THE
P RTAL
July 2017
Page 3
P ortal Comment
What a
Saturday Night!
Will Burton has ben chatting with two Ordinariate priests
caught up with the recent terror attacks
F r Christopher
Pearson is the Ordinariate priest at the Most Precious Blood, Borough, near
London Bridge. Recently, I spoke with him. “It was a Saturday evening. About 10.30pm, as is usual, I was
getting ready for bed. I heard a noise outside. I looked out of my window and saw people were leaving the pub
next door. ‘What’s happening? Are you OK?’ the voice said. I looked on TV and social media but found nothing.
“Then I heard the shouting outside. I looked out
again and the Police were running up the street
shouting repeatedly ‘Run!’ ‘Leave the area!’ At the pub
next door people were leaving, some rather drunk.
Then I saw people leaving another building, some in
their pyjamas.
“I then found something on social media: a van had
driven into people on London Bridge and some men
were in Borough Market with knives, stabbing people.
Was I to go out with the Sacrament if people were in
need? May be it is terrorists; if so, perhaps I ought to
go into Church and save the Blessed Sacrament.
“This all sounds rather melodramatic now, but at the
time it was terribly real! I could hear police in adjacent
streets shouting firmly and repeatedly, ‘Run, leave the
area.’ It was clearly an operational tactic which, in a
strange way, gave me a feeling of safety. I could not
go out. I was told that if I left the building I would
have to go away from London Bridge, not towards it.
There was no way I was to be allowed to administer the
Sacrament to anyone.
“I opened the church at seven o’clock as normal on
Sunday, The Police were still there, so I made them
some tea. They had been there all night, and required
the loo. They used the one in Church. The whole area
was cordoned off. I told them we had Mass at 8.30am
and was told, ‘No way!’
an Officer with some pips on his shoulder, so I asked
him if he was important. It turned out he was a Chief
Inspector and said they would allow people into
Church for the 11am Mass, but they would have to be
escorted in and escorted out.
“Another email and more texts informed the
parishioners about the 11am Mass. Normally, we
have about 190 or so; that Sunday we had 125, so lots
made it. It was Pentecost and I preached about Jesus
breathing the Holy Spirit into the disciples, that is into
us, and so into our troubled and darkened world.
“The same procedure was observed for the 1.05pm
Mass on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, and on
Wednesday night the cordon was lifted. That night I
attended the Vigil in the Potter’s Field.
“Now, most is cleaned up. The Archbishop of
Southwark came to us the following Sunday. It is calm
now, no big show or anything like that. All the time
we at Most Precious Blood are offering Mass and
prayers for the victims, the emergency services and
the terrorists, of course.”
In Manchester, Fr Andrew Starkie was called out
about midnight, when the bomb was detonated in the
Arena. As Chaplain to a local hospital, he duly reported
for duty. As it happened, he and the other members of
the Emergency Services called out that night, were not
required. Thank God for that, for things could have
been much worse.
“We have an excellent Database at Precious Blood,
so I texted and emailed the parishioners to say that
there would be no 8.30am Mass. As to the 11am Mass,
Priesthood is not just about the altars, hymns, and
well, maybe we could use the school, I thought.
things, but it is also about being there when needed.
What is sure is that when tragedy strikes, the Catholic
“Chatting to the Police outside the Church I saw Church will always be there.