De Omnibus Dubitandum Est.

Photograph: Paul F. Abbott Last Monday evening I travelled to St. Patrick's Church in Soho Square London to attend the presentation given by Bishop Mark O'Toole, Bishop of Plymouth for The Guild of Our Lady & St. Joseph . The talk Bishop Mark gave was to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the publication of the Catechism and entitled “How to be a disciple making disciple - Prayer, Faith, Loving Service and the Sacramental life". I have bumped into Bishop Mark a couple of times since he was ordained Bishop. At Buckfast Abbey where the School of the Annunciation is based.  Indeed Bishop Mark drew attention to the blessing the school constitutes in his address: ...as the local bishop I want to say what a great blessing it is to our diocese. Theological reflection and expertise within the Catholic tradition, is a limited resource in the South West, and indeed more widely in the English speaking world. It is good for us to have the School among us. I first me...

You may have seen my post yesterday with the wonderful news of the partnership between Southwark Diocese and The School of the Annunciation, to provide life-giving Catechesis to ordinary Catholics in their diocese. Well, it's not just Southwark. The same course is also being run at Ealing Abbey in Westminster Diocese. This course provides an incredible boost to any Catholic who wants to know more about their faith, but essentially it should be particularly valuable to teachers in our Catholic Schools and Catechists in our Parishes, as well as parents. All of us have a duty of commission, by virtue of our Baptism, to preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ: that we are created, loved and redeemed! We all need to be able to transmit these truths in confidence and with joy! You can see from the testimonials above just how this joy is really lived and transmitted through this course. It will allow you to teach your students, or you children with confidence and love. So what ar...

The wonderful School of the Annunciation, at Buckfast Abbey in Devon, UK, are now booking students in for their Autumn Courses in the faith.  The School affords an unprecedented opportunity to study in a beautiful, prayerful, Catholic environment, experiencing the ebb and flow of the liturgical day with the monks as well as their legendary Benedictine hospitality.  Book now to avoid disappointment!

It has just been announced that, by special request, an exciting new Catechetics course is being offered by SoTA at Buckfast Abbey in early October. Full details are available on the SoTA website here . Given that the course will take place very shortly, please help to get the word out to priests, catechists and all others interested in faith formation. The course will be packed with sessions from prominent clergy and scholars explaining the four dimensions of the Christian Life. Learn to transform your vital ‘explanations’ of the Faith into ‘Good News’ of the Faith. Explaining our faith to a sometimes hostile culture goes back to the days of the Early Church. The accusations of the world can be turned around by new methods of transmitting the positive and beautiful teachings of Jesus Christ. Learn why to teach everyone the ‘four dimension of the Christian life.’ The four pillars mentioned in the Catechism of the Catholic Church are there to support and defend life. They ...

Bishop O'Toole with Dr. Petroc Willey of The School The Rt Rev. Mark O’Toole, Bishop of Plymouth, has officially issued a canonical Decree, also known as a ‘ recognitio ’, establishing the School of the Annunciation as a Catholic Institute of Higher Education. The School’s campus at Buckfast Abbey is located within the Diocese of Plymouth. Bishop O’Toole has taken a keen interest in the School since its beginning in early 2014, becoming one of the School’s two patrons, alongside Cardinal Pell, and appointing a diocesan priest, Fr Guy de Gaynesford, as the School’s first rector. This Decree, establishing the School as a Catholic Institute of Higher Education, is in accordance with article 3§1 of Ex Corde Ecclesiae , the Apostolic Constitution of Pope St John Paul II concerning Catholic Universities and Institutions of Higher Learning in the Church. In doing so Bishop O’Toole also gave his consent to the use of the term “Catholic” in the titles of the School in an official ca...

I'm feeling on top of the world this morning, home from Mass and after a wonderful day yesterday at Ealing Abbey for the Guild of Our Lady & St. Joseph's day of Catholic study on The Family: The Fundamental Cell of Society . I was privileged to have the company of my son Mike and a couple of friends, Joao Pereira and Paul Abbot, and we all traveled up from Essex together. We got there in time for Mass with the Benedictines, celebrated by one Brother who was 60 years a priest on that day! Initially, the take up for this day was low. This wasn't a surprise; the day clashed with the Proclaim15 event in Birmingham and the LMS AGM at Westminster Cathedral. We also did not have any "star speaker", the last Guild Day I attended in Soho, we had Bishop Phillip Egan, who no doubt drew a crowd just to see him. Despite these issues, we received a good number of registrations in the week running up to the event and quite a number of people showed up on the day. B...

