The end of the 1998 Trinity Term brought mixed feelings. The beginning of the long vacation brought a sense of relief as a time for rest, but it was also a period of sadness as many of the Chaplaincy’s stalwarts were going down for the last time. Former CathSoc Presidents, Committee Members, Bar Managers, and many other familiar faces had passed by the previous week to say goodbye and express their thanks for the support and friendship the Chaplains had given them during their years in Oxford. It was very gratifying to note that amongst those leaving, five students were about to enter either a Seminary or Religious Order. By the end of Ninth Week most of the Undergraduates had departed from the University, including the residents, and a deep quiet had descended upon the Old Palace and the University as a whole.

The major building work this summer was the refurbishment of No. 85 St Aldate’s, a building adjoining the Chaplaincy and belonging to it. This had been one of the original projects undertaken by the Centenary Appeal of 1995, and the renovation involved the introduction of central heating to the rooms, the installation of a new kitchen, the re-carpeting of the bedrooms, and a complete repainting. No longer would the graduate residents of No. 85 either lie frozen in bed under a pile of blankets, or live in fear of food poisoning from the kitchen.

The Newman Trust had also kindly agreed to replace the lighting in the Chapel, a project long overdue; the low-level lighting gave the Chapel a sad and neglected feel, and it was impossible to read a hymn book at the back. The architects had originally intended that it should have adequate natural light, which would be supplemented artificially where necessary. The new lighting acknowledges their intentions: discreet, it adds to the transcendental quality of the Chapel.

Each year the Chaplaincy helps organise the Oxford and Cambridge Pilgrimage to Lourdes, a tradition that has lasted for more than 40 years. This Summer a large group of nearly 40 past and present members of the University, led by Fr. Paul King, spent a week in Lourdes, working with the sick in the baths, hospital, railway station, and processions. The number of students participating has increased in recent years and the future of the pilgrimage seems secure. Those who visit Lourdes all seem to discover something of spiritual value there, despite the obvious discomforts and the traditional bureaucracy that seems to be attached to most continental religious activity.

At the beginning of September Fr. Peter and Sr. Andrea both returned to the Old Palace to begin preparations for the next term. This period assumes a false quiet, as the Chaplains wait in ‘High Noon’ style for the rush of new faces at the beginning of October. The return from holidays brought the pressing problem of searching for a new cook. A previous search during the Trinity Term had yielded no-one. Fortunately the Chaplains were successful this time in securing the services of Simon Henry, a trained chef. Thus began a new culinary era in the life of the Chaplaincy.

The Michaelmas Term 1998

Full Term began on Sunday October 11th, 1st week, and though the Freshers had been in residence for a week already, it was a critical time for the Chaplaincy. The Newman Room was filled to overflowing with quizzical freshers, looking slightly lost amidst a sea of unfamiliar faces, attending Mass here for the first time. The Mass was followed by coffee and a buffet lunch in the Narthex. Throughout this time, with an eye on the practical arrangements for the distribution of lunch, the Chaplains tried to talk to as many first-years as possible. They were joined in this task by the CathSoc Committee who advertised the merits of the Catholic Society and the Chaplaincy in general. The combination of the dignified celebration of Mass with choir, conducted by Weronika Hansen, the quality of the lunch and the friendly atmosphere afterwards must have made some impression on the freshers as there was no catastrophic drop in numbers over the following Sundays.

Two days later, the Chaplaincy held its Freshers’ Drinks party, one of the innumerable number of drinks parties organised by various University societies. They are the by-product of that unique phenomenon, the Freshers’ Fair. It takes place in 0 week and brings together all the recognised societies who hawk their wares to the unsuspecting fresher. The outcome to all this activity is a pile of half-read brochures ready to gather dust, and a veritable torrent of invitations. The Catholic Society is no exception and its stall at the Freshers’ Fair is always staffed by at least two happy Committee members. Even though the CathSoc stall was stuck with the other religious societies in a dark corner, the Committee did manage to collect nearly 300 names. All these Junior Members, plus others the Chaplains have met elsewhere, are sent an invitation to the Freshers’ Drinks Party. Freshers can find the first weeks of term very difficult for all sorts of reasons but we hope to provide, for at least some, a place of friendship and support. The Chaplains know that the initial impression given by both the Chaplaincy and CathSoc is critical, and that it is essential to be seen as a place of genuine Catholic spirituality and friendship.

