Blessed Dominic and Cardinal Newman

Welcome to Blessed Dominic Barberi

Our church is situated at Cowley Road, Littlemore, OX4 4JX
Tel and fax: (01865) 778454
Directions: (from the Littlemore roundabout on the ring road) A4142 turn south into Oxford Road down to mini roundabout and turn left into Cowley Road, church is past a school on the right.

Here we see Dominic Barberi greeting Newman. Dominic Barberi has just come in from the wet and cold. It is late at night and Fr Dominic is trying to dry himself in front of the fire. Newman is on one knee requesting of Dominic Barberi that he be received into the Church......

The College where John Henry Newman lived from 1842 - 1846 and was received into the Church, is entrusted to the care of the Spiritual Family The Work, a family of consecrated life of pontifical right. Visitors are welcome every day (except the last Sunday of the month) to Newman's room and oratory and to a museum and library for Newman studies and research. Contact: International Centre of Newman Friends c/o The Work, Ambrose Cottage, 9 College Lane, Littlemore OX4 4LQ Tel:(01865) 779743 Fax: (01865) 773397 e-mail: thework@uk2.net Blessed Dominic Barberi Also known as Dominic of the Mother of God Apostle to England Memorial 27 August Profile Born to a poor farm family, orphaned by age eight, and raised by an aunt and uncle on a farm in Merlano. An uneducatedshepherd boy, he spent his time with the flocks in prayer. Met many Passionist priests exiled from France during the repressions of Napoleon. During prayers with them he received a divine message that he would work in northern Europeand England. One day in 1814, just before he entered into an arranged marriage, he slipped away from his family and joined the Passionists, taking the name Dominic of the Mother of God. Though he had no education, Dominic proved to be an excellent student, quick to grasp philosophy and theology. Ordainedin Rome on 1 March 1821. Teacher and spiritual director, writer on theology and homiletics. One of his works was based on the idea of bringing modern science to philosphical studies; condemned in its day, it's now seen as preparing the way for some of the reforms of Pope Leo XIII. Feeling always drawn to England, he worked to learn English, and met with any English visitors to Rome that he could find. Delegate to the general chapter of his Order in 1833. With Father Peter Magagnotto, Father Seraphim Giammaria, and Brother Crispin Cotta, he established the first Passionist presence at Ere, Belgium in 1840, the first Passionist monastery outside Italy. Dominic, however, continued to press the need for work inEngland, and he was finally assigned to work there, establishing the first residence during Holy Week of 1842. Tireless preacher and home missioner, working for the return of anti-Catholic England to unity with Rome. Received many to the faith including John Henry Cardinal Newman's conversion to Catholicism andFather George Spencer's entrance to the Passionists; both their Causes for beatification are being investigated. Born 22 June 1792 at Viterbo, Italy Died 3pm 27 August 1849 at Reading, Berkshire, England of a heart attack buried in the Passionist church in Saint Helen's, Lancashire, England

St Bartholomew, Penn

Our celebrant here this morning is ex Penn...

A Brief History of St Bartholomew's Church, Penn by Rachel Hampton

The first church was built here by Sir Hugh de Bushbury, in 1200 A.D, but it is believed that Christian worship began on this site much earlier - from about 1025 A.D. In 1912 the round base and broken stem of a more ancient churchyard cross were discovered beneath the existing churchyard cross. This stood close to the South wall of the church and was being relocated after the South aisle of the church was enlarged. The round base and stem are believed to be the remains of a cross of Anglo-Saxon origin, set up by Leofric, Earl of Mercia, the husband of Lady Godiva, when he was Lord of the Manor of Upper Penn. He and Lady Godiva are known to have built churches or set up preaching crosses in the manors over which they had Lordship.

Further evidence which would support this being an Anglo-Saxon Christian site is that the original churchyard appears to have been circular and about one acre in size - the shape and size of Anglo-Saxon churchyards.

