8

FEATURES

NOVEMBER 23, 2007 THE CATHOLIC HERALD

The return of the tonsure, wimple and soutane

With the quiet support of Pope Benedict XVI France is seeing an explosion of traditional religious communities, says Elisabeth von Thurn und Taxis

We are often told that the Church has to modernise, because the young, especially, can no longer relate to its teachings. It is sometimes even suggested that we should be grateful for a decline in vocations to priesthood: could this not be a sign from the Holy Spirit that the age of the laity is finally dawning? This eagerness to make a virtue out of a necessity finds its most radical conclusion in a booklet entitled Church and Ministry published in the Netherlands by a group of Dominican academics. One of them, Fr Andréé Lascaris, recently explained his thesis in the Tablet. Numbers of vocations to the priesthood in Holland are plummeting, and according to Fr Lascaris there is “no hope of a remedy for this situation”. Apart from his own remedy, of course. His proposal is clear and simple: “In the absence of ordained priests, lay persons should be allowed to celebrate the Eucharist.” He adds: “Whether they be men or women, homo or heterosexual, married or unmarried, is irrelevant.” The beauty of all this, according to Fr Lascaris, is that it is “based on the statements of the Second Vatican Council, and on publications of professional theologians and pastoral experts”. Did the Second Vatican Council really say that? Are we really supposed to believe that the Holy Spirit deliberately manufactured a crisis in vocations, just to make way for the establishment of a new age of laity? Of course, we laity have an essential role in the Church’s evangelisation. We have the awesome responsibility of carrying the message of Jesus Christ to our contemporaries who are searching. If falling vocations force us to acknowledge this, and to act on it, then the Holy Spirit will indeed have brought much fruit from any current crisis. But perhaps Fr Lascaris’s Brave New Church of feminists concelebrating Mass in rainbow-coloured jilabas is not the only remedy to declining numbers of priests. A beautifully illustrated new book on the religious life in France suggests that there might be another solution. Reading the two books side by side you might be forgiven for assuming that the authors belong to two completely different religions. If the photographs in Les communautéés traditionnelles en Franceare anything to go by, then just across the Channel there lies a whole rich seam of Catholic religious life that is young, vibrant and growing. In addition to youthfulness and success, there are two other common features that unite the communities featured in this book. One is that they all have the extraordinary form of the Roman liturgy –the “traditional” rites liberated by Pope

Clockwise from left: Mass at the Abbey of Sainte-Madeleine du Barroux; the Canonesses of the Mother of God in Gap; the Office at Notre-Dame de Fidéélitéé de Jouques; Cardinal Ratzinger at Wigratzbad

Benedict XVI’s recent Motu Proprio –as the heart and foundation of their spirituality. The other is that many of them long enjoyed the steadfast, if unofficial support, of a certain wellplaced cardinal in Rome. His name was Joseph Ratzinger. There is no gain without pain and most of these 18 communities have at some stage suffered from misunderstanding and prejudice. Before the Motu Proprio there was often intense pressure from unsympathetic ecclesiastical authorities to abandon all adherence to the “old rite”. But when the going was particularly rough, the abbots, prioresses and rectors of these institutes were sustained by the knowledge that they had an influential friend in Rome – a friend who is now reigning as Pope Benedict XVI. Every pope has to be father to the whole Church. But looking through this book it does appear that the current incumbent of the See of Peter has a particular affection for his children of the traditionalist movement. On one page there is Cardinal Ratzinger swathed in full Tridentine pontificals, processing into a traditionalist seminary in Bavaria; on another he poses with tonsured monks in their

cloister in Provence; elsewhere, we find him presiding at a conference promoting the traditional liturgy at the Benedictine Abbey of Fontgombault. Another indication of papal approval can be found in this book’s enthusiastic preface by Cardinal Dario Castrillon Hoyos, one of the Pope’s most loyal collaborators and head of the Vatican’s Ecclesia Dei commission, which is charged with looking after traditionalist communities in communion with Rome. Cardinal Castrillon makes no excuse for this book’s coffee-table format. “Go and teach all people,” Jesus said to his disciples; in order to do this effectively in the modern world, says the cardinal, we need to make good use of images. Looking at these particular images it is not difficult to understand just why the Pope and his right-hand cardinal have invested so much hope in these communities. Whether it is Solemn Vespers in a great baroque abbey, or low Mass celebrated on a rock in a clearing for scouts, the liturgical celebrations depicted in this book are all beautiful and dignified. The average age of the monks, nuns, friars and priests and seminarians is also remarkably young.