The Guild of Our Lady & St. Joseph, who support the work of The School of the Annunciation, are holding another exciting Guild Day at Ealing Abbey in West London. The programme for the day is as follows: 9.15 am Holy Mass in the Abbey Church (conventual) 10.00 am Coffee and Welcome: Dom Dominic Taylor OSB and Mrs Margaret Wickware 10.30 am The Sacrament of Marriage: what the celebration of the sacrament establishes ~Fr Francesco Donega, Redemptoris Mater Seminary 11.30 am The virtue of chastity: what it is and why all need it ~Fr Anthony Doe, Psychotherapist and Westminster Priest 12.30pm Lunch 1.45 pm The Family and the New Evangelisation: Exploring Evangelii Gaudium 66 ~Dr Peter Kahn, School of the Annunciation 3.00 pm DVD Marriage God’s Design for Life & Love (2015) 4.00 pm Vespers and/or Adoration/Benediction 5.00 pm Departure It is also a great opportunity to network with other Catholics, make friends, renew old acquaintances in a thoroughly Ca...

Some bits of news - hot off the press. 1. Heythrop College is to close. T here is a full statement by the Principal, Michael Holman SJ here . The reasons for closure are stated as: "the College has had to provide for the costs of increased regulatory requirements without the economies of scale available to other colleges and universities. Expectations of all that makes up the “student experience” in addition to the quality of teaching and learning (for example, facilities, the technology infrastructure, internships and activities) have also increased and meeting these expectations has become more costly too. Meanwhile, government reforms have meant that the market for students has become more competitive and, specialising in just two subject areas as we do, the opportunities to diversify have been limited." The crux of it appears to be the fact that they have not attracted enough students. You may be aware that the College has attracted some scandal in recent yea...

Great news today! The School of the Annunciation, Buckfast Abbey, has signed an agreement with Franciscan University Steubenville to form a collaborative partnership. In the first phase of the partnership Dr Andrew Beards, Academic Director at the School, has joined the online teaching staff of Franciscan University’s popular online, distance-learning MA in Catechesis and Evangelisation (MACE).  Dr Beards joins a faculty teaching US students that includes Dr Hahn, Dr Bob Rice, Sr Johanna Paruch and Dr Petroc Willey. News will follow in the coming weeks and months on further developments arising from this exciting collaboration between the School of the Annunciation and Franciscan University. Fr Guy de Gaynesford STL, the Rector of the School of the Annunciation, writes: ‘All those associated with the School of the Annunciation will naturally be absolutely delighted to learn of the beginning of this exciting collaborative partnership with a world renowne...

The Most Reverend Archbishop Rino Fisichella will be speaking on ‘A new phase of Evangelisation in the thought of Pope Francis’ at the School of the Annunciation: Centre for the New Evangelisation, Buckfast Abbey, on Wednesday 25th March, at 10 am.  All are welcome- Admission is free!  Archbishop Rino Fisichella will also preside at the celebration of Mass for the Solemnity of the Annunciation of the Lord at 12 noon in the Abbey Church, and again, all are welcome to this celebration.  Archbishop Fisichella is the President of the Pontifical Council for the Promotion of the New Evangelization , responsible for fostering a ‘renewed missionary impulse’, especially among ‘Churches of ancient origin’. (Pope Benedict XVI, Ubicumque et Semper , 2010). Archbishop Fisichella’s address will be delivered at the Schiller Hall, St Cuthbert’s Conference Centre, Buckfast Abbey.  There is ample free parking on-site For further details see the website .  enqu...

The School of the Annunciation are holding a Guild Day this Saturday, 31st January at St. Patrick's, 21a Soho Square, London W1D 4NR. This will present an excellent opportunity to spend a day deepening your faith and networking with other Catholics. The day will constitute a conference on the New Evangelisation with the wonderful Bishop Philip Egan of the Diocese of Portsmouth as keynote speaker. Bishop Egan will present a discourse on Evangelii Gaudium , 27. A particularly interesting paragraph of Pope Francis' Apostolic Exhortation as it speaks of the indispensable contribution to ecclesial renewal made by mission. This may come as a surprise to many Catholics and others who read the news headlines, as opposed the Pope's actual words. He has been quoted as saying that he “ doesn’t want to convert Evangelicals ”, although, as usual, once one reads behind the report of a remembered conversation someone had with the Pope, we find a different story . In any case, I ...

