Yesterday, the Pope received in audience in the Apostolic Palace of the Vatican a delegation of members of Oriel College, led by the Provost, Lord Mendoza.
The Pope and the Provost
Image: oriel.ox.ac.uk
The occasion was to mark two significant events. The first is that this year Oriel - the House of Blessed Mary to Virgin in Oxford, to give its full name - is celebrating its seven hundredth anniversary of foundation by King Edward II in 1326. In July it welcomed that monarch’s 21x great grandson in the person of King Charles III who is the Visitor of the College, and there have been a variety of celebrations throughout the year.
The second event is closely bound up with the history of Oriel, and the man who is its most famous Fellow, St John Henry Newman, the Pope proclaimed a Doctor of the Church and co-patron of Education last year.
St John Henry Newman as a Fellow of Oriel
1822-1845
Image: Venerable English College
In his address to his visitors the Pope urged Oriel to rediscover the Catholic roots of the foundation, and to follow St John Henry in pursuing truth courageously and to see education as the formation of the whole person.
The Oriel College website reports on the visit with quotations from the Provost’s address at Provost leads delegation to meet Pope at Vatican
Vatican News has more of the Pope’s address
His Holiness’ points are good and apposite, and will in my opinion, hopefully fall on fertile ground. My experience of Oriel was that those three factors were there and perhaps more so than in some, maybe many, other colleges in Oxford. Let us hope Papal encouragement will lead to positive growth in these matters.
May Our Lady continue to pray for Her House in Oxford and all Orielenses
Floreat Oriel!
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