The Hermeneutic of Continuity

I received this today from a reader in Newcastle, Australia: There is good news from Australia, in the Diocese of Maitland-Newcastle, approximately 100 miles north of Sydney. The Newcastle Traditional Latin Mass society has been formed there as a lay response to Summorum Pontificum . Since the ecclesial hierarchy there has not undertaken to implement Summorum Pontificum , a group of young dedicated laity has set about making the Extraordinary Form Mass available on a more regular basis due to the generosity of one Parish Priest allowing access to a parish Church and the generosity of visiting religious and diocesan clergy from outside Maitland-Newcastle who are proficient in the celebration of the Extraordinary Form. This stable group has found a more permanent home at Saint Patrick's Catholic Church, in the parish of Wallsend many Sundays. Last Sunday, we were fortunate enough to have our first Missa Cantata celebrated by Father Terence Mary Naughtin OFM Conv. pictures are pr...

Fr Glen Tattersall sends me news of the Palm Sunday Mass yesterday at St Aloysius Church in Melbourne which I mentioned last month. Most Rev Basil Meeking, Bishop Emeritus of Christchurch, New Zealand, blessed the palms, led the procession and celebrated Pontifical Mass - all in the usus antiquior , of course. The above is just one photo from the collection at the website.

Fr Glen Tattersall and Fr John McDaniels look after St Aloysius Church in Melbourne, providing for the community attached to the extraordinary form of the Roman Rite. The website Latin Mass Melbourne shows a thriving Church with plenty of activities. Here is a (slightly distorted) photo of the Church which I grabbed from Google's street view: This year, Most Rev Basil Meeking, Bishop Emeritus of Christchurch, New Zealand, will be at St Aloysius for Holy Week to celebrate all of the ceremonies according to the usus antiquior . There is a programme at the website so if you are lucky enough to be in reach of Melbourne you have the opportunity to participate in some glorious liturgy with Gregorian chant and polyphony. Visitors would be most welcome at St Aloysius. I met Frs Tattersall and McDaniels in Rome last month at the Clergy Conference. Fr Tattersall was Assistant Priest, and Fr McDaniels was Deacon at the Pontifical Mass celebrated by Cardinal Cañizares Llovera at St Joh...

Back in June, I wrote about the establishing of St Bede's Hall at Oxford. St Bede's is an independent Catholic college which provides courses for "Study Abroad" and mature students. Today, St Bede's are delighted to announce that Cardinal Pell has become a patron of St Bede's Hall. His Eminence said: "I would be honoured to serve as an honorary patron of St. Bede's Hall... I would be delighted to assist in any way that I can and look forward to visiting St. Bede's Hall when next I am in Oxford." St Bede's already has a bi-lateral agreement with Campion College in New South Wales: today's announcement helps to further ties with Australia. The first student from Australia has arrived at St Bede's and has begun her courses with the tutors of the new academic community.

I met Bishop Geoffrey Jarrett many years ago, before he was ordained co-adjutor Bishop of the diocese of Lismore , Australia in 2001 (he succeeded to the see later in the same year.) Bishop jarrett, who occasionally celebrates Mass according to the usus antiquior , has written an excellent letter  to his clergy in response to the Holy Father's recent letter to the world's bishops concerning the remission of the excommunication of the four Bishops consecrated by Archbishop Lefebvre. I encourage you to read the whole letter but here is one quotation: I believe that this moment has brought to the fore as no other in recent times a critical question: that of the understanding and interpretation of the Second Vatican Council. Was it to be seen as a rupture with all that went before, so that nothing in the Church’s life and teaching was to be exempt from change, indeed a process of continual mutation to fit in with the perceived demands and approvals of contemporary thinking and beh...

A correspondent from Australia has sent me the excellent statement from Archbishop Wilson, the President of the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference, asking for prayers during Lent for the Holy Father. (See: Papal Letter prompts call for Lenten prayers for Church unity ) Archbishop Wilson said: During this Lenten season of purification of heart and of turning back to God, I ask all Catholics to offer special prayers for the Holy Father, so that in this way we can support him in his enormously challenging ministry. His statement shows a real desire for reconciliation in union with the intentions of the Holy Father: I ask also for prayers for Church unity, that we too, can offer the hand of reconciliation to all our brothers and sisters, who might for one reason or another find themselves outside the Church’s loving embrace, but who have a genuine longing for Christ in their lives. It is in this way that hearts and minds can be changed. See also comment in this post from Australia Inco...

Archbishop Mark Coleridge of the diocese of Canberra and Goulburn in Australia, has spoken about the problems with St Mary's in Brisbane and the charge made the Australian press that Rome is "bullying" Archbishop Bathersby into taking action against the parish. Among many abuses, perhaps the most serious is the use of an invalid baptismal formula. (See: The consequences of invalid baptisms ) The Canberra and Goulburn diocesan website has the full article which is well worth reading. Here is one quotation which embodies true Oz bluntness: In the end, communities like St Mary’s and those who support them, fail to recognise the difference between a band-wagon and a hearse. With the best of good intentions – and no-one is attributing any of this to malice – they jump gleefully on the band-wagon of a certain relevance and inclusiveness without realising that what looks like a band-wagon into the brave, new world of the future is in fact a hearse leading to a dead end that the...

The Australian Bishops have issued a Pastoral Letter on Internet Safety (pdf 243kb) which is promoted in this video: In the Pastoral Letter, they look at both positive and negative aspects of internet use. Regarding the latter, they say: In identifying some of the dangers of the Internet, and bringing some of the wisdom of our faith tradition to bear upon them, it is our hope that we can all be alert to those aspects of the Internet which can be a danger to our safety, to our human dignity, and to our relationships with each other and with God. H/T Lifesite News: http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2008/may/08050204.html

Stones will shout is the website of Into the Deep , a newsletter from Gippsland in South Eastern Australia. Apparently the voice of the laity is a bit too strong for the diocesan newspaper which has stopped carrying letters to the editor.