Catholics for a Changing Church

"To live is to change, and to be perfect is to have changed often" - Bl. John Henry Newman

Reflections on the Papal visit to the UK 2010

Paul Paniccia. Vatican II, Voice of the Church

Now that the euphoria and the immediate afterglow of Pope Benedict’s state visit to the UK has faded a sober assessment of the visit and longer term consequences can now be outlined.

First of all, given the media commentary and the way arrangements were being made for the event in the weeks leading up to the visit, expectations were exceeded in terms of the execution of state and liturgical events, the absence of anticipated papal gaffes in any of the many addresses that were delivered and failure of all those who protested against the visit to make any impact at all. The media coverage, which was fairly extensive, during the visit was generally favourable and the papal image was transformed from an autocratic authoritarian figure to cuddly grandfather.

Many non-Catholics who observed the events through the medium of television or those who were actually present at the ecumenical liturgy in Westminster Abbey have commented favourably on the proceedings. They have definitely been left with a positive impression. However, is this a matter of image over substance?

The climax of the visit was the Mass at Cofton Park for the Beatification of John Henry Newman. As someone who was present I was able to witness certain aspects that were rather telling regarding the ethos that now exists in the Church. I had an expectation of an impressive entrance procession of all the bishops together with the Bishop of Rome making their way to the sanctuary. Instead, the bishops were seated in the sanctuary well before the start of the Mass. There was also the spectacle, not witnessed by those watching the television broadcast, of some bishops from a couple of rows of seats in the sanctuary being displaced just before the start of Mass to an outer area where priests were seated. It subsequently became clear that this was done to make accommodation available in the sanctuary for those in the papal procession, namely, the curial officials along with cardinals and local archbishops. The import of all this would have been lost on most of the congregation present, but it demonstrated that episcopal collegiality is virtually a dead letter.

The homily during Mass was significant for what was not said. As in the booklet, Heart Speaks Unto Heart produced by the Catholic Bishops Conferences of Scotland and England & Wales in preparation for the visit, there was no reference connecting Newman’s theological ideas with the teaching of the Second Vatican Council. To connect Newman to one of the greatest events in the universal Church, certainly in the last century or so, would have enhanced his stature as well as showing the relevance of this Victorian era figure to the contemporary Church. A remark by an English bishop on a BBC radio programme broadcast just before the Cofton Park Mass took place, stating that most of those present came to see the pope not for the beatification of Newman, eloquently demonstrated a lack of awareness, quite apart from appreciation and understanding, by the faithful of Newman’s influence and contribution to the modern Catholic Church.

During a BBC programme screened to coincide with the papal visit the Oxford University Professor Diarmaid McCulloch somewhat cynically suggested that the beatification of Newman was timed to promote the Anglican Ordinariate which Pope Benedict had instituted through his apostolic constitution Anglicanorum Coetibus.  According to the professor, Newman, a convert from Anglicanism, was being put up as a ‘poster boy’ for the Ordinariate. Catholic ecumenists had not seen the erection of the Ordinariate as part of the ecumenical process, simply a response to a request by a small number of Anglicans, and were concerned before the papal visit that Newman’s beatification might be presented in a triumphalist manner, thereby negatively impacting on ecumenical relations. However, in an address to the Catholic bishops at Oscott College prior to his departure the Pope seemed to suggest Anglicanorum Coetibus is a contribution to ecumenism when he said, ‘This should be seen as a prophetic gesture that can contribute positively to the developing relations between Anglicans and Catholics. It helps us to set our sights on the ultimate goal of all ecumenical activity: the restoration of full ecclesial communion in the context of which the mutual exchange of gifts from our respective spiritual patrimonies serves as an enrichment to us all’.

The euphoric response by many present at Cofton Park whenever the pope appeared either on the big screens, showing his departure from London and arrival at Birmingham, or when he entered the arena in the popemobile was indicative of a focus on the person of the pope almost to the exclusion of all else. At various events during the visit Pope Benedict took the opportunity to express his well-established concerns on moral relativism and the advance of secularism at the expense of Christianity in the public sphere. However, if anything of the visit resides in the memory it will be the visual images of the pope at Lambeth Palace, Westminster Hall and vespers at Westminster Abbey – all historic firsts for the papacy. Those of us who remember Pope John-Paul II’s visit in 1982 recall his visit to Canterbury Cathedral which raised expectations of a real breakthrough in closer relations, even some form of unity, with the Anglicans. Twenty-eight years later virtually nothing concrete has been realised in advancing formal union between the two communions. From a 2010 perspective of the current positions of the two Churches it is more difficult to envisage any formal rapprochement in the immediate future despite the impressive visual tableau of Pope Benedict and Archbishop Rowan Williams together.

Any lasting impact of the papal visit on the Catholic community remains to be seen, but experience of a small event may be instructive. The Sunday following the papal visit I laid out a display at the back of the church of A4-sized pictures of highlights of the beatification Mass, some pictures prominently featured Pope Benedict as I had been fortunate in being close to the sanctuary. Given that no one from the community had attended either the Hyde Park or Cofton Park events the expectation was that there would be keen interest in looking at the picture display. In the event only one or two briefly took an interest in the display. Evidently, the papal visit was history and interest had moved on to other matters.

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