Issue 75 - The Pilgrim - September 2018 - The newspaper of the Archdiocese of Southwark

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News Students learn about diplomacy Students at Christ the King College in Lewisham heard about what it’s like to be a diplomat from Dame Nicola Brewer (pictured). Dame Brewer explained to students how she came to be British High Commissioner to South Africa, Lesotho and Swaziland from 2009 to 2013. She visited the college to launch the annual external speaker programme. She also spoke about her role as viceprovost (international) at University College, London, and her work on women’s rights and gender equality. Simon Spearman, principal of Christ the King: Emmanuel, said: “Dame Nicola Brewer has got our External Speaker Programme off to a brilliant start. She is one of many highprofile visitors from the worlds Page 4 of academia, politics, and industry who will be coming into our colleges over the next few months. “Our students gain a great deal from hearing these inspirational, high-achieving individuals speak about their own education and career paths.” Film recalls Pope John Paul II’s 1979 visit to Ireland A documentary film about St Pope John Paul II’s visit to Ireland in 1979 has been released. A Plea For Peace, directed by David Naglieri and narrated by The Passion Of The Christ star Jim Caviezel, features interviews with Seamus Mallon, Martin Mansergh, Rev Harold Good, Lord David Alton and former IRA bomber Shane Paul O’Doherty. History was made in September 1979, when St John Paul II became the first pope to Pilgrims heading to Faversham Hundreds of pilgrims are expected to descend on Faversham at the end of the month to celebrate the feast day of St Jude. The national shrine of St Jude at the church Our Lady of Mount Carmel, which is run by the Carmelites, will be hosting celebrations on Saturday 27th and Sunday 28th October. These will include Mass, the blessing of oil, and anointing. visit Ireland. The film focuses on the pope’s famous appeal in Drogheda: “On my knees I beg you to turn away from the paths of violence and return to the ways of peace,” in front of a quarter a million people, and argues this sowed the earliest seeds of peace. Mr Naglieri said the filmmakers discovered handwritten letters from Father Alec Reid to John Hume, which directly quoted the papal message. “Through researching, at first we found a lot of cynicism – St Jude, one of the twelve apostles, is the patron saint of hopeless cases. The shrine, which is beneath the church, was built in 1955. Many pilgrims light a candle or leave petitions in a box in front of the fifteenth century wooden statue of St Jude. His international appeal can be seen from the notes and photos pinned to a notice board. www.shrineofstjude.org New Catholic degrees St Mary’s University in Twickenham is launching a new MA degree in Catholic social teaching, which will be the first of its kind in the UK. Topics covered will include the basic principles and history of the tradition, the various ways in which social teaching has been applied to specific situations. Issues explored will include the theologies of liberation, the role of Catholic charities, and market and business ethics. The first year’s two modules will be taught in central London on Tuesday evenings and an inspiring list of lecturers have been engaged to deliver this programme. Also a BA course in new evangelisation is available at The School of the Annunciation in Buckfast Abbey, validated by St Mary’s University. people said the violence continued for two decades after the visit, and superficially it didn’t have much effect – but for us it was a lot of peeling the onion,” he said. The course will cover a variety of modules such as reflective practice, technology, relationship of media and life issues. Its focus will be look at a variety of matters that the Church is currently facing and on preparing people to engage with the new evangelisation. For further information, visit www.stmarys.ac.uk or www.sota-edu.com “The thesis is not that the Good Friday Agreement wouldn’t have happened if he didn’t come, but we’re tracing the ripple effects of the pope’s visit.” From Spain to Tonbridge Corpus Christi church in Tonbridge have a brand-new reredos thanks to a company in Spain. Archbishop Peter Smith blessed the new altar piece during a Mass. Parish priest Fr Peter Murphy hired Granda Liturgical Arts in Madrid to transform the main wall. It created a large frame which envelops the new scene of Calvary complete with statues of Our Lady and St John at the foot of the wooden Crucifix already in place. Above it a figure of the Holy Spirit on golden rays. Granda Liturgical Arts has its own workshops and manufactures everything from tabernacles and candlesticks to statues and vestments. The Pilgrim October 2018 Academic Mass Archbishop Peter celebrated the annual Mass at St George’s Cathedral to mark the beginning of the academic year. The congregation was made up of students, teachers, chaplains, governors, and others involved in education in the diocese. Archbishop Peter spoke about the importance of Catholic education that provided the opportunity of developing the whole person. School promotes walking St Mary’s Catholic Primary School in Greenwich has been approved by Transport for London’s STARS scheme. The scheme aims to reduce traffic congestion, improve road safety and health and wellbeing. Last year, St Mary’s participated in Walk on Wednesdays, which encouraged all children to travel to school sustainably, actively, responsibly, and safely by championing walking, scooting and cycling. The theme for this year is the seasons and pupils have the opportunity to collect 11 badges. Every week, class teachers will log how the children came to school and at the end of each month, the badges will be distributed to those who have walked or actively travelled in that given month. Learning about coding Year 7 students at Ursuline High School in Wimbledon learned all about coding from the experts. Coders from Wandsworth City Learning Centre and technology professionals from Goldman Sachs worked with students to create a digital media campaign called earthquake rescue. Students had to create an autonomous robot that could search though damaged buildings looking for victims of earthquakes. Working as coders, app designers, photographers and film makers to develop a product, they presented back to each other at the end of the day. They also created a website using Google sites that included videos and photos of the production process, interviews with the scientists creating the prototype, and explanations and images of why the robot is needed. Dusk walk Depaul UK is inviting parishioners to sign up for its “Dusk Walk”, which aims to raise money to support its work with homeless young people. The walk takes place on 12th October, beginning in Bermondsey, stopping at St William of York Church in Forest Hill, and finishing at St Paul’s Church, Beckenham. For further details, contact email: marie-claire.acton@depaulcharity.org.uk, or phone 020 7939-1279. Cafod volunteers needed Cafod is seeking volunteers to talk to young people about how they live their faith in action. Cafod education volunteers go into schools to talk about Cafod’s work in reaching to those most in need because of poverty, famine or war. They talk about how our faith supports such work. They work closely with teachers, priests and catechists. For more information, phone 020 8466-9901, or email southwark@cafod.org.uk Young artist Edelle Gill, a pupil at St Gregory’s Catholic School in Tunbridge Wells will have one of her drawings included in the Society of Graphic and Fine Art Draw 18 exhibition at the Menier Gallery near London Bridge. She will be the youngest exhibitor.