According to Cardinal Castrillon, this should not surprise us. The message that these communities pursue is the message of Jesus Christ. This message is eternal, and therefore forever young. These intriguing photographs invite us to enter into another world. Despite the obvious challenges implicit in a daily life circumscribed by rules and traditions, the subjects of these communities look remarkably happy. The text often talks of sacrifice and self-surrender, but the pictures show young faces that are smiling and laughing. It would be foolish to allow glossy photographs to carry us into the realm of romanticism. No doubt the world, the flesh and the devil pose as many challenges to the religious life as they ever did. But there are no signs in this book of any of those particularly modern crises that seem to have dogged Catholic religious life in recent decades. There is certainly no hint of any crisis of clerical identity. These young clerics do not rely on jeans or Che Guevara T-shirts to make them feel connected to the youth; rather, it is the

authenticity of their life that seems to make that connection. We see seminarians effortlessly skiing through the alps in long black soutanes, while nuns in crisply starched wimples gather hay in the fields outside Marseilles. At the high point of the traditionalist calendar –the annual Pentecost pilgrimage to Chartres –thousands of young pilgrims walk behind priests, monks and friars on the three-day march from Paris. Carrying crosses and banners, they all look very glad, and proud, to be Catholic. Neither is there any evidence of a decline in vocations. The story of the Benedictine convent of Jouques is typical. Since its foundation near Aix en Provence in 1967 this community has attracted so many vocations to its novitiate that it has been necessary to open daughter houses elsewhere in France and in Africa to house the overspill. Two of the Jouques nuns have also been commandeered to live in a convent in the grounds of the Vatican, as a result of a request made by Cardinal Ratzinger before his election to the papacy. The 55 young nuns who remain in the mother house in Provence have

become famous for their angelic singing of the daily office in Latin. At harvest time they can be found negotiating combines around the stony fields of their farm. The monks of Le Barroux, north of Avignon, still wear the corona –the full monastic tonsure depicted in medieval woodcuts and books of hours. After humble beginnings in a caravan in 1970 this community now worships in a mighty abbey church which the monks built themselves in the form of a Romanesque basilica. In the early hours of the morning, this building hums like a holy beehive as the many priest-monks celebrate their private Mass at side altars, served by novices and lay brothers. The extensive choirstalls here are now so full that this monastery has been able to spare a detachment of young monks to found a daughter house not far from Toulouse. All of the institutes featured in the book are run on strictly traditional principles. But this does not make them old-fashioned. Rather, it gives them a timelessness that many young people are finding increasingly attractive. Some of the communities are contemplative, but many are active. A good

example is the Institute of Christ the King. From its picturesque Renaissance villa outside Florence “The Institute” has gradually grown into a global conglomerate. In addition to serving parishes in France and America, it also runs several missionary stations in Africa. The Regular Cannonesses of the Mother of God, meanwhile, maintain a fine balance between the vocations of Mary and Martha. It is through contemplative adoration of the Blessed Sacrament that they gain the spiritual energy required in their work of educating young girls and tending the old and the sick. Their convent at Gap has grown rapidly in numbers in the last couple of years, attracting young girls from all over France. The recent Motu Proprio confirms what these communities have known all along: that the traditional Mass never was, and never really could be, abrogated. In his explanatory letter accompanying this decree the Holy Father stated that the extraordinary form of the liturgy is not just for an older generation that found innovation difficult to cope with. He wrote: “It has been clearly demonstrated that young persons, too, have

discovered this liturgical form, felt its attraction and found in it a form of encounter with the Mysteries of the Most Holy Eucharist particularly suited to them.” Perhaps Pope Benedict had a copy of this book open on his desk while he composed this letter. A huge percentage of those in these pictures look as if they would be far too young to remember anything of the liturgical upheavals of the 1960s and 1970s. Most of them look as if they were born after the introduction of the Missal of Pope Paul VI in 1970. Venez et voyezsays the cover of this fascinating book, quoting the words of Our Lord: “Come and see.” It is an invitation not to be declined. If there is really a crisis in vocations,Les communautéés traditionelles en Francemight contain the seeds of a solution that is challenging, attractive and, in its own way, really rather radical.

Elisabeth von Thurn und Taxis is a writer and journalist

La Nef, Hors-séérie N° 20, Av: Les communautéés traditionnelles en France is available from www.Amazon.fr

Restoring sight in a land blinded by hate

Jill, Duchess of Hamilton, visits one of the few old British institutions in Jerusalem that is truly respected by Israeli and Palestinian alike

In his role as envoy in the Middle East Tony Blair will hear much criticism of the British Mandate in Palestine. But there is one institution, set up by the British in Jerusalem in 1882, that will always be praised: St John Eye Hospital. As the sole hospital in Palestine devoted to eye disease, St John fulfils a desperate need. Over a million patients have passed through its doors in the past 20 years. It remains the largest individual Christian medical centre in Israel. Anthony Chignell, a retired ophthalmologist from London and former pupil of Downside, who is the current Order Hospitaller, explained that the incidence of blindness in the West Bank and Gaza is 10 times higher than in Britain.

