Fr Fenlon and Homelessness Sunday
Blogged by James Preece on 1st February 2011
I must say, I always feel a bit uncomfortable when people refer to Fr Dermot Fenlon as "homeless". I cringed a little when I saw that the Free the B3 blog had ran a blog entry to mark Homelessness Sunday.
My feeling was, I'm not sure it's entirely appropriate to hijack Homelessness Sunday for the cause of Fr Fenlon. I mean, so far as I know, Fr Fenlon has a roof over his head when he goes to bed at night. He doesn't spend his days on the icy streets of Hull, London, Birmingham or Brighton. We risk trivialising a vital issue if we call a man "homeless" when he has (so far as I can ascertain) somewhere to go.
But then I thought again.
Because we also risk trivialising the issue of homelessness if we act as though the homeless are like stray animals that simply need rounding up and putting in kennels with a bit of food, shelter and warmth. The homeless are not animals, they are people. They are people with hopes and fears, hungers and dreams. They are human beings made in the image and likeness of God, they need our time, they need our attention, they need our love. Of course, we should also feed them!
The people on the streets of Hull and Brighton are there, more often than not, because somebody couldn't or wouldn't love. Maybe they had a drink or drug problem, an anger problem, a mental health problem... or their parents did. Maybe they were abused, maybe they were in the way of a second marriage and a new partner who didn't want them around, maybe they made a lifestyle choice that their parents couldn't accept, maybe they just couldn't stop leaving the toilet seat up.
Whatever the reason, and there are many (that's the thing about people - they are all different) it often comes down to this: somebody who should have loved unconditionally, didn't. We are not only dealing with a lack of food and shelter (though of course, we must meet those needs as well), we are dealing with a lack of love.
In this way, Fr Dermot Fenlon is not so very different to the homeless. Fr Fenlon had a home, but somebody found him difficult to live with, somebody couldn't or wouldn't love. Somebody thought that it would be better for everyone if he left. Maybe they had the legal "right" to send him away (maybe) - but as Chesterton reminds us, to have the right to do something is not the same as to be right in doing it.
It's really just a matter of happy circumstance that Fr Fenlon's exile does not mean putting him on the streets of Birmingham. The Oratory would have thrown him out even if it did mean putting him on the streets of Birmingham... Is that an outrageous thing to say?
You mean to say that if Fr Fenlon were sleeping in Cofton Park on a bench in the snow that Fr Duffield would invite him in?
That's good... so it is possible for him to return home?
Say a prayer for Fr Fenlon and everybody who for whatever reason is unable to go home. Some of them are lucky enough to "couch surf" while others find themselves in hostels and the less fortunate find themselves in doorways and prisons. Say a prayer also for those they are unable to go home to - they may need God's mercy even more.
"If any one says, "I love God," and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen, cannot love God whom he has not seen." 1 John 4:20
Reader Comments
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Stefanie Maria said...
Excerpt from my letter of complaint to the Procurator Generalis:
The way Fr Dr. Dermot Fenlon C.O. (The Oratory Birmingham) has been treated by Fr Felix Selden C.O. is a disgraceful infringement of his basic human rights. The faithful are afraid that Fr Dermot Fenlon may not survive five years of exile from the Oratory, since he is an old, not particularly robust man. (…)
Very Reverend Father, you know about the frail health of Fr Dermot Fenlon. Why doesn’t Fr Felix Selden care about Fr Dermot’s state of health? Why doesn’t he show any compassion? Our Lord cares about our basic needs: “I was hungry, and you gave me something to eat. I was thirsty, and you gave me something to drink. I was a stranger, and you took me into your home.”
(…) But at the same time the faithful feel that they are being treated with contempt by a Church which refuses to recognise the real grief and damage caused by Fr Felix Selden C.O. (and by Fr Ignatius Harrison C.O.).
Very Reverend Father, I beg you in the name of our Lord, please bring Fr Dermot Fenlon C.O. home to his beloved Birmingham Oratory.
May God bless you and the Oratory!
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Christy. said...
I agree with all that Stefanie Maria says . It is cruel to remove a man of Fr Dermot's age from his home . Yes , we presume he does have a home , but just how many " homes " has he had since his removal from the Oratory . The longer that he is forced to stay away , the less like home it will be on his eventual return .
Apart from his physical health , what is this disgraceful treatment likely to do to his mental health ?
Fr Dermot is an excellent priest ,with people choosing him for confession , how many parishioners are now choosing to stay away from confession due to his absence ?
I pray that he will be returned home very soon , where I am sure he will be welcomed back by many .
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Birmingham Oratory Parishioner said...
