Liturgy

Bishop Mark Davies

Here's an excerpt from a story from the Diocese of Shrewsbury, in the U.K. It discusses the inauguration of a newly reopened parish in England, the Shrine Church of Saints Peter and Paul, that will from now on be under the direction of the Institute of Christ the King Sovereign Priest. Over 1,000 people attended the first Mass, when only about 400 were expected. Even the Telegraph featured a story on this.

Bishop Mark Davies, a strong proponent of Summorum Pontificum, presided at the traditional Mass. The new rector of the Shrine, French-born Canon Olivier Meney, served most recently as rector of Saint Stanislaus, the Institute's church in Milwaukee. He is a great priest and I'm sure he'll work wonders at Saints Peter and Paul. It's so encouraging to see such a strong demand for the traditional Mass among the faithful, not to mention a bishop who is fully on-board with Summorum Pontificum.

Bishop Davies said: “Perhaps in this image we can recognise the new mission given to this church in a new and vibrant parish and amid the new needs of those who travel through the century before us.”

Pope Benedict had observed, the Bishop reminded the congregation, “ how ‘every great reform’ every authentic renewal of the Church’s life ‘has in some way been linked to the rediscovery of belief in the Lord’s Eucharistic presence among his people’.

“This is the prayer and intercession that I wish to especially entrust to this Shrine Church,” Bishop Davies said.

He added: “So today we do not simply wish to open the doors of a closed building but to be open in our hearts to what Blessed John Paul II called ‘Eucharistic amazement’.

“I was asked in a radio interview whether I saw myself as part of an old, traditional church or a dynamic, evangelising community. My interviewer saw these as distinct alternatives but to the Catholic mind the answer must always be both.

“We can only be a dynamic, evangelising community if we are rooted in the continuity of the Church’s faith and worship. And always at the heart and centre, always the source and the summit as the Second Vatican Council declared is … the mystery and reality of the Eucharist."