While the St John Ambulance Brigade with 400,000 volunteers has an international public role, the principal charitable foundation of the Venerable Order of St John is its eye hospital. The distinctive white cross set against a black field identifies both. Linking back to its Catholic origin in the 11th century, the order retains its Christian ethos but is now non-denominational. Today it has eight constituent priories in England, Wales, Scotland, America, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa. Discussing the challenges faced by the hospital Mr Chignell said: “Access to Jerusalem has been rendered so difficult, time-consuming and expensive, we have set up clinics in Anabta, Hebron and Gaza in addition to our

mobile outreach clinics in specially equipped vans. We are doing our best to reach those who cannot get to us.” Asked what the main cause of local eye diseases was, he did not hesitate in his answer: “Consanguineous marriages.” Thankfully, the rate of first-cousin marriages is now down to 27.4 per cent –lower than that in Saudi Arabia and Sudan. The three-acre hospital complex, with its airy stone buildings near the British Consulate in the Sheikh Jarrah district of East Jerusalem, has a 49-bed facility but most of its clients are day patients. Last year 70,000 outpatients were treated, while over 3,000 major operations were performed in the hospital’s two sophisticated operating theatres and at its centres in Hebron and Gaza. This year

the numbers will be higher. In addition to the operating theatres the hospital has a renowned nursing school and runs various special clinics, including ones for retinal and cataract surgery, and those for dealing with paediatric and diabetic disease. The hospital’s story began over 900 years ago during the Crusades when Benedictine monks near the Church of the Holy Sepulchre set up a small hospital. Their priestly infirmary was so applauded that the pope gave monks working there special recognition. In 1113 he confirmed their title: the Order of the Hospital of St John of Jerusalem. Like many other Catholic institutions after the Reformation the order disappeared in Britain. However, during the Industrial Revolution it was reconstituted in England

in a non-Catholic guise to care for workplace injuries. The ambulance service was established in the 1870s. Next, as a result of two royal visits to the Holy City, came the eye hospital. Queen Victoria had sent her eldest son and heir, the future Edward VII, to the Holy Land in 1862. This historic trip was retraced 20 years later, in 1882, when the Prince of Wales sent his two eldest sons for “40 days and 40 nights”. That same year, the Prince of Wales, already committed to the cause of St John, enquired what the British could do for the Holy City. On learning that there was an urgent need for an eye hospital, the Prince became the force behind the order setting one up opposite the Old City walls. Today, the Mount Zion Hotel occupies the original hospital, which

moved after the War of Independence in 1948. The present hospital was opened in 1960. Despite the medievalsounding titles and the outward appearance of the hospital still being Britishrun, the hospital is supported by a worldwide organisation. About 25 volunteer doctors who come from everywhere from Australia to America and in Europe from Sweden to Scotland visit the hospital annually. Their roles combine performing operations with the training of local Palestinian doctors. Money, too, comes from across the globe. Earlier this week, while on a visit to Jerusalem, Tony Blair unveiled plans to spur Palestinian employment. He could well add to jobs by helping to expand the St John mobile eye clinics in the West Bank.

An examination at the St John Eye Hospital in Jerusalem THE CATHOLIC HERALD NOVEMBER 23, 2007

9

FEATURES

Staging the drama of faith

The members of Ten Ten Theatre are on a mission to produce great plays with a Catholic message. Anna Arco meets them at their latest performance

London’s Leicester Square is all bright lights and big city. Tourists, ticket hawkers and pigeons line its garishly lit promenades, while flashing lights proclaim the titles of lurid or funny West End shows and new must-see films. The mild October evening draws people out en masse, eager to divert themselves for a few hours. But in a withdrawn venue, hidden away from the gadding crowd, a play with an unusual message holds its West End debut and its closing night on the same evening. The French Church, as Notre Dame de France on Leicester Square is more commonly known, is packed on the evening of October 7. The performance tonight is Kolbe’s Giftby David Gooderson, a play based on the death of St Maximilian Kolbe at Auschwitz. The message is one of hope, suffering, sacrifice and God’s love. The actor playing Fr Kolbe looks uncannily like the photographs of the actual saint. For weeks this play has been touring London churches. On its last night Fr Kolbe gives his life for a fellow human being to a full house. This production is one of many put together by the grass-roots professional theatre company Ten Ten. Religion and theatre are no strangers to each other. This year has seen The Last Confessionand On Religion, to name only two of the plays with religious subjects staged in the West End. But the Ten Ten Theatre company, which claims to be the only professional theatre

