THE P RTAL
May 2013 Page 5 from Norwich
Fr Nicholas Kearney , the Parish Priest , is - like Fr Ivan Weston - a Norfolk dumpling from Norwich . He told us , “ I have been here sixteen years . I am a sitting tenant now ! As to Fr Ivan , we have a long history . My oldest family friend was Fr Ivan ‘ s teacher . Then , when Fr Ivan was a nurse , he nursed at the same hospital as my mother . I met him when I came to Huntingdon .
understand the hurt
“ I think 1990 was the first time a CofE priest came to me about becoming a Catholic . Fr Ivan was the third or fourth . What I had to learn was to understand the hurt and what the struggle was .
‘ nuclear option ‘
“ We have a periodic Evensong , which has a good take-up . What does the future hold ? Well , I Bobbi & Fr Ivan Weston talk to some Anglicans - they would be John Stott Evangelicals – and they are very worried : So worried that they talk to me about the ‘ nuclear option ‘. That would be moving out of the Parish Church and into a Church Centre .
“ Here at Saint Michael ‘ s we are bi-ritual , with a group of Keralan Catholics from India in the Parish , as well as Mass in Polish . The Ordinariate shows that the Catholic Church is not as monolithic as it is often thought . We have many rites , of which the Ordinariate is but one .”
many rites
After Mass , we went for lunch with Fr Nicholas , Fr Ivan and his lovely wife Bobbie . The lunch was , as you Fr Nicholas will have come to expect , excellent . Afterwards , we settled down to talk with Fr Ivan .
Fr Ivan and his lovely wife Bobbie
“ I have difficulty calling our Group a Group . We have been subsumed into the Diocesan Catholic Church as we are small and dismembered , non-viable group . At Huntingdon there are three of us really . Prof . Allen Brent in Cambridge puts on events that we support and Fr Nicholas has a periodic Ordinariate Evensong and Benediction .
extremely welcoming
“ The Parish here has been extremely welcoming and friendly . We were made very welcome at St Michael ’ s . I did hear of one lady who was unsure about married priests ; but she has since come to accept my Ministry and now receives Holy Communion when I am the celebrant .
“ I do not think I have been in touch with any CofE clergy since I joined the Ordinariate , apart from seeing them occasionally at the Crematorium .
a miracle !
“ When the new Vicar arrived at All Saints ’, several people left for the Sacred Heart , but I carried on . One year after this , the Ordinariate was announced . It was a miracle ! I never envisaged being received into the Catholic priesthood . It was an open door that was wonderful .
lost the camaraderie
“ It is sad that we have lost the camaraderie with those who went to the Sacred Heart in Saint Ives . I think our Group will be swallowed up into the Diocesan system . But it is educational for Catholics to see married priests of the Ordinariate saying Mass for them and are able to see that we don ’ t have two heads !
belonging to the Ordinariate
“ I make no secret of belonging to the Ordinariate . I love people and I love visiting . There are many lapsed Catholics . I meet them at hospital and would love to be able to get them back on track again .
“ Oh yes , I would support a National Ordinariate Day , at Walsingham or a Family Day .
Hopefully all ex-Anglicans in this area would come together for such an event .”
Many thanks
We had a lovely time with Fr Ivan and Bobbie , and Fr Nicholas too of course . Many thanks to all the people of Saint Michael the Archangel , Huntingdon .