Thursday Jan 15th
A packed memorial Mass yesterday evening at St Etheldreda's, Ely Place, the beautiful pre-Reformation church near London's Holborn Circus, for Peter Bearcroft, a leading Catholic layman who did a good deal for the cause of Christian unity. It was Peter who arranged for a plaque to be placed in the Tower of London commemorating St John Fisher, Bishop of Rochester, who died there in 1534 - Peter brought together Anglicans and Catholics in this, and the plaque was blessed and dedicated by the Anglican Bishop of London and the Cardinal Archbishop of Westminster, a moment of history.....

Yesterday evening's Mass included some glorious hymns, notably Newman's "Praise to the Holiest in the height" and Faber's "Faith of our Fathers" (original version), which we sang with all our hearts. Afterwards a crowded gathering in the crypt. Peter was a Papal Knight, and there were Knights of St Gregory and of the Holy Sepuklchre, in their robes and uniforms. He was also a member of the Catholic Union (of which Jamie is chairman), the organisation which speaks for Catholics in public life....

ST ETHELDREDA'S

St Etheldreda's was for many years the Guild Church of The Keys, the Catholic Writers' Guild, and it was good to be back there again. Back in the early 1980s we met in the dining-room, genial Father Kit Cunningham, our Chaplain, presiding. Then as numbers grew , with people crammed round the door and into the hall, we moved to the crypt. Memorable speakers included Charles Moore of the Daily Telegraph on "Why I am not a Catholic" - it was clear from his talk that he was in fact well on the way and a few weeks later he announced his conversion in a massive full-page feature in the newspaper.

The Guild moved from St E's last year when Fr Kit retired as our chaplain, and we now meet at St Mary Moorfields, with Fr Peter Newby. My Blog in recent days has been crammed with many things, so I didn't have a moment to mention that last Wednesday saw a superb Guild meeting with Professor Jack Scarisbrick on "The Gunpowder Plot", dispelling many myths about that tragic chapter of English history and holding the meeting spellbound.

CATHOLIC CULTURAL GROUP

An enquiry to this Blog asks about the Catholic Cultural Group. This is an informal group, meeting in London each month - we have speakers on topics of interest, sometimes arrange visits to places connected with Catholic history etc. If you are London-based, and send me a note of your full name and address, and are genuinely interested, I'll send more information about some of our forthcoming events.