Papal Nuncio visits Birmingham

image: P. Jennings - caption below

Archbishop Antonio Mennini, Apostolic Nuncio to Great Britain, was given an insight into the life and work of the Archdiocese of Birmingham, during a two-day visit last Thursday and Friday.

The first day of the visit, 1 March, was the bicentenary of the birth of Augustus Welby Pugin, 1812-1852 the great Victorian architect and designer, responsible for St Chad's.

The Nuncio was accompanied throughout by his host, Archbishop Bernard Longley, Archbishop of Birmingham. The programme included visits to the north and south of the diocese.

On his arrival at Blessed Dominic Barberi Parish, Littlemore, near Oxford, Archbishop Mennini, accompanied by Mgr Vincent Brady, his Secretary, was welcomed to the diocese by the Archbishop Longley, Bishop William Kenney CP, and parish priest Fr John Hancock.

After Midday Prayer, the Area Dean, Fr John Hancock, spoke about the work of the Deaneries of Banbury, Oxford North and Oxford South. He was followed by Area Dean Canon Garry Byrne, Parish Priest of St Osburg, Coventry, who spoke about the Deaneries of Coventry, Rugby and Warwick.

During his address Archbishop Mennini said: “It is good to be with you and to have this opportunity to meet and to reflect briefly on our calling as priests. As the representative of the Holy Father, Pope Benedict XVI, it is always a joy for me to be with you and to hear more about your lives and the ‘joys and sorrows’ of pastoral ministry today.

“Perhaps you will recall that, when the Holy Father instituted the ‘Year for Priests,’ he intended that it be a special year of prayer for priests, not simply for vocations to the priesthood, but also for the appreciation and sanctification of those who are priests already, many of whom really are ‘unsung heroes’ – those priests, the majority, who do not make headlines!”

“Here, in this Archdiocese of Birmingham, we remember particularly the visit of Pope Benedict XVI, when he beatified Blessed John Henry Newman.”

After a buffet lunch in the parish hall, the Apostolic Nuncio visited the nearby The Spiritual Family The Work, in College Lane, where Sr Ingrid Swinnen FSO, showed Archbishop Mennini the Newman library where he had an opportunity to look at original letters written by Blessed John Henry Newman.

Archbishop Mennini also saw an original copy of The Times newspaper dated Tuesday, 12 August 1890, that contained the Obituary of Cardinal Newman, who had died the evening before in his room at the Birmingham Oratory, aged 89.

Sister Ingrid showed Archbishop Mennini the study-bedroom that Newman lived in at Littlemore after he had resigned his living as a clergyman in the Church of England. The highlight of the visit was to the little adjacent chapel. It was here that Blessed John Henry Newman was received into the Catholic Church by the Italian Passionist, Blessed Dominic Barberi, on 9 October 1845.

Everyone present knelt down and Archbishop Bernard Longley led the prayer for the canonisation of Blessed John Henry Newman. It was a deeply prayerful, poignant and emotional moment during the visit of the Apostolic Nuncio to the Archdiocese of Birmingham, where Cardinal Newman spent most of his Catholic life, and where he was beatified by Pope Benedict XVI at Cofton Park, Birmingham on 19 September 2010. How appropriate too that Bishop William Kenney CP, like Blessed Dominic, is a Passionist.

The Archbishop of Birmingham hosted a two-hour early evening reception in honour of the Apostolic Nuncio, Archbishop Mennini, in the Synod Room, at Archbishop’s House, for more than 130 guests, including the Deputy Lord Mayor of Birmingham, Councillor Len Gregory, the Leader of Birmingham City Council, Councillor Mike Whitby and other civic leaders, Bishop David Urquhart, the Anglican Bishop of Birmingham, ecumenical and inter-faith guests.

The following morning, Archbishop Mennini, visited St John Fisher’s Catholic College, Newcastle-under-Lyme, where he was welcomed by Bishop David McGough, Auxiliary Bishop, with pastoral responsibility for Staffordshire and the Black Country.

After Midday Prayer at Holy Trinity, Newcastle-under-Lyme, hosted by the Parish Priest, Fr Philip Griffin, Area Dean, Fr Peter Weatherby, spoke about the work of the Deaneries of North Staffordshire and Stafford. The Apostolic Nuncio then addressed the assembled priests from the northern part of the diocese.

During his meeting, Archbishop Mennini was presented with a Wedgewood Jasper vase by Mark Downie, a former Company Secretary at Wedgwood, on behalf of the Archdiocese.

Later that day Archbishop Bernard Longley was Principal Celebrant and preacher at a special Chapter Mass for the Feast of St Chad, in St Chad’s Cathedral.

Archbishop Mennini, Bishop David McGough, Provost of the Chapter, Bishop William Kenney CP, and Bishop Philip Pargeter, emeritus Auxiliary Bishop, together with the Metropolitan Chapter and more than 40 priests concelebrated.

Before the final blessing, the Apostolic Nuncio give a short address during which he thanked everyone for their warm welcome and said he hoped the visit was the first of many.
 
“As you know, my first task as Apostolic Nuncio is to strengthen the bonds of love and unity between the Holy Father and the local Churches of this land and to make his pastoral care and solicitude visible to you.”

The Apostolic Nuncio added: “I wish to greet very warmly and fraternally the members of the other Christian Communities and ecclesial bodies in the Diocese of Birmingham, some of whom I met at the Reception yesterday evening. In a society where so many persons are searching for deeper values and for meaning in their lives, our united witness to Jesus Christ, true God and true man, is needed more than ever.”*

*Archbishop Mennini concluded: “It is as a brother too, that I greet our non-Christian brothers and sisters, and to express my hope, that together, we may continue to work toward our common goal of justice and peace, not only in Birmingham, but in the wider world too.”*

After Mass the Apostolic Nuncio, Archbishop Antonio Mennini talked with priests from the Worcestershire and Birmingham area of the Diocese over a cup of tea, before Archbishop Bernard Longley and Bishop Philip Pargeter thanked him for what had been a memorable occasion in the life of the Archdiocese of Birmingham.

Picture shows: Archbishop Longley, Archbishop Mennini with (l-r): Mgr Brady, Bishop McGough, Bishop Pargeter, Bishop Kenney, Canon Breen and Fr Cosslett