The cross would have been set up in the middle of this. The remains of the cross at Penn seems to have been at the centre of what we think to have been the original Christian site. An ancient track passed the site, so it was a good place for monks or itinerant priests to preach the Gospel. The church built by Sir Hugh de Bushbury in 1200 stood on the site of the present western end of the North Aisle, the part of the church nearest to the new extension. It is believed to have been about 14 metres by 7 metres. In its early days the church was dedicated to St. John the Baptist. The original church may have been a wooden structure quickly replaced by a stone building. Early churches had no seats for the congregation. An altar would have stood at the East end possibly in an apse. As in many rural communities, the local population may have stored some of their harvested crops in the church during the winter. They would certainly have had to give 1/10 of their crops in tithe to pay the priest.

Although the evidence is circumstantial, it would seem that the parish of Penn was caught up in the religious turmoils of the 16th. and 17th. centuries. In 1553, at the accession of Mary Tudor, the Vicar of Penn, the Rev. Slaney was dismissed from his benefice at a time when Queen Mary was purging the church of married priests. The change in the dedication of the church to St. Bartholomew, (the date of which is unknown), could well have been an indication of the sympathy of leading members of the congregation towards the New Learning and the Huguenots in France, killed in a massacre on St. Bartholomew s Day in 1572. The acquisition of the pulpit in the 17th Century is an indication of the growing importance felt by the clergy to educate the congregation in the christian faith. The Rev Charles Wynn, who left the proceeds from his estate to found a school in Penn and to buy Bibles for the children of the village, was carrying out the aims of Puritan leaders to educate children to read the Bible. Since Charles Wynn was Vicar of Penn throughout the time that Oliver Cromwell was in power, he was probably also responsible for carrying out Cromwell s order to throw the font out of the church. In 1682, the font, presumably lying unused in the churchyard, was turned upside down and made the base of the parish sundial. It was discovered by a later Vicar and brought back into its proper use in 1855.

During the 18th. and 19th. centuries Penn was an attractive rural community, where wealthy families wanted to live, away from the heavily polluted industrial and mining districts. The people of the village benefited from the generosity and caring of such people as Dr. Sedgwick who endowed five Almshouses for the elderly poor of the village. The population increased and further extensions were made to the church. In 1 764-5 the Tower was cased in bricks and heightened. The door into the Tower became the main entrance, instead of the porch on the south wall where the Vestry existed and had been reached through a lych-gate. In 1799 a long chancel was built at the expense of Mrs. ElIen Purshouse and her brother Thomas Bradney. A south aisle was added in 1844, but this proved to be unsatisfactory as the altar was out of sight to those sitting there. So a further major extension was made from 1871-2. The nave and the south aisle were extended eastwards and a completely new chancel was built. The organ chamber was added in 1901 and the Vestry in 1958. So over the years the church has been enlarged to meet the needs of the growing population.

The building of the Church Hall enabled the church in the 20th. century to provide activities in the week for children and adults as well as facilities for a Sunday School and church meetings. In the church, the positioning of an altar at the western end of the Chancel and the repositioning of the screen in the 1970s, opened up the Chancel and made the services more accessible to all. A new wing of the church was opened by the Bishop of Lichfield on 22nd October 2000. This contains a Parish Office, a meeting room called The Oak Room, a kitchen and toilets. These new facilities enable the congregation to enjoy clubs like Painting in Penn and learning, Such as the Start and Alpha Courses and allow them to take up the challenge to extend Christian mission further into the community of Penn

Oops! 0ur resident is from Penn near High Wycombe and not this Penn....