The Pilgrim October 2018 Feature Why Catholics can’t be freemasons Fr Ashley Beck Some readers may be aware that last year celebrations took place to mark the 300th anniversary of the foundation of freemasonry in England. We all know that historically freemasonry has been hostile to the Catholic Church. For example, in the Bromley deanery of Bromley the Catholic folk memory is of negative planning permission decisions and hostility to Catholic education because of the strength of freemasonry in the (usually) Tory council. However, in the late 1970s confusion grew in English speaking countries because Catholics were sometimes permitted to become masons if local lodges were not to be anti-Catholic. This had been sought by Cardinal Heenan and some US Catholic bishops. But in 1983 this permission was universally revoked by Cardinal Ratzinger, with the approval of St John Paul II, at the time the new Code of Canon Law appeared. A document made it clear that Catholics who were masons were in a state of grave sin and could not receive Holy Communion: local bishops could not dispense from this. The Church makes no distinction between freemasonry in Englishspeaking countries (“Grand Lodge”) and freemasonry in most of continental Europe and Latin America (“Grand Orient”). The The Pilgrim is now online, making it possible to read all the editions since it was launched in 2011. To view it, visit the diocesan website and click on the link on the left hand side of the page. www.rcsouthwark.co.uk alleged difference is that Grand Lodge requires of members’ belief in a “Supreme Being”, whereas Grand Orient is avowedly atheistic. Grand Lodge masons point to Anglicans and Protestants, including clergy, who are among their number. The distinction is irrelevant: anyone can say they believe in God or a Supreme Being. Cardinal Ratzinger’s document does not seem to have been as widely disseminated as one might expect. In the UK and the USA, a lot of Catholics think it is acceptable for them to be masons, and they seem to have so advised by priests and even in some cases bishops. Twelve years ago I was asked by the Catholic Truth Society to write a booklet (Freemasonry and the Christian Faith, rev. ed. 2016, available from www.ctsbooks.org) explaining why Catholics cannot be masons. I outlined three theological reasons, drawing on the texts and religious rituals (for it is clearly a religion) which masons use. First, masons use bowdlerised versions of standard Christian prayers, excising the name of Our Lord (e.g. the Anglican “collect for purity”). For Jesus to be removed in this way is surely blasphemous: he cannot be an “added extra”. This is not like Christians sometimes praying with members of other world faiths on special occasions: here the official texts alter Christian practice. Secondly the lectures in masonic ceremonies propose a vision of the mason’s moral life and progress which is wholly about his own efforts. He is expected to follow basic standards of morality (never defined except in the vaguest terms) – God’s grace is absent. He is a “self-made man” (which is why most masons are right wing); he doesn’t need God. This is at odds with Christian teaching about grace expounded by St Augustine of Hippo. The third reason is to do with moral theology. At various stages of initiation, the candidate is expected to swear that he will not divulge the secrets of masonic rituals (now widely known), before he is told what they are. Although in this country the penalties mentioned in the oaths have been removed they are not the problem: Catholic moral theology forbids taking a “vain” oath, that is, swearing concerning things which you haven’t been told. There are other issues: freemasonry’s influence in society, its indifference to many aspects of morality and its attitude towards women. It is a religion (although this is denied), a religion distinct from Christianity. It is strong in the territory of our archdiocese, particularly in suburban south London and Kent, where lodges have given generously to Rochester Cathedral. Some Catholics and even clergy don’t know of what happened in 1983, and there are even cases of masons offering themselves for ordination. Let’s be clear: if you are a mason and a Catholic you should not receive Holy Communion until you have been to Confession – no priest can dispense you from the prohibition. You must resign your masonic membership straightaway. If you wish to contact me for further advice please email me at ashleybeck88@hotmail.com or phone me on 07769-214903. Page 5
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Issue 75 - The Pilgrim - September 2018 - The newspaper of the Archdiocese of Southwark

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