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.
Joanna Bogle DSG
Association of Papal Orders in Great Britain 