Some Photos of the Academic Mass - Westminster Cathedral 19 November 2006

The Cardinal was very gracious in giving time to meeting people at the reception after the Mass. In the background, Fr Peter Wilson (Senior Chaplain); Sr Mary Kenifick (Chaplain at London Met); Stefan Grabowski (President of QM Cathsoc); Claire Hack (President of UCL Cathsoc); Sr Catherine Cruz (Chaplain at Westminster Uni) smiling behind Claire!
Seated for the Liturgy of the Word. The vimpa bearer (server) is Joe Matlak, past-President of KCL Cathsoc.
The Home Secretary, Mr John Reid, was at the Mass. Here he and the Cardinal exchange greetings
The student crowds throng the hall for the reception after the Mass
Bishop Alan Hopes and the priests are clearly enjoying the homily!
And a very good homily it was too! Go to our website (www.universitycatholic.net) for a copy. There's a link to it on the "Bulletin" page. Unfortunately, none of the really delightful stories and asides are in the text. That's really sad because many of them were hugely funny!
Chaplains and other priests concelebrating the Mass with His Eminence
Offering the Sacrifice.

"Ecce Sacerdos Magnus"

Academic Mass with Cardinal Arinze

A cardinal, a bishop, countless priests and hundreds and hundreds of students - not the image which normally springs to most peoples’ minds when they imagine a university chaplaincy. But London is a big place, with huge numbers of Catholic students from all corners of the globe, a sizeable number of whom filled Westminster Cathedral on Sunday 19th November for the 2006 Academic Mass.

We were honoured to welcome Cardinal Francis Arinze, Prefect of the Sacred Congregation for Divine Worship, to celebrate Mass – himself an alumnus of the Institute of Education in London. Cardinal Arinze gave an inspiring homily with the message that by living a life inspired by our faith, we can become holy and fulfil our roles as Catholics in academic life, which he delivered with his customary wit and eloquence.

After Mass, the Cardinal took time to speak to students, and visited Newman House, the Central Catholic Chaplaincy, which celebrates its 40th anniversary since foundation this year. Fr Peter Wilson, Senior University Chaplain in the Diocese of Westminster said ‘It was wonderful that the Cardinal joined us for this celebration today, particularly since he is an alumnus of one of the institutions to which our chaplains minister.’