company in Britain with an underlying Catholic ethos, has two objectives at heart: good theatre and a Christian message. These objectives are often at odds with each other, says Angela Ward, one of the young actors in the plays. Most new religious plays do not make good theatre, she argues, but she has been impressed by the quality of the plays Ten Ten set out to produce. Kolbe’s Giftis the second Ten Ten play she has acted in. Ten Ten, named after the chapter and verse in St John’s Gospel –“I am come that

Their productions are not amateur dramatics, and there are auditions for every play

they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly”–has been around since 2003, but Martin O’Brien, the company’s artistic director and founder, says that it has only really taken off in the last year. Ten Ten consists of a board of directors but doesn’t have a permanent stable of actors to rely on. At the moment O’Brien’s mother and sister do much of the administrative work. Schools are the mainstay of the company’s work. O’Brien’s early play Babies,which deals with teen pregnancy, has been put on in schools around the country since 2003. This year Ten Ten will be staging plays for

almost 20,000 young people around the country. The second most important venues are churches. Kolbe’s Giftand Pope John Paul II’s early play The Jeweller’s Shopare among those staged in churches. While the crew sets up the stage in the church before the performance, the youthful and energetic O’Brien explains the company’s beginnings and goals over coffee in Leicester Square. The professional actor and scriptwriter is its driving force. A neat, trim man in jeans and a white shirt, his grey hair belies his young face and eager blue eyes. Not only does he run the theatre company, he also writes scripts for the BBC One television drama Doctors and works on new plays for the project. “Ten Ten was a way for me to find a bridge between my professional work and the work I was doing in the Church,” he says. The Church has played a big part in his professional trajectory. Upon finishing school at St Chad’s in Runcorn, Cheshire, O’Brien came down to London to take up a part in the West End musical Blood Brothers. For the first few years he was parish-less, but began to go on the young adults pilgrimages to Lourdes. While pursuing acting he got involved in the Diocese of Westminster’s SPEC youth programme, directing plays with young people and going on retreats. It was here, he says, that he found his way to playwriting and scriptwriting, because he had to prepare plays for the youngsters to act for the SPEC events and festivals.

John Ioannou plays St Maximilian Kolbe in Ten Ten Theatre’s production of ‘Kolbe’s Gift’

“My writing was always born out of faith issues,” O’Brien says. “So it makes sense that I write these plays for Ten Ten which are challenging and about faith.” Despite O’Brien’s dynamic attitude and passion for his

project, it is not without its problems. Funding is difficult to come by but O’Brien is optimistic. At the moment, the costs of the plays are covered by the churches and schools where they are staged. If the company wants

to put on a play, it works out how many churches it will need to cover the costs of costumes, actors (who are paid less than their normal wage), stage crew, lights and, of course, the set. For Kolbe’s Gift Ten Ten worked out that

it would need 15 churches to stage the play. The churches pay for the performance to be staged in their venues and the onus is on them to muster the audiences for the shows. In theory, at least, they attempt to break even on charging for

tickets. O’Brien reckons that charging the punters even a small entry fee makes the audience turn up. Still, he dreams of getting more funding for the organisation. He already is working with partners such as Life and Cafod has commissioned a play on global warming. Ten Ten has applied for an Arts Council grant, but O’Brien thinks it unlikely that the company will get funding. Ten Ten productions are not supposed to be amateur dramatics, and O’Brien holds auditions for every play that is put on. Some of the actors are Catholic, others are not. But O’Brien insists that they need to feel comfortable with the underlying Catholic ethos. Some are very experienced, like John Ioannou, the actor playing Fr Kolbe, who was in Franco Zeffirelli’s Jesus of Nazarethand works with the British Shakespeare Company in the summers. Others take the opportunity Ten Ten offers to gain experience. Angela Ward, who plays Irena, a Polish girl who works for the Germans, met O’Brien at SPEC after she started a career in acting and came across 167 Hours, a play O’Brien had written for Oct06, a Catholic youth gathering in Birmingham last year. She liked the play and got the part. While she likes what she describes as the “Christian ethos” of the company and enjoys being involved, she does not feel that her decision to act in the Ten Ten plays was informed as much by her faith as it was by the quality of the plays themselves. In the next couple of months Ten Ten will be putting on Dead Man Walking in schools for the Sister Helen Prejean conference. O’Brien is working on a new play entitled Chased for the schools project. This will accompany Babies, which still tours the country. Meanwhile, back at the French Church, actors half in costume rush around with last-minute preparations, but the stage is set. Soon the audience will be transported to occupied Poland.