The first week of Full Term also saw the first meeting of the Theology Group, led by Fr. David Albert Jones OP. This meets weekly at the Chaplaincy and each term addresses a different topic. This Michaelmas Term, Fr. David intended to cover the whole Bible in seven weeks. The Hilary Term saw Fr. David organise a series of introductory talks on The Thoughts of Thomas Aquinas, and for Trinity Term A Brief History of English Catholicism. The attendance at these fluctuated, though the quality of the talk has remained consistently high. Two talks in particular stood out: first, Fr. Herbert McCabe OP on ‘Body and Soul’ and secondly, Fr. Robert Ombres OP on ‘Natural Law’. The Theology Group is one way in which the Chaplaincy fulfils its original mandate from the Vatican, which includes the provision of regular talks on the faith to protect the faith and morals of Catholic students living within a decidedly non-Catholic environment. The Chaplaincy also fulfils this mandate by organising different Guest Preachers for the 11am Sunday Mass.

After the activity of first week, it was good to see that the Newman Room was still full on Sunday October 18th, 2nd Week.. The CathSoc held their first open meeting of the academic year after Mass, accompanied by the now ‘traditional lunch’ of hot buffet, Appletise and apple strudels. Failure to provide the last two items would now probably cause profound psychological difficulties! The meeting was an opportunity for the freshers to meet Amy Kieran, CathSoc President, and the Committee who explained the forthcoming term’s activities. It is also the means of bringing the Chaplaincy College Reps together and encouraging them to arrange College Masses and advertise CathSoc events in their Colleges.

That evening, the Bar was full to overflowing with contestants for the termly Bar Quiz, organised by Lee Barrett, a second year student at Queens, who was the Bar Manager. Despite offering some of the cheapest drinks in Oxford, the bar did not suffer financial meltdown and even managed to give some money to charity. The only worrying aspect of the evening was the depth of knowledge many students exhibit on the finer points of Children’s TV!

Later that week, on Thursday 22nd October, 2nd Week, the Chaplaincy organised its annual Mass for the Oxford Martyrs, which was held this year at Hertford College. This had been made possible through the kind permission of its Chaplain, Rev. Michael Chantry. As in former years, Dom. Henry Wansbrough and the monks of St. Benet’s provided the schola. The Chapel was full and it was good to see so many students, new and old, at this Mass. Afterwards we crossed the Broad and entered St. John’s College for Formal Hall. This annual Mass brings to mind the rich Catholic heritage of the University of Oxford, and our own participation in this venerable tradition.

One of the more successful initiatives taken by the previous CathSoc Committee had been the establishment of an ‘Alternative Careers Fair’ to present information for those students who wished to work either for the Church or a Voluntary Organisation before entering on full time employment. After last year’s experience, this Committee thought it would be better to bring the Fair forward to the Michaelmas Term in order to give students more time to decide what they might do prior to the onset of revision for finals. This year’s Fair was held on Sunday 8th November, 5th Week, and about 10 organisations were represented, most of whom were involved with the Church’s pastoral work with the poor and marginalised. The feedback from both participants and students made the Chaplains believe that it had again been a worthwhile venture, and something to continue on an annual basis.

During the Michaelmas Term there was a great deal of activity in organising two major evangelical activities: the second Millennium Conference, and the launch of a Christianity booklet in the Hilary Term. The first took place on Friday 13th November, 5th Week, and was led by His Grace George Pell, Archbishop of Melbourne. The subject of the conference was, following the wishes of the Holy Father outlined in Tertio Millennio Advente, ‘God - The Holy Spirit’. The organising committee agreed to hold the conference on a Friday evening rather than on Saturday. The change of timing proved beneficial as about 80 students came to hear the Archbishop speak on the action of the Holy Spirit in the Church today, and the Church’s answer to some of the world’s contemporary problems. This was followed by discussion groups led by student animators who addressed the questions set by the Archbishop and they in turn were followed by a light supper. Afterwards the Conference broke up into three parts. Delegates had a choice of speakers: Raphaela Schmid on ‘Gifts of the Holy Spirit in the life of the believer’; Fr. Alexander Sherbrooke on ‘The Holy Spirit in the life of the Parish’; and Fr. Thomas Weinandy OFM Cap on ‘The Holy Spirit and Prayer’. The last period of the Conference was a question and answer session with the Archbishop. The large number of students attending greatly impressed the Archbishop, who himself had been a graduate student at Campion Hall in the ‘60s. After the official close at 9.00pm the Archbishop spent the rest of the evening chatting with those students who wished to stay behind to meet him.

