THE
P RTAL
October 2015
Page 12
On the Isle of Wight
Jackie Ottaway and Ronald Crane visit the Island
It was
in June 2012 that we last visited the Ordinariate Group on the Isle of Wight. Well due for another
visit then. Our recent trip across the Solent was timely, as the Group that met at Saint Mary’s, Ryde, will
have moved by the time you read this.
Fr Jonathan Redvers Harris has been
commuting from East Cowes to Ryde in
order to care for this Group. So many miles,
so much time; then the local Bishop gave Fr
Jonathan the Parish in West Cowes as well.
With so few Catholic priests on the Island,
he could not realistically refuse. This had
consequences for the Group. It would move Edmund Matyjaszek
from Ryde to East Cowes. Our visit coincided
with one of the last times the Group would
meet at Saint Mary’s, Ryde, for a weekly mass.
in January 2014. It was ‘very high’ Church.
Holy Trinity is now a Community Centre,
which is what a lot of CofE churches are now.
They do good works, but they could all be
done anyway, without closing the church.
After a beautiful mass, we chatted with
Derek Stephens, a retired logistics worker
and Eddie Butcher, a retired former curate
at All Saints, Ryde. Commenting on the
impending move, Derek said, “Things move Anne Cover
on. It is a shame, but Fr Jonathan needs a
living. His two Diocesan Parishes, although
close as the crow flies, are distant because of
the river between them! One has to use the
chain ferry.
“I spent some weeks in the wilderness. I
went to many churches and did not feel at
home in any of them. Then I came to the
Ordinariate Mass at St Mary’s and I knew
this was it. I was received at Easter. It was
like getting married! The people here are
very welcoming. Fr Eddie sponsored me to
be received. He took the funeral for my late
husband. It was full circle really.
Eddie chipped in, “Development is very
slow.” Derek continued, “We have lost some
people by migration. But, we have had two
Derek Stephens
new people in the last twelve months. I talk
to our old people at All Saints, Ryde. They
will stay put. It is to do with the social side of
things. Our liturgy here suits them, as does
the teaching, but they do not come.”
Derek confided that, “At St Saviour’s (in
Shanklin) they use the Roman Rite anyway!
They hang on to their ‘C’ status.” Eddie said,
“I know, but it is not the future is it?” They Cindy Targett
told us that at least one lapsed Catholic had
been attracted to the Group as well as some
other Diocesan Catholics. “Our Mass is more
formal and nine o’clock is a good time,” they
said.
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