For further information, visit www.tententheatre.co.uk or tel: 0845 388 3162.

Choose one free book from our Spiritual selection when you take out a new annual subscription to the Catholic Herald

Hail Holy Queen! St. Alphonsus De Liguori The first part of St. Alphonsus’ masterpiece, The Glories of Mary. Amazing statements on Our Lady’s God-given role in securing our salvation, with remarkable stories of miracles and graces she obtained. Shows that devotion to Mary is a most certain mark of eternal salvation!

Feast of Faith Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger (Pope Benedict XVI) In these instructive essays, Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger (Pope BenedictXVI) presents a scholarly view of ‘approaches to the theology of the liturgy’, showing his deep love for the Church and his masterful understanding of spiritual teaching.

Images of Hope Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger (Pope Benedict XVI) Masterfully weaves together Scripture, history, literature and theology as he reflects on the major feasts of the liturgical calendar. In various chapters, examines works of sacred art which illustrate the meaning of the most important Christian holy days.

The Life of Blessed Margaret of Castello Fr. W.R. Bonniwell O.P. Blessed Margaret's story is very timely indeed and a clear demonstration of the positive Catholic alternative to abortion and euthanasia. She grew in virtue and fame, her works of charity becoming renowned. One of the most inspiring stories you will read.

My Sister Saint Therese A little classic that is like a second Story of a Soul! Conversations, anecdotes of St. Therese, her teachings, hidden virtues, amusing remarks and beautiful death--recorded by her sister Celine in the convent. Shows the "Little Way" in practice in daily life. A providential book!

St Francis De Sales Louise Stacpoole-Kenny St. Francis de Sales is famous in the Catholic world for his personality, as well as for his writings and other accomplishments. When he was being considered for beatification, 5,000 witnesses testified to his heroic virtues and miracles.

Choose your annual subscription:

51 Issues per annum (last issue of the year is a double-size issue)

UK: £52 per annum

Name

Address

OVERSEAS (Missionary): £70*

*If you wish to donate this subscription please give contact details

OVERSEAS (Europe incl Ireland): £75

OVERSEAS (Rest of the world): £90

Choose your method of payment:

If you choose Direct Debit we will give you an extra 4 copies of the newspaper at the start of your subscription completely free of charge.

Tel: 020 7448 3607

Fax: 020 7256 9728

email: subscriptions@catholicherald.co.uk

Postcode

Telephone

Books are posted within 14 days of receipt of coupon. One free book per new, annual subscription. Subject to availability. If a book is unavailable you may cancel or choose from the remaining selection. The Catholic Herald Ltd and its group of companies will use the personal information supplied by you to keep you updated. If you would prefer not to be kept informed please tick this box If you do not wish to receive information about products and services from other carefully selected companies please tick this box

1/ Pay by Card- To pay with a Credit Card, please contact 020 7448 3607 with your details 2/ Pay by Cheque -Make cheques payable to The Catholic Herald Ltd. Post to: The Catholic Herald Ltd, Freepost 22527, Herald House, 15 Lambʼs Passage, Bunhill Row, LONDON EC1B 1EY 3/ Pay by Direct Debit -To pay by Direct Debit, please contact 020 7448 3607 with your details

Choose your one free book:

Hail Holy Queen!

Images of Hope

My Sister Saint Therese

Feast of Faith The Life of Blessed Margaret of Castello St. Francis De Sales

International Institute for Clergy Formation Seton Hall University South Orange, NJ USA http://clergy.shu.edu 20 Years of Providing Renewal and Fraternity for Priests

2008 Winter Institute for Priests January 27—February 1 To be held at

Our Lady of Florida Spiritual Center North Palm Beach, Florida USA

We would like to invite you to our 2008 Winter Institute for Priests. A unique opportunity for prayer, renewal and priestly fraternity. Consider joining us in Florida for the renewal of your priestly commitment.

For additional information please contact: International Institute for Clergy Formation Seton Hall University, 400 South Orange Avenue South Orange, NJ 07079 USA

Phone: 973-761-9739 Fax: 973-275-2382 Email: nifcf@shu.edu

Website: http://clergy.shu.edu

SAVE THE DATES

2008 Summer Institute June 22—July 18 San Alfonso Retreat Center Long Branch, New Jersey USA