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Polish Masses are here to stay, promises Cardinal

BYMARKGREAVES

CARDINAL Cormac MurphyO’Connor has promised that Polish-language Masses will continue to be provided in Britain. He made his pledge in Poland on a sensitive diplomatic mission to mend fences with the Polish hierarchy. Relations were damaged months ago when the Cardinal spoke of his concern that Poles in Britain were creating “a separate Church” and should instead join English-speaking parishes. His comments distressed Poles who believed the celebration of Mass in Polish was under threat. But in Warsaw last week the Cardinal said that the pastoral care of migrants must include the celebration of the sacraments in Polish “as people must have the opportunity to celebrate their faith in ways they are used to”. He announced that a working party had been established to advise on the “appropriate structures” to accommodate Polish migrants in England and Wales. It is likely to be headed by bishops from both countries and will consider whether to revise a 60-year-old agree

ment that allows the Polish Church to run parishes in England and Wales. The Polish Catholic Mission, led by the vicar-delegate Mgr Tadeusz Kukla, has over 100 priests and 200 pastoral centres and was established for political refugees fleeing from Communism. During his two-day trip to Warsaw Cardinal MurphyO’Connor did not back down from his argument that Poles should become more involved in parish life. He said that Polish priests who live in Britain should speak the language fluently and should co-operate more with the English clergy. “I am conscious that many Polish people working in Britain would like to return to Poland. That’s why they want to pray in their own language,” he said. “But many of them will stay and establish families, and those people could contribute a lot to Catholic life in Britain.” At a press conference Cardinal Murphy-O’Connor and Polish Cardinal Josef Glemp came close to a consensus on how the Church should deal with Polish migrants. Before Christmas Cardinal Glemp issued a message which directly opposed Cardinal Murphy

O’Connor’s call for Poles to join English parishes. Instead he insisted that Polish migrants should “seek out Polish pastors” and “find Polish Church centres”. But last week he appeared to soften his stance. “We are one Church and this is why assimilation is necessary,” he said. “But it has to be planned thoughtfully and with good will.” Cardinal MurphyO’Connor, meanwhile, tried to clarify his earlier comments. He told the KAI media agency: “I was talking about ‘integration’ of Polish people. I think I should have used another word which was suggested today by Cardinal Josef Glemp. That is ‘assimilation’. It means that Polish people can maintain their own traditions and at the same time keep in touch with the Catholic Church in English parishes.” The Cardinal attended a meeting of all the bishops of Poland and delivered an address partly in Polish. He said that European Catholic bishops were connected by their shared efforts to look after “the needs of those who have left their homes in search of a new life, new families and a better standard of living”.

Editorial comment: Page 11

Englishman made Grand Master of Knights of Malta

BYEDWESTINLONDON ANDNICKPISAINROME

Art historian Matthew Festing has been elected as Grand Master of the Order of Malta

ANARTHISTORIANwho works for Sotheby’s has become only the second Englishman in almost 800 years to be elected Grand Master of the Order of Malta. Fra’ Matthew Festing, 59, the Grand Prior of England, was chosen to lead the Order’s 12,000 members on Tuesday by secret ballot in Rome. The election follows the death last month of Grand Master Fra’ Andrew Bertie, the first Englishman to lead the Knights since the 13th century (the first, Hugh Revel, was arguably AngloNorman rather than English). The election of the 79th Grand Master by the Council Complete of State, the Order’s electoral body, was held in the chapel of the Order’s official headquarters on the Aventine Hill. Fra’ Festing had to be elected by a majority plus one in order to win the required 27 votes. As with papal elections all ballot papers were then burnt and before the news was announced the first person outside the Order to be informed was Pope Benedict XVI. Matthew Festing OBE has a firm military background. His father was Field Marshal Sir Francis Festing, Chief of the Imperial General Staff, and he is a former Grenadier Guard. He is also a colonel in the Territorial Army and a chairman of the Sandhurst Foundation, a charity linked to the Royal Military Academy. He was educated at Ampleforth College and St John’s College, Cambridge, where he read history. Fra’ Festing became a member of the Order in 1977 and took the solemn religious vows of chastity, poverty and obedience in 1991. Two years later he became the Grand Prior of England, the first since the Reformation. He is also a