Saint for all priests

Saint for all priests

In this Year of the Priest it is a special pleasure to consider the Patron Saint of ALL Priests, St. John Vianney. He had been the Patron of ParishPriests but our Holy Father has extended that patronage to all Priests.St. John Mary Vianney was born in France in 1786. His childhood coincidedwith the terrible French revolution. He was devout even as a boy and quietly taught other children their prayers. He would be ordained a priest in 1815 but struggled mightily through seminary and was a poor student. He had a very difficult time with Latin. There was even talk among his superiors if he should be ordained or, if ordained, be allowed to hear confessions. They decided to ordain him but gave him one of the least desirable of assignments: to the little town of Ars. The young priest was told that the faith was all but lost there and so he would have little to do. “Then I have everything to do!”, he exclaimed.Upon arriving in Ars the conditions were as foretold but this good priest knew that the holiness of the people would first need a holy priest and so he took upon himself not only his own seeking of personal holiness but also severe penances for his flock. He fasted continually and only slept a few hours a night, spending most of his time in prayer before the Blessed Sacrament.His prayers and penances began to pay off. He spent time waiting for penitents in the confessions and little by little they began to come. The town began to change and people began to return to the practice of their faith. The time needed in the confessional grew and grew until it was up to 16 hours a day! And the people began to come from other places as his renown as a confessor became widely known.Supernatural gifts were granted to him and he would even wrestle with the devil in the literal sense for the evil one was furious that so many souls were being snatched from his grasp. Oh, if only the evil one could at least keep the people lukewarm but this priest was leading them on the path to holiness and sanctification! When miracles occurred at his intercession he would always give the glory to God or ‘blame’ Our Lady or St. Philomena. Worn out by his labors this holy man of God died in 1859. He was canonized in 1925 and is the Patron of ALL priests. May they follow his example of holiness.

Ignatius of Loyola

On July 31, the Universal Church will mark the feast day of St. Ignatius of Loyola. The Spanish saint is known for founding the Society of Jesus, also known as the Jesuits, as well as for creating the “Spiritual Exercises” often used today for retreats and individual discernment.

St. Ignatius was born into a noble family in 1491 in Guipuzcoa, Spain. He served as a page in the Spanish court of Ferdinand and Isabella.

He then became a soldier in the Spanish army and wounded his leg during the siege of Pamplona in 1521. During his recuperation, he read “Lives of the Saints.” The experience led him to undergo a profound conversion, and he dedicated himself to the Catholic faith.

After making a general confession in a monastery in Montserrat, St. Ignatius proceeded to spend almost a year in solitude. He wrote his famous “Spiritual Exercises” and then made a pilgrimage to Rome and the Holy Land, where he worked to convert Muslims.

St. Ignatius returned to complete his studies in Spain and then France, where he received his theology degree. While many held him in contempt because of his holy lifestyle, his wisdom and virtue attracted some followers, and the Society of Jesus was born.

The Society was approved by Pope Paul III in 1540, and it grew rapidly. St. Ignatius remained in Rome, where he governed the Society and became friends with St. Philip Neri.

St. Ignatius died peacefully on July 31, 1556. He was canonized by Pope Gregory XV in 1622.

The Jesuits remain numerous today, particularly in several hundred universities and colleges worldwide.

On April 22, 2006, Pope Benedict XVI presided over a Eucharistic concelebration for the Society of Jesus. He addressed the fathers and brothers of the Society present at the Vatican Basilica, calling to mind the dedication and fidelity of their founder.

“St. Ignatius of Loyola was first and foremost a man of God who in his life put God, his greatest glory and his greatest service, first,” the Pope said. “He was a profoundly prayerful man for whom the daily celebration of the Eucharist was the heart and crowning point of his day.”

“Precisely because he was a man of God, St Ignatius was a faithful servant of the Church,” Benedict continued, recalling the saint's “special vow of obedience to the Pope, which he himself describes as 'our first and principal foundation.'”

Highlighting the need for “an intense spiritual and cultural training,” Pope Benedict called upon the Society of Jesus to follow in the footsteps of St. Ignatius and continue his work of service to the Church and obedience to the Pope, so that it's members “may faithfully meet the urgent needs of the Church today.”

Pilgrimage Retreat

DAY THREE

After mass of first Roman martyrs and coffee I return to persue aspects of the convent heritage trail.

