SIR – The article by Christopher Altieri regarding the changes taking place at the Lourdes Sanctuary (Vatican news analysis, June 14) highlights areas of concern. The sad truth is that, for whatever reason, donations left are not in line with what may reasonably be expected from the millions of pilgrims who visit the shrine of Our Blessed Lady each year. Consequently, the Domain authorities are looking at income streams to make up this shortfall. In my view they are becoming too worldly in this regard, and so we see commercialisation creeping into the Domain, which has never been evident in the past.
The bookshop, which is set well back and is on the edge of the Domain, has served pilgrims well for many decades. It offers a commendably wide range of reading material in many languages, where more may be learnt about the Lourdes story and the wider Church generally, and it caters for every level of erudition from very young children upwards. There should be no other commercial enterprise within the Domain.
There is now a cabin on the left just after going through St Joseph’s Gate, which is more or less selling what is seen in the shops on the streets. There is also a proliferation of medals machines dangerously near the Blessed Grotto, and the various candelabra now have serried ranks of spikes, which can only accommodate candles that are hollow at the base and can only be found in the candle banks within the Domain. Hitherto, the only candles to be found burning here were – with perhaps the odd isolated exception – those acquired within the Domain in any case, so this initiative was uncalled for.
The challenge for the Domain authorities is to realise income in line with the needs of all the Sanctuary, but it has to be done mindful of the fact that this is a sacred place. It may well be that what is required is not a change in personnel, but a change in thinking.
Anthony McGinty
Bearsden, East Dunbartonshire
SIR – In reply to the comments by Fr Edmund Montgomery (first published at catholicherald.co.uk on June 12), we wish to clarify an important point regarding the letter sent by the Grand Master to members of the Order of Malta on June 10, 2019.
The Grand Master’s letter only refers to official and public celebrations of the Order of Malta. The Summorum Pontificum of Pope Benedict XVI indicates that every priest has the freedom to celebrate privately in the Extraordinary Form. Hence the rather moving and private offering of sacraments that Fr Edmund describes will continue in either form when so requested.
The decision taken by the Grand Master is intended to encourage unity of worship for official ceremonies and cohesion among the members worldwide, while allowing everyone who is in need to receive comfort and moral guidance.
Richard Fitzalan Howard
President of the British Association of the Order of Malta
Fra’ Ian Scott
Grand Prior of England, London SW15
SIR – A “mass exodus” of Catholics after Vatican II does not mean that the Ecumenical Council “didn’t work out” for the laity (Cover story, May 31). Nor can its effect only be measured in numbers.
Matthew’s Gospel contains many prophecies of Jesus concerning the Kingdom, most particularly when talking to the chief priests and elders: “Tax collectors and prostitutes are making their way into the Kingdom of God before you” (21:31) and “the Kingdom of God will be taken from you and given to a people who will produce its fruit” (21:43).
Many bishops and clergy have failed to encourage and support the new lay movements arising after Vatican II or, apparently, the ordinariate, or the Neocatechumenal Way. Despite this, these have flourished, some drawing in those who were far from the Church. Their fruits, especially considering their small numbers, are abundant: vocations to the priesthood, religious life, marriages, and children who practise their faith into adulthood. “The harvest is rich but the labourers are few” (Matthew 9:37).
Pauline Harvey
Bristol
SIR – Matthew Schmitz, a partisan in US conservative pamphlet wars, complains of “Lost-Worldism” (Comment, June 14), which I’d have called a “Utopianism of the past”, the alleged vice of brilliant young men, perhaps more brilliant if they know a little history, or at least more imaginative.
US conservatives usually pine for a time before the abolition of the gold standard, before income tax, before the Civil War, or before Andrew Jackson. Après Adams, le déluge. Mr Schmitz may belong to an annoying species called the “Whig Thomists” who theorise that Thomas Jefferson, infamously a reader of the original idéologues, somehow bootlegged Catholic anthropology into a convention he didn’t even attend. That’s a little better, I suppose, than believing that Archbishop Carroll signed both the 1776 and the 1787 parchments and that Washington was a secret Catholic convert on his deathbed; such also exist. Many who know the real history find, in 2019, that democracy is an ethically empty procedural form, while Western Man at other periods lived under regimes that tied them to divine sanction and providence as well as spiritual obligation. It isn’t Miniver Cheevyism to find meaning in the legacy of Christendom.
T John Jamieson
Muskegon, Michigan, United States
SIR – Ann Widdecombe’s article on the threat to free speech from politically correct bullies (Comment, June 14) reminds me of an incident during a careers lesson. A female student approached me and said that she was afraid that I might shout at her if she told me what she wanted to be. I assured her that I would not, and she said that she wanted to be a housewife. My response was to say that it was her choice and her life, but that she would need job skills. This perfectly pleasant, well-behaved young woman had been reduced to a state of fear by bullying.
If we believe in social justice, we must be prepared to stand up for the bullied members of our society against this tide of false accusations and lies. We should be standing up for the vulnerable.
I suggest that when we are next subjected to the insults that these bullies pour upon those who disagree with them we say that we wear their insults as a badge of honour.
Francis Beswick
Stretford, Greater Manchester
SIR – To learn something of the timeless truth, beauty and spiritual wealth behind the sometimes off-putting art associated with the Sacred Heart of Jesus, every Catholic would do well to read The Devotion to the Sacred Heart, by Fr John Croiset SJ, one of St Margaret Mary Alacoque’s spiritual directors. I doubt that one could fail to be touched by what is written there.
P Whitney
Doncaster, South Yorkshire
This page is available to subscribers. Click here to sign in or get access.
Areas of Catholic Herald business are still recovering post-pandemic.
However, we are reaching out to the Catholic community and readership, that has been so loyal to the Catholic Herald. Please join us on our 135 year mission by supporting us.
We are raising £250,000 to safeguard the Herald as a world-leading voice in Catholic journalism and teaching.
We have been a bold and influential voice in the church since 1888, standing up for traditional Catholic culture and values. Please consider donating.