renowned art expert, in particular on the 17th and 18th centuries, while his brother Andrew is a respected portrait painter whose commissions have included the Queen, Queen Mother and Princess Anne. Fra’ Festing lives in Northumberland, where he is deputy-lieutenant of the county. The Order’s spokeswoman Philippa Leslie said after the election: “This is wonderful news as it is very, very rare to have a British Grand Master and now we have had two in a row. “Matthew is a very warm and delightful person and he will be a wonderful Grand Master. The first person to be informed of the result was Pope Benedict and he has passed on his congratulations.’’ The order was established in 1099 primarily to provide medical assistance to pilgrims on their way to and from the Holy Land, and it then became a military religious group defending the Holy Land. When the Crusaders were defeated the Order moved from Jerusalem to Cyprus, then Rhodes and Malta before finally setting up a permanent base in Rome in 1834. It is now one of the world’s most extensive charities, providing humanitarian assistance in almost 100 countries. Recently the Order has hit back at the conspiracy theorists who believe its charity work in the Middle East is a cover for a Christian crusade. Winfried Henckel von Donnersmarck, a member of the Order’s Sovereign Council, said last week: “We are not a mystery organisation but at the same time we have been around for nearly 1,000 years so there will always be an air of mystery about us. “However, this has led to some conspiracy theories being banded about that are humanitarian work is a cover used to send mercenaries to fight in Afghanistan and Iraq.”

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Catholic Church plans to honour Galileo with statue at the Vatican

BYANNAARCO

ASTATUEof Galileo is to be erected in Vatican City, 400 years after the Italian astronomer was called there to retract teachings that were suspected of heresy. The statue of the famous heliocentric astronomer was commissioned by the Pontifical Academy of Sciences and paid for by private donations for the celebration of the International Year of Astronomy which takes place next year. It will also mark the 400th anniversary of Galileo’s first use of the telescope as an instrument for understanding the solar system.

Its future location is as yet unknown as the science academy is still working out where it will place the statue without marring the aesthetic beauty of the Renaissance buildings. Nicola Cabibbo, the academy’s president and a particle physicist at Sapienza University in Rome, said that the Vatican was enthusiastic about the idea, but that figuring out where to place the sculpture was a problem. He was, however, hopeful that something would be worked out in time for the jubilee next year. The Pontifical Academy of Sciences originates from the Academie di Lincei, which

was established in 1603 by Prince Federico Cesi and supported by Pope Clement VIII. Leading the academy was none other than Galileo Galilei. It was dissolved after the death of its founder and re-established twice, lastly in 1936 when it was given its present title. Pope John Paul II rehabilitated Galileo in 1992 when he acknowledged that the Church had erred in its condemnation of Galileo and said that the astronomer had taught the Church a number of lessons about “the nature of science and the message of faith”. During the recent controversy over the Pope’s can

celled visit to Rome’s Sapienza University, some of the academics maintained that Benedict XVI was hostile to science in part because of a misunderstanding over his attitude to Galileo. This was based on an erroneous entry on Wikipedia which claimed that Pope Benedict was against the rehabilitation of Galileo, based on a quote from a 1990 speech which had been decontextualised. Galileo is often held up as an example to show the tensions between science and religion because he was condemned for heresy in 1633 by the Holy Office.

Books: Page 13

Archbishop fights drinkculture with milkshakes

BYSTAFFREPORTER

ACATHOLICarchbishop in the southern Indian state of Kerala has distributed free milkshakes to promote an anti-alcohol campaign. Archbishop Maria Soosa Pakiam of Trivandrum

appealed to people of all religions to stay away from alcohol. The Kerala Anti-Liquor Committee, an interreligious forum to which the prelate belongs, provided the free milkshakes to launch a twomonth campaign against alcohol. The bishop arranged for a milkshake vending machine in front of the state secretariat in Trivandrum, the capital of Kerala state. About 100 people attended the programme and drank the milkshakes. “I’ve met the state chief minister, [other] ministers and

officials several times to warn them about alcoholism gripping the state. They promised many things, but never kept their word. Instead, they have promoted liquor by opening more shops,” the archbishop said, accusing the state government of promoting alcohol to gain revenue. The policy already has affected one generation, he said, adding: “We are trying to save the next generation.” Alcoholism threatens “our families, leading to increasing crime rates, suicides and domestic violence,” he said.

Tony Blair lands Yale faith post

Tony Blair, a recent convert to Catholicism, will teach a course in ‘faith and globalisation’ at Yale University. Report:Page 2