Unlike yesterday there are just six of us for lunch after which two sisters depart for a London funeral and with Jenny off home before supper we are just three of us then. In between a visit to the Birmingham Oratory with Jenny Smith and convent media (ex BBC) volunteer Maureen Healy. Jenny is single and from Malvern. This is her visit job after training at Liverpool University. She is Anglican. Maureen is recovering from a car accident which meant finishing work and lives locally.

We are welcomed at the Oratory by Fr Richard Duffield, Provost and Actor of Cardinal Newman’cause, who is in contact with the convent because of their Newman links and to tap their experience of their Heritage Trail in order to create something similar at The Oratory for the pilgrims expected to increase following Newman’s beatification in September(19^th). We are privileged to be given an extended tour of the Newman rooms with much inspiring, and revealing, commentary – especially in relation to the visit of His Holiness the Pope. The study, chapel, bedroom, library are full of fascinating artefacts. In the process I am introduced to Father Gregory Winterton who , like me, was once a student at the College of the Resurrection, Mirfield. Fr Richard grew up in York and became good friend with Fr William Massie, parish priest in Scarborough. What is more in prominent position near to Newman’s altar is a portrait of a Canon Walker who founded the Catholic Mission in Scarborough and was a good friend.

Ann Widdecombe, preparing for a TV programme, was signed in as the most recent visitor in Newman’s study before us. We were shown Newman’s unusual rosary likely to be given to the pope when he visits(only 3 decades and St Benedict medallion instead of a crucifix), his vestments, cardinal hat, coffin plaque, ‘Apologia’ writing desk, Elgar’s gift of original manuscript for ‘Dream of Gerontius’ etc.

A lot to mull over this evening.

St Audrey

Saint Ethelreda (Audrey)

Feastday: June 23 679

Around 640, there was an English princess named Ethelreda, but she was known as Audrey. She married once, but was widowed after three years, and it was said that the marriage was never consummated. She had taken a perpetual vow of virginity, but married again, this time for reasons of state. Her young husband soon grew tired of living as brother and sister and began to make advances on her. She continually refused. He eventually attempted to bribe the local bishop, Saint Wilfrid of York, to release Audrey from her vows.

Saint Wilfrid refused, and helped Audrey escape. She fled south, with her husband following. They reached a promontory known as Colbert's Head, where a heaven sent seven day high tide separated the two. Eventually, Audrey's husband left and married someone more willing, while Audrey took the veil, and founded the great abbey of Ely, where she lived an austere life. She eventually died of an enormous and unsightly tumor on her neck, which she gratefully accepted as Divine retribution for all the necklaces she had worn in her early years. Throughout the Middle Ages, a festival, "St. Audrey's Fair", was held at Ely on her feast day. The exceptional shodiness of the merchandise, especially the neckerchiefs, contributed to the English language the word "tawdry", a corruption of "Saint Audrey."

Unquiet Grave

Newman's Unquiet Grave: The Reluctant SaintBy John Cornwell
John Henry Newman was the most eminent English-speaking Christian thinker and writer of the past two hundred years. This title tells the story of the chequered attempts to establish Newman's sanctity against the background of major developments within Catholicism, including his profound influence on the reforms of the Second Vatican Council.
This title provides a timely portrait of John Henry Newman, whose beatification is set for Summer 2009, dealing with the man's exceptional intellect and some of the sensational events surrounding his life and death. John Henry Newman was the most eminent English-speaking Christian thinker and writer of the past two hundred years. James Joyce hailed him the 'greatest' prose stylist of the Victorian age. His prediction of the current mass atheism in Western culture and his response to the implications for religion of science and evolution, have special relevance for our time. A problematic campaign to canonise Newman started fifty years ago. After many delays John Paul II declared him a 'Venerable'. Then Pope Benedict XVI, a keen student of Newman's works, pressed for his beatification. But was Newman a 'Saint'?In "Newman's Unquiet Grave", John Cornwell (author of "A Thief in the Night" and "Hitler's Pope") tells the story of the chequered attempts to establish Newman's sanctity against the background of major developments within Catholicism, including his profound influence on the reforms of the Second Vatican Council. By his own admission Newman was a 'literary' man, first and foremost, a circumstance he himself believed barred him from sainthood. His life was marked by personal feuds, self-absorption, accusations of professional and artistic narcissism, hypochondria, and same-sex friendships that at times bordered on the apparent homo-erotic. The love of Newman's life was a fellow priest, Ambrose St John, who predeceased him and with whom he was buried by 'undying' choice. There have been chronic difficulties with Newman's beatification - including doubts about the mandatory miracle of healing involving an American deacon.Finally, came the controversial decision to disinter Newman from his grave, separating him from Ambrose. British and American gay lobbies condemned the move as homophobic on the part of the Vatican. Ironically, nothing, save bits of cloth and brass, were found, a symbolic new twist in the story of Newman's complex legacy. John Cornwell investigates the process of Newman's elevation to sainthood to present a highly original and controversial new portrait of the great man's life and genius for a new generation of religious and non-religious readers alike.

