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.

A new perspective on the Easter Vigil

Last year I celebrated the liturgies of the Easter Triduum on my own! We were in lockdown, here in France. This year we are in lockdown again, but we can gather in church for worship providing we are careful to … Continue reading

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Were we really Catholics?

Soon after the vote in the General Synod of the Church of England in 1992 to ordain women to the priesthood, a colleague of mine expressed his sense of anger: “Once I was a bitter Catholic; now I am just … Continue reading

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And after the virus?

I was on the ‘phone recently, one Thursday evening, to some friends in the UK. A few minutes before 9pm they said they had to ring off, as it was time to stand in their front porch and applaud the … Continue reading

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The language of the liturgy

At the Reformation the Catholic Mass emerged from behind the screen and became visible: the Anglican liturgy emerged from behind the screen and became audible. Compare and contrast, as they used to say in exam papers, the mediaeval building with … Continue reading

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Can you teach an old priest new tricks?

Yes, you can!  My sister and her husband in England suggested that we might put my new acquired competence with Skype to spiritual use. So today the three of us recited the Office of Lauds on Skype. Slight problem with … Continue reading

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Holy Mass from the Divine Worship Missal (the background)

    I imagine that many of us during the confinement will have set ourselves a task or project. I have several, including learning to say the Ordinariate Use of the Mass. Perhaps you are surprised by this, but I … Continue reading

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Geoffrey Kirk

Yes, I was always a bit scared of Geoffrey. I had no reason to be as he was always attentive and charming. The first real personal contact I had with him happened like this. I had noticed the growing use … Continue reading

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Shall we learn again to pray for the dead?

In the aftermath of the First World War, with so many young men dead, and their bodies lost for ever in some foreign field, the British learned again to pray for the dead. “Now when the bells for Eucharist  Sound … Continue reading

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Everyone’s entitled to their own opinion – aren’t they?

Poor old Eamonn Holmes! Got it in the neck for some comments  on his morning TV show  about baseless conspiracy theories which link the coronavirus outbreak to 5G technology. OFCOM received 419 complaints from viewers after he said  the media … Continue reading

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Extended Communion – a new take

I remember the frustration of Anglo-Catholics some years ago when the General Synod decided to tackle the issue of ‘extended Communion’. For the best part of 100 years an increasing number of parishes had been ‘reserving’ the Sacrament, so that … Continue reading

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