Pope Francis goes to glory

Another good comfortable night's sleep with Clare on our double bed, and waking up in bright sunshine. The single bed mattress really does need changing. The death of Pope Francis was announced on the eight o'clock news, half an hour after it happened. A perfectly satisfying end in his eyes I imagine. A return from hospital, Mass and Easter Communion at St Peter's with everyone else offering the liturgy, then giving the Easter blessing from his balcony, and leaving this life the following morning. 

He was such a wonderful pastoral and biblical teacher, emphasising the importance to himself of being first and foremost Bishop and chief pastor of the diocese of Rome as well as head of the world wide Roman Catholic church. He wishes to be buried in Sta Maria Maggiore, effectively the principal church of his diocese, rather than underneath Saint Peter's. What a wonderful transformational, inclusive 12 years of ministry as Pope he's had. Let's hope and pray that another will be chosen to follow the lead into the future he has given.

The others got up individually and we all went out for breakfast in Cafe Brava at ten when it opened. The other cafes in Pontcanna Street were already packed with people out for early brunch. We had muffins sliced with layers of either veggie goodies or in my case bacon and sausage and mushroom. Then Kath drove us to Porthkerry Country Park for a walk on the beach, a drink and cake. I watched a buzzard being harried by a crow. They flew around each other in circles. I had the birds in my camera viewfinder, but the camera shutter wouldn't fire. The auto-focus mechanism seemed confused for no good reason. Then we returned home and parted company. The others have to work tomorrow. We had a full meal at tea- time, leftover lamb cawl for me. Then I went out for an evening walk, and spent the rest of the evening reading another novel by J J Hernandez, 'Sangre Nueva', a birthday present from Kath. I read for too long and that meant heading for bed later than intended.

The kind of leadership we need

We were on duty at St Catherine's this morning. Clare read the lesson and the Psalm, I stood at the door, greeting people, taking their names and contact details. We were thirty one adults and three children, and that included a few visitors as well as the regulars. I enjoy the aspect of welcoming people arriving. It's a small thing, but engages the pastor still within me. It was nice to get some positive feedback about my week's reflections too. 

Another cheering thing is the resumption of weekday services this Wednesday, with the familiar liturgical balm of the Church in Wales 1984 Prayer Book liturgy. I find its traditional hieratic language a wholesome complement to the contemporary liturgical creativity I advocated for much of my working life. We have some beautiful poetic modern prayers to work with, but risk losing the simplicity of Western liturgical ethos by elaborating elementary phrases and greetings, adding un-necessarily to its formality. Something akin to taking a simple elegant melody and decorating it with grace notes or melismata. It can enhance, but not necessarily so.

Pope Francis has been visiting the beleaguered Christian minority in Iraq this past few days, and such a memorable and significant visit it's turned out to be. A pilgrimage to the ancient Mesapotamian city of Ur, from whence Abraham, an archetypal person of faith, honoured by Muslims, Jews and Christians, went west to settle in Canaan. He visited the Shiite Muslim pilgrimage city of Al-Najaf for a conversation with Grand Ayatollah Al-Sistani, something his predecessors sought to do, but didn't achieve. 

In his days as the Cardinal Archbishop of Buenos Aires, he became a personal friend of both the Chief Rabbi and Grand Imam of the country. They attended his installation as Pope and accompanied him on his pilgrimage to Jerusalem, so his latest achievement perhaps owes as much to his reputation for inter-faith friendship as it does to Vatican diplomatic effort. St Francis of Assisi is remembered for visiting Sultan al-Malik al-Kamil when his Egyptian forces were pitted against a Crusader army. Cardinal Bergoglio's choice of Papal name is an indication of a source of his inspiration as a world spiritual leader.

I walked around the parks after lunch looking for bursting buds to photograph, but the results weren't very satisfactory in producing decent close-ups, I don't know why yet. With more trial and error I'll get to the bottom of this. As I walked, I listened on my phone to a Choral Evensong broadcast from Christchurch Cathedral/College Oxford. It'd be better if I remembered to take a set of headphones with me. Background noise from road traffic or the waters of the Taff tumbling over the weir easily drown out the gentle sound of singing, audible when out in an open green space.

