Anglican Luminary always on the watch . This it was that made him seem grim and formidable to those who did not know him well , and caused even his friends , from his boyhood to his old age , to remember that in his presence they must bridle their tongues and watch their actions .”
THE P RTAL
January 2011 Page 12
together , in the end only ‘ individual conversion ’ was made available . Although all my Church Officers , the whole PCC and some of the congregation felt likewise – some 35 in all – each of us had to be received one by one , and the chance of staying together as a community was not viable . After a period of waiting and discernment I was ordained as a Catholic Priest in Canterbury to serve as University Chaplain which I have done for the past 16 years .
The same person
So you will notice that about half my ministry has been within the Church of England ; whilst the other half has been within the Roman Catholic Church : Yet my friends tell me that I am still the same person ! It is this experience and knowledge which I hope will be of use to the readers of ‘ The Portal ’ in the months to come .
Practical questions
I plan to use this column as an opportunity to share with you some of my insights and to try and answer some of the practical questions that might be in the mind of readers who are exploring the Ordinariate at the present time . I hope that with my ‘ double ’ experience to allay the fears that some people might have ; and , at the same time , explain in simple terms some of the issues that people have raised when I have spoken to meetings about the Ordinariate during the last few months .
Some claim that the Chinese proverb is actually a curse rather than an invitation to hope for good things . When Anglicanorum Coetibus was first announced it is true there were cynics who claimed it had no future and that it was full of insuperable difficulties – if not , impossibilities .
The evidence of the last few days has destroyed such an interpretation forever .
We are living in Exciting Times . Let us seize the moment . God bless you all .
Fr Peter Geldard
Charles Gore CONTINUED
not utterly surrendered to his Master , without stern self-discipline and unremitting watchfulness .
And this strictness with himself enabled him to demand an equally high standard from others . At Birmingham his demand that incumbents should live in their parishes caused some grumbling . But he could enforce it the better because he himself lived in an ugly villa .
In authority he was uncompromising in his insistence that his lawful orders should be obeyed , but his own obedience to authority was prompt and unquestioning . For a small example : once at a Church Congress when the chairman ’ s bell rang before he had finished his paper he sat down in the middle of a sentence as if he had been shot .
Of all the men and women of his time he was the great example of the Christian soldier , always on duty ,
Anglican Luminary always on the watch . This it was that made him seem grim and formidable to those who did not know him well , and caused even his friends , from his boyhood to his old age , to remember that in his presence they must bridle their tongues and watch their actions .”
Finally
In November of 1930 , he began a six-month tour of India , preaching and lecturing pretty much in every district in the country , “ speaking whenever he was not walking , riding , or sleeping .” He returned home totally exhausted . From then on his health deteriorated . In January 1932 he acquired a sever cough , and then pneumonia . On Friday 15 th he was still able to write a few postcards to friends . Then he fell into a coma , and died on the morning of Sunday 17 th January 1932 . His influence remains great .
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The appointment of the Ordinary will soon be made a Bull published by the Secretariat of State and signed directly by the Holy Father . Each future issue of The Portal will include a page written by The Ordinary . . . hopefully from February onwards .