THE
P RTAL
October 2017
St Thomas Becket Church, Lewisham, Sydney, on 3rd September
The clergy residential finished the next morning.
As the priests left to return to the different parts of
Australia, the three Ordinaries, Gill and Fr Oxley
travelled to Sydney where we met up with Mgr
Entwistle’s wife, Jean, who had already arrived at the
Mary MacKillop Centre where we were to stay. St Mary
MacKillop, canonised in 2010, is the first and only
Australian to be recognised as a saint by the Catholic
Church. She lived from 1842 to 1909 and founded the
Sisters of St Joseph of the Sacred Heart, usually called
the Josephites, which established a number of schools
and welfare institutions throughout Australia with
a particular emphasis on caring for the poor. She is
buried in the church at the Mary MacKillop Centre.
Mgr Entwistle arranged a very full and enjoyable
programme for the days we were together in Sydney.
We had an interesting and informative tour around
Sydney including Bondi Beach, though none of us
ventured very near the water. Sydney is a particularly
beautiful city set around an impressive harbour
that was chosen by Captain Arthur Phillip, the first
Governor of New South Wales, who founded the first
penal colony there, rather than at nearby Botany Bay,
which had been visited by Captain Cook.
On Sunday the 3rd September, we were able to join the
newly formed Ordinariate community in Sydney which
worships at St Thomas Becket, Lewisham. Bishop Lopes
presided and I preached. Unfortunately, the church is
being restored and the parish, for the time being, is
worshiping in the hall. Nevertheless, they have gone to
great trouble to arrange the hall into a very dignified
liturgical space. We were able to have a short visit to
the church to see the renovations and it will certainly
be very beautiful when it is completed. That evening we
were treated to a cruise and dinner on Sydney Harbour
which had originally been organised to celebrated Fr
Hough’s birthday. It was sad that he could not be with
us but we did raise a glass in celebration.
Of course, as well as the opportunity for leisure,
there was plenty of time to discuss issues of common
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concern for the Ordinariates across the world. It is
certainly helpful to know how others are faring in this
great project to show that within the Catholic Church
it is possible to be united without being absorbed.
We discussed a number of issues concerning printed
material and are hoping in the near future to have a
study edition of Divine Worship: The Missal at a
price that many people will be able to afford. There
are also other publications in the pipeline, including a
devotional manual to be called The St Gregory’s Prayer
Book and the possibility of a Sunday Missal, but this is
a much bigger project.
We were very fortunate in having Fr Tad Oxley from
the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith with
us. Fr Oxley has learnt a lot about the Ordinariates
in the eighteen months he has been working with the
Congregation and it was particularly useful to have
him to reflect the thoughts of the Congregation as well
as to be able to take back some of our thoughts and
concerns. One topic we discussed was the fact that 2019
will mark the tenth anniversary of the publication of
the Apostolic Constitution Anglicanorum coetibus and
it was decided that in 2019 we should meet in Rome to
coincide with a celebration and conference which will
be open to Ordinariate clergy and laity. This will take
place in the early part of November 2019 and as soon
as dates are fixed, we will let people know, in the hope
that many will be able to join us in Rome.
Guess where this was taken?
As we decided to meet in Rome in 2019, th e three
Ordinaries will be meeting in London next year
from the 13th to the 19th October and a number of
public events will be organised so that people have
an opportunity to meet the Ordinaries from North
America and Australia. Our meeting together always
proves to be useful. Even though the other Ordinariates
have different problems from our own there are many
similarities and it is important to encourage and be in
touch with one another. We much enjoyed our visit
to Australia and are grateful that the Ordinariate here
made it possible.