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Latest news of interest to the East Anglia Catholic community includes Bishop Peter in Spain, the appointment of a first Bishop Ordinary of the Personal Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham and a decision to lift the faith-based admissions cap on new free schools in England.
Bishop Peter Collins recently visited the Royal English College in Valladolid, Spain, to help celebrate his upcoming 40th anniversary of priestly ordination. Bishop Peter was a seminarian at Valladolid from 1978-84, and was appointed vice-rector in ’89, a post he held for five years. He is pictured, above, with Fr John Flynn, current Rector of the seminary.
Bishop Marcus Stock, Bishop Chair of the Catholic Education Service (CES), has welcomed the decision by the Education Secretary, Gillian Keegan, to lift the faith-based admissions cap on new free schools in England.
The decision paves the way for Catholic free schools to open, having previously been excluded under the 50 percent cap or ‘rule’ which would have forced schools to turn away some Catholic pupils.
Bishop Stock, Bishop of Leeds, said: “These proposals are welcome. Dioceses are well placed to respond to differing local educational demands around the country, including the provision for children with special educational needs and disabilities. Parents can welcome this also.
“Catholic education not only provides a high performing school sector and promotes the formation of children in values and virtues; it is more ethnically diverse than other schools, educates more pupils from the most deprived backgrounds, and builds social cohesion within our communities.”
His Holiness, Pope Francis, has appointed Rev David Waller as the next Ordinary and the first Bishop Ordinary of the Personal Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham. His appointment follows the Holy Father’s acceptance of the resignation submitted by Mgr Keith Newton.
On hearing the news, Mgr Newton said: “Bishop-elect Waller has long experience in pastoral ministry both in the Church of England and in the Catholic Church, and he is presently Parish Priest of Christ the King, Chingford in the Diocese of Brentwood. I know he will use his pastoral gifts as he guides the Ordinariate into the next chapter of its life.
Bishop-elect David Waller (pictured below) said: “It is both humbling and a great honour to have been chosen by Pope Francis. I have been a member of the Ordinariate since its inception in 2011. The past 13 years have been a time of grace and blessing as small and vulnerable communities have grown in confidence, rejoicing to be a full yet distinct part of the Catholic Church.”
https://www.cbcew.org.uk/new-bishop-ordinary-for-the-ordinariate/