Of-course Father Dermot is homeless. He has been turned out of his home and does not have a prima facie right to any other home but is dependent upon the charity of others for a roof over his head. As he is a saintly man who has done nothing wrong this is a cruel and defamatory punishment.
His name is still there above his confessional, where we prayed for him on Sunday.
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Barbarossa said...
Do you still remember Fr Sebastian Jones? Was he a novice at the Oratory?
Archbishop Vincent Nichols signed the decree to "confirm and ratify the Constitution and Statutes of St. Bede's Hall, Oxford as a Private Association of Christ's Faithful" when still Archbishop of Birmingham on 25 March 2009. Fr Sebastian Jones, Chairman of the Board of Management, said St Bede's Hall was established to "perpetuate the work of higher education characterised by the special tradition of excellence that imbued the ancient foundations of this City of Oxford".
Closure of St Bede’s Hall, Oxford in January 2011: A new Catholic academic project at Oxford has been wound up. Members of the Board of Management were Archbishop Nichols, Fr Sebastian Jones… Sapienti sat!
He cried in a whisper at some image, at some vision—he cried out twice, a cry that was no more than a breath—"The horror! The horror!" (Joseph Conrad, Heart of Darkness)
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Veritas Vincit said...
Word is that Fr Chavasse has been invited to Cardiff University Chaplaincy to give a talk on Newman and the beatification process by none other than... Fr Gareth (Sebastian) Jones.
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Barbarossa said...
15 February 2011: Fr. Paul Chavasse, Cong. Orat., the Vice Postulator for the Canonisation of Bl. John Henry Newman will give a talk on the history of the process and explain the various stages that lead to last September's Mass of Beatification in Birmingham by Pope Benedict XVI. Fr. Paul will also speak on the recent developments in the process for the Canonisation of Blessed John Henry Newman.
Cardiff University Catholic Chaplaincy, Tâd Gareth Jones, Chaplaincy 62, Park Place, Cardiff
***
A failed Franciscan, a failed curate, a failed Bishop's secretary, a failed canon lawyer, a failed Parish Priest and a (twice) failed Oratorian novice. This is Fr. Gareth Adrian Jones. http://www.lovingit.co.uk/2010/08/the-fr-gareth-jones-question.html
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Barbarossa said...
The Society of Saint Catherine of Siena
RENEWING THE INTELLECTUAL APOSTOLATE IN THE CATHOLIC CHURCH
Who's Who
Trustees
(…)
Very Rev’d. Ignatius Harrison, Cong. Orat.
Rev’d. Dr. Gareth Jones
Patron
Most Rev'd. Vincent Nichols, Archbishop of Westminster
http://www.caterinati.org.uk/whos_who.html
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VEREMUNDUS said...
EPISTULA PUBLICA CAUTIONE MISSA
Hāc epistulā querimoniam gravem ad vos, Eminentissime Cardinalis Rodé, deferre debeo de actionibus vituperandis P. Felicis Selden CO, Delegati Sedis Apostolicae
pro Confoederatione Oratorii S. Philippi Nerii, in causa P. Dr. Dermot Fenlon CO.
Ista imposita poena „exclaustratio“ in eundem P. Dr. Dermot Fenlon CO ab eius confratre Felice Selden CO statuta vero iniusta, iniqua, insolentissima est.
Usque ad hunc diem plurimae rationes de causa Dermot Fenlon nec cognitae
nec respectae, immo vero falso iudicatae sunt.
Graviter commotus constituere debeo haec: Infirma valetudo Patris Dermot Fenlon adhuc nemini maximae curae est, nisi eiusdem sinceris fidelibusque amicis, quamquam P. Dermot gravi morbo adfectus est.
Christus, qui iudex veniet in maiestate sua, nos monuit: „Hospes eram et collexistis me, nudus et operuistis me, infirmus et visitastis me, in carcere eram et venistis ad me.“ (Matth. 25, 35 sqq.)
Vos, eminentissime Cardinalis, obsecro obtestorque, ut veritas et iustitia praevaleant.
Vobiscum orare audeo: Ora pro nobis, Sancta Dei Genetrix, ut digni efficiamur promissionibus Christi.
Laudetur Jesus Christus!
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Christy said...
I see that Father Philip has now requested that he stays at Toronto Oratory , and that permission has been granted .
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I used to go to the Oratory!! said...
Fr. Gregory Winterton Cong. Orat. died on Wednesday of last week.
His Requiem Mass was held today in the Oratory and it was a delight to see Fr. Dermot Fenlon in the procession.
He looked tired and had his eyes firmly fixed in front of him - as if he was thinking of other things!!
It was good to see him.
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Veritas Vincit said...
This is great news, Deo gratius!
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