Author Archives: Scott Anderson

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About Scott Anderson

Formerly an Anglican priest (ordained 1975) received into the Catholic Church in February 2012, and ordained to the Diaconate on 27th July 2013. I took early retirement, and divide my time between London and northern France. I am deeply committed to the Ordinariate as a gift of the Holy Spirit in the search for unity. Like many Ordinariate members I feel a personal gratitude to Pope Emeritus Benedict, together with loyalty to our Holy Father, Pope Francis. My blog tries to make a small contribution to the growth of the Ordinariate by asking questions (and proposing some answers) about the 'Anglican Patrimony'. I have always been fascinated by the whole issue of growth and decline, and therefore concerned for appropriate means of evangelisation in western Europe. I believe that the Holy Spirit is constantly renewing the People of God and that we must be open to him. On Saturday 19th October 2013, I was ordained to the Priesthood at Most Precious Blood, Borough, by the Most Revd Peter Smith, Archbishop of Southwark, for the service of the Ordinariate of our Lady of Walsingham. I continued to serve the Ordinariate group and Parish at Most Precious Blood until the end of 2014. Subsequently, I helped in the care of the Ordinariate Groups at Hemel Hempstead and Croydon, and in the Archdiocese of Southwark, until the beginning of September 2015. With the agreement of my Ordinary, , the Bishop of Amiens appointed me Administrator of the Parish of Notre Dame des Etangs (Pont Remy) in Picardie, France. After nine years as parish priest, with wonderful and supportive parishioners, I decided that the time had come to retire and return to the UK. A nasty accident four years ago and contracting COVID has left me physically rather feeble! I shall be ever grateful for the years in France, a wonderful ending to the years of parish ministry. So here I am back in the UK, taking a long rest, setting up home, coping with all the new Safeguarding procedures - and wondering what next.

Anglican Patrimony: the Sacrament of Penance

When around the age of 14 I discovered Anglo-Catholicism I made my first Confession within a couple of months. It did not occur to me that this sacrament was any more optional to my Christian life than, say, going to … Continue reading

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Assisted Suicide

Many of you will have seen already this statement from our Ordinary, Mgr Keith Newton, and it deserves the widest support from Catholics and Anglicans.  After the unwise remarks of Lord Carey and Archbishop Tutu, it is a relief to … Continue reading

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When words are used to hide the truth (4)

  We don’t need to look in a dictionary for definitions of words which surround the end of life. ‘Death’ means coming to the end of your life, when your heart stops beating, and your brain ceases to function. ‘Killing’ … Continue reading

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We’re the young generation

At a clergy meeting I attended recently (nearly all the priests about my age) there was some concern expressed about the younger generation of seminarians. It seemed, some felt, that they were more conservative, in theology, dress and liturgy than ever … Continue reading

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The Ordinariate: child of ARCIC – a response

I’m grateful to Monsignor Andrew Burnham for the following comment on my last post, which I publish with his permission. ”   On each side of the dialogue there has been a conventional interpretation of the ARCIC process which goes something … Continue reading

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The Ordinariate: child of ARCIC

There was in the C of E to which I was ordained in the 1970’s a sort of ‘Catholic dynamic’. What I mean is that feeling that the Oxford Movement, the Catholic Revival, had permeated almost everywhere, and was now … Continue reading

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Mission Stations or Rest Homes (part 2)

  I want to be clear what I was and was not saying in my last post. A (kind) friend remarked that it was a bit like the writings of  a former Archbishop of Canterbury – sounded good, rather long, and … Continue reading

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Ordinariate Groups: Mission Stations – or Rest Homes

Those of us who had the pleasure and privilege of knowing the late Bishop Brian Masters (Area Bishop of Edmonton in the Anglican diocese of London) have a fund of his witty  – and very much to the point – … Continue reading

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You shall love your neighbour as yourself

My father grew up in a middle-class family in Plymouth in the 1930’s. One experience of this era as a child clearly remained with him all his life. His nurse, taking him for his afternoon walk, had asked my grandmother … Continue reading

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That they may be one

In the parish lounge at Most Precious Blood, the Ordinariate church in South London, we are building a collection of photographs. They are images of Popes and Archbishops of Canterbury, meeting each other: they are a constant reminders of the … Continue reading

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