EDITORIAL

FR RICHARD FFIELD OSB EDITOR OF THE AMPLEFORTH JOURNAL

FrAbbot, in his first contribution to this Journal, sets out his vision for Ampleforth’s future and invites you to be part of it: to share in the evangelisation of a nation that for the first time has a Christian population of less than 50%. The last popes have each emphasised that evangelisation is the task of every Christian: the bringing of the good news that each and every human being is loved to bits by God. Over the last year Fr Abbot has invited a number of Bishops, priests and lay people to speak to the Community on how they see our role in this. The consensus is that monks evangelise not by going out and making speeches but by being praying monks in our monastery and meeting people who come to visit and stay with us. St Benedict wrote that a monastery is never without visitors.

Gabrielle Foster reviews a new book on St Hilda, the 7th Century abbess of the monastery of men and women at Whitby who gave hospitality to kings and peasants alike. The evidence is overwhelming that people do come here and find the peace that they did not always know they were seeking and hear what they did not always know they needed to hear. As an example of God’s propensity to bring good out of every evil, the live streaming of our Office, of our Mass, of our weekly Home Retreats and our daily Home Prayers, that grew as a result of Covid, has brought many more people in contact with us than would ever fit in the Abbey Church. The refurbished Grange has been attracting greater numbers of guests for retreats and the nearly completed refurbishment of Alban Roe House (formerly JH) will bring more school retreats from outside the valley.

As this is written, we are hosting for the first time a Council meeting of Aide Internationale Monastère, in which Fr Mark Butlin (O49) has been so active for many years, with a large number of Abbots and Abbesses from all over the world. You can read in this issue about the first 25 years of our own monastery in Zimbabwe. And the obituaries of OAs show the various ways in which so many of you have taken a variety of roles in evangelisation over the years and Nick Reynolds writes of his experience as a Permanent Deacon.

It is a joy to report that the school has passed its latest Ofsted inspection and as the school bids farewell to Robin Dyer who has seen us through the last four inspections, we welcome his Catholic successor, Peter Roberts. Nick Wright writes about his own experience as governor of school with a non-Catholic head and David Moses shares his experience of teaching English.

Fr Ambrose reviews a Ghost story set on the road from Ampleforth to Gilling, written 600 years ago by a monk of Byland Abbey and in the year that Gilling Castle has been sold, Peter Robinson recalls the Italic handwriting he was taught there.

General Sebastian Roberts reviews David Goodall’s memoir of the Northern Ireland Agreement in which he played such a prominent part. Gerry Rogerson shares some views of the Abbey Church that very few people have seen.

We hope that this issue will reach more readers than ever before. This is due to a joint decision made by the Abbey, the College and the Ampleforth Society.