THE P RTAL
March 2018 Page 14
told us , “ Before Fr Simon came I had not heard of the Ordinariate . The diocesan magazine had something about people from the CofE who had become Catholic . We are pleased they are at our church . They have added vibrancy to things here , especially to our worship . We have different songs sometimes now , and we work well together .”
Jo Brough is a widow with two teenage girls : Kira and Rhianna . She has been at St Margaret Mary since 2004 when Kira was offered a place at the school . She had not heard of the Ordinariate until Fr Simon arrived .
Sancia Saju and Oeeane Marie Shijo - these two young ladies read the scripture at the mass in Brum , and they did it very well
“ I knew there was a movement for CofE people to become Catholic ,” she told us , “ But their arrival with us has made a change . Rather than the Parish Priest on his own , the Ordinariate has been a great improvement . Fr Simon is not on his own ; there is a package of support for him and for the whole parish . Locally it has made a big difference with you lot coming ! Generally , it has been positive , though there are always those who do not like it . As to Divine Worship , I enjoy it on Monday evenings .”
It concerns me that the Catholic Church does not reach 50 % of the population . 50 % have no religion , and only 1 % of converts in the UK come from this category . Most growth in the Catholic Church comes from the lapsed or from other denominations .
“ The Ordinariate group here is small , about fourteen in all . But they make a great contribution . They are the leaven in the lump . Here we have so many different cultures , yet the Anglican Patrimony may be the one thing that draws in all these different people . We are sensitive to the great Irish patrimony too . The poor Irish built St Margaret Mary . It was paid for by hard-up Irish families . The numbers of the Irish have diminished , but they are still here .
“ In the Archdiocese , the Ordinariate is recognised in as much as we are on the web site and in the directory . However , whether the Bishops of England and Wales have understood what we are about , I am less sure . Receptive Ecumenism - you cannot have real ecumenism without receptive ecumenism .
Settled in Fr Simon ’ s comfortable study he told us , “ I have been here eighteen months now , and it has been a great gift . I did not want to leave the school where I was Chaplain ( Mount St Mary ’ s College ), but now I am here in Newman ’ s Birmingham , it is a gift . Newman ’ s Birmingham : He walked these streets , or rather across the fields as they were then . He would have walked this way from Maryvale to Oscott .
Sandra
The cemetery at Oscott is in this parish . Parish life is the great thing here . The whole range of human life and experience is here . We have a large number of young people , twenty eight servers , fifty young people , and a congregation which includes newborns right up to a ninety seven year old ! We are also blessed by people from Poland and many African countries . We are a truly global church .
Terry Brown
“ We are working at integration , and it is a work in progress . Many come to receive the sacraments and then go home . We are working on this .
This means the sharing of gifts , united not absorbed . One wonders if the bishops have really understood this . We are not here just to increase the numbers of clergy , we have our own charism . The Jesuits understand this , and the Church understands their charism . But does it understand ours ?
“ As to the future , well we have got one !
That is the key thing . We are here for the long haul . We are well placed ; look at the CofE ; look at our culture , the dignity of life , same sex marriage , weddings , Brexit , whatever ; we are well placed . We offer something that is coherent , and doctrinally spot on . People are searching and we can show them Christ . Steven Bullivant ’ s recent article in the Catholic Herald on how the Ordinariate is well placed to assist the church is true . The Ordinariate is indeed well placed .”
Thank you Fr Simon , for your time and for the opportunity to meet with some of your lovely and holy people .