The Archbishop had agreed to stay at the Chaplaincy all weekend, and on the following day he was the chief celebrant at the termly Mass for the Newman Society, which took place at St. Aloysius. This was followed by lunch in Merton. Francis Lee, the term’s President, gave an address on the spiritual role of the Catholic students on the 120th Anniversary of the founding of the Society, and the Archbishop later spoke of the need for educated Catholic lay people to promote the Gospel in public life. Since the establishment of the Catholic Society in the late 1980s, as a society which potentially includes all Catholic students, the Newman Society has evolved into a speaker-meeting society of a more traditional Catholic nature, with weekly guest speakers addressing different topics. The Society meets in the Chaplaincy, and draws its membership from Catholic students, most of whom attend Mass at St. Aloysius and have, unfortunately, little other contact with the Chaplaincy. Francis Lee, as former secretary of the Catholic Society and altar server, did much good work in trying to bring the Newman Society and Chaplaincy closer together.

This was by no means the last Catholic event of the weekend, as that night the CathSoc held its termly Ceilidh. The recent ceilidhs had been attracting a growing crowd owing to the reputation of the band, ‘The Joyning’, a reputation which has swelled the numbers for this event to about 160. After the finish, one band member remarked that usually only ten to fifteen people start the dancing at their events while the first dance here attracts well over a hundred! Archbishop Pell did not attend the Ceilidh but spent the evening with the Vaughan-Fowler family whom he knew from his time here as a graduate student and from his Diocese of Melbourne. Luckily for the Chaplain there was still time, after returning from dinner, to attend the last part of the Ceilidh and so ensure that the Newman Room would be ready for the 11.00am Mass which the Archbishop would celebrate.

On that Sunday afternoon, for those shattered neither in mind nor body, there was to be the Oxford leg of the twice yearly football match between the Cambridge and Oxford Catholic Societies. Michael d’Arcy has managed to stimulate sufficient enthusiasm to field regularly both male and female teams. There is now a More-Fisher Cup to contest, which up to now has firmly resided here at the Oxford Chaplaincy. In the end Oxford maintained their 100% record and in reciprocal hospitality to that received by Oxford in Cambridge, doughnuts and drinks were later had by all in the Bar.

Two days later when Father Peter, Sister Andrea, and Father Paul met for their weekly meeting, they all agreed that while no-one would deliberately organise such a weekend, the scale and fulness of the weekend’s Catholic activity had made for a very special atmosphere.

The end of each Michaelmas Term is occupied with the organisation of the two major events in the life of the Catholic Society, the annual Black-Tie Dinner and the CathSoc Elections. The elections took place on Sunday 22nd November, 7th Week. This year, there were four candidates - Martin Crotty, Michael d’Arcy, Clare Gilligan, and Rufo Quintavalle - for the post of President, yet none for Publicity Officer! After the 11.00am Sunday Mass, the candidates, standing on the half-landing of the Narthex staircase gave short speeches to the assembled electorate. This piece of modern concrete architecture, designed in homage to Le Corbusier, was the ideal platform for these hustings. As always, all candidates were worthy of the posts they were contesting and it remained a difficult task to decide for whom to vote. The results of the elections were announced in the bar that evening and there were good takings behind the bar as the count took a long time. Michael d’Arcy was elected President for the forthcoming year. Immediately there arose the question of how to fill the uncontested posts, but by the end of the week a full committee was assembled, and so the principles of CathSoc democracy were effected for another year.

As soon as the elections were over, that retiring Committee busied itself with preparations for the President’s Dinner, and many hours were spent agonising over the seating plan. This annual black tie event took place on Friday 27th November, 7th week, and was attended by 60 students. The evening began with drinks, followed by dinner, and praised by all for its high quality. Mary Kenny was the guest speaker, and she gave a splendid account of the power of medieval women in the Church, and discussed the role that women should fulfil in the Church today. Afterwards the retiring President, Amy Kieran thanked her Committee for their work, and later the Chaplain extolled her virtues while her committee revealed something of her hidden life. The evening finishes with drinks in the Blue Room and a photocall.

