Allen Hall Seminary News Easter edition 2022
RECTOR’S EASTER MESSAGE Rev Dr John Canon O’Leary STB, PhL, PhD The Lord is truly Risen! Alleluia! Welcome to the Easter edition of Allen Hall News. Much has happened since the last edition. I hope you enjoy reading about some of the highlights. It was a special blessing to have Archbishop Gugerotti, Apostolic Nuncio to Great Britain, give a superb spiritual conference on the Feast of the Presentation. I particularly wish to thank our new Dean of Studies, Fr Javier. He hosted a most fruitful faculty meeting and dinner afterwards for our dedicated lecturers. Thanks also to Fr Matt Blake O.C.D. His edifying Lenten retreat weekend included extremely helpful talks on St Theresa Benedicta of the Cross, St John of the Cross and St Teresa of Avila. As you will read, we have already rejoiced in a number of ordinations. We look forward, God willing, to another fourteen being ordained priest and six deacon this summer. Your prayerful and financial support has helped make this possible. Thank you very much indeed. In his latest book, Entering the Twofold Mystery: On Christian Conversion, Erik Varden O.S.C.O., Bishop of Trondheim in Norway, reminds us, “To say, ‘Christ is risen from the dead’… is to speak of my own life here and now, a life renewed.” He quotes an Easter Poem by George Herbert: Rise heart; thy Lord is risen, Sing his praise, Without delays; Who takes thee by the hand, that thou likewise With Him mayst rise; That, as his death calcined thee to dust, His Life may make thee gold, and much more, just. “These are words to take to heart,” says Bishop Varden, “and make our own as we rejoice, too, that we, through his rising, have been made fully alive.” May the Good Shepherd make you fully alive and lead you into the fullness of his glorious resurrection!
RECENT NEWS & FORMATION EVENTS On 8 December 2021, David Cherry (Diocese of Westminster) was admitted to candidacy for Holy Orders at Solemn Mass for the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary, celebrated by Canon John O’Leary, Rector of Allen Hall Seminary. (Top right) This year, on Wednesday 2 February, we marked Candlemas, the Feast of the Presentation, with great solemnity. At the midday Mass, following the blessing of candles and procession, David Cherry made his profession of faith and oaths for Holy Orders. That evening we were blessed to welcome the Apostolic Nuncio to Great Britain, His Excellency the Most Rev Claudio Gugerotti, who shared with us some of his experience, followed by a festal supper. We were also pleased to welcome the Ukrainian Greek Catholic seminarians studying here in London. On Tuesday 8 February, Mark Wharton was ordained to the diaconate by His Grace the Most Rev John Wilson, Archbishop of Southwark in the Church of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, Camberwell. Ad multos annos! On the Feast of St David, Tuesday 1 March, David Cherry was ordained to the diaconate in the seminary chapel by the Rt Rev John Sherrington. (Bottom right) Ad multos annos! On Friday 11 March, the Allen Hall football team journeyed north to Birmingham with their coach John Casey and referee Tom Blackburn (both Diocese of Westminster) to play against the seminarians of St Mary’s College, Oscott, resulting in a draw of 4-4. 1
On Saturday 12 March, Rev Jonathan Goodall, former Church of England Bishop of Ebbsfleet, and Rev Neil Scott were ordained to the Sacred Priesthood. Ad multos annos! Fr Neil Scott was ordained for the Personal Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham by the Apostolic Nuncio to Great Britain, His Excellency the Most Rev Claudio Gugerotti, at Our Lady of the Assumption and St Gregory, Warwick St. Fr Jonathan Goodall (left: picture © Mazur/catholicnews.org.uk) was ordained in Westminster Cathedral by His Eminence Cardinal Vincent Nichols, having been received into full Communion in Archbishop’s House last September; he is now the parish priest of St William of York, Stanmore. On Saturday 26 March, Br Francisco Hintikka C.O., of the Bournemouth Oratory, and Seán Power received the Ministry of Lector from the Rt Rev Nicholas Hudson, Auxiliary Bishop of Westminster.
