FROM BRITAIN AND IRELAND NEWS


Poor poll ratings for Church as bishops set out mission plan


Christopher Lamb


PLANS TObolster Catholic iden- tity and improve the presence of the Church in public life have been unveiled by English and Welsh bishops a year after the papal visit. In a statement issued after the


National Mass of Thanksgiving at Westminster Cathedral last week, the bishops set out three priorities for the Church over the next three to five years. These include “promoting a culture of vocation … marked by a confident Catholic faith”, teaching “Christ and his Gospel as saving truth”, and “proclaiming the coming of the Kingdom of God” to the whole community. The bishops plan to set up a national vocations framework and actively encourage lay Catholics “to witness publicly to their faith with renewed confidence”. In their statement they empha- sise the deep Christian roots in their countries but quote Pope Benedict’s comments at the Hyde Park prayer vigil that society is suffering from a crisis of faith and they see the new evangelisation as “imbuing temporal life with the values of the Gospel”.


But plans to evangelise face an uphill task after a new poll suggests the public has a negative view of the Church and indifference over the impact of the papal visit. According to the poll, commis- sioned by the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales to mark the anniversary of the papal visit, 70 per cent of the 2,000 British adults questioned said they felt the Church was out of touch with modern society, though for the Catholics ques- tioned – 9 per cent of the total surveyed – that figure dropped to 59 per cent. Undertaken by Opinion Research Business, the survey asked about the lasting effect of the Pope’s visit on people. Some 91 per cent said that it had made no difference in putting them more in touch with their spiritual values, although half of them said they were either spiritual or reli- gious. Only 21 per cent of people give a favourable approval view of the Church a year after the visit. Pope Benedict XVI’s own approval ratings have dropped during the year since his visit to only 24 per cent compared with two other polls, commissioned immediately before and imme-


diately after the visit by the bish- ops’ conference and released this week, that showed the Pope’s approval ratings at 22 per cent before he arrived in Britain and 33 per cent immediately after he left. There are also worrying fig- ures regarding clerical sex abuse. Only 24 per cent were happy with the Pope’s apologies. On the positive side, the Pope’s message during his UK visit appeared to resonate with people. Six out of 10 people agreed with Benedict XVI that Britain should guard against aggressive secular- ism, and two-thirds thought that political correctness should not be used to force religious people to keep their faith private. People were also asked what


action the Church should be tak- ing to improve society. Among the most popular responses were tackling poverty, combating child abuse and defending family values. However, only 9 per cent agreed it should be protecting the sanctity of human life by cam- paigning against abortion and euthanasia. (To read the poll results in


full visit www.thetablet.co.uk. See Christopher Jamison, page 11.)


Change of leadership at Newman’s old oratory


A NEW PROVOST of the Birming ham Oratory has been appointed less than two years after Fr Richard Duffield, the cur- rent holder, took up the post, writes Christopher Lamb. Fr Ignatius Harrison, provost of the Brompton Oratory in South Kensington, west London, will take over from Fr Duffield, who has stepped down at his own request due to ill health. Fr Duffield, originally a priest of the Oxford Oratory, became provost in December 2009 at a time when the Birmingham com- munity was facing internal difficulties. He took over from Fr


Paul Chavasse, who stepped down as provost over what proved to be unsubstantiated allegations regarding a close but chaste rela- tionship with a young man. Months before Pope Benedict’s visit to Britain last year it emerged that three Oratorians had been ordered to go on retreat following disagreements within the com- munity. It is usual for Oratory congregations to elect their own leader but the Holy See appointed Fr Duffield and now Fr Harrison. Fr Felix Selden, appointed apos- tolic visitor to the Oratory Congreg ation by the Holy See, is overseeing the Birmingham


Oratory. The Birmingham Oratory, which was founded by Blessed John Henry Newman, is seen as one of the most important communities in the congregation. Fr Duffield was in charge of its preparation for the papal visit, the high point of which was the late cardinal’s beatification last September. Recently he had been in Rimini, Italy, to oversee an exhibition of Newman at the annual


Communion and


Liberation conference. Fr Harrison, who will remain as provost of the Brompton Oratory, also becomes actor and vice pos- tulator of the Newman Cause.


Reformer priests get together in Ireland


THE ASSOCIATION of Catholic Priests (ACP) in Ireland has confirmed that Mgr Helmut Schüller, leader of the dissident Austrian Priests’ Initiative, as well as Fr Bernard Survil, leader of the newly established Association of US Catholic Priests, will attend its annual general meeting on 4-5 October in Dublin, writes Sarah Mac Donald. The theme of the two-day


meeting is “Priesthood and Ministry in a Time of Crisis”. ACP spokesman Fr Tony Flannery told The Tablet that, as both associations were similar to the ACP in their “general outlines and objectives”, the ACP “felt it would be only right to invite them”. However, Fr Flannery acknowledged that the Austrian Priests’ Initiative was “taking a much more radical stance” than the ACP in their call for disobedience, although he said: “We’re watching very closely how the Austrians will get on.” Fr Flannery also moved to scotch concerns that the ACP was leading its membership towards schism, saying: “We wouldn’t have the remotest interest in schism or setting up a national Church. We’ll plod away at reform and unless they try to silence us or dismiss us we will continue to work as priests within the Church.” Both Mgr Schüller and Fr Survil are expected to make statements during the course of the proceedings. Meanwhile in Dublin, the


former chairman of the Council of Priests in the Diocese of Dublin, Fr Aquinas Duffy, has resigned his position, citing low morale among the clergy. He said that both laity and


clergy had been shocked by reports into the handling of clerical sex abuse.


24 September 2011 | THE TABLET | 31


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