I have just found out that EWTN (the global Catholic TV network) are running a series of reflections for Advent from Buckfast Abbey and the School of the Annunciation The Schedule is as follows:- 1st Week of Advent: Repentance Is the Essence of Conversion Abbot David Charlesworth, OSB, of Buckfast Abbey, speaks about the importance of personal conversion as the means for getting ready for the coming of Christ. Sunday, Nov 30 at 7:30, 15:30; Tuesday 2, 19:00; Thursday 4, 21:30 (30 mins) 2nd Week of Advent: Preparing to Welcome Christ Dom Thomas Regan, OSB, of Buckfast Abbey, talks about the need to prepare well in order to properly celebrate Advent and Christmas, by putting Christ at the heart of Christmas. Sunday 7, 7:30, 15:30; Tuesday 9, 19:00; Thursday 11, 21:30. (30 mins) 3rd Week of Advent: Rejoicing with Mary in the Coming of the Lord Fr Guy Nicholls, of the Birmingham Oratory, invites us to prepare our hearts like Mary, to rejoice in the coming of the Lord. Sunday ...

270 miles and 41/2 hours ago I was in Buckfast Abbey in Devon. I was deeply honoured to have been invited to the Foundation Celebrations for The School of the Annunciation by Dr. Caroline Farey, Director of Studies at the School, which was merely an idea just twelve months ago. It is difficult to look at the events of the last twelve months and not see the hand of God at work. After the disappointment and pain of the fracture at Maryvale, Petroc and Caroline had no idea what they were going to do. Today, I witnessed the birth of a new, exciting venture, designed to provide a higher education institution which will present an enormous variety of high quality courses that will help people deepen their faith and partake in the work of the New Evangelisation. Rather than some clandestine, divisive venture, The School of the Annunciation is a living, working, embodiment of the tri-fold sources of Revelation: Scripture, Tradition, and The Magisterium. Enfolded within the rich Bened...

David Clayton writes on the NLM blog today: Consideration of the liturgy and beauty is central to evangelization. Visual art in particular has a role to play - it teaches and informs us through its content, it's beauty helps to direct and deepen our worship of God in the liturgy and in a context outside the church, it's beauty draws all men to itself and then beyond to the source of all beauty, God, so opening their hearts to be receptive to the Word when offered to them.   My good friends at the newly established  School of the Annunciation  situated in the grounds of Buckfast Abbey in Devon, England understand it deeply. I am delighted to learn of the launch of their Diploma in New Evangelization. Taught through a combination of residential weekends and online this means you can take it wherever you live.  The New Evangelization is a fashionable phrase to bandy about (to the degree that anything to do with the Faith can be fashionable!). When I fi...

I have been told about an exciting forthcoming event which I think deserves promotion: The New Evangelisation: Living and Sharing the Gospel - 5 July 9:15am at Ealing Abbey:  A series of excellent talks are avaliable in July at Ealing Abbey. Fr. Bernard Barrett will be speaking on The New Evangelisation & the Parish in Contemporary Culture ,  Dr. Caroline Farey will be speaking on Sacred Art in the New Evangelisation and  Dom Dominic Taylor OSB will speak about The Benedictine Way .  There will also be an opportunity to browse new resources for Evangelisation and Catechesis.  There is a small charge of just £10 (which includes lunch) to enjoy these excellent and invigorating speakers.  To register email: guildofourladyandstjoseph@gmail.com This event is presented in association with the School of the Annunciation .

This morning, Deacon Nick Donnelly announced on his blog the exciting news that a new Centre of Formation for the New Evangelisation has been established by some of the staff who recently resigned their positions at Maryvale in Birmingham.  Dr Petroc Willey, Dr Andrew Beards, and Dr Caroline Farey have embarked on a new adventure, calling their centre the School of the Annunciation . It is based in the grounds of Buckfast Abbey in Devon, thanks to the generosity and collaboration of the Abbot of Buckfast, the Rt. Rev. David Charlesworth and the monastic community. The School of the Annunciation will begin by offering a Diploma in the New Evangelisation as well as short Summer Schools which it is hoped will provide a unique opportunity to study the Catholic Faith in the beautiful setting of Buckfast Abbey, sharing the monastic community’s life and prayer over long summer weekends in August. I have to say it sounds idyllic! Deacon Nick himself is the Director of For...