A new Provost at the Birmingham Oratory
Blogged by James Preece on 23rd September 2011
Now that you've had a bit of time to digest the Birmingham Three Recap you are ready to read the latest press release on the subject from the Catholic Communications Office of the Catholic Bishops Conference of England and Wales...
Fr Ignatius Harrison has been appointed Provost of the Birmingham Oratory by the Holy See, following the resignation of Fr Richard Duffield.
Fr Duffield has resigned for reasons of ill-health, at his own request.
Fr Harrison will also be actor and vice-postulator for the cause of Cardinal Newman, who was beatified in 2010.
The most significant thing about this press release is not what it says but who is saying it. The pretence of having a "spokesman for the Birmingham Oratory" has been dropped. This press release comes directly from the Catholic Bishops Conference of England and Wales.
I also hear that Fr Gareth/Sebastian Jones will be made Vice-Provost of the Birmingham Oratory. When I first heard that I thought it was a joke, but it turns out it's for real! No wonder they left that part out of the press release.
More on this next week when I've had a bit more time to digest it myself...
Reader Comments
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Birmingham Oratory Parishioner said...
It is a joke, but a pretty sick one. Our dear Birmingham Oratory has been spiritually eviscerated and frankly you can feel it in the atmosphere.
If one had predicted the incumbency of Father Ignatius Harrison and Father Gareth Jones at the Birmingham Oratory a year ago, accusations of conspiracy theory would have been thrown around ...
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Sapientia said...
Birmingham Oratory Parishioner is absolutely right. The atmosphere of shock and despair is even more palpable than in 2010, when at least we had some hope that things would eventually get back to normal. There is no hope of this now. All Fr Duffield's hard work, with the obvious consequences for his own health, will have been in vain if these two are put in charge at Birmingham. If Newman wants to save his Oratory he needs to intervene immediately.
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Christy said...
If it is true that Gareth Jones will be returning as vice provost , then will this mean that our wonderful Father Dermot will not be returning in the very near future ?
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Tiggy said...
I have been following all this with some interest. I know none of the dramatis personae, though I go to The London Oratory when in town. Fr Harrison seems to run a good "show" there. Though I doubt one person could run two houses so far apart. All very strange.
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Petrus said...
no priest is supposed to 'run a good show' - it's about saving souls not playing to the gallery such as soft peddling on abortion contraception and homosexual deviance
what's interesting about the press release is its reference to the authority bvehind the appointments -i.e. the "Holy See"
This is Selden's 'Apostolic' powers of course but you can be sure someone other than him much higher inside the curia is pressing buttons too because all of this suits their perverse attempts to rape the interpretation of Newman on the interpretation of conscience
as for Jones being lined up to 'assist' Harrison who cannot be in two places at once..what a joke and don't treat the ;laity like passive idiots.
The ex novice of Dermot Fenlon [who left of his own accord] and who [it is rumoured] others have said he has no business being an Oratorian and who has uncanonically been involved in the exile and disproportinate sanctions against Fenlon, Berry and Cleevley is NOW to be in a prime position of authority in that same oratory????
i do now know how those behind this disgrace can sleep at night nor look themselves in the mirror
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San Sebastien said...
Indeed, I don't know how Fr Guy Nichols can sleep at night or look himself in the mirror. Truth will out about him. You'll see. He's at the heart of this whole saga.
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Juventutem London said...
Dark comments alluding to persons not central in this scandal are not charitable, and perhaps are in themselves scandalous. if you have something say about Fr Nichols, say it - and provide some evidence!
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Tyrannicum Sacerdos said...
You show your complete ignorance of events in Birmingham.
Guy Nichols is a central figure in all of this sorry saga (haven't you always wondered how he has kept himself untained by all the scandals in the past few years? indeed it is quite amazing that he has kept himself so clean up until now but the recent sad events surrounding poor Father Richard Duffield's serious illness will perhaps finally see Guy Nichols shown in his true colours).
He has been a senior member of the House for a number of years and has held all of the key positions in the House - bar that of being Provost which he has always coveted. It is a fact that he was removed as Parish Priest last February in favour of Father Anton and was beginning to be sidelined in the Community - bar his music school that was bursting with applicants - not!
Ask anyone who has lived or worked in the House or been in the Parish in the past 21 years and they will nearly all tell you that Guy Nichols has been a destructive influence. Many I am sure are too frightened to write what they think here or elsewhere for fear of being sued.
It might take days or weeks or months - or even years - but my money is on Guy Nichols being evicted.
Perhaps we should open a book on how long it takes? I say he will be gone by Christmas 2011 - if not him then Father Chavasse - Watch this space.
Talk about washing your dirty linen in public - this bunch on the Hagley Road would make a great case for the Jeremy Kyle Show
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Catholic Londoner said...
Well said TS! Guy Nicholls is the problem at the Birmingham Oratory, and the place simply has no future whilst he is there. Everybody knows it, but everybody is scared to act. Why?
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Caroline said...
Tyrant Priest,
Could you illuminate us to the misdemeanours that you allege Fr. Guy is guilty of?
As I have said on this blog my understanding is that he is a delightful man and someone who is very hard-working in the cause of raising the standards of liturgical worship and should be very much applauded for that.
Reading some comments here Fr. Guy is made out to be some sort of sociopath. If what I have been told and have read here is true one can only conclude that descriptor would actually be better applied to Ignatius Harrison.
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Mandy said...
Jones has been named Vice Provost. Take that literally.
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Veritas Vincit said...
And so the pupil becomes the master - poor Fr Dermot, his twice failed novice now his Provost (albeit vice).
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Salisbury John said...
To those who REALLY care about authentic justice and charity especially that defined by the Code of Canon Law.
