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.

Holy Week restored by Pope Pius XII

The introduction to Holy Week in my 1962 Roman Missal (Suumorum Pontificum edition, published 2012 by Baronius Press) gives a splendid account and justification for the sweeping reforms to the celebration of the Holy Week rites, authorised by Pope Pius … Continue reading

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Baseball – and the Religious Life

In the age we live in the combination of two words ‘Orphanage’ and ‘Catholic’ is enough to conjure up a dark vision of cruelty and abuse. So it was refreshing to read Bill Bryson’s account of one such orphanage in … Continue reading

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The Ordinariate – eight years on from that article …

While clearing out in preparation for my move back to the UK later this year, I came across an article in the Catholic Herald, written in August 2016 by Damian Thompson entitled ‘The Ordinariate Mk II.’ It seems to me … Continue reading

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Fifty years on from the closure of Kelham

I am indebted to Anne Malins who e-mailed me the article from the Church Times by Bishop Christopher Morgan on Kelham – which closed as a Theological College of the Church of England fifty years ago. I have sometimes claimed … Continue reading

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Fr Peter Peterken RIP

The recent announcement of the death, at the age of 95, of Fr Peter Peterken brought back memories of those remarkable years for Anglo-Catholics between 1992 and our reconciliation with the Catholic Church. I came to know Fr Peter through … Continue reading

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Synodality and the General Synod

Catholics of the Ordinariate (i.e. former Anglicans) may be forgiven for their nervousness about the process of Synodality which is being encouraged by Pope Francis. The actions of the General Synod of the Church of England in the 1990’s and … Continue reading

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Language and translation

Just after writing my last post I came across this ‘Translator’s note’ at the beginning of a 1954 edition of ‘Introduction to the Devout Life’ by St François de Sales. Fr Michael Day, an Oratorian, writes: The present translation into … Continue reading

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The language of liturgy (2)

It was decided early on that the Ordinariates, created to receive Anglicans wishing to enter into the full communion of the Catholic Church, should have liturgical books which expressed their Anglican patrimony. Divine Worship Daily Office (Commonwealth Edition) expresses it … Continue reading

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The rise and fall (and rise?) of the Prayer Book Office

The English Prayer Book of 1549 introduced to the people of England a new daily Office. The monastic Breviary with its eight-fold daily Office (upon which pattern the Breviary recited, at least since the 11th century, by the secular clergy … Continue reading

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The curious case of the Scottish First Minister

The campaign to succeed Nicola Sturgeon as First Minister of the devolved Scottish Parliament provoked storms of ‘Christianophobia’. (I know the word doesn’t exist because the media et al. do not want to recognise it. ‘Islamophobia’ – ‘Homophobia’ – ‘Transphobia’ … Continue reading

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