An unforgettable evening...

...with members of the Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham! It began with the launch, at the old Friary building in Francis Street, just behind Westminster Cathedral, of the FRIENDS OF THE ORDINARIATE...the idea is to raise funds to help the clergy and their families,and this is badly needed as of course they are venturing out into new territory and leaving homes and secure incomes. You can find out more about it all here. Later there was a lively talkative supper, much goodwill and it was all so interesting and full of hope and plans...Mgr John Broadhurst, who is on the governing Council of the Ordinariate, was there, along with two of the younger clergy, one from Coventry and the other from the Isle of Wight, both of them married with families.This has been an extraordinary time for them...something of a rollercoaster ride, with big decisions made, lengthy family debates and discussions,then moving house, facing an entirely new future. It was good to get some understanding from the inside, so to speak, of how things are going: no great dramas so far, good relationships with local RC parishes and so on, but much uncharted territory still to explore...numbers involved are rather higher than I had thought and there will probably be more as things develop over the next eighteen months to two years...

Mgr Keith Newton and his team are very good company. There was so much talk, and laughter, and a sense of zest and purpose.