This evening we watched an excellent S4C documentary on the work of First Minister Mark Drakeford through the pandemic, which included interviews as well as footage shot during cabinet meetings. With an improved set of English subtitles, this bi-lingual programme really deserves be seen on UK wide TV, as it reveals the worst of Boris Johnson's leadership during the crisis as it happened. He's respectful and courteous towards a politician with whom he has nothing in common avoiding carping criticism. He does however express his exasperation at the unilateral approach to decision making taken by Westminster towards the Celtic nations. 

It's no wonder the First Minister is now bold enough to state publicly that the UK Union of nations is in effect broken, and needs re-thinking as a federation. I think he's right. It's a somewhat different approach than Plaid Cymru's advocacy for Welsh independence, which I think is unrealistic, as we don't have a long lived legal system and institutions as a foundation. These aren't easily grown. But who knows, we may have enough Welsh governance to make a start, which could be granted more self determination in a revised partnership with Westminster. Along with the SNP's push for independence, this could become a key issue in the three years before the next general election. Unless of course, the Tories rid themselves of Johnson and his cronies, and install a leader who understands the real mean and value of consultation, reconciliation and unity as leadership aims.

O Holy Night

No rain today, just a cold wind and bright sky busy with clouds. An early walk to the butchers after breakfast to collect our four kilo turkey, then a drive over to Bristol to collect Owain. But first, I had two bereavement phone calls to make in relation to the two funerals I've been asked to do in the next couple of weeks.The roads weren't too busy, and we arrived home in time for lunch at one o'clock.

A  few last minute things were needed from the shops, which apart from the Coop were closing earlier than usual. We got what we needed there however, and then went for a walk in Llandaff Fields as the sun was setting, producing the most spectacular display of pink, orange and grey clouds. We stayed out until it started to get dark. The sky was clear enough to see the conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn, but we were unable to spot it. Back at the house, at about half past five, we caught a glimpse of it at west-south-west from the attic bedroom window, descending rapidly towards the horizon, before other stars appeared. To my amazement it could be seen through the foliage of a nearby pine tree, shining unmistakably bright, before appearing briefly in the clear before going below our line of sight. 

At last! My photos weren't good, more 'proof of concept. The line of sight made it impossible to use a tripod, and a hand-held shot could only be as good as my ability to stay still in an awkward angled pose. But never mind. After a week of frustrated waiting a small reward.

Later in the evening we had a family Zoom call with Arizona and Kenilworth. No Midnight Mass for me this year. Before bed I watched a recording of the Papal liturgy from St Peter's Rome. Socially distanced congregation of laity, clergy and cardinals, a men's choir and a mixed choir. Everybody was masked and key participants with speaking parts only removed their masks to speak and then put them on again. A good example from the top down. The service started earlier in the evening while we were zooming, and then appeared on YouTube, where I watched it. It seems Italy has imposed an overnight curfew from ten until six, hence the early start time. Here with all the pubs closed, the evenings are very quiet. There are no smashed bottles or pools of vomit and discarded takeaways fouling up the streets, just a few cans, but fewer than usual. A lot pleasanter to be out and about that in previous festive season in the past couple of decades,

Village wedding

Most of the morning was spent carefully preparing for this afternoon's wedding in Frigiliana, making sure I could pronounce correctly the handful of Spanish biblical quotes I'd added into the text. After an early lunch, I drove to the village and arrived at San Antonio Church an hour early. The choir were already rehearsing, getting used to the fine acoustics of the building, just right for the mostly baroque music to be sung. The groom's spritely 99+ year old abuela was among the first guests to escape from the fierce heat of the afternoon sun into the cool calm of the church. I was pleased to welcome her in Spanish, and made an effort to include a few Spanish prayers in the liturgy for her sake. Afterwards, she asked me what Order I belonged to. I think she understood when I said I was a pastor anglican.

