THE P RTAL
February 2015
UK Pages - page 13
spots too. It is usually between twenty and twenty- As Joanna plays the organ, her music arrived in
five, but last Saturday there were thirty present. Often the Diplomatic Bag!
there is a group of Indian Syro Malabar
Arthur is a former CofE priest who
Rite Catholics who join us, and some
was received into the Catholic Church in
Diocesan Catholics too.
1998. He had a year when he lapsed from
Called to be One
the faith. He moved from the north of
England. It was a difficult step to become
“For the ‘Called to be One’ Day we had
a Catholic, as it tears one from one’s roots.
forty turn up and one person became a
He lived as a C of E layman at St Andrew’s,
member as a result.
Worthing. After quite a faith journey, he
has settled with the Ordinariate Group in
“Just before Christmas, out of the blue, a
Chichester, although he does attend his
man called Alvi, a Philippino nurse, came
Alvi & Gian
local Catholic church as well.
into the sacristy and asked, ‘Would you
like me to serve?’ He had not served since
painful experience
childhood! We had sixty-five attend our
mass on Christmas Eve with Alvi as our
All of them said they were “tolerated”
thurifer.
by some Catholics, although many
attended the Ordinariate mass. They felt
“As to the future; I have a passion for the
many Catholics had little idea what the
Ordinariate and I am totally committed
Ordinariate was all about. Departure from
to it. Benedict has shown his love for us
the CofE had been a painful experience
in the Ordinariate. But one does need a
for many.
viable group, a critical mass of people. In
October we had a meeting to consider the
Their opinion was that growth
future. The question was, ‘Where do we
depended on education, although Arthur
go from here?’
interrupted to proclaim, “We are growing
Joanna Emerson
already!”
all about mission
“Now we have our own bank account, a
treasurer, and we have become an official
Group. We are part of the Isle of Wight
and Portsmouth cluster. We all support
each other. It is all about mission. It has to
grow, or it will die. One needs a resident
priest, other groups around, and a critical
mass of people to make it work.
“We receive people from the C of E, and
share our gifts with Diocesan Catholics.
The local Catholic Dean has been a real
supporter and we have plans for more
events with Diocesan Catholics.”
Earlier we had spoken with Ian and
Lesley Cresdee. Ian is a retired electrical
engineer. They joined the congregation at
St Agatha’s Portsmouth when they joined
the Ordinariate. They try to support the
Chichester group when they can, but it is
twenty-eight miles each way.
The people at Chichester were anxious
to point out that, unlike many groups,
they did not come into the Catholic
Church together. They have grown from
nothing, nine joining since Fr Graham
moved to Chichester.
Vincent Krijgsman
Christopher pointed out that fifty years
ago 50% of the population of Chiche ster
were C of E. “If they - the ones who no
longer go to the C of E - knew about us,
they might well come along.”
early days
The members of the Chichester Group
thought advertising would be difficult;
too many apple carts to upset. “We do not
turn people away, but we have not gone
looking,” was their opinion. It is early days
yet, we are still gelling, but this calendar
year we hope to make progress.”
They may go on pilgrimage to
Walsingham with their local Catholic
Other members present were Arthur Christopher Emerson
parish and will definitely be at the 2015
Rusdell-Wilson, Vincent Krijgsman,
Christopher and Joanna Emerson. The Emersons had Festival in Westminster Cathedral and Hall, as they
been part of the underground church in Saudi Arabia. were last year.
contents page