THE P RTAL
June 2011 Page 10
The Ordinariate Group in Torbay
by Jackie Ottaway and Ronald Crane
In June as spring turns to summer , our thoughts turn to holidays . Many take their holidays on Torbay , the English Riviera . By a lucky coincidence
Torbay there is an Ordinariate Group here . It meets in the RC Church of the Holy Angels , Queensway , Chelston .
When we visited the little Church was so full that there were people standing . The Mass was beautiful and the congregation was made up of all ages from babes in arms to the very elderly and every age between . It included a group of a dozen or so young people . These are part of the Torbay Ordinariate Group .
Young People
With Mass over , we were able to speak with them . We met them together with Fr Lashbrooke and Sue , the Youth Leader . The young people present were : Alice , Sean , Rikki , Josie , Martha , Paddy , Alex , Louise , and Ryan . They made a formidable team for us to interview ; all highly intelligent and articulate .
Jackie was interested to know if they thought of themselves at the beginning or at the end of a process . Louise thought they were at the beginning , and Ryan added that they were at the beginning of a long journey .
We spoke of the word ‘ pioneer ’. It has been used to describe those in this first wave of the Ordinariate . Paddy said that it was appropriate because a pioneer was the first person to make a big change , to make a big step that made history . That is exactly what they had done .
Finance
The young people were aware that the church in which they now worshipped was smaller than before , but the congregation about the same size . This had the effect of making it look larger than it really was .
Pioneers
They were aware of the financial problems facing the
Ordinariate and knew very well that the congregation would have to pay for their priests . the Ordinariate .’
They also knew that where they worshipped was less important than the fact of their worship . Martha voiced their thoughts when she said , ‘ It does not matter where we are , so long as we are a community .’
Catholic or Ordinariate ?
The subject of names came up . Were they Catholic or Ordinariate ? Ryan said that they were catholic because they had been received into the Catholic Church . Paddy thought they were a bit of both . He said , “ We have been accepted into the Catholic Church , yes ; but we are a bit different .’ Alex agreed and added , ‘ Catholics , but members of
Mgr Keith Newton
We wondered if they thought that the Ordinariate Groups ought to meet together in some way ? Louise said , ‘ We went to Buckfast Abbey and met other Ordinariates in the South West . It was good . We had Mass and a picnic .’ Martha told us they had a talk from