1300 Years of St Wilfrid
Blogged by James Preece on 18th October 2009
One of the patrons of our diocese is a Bishop whose faithfulness to the Holy See made him so unpopular that he was evicted from his own diocese and had to go to Rome and get the Pope to put him back in charge.
St Wilfrid had some pretty strong words for any local clergy who feel they can do things any way they like...
"But as for you and your companions, you certainly sin, if, having heard the decrees of the Apostolic See, and of the universal church, and that the same is confirmed by holy writ, you refuse to follow them; for, though your fathers were holy, do you think that their small number, in a corner of the remotest island, is to be preferred before the universal church of Christ throughout the world?"
1300 years later, our Bishop seems to feel the same way. Shortly after his ordination Bishop Terence Drainey said:
All my priestly life so far I have believed that the will of God is most often expressed to me in and through my superiors, especially my bishop and the teachings of the Church, proposed and proclaimed by our Holy Father, the Pope.
Now, I don't have a degree in theology but I would have thought that the obvious result of all this would be a clearly visible link between what goes on in Rome and Middlesbrough. A person from Middlesbrough might go to Rome and think "Ah, so this is where Bishop Drainey gets his ideas".
I don't think it's unreasonable to think that if St Wilfrid were our Bishop today then such a link would exist.
For instance, when we go to Rome we see the Pope distributing communion like this:
Last week as he marked the 1300th anniversary of St Wilfrid's death, Bishop Drainey honoured St Wilfrid by following in his footsteps by closely emulating the actions of the Pope. Or not...
I'm perfectly aware that Bishop Drainey is not being disobedient here. The Vatican have given permission for English Bishops to allow communion in the hand.
But is that really what it comes down to? Does fidelity to Pope Benedict begin and end with the bare minimum? With doing only what is required?
As examples go, it's not spectacular.
Reader Comments
Mark Dobson said...
I'm not sure really sure how I'd go about it if I were the bishop myself. What does Pope Benedict do exactly? How did he introduce the change?
I think you said once that he's only distributing communion to people who are kneeling and who receive on the tongue. Does that mean if someone approaches him standing with hands outstretched that he asks them to kneel and receive a different way, or is it just understood?
It's a bit fiddly I guess; to do what Benedict is doing, you have to tell people that what they're in the habit of doing isn't good enough, and it's bound to wind up a few people, perhaps even a lot. This is presumably why I've never heard a priest encouraging people to kneel or make a profound bow when the rubrics indicate it.
Actually bringing back altar rails would help to encourage people at least, with the obvious drawback that first you have to encourage people that they should spend out for an altar rail...
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James said...
Pope Benedict doesn't force everybody to receive kneeling and on the tongue - other priests at the same Mass are distributing communion on the hand to people who are standing.
I'm fairly sure that the people Pope Benedict gives communion are briefed before hand - they get special tickets and sit in a certain place. They will be told "if you want to receive from the Pope - do it this way, otherwise receive from somebody else". Obviously our Bishop can't do that...
What he could do is provide a kneeler like the Pope does and provide the option. That would send a clear message that he is open to the practice - at present, those of us who would like to kneel are made to feel like it would be an act of disobedience if we did.
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Miss Ellen E said...
Sorry James, I'm afraid I can't see what I'm sure must be a lovely video of the Holy Father distributing Holy Communion on the tongue to people kneeling at an altar rail. Is it something to do with my settings or yours?
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James said...
All I know is that I used the code they gave me and it works when I try it...
Do you have a reasonably recent version of flash?
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