Ecce quam bonum et quam jucundum, habitare fratres in unum – Psalm 133
As I reflect on my experience of lockdown as a new priest appointed to four parishes in Scunthorpe, North Lincolnshire, it is not the fact that I regularly had to celebrate three funeral services a day – the terror of giving the Last Rites in hospital beneath the PPE that I had been helped into by heroic nursing staff – but rather it was the loneliness I experienced at not having the fraternal support of my brother priests.
The Confraternity of Catholic Clergy has been an invaluable source of fraternity, formation and fidelity for me since I was a seminarian at Oscott College in Birmingham. After a long hiatus caused by the pandemic, two brother priests and I joyfully headed up to York to attend the Confraternity Colloquium at the end of May.
When we arrived at Bar Convent, the oldest surviving Catholic convent in England, built in 1686, we were warmly welcomed by the sisters of the Congregation of Jesus. Later, the sisters very kindly gave us an opportunity to pray before the hand of St Margaret Clitheroe, the “pearl of York”, who was pressed to death in 1586 for harbouring priests. The sight of so many clergy in various types of distinctive black clothing (and the odd cassock) certainly drew the attention of the bemused people of York as we made our way to our various hotels.
Having checked in, we headed immediately back to the Bar Convent and hit the ground running with our first conference at 4pm. The speaker this year was Dr Ralph C Martin, Professor of Theology and Director of the New Evangelisation at Sacred Heart Seminary in Detroit. Ralph proved to be an inspirational speaker who has a heart for Jesus, His Church, and for the ministry of priests. The world (and sometimes the Church) in which we live and minister can often feel very hostile to those of us who take seriously oaths of office we swore before our ordinations to be faithful to Sacred Scripture, Sacred tradition, the Catechism, and the authoritative teaching of the Holy Father Pope Francis.
Having caught up with our devotions, at 7.30pm we headed over to a nearby Italian restaurant for the Colloquium banquet. Over the clattering of crockery, the atmosphere was filled with happiness and laughter as long-lost brothers caught up with one another: the clergy moves, the deaths, the anniversaries of ordinations, families (as we were joined by many of our brothers from the Ordinariate). Priestly fraternity is something that we delight in, as we gather to encourage and support each other. The conversations flowed from the sublime to the ridiculous – over a delicious portion of tiramisu, I even entered into a wager with a Southwark priest as to what name Cardinal Roche will take upon his election as pope. (If Humilitas Primum appears on the Loggia of St Peter’s, I shall be a very happy priest.)
I was struck by both how beautiful York is as a city, and how steeped in Catholic history it is. Mgr Newton, Ordinary of the Ordinariate of Walsingham, celebrated a Pontifical Mass at York Oratory, which was concelebrated by many of those assembled. Fr Mark Vickers, preaching on the feast of St Justin Martyr, reminded us of the perennial importance of seeking to be apologists for the faith, and of that essential link between the local and universal Church in Communion with the Holy Father. The Feast of St Justin is a significant day, as I am currently the Chaplain General of the Society of St Justin Martyr, a confraternity which seeks to perform the spiritual works of mercy by praying for the souls of past worships in ancient churches, and making reparation for past wrongs.
As one might expect from the confraternity, the Mass was high church rather than short church: Mass in English, with some beautiful polyphonic Mass settings. Providentially, we were joined for Mass by two house groups from Oscott Seminary. It is important for those young men to realise that there is a confraternity to support them too, as please God, they take their fledgling steps as “baby priests”.
Owing to Mass having been rather longer than anticipated, we headed speedily to a nearby restaurant, La Vecchia Scuola. We enjoyed a beautiful two-course lunch together (puddings had to be abandoned to make sure that we were not late for our walking tour of Catholic York.
At 3pm, we gathered once again outside the Oratory Church, and met Fr Richard Duffield Cong. Orat. who was to be our tour guide. We made our way around York visiting the Minster, Shambles, Ouse Bridge and concluded our tour in what is reputed to be the home of St Margaret Clitheroe, praying for the conversion of England and for the intentions of our Holy Father Pope Francis.
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