SIR – As a member of the Historians for Britain group, which campaigned for Brexit, it is a trifle hard to be grouped with the “Remainers” by Professor John Rist (Letters, August 12); but then, as the Texas Senator said when asked if he was going to be more middle of the road in his second term: “Son, the only thing you find in the middle of the road are white lines and squashed armadillos.”
Having been squashed, let me respond to Prof Rist with the observation that Henry VIII’s rejection of Rome went beyond its spiritual authority – as Article 37 of the Thirty-Nine Articles made clear. The soi-disant reformers wrote of Rome in not dissimilar ways to that in which some Brexiteers write about the EU, some even, as Prof Rist does, seeing it as a source of sexual licence. I join Prof Rist and Pope Benedict in deploring the absence of mentions of our faith in the EU Charter, but prefer Benedict’s conclusion to that of Prof Rist. Benedict thought we should stay and act as leaven in the lump. Indeed, given the intensely secular nature of British society, an alliance with our Catholic brothers and sisters to act in this way seemed to me one of the few arguments for Remain.
I would cavil a little at the implication in Prof Rist’s letter that in some way the EU bears any special share of responsibility for the spread of sexual licence; we shall not see less of that after Brexit. But then were he to say the EU did little to combat it, we would find ourselves in agreement.
Much though I should like to believe that Brexit offered the opportunities to which Prof Rist alludes, it is hard to see a state as secular as this one reaching out to the Catholic community globally. But I can offer Prof Rist some comfort. At the signing of a recent partnership agreement with the Institut Catholicque de Paris, St Mary’s Vice-Chancellor Francis Campbell expressed his pride ‘‘that St Mary’s is able to restate our determination to take an international outlook and look beyond our own borders. We will continue to develop even stronger ties with universities in Europe and around the world, enriching the opportunities for both UK and overseas students.’’
So, whatever the many shortcomings of this ‘‘prominent Catholic educationalist’’, I hope to reassure Prof Rist that St Mary’s will seize the spiritual and religious opportunities offered to higher education by the global Catholic community, and would welcome his – and your – prayers for the success of our endeavours.
Yours faithfully,
John Charmley (Prof)
St Mary’s University,
Twickenham, Middlesex
SIR – Fr Rolheiser deplores “a common misconception … that once in hell it is too late to repent” (August 12). But Pope Francis told mobsters the opposite: “There is still time not to end up in hell, which awaits you if you continue on this road.” This would be a bad joke, rather than a fatherly and solemn warning, if hell were not a permanent destination. The Catechism confirms: “To die in mortal sin without repenting and accepting God’s merciful love means remaining separated from Him for ever by our own free choice. This state of definitive self-exclusion from communion with God and the blessed is called “hell” (#1033).
Fr Rolheiser rightly stresses that God’s mercy knows no bound, so that if a damned person showed the least sign of contrition, God would respond. But precisely, the Church clearly teaches that once our soul departs from our body, our time to merit – or demerit – is ended, so that we cannot become better or worse. Consequently, the soul of a damned person is utterly incapable of regret or love, and it will never want to improve, whatever God may try. How seriously and responsibly then should we take our time on earth, since it determines our eternity!
Yours faithfully,
Fr Armand de Malleray, FSSP
Warrington, Cheshire
SIR – May I supplement Fr Anthony Ruff’s powerful article (August 12)? While the priest faces the people around the altar, his concentration and theirs is not on each other, but on the sacrifice taking place. There is therefore a persuasive logic in this practice. It is Christ-centred.
Pope Benedict looked for “an interior reconciliation” of the two forms; while urging that they should influence each other, he was clear that the Ordinary Form remains the norm. His suggestions included the incorporation in the old form of the new wealth of Prefaces and the new saints. I can think of others. On the other hand, we all need now to do reverently what the Church does, and end the so-called creativity which has done such damage.
Yours faithfully,
The Very Rev Fr Leo Chamberlain OSB
Easingwold, North Yorks
SIR – Fr Anthony Ruff casts doubt on the prevalence of worship ad orientem in the early Church. But he doesn’t offer evidence for such doubt or address the weight of recent scholarship against it.
Later, for rhetorical reasons, he assumes it, and then asks those who advocate priestly orientation at the altar as a return to ancient practice if they wish to see a return also to other ancient practices, such as standing rather than kneeling “at the liturgy”, offering both sacred species to the faithful at Communion, and removing tabernacles from a central position in the apse. He wishes to do so as these practices are “more traditional”.
Here I think Fr Ruff mistakes traditionalism with antiquarianism, and denies the very process of organic development that is at the heart of Tradition.
Even if he will not accept that worship ad orientem was prevalent in the early Church, it is irrefutable that once established it remained the consistent practice of the Church until the post-conciliar reforms. Even in the reformed liturgy, as the rubrics make clear enough to those who would read them, ad orientem is still assumed. If anyone is guilty of the “selective historicism” he deplores, it is Fr Ruff himself.
Yours faithfully,
Fr Hugh Somerville-Knapman OSB
Douai Abbey, Berkshire
SIR – David Quinn and Ed Kelly insist the EU has not been instrumental in member states introducing abortion and same-sex marriage (Letters, August 5). A 2013 EU Parliament resolution called on new member states to impose “non-discrimination” on “sexual orientation and gender identity”; address “lingering homophobia and transphobia in law, policy, and practice”, and “ensure universal access to reproductive health services and promote reproductive rights”.
In member states, the EU works with sympathetic politicians and EU-subsidised campaigning groups, supported by sympathetic media, to work incrementally towards these goals, whether by relaxing abortion laws for “hard cases”, or introducing civil partnerships as a step towards same-sex marriage.
Yours faithfully,
Ann Farmer (Mrs)
Woodford Green, Sussex
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