CIEL 2006 - people

It was a great joy to be at the CIEL Conference in Oxford last Friday. I left wishing that I had cancelled other events and arranged to be there for the whole conference. It was great to meet people that I had heard of via the internet or the Catholic press. The picture on the right is of Shawn Tribe. I have read his posts avidly on the New Liturgical Movement blog which is the best source of objective and rational comment on liturgical matters. Shawn suggested I take a couple of other photos. I should have heeded his advice. Sorry for the poor quality of the photo.

I was also amazed to meet Fr Thomas Kocik (pictured left), the author of "The Reform of the Reform" which is a serious attempt to propose debate on the future of the liturgy as reformed after Vatican II.

This was a question on which I ventured an opinion during the discussion after Alcuin Reid's excellent paper on "Sacrosanctum Concilium and the Organic Development of the Liturgy". Alcuin particularly focussed on n.23 of the Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy which concluded
"Finally, there must be no innovations unless the good of the Church genuinely and certainly requires them; and care must be taken that any new forms adopted should in some way grow organically from forms already existing."
I remember the late Michael Davies quoting this to me and asking where there was any reform which genuinely met this criterion.

As might be expected, the Priestly Fraternity of St Peter was represented at the conference. It was good to meet Fr Emerson again (left in picture.) I last met him at Jamie and Joanna Bogle's silver wedding anniverary where Fr Emerson was the celebrant and I tried my best to fulfil the function of Deaon.

There were a number of other stalwarts there for whom I did not get photos. Fr Gabriel Burke has been influential in opposing the re-ordering of the Cathedral at Cobh, one of the finest examples of the Gothic revival in Ireland. Here is a link to the website for the Friends of St Colman's Cathedral, and here is a link to Fr Burke's Objection to the Re-ordering.

One of the great things about Catholic blogging is that you get to know something of the Church in other parts of the world. From Ma Beck and others I have learnt about the parish of St John Cantius in Chicago. So it was with genuine joy that I greeted Brother Scott Haynes (pictured left) from the Society of St John Cantius. Take a look at the homepage of their fantastic parish.

There was also something of a reunion from the last trip to Rome. Fr Michael Lang of the London Oratory, author of "Turning Towards the Lord" and many other scholarly works, played a major part in the Conference. Fr Lang's reputation must also have been a pull for the outstanding collection of lecturers who gave the papers for the conference. When in Rome in April this year, my visit coincided (in God's providence) with the launch of the Italian translation of Fr Lang's book under the title Rivolti al Signore. (Report here.) I was delighted at the CIEL Conference to see Fathers Nicola Bux and Salvatore Vitello.

I wished I had booked for the whole conference.

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