Tag Archives: Catholic Church

The meaning of greatness

Posted on 12/11/2024 by Scott Anderson

We British talk of our country as ‘Great Britain’ without really thinking. Perhaps during this month of November we might do well to reflect on this idea of ‘greatness’ and in particular, what it is that makes a nation or … Continue reading →

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Is the Pope a Catholic?

Posted on 08/11/2024 by Scott Anderson

People who ask why I became a Catholic usually assume it is because I don’t approve of women priests. Certainly the decision by a majority in the General Synod of the Church of England to permit the ordination of women … Continue reading →

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Death – the enemy we need to face up to

Posted on 24/10/2024 by Scott Anderson

In my last year as a parish priest in France I was twice asked to preside over funerals where the cremation of the body had already taken place. No funeral directors attended, and the family arrived with the urn or … Continue reading →

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Holy Week restored by Pope Pius XII

Posted on 19/03/2024 by Scott Anderson

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

Posted on 18/03/2024 by Scott Anderson

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 …

Posted on 02/03/2024 by Scott Anderson

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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Synodality and the General Synod

Posted on 12/10/2023 by Scott Anderson

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

Posted on 01/09/2023 by Scott Anderson

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)

Posted on 24/08/2023 by Scott Anderson

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

Posted on 18/04/2023 by Scott Anderson

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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