The following day, Saturday 28th November, 7th week, the Chaplaincy hosted an ‘Art and Christianity’ conference and an exhibition of Christian Artists in conjunction with Stratford Caldecote, from the Centre of Faith and Culture. This day Conference included amongst its speakers Bishop Kallistos Ware who spoke on ‘Art and Theology’, and the Chaplain who spoke on the nature of sacred architecture. The day attracted widespread interest amongst artists and others, and was the second instance of fruitful collaboration between the Chaplaincy and the Centre for Faith and Culture.

On Sunday 29th November, 8th week, the retiring CathSoc Committee conducted a review after Mass of the past term and introduced the new committee. The traditional lunch helped proceedings, and the invitation was issued to attend the forthcoming Advent Service. In a break with tradition this was organised by the new Committee, and Sr. Andrea gave an address on the meaning of Advent.

This academic year was the last for Sr. Andrea Le Guevel as Assistant Chaplain at the Chaplaincy as she would be retiring the following Summer. The previous summer the Oxford Board had agreed that an ideal successor would be another religious sister with suitable academic qualifications. The Chaplain, with the assistance of two Senior Members, Dr. Nicholas Richardson and Dr. Helen Watanabe, were charged with searching for Sr. Andrea’s replacement. After due process the Chaplain was very pleased to be able to offer the post of Chaplaincy Assistant to Sr. Karen d’Artois, a Dominican Sister. Sr. Karen is a graduate of McGill University, Montreal and a Commonwealth Scholar at Strathclyde University. After her studies she joined the Dominican Sisters and lived in Oxford during part of her noviciate, and recently complete a postgraduate Diploma in Theology at Heythrop College, London.

By the end of the following week most of the Junior Members had departed the University, and the Chaplains could enjoy a welcome rest. The highlight of that week for the Chaplains was the Annual Staff Christmas lunch which truly marks the beginning of the holiday season. The Chaplaincy remained open for Mass till Christmas, which was celebrated here on Christmas Eve with Carols and Midnight Mass for the ever-faithful members of the congregation.

The Hilary Term

The Hilary Term opened with the usual 11.00am Mass and Open Meeting. The new Committee spoke about the forthcoming term and announced the launch of the ‘Christianity’ booklet. This term, the CathSoc Committee promised to branch out with new ideas and events, and consequently members could look forward to a wine tasting evening and a CathSoc celebrity Countdown. According to some, the Chaplain possesses a passing resemblance to Richard Whiteley! On a more serious note, the Mass for Christian Unity took place in Balliol, on Tuesday 26th January, 2nd week. It was very fitting that Fr. Paul King was chief celebrant, since he is both a former Balliol undergraduate and a former Anglican Vicar.

The previous Saturday 23rd January, 1st week, the Chaplains organised a Memorial Mass for Sydney Boag who sadly had died the previous October after an extended period of illness. The family had decided with the Chaplains to hold a Memorial Mass in the new year to allow his many friends from the Oxford area to come together and pray with the family, and to join them afterwards for a reception. Sydney Boag had been a devoted Administrator who helped secure the financial well-being of the Chaplaincy through his dedication and administration of the final stage of the Appeal. This was an appropriate way to remember a man of great faith and quiet dignity.

The first social event organised by the CathSoc Committee was the above-mentioned Wine Tasting which took place on Wednesday 3rd February, 3rd week, organised by our own connoisseur, Rufo Quintavalle. Six wines, three red and three white, were on offer, and each had to be judged and marked under different categories. This event being a student wine-tasting, there was no wine poured away. Remarkably, in the Chaplain’s old-fashioned opinion, the best wine came from the New World, with the New Zealand white standing out. This might just be coincidence, but the organiser is of New Zealand descent.

Next Saturday 6th February, the Chaplaincy hosted the Lourdes Reunion when former pilgrims return and meet the uninitiated who are given a brief, but mostly incomprehensible, description of the pilgrimage and the tasks involved. The evening started with Mass and was followed by those explanations, which were interrupted by bibulous race goers! After a small interlude the evening continued with dinner and reminiscences of past pilgrimages. This year a steady number of new students joined the pilgrimage, and between the two Universities approximately thirty students travelled to Lourdes the following summer.

The following day, Sunday 2nd February, 4th week, the long awaited public launch of the “Christianity” booklet took place. The booklet was launched by Fr. David Albert Jones OP after Mass to popular acclaim. The original idea for a booklet had been mooted the previous Trinity Term by a group of students from the different Catholic Societies: the Catholic Society, the Graduate Society and the Newman Society. They commissioned Fr. David to write a short booklet which would be given to every junior member of the University. The presentation of the faith would be simple, straightforward and informative. Fr. David wrote the text in the long vacation and it was ready for editing and comment by the beginning of the Michaelmas Term.

