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.


Thursday, 31 August 2023

St Vincent of Lérins


The Pope was quoting recently St Vincent of Lérins, who died in the earlier part of the fifth century about the concept of the development of doctrine in the Catholic Church. Given much of the current debate about doctrine and whether or how it can develop this has sparked interest in St Vincent. 

In consequence the National Catholic Register has put together an excellent introduction to the life and writings of St Vincent which helps to clarify they are issues the Church faces on these very important points at the moment - if not indeed, as St Vincent most famously wrote, has faced and will face everywhere, always and by all.





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