Snapd
ragon
THE
P RTAL
February 2016
Page 5
Fighting for
one’s beliefs
When is it time to fight for one’s beliefs, and when is it
time to resign . . . Snapdragon examines the case
A
nniversaries make me reflect. The fifth anniversary of the establishment of
the Personal Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham, just gone, was no exception. On
15th January, I reflected of course on that unforgettable occasion in Westminster Cathedral
when the Ordinariate was formally erected and placed under the maternal protection of Our
Lady of Walsingham; on the priestly ordination of the three former Anglican bishops, and
the appointment of one of them, Fr Keith Newton, as our Ordinary.
I considered the state of the Ordinariate five years
on; on how things have developed since the heady
days of priests’ announcements of their intention
to leave the Church of England and the emergence
of groups of lay-folk who had resolved to take the
plunge into the unknown and accept the Holy Father’s
invitation to full Catholic communion. I mulled over
the frustrations and disappointments, and celebrated
the blessings and graces.
five years on
not simply backing down and taking the path of least
resistance, but at what point, I wonder, will they do
what logic and conscience demands?
divergent views
Bowing to pressure from some of his more eurosceptic front-benchers, David Cameron last month
gave members of his cabinet the go-ahead to campaign
for either side in the EU debate when the renegotiation
of Britain’s membership of the EU is completed. He
was persuaded that it would be more damaging to the
government to insist on collective resp