Memory, Martyrs, Mission: 900
years of Catholic British History
On Saturday, 14 April, the Venerable English College kicked
off the commemoration of three events with a Symposium covering 900 years of
Catholic History.
By Sr Bernadette Mary Reis, fsp
“Some of the greatest scholars in contemporary Catholic
history and cultural history studies” is how Janet Graffius, Curator of
Collections at Stonyhurst College, described participants at a Symposium
organized by the Venerable English College in Rome on
Saturday, 14 April. Entitled “Memory, Martyrs and Mission: Aspects of
priestly formation for England and Wales, 1118-2018,” the Symposium opened a
year of historical significance for English Catholics: the birth of St Thomas
Becket in 1118, the foundation of the first English seminary at Douai in 1568,
and the restoration of the Venerable English College in 1818.
900 years of Catholic influence
The focus of the 6 papers presented during the day-long
Symposium was, in Graffius' words, "a 900 years’ exposition of Catholic
influence from the time of Becket, through the ages, right up to the present
day.”
Thomas Becket’s life and influence in pre and post Reformation
English life and piety, presented by Rev Nicholas Schofield (Archivist of the
Archdiocese of Westminster, London), inaugurated the event. This lecture formed
the foundation for the subsequent presentations exploring the following topics:
the history of the founding of the English seminary at Douai (Professor Eamon
Duffy, Cambridge University), the cultural life promoted by the English
communities formed around the continental seminaries (Professor Peter Davidson,
Oxford University), the exploration of the frescoes that first decorated the
Venerable English College’s chapel (Dr Carol Richardson, University of
Edinburgh), the restoration of the continental seminaries in the 19th century
(Rev Dr Peter Phillips, Durham University), and a short-term vision for the
formation of contemporary English clergy (Professor Judith Champ, St Mary’s
College, Birmingham).
The Symposium concluded with a concert performed by the
Cappella Fede and directed by Peter Leech, featuring music composed between
1100 and 1967 in honor of St Thomas of Canterbury.
Bringing Catholic history into academic mainstream
Janet Graffius told Vatican News that the Symposium and the
speakers wished to convey the message that “English Catholic culture has a
vibrancy and a significance which is not fully appreciated by the academic
mainstream.” That will most likely change in the near future, she said. The
planned publication of the resulting papers will put the material in the hands
of other academics, which may spark further research. A free exhibition of
artifacts put together on the site of the Venerable English College, open
Mondays to Fridays until 11 May, puts in evidence the importance of the
holdings of the College’s archives, which can be a tremendous attraction to
scholars.
Professor Stephen Milner, Director of the British School at
Rome, said he feels particularly close to his colleagues at the Venerable
English College, since, with the British School, they represent “a UK footprint
in the heart of Rome,” spanning “academic research and also fine arts and
creativity.” He added that he hopes to be able to establish more of a
collaboration with the Venerable English College “so that we can actually bring
students from the UK over to Rome to be resident at the British School as the
UK’s research academy, precisely to come and work on the holdings of the
Venerable English College…which has the most incredibly but largely
uninvestigated archive that stretches right the way back, unbroken, in
tremendous detail, into the 16th century".
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