The Trouble with Europe

I have long been very keen on the idea of Europe - closer co-operation between our countries reducing the tensions that lead to warfare and conflict, and a modern version of the Pax Romana; the ability to travel and do business freely etc etc etc - all good things.
The trouble is, that's not the reality of Europe. In this morning's paper I read that the European Court of Human Rights has said that crucifixes should not be displayed in publicly financed schools.
No doubt Italians, being generally sensible people, will take no notice of this but more worrying is what it shows us about Europe. Because it is bureaucracy with no constituency and no power, it will allow any loony to come along with totally off the wall opinions, and will then make decisions about what the rest of us should be doing.
Particularly bearing in mind that the status quo is the situation where crucifixes have always been there in schools exactly whose rights are being infringed? The appeal was mad eto the court by a woman claiming that her two children were disturbed by the presence of the crucifix. Any sensible court would have responded by saying 'Don't be silly.' However, it seems that these days we live in an age of tyranny by minorities and the court ordered the Italian government to pay the woman £4500. Hopefully the government will ignore this outrageous command.
It is bad enough coping with our own government in its campaign against Christianity without having another, even more insane level of unaccountable bureaucracy. But this is the reality of Europe at present, and we must reject it.
And it's not only Christians who should be worried by this kind of thing. We need to defend each others freedoms. If only certain groups have freedom to make their voices heard, then there is really no freedom at all. If victory is won against the Crucifix today, who will be the target of the same insanity tomorrow?

Back in Place

I hear that Bishop John d'Arcy of Fort Wayne-South Bend has issued an edict for his diocese about the placing of the tabernacles in churches. 'The presence of Jesus Christ in the Blessed Sacrament is at the center [sic] of our faith and of the devotional life of the Catholic people.'

The divine Presence is not only in our churches during Mass. Perhaps the fact that so many of our churches are kept locked outside times of services prevents people from seeing things in this way. Bishop d'Arcy believes that the predominant role of the Sacrament in our lives should be reflected in our churches. Not unreasonable, you may think. He realizes what most Catholics have always known - that people have always desired the tabernacle to be central and visible in our churches. Whatever certain liturgists may say, where confusion arises is where the tabernacle is not in such a position.

Bishop d'Arcy's new norms state that the tabernacle be 'permanently located in the sanctuary of the church, along the central axis behind the main altar - at an elevated open location...or in anothe rplace in the sanctuary that is equally conspicuous.' Note that the Bishop is not being totally and uncompromisingly dogmatic here (he is not a liberal) - he is recognising that in some (especially some modern) churches the directly behind the altar location may not be the best.

Now how about bringing some of this common sense approach across the Atlantic......

The rain in Spain

When I was there it fell mainly in the brief strip of land between the mountains and the sea.

But in the Asturias, although less splendid than the greatCathedral at Burgos, there are a number of ancient churches (also collectively a world heritage site) built for the celebration of the Visigothic (Mozarabic) liturgy. Here are illustrations of one of them - the church of Santa Cristina de Lena south of Oviedo (if my notes from that holiday are accurate!)

The Mozarabic rite called for an iconostasis to be

placed before the main altar, in the central apse. The gifts of bread and wine would be prepared in one of the side apses, and then Offered at the other before being brought to the main altar for the consecration. The iconostasis, richly carved and only partially remaining, would have obscured the actual celebration of the mysteries from the view of the laity. At the west end of the church is a gallery for local notables - a feature common in the Westwerken of imperial German churches and also found at a number of places in England.

The exteriors of the churches are generally unadorned, as can be seen in this photograph. When I was there, although the sign said the church was open, in fact it was locked, and it was only after I and a couple of other visitors had been hanging around for a while that a lady appeared bearing the keys to allow us in to the building.

Also of note in the area are the churches just outside Oviedo itself - one of which was originally a summer residence for King Ramirez of Asturias.

Not directly concerned with this, but worthy of note as the oldest church in Spain is the little church of St John the Baptist just outside the city of Palencia. St John the Baptist uses Roman materials in its construction and although no longer in use as a church it is a testimony to the antiquity of Spain's Christian heritage.

All together now...

I see on CWN that progress is apparently being made on fixing a common date for Easer to be celebrated by the various Christian denominations. One cannot help remembering how at one time celebrating Easter at different times in different churches was held to be a scandal.

We might get it right at Easter, but how about other times?