A SEMINARY AT WAR Due to the tension between Ukraine and Russia, the two seminarians for the Ukrainian Catholic Eparchy of the Holy Family here in London, were recalled from their seminary in Kyiv to continue their formation in the Cathedral of the Holy Family on Duke Street, Mayfair. Bohdan Mandziuk and Julian Hayda have visited us here in Allen Hall, and some of our community joined them in their cathedral for Vespers on the Feast of the Three Holy Hierarchs. Since the invasion of Ukraine, Julian, a former journalist, producer, and filmmaker, has returned to Kyiv to join the US media outlets. Seminarians in Ukraine have been forbidden from taking up arms, working instead as stretcher-bearers, firemen, and other roles to aid the people there. We pray for peace in Ukraine, that the Geneva Convention is honoured, and that Julian’s safety is thus guaranteed.
“GOD WILL TAKE MY PLACE IN CHELSEA.” St Thomas More Lorcán Keller, Diocese of Westminster 1520 Sir Thomas More builds his beloved river-side country home, later known as Beaufort House on the site of what is now Allen Hall Seminary and the apartments directly across the (much later) road.
1793 The English College, Douai, moves to Hertfordshire as St Edmund’s College, Old Hall Green, Ware, escaping the Reign of Terror during the French Revolution. 1848 The congregation of Adoration Réparatrice is founded in Paris by the Venerable Mother Marie-Thérèse of the Heart of Jesus A.R., a trained artist, born Theodelinde BourcinDubouché. This community of third order Carmelites would later build and occupy the site of Allen Hall, praying in pairs before the Blessed Sacrament twenty-four hours a day for seventy-five years. Their foundress had received a series of visions and instructions from Christ to pray in adoration and to offer reparation for the sins of the world, following the murder of the Archbishop of Paris, Denis-Auguste Affre, and the various attacks on churches in the revolution that year.
1534 More is arrested in Chelsea and taken to the Tower of London. His Chelsea estate is seized by the Comptroller of the Royal Household. 1535 Having been found guilty of treason, for refusing the Oath of Supremacy, More is beheaded on 6 July. 1568 Cardinal William Allen founds the English College, Douai, Flanders, to train priests for the English Mission, many of whom were martyred. 1740 Having lain empty for twenty years, Beaufort house is demolished.
1886 On 9 December, Pope Leo XIII beatifies Sir Thomas More along with John Fisher, Bishop of Rochester, and the Forty Martyrs of England and Wales. Also on 9 December 1886, Fr Kenelm Vaughan and Monsignor John Vaughan,
1766 Beaufort Street is built, running directly through the original floorplan. 2
the future Bishop of Salford, brothers of the future Cardinal Herbert Vaughan purchase the house and artists’ studios at 28 Beaufort Street from the 5th Earl of Cadogan. Fr Kenelm intends to found a monastic community of men on the site of More’s house “in reparation for the sacrileges committed at the Reformation, especially the profanation of ancient churches”, which becomes the Brotherhood of the Divine Expiation. This community, however, never flourishes.
war also puts an end to financial contributions from the motherhouse in Paris, causing acute poverty. 1929 Fr Brown S.J. aides the promotion of More’s cause for canonisation by exhibiting many valuable documents and relics associated with the martyr in the convent oratory, now the seminary library. He also invites many wellknown figures such as Hilaire Belloc and G.K. Chesterton to give public lectures there. These events would do much to advance the cult of Thomas More, and to aid the sisters financially. In recognition for the contribution of the sisters in the process, the five volumes of signatures petitioning the canonisation of More are brought to the chapel, to lie in vigil through the night, before being taken to Rome.
1898 Cardinal Vaughan, now Archbishop of Westminster, offers the property to the Sisters of Adoration Réparatrice, until something more substantial could be given. He had visited them in Paris and was deeply struck by their simple, austere lives, and their charism of adoration and reparation. Expansion of the property is later aided by the Duke of Norfolk, who persuades his friend Lord Cadogan to sell numbers 30 and 32 Beaufort Street to the sisters.