Throughout that term, a planning group had met to discuss the text with Fr. David as well as to organise its publication and the necessary fund-raising. The project was brought to completion by the timely assistance of Denis Riches of Family Publications who undertook to organise its publication, national distribution and national publicity. The University publicity was left to the students and enigmatic black and gold posters began to appear in the Hilary Term on College notice boards, public lamp posts and other places with statements like; “The Church of the Living God: Pillar and Bulwark of the truth 7.2.99”; “Wisdom has built herself a house. She has hewn her seven pillars 7.2.99”. These posters began arousing interest, not least among Catholic students themselves.

The few weeks prior to the actual launch was a time of frantic activity within the Chaplaincy. One Saturday the Narthex was turned into an impromptu scriptorium, where relays of undergraduates wrote out 15,000 names on individual envelopes. It was very gratifying to see that the immense effort needed to launch the booklet, proved not to be a stumbling block but was rather the occasion for the outpouring of generosity by over 50 students who helped in some way to launch the booklet. The following Wednesday and Thursday nights saw further teams sifting the envelopes into different Colleges, stuffing them with booklets and finally sorting them into alphabetical order. Both nights were long, and the lights were still burning in the Narthex at 3.00am. The final task was the distribution of the booklets themselves to all the Colleges. This was done between Saturday evening and Sunday morning and proved unexpectedly straightforward. The whole project was a marvellous combined effort, and something with which all those involved can be justly satisfied. This active evangelisation brought the Chaplaincy together in common purpose, and the benefits were felt both within and without the walls of the Old Palace.

Every term regular activities take place in the Chaplaincy which rarely reach the headlines or even grace the pages of the weekly bulletin. Each Monday Sr. Andrea organised the Senior Member Prayer Group which was attended by a regular membership. This takes place after the 12.15pm Mass, and each week a different member takes it in turn to prepare a suitable meditation. On Tuesdays, the cook prepared a hot buffet lunch for those students who attended the 1.10pm lunchtime Mass. The secret of this lunch has now filtered out, and between twenty and twenty-five students attend Mass and stay for lunch in the Narthex. This has been a good way of integrating new students into the life of the Chaplaincy, as well as giving both Fr. Peter and Sr. Andrea a chance to meet many of the regulars.

The activity of all three Chaplains is so structured that each Chaplain is also responsible for the pastoral care of a group of Colleges. This normally involves organising a termly College Mass in conjunction with the College Rep, and which is followed by some sort of social activity, either a drink in the Bar or meals on wheels (as supplied by the Chaplains), or dinner in Hall. The fluctuation in the number of students attending such Masses resists an easy analysis. The secret Catholic life of certain Colleges seems to defy logic, and change is frequent both over the years and even between terms. Each year there are notable cases of ‘religious revival’, and this year the New College termly Masses were attracting nearly thirty students. Other Colleges that have emerged from the shadows in recent years are Queens, Magdalen and St. Peter’s. Others remain particularly strong, while some have declined, though these had better remain nameless. These visits to the Colleges are an essential part of the Chaplains’ ministry and many weeks can see them visiting at least two Colleges.

By the end of the launch week, it was a great relief for the Chaplain to take a few students to Downside Abbey for a monastic weekend: “Everywhere peace, everywhere serenity and a marvellous freedom from the tumult of the world”. Each year both Sr. Andrea and Fr. Peter organise monastic weekends for women and men respectively, with Fr. Peter travelling to Downside Abbey and Sr. Andrea to Stanbrook Abbey. The idea of these weekends is to make possible a full immersion in the monastic routine. Later in the term Sr. Andrea took a similar group of women to Stanbrook and they too engaged in the monastic routine of Office, lectio and spiritual talks, but also monastic manual work.

Ten days later on Wednesday 24th February, 6th week, the Chaplaincy hosted the annual Thomas More Lecture ‘normally given by a Catholic active in public life’. This year the lecture was given by Mark Thompson, Director of National and Regional television and former Controller of BBC2. His talk was entitled ‘Morality and the Media’. Mr. Thompson addressed some of the issues that the BBC has confronted in the last few years , such as setting acceptable moral limits in producing television programmes. The most important considerations, he said, were the pursuit of truth and the need to reflect current society; and these considerations were what decided controversial questions - the broadcasting of explicit sex scenes, and the use of bad-language. Mr Thompson spoke eloquently and the lecture attracted a fair sized crowd but unfortunately too few students. After the Lecture the Chaplains hosted a dinner in the Blue Room for Mr. and Mrs. Thompson and friends.

