ragon
THE
P RTAL
June 2011
Page 8
North/South Divide?
There are those
who think that the north of England begins at Watford. Some
also who believe all northerners wear flat caps and keep pigeons. “EE BY GUM”.
Those of us who have lived there
know better. There are no lovelier
sights than the Yorkshire Dales, the
Trough of Bowland or Morecambe
Bay as the sun is setting. Some too
of our finest churches and cathedrals
(Durham, York, and Southwell) are
in the Northern Province. And as for
things to visit - have you recently been
to Manchester to enjoy the open air
metro link, the Lowry exhibition, and the hidden gem
of St Anne’s Square?
the north going to be given special treatment from the
General Synod? Will exceptions be made for them?
Answer, no way. Can you imagine someone in Synod
proposing an amendment to the effect that northern
parishes are allowed to keep their resolutions and
PEV? “Ee by gum”, that would be a miracle.
Yesterday’s battles
Is there still more anti-Rome feeling in the north
than the south? All those Irish labourers coming over
here in the last century to Liverpool and elsewhere to
take all the jobs - you know how the argument goes.
Certainly the old days were divisive, typified by those
Whit Walks held on separate days. But if Northern
Ireland can move on, so should we. What mileage in
fighting yesterday’s battles?
The saints of the north are rightly our heroes: Aidan,
Chad, Cuthbert. How would they have reacted to the
Pope’s offer to Anglicans? We have the answer at least
with Cuthbert.
“The unity of the catholic peace”
Celt though he was, religious hermit though he was,
he was careful on his death bed to exhort his monks
to join the new movement from Rome. “The unity of
the catholic peace” he said, was more important than
anything else.
This unity is at the heart of any response to the Pope’s
offer. If that is your prime concern, whether you live
in the leafy south, or in those northern parts beyond
Watford, come and join the Ordinariate. Contact the
Ordinary, Monsignor Keith Newton. By the way, he
comes from the north of England. He is a Liverpudlian.
The Pope knows a good northerner when he sees one!
So why, with all the good northern stuff around, has
not the Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham drawn
more clergy and laity from the north to its ranks? The
patronage cannot be an issue. Northerners have been
foremost over the years in pilgrimages to Walsingham,
and if Cardinal Newman, ending up in Birmingham,
was not quite in the north, it is near enough! There
must be other issues here.
Special treatment?
One question to ask. Are clergy and congregations in