Archbishop Anselm

Anselm of Canterbury (c. 1033 – 21 April 1109) was an Italian, a Benedictine monk, aphilosopher, and a prelate of the church who held the office of Archbishop of Canterbury from 1093 to 1109. Called the founder of scholasticism, he is famous in the West as the originator of theontological argument for the existence of God. In 1720, Anselm was recognized as a saint by Pope Clement XI.

The anniversary of Anselm's death on 21 April is celebrated in the Roman Catholic Church, much of theAnglican Communion, and in the Lutheran Church, as Anselm's memorial. He was proclaimed a Doctor of the Church in 1720 by Pope Clement XI, though he was never formally canonized.On 21 April 1909, 800 years after his death, Pope Pius X issued an encyclical "Communium Rerum", praising Anselm, his ecclesiastical career, and his writings. His symbol in hagiography is the ship, representing the spiritual independence of the church.

Almighty God, you raised up your servant Anselm to teach the Church of his day to understand its faith in your eternal Being, perfect justice, and saving mercy: Provide your Church in every age with devout and learned scholars and teachers, that we may be able to give a reason for the hope that is in us; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, on God, for ever and ever. Amen.

St Mary of Egypt

Yesterday's gospel in catholic liturgy is usually the woman taken in adultery:

On Saint Mary of Egypt

"O Lord, open Thou my lips. and my mouth shall show forth Thy praise"

Today, the Fifth Sunday in Lent, is for the Orthodox Church the Sunday of Saint Mary of Egypt - she whose story has been called "an icon in words of the theological truth of repentancc" (Sr. Bcnedicta Ward). We have heard this story many times. It is a simple one: the sinful woman becomes the penitent, and the least worthy is revealed as God's chosen treasure. It offers us familiar words about the power of faith, and familiar inspiration in the heroic actions of St. Mary herself. But it is, above all, a disturbing story. In the end. it haunts me far more often than it comforts me. Today. I would like to explore where the heart of this story lies, and why it is given to us especially to remember it on the Fifth Sunday of Lent each year.

St Cyril of Jerusalem

PRAY FOR THE PEACE OF JERUSALEM

St. Cyril of Jerusalem: Biography and Writings

Early Church Father and Doctor of the Church

by Dr. Marcellino D'Ambrosio

Life: St. Cyril of Jerusalem was born just about the time the Emperor Constantine legalized Christianity in the Roman Empire (313 AD) and became bishop of the Holy City of David about 349AD. St. Cyril was banished from his Jerusalem see a total of three times for his bold proclamation of faith in Christ's full divinity during a time when many bishops and emperors favored various forms of the Arian heresy.

Saint Cyril of Jerusalem is one of the most important sources we have for how the church celebrated the liturgy and sacraments during the first few decades after the legalization of Christianity. In his famous 24 lectures commonly known as the Jerusalem Catecheses, Saint Cyril instructs new Christians in the days immediately before and after their initiation into the life of the Church at the Easter Vigil. In these catechetical instructions, which are the only documents that survive by St. Cyril, we find very strong insistence on the value and efficacy of the sacrament of baptism as well as heavy emphasis on the real presence of Christ's body and blood in the sacrament of the Eucharist. St. Cyril of Jerusalem is considered to be one of the Early Church Fathers and is also reckoned among the number of the Doctors of the Catholic Church.

