THE P RTAL
June 2014
Joanna Bogle DSG gives a personal view
The church
of San Giorgio in Velabro in Rome was
Blessed John Henry Newman’s titular church. And a little
group of Ordinariate pilgrims met there in April sunshine while in
Rome for the canonisation of Saints John XXIII and John Paul II.
Father Christopher Pearson had hoped to celebrate
Mass in the church, but a TV crew was filming there
and so it proved impossible. But we went in to pray,
to read the big marble memorial plaque to Cardinal
Newman, and to give thanks for the Ordinariate. And
then off to a café for another of those long pleasant
chatting-in-the-sunshine sessions which make a stay
in Rome so hugely enjoyable.
Rome
was
packed
with pilgrims for the
canonisation – something
like a million in St Peter’s
Square and the Via della
Conciliazione
on
the
Sunday morning, plus
about another million in
the various squares around
the city where giant TV
screens had been set up so
that people could follow the
Mass.
I was among these, settling
in at the Piazza Navone with
thousands
and thousands of Poles. But Father Christopher had
a ticket for St Peter’s Square as a priest, and was one
of the 6,000 white-clad clergy seated there in rows
behind the Bishops.
Patti Fordyce, one of our Ladies Ordinariate Group
(known for their tenacity and gumption!) was one
of the be-there-in-the-early-hours-of-the-morning
enthusiasts who also found a place in the Square – and
repeated the feat the following day for the Thanksgiving
Mass, managing to get near the front.
a magnificent day
This was a magnificent day in the Church’s history:
huge cheers greeted Papa Emeritus Benedict as
he arrived, and the cheers redoubled when Papa
Francis warmly embraced him before the start of the
canonisation Mass. Then, with glorious music, in perfect
weather, the dignity of the liturgy and the ringing and
solemn words of the formal canonising of John XXIII
contents page
and John
Paul II:
Auntie Jo a n
Bogle in Rome
Page 4
na
wri tes
“For
the
honour
of
the Blessed Trinity, the exaltation of the Catholic
faith and the increase of the Christian life, by the
authority of our Lord
Jesus Christ, and of the
Holy Apostles Peter
and Paul, and our own,
after due deliberation
and frequent prayer
for divine assistance,
and having sought the
counsel of many of
our brother Bishops,
we declare and define
Blessed John XXIII
and John Paul II be
Saints and we enrol
them among the Saints,
decreeing that they are to be venerated as such by
the whole Church. In the name of the Father, and of
the Son, and of the Holy Spirit”.
packed with pilgrims
The night before the canonisation, the churches of
Rome were open for prayer, and they were packed
with pilgrims. Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament,
the Rosary, priests patiently hearing confessions,
groups of people praying and singing together…all
this with the glow of candles, making a beautiful and
memorable scene. And in the streets and squares, so
much goodwill and friendship, and such a feeling of
neighbourliness, as families settled down to camp out
so as to get a good place for the morning’s viewing of
the Mass. Different squares were allocated to different
language groups, with giant TV screens sponsored by
TV companies.
Two Popes witnessing the raising to the altars of two
Popes: something like this happens but once in an
epoch. It was thrilling to be in Rome at such a time.
Joanna Bogle DSG