ON Sunday 25th September Fr Dermot Fenlon will have been living in forced exile from his home for 500 days! As Saturday 24th is the Feast of Our Lady of Ransom may I suggest that from Saturday evening through to Sunday evening we offer up a spiritual bouquet for Fr Fenlon's health and intentions. I would suggest at least 500 Hail Marys {which is only 10 x 5 mysteries of the Holy Rosary) so it would be even better to pledge 500 Holy Rosaries recited for Fr Fenlon. I will pledge 4 this weekend [by ticking the 'yes' button at the end of this entry] if you can pledge a Rosary or more for this good and faithful priest, so undeserving of the institutional violence meted out against him then please 'click' the 'YES' button and get those 500 Rosaries offered up for truth and justice to prevail upon him and peace and charity to be FULLY restored to the Birmingham Oratory
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Salisbury John said...
apologies having realised it's not poss to click the 'yes' button more than once i suggest people simply pledge the number of rosaries they wish to offer in an entry or just offer them up - God will do the calculating.
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Alison said...
An inspired post, Salisbury John. I will also pledge 4 Rosaries this weekend for Father Dermot's health and intentions. No one could be more deserving of them. We can be certain that he will be praying for his beloved Oratory at what is a very worrying time for all of us.
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Genty said...
It's quite possible that Fr. Jones is not Fr. Harrison's choice, but is being installed as the eyes and ears of those outside the Birmingham Oratory.
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Another Oratory parishioner said...
It is in fact the Immaculate Conception Who is in charge at the B'ham Oratory and we can be sure that She is calling all of us to extra sacrifices prayers and mortifications at this time.
Sapientia, there is always hope; Satan is the one without hope; and Fr Richard's hard work will not have been in vain:God's Grace always bears fruit.
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Sapientia said...
Thank you for your words of encouragement, AOP. I am afraid we will have much need of them in the coming weeks. Having just checked this week's Oratory newsletter online, I see that under the new regime The Immaculate Conception is relegated to lower case letters, squeezed in across the top of the page in some bizarre and no doubt very modern font, and our former Provost has been relegated to, well, nowhere ..... We have been told he is ill, but apparently he is not worth praying for! The arrogance of this man Harrison is just extraordinary.
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AOP said...
Dear Sapientia....don't worry about the lower case letters; we know Our Lady is no stranger to lowliness. Father Richard has said that humility is a very powerful virtue! All priests are worth praying for; indeed it is our duty to pray (hard) for them all.
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Clara said...
If you recheck you will find that the Immaculate Conception is in large print.
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Sapientia said...
How gratifying that the authorities take notice of at least one of our concerns. Or at least when it is pointed out on James' blog anyway.
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Clara said...
What a pathetic comment! There are far more important things than the typeface on a newsletter.
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Tom Smith said...
Another anti-homosexual priest removed. See any parallells?
http://www.lcsun-news.com/ci_18945278?source=most_emailed
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Tom Smith said...
Who knows whats down the road ?
Another example of the homosexual clerical mafia. More than human hands at work here..as HH has said...the filth in the Church that must be eliminated
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/opinion/clergymans-long-road-to-resolution/story-e6frgd0x-1226133465850
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Tom Smith said...
Another priest silenced by his bishop for preaching church teaching on homosexuality.
Battle lines are clear
http://queeringthechurch.com/2011/09/23/priests-homophobic-homily-gets-him-barred-from-saying-mass/
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concerned parishioner said...
Frankly I'm over the scandals at the Oratory.
What I DO care about is Fr Richard Duffield himself. Does anyone know where he is, and what his illness is? I'm worried about him. He was always very kind to me.
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Another Concerned Parishioner said...
There's no mystery about this. See the website of the Oxford Oratory. I would stop worrying about him if I were you and worry instead about the survival of the Birmingham Oratory, which is now in serious doubt.
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Sapientia said...
That's right. After this latest upheaval the Oxford Oratory may soon become the nearest Oratory for the people of Birmingham. Just as well it's just about commutable (for some of us anyway).
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Sapientia said...
I am sure a good many of the people share your concern, Concerned Parishioner. Fr Anton has said that he will make sure any letters and cards reach Fr Richard. Let's hope he is somewhere where he can rest and recover from his time at the Birmingham Oratory.
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Dermagloste said...
There are more things in heaven and earth............
A little knowledge is a ..............
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Sapientia said...
Can you clarify that cryptic comment Dermagloste? I'm not sure which of my three sentences you're referring to!
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Dermagloste said...
If a game of guessing were being played, and the terminology "you are getting hot" used for the degree of accuracy of the guessing, I think that you would definitely be on the warm side. My comment was not directed at you, but rather a generalised observation upon many of the comments, both here, and on the "Red Herring" article elsewhere on this site. It is clear that some are more observant than others!
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Dermagloste said...
I think the old rhyme "Ten Green Bottles hanging on the wall" might well be applicable!
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Sapientia said...
Apart from the accidental bit anyway! It is beginning to seem as though someone has ruthlessly planned this particular series of falls.
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Dermagloste said...
You could be correct!
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Dermagloste said...
And then there were two..................
Has no one else noticed? Cancellation of Masses due to "staff shortages", impoverishment of Liturgy, no more service sheets........ has all this made no impression whatsoever? Has anyone else anything to say upon the subject?
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buster said...
what a sorry state of affairs.
We are Catholics for Christ,s Sake!
ALL of us should be offering up prayer and entreaty to the LORD, and His Immacualate Mother. There for the Grace of the LORD go all of us!!!
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progressio said...
Well, the plot thickens. We are advised that whilst the Provost in Birmingham(apparently still Parish Priest in London but NOT Provost) is now on the scene regularly, the 'Vice-Provost' of Birmingham has been removed from that post. Intriguing to say the least.
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