THE
P RTAL
November 2016
Page 11
Anglican
The AngloCatholic Scene News
in the CofE
The Revd Paul Benfield
S
eptember and October have been busy months with lots going on in the Catholic circles of the
Church of England and I mention some at which I have been present.
At the beginning of September Father Oliver Coss
SSC was instituted and inducted as Rector of All
Saints, Northampton. All Saints is the civic church of
the town and county and so the service was attended
by the Lord Lieutenant, High Sheriff, Mayor and other
civic dignitaries. After various processions from the
Judge’s Lodgings, the mass began, presided over by the
Bishop of Richborough.
‘our friends in the Personal Ordinariate of Our Lady
of Walsingham and Mgr Keith Newton, the Ordinary’,
though sadly, because of the day, no members of the
Ordinariate were able to be present.
Saturday 24th September was, of course, the Feast of
our Lady of Walsingham, but also my 60th birthday.
Family and friends gathered at St Alban’s, Holborn
for a sung mass, reception and lunch. The Bishop
of Beverley presided and Fr Christopher Smith, the
Vicar, preached. In our intercessions we remembered
There has been much else going on in the rest of
the country, of course. Amongst them was a Year of
God’s Mercy event starting at the Anglican Cathedral
at Chichester and ending at the Roman Catholic
Cathedral at Arundel. All in all, Catholic members of
the Church of England are in good heart.
On 8th October priests and parishioners from the
Province of York and beyond gathered in York Minster
for the Bishop of Beverley’s Northern Festival. This
event, which takes place every two years, is always
The Bishop of Brixworth performed the legal parts encouraging as it gathers together all those who look
of the ceremony, which were enlivened by the arrival to Bishop Glyn for episcopal care, together with those
of a bag lady just as the deed of institution was about from the relatively new Diocese of Leeds who look to
to be read. She walked to the front, apologised for Bishop Tony Robinson, Bishop of Wakefield, and those
interrupting, and asked if she could have some water from Blackburn who look to Bishop Philip North,
for her dog. The Chief Constable escorted her and her Bishop of Burnley.
dog out and, no doubt, fulfilled her request.
Unfortunately since then the Minster has been in the
On 17th September several thousand gathered in the news for the sacking of its band of bell ringers by the
vast spaces of Liverpool Cathedral for a Walsingham Dean and Chapter. Whatever the rights and wrongs
Festival. After a very warm welcome from the Dean, of the situation, (and the narrative has changed as the
three thuribles led the procession of the Image of Our story has unfolded in the press) it could and should
Lady of Walsingham into the nave. There followed have been handled much better.
an opening liturgy which included an address by the
Bishop of Liverpool, Paul Bayes, and sprinkling, laying
It is most regrettable that the bells will be silent until
on of hands and anointing.
Easter next year unless the efforts of the Lord Mayor
and Member of Parliament to achieve some sort of
After a keynote address from the Bishop of dialogue and reconciliation are successful.
Chichester, Martin Warner, a concelebrated mass was
celebrated at which the Bishop of Beverley presided
Now that the Archbishop of York has weighed in
and preached. After lunch we heard an address from backing the sacking and saying that when there is a
the Bishop of Burnley, Philip North, on sacramental safeguarding issue you must close everything down,
evangelism and the day ended with Choral Evensong this seems unlikely. If there is a safeguarding problem
and Benediction sung by the Cathedral choir. We left in a school do the governors close down the whole
for home tired, but full of grace.
school?