1935 Pope Pius XI canonises St Thomas More and St John Fisher. 1940 On 9 July, the chapel is finally consecrated. On 8/9 September, exactly two months later, and one day after the Luftwaffe begin their bombing ‘Blitz’ on the United Kingdom, the chapel is destroyed. A local air raid shelter is also hit, killing many innocent civilians. Everything associated with St Thomas More, his mulberry tree and garden walls, a statue, and the mosaic roundel now situated in the student carpark, survives the bomb, as did the More chapel and monument in Chelsea Old Church, which was bombed in April 1941.
1910 On 5 October, the foundation stone of the new chapel is laid by Bishop Patrick Fenton, Auxiliary of Westminster, replacing the artists studios which had been converted into a chapel by the brothers. 1912 On 21 March, Cardinal Bourne opens the chapel, designed by Charles George Keogh, and dedicates it to the Most Holy Sacrament and Blessed Thomas More. 1914 The convent building is completed, with further expansion halted by the First World War. The 3
1958 On 8 April, Archbishop Godfrey lays the foundation stone for a new chapel, built in a modern style by Hector Corfiato, director of the Bartlett School of Architecture, and is consecrated on 7 November by Bishop David Cashman, Auxiliary of Westminster (he would later become the first Bishop of Arundel and Brighton).
1975 Allen Hall Seminary takes up residence in the former convent, moving from St Edmund’s College, Ware, where it remains today. c.1980 The marble sanctuary fixtures and altar rails are removed from the chapel, causing much damage to the interior wall and floor; the pews are removed and the aluminium cross, now restored to the façade, is moved inside.
1973 The sisters move to the All Saints’ Pastoral Centre in London Colney, Hertfordshire, as their community has become too small to sustain their mission.
2015 A new chapel reredos designed by Stephen Foster is installed, with a stone altar, and various other renovations.
Facing page: 1910 chapel exterior & interior, 1914 convent. Above: Oratory, bomb damage, new chapel, gallery for sick sisters (now common room kitchen), Mother foundress, the Holy Face – a vision painted by the foundress.
SOME NEW FACES ̶ PART 2 / 2
Timothy Ezat Personal Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham I was born in Kurdistan of Iraq, where I became a Christian in 1997. Soon after my conversion to Christianity, we migrated to live in the UK. After some years working as a missionary for London City Mission, I entered formation for ministry in the Church of England at Wycliffe Hall, Oxford. Following formation, I served as a curate then vicar in Eastbourne, in the Anglican Diocese of Chichester. In 2020, I was received into the Catholic Church through the Personal Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham and currently live with my family in south-east London. 4
Br Frano Bešlić S.D.B. Salesians of Don Bosco I was born and raised in Zagreb, Croatia, to a Catholic family in which prayer occupied an important part of our lives. Ever since I was a small boy, I have felt an attraction to the religious life and to the priesthood. I was quite good at basketball and had hoped to play professionally. The future was bright, but God had other plans. A strong experience in Medjugorje rekindled my childhood desire for the priesthood. The obvious choice would have been the Franciscans, having grown up around them, but during my discernment I got to know Don Bosco, through a Salesian university chaplain. I instantly felt a strong connection and a desire to join the Society, which I did in 2015. With confidence in Jesus and Mary, I look forward for the years ahead of me.
Scott Coleman Diocese of Arundel & Brighton I joined Allen Hall in September 2021 in the third year, having studied for two years at St John’s Seminary, Wonersh. My journey of vocation has had a few twists and turns, first taking me to St Stephen’s House, Oxford, where I was training for the Anglican ministry. After a short ecumenical placement at the Venerable English College in Rome, I was received into the Church in 2017. I then worked for a year as a pastoral assistant at St Elizabeth of Portugal, Richmond before being sent to the Royal English College in Valladolid for a propaedeutic year. I’m grateful for each of the places I’ve been, which have all contributed to my sense of vocation to the priesthood. I’m excited about beginning my theological studies in Allen Hall and look forward to making the most of life in London.
