Nov 2nd All Souls Day
Spent the day in the sky. I had brought John Henry Newman's Lectures on the Present Position of Catholics in England" (reprinted 2000, Gracewing Books, with an excellent introduction and footnotes by Andrew Nash) to re-read on the plane, after I had finished the Spectator and the Catholic Herald. It is extraordinary that one can fly over the vast stretches of the Northern Atlantic, reading about 19th century England.....

My destination - reached after a brief delay at Chicago - was Columbus, Ohio, where I am to speak at the Deep in History, Deep in Scripture conference organised by the Coming Home Network. The CHN was founded by Marcus Grodi - a Bogle family friend of some years' standing and a terrific personality with his own show on the Catholic television network EWTN - to bring together former Evangelical pastors and church members who are thinking of joining the Catholic Church or exploring the Catholic Faith. In many ways, this venture belongs to the American expereince - in modern Britain, we do not have such a vast number of Evangelicals and there is no 'Bible Belt'....although of course a certain traditional Protestant culture (about which I was reading in Newman's essays) was at one time vibrant and virtually all-embracing, and has left its mark in many ways.....In the USA, the great cultural tradition of the Evangelical churches, with a whole way of life - church suppers, fund-raising events - revivalist preaching, sense of community, American patriotism - has been the standard means of communicating Christianity for many people for generations. For a pastor of such a church to explore deeper historical and theological roots, and to find himself researching the claims of Rome and the Apostolic tradition can bring heartache and make for huge decisions.....this weekend's conference will focus on the English Reformation and I am dealing with the post-Reformation period which means I have been doing a great deal of work on things like the 1688 Whig settlement, the religious history of England in the 17th and 18th centuries etc....

I am also due to read - on his behalf - the lecture by Jamie on Queen Mary Tudor. I feel reasonably confident about this, partly because I heard a fascinating lecture on this subject by Mgr Anthony Conlon (co-incidentally the chaplain at the Oratory School, Reading - founded by John Henry Newman!), who spoke at a Catholic Writers' Guild conference at Winchester a couple of years ago. Jamie's paper on the subject makes good reading, and I went over it several times on the plane so that I can do him justice....

Jamie, meanwhile, will be in Rome. Paola Frankopan is marrying Lord Nicholas Windsor.....the first Catholic Royal wedding for 400 years, and it is taking place in a church in the grounds of the Vatican. Paola is a good friend and we have worked together on various projects, always with great delight....last year she came to speak at the Catholic Women of the Year Luncheon, at my instigation, and gave everyone a great lift as it was so good to have some one young and enthusiastic, sending out just the right upbeat message about the joy of the Faith......news of her engagement came as no surprise, but it gives great joy all round.....However, this wedding-day will also have a larger and more powerful significance, given our country's religious history. The newspapers have been reporting it at some length, and there is a great spread in the latest'Hello!' magazine. (Much discussion about the couple both being v. devout etc - which is true, but how embarrassing for them to have their regular attendance at Mass - they have been "seen together at Westminster cathedral, and at Brompton Oratory"! - paraded through the newspapers!)

Jamie, as ever, is keen interested in the liturgical aspects - friends of ours are forming the choir that will sing some glorious Latin. It will be a wonderful and happy day....

I'm writing this at the hotel in Columbus.....how extraordinary to be lecturing on English Reformation history on thisd very weekend with this event in Rome......