I recently had a 'phone call from someone in Scotland who was going to be working in Luton during the week and he wanted to know when Masses were on Thursday for the Ascension. Unlike Scotland, England and Wales no longer celebrate the Ascension on the fortieth day after Easter, so this poor fellow missed out on both counts. He didn't get it on Thursday because he was here and didn't get it on Sunday because he was back home!

There might be logic in it somewhere, but it escapes me.

The Holy Spirit comes to Luton?

Some might say that this image of a dove on the church windows on the eve of Pentecost was a miracle. Others (perhaps more correctly_ would say that a pigeon flew into the church window and left a mark on it - birds being worse than people at discerning sheet glass before their eyes!

In any event I would see it as a word addressed to us. If the Holy Spirit is battering Himself at the windows, desperate to get in, then what are we doing about it? We don't need to worry about what God is doing - He knows His business. We have to worry about whether we are keeping the Holy Spirit out, or whether we are receptive to Him. Are we set in our ways and apathetic in our faith - or are we ready to accept the challenge that He will bring us.

Make no mistake, He will bring us a challenge. But He will also lead us most surely on the road that leads us to God. He will brush aside our apathy, our small-mindedness, our half-heartedness, and will reveal to us in all its glory the word of Jesus Christ - the Word that has been safeguarded by the Church which Christ founded; the Word that will lead us to everlasting glory.

Come, Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of Your faithful and kindle in them the fire of Thy love.

Signs of the times

It is always a shame when people lose sight of the symbolic value of things that were - and sometimes still are - important; but in an increasingly materialist world it seems an inevitable progress. I read in the Tablet - and I'd better be careful in quoting in case I breach their copyright! - of Bishop Mone's 25th anniversary of his episcopal ordination. Congratulations to the Bishop and thanks be to God for his many years of service to his people.

According to the article, however, Bishop Tartaglia in the course of the service of thanksgiving invited Bishop Mone to take his place on the cathedra at Paisley where he had sat as Bishop for so long. The congregation applauded this gesture. Let me say that on the human level it was a fine gesture. Bishop Tartaglia wished to indicate that his precursor as Bishop was still a Bishop, and retained a place in the hearts and lives of the people of the Diocese. That is fine and good, and well done Bishop Tartaglia for not wanting to hold centre stage for himself. And yet...

The Bishop's cathedra is not simply a chair or a place to sit. It is a visible symbol of the Bishop's authority. I do not think that Bishop Tartaglia was saying that he wished to be subject to Bishop Mone's authority! To sit in the cathedra is not simply a sign of being a good chap - it is a sign of the authority of the apostles carried by the Bishop in the local church. While praising Bishop Tartaglia's gesture, it also seems sad to me that the symbolic value of the cathedra seems to have been forgotten by him and his people.

This is not just nit-picking. In the Church we are dealing so much with those realities that cannot be discerned by human senses, and so the value of symbols needs to be very much in the forefront of our minds. I knew one priest (now dead, God rest him) who used to argue that when people no longer saw the relevance of a symbol we might as well get rid of it. I would urge that we rediscover the symbols and signs of our faith; that we teach them and love them; that we hold them closely to us and pass them on to the future. For we are not materialists, but realists.

Wonders of the world

The most splendid sight on a recent trip into Spain was the central lantern-tower of Burgos Cathedral. The Cathedral complex has been declared a World Heritage Site - not not surprisingly, for I do not think anything like it exists elsewhere. One might wonder whether the architect was familiar with Ely Cathedral: but here, in 1540, following the collapse of the original tower built by Juan de Colonia, the concept was even more audacious. The transition from the four sided tower to the octagonal lantern is masterfully handled, and the tower itself contains two levels of windows and is vaulted: but the vaulting ribs are not infilled with stone but with glass, permitting a huge influx of light into the Cathedral. The Flamboyant Gothic devoration on the pillars serves as a final flourish setting off the whole construction. The architect obviously liked the idea because at least two other chapels within the cathedral are partly vaulted with glass - though this is the tour de force.

Beneath the tower are the graves of Maurice the Englishman (the Bishop who really got the work on the Cathedral started) and the great Spanish hero known as El Cid, and his wife.

To the right is the vault of the Chapel of the Constable at the Eastern end of the Cathedral, containing the tombs of the Constable Don Pedro Fernandez de Velasco and his wife Dona Mencia de Mendoza, sculpted in Carrara marble. They were the founders of this chapel, designed by Simon de Colonia in the early fifteenth century, a decade or so after Don Pedro's death.

Finally here, a general view of the great Cathedral showing the exterior of the great lantern, and to the right the Chapel of the Constable - we can expect more posts from Spain over the days ahead!