De Omnibus Dubitandum Est.

The Community of Our Lady of Walsingham, who used to be based at Abbotswick in Brentwood and more recently moved to the Shrine of Our Lady at Walsingham, have announced that they have obtained a new home. The new house will be called the House of the Divine Will and is proposed to provide formation for novices, accompany young people discerning their vocation and support married couples and young families in the vocation they are already living, sharing with them the rich spirituality of Walsingham. The community are still fundraising to pay off a loan from the Carmelites and also to finish renovating the house so that a suitable library and chapel can be built. The community was entrusted with a Carmelite library and this will be available for members of the public to access. They will continue their work in Walsingham running the Dowry House Retreat Centre which opened last year and at the Catholic National Shrine. As one of the new forms of consecration recognised by the churc...

On Tuesday, Brentwood Diocese' new shepherd, Alan Williams, was consecrated as bishop, and received the fullness of Holy Orders. After 34 years, Brentwood has a new bishop and this can only be a momentous event in the life of every Catholic who lives in Brentwood. Sadly, I could not attend, despite attempted bribery, repeated begging and even threats of physical violence. I was fortunate enough to have an inside track on events however, in the form of the pulchritudinous and erudite head girl from Brentwood Ursuline Catholic High School, Miss Amy Gander. She has written a brief summary of her experience on Tuesday exclusively for readers of De Omnibus Dubitandem Est: Our intrepid reporter selfied with retired Bishop Christopher Budd & Fr. John McGrath In his homily, Cardinal Vincent Nichols talked about aspects of being a Bishop, the roles one must fulfil to honour their appointment, and for me these perfectly summarised the day. First was commitment to prayer...

There is a great feeling of hope growing around Brentwood's new bishop-elect, Fr. Alan Williams SM, MA, PH.D, who is currently Director of The National Shrine of our Lady at Walsingham. Everything I hear is positive and exciting about our new appointment. This weekend saw the diocesan pilgrimage to Walsingham , but also the National Association of Catholic Families' pilgrimage weekend also to Walsingham. For example, Bishop-elect Williams gave a talk at the pilgrimage yesterday where he spoke about the role of Mary and the teaching of the Church. Religion is about conversion, or it's about nothing at all stated the soon-to-be-bishop of Brentwood. He holds that we need to convert people to the Catholic faith because it's true. Wow! This is the sort of stuff we are longing for isn't it? It confirms Father Kevin's comments on Sunday: It is a great comfort to us all, and to me personally, that our new Bishop Alan Williams - has been not only the Director of the ...