We held our annual dinner on Thursday 5 October. Although the attendance was slightly lower than usual, there was a very happy and joyous atmosphere. This was contributed to in large part by our Guest of Honour, Archbishop Bernard Longley, Archbishop of Birmingham. He had celebrated Mass beforehand in Westminster Cathedral.
During dinner, the Archbishop made the award of Knight Commander of St Gregory the Great to Peter Horgan one of his parishioners.
We all very much enjoyed the Archbishop’s speech to us, see text. After dinner, he mingled and chatted with guests to the delight of all. We are happy to report that the food was of excellent quality this year.
History was made at this year’s annual Mass for Knights and Dames in the diocese of Portsmouth, held for the first time at the Cathedral of St Michael and St George in Aldershot. This is the only Catholic cathedral in England to have been formally inaugurated by Queen Victoria! The silver trowel she used for the ceremony for what was then to be the Anglican church for the Army is on display in the porch. The church was handed over for use by the Catholic church in 1973 and is an impressive building with memorials to heroes dating back across two centuries.
Bishop Paul Mason, Bishop of the Forces, celebrated the Mass and preached. A special guest was the winner of the essay project organised by the Knights and Dames for boys and girls at Portsmouth’s Catholic secondary schools. Pupils were invited to write about St Gregory or St Sylvester, the two great saints after whom our Papal orders are named. Kelechi Mwenge, of Bishop Challoner School, Basingstoke, came with his parents to receive his prize from the Bishop.
Kelechi’s essay on St Gregory the Great included an account of the famous “Not Angles but Angels” story when St Gregory met Anglo-Saxon slaves in Rome and described how the subsequent mission led by St Augustine “marked the beginning of a Christian civilisation that profoundly influences the English people and left an indelible mark on their history”. He concluded “May St Gregory’s zeal for the faith inspire and guide us in our own spiritual journeys”.
At the traditional lunch held by Knights and Dames after Mass Bishop Paul spoke of the work of Catholic chaplains in the Forces and of the support and trust that today’s young soldiers, sailors and airmen find in the Church. The Church is there for them, an unchanging source of truth and strength.
Mrs Kate Griffin DSG received her award from His Eminence Cardinal Vincent Nichols at her parish Church, St Edward of Canterbury, Whitton on 31 May 2023.
Zbigniew Lis KSS KM received his award from Mgr Wladyslaw Wyszowadzki at the Polish Church of Christ the King in London in December 2022. His sponsors, Dr Bozena Laskiewicz DCSS and Grazyna Bielecki DSG are shown with him.
Professor Edward Morgan KC KCSS was invested as a Knight Commander of St.Sylvester by the Most Rev Malcolm McMahon, Archbishop of Liverpool at St.Clare’s Church in Liverpool.
Our Corpus Christi Celebrations took place in Arundel on Thursday 8 June 2023.
Above are a selection of photographs taken of the Blessed Sacrament procession from the Cathedral to the Castle and at dinner afterwards in the Castle.
Once again we were blessed with glorious weather and the floral displays in the Cathedral were a sight to behold.
Once again our annual dinner took place in the Vincent rooms, Vincent Square and over 100 people attended. It was again a joyous occasion, made all the more so by the wonderful Mass beforehand in Westminster Cathedral, celebrated by our Guest of Honour, The Most Rev George Stack, Archbishop Emeritus of Cardiff, ably assisted by our Chaplain, Rev. Mgr Vladimir Felzmann. We are very grateful to all those who participated, including our faithful contingent from Scotland.
Below is a picture of our group in the Sacristy, preparing to process in to the Cathedral for Mass.
Could any members help in identifying the subject of this portrait? If you can, please contact Richard d’Apice direct, who has written as follows:
I seek your assistance in my attempts to obtain information about the subject of the attached portrait which I recently purchased in Sydney. On purchase the subject was unidentified but, in a previous sale, I find him identified as Joseph Gates OBE. The OBE must have come after 1972 as he is not wearing it in the portrait which carries that date.
The artist is Anthony Harper whom I have difficulty in identifying.
Richard d’Apice AM KCSG KGCHS, Secretary and Treasurer, Association of Papal Orders, Australia
Association of Papal Orders in Great Britain 