Everything for the service went according to plan, well just. The youngest of the couple's children was rather clingy, and definitely a Daddy's boy. Quite naturally, with their parents enthroned in front of the assembly, the children wanted to be with them and so they were for the first part of the service. When it was necessary for the couple to make their vows, abuelo came forward, collected the toddler, who broke into disgruntled tears and had to be taken out. Smiles all around. A wedding for the couple, but in every sense a celebration of the family they have made, loved by all.

After the service, the guests went off ahead of the couple to the reception. In the square outside the church, a suitably decorated horse and carriage awaited the couple driven by smartly dressed caballeros in traditional garb, to take them to join their guests. I slipped away, quite drained of energy by leading the celebration, relieved to return from romance to domestic solitude. I think everyone who was involved made the effort to make this the special occasion it was intended to be. 

I hope it makes a difference to the couple, and inspires them to continue the path they have set out on. Sad to say, I'm unlikley to know the outcome, not because I'm that old, but because celebrations like this, in which so much gets invested, seem no more than ephemeral pastoral encounters, like so many funerals of strangers I've done over the years. It's very much a product of living in a transient mobile society, where the old traditional continuity of relationships in community life hardly exist any more.

All of this raises one question for me - are church communities and their ministers speaking to the condition of people in this changing new world in a way that is faithful to the Gospel? On this I think I could really value a quiet chat with the admirable Pope Francis, who has his finger on the pulse in a most impressive way, to ask him what he'd do if he was still out there on the pastoral front line.

 

People on the move

I had a meeting yesterday morning with a couple whose wedding I shall be blessing on Saturday at the church in nearby Frigiliana. Bride and groom live in Britain, but the bride's English parents live in the village. The groom's family are Mallorcan and they'll be coming from there. It's another reminder of the movement and settlement of people made possible by the existence of European Union. This is valuable, not only at the political and economic level, but at the personal, domestic and social level, in the exchange of tradition and custom, and the shared pleasures this brings.

Just as we get used to the new kind of normality that ease of international mobility gives, the influx of hundreds of thousands of refugees and economic migrants from third world countries, makes huge demands on resources, and seems uncontrollable, driven as it is, by need, or fear of violence. It's generating new anxieties, xenophobia and racism, and is a real challenge to all E.U. countries to deal with in a just and humane way, that curbs the threat of increased criminality, either among migrants or among those wishing to exploit their plight. 

Despite being resource rich, African and Middle Eastern countries are still plagued by problems arising from the seemingly unbridgeable gulf between powerful rich minorities and the majority poor. Injustice breeds violence, but the impact of climate change places everyone under additional pressure as environmental impairment reduces the possibility of countries being able to sustain their growing populations. 

African street traders have been a common feature of Mediterranean coastal life for more than the past decade, people in a position to take risky initiatives, work hard and patiently, driven more by opportunity than need. Today's population influx fleeing conflict is much more of a mixture of educated people and poor peasants, all of whom may have good things to contribute once settled provided there is a will to make it happen. In the long term, Europe will be enriched by accepting them. It may help re-create relationships with Third World countries following the eventual demise of economic as well as political colonialism

It's so good that Pope Francis' encyclical on climate change pulls no punches, respects the science, challenges the dominance of modern consumerist culture and calls environmental damage 'a sin' - yes indeed - if the church's understanding of sin as anything which causes suffering is truly understood. He will come in for fierce criticism from those with vested interests in denying the seriousness of the environmental crisis we are facing. Church leaders internationally are applauding his bold stance. But will the captains of industry and their political supporters listen.

Today was pretty hot. I had a pile of work to do, which kept me in most of the time. For the second day running, I went out for a stroll after sunset, and got a few more photos of the thin sliver of a moon and a couple of bright planets before they followed the sun below the horizon. This is just one of several

  You can find more photos here