Word from the Cloisters

A papacy of mercy

Spirits – and clerical collars – were high on Wednesday evening last week when 70-odd MPs and leading Catholics in public life gathered in the House of Commons for a dinner, hosted by Tim Farron MP, to ­welcome Bishop Robert Barron to the UK. Barron, Bishop of Winona-Rochester, Minnesota, is the founder of Word on Fire, a ministry harnessing “goodness, truth and beauty to draw people into – or back to – the Catholic faith”. We learnt this week that concrete plans are in motion to establish a Word on Fire order of priests. It has taken the United States by storm, and the bishop’s visit to London was inspired by the hope that it might do the same in this country.
Following hearty helpings of beef Welling­ton, Barron spoke for half an hour: articulate, compelling, urgent. After prayers for Pope Francis – seriously ill in hospital – he said that this had been a “papacy of mercy”, characterised by graciousness shown “to those who do not deserve it”. Francis had not been “soft on sin”, but had met sin with mercy – “and mercy received gives way to love”. Exploring four gospel stories, he spoke about how Jesus longs to involve himself in every part of our lives – he invites himself not just into Zacchaeus’ living room, but into every room in his house – and we long for him to do this. He was honoured, he said, to be speaking in the Churchill Room: he’d read his first book about Churchill when he was 10, and had devoured many since. But of politicians across the pond, notably Donald Trump, Bishop Barron said not a word.

Time was when the Catholic Church was barely aware of some of the precious documents in its possession, let alone whether it was keeping them safe. Thanks to some dedi­cated professionals, this is changing. The latest step is the publication of a simple guide to the basics of record-keeping and keeping material secure and in good condition. The Care and Management of Parish Records by the archivist for Southwark Diocese, Jenny Delves, also keeps readers abreast of legislation relating to data, and canon law. Copies are available from the Catholic Archives Society’s treasurer and membership secretary Jon Purcell (castreasurerjp@gmail.com) for £8, including post and packing. The society is already planning a sequel, a guide to maintaining diocesan archives, also by Delves.
Purcell tells us there is a disparity between dioceses in how well they care for their archives. He points out that Southwark has in Delves a professionally trained archivist, while many other dioceses give the job to a priest who is likely to also have heavy parish responsibilities. Purcell, a former university librarian and head of heritage collections at Durham University, has helped to produce a similar guide for the Methodist Church. The society’s president is Fr Geoffrey Scott OSB, a former abbot of Douai, renowned historian, archivist and congregational annalist. The society was set up in 1979 to promote the care of the Church’s archives, and its work, Purcell told us, is “a labour of love”.