Weekly Record

13th July 2008

Last week an announcement was made within the South Liverpool Parishes of St Vincent’s, Mount Carmel and St Patrick’s regarding the proposed closure of St Vincent’s as a parish and the use of this church as the diocesan provision for the celebration of the 1962 rite of the Mass (Tridentine Latin Mass). I enclose below the text of the message that Bishop Malone sent to the parishes last week. This is at the final consultation stages and will have repercussions on the Cathedral. It will not affect the way the liturgy is celebrated here at the Cathedral, nor will the priests within the Cathedral be expected to celebrate the ‘extraordinary Rite’ at St Vincent’s- a priest will be appointed specifically to serve this need and will live at St Vincent’s. It will, however, mean that the Cathedral will be responsible for most of the pastoral needs within a larger parish area encompassing St Vincent’s parish.

Personally I feel that if the present form of Mass is celebrated in a truly prayerful and proper manner using the wealth of the churches tradition for the musical settings then there should be no need for ‘extraordinary’ past rites which were themselves a reform of earlier rites. However, it is important that the Archdiocese makes a clear provision under the jurisdiction of the Archbishop for the few who desire Mass celebrated in the extraordinary rite following the ‘motu propriu’ of Pope Benedict.

‘Ten years ago it seemed likely that St Vincent's church might have to close; now perhaps it is on the brink of great new chapter in its long history. The Holy Father has asked bishops around the western world to make generous provision for the celebration of Mass in Latin – in what he calls the "Extraordinary Form" (the "Ordinary Form" being in English). Archbishop Kelly has been exploring the possibility of making St Vincent's the Latin Mass church for central Liverpool, but certain consultations are necessary before that can happen.

The idea is to associate St Vincent's with the Cathedral, having a Cathedral priest living in St Vincent's presbytery to provide regular Masses in Latin for those from quite a wide area who prefer it that way. St Vincent's present parish would become part of the Cathedral parish, which will then embrace a variety of special ministries – the Cathedral ministry itself, the Royal Liverpool Hospital, the Universities Chaplaincy, the Blessed Sacrament Shrine, some outreach to the business community through the weekly Mass currently celebrated each Friday in the Parish Church, and the special ministry to be assigned to St Vincent's Church.

St Vincent's present parishioners would come under the pastoral care of the Cathedral clergy, but of course would choose for themselves where to attend Mass; all the Masses in other churches such as St Patrick's, Our Lady of Mount Carmel, St Bernard's, and the Cathedral itself would continue to be in English.

These are the developments under consideration which led to the postponement, two weeks ago, of the local consultation about Mass times in St Vincent's, St Patrick's and Mount Carmel. Other consultations are ongoing: next Tuesday the Council of Priests of the Archdiocese will have a meeting to consider the possibilities and the potential problems of these ideas. Only after that can any official decision and announcement be made. It is unfortunate that a totally unauthorised and inaccurate statement about the conclusion of these conversations has been circulating already. Many details would have to be talked through before a plan like this could be put into place, and your prayers are requested that wise counsels are heard and heeded.’

Canon Anthony O’Brien
Cathedral Dean