Damien Thompson: Some Good News in U.K. Catholic Church

"Looking round the room in Brown's Hotel, I was struck by a sense that an unexpected Catholic revival is under way."

LONDON (Daily Telegraph) - Damien Thompson is one of the finest religion writers and editors in the U.K. Keenly aware of the trends in the Church in the U.K., he regularly speaks out against what he calls the "Magic Circle", the movements within the Catholic Church which are moving away from orthodoxy and orthopraxy. In this installment, he shares some Good News:

The fightback against the Magic Circle has begun

Suddenly I don't feel so gloomy about the future of the Catholic Church in this country. This lunchtime the Catholic Herald held a reception to mark the arrival of Magnificat magazine in the UK. This handsome little publication is a monthly aid to devotion built around the Mass and the Church's calendar, untouched by political correctness or any wearisome secular influences. It has nearly half a million subscribers worldwide.

Looking round the room in Brown's Hotel, I was struck by a sense that an unexpected Catholic revival is under way. Admittedly, it's still below the radar of most bishops (though the feisty Archbishop of Glasgow was there to give us his blessing): the Magic Circle are sticking their hands in their ears and pretending not to hear a word. But they'll have to drown out music as well as words, because one of the key figures in the grassroots revival is Herald contributing editor James MacMillan, arguably our greatest living composer.

MacMillan is at the forefront of the fight for real music in churches, based on chant and rooted in Pope Benedict's call for liturgical renewal. He spent some of the party deep in conversation with two grey-habited figures who you might say were fighting for real religion - Friars of the Immaculate, a new, radically orthodox family of Franciscans who live lives of the utmost austerity but who are inspired by the intricate rubrics of the traditional Missal.

Also present, though I'd better not get them into trouble by mentioning their names, were several priests who are trying to undo the physical damage to their church buildings by brutal re-orderings and the spiritual damage done to their parish communities by power-hungry Sandalista laity who lord it over ordinary worshippers.

I had a chat with an up-and-coming Catholic academic, too -though, again, I think the fight against dreary liberalism is at too early a stage to single people out. Many of this new orthodox generation of believers have to work within tottering diocesan structures with a history of witch-hunts against traditionalists.

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But watch out for fireworks next year.