Once I was a clever boy learning the arts of Oxford... is a quotation from the verses written by Bishop Richard Fleming (c.1385-1431) for his tomb in Lincoln Cathedral. Fleming, the founder of Lincoln College in Oxford, is the subject of my research for a D. Phil., and, like me, a son of the West Riding. I have remarked in the past that I have a deeply meaningful on-going relationship with a dead fifteenth century bishop... it was Fleming who, in effect, enabled me to come to Oxford and to learn its arts, and for that I am immensely grateful.


Saturday 18 July 2020

Latin Mass Society Conference


This afternoon I watched online the Latin Mass Society conference on Catholicism in a Covid-19 World. This was a fruit of lockdown in that it replaced the usual Mass and AGM at Westminster Cathedral, but involved probably more people, and, judging by the comments box, had virtual attendees watching in Australia, India and the USA.

The conference began with High Mass from St Mary’s Shrine in Warrington celebrated by Fr Armand de Malleray FSSP, who delivered a forceful homily which noted both the origins of FSSP in 1988 and opened up a prospect of potential developments over the coming five, ten and twenty years.

There was a message of welcome from the Cardinal Archbishop of Westminster and then the conference itself hosted by Dr Joseph Shaw the LMS Chairman and Sebastian Morello from the Southwark Archdiocese. 

The speakers were Archbishop Thomas Gullickson, Bishop Athanasius Schneider, Fr Tim Finigan, who reflected on the current state of society, Mgr Gordon Read, who gave a meditation on devotion to the Precious Blood, Fr John Zuhlsdorf, who was, as usual, forthright and looking with ultimate confidence to the future, and finally Dr Shaw seeking to see what the effects of Covid-19 may be on the rate of lapsation, linked to the financial consequences for the life and witness of the Church. This was followed by a question and answer session with the two hosts and Fr Finigan.

The whole conference was well worth watching, thoughtful, indeed provocative in the positive sense, and hopefully will help to energise all of us who linked in to it. It is available on the LMS YouTube site at https://youtu.be/_WTtjXDjfUM

I would recommend it highly to those who were not able to follow it live and are at all interested in the Traditional Rite and, as the speakers all stressed, in orthodox theology and teaching. 

I also hope that this format on an online conference as a means of spreading their message that the LMS will continue to use in the future. Dr Shaw did announce a forthcoming virtual Walsingham Pilgrimage, so to hat is something to look forward to. 


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