St. Cyril of Jerusalem died about 386AD, shortly after the First Council of Constantinople which completed the Creed often known as the Nicene Creed

St Patrick's Day

St Patrick's Day puts Ireland in the limelight

This year's celebrations are a welcome chance for recession-hit Ireland to put itself in the tourism spotlight, as pubs and hotels pack with revellers

Several of the world's landmarks are turning green for St Patrick's Day today, the annual celebration of all hues of Irishness.

The Sydney Opera House, London Eye, Toronto's CN Tower and New York's Empire State building will be lit by green floodlights as part of a marketing push by Tourism Ireland.

Back in Ireland, Dublin's flagship parade started at 12pm in Parnell Square, led by soccer legend Packie Bonner. Around 650,000 people are expected to line the 3km (2-mile) route. This year it takes the theme The Extraordinary World - a nod to Ireland's increasing multiculturalism as well as the past two centuries' global spread of the Irish.

New York's St Patrick's Day parade is the world's largest, and attracts 150,000 official marchers along 5th Ave, 44th-45th St. The parades originally started in the US but have since become part of Paddy's Day celebrations everywhere.

This year Ireland is pushing itself especially hard as a tourist destination as the country faces its worst recession since the Great Depression, with double-digit unemployment and net emigration for the first time in 15 years.

St Patrick's Day is Ireland's first major tourist event of the year, packing hotels and pubs with visitors seeking an all-night party. Ireland's weeklong festival gets bigger each year, with more than 100 parades today in cities, towns and villages across the country.

Virtually the entire Irish government left the country this week to greet foreign leaders and corporate kingpins in 23 countries in hopes of rekindling the investment wave that fuelled Ireland's Celtic Tiger boom of 1994-2007.

Prime Minister Brian Cowen was meeting US President Barack Obama at the White House, continuing Ireland's tradition of annual access to perhaps the most powerful man on earth.

President Mary McAleese, Ireland's ceremonial head of state who stayed at home to preside over the Dublin parade and her own St Patrick's garden party, said the Irish had powerful allies in politics and business backed by 70 million people of Irish descent, half of them Americans.

"We are lucky to have such a large global family. It has proved itself to be a very precious and important resource in every generation," she said.

St Patrick's Day is held on 17 March each year, believed to be the anniversary of the saint's death. Originally a Briton he was enslaved in his youth in Ireland but despite escaping he later returned to Ireland to spread Christianity in the 5th century. According to legend, he banished snakes from the island and used a shamrock to teach the concept of the Holy Trinity. (Guardian Report)

St Thomas Aquinas

O salutaris Hostia, "O Saving Host", is a section of one of the Eucharistic hymns written by St Thomas Aquinas for the Feast of Corpus Christi. He wrote it for the Hour of Lauds in the Divine Office. It is actually the last two stanzas of the hymn Verbum supernum prodiens, and is used for the Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament. The other two hymns written by Aquinas for the Feast contain the famous sections Panis angelicus and Tantum ergo.

O saving Victim, opening wide

The gate of Heaven to man below;

Our foes press hard on every side;

Thine aid supply; Thy strength bestow.

All praise and thanks to thee ascend,

For ever more, blest one in three.

O grant us life that shall not end,

In our true native land with thee.

Amen.

Patron of Parochial Clergy

29 December -- St Thomas Becket, Archbishop of Canterbury and Martyr

Five years ago I posted this on the feast of St Thomas of Canterbury. He is still the patron of parochial clergy, although St Jean Vianney seems to have taken much of the limelight lately. Also a fine patron for those who need to distinguish which are the things of Cæsar and which are the things of God.

Deus pro cuius Ecclesia gloriosus Pontifex Thomas gladiis impiorum occubuit: præsta, quæsumus; ut omnes, qui eius implorant auxilium, petitionis suæ salutarem consequantur effectum. Per Dominum nostrum Iesum Christum. Amen.