Friar Francisco Mary Giacinto Hoyos F.M.I.S.F. Family of Mary Immaculate & St Francis I was born in Colombia where I lived until I reunited with my parents in London, aged thirteen. After serving Mass with the Guild of St Stephen for five years, and attending daily Mass, I discovered Jesus’ invitation to a deeper love. In 2010, I joined the Franciscan Friars of the Immaculate in Stoke on Trent, beginning my novitiate in Italy the following year. After first vows, I began my studies for the priesthood at the Theological Seminary of Immaculata Mediatrix, until it closed in 2014. Due to various conflicts that the Institute was undergoing, I left the Institute and continued my studies privately in Rome until 2018, when I returned to the UK as a Marian Franciscan in the Diocese of Portsmouth. I am currently attending Allen Hall to complete those studies that were missing in my years of formation which, by God’s grace, I will complete this Summer. Br Steven Lloyd S.D.B. Salesians of Don Bosco I am from Bootle, Liverpool and have been with the Salesians for what seems like, the majority of my life. My parish was entrusted to the Salesians and I attended the Salesian school in Bootle, after which I spent a gap year with the Salesians in Savio House, Bollington. It was during this year that I really had the opportunity to discern my vocation and put my faith in action, like so many of the priests and brothers that I knew as a child. I then joined the Salesians in Bolton before spending my novitiate in Los Angeles. In 2015 I professed temporary vows and began my degree and teacher training in London, before spending two years as teacher and chaplaincy coordinator. In 2021 I professed my solemn vows and began my studies in Allen Hall Seminary. I look forward to continuing my studies here, as I journey towards ordination, please God. 5
Friar Anthony M. Omorogbe F.M.I.S.F. Family of Mary Immaculate & St Francis I am originally from Benin City in the Edo State of Nigeria, and am the youngest of five children. My journey to the religious life was rooted in my Catholic family, witnessing lives of good example, and also my participation in the life of the Church. I went on to obtain a Bachelor’s degree in computer science and, despite my childhood dreams and later career ambitions, the desire for God continued to grow. I took a leap of faith and began formation for the priesthood in Nigeria, and later accepted an invitation to continue that formation in England where I am in formation with the Marian Franciscans – The Family of Mary Immaculate and St Francis – in the Catholic Diocese of Portsmouth, and am currently in my first year of philosophy in Allen Hall.
Thomas Searl Congregation of Holy Cross I am currently in my third year of university formation for religious life. The Old College Undergraduate Seminary of the Congregation of Holy Cross encourages us, in our third year, to spend a semester at a seminary abroad, which is how I got the opportunity to come to Allen Hall this term. I first heard God’s call to the religious life after a moment of conversion in secondary school. Since then, I have seen the hand of God guiding and transforming me, calling me ever more to union with Him. My time in Allen Hall has given me the unique opportunity to step back and consider my discernment and my community in another light. I have grown surer of my discernment since coming here, and I’m very thankful for the staff and community in Allen Hall for their help as I attempt to hear more clearly the voice of God. Br Stephen Mensah Teye S.D.B. Salesians of Don Bosco My name is Stephen Mensah Teye, Mensah meaning ‘third-born male’ in Ghana, among the Akans. Thus, I am the third boy of five children, including my only sister Joyce with whom I am very close. In April 2011 I joined the Salesians of Don Bosco in Tema, Ghana, having left my job as a quality control officer in Golden Exotics Ltd, where I worked for two years. Prior to that, I worked for three years in Asutuare Poultry Farm Ltd, first as a store keeper and later promoted to the role of supervisor. I have since made my final profession in the Society, and have come to Allen Hall this year to continue my studies in formation for the priesthood. I am grateful to God for leading me thus far, and to my mother for her love and affection, which has formed me into the man I am today.
