to priest is that of Father to Son . It is a genuine relationship , not a fictitious one .
Stole fees and Mass fees
The Diocese ( or Ordinariate ) where you begin your training will care for you until you die . There are different ways of supporting a priest , house , food , the cash comes from the Parish . There is a limit set by the Diocese . Sometimes the cash comes from the Diocese . There are different schemes . Christmas and Easter Offerings go to the Parish Priest too . Then there are Stole Fees from Weddings Funerals and Baptisms to make up the stipend . Mass fees too , defined as “ That for which you judge for a priest to eat for one day .” If the priest says more than one Mass in a day he may keep only one Mass fee . The others have to go to charity .”
The need to build
Fr Stoke told us that in relations between the Ordinariate and local diocese communion was the most important thing . Communion between the Ordinariate and the local diocese will not just happen , it will need to be built . Relations between the Ordinariate and Eccelston Square will be the same as for the diocese .
We wondered if there were common policies on things like schools and overseas- aid ? “ Yes and No ,” he said . “ Each diocese has its own education policy , but overseas-aid is co-ordinated by the Bishops . CAFOD is their agency .
The future
Jackie wanted to know where Fr Stock saw the Catholic Church in ten or twenty year ’ s time . His reply was instructive . “ In every age the Church has to find effective ways to present the Gospel . We have a declining church ? It is the same as it was in the Age of Enlightenment .
Yet in each age there is a new charism , a new movement and a particular person that is called to address the problems of the age . We have learned not to trust worldly structures .
Jackie followed this up with what Fr Stock called the “ million dollar question ”. Where will the Ordinariate be in the same period of time ? Fr Stock ’ s was in three parts . First he pointed out that there is no time limit on the Ordinariate . It is here for a specific purpose . When it is no longer needed it will stop . Second : In as much as the Ordinariate brings Anglican patrimony , it has a permanence about it .
It brings a mutual exchange of gifts . That will not cease , it will be appreciated and developed . Thirdly : He referred to the Religious Orders . They appear then decline . When things need a shift they happen . It is all in the Lord ’ s hands .” Will the Ordinariate last more than twenty years ? Who knows . It may become a model for other churches of the western reformed tradition to come into full communion with the Church .
The view of Eccleston Square
Finally we wondered what was the view of Eccleston Square of the Ordinariate . The reply was emphatic ! “ We are wholly supportive of it !” Fr Stock did not think numbers were small . He thought the beginning of the Ordinariate had brought significant numbers to the Church . He concluded , “ Brave are the people making this move .”
We thanked Fr Stock for his welcome and time and made our way back to Victoria Station without getting lost !
950th anniversary celebrations of the Shrine of Our Lady of Walsingham – see page 11