De Omnibus Dubitandum Est.

You may have seen my post yesterday with the wonderful news of the partnership between Southwark Diocese and The School of the Annunciation, to provide life-giving Catechesis to ordinary Catholics in their diocese. Well, it's not just Southwark. The same course is also being run at Ealing Abbey in Westminster Diocese. This course provides an incredible boost to any Catholic who wants to know more about their faith, but essentially it should be particularly valuable to teachers in our Catholic Schools and Catechists in our Parishes, as well as parents. All of us have a duty of commission, by virtue of our Baptism, to preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ: that we are created, loved and redeemed! We all need to be able to transmit these truths in confidence and with joy! You can see from the testimonials above just how this joy is really lived and transmitted through this course. It will allow you to teach your students, or you children with confidence and love. So what ar...

The wonderful School of the Annunciation, at Buckfast Abbey in Devon, UK, are now booking students in for their Autumn Courses in the faith.  The School affords an unprecedented opportunity to study in a beautiful, prayerful, Catholic environment, experiencing the ebb and flow of the liturgical day with the monks as well as their legendary Benedictine hospitality.  Book now to avoid disappointment!

Bishop Mark O'Toole with Abbot David Charlesworth & Cardinal Pell In huge contrast to yesterday's worrying and nasty blog subject, today I am pleased to bring you something very encouraging! Bishop Mark O'Toole, recently Ordained to Plymouth Diocese, continues to delight and impress with his Catholicity (it seems incredible that I even have to say that of a Catholic bishop really doesn't it?) When I received the LMS Magazine at the weekend, I was delighted to read an interview with Bishop Mark which is available here . In it he articulates a clear plan of action which seems to follow on naturally from his recent excellent Pastoral Letter on Vocation . In that letter, he stated his belief that the challenge faced by the Church today is not a lack of vocations, but rather a lack of responses. The solution to this problem seems obvious to me, and I'm no bishop! Mark O'Toole is, and thankfully he seems to see it clearly. Young men will not answer the ca...

270 miles and 41/2 hours ago I was in Buckfast Abbey in Devon. I was deeply honoured to have been invited to the Foundation Celebrations for The School of the Annunciation by Dr. Caroline Farey, Director of Studies at the School, which was merely an idea just twelve months ago. It is difficult to look at the events of the last twelve months and not see the hand of God at work. After the disappointment and pain of the fracture at Maryvale, Petroc and Caroline had no idea what they were going to do. Today, I witnessed the birth of a new, exciting venture, designed to provide a higher education institution which will present an enormous variety of high quality courses that will help people deepen their faith and partake in the work of the New Evangelisation. Rather than some clandestine, divisive venture, The School of the Annunciation is a living, working, embodiment of the tri-fold sources of Revelation: Scripture, Tradition, and The Magisterium. Enfolded within the rich Bened...

Following my reflection on The Walsingham Dimension , I was introduced to this piece by Edmund Adamus which was published last year by the Ordinariate. It affirms the important Christological insights that come from a devotion to Mary. Edmund explains how Marian devotion has a particular link to Christianity in this country which has shaped and fostered an attitude which is inherently Christian, and concerned with fairness and justice (it is reproduced here with his kind permission): In his address at Oscott College just before the end of his state visit in September 2010, Pope Benedict XV spoke of the establishment of the Ordinariate as a ‘prophetic gesture’ and one which will enable a ‘mutual exchange of gifts’ from the spiritual patrimonies of both the worldwide Catholic Church and the unique English expression of a Catholic faith preserved over many generations by those former members of the Church of England, now fully at home sacramentally in the Roman Catholic Church. fre...

This morning, Deacon Nick Donnelly announced on his blog the exciting news that a new Centre of Formation for the New Evangelisation has been established by some of the staff who recently resigned their positions at Maryvale in Birmingham.  Dr Petroc Willey, Dr Andrew Beards, and Dr Caroline Farey have embarked on a new adventure, calling their centre the School of the Annunciation . It is based in the grounds of Buckfast Abbey in Devon, thanks to the generosity and collaboration of the Abbot of Buckfast, the Rt. Rev. David Charlesworth and the monastic community. The School of the Annunciation will begin by offering a Diploma in the New Evangelisation as well as short Summer Schools which it is hoped will provide a unique opportunity to study the Catholic Faith in the beautiful setting of Buckfast Abbey, sharing the monastic community’s life and prayer over long summer weekends in August. I have to say it sounds idyllic! Deacon Nick himself is the Director of For...