To mark our anniversary, we have invited 50 Catholics to choose a person from the past 175 years whose life has been a personal inspiration to them and an example of their faith at its best Christopher Butler was a monk, scripture scholar, historian, and the outstanding anglophone “Father” of the Second Vatican Council. The then-Abbot of Downside made many significant contributions to debates and was elected to the vitally important doctrinal commission. Rather than socialise, he would prepare for the next council session or join the monks for offices in the abbey where he lodged.Born in 1902 into a high Anglican family in Reading, he went to Oxford on a scholarship. As a deacon and a brilliant young don he seemed destined for rapid preferment in the Anglican Church. Instead,