THE
P RTAL
February 2013
Page 9
Malines
by Monsignor Robert Mercer
CR
Close to Brussels in Belgium is an ancient city which Walloons or Francophone Belgians call Malines,
and which Dutch speaking Belgians or Flemings call Mechelin. Its archbishop is always Primate of Belgium.
He therefore wears the pallium, about which I wrote last month, and is usually a cardinal. Archbishop Desire-
Joseph Mercier made a name for himself during Germany’s occupation of his country in the First World War.
In the past I observed how
little some Anglicans know
about Anglicanism. How many
know that this Belgian city was
once the scene of serious talks
about rapprochement between
Canterbury and Rome? I myself
am frequently reminded of this
fact. paint a large icon to hang over
his tomb. She fasted and made
a retreat before painting our
Lord’s face. But it was Walter
Frere who got the ball rolling
for Malines. Anglican bishops
at the Lambeth Conference of
1920 issued An Appeal to All
Christian People. In it
The slow train to Amsterdam
stops in Mechelin/Malines.
From its window I gaze at all the
medieval churches and wonder
which of them might be the
cathedral. On one of its walls
is a tablet commemorating the
Malines Conversations. Some
time between the mid 1970s
and mid 1980s the Superior
of the Community of the
Resurrection, Father Eric Simmons, was invited to the
unveiling of this plaque. they said that in the interests of
reunion they would be willing to
accept a form of commissioning
from other churches in order
that the ministry of Anglican
clergy might be recognised
by others. Frere noticed this
and drew it to the attention of
a Roman Catholic friend in
France, Fr Fernand Portal. He
Two Archbishops of Malines, Cardinals Suenens
and Daneel, have visited Mirfield. The latter celebrated
mass at our high altar, with all the brethren in choir,
though of course not communicating. In our Church
of the Resurrection are the tombs of our first two
Superiors, Bishops Charles Gore and Walter Frere,
who participated in those Conversations. So every
time I enter our church, walking past the tombs, I
am reminded of Mechelin/Malines and the quest for
rapprochement.
Serbian Orthodox links
Father Frere’s personal attraction was to Eastern
Orthodoxy. He visited Russia four times before the
Bolshevik revolution of 1917. During the First World
War he was acting principal of a Serbian Orthodox
seminary in England. One of his last public acts was
to sing the
Anglican litany in the Russian cathedral in Paris.
After his death a Russian nun stayed at Mirfield to
The Ordinary’s Page
will return again next month...