A Bluffer's Guide to English Church History
Tonight I inaugurated a new parish group - the 'William Lockhart Circle.' It's named after our first parish priest, Fr Lockhart, who was a prominent Oxford convert, a disciple of Newman and a member of the Institute of Charity. The group's aim is to organise regular speaker meetings and help parishioners explore the Faith.
In future months, speakers will include Fr Tim Finigan and Joanna Bogle, who have agreed to venture into North London. But tonight parishioners had to put up with me, as I spoke on 'A History of Catholic England - in 45 minutes.' I first did this a couple of years ago, partly because I thought many people know a lot of historical details but miss out on the the broad sweep of the centuries. Most Catholics have heard of the principal English saints and know that Henry VIII split with Rome, but have no real general picture of the Church's history. This I attempted to provide, with the help of PowerPoint and a patient group of parishioners.
There were twelve people present as I started the talk - but, just like most parish Masses, the audience rapidly increased in the first five minutes, so that we got well over twenty - not bad for a new venture. On a cold January evening a historical talk isn't going to pull vast crowds.
Afterwards, I had a drink in my rooms with Cally's Kitchen and we watched the Reformation episode on DVD of Simon Schama's History of Britain - which is superb, follows the Eamon Duffy line, and probably is one of the most pro-Catholic pieces of TV produced by the BBC over the last ten years (not a bad achievement for a Jewish historian!).
The central question posed by Schama is a haunting one: 'whatever did happen to Catholic England?'
In future months, speakers will include Fr Tim Finigan and Joanna Bogle, who have agreed to venture into North London. But tonight parishioners had to put up with me, as I spoke on 'A History of Catholic England - in 45 minutes.' I first did this a couple of years ago, partly because I thought many people know a lot of historical details but miss out on the the broad sweep of the centuries. Most Catholics have heard of the principal English saints and know that Henry VIII split with Rome, but have no real general picture of the Church's history. This I attempted to provide, with the help of PowerPoint and a patient group of parishioners.
There were twelve people present as I started the talk - but, just like most parish Masses, the audience rapidly increased in the first five minutes, so that we got well over twenty - not bad for a new venture. On a cold January evening a historical talk isn't going to pull vast crowds.
Afterwards, I had a drink in my rooms with Cally's Kitchen and we watched the Reformation episode on DVD of Simon Schama's History of Britain - which is superb, follows the Eamon Duffy line, and probably is one of the most pro-Catholic pieces of TV produced by the BBC over the last ten years (not a bad achievement for a Jewish historian!).
The central question posed by Schama is a haunting one: 'whatever did happen to Catholic England?'
posted by Fr Nicholas at 11:28 pm
6 Comments:
I expect an invitation to attend this august group on my next visit to England!
Sounds a good idea - let me know when you're in town!
Having read both Éamonn Duffy and Simon Schama on the subject, this sounds very interesting. I'd love to see your Powerpoint... :)
45 minutes? After a condensing spree like that, I'll bet you needed a drink.
Yes, I must confess, a drink was most welcome!
You might be interested to know that the priest celebrating Mass in that episode of Simon Schama's series was none other than your humble servant, the Pastor in Valle. The exquisite church was the parish church in Thaxted, the then vicar of which is now a priest in the Brentwood Diocese. It was a 'dry' Mass, by the way.
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