Stephen Trafford Archdiocese of Southwark I was raised as a non-practicing Anglican in Sittingbourne, Kent, before coming to know Christ through the works of C.S. Lewis. The story of his conversion had such an impact on my fourteen-year-old self, that I began to pray and come to understand the gift of my baptism. I was received into the Catholic Church aged twenty-one and, after a BA in Theology from Heythrop College, began a six-year career teaching Religion and Philosophy in Catholic schools. Adoration has been an essential part of my faith journey, and it was before the Blessed Sacrament that I first felt the call to priesthood. I am now in my third year of formation, having spent two years in St John’s, Wonersh, before it closed. I am interested in military history, heritage railways and campanology (bell-ringing) and am an avid supporter of Gillingham FC. 6
Friar Joseph Maria Odegbe F.M.I.S.F. Family of Mary Immaculate & St Francis
Back row: Rev Joseph Gulliford, Rev Nick Harden, Rev Allan MacDonald. Front Row: Rev Michael Etuka, Rev Joseph Meigh Ordination to the diaconate 3 July 2021. Photograph courtesy of St John’s Wonersh.
Rev Joseph Gulliford Archdiocese of Southwark
Rev Nick Harden Diocese of Arundel & Brighton
I was born to a faithful family, and was blessed to have experienced God’s powerful love for me as a young child, praying with my family and attending Catholic charismatic conferences. This sense of love helped me immensely through the growing pains of adolescence and teenage years, filling me with a sense of belonging and direction. After university, I considered different options, such as chaplaincy, teaching, music, and even spent a year in the Sion Community. However, the call to priesthood was growing like a raging fire throughout my twenties and, despite the desire to be married, God persisted and I surrendered. In spite of the many challenges, God’s grace has sustained me on the journey and filled me with peace and joy, deep in my heart. It has been a real blessing to minister as a deacon this year, and I am excited to be approaching my priestly ordination.
Although originally from Farnborough in the diocese of Portsmouth, I am in my final year of formation for Arundel and Brighton. Prior to Allen Hall, I was a seminarian in St John’s, Wonersh, and was ordained deacon there by Archbishop John Wilson last July. Half of my week is spent in Allen Hall and the other half in the Parish of Woking. It is a real joy after many years in seminaries to be able to exercise my ministry and spend time with people in the parish. Before entering the seminary, I spent some years in science, initially studying Chemistry and then researching in universities and subsequently teaching in secondary schools. Rev Michael Etuka Archdiocese of Southwark I was born in London and attended primary school and the first year of
For more information about vocations to the priesthood, visit: ukvocation.org Or get in touch directly: Westminster: vocationspromoter@rcdow.org.uk | 07515 065696
secondary school here in the UK, before moving to Nigeria with my parents. I returned to the UK in my twenties and went to university, after which I worked for a while before taking up a career in the Metropolitan Police Service, where I worked as a Police Constable for nine years. I entered St John’s Seminary, Wonersh, in 2016, where I was ordained to the diaconate last July. I am now spending the final year of my formation in Allen Hall. Rev Joseph Meigh Diocese of Clifton Originally from Cheltenham in Gloucestershire, I am currently the only Seminarian for the Diocese of Clifton! I felt deeply drawn towards the priesthood as a teenager, and so, after studying Theology at university, I was sent by Bishop Declan Lang to St John’s Seminary, Wonersh. After five very blessed years there, I am now one of five deacons to transfer parttime to Allen Hall. It’s quite a contrast, exchanging the sounds of the owls and foxes in the Surrey Hills for the horns and sirens of central London… but there is plenty to be thankful for. When not at Allen Hall, I am based in a parish in the beautiful city of Bath, working in the parish and the local hospital, and preparing for priesthood this summer, all being well!
Previous editions available online at issuu.com/rcwestminster or scan the QR code (below). Editor & Typesetter: Copy-editor:
Lorcán Keller, Diocese of Westminster Seán Power, Diocese of Westminster
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