THE
P RTAL
July 2012
Page 4
Underneath the arches
Jackie Ottaway and Ronald Crane
visit the London (South) Ordinariate Group
Well, not
exactly “Underneath the Arches” by the standards of Bud Flanagan and Chesney Allen’s
1941 song, but certainly next to them. The Precious Blood Church stands right by the railway into Charing
Cross, next to Borough Market. O’Meara Street is a short walk from London Bridge. This is where the London
(South) Ordinariate Group worships.
David and
Veronica Pierson
a splendid occasion
“I thought I would,” he said. “I went
to Saint Michael’s Croydon before.
The Sunday we attended was
I thought I would miss traditional
splendid with lovely music, a good
Anglo-Catholic worship, but I enjoy
homily and nigh on one hundred and
the worship at the Precious Blood,
fifty people present. This Ordinariate
and on occasions I am able to attend
Group celebrates the 1100 Sunday
Westminster Cathedral or the
Mass, although not everyone present
Oratory.”
is a member of the Ordinariate.
David and Veronica Pierson it must be special
After Mass we had a chance to chat with
some of those present. David Pierson is 88
years old. He joined the Catholic Church
because of the Ordinariate. Years ago,
whilst at Oxford University, he attended
Pusey House. He was received into the
Catholic Church a year ago, the first
member from the congregation to be
received. He describes himself prior
to that as “an honest protestant”. His
wife Veronica interjects to laughter,
“where you ever an honest one?”
Why did he made the move? “The
Anglican hierarchy is beyond me.
Women priests and all sorts of things
made me change my mind.” “We have a local Governing Council, and
I am on it. I hope we are going to grow. It
needs to be a feature of the Ordinariate as
a whole. If we are to make anything of this,
it must be special. The Pope has set this
up. Anglicans say it is all Roman Catholic
anyway, but it is not. Most Roman Catholics
do not worship like we do, and the
hymnody is important too.”`
no regrets
David is an interesting character,
a journalist and former editor of the
Commercial Times
he is an expert on
property. He cannot
see properly now. “Is
it frustrating?” we
asked. He replied, “I
am delighted not to
have to do it!”
Jonathan Creer
David Fenton
does it matter?
Jonathan said, “In a hundred years’
time people will look back and ask,
‘what happened to those who made
Kaite and Beverley Cooper that move?’ Will it seem important?
Maybe there will be a continuing
Ordinariate and it will be seen as a vital
moment. It is important people from the C
of E a route to Rome.”
wonderful welcome
Chtistpoher Smith
Jonathan Creer
Jonathan was a
Civil Servant for twenty-four years. He
recently took redundancy. He has no
regrets about joining the Ordinariate,
David Lambert
“The people at the Precious Blood have
been wonderful in their welcome. The
1100 Mass is ours and there’s. We use their
Liturgy, but Diocesan Catholics will not
think it was the Ordinariate Mass - it is
just Mass.”
“As far as I know, relations with the C of E
are fine. A couple of our members are still
doing jobs at Saint Agnes Kennington, one
helps with odd-jobs, another (the former
treasurer) is now their accounts manager
signing cheques and so on.”