At the beginning of the previous long vacation Fr. Peter had met with Professor John Caldwell and Susan Hitch to discuss the possibility of a repeat performance of the ‘Good Friday Oratorio’ which had been originally performed for the Turl Street Festival the previous year. The Oratorio was composed by Professor Caldwell and had been produced to critical acclaim. He had used many different musical forms within a chanted English/Latin setting to express the spiritual force of St John’s account of the Passion. Both Professor Caldwell and Ms Hitch were keen to repeat the Oratorio and performances took place in the Newman Room on the Thursday, Friday, 4th and 5th March, 7th week. The production involved using a cruciform stage with the audience in four sections of seating. This allowed those in the audience to immerse themselves in the action with sound and singing coming from all directions. Both nights were sold out, and the many students who attended spoke very highly of the work and the depth of meaning it gave to the Passion.

The next day, Saturday 6th March, 7th week, witnessed the largest CathSoc Ceilidh yet. Corpus Christi College was strongly represented, due, no doubt, to the strong presence of ‘corpuscules’ on the Committee. This was the last social event of term in the Chaplaincy and all that was left was the usual review and comment at the Open Meeting after the Sunday 11.00am Mass

The Trinity Term

The Trinity Term opened on Sunday 25th April, 1st week, with the Archbishop of Birmingham arriving to receive and confirm five students at the 11.00am Mass. The Archbishop commanded us all to become “spiritual volcanoes” able and ready to live the Gospel in the World and to follow the inspirations of those religious groups which had colonised Oxford from its beginning. The presence of the Archbishop meant that wine could be drunk at lunch, and the newly confirmed Catholics were thus received in style. The first week ended with the May morning midnight Mass. This CathSoc ‘traditional’ event attracted about 25 hardy souls, who then later either awaited the dawn and the madrigals at Magdalen Tower or, like the Chaplain, retired to their rooms.

The CathSoc Committee again proved faithful to their initial commitment to hold new events, and early on in term, Wednesday 5th May, 2nd week, they organised the first ever CathSoc-Orthodox Society dialogue with two eminent speakers, Bishop Kallistos Ware and Fr. Robert Ombres OP. Both speakers gave a clear account of the historical situation surrounding the split between East and West and the current theological dispute over the ‘filioque’ clause in the Creed and the universal role of the Papacy. The Blue Room was crammed with nearly 60 students, and apart from the worry over the strength of the floor, the evening proved most illuminating, and showed that students were interested in such a fundamental Church issue as the separation of Christian East and West.

Each Trinity Term embraces two Holy Days of Obligation, the Ascension and Corpus Christi and they have come to be celebrated in different College Chapels. The Ascension Eve Mass was said in Exeter Chapel with the kind permission of the Chaplain, Rev. Stephen Hampton, and which was followed by Formal Hall. These Holy Days allow students to visit different College Chapels and to dine in different Halls and check out their catering standards. More importantly the use of the College Chapel for such Masses gives support to the small group of Catholics that exists in any one college.

The first four Sundays evenings of the Trinity Term are set aside for the now traditional Summer ballroom dance classes. This year’s classes were led by a Slovak dance teacher who has been the most demanding so far. She took 50 students through their musical paces, all in preparation for the Summer dinner dance which took place on Friday 21st May, 4th week. This popular event brought together a dream team, the Chef, Simon Henry, and the local Dance Band leader, Richard Balding. This Chaplaincy event has become one of the Band’s favourite gigs, and they all look forward to the occasion each year. On the night students tried out their newly learnt dance routines with varying success, but as the Chaplain always reminds them, ballroom dancing is an essential social skill and much more healthy and aesthetic than disco dancing for anyone over thirty. Later that Summer Fr. Paul engaged the same band for his 60th birthday party to his friends’ acclaim.

