We had our AGM on Saturday; Bishop Rifan celebrated the Mass and addressed the meeting, at St George's Cathedral, Southwark, with the kind permission of Archbishop Smith.
Archbishop Smith has a really magnificent cathedral, built by Pugin. It was partially destroyed in the War, though rebuilt, and the sanctuary has suffered more recently: the High Altar was originally against the East end.
But it is still magnificent, a very fitting place for Pontifical Mass.
The Assistant Priest was our National Chaplain, Fr Andrew Southwell.
There are a few changes to the Committee. Notably, Leo Darroch has retired as Vice President, and been replaced by Paul Beardsmore, a former Secretary. Gordon Dimon, the LMS Master of Ceremonies, has come to the end of his term on the Committee, and has been replaced by his fellow Representive for Westminster Diocese, Roger Wemyss-Brooks.
Our deficit, which looked rather alarming on paper a few years ago (when The Tablet decided to run a story about it), is vastly improved, and continues to move in the right direction. Our membership is growing again, after a few years of gradual decline. We are doing a vast number of things, many of them new, or better than before. I won't bore regular readers of this blog, but as well as Bishop Rifan's visit, this year we've had a big pilgrimage to York, a one-day conference, a priest-training conference in Belmost Abbey, we are about to have a Latin Course for adults with Fr John Hunwicke, and Pilgrimages to Walsingham and Lourdes.
The Latin Mass Society is gathering momentum.
Thank you Mr. Shaw for all the great pictures of the Pontifical Masses with Bishop Rifan!
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