Monday 20 December 2010

Ushaw Crisis

I found it fascinating to read, on Father Brown's blog, Forest Murmurs, that the projected closure of Ushaw College has been brought up in the House of Commons, though realistically I do not suppose that will make a great deal of difference to the trustees of the College.
Like Terry Middleton, who commented on my last post, I too have found from my recent experience of Ushaw that the Conference business-side of Ushaw seemed to be doing well, the Reception and organisation was good, the meals in the Refectory were varied and most enjoyable, the staff were very pleasant - no hint there that  the business was in trouble.  Perhaps it was/is - but then we do not know - it's all speculation.  But it must be true that with the Conference business gone, the chances of keeping the College open with just a handful of students looks very unlikely.
As Leo Darroch says in his comment, an appeal by Trustees for funds for Ushaw, on a par perhaps with the money raised for the new Youth Village, would have been welcomed by lay people and priests alike.  Of course, we already have in each diocese an annual collection for the training of priests, but another collection to stave off an early closure would have done well.
But at the moment all we can do is speculate.  Perhaps WikiLeaks might like to get involved!

No comments:

Post a Comment