I've been to the CBS office today, and been into College twice. I meant to do some work this morning, but ended up chatting with a couple of students who were revising two thousand years worth of church history for an up-coming exam, and then joining in the revision Q&A. It was great fun. Once could make a nice College parlour game out of it. Ecclesiastical Trivial Pursuits?
In discussing yesterday's Cathedral visit and sermon by Archbishop George Stack with Peter the Principal, I learned something historical that cast yesterday's event into an altogether different light. It seems that the last Bishop of Llandaff before the Reformation break with Rome was the Confessor and Spiritual Director of Queen Catherine of Aragon, whose divorce from Henry VIII was the issue around which the King nationalised the British church. To know this is to understand that Archbishop George preaching in this particular Cathedral pulpit is a pilgrim for reconciliation, not just a high officer of the church engaging in ecumenical diplomacy.
I also learned today that the Catholic Metropolitan Cathedral has actually purchased Ebeneser Congregational church opposite in Charles Street, as part of its long term development plans. I'd heard gossip about this before last summer but assumed it was speculation. Apparently the initiative was encouraged by Archbishop George, as is use of the old church Sunday School building by Council and Local Health Board for an emergency medical triage centre to deal with casualties of night economy over indulgence on weekends.
The church undercroft hall and kitchens are to be used by the street care teams for a feeding station, again with the active support of the new Archbishop. This is amazing good news for city centre voluntary workers, and very much to the credit of the local Catholic community - not to mention an answer to the prayers of many over several years past.
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