Ash Wednesday

Yesterday, of course, was Ash Wednesday, the beginning of the season of Lent. One of the Roman traditions for Lent is that of the stational churches. Each day Mass is celebrated in a different church. The first, on Ash Wednesday, is Santa Sabina, the Dominican church on the Aventine and Pope Benedict XVI was there yesterday afternoon. The celebration began at Sant' Anselmo with the singing of Psalms followed by a procession to Santa Sabina for Mass. During Mass ashes from the previous Passion Sunday's palms were blessed and placed on the heads of all present in the sign of the Cross. The ashes remind us of our mortality and, with the invocation to turn away from sin and believe in the Gospel, they recall us to a life which is not totally bound up in the things of this passing world.

The picture shows the Holy Father placing ashes on the head of Cardinal Camillo Ruini, his Vicar for the Diocese of Rome (pro tem.)

St. Colman's

Proposals by Bishop John Magee of Cloyne to reorder the sanctuary of Pugin's magnificent St. Colman's Cathedral in Cobh were yesterday the subject of an oral hearing by An Bord Pleanala after a number of parties objected to the decision of the local Council to grant permission for the changes. Among the expert witnesses opposed to the reordering were English Benedictine Dom Alcuin Reid, an authority on Catholic liturgy, who claimed that the proposals were based on outdated liturgical preferences.

What Bishop Magee is proposing is mild compared to the mindless vandalism that was inflicted on so many Irish cathedrals and churches. The fact that St. Colman's survived this wave of destruction, however, makes it all the more precious. It certainly seems that the local parishioners are not happy about the proposed changes.

Given that the present arrangement of the Sanctuary is based around a temporary altar, it is clear that something needs to be done. It should not be impossible to devise an arrangement which adequately accommodates the liturgy while sensitively respecting the architectural heritage.

Indeed, if the Bishop wanted to be a real trend-setter, there is no reason not to use the original altar. Wouldn't that be something.

Patriarch of the West no more?

It is rumoured that the (as yet unreleased) new edition of the Annuario Pontificio, the official directory of the Holy See, no longer includes "Patriarch of the West" among the list of the Pope's titles (Bishop of Rome, Vicar of Christ, Successor of Peter, Prince of the Apostles, Supreme Pontiff, Patriarch of the West, Primate of Italy, Archbishop and Metropolitan of the Roman Province, Sovereign of the State of the Vatican City, and Servant of the Servants of God). This could be simply a reflection of Pope Benedict's humble style of leadership, like the dropping of the triregno or triple tiara from his armorial bearings. On the other hand, the title of Patriarch is of great significance to Orthodox Christians and Eastern-Rite Catholics and it is being suggested that this change may be seen in a negative light by the Orthodox, particularly those hostile to ecumenical dialogue. Dialogue with the Orthodox is a high priority for Pope Benedict, so it will be interesting to see how this develops.

A New Bishop

Pope Benedict XVI today appointed a new Bishop to the benighted Diocese of Ferns. The new Bishop is Rev. Denis Brennan, Parish Priest of Taghmon, County Wexford.

Fr. Brennan (60) is the first new member to be added to the Irish Episcopal Conference by Pope Benedict.

The appointment is particularly sensitive as the Diocese has been rocked by controversy in recent years. The last Bishop, Brendan Comiskey, resigned in disgrace in 2002 after revelations of his mishandling of child abuse by clergy in his diocese, including the notorious Fr. Sean Fortune.

Late last year the findings of a government-sponsored inquiry into clerical sexual abuse in Ferns were published, reigniting the controversy.

The diocese has been governed since 2002 by Apostolic Administrator, Bishop Eamonn Walsh. He is generally regarded as having coped well with an unenviable task. He is a strong candidate to succeed one of the Bishops due to retire this year. I doubt that he will be an auxilliary in Dublin for much longer.