Two days later on Sunday 23rd May, 5th week, the tone of the place changed somewhat as the Chaplains welcomed the Apostolic Delegate, Archbishop Pablo Puente for his first visit to the Chaplaincy. The Archbishop had done his background work, and revealed that:

“I know that your Chaplaincy is flourishing with the Spirit. The Chaplaincy was founded with the permission of the Holy See in 1895. From the beginning it was like a light of the Spirit and Christian life. I know that you continue this tradition with enthusiasm. As a demonstration of this, I see the booklet that you have published and distributed to the junior members of the University: “Christianity: an introduction to the Catholic faith”. “For this today, as Representative of Pope John Paul II in Great Britain, I came to encourage you and ask you still more. You, with the Holy Spirit are able to do much more.”

He further commended to the congregation the evangelisation of our culture, since as undergraduates they were uniquely capable of achieving this through their studies and future professional lives. After Mass the Archbishop mingled with the congregation and stayed for lunch with the Chaplains.

This year the Corpus Christi Mass, Thursday 3rd June, 6th Week, was celebrated in Trinity College, having been arranged by Sr. Andrea and Rev. Trevor Williams, the College Chaplain. The Chapel is a fine example of English baroque architecture and it was a good opportunity to show a building most students would never have thought of visiting. As it was a glorious summer’s evening the Chaplain kindly allowed us to use the College’s extensive lawns for a pre-dinner drinks party of strawberry cocktails. The remaining students made their way into the Hall for dinner, and as a group the Chaplaincy occupied most of the places.

Throughout the term the Chaplain had been quietly organising various leaving celebrations for Sr. Andrea. Part of this activity involved raising a collection amongst her Chaplaincy friends, and both Senior and Junior members of the University. In consultation with various members of the Chaplaincy it was agreed to organise a group photograph to be taken in Christ Church meadow. Obviously this part could not be kept secret, and after Sunday Mass everyone trouped across St. Aldate’s to be sorted in height and arranged onto the aluminium stage. The resulting photograph proved a great success and was rather more colourful than the usual College formal photograph. A framed and inscribed copy was presented to Sr. Andrea on the last Sunday of Full Term.

That Sunday 10th June, 8th week, Sr. Andrea had invited the Rt. Rev. Stephen Ortiger, Abbot of Ealing, to celebrate Mass and preach. At the end of Mass the students made a presentation to Sr. Andrea to thank her for her seven years’ work at the Chaplaincy. Numerous friends came for the Mass and the Newman Room was full. After Mass a marvellous lunch was provided by the chef, and the Narthex was alive to the sound of happy well-wishers and students who remained to bid farewell to Sr. Andrea.

A week later a smaller party was hosted in the Blue Room for Sr. Andrea’s family, local friends and Senior Members, at which a presentation was made of the still secret collection. One of the last events for the Chaplains is the annual meeting of the Oxford Board, at which the Chaplains give an account of their stewardship over the past year. This year’s meeting took place on July 1st. Everyone present at the meeting thanked Sr. Andrea for her work and wished her well for her forthcoming sabbatical.

The departure of Sr. Andrea marked the end of an era. Over seven years she had been involved in so many activities, both with groups of students - in relation to prayer, women’s theology and psychology - and with countless individuals who came to her for advice and comfort. So much of the work of the Chaplains depends on their availability to speak to individuals in their hour of need, and at critical moments of their lives. Sr. Andrea has always been available to both the Junior and Senior Members of the University, as well as to the friends of the Chaplaincy. At the end of this year’s account of our activities, Fr. Peter would like to thank Sr. Andrea for all her ministry, friendship and support given to him over the last three and a half years.

The very last event of the year was the Graduate Society Mass and annual Black-Tie Dinner. This year Fr. Alexander Sherbrooke came to celebrate Mass and to address the graduates after dinner. Over the past year the Graduate Society had been led by Helena Saward with the help of a small committee. The main focus of their activities is the weekly Graduate Mass organised by Fr. Paul and Rev. Joel Warden, a deacon from the Oratory. Each week a different priest is invited to celebrate Mass and afterwards graduates are invited to stay behind and share some wine together in the Chaplaincy. The Mass and social remain a point of contact for Catholic graduates and though the numbers are not large, those who come have built up a strong sense of community. The Black-Tie dinner was held in the Blue Room, which proved an ideal setting for the twenty-five who came.

With much good sense, nothing formal had been organised for 8th week, and the Chaplains spent most of their time saying goodbye to yet another generation of students, and wishing them well for their future. By the end of 9th Week the Old Palace had returned to the slumber from which it had arisen at the beginning of the year. And so ends another year.