O God, for the sake of whose Church the glorious Bishop Thomas fell by the sword of ungodly men: grant, we beseech Thee, that all who implore his aid, may obtain the good fruit of their petition. Through our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.

Our Patron Hilda

St Hilda of Whitby is the patron saint of Dulverton Chapel.

Hilda of Whitby (c. 614–680) is a Christian saint and the founding abbess of the monastery atWhitby, which was chosen as the venue for the Synod of Whitby. An important figure in the conversion of England to Christianity, she was abbess at several monasteries and recognized for the wisdom that drew kings to her for advice.

It was at the Synod of Whitby that the English Church decided to become united with Rome.

King Oswiu chose Hilda's monastery as the venue for the Synod of Whitby, the first synod of the Church in his kingdom. He invited churchmen from as far away as Wessex to attend the synod.

Most of those present, including Hilda, accepted the King's decision to adopt the method of calculating Easter currently used in Rome, establishing Roman practice as the norm in Northumbria. The monks from Lindisfarne, who would not accept this, withdrew to Iona and later, toIreland.

How the decision was made

Bishop Colmán argued the Ionan calculation of Easter on the following grounds that it was the practice of Columba, founder of their monastic network and a saint of unquestionable holiness, who himself had followed the tradition of St. John the apostle and evangelist. Wilfrid argued the Roman position on the following grounds (according to Bede's narrative):

1. it was the practice in Rome, where the apostles SS. Peter and Paul had “lived, taught, suffered, and are buried”;
2. it was the universal practice of the Church, even as far as Egypt;
3. the customs of the apostle John were particular to the needs of his community and his age and, since then, the Council of Nicaea and established a different practice;
4. Columba had done the best he could considering his knowledge, and thus his irregular practice is excusable, but the Ionan monks at present did not have the excuse of ignorance; and
5. whatever the case, no one has authority over Peter (and thus his successors, the Bishops of Rome).

Oswiu then asked both sides if they agreed that Peter had been given the keys to the kingdom of heaven by Christ and pronounced to be “the rock” on which the Church would be built, to which they agreed. Oswiu then declared his judgment in favor of the holder of the keys, i.e. the Roman (and Petrine) practice.

The Church of England today has a new opportunity to reaffirm this decision by the Vatican proposals for 'An Apostolic Constitution'.

And so say all of us

Vatican condemns Hallowe'en as anti-Christian

By Nick Squires in Rome
Published: 30 Oct 2009

The Holy See has warned that parents should not allow their children to dress up as ghosts and ghouls on Saturday, calling Hallowe'en a pagan celebration of "terror, fear and death".

The Roman Catholic Church has become alarmed in recent years by the spread of Hallowe'en traditions from the US to other countries around the world.

As in Britain, it is only in recent years that Italian children have dressed up in costumes, played trick or treat on their neighbours and made lanterns out of hollowed out pumpkins.

The Vatican issued the warning through its official newspaper, L'Osservatore Romano, in an article headlined "Hallowe'en's Dangerous Messages".

The paper quoted a liturgical expert, Joan Maria Canals, who said: "Hallowe'en has an undercurrent of occultism and is absolutely anti-Christian."

Parents should "be aware of this and try to direct the meaning of the feast towards wholesomeness and beauty rather than terror, fear and death," said Father Canals, a member of a Spanish commission on church rites.

Last year a newspaper controlled by the Italian bishops, Avvenire, called for a boycott of Hallowe'en, calling it a "dangerous celebration of horror and the macabre" which could encourage "pitiless [Satanic] sects without scruples".

Earlier this week the Catholic Church in Spain also condemned the growing popularity of Halloween, saying it threatened to overshadow the Christian festival of All Saints' Day.

The Bishop of Siguenza-Guadalajara, Jose Sanchez, said there was a risk that Halloween could "replace Christian customs like devotion to saints and praying for the dead."