tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8349030660517093328.post2378457609967807275..comments2023-05-26T15:38:42.673+01:00Comments on Let The Welkin Ring: Letter to the Universe, Catholic Times and Catholic HeraldThe Welkinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08745923858650389376noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8349030660517093328.post-13200098391085694052010-11-22T15:26:36.889+00:002010-11-22T15:26:36.889+00:00A very good letter, Father. We do need to pray an...A very good letter, Father. We do need to pray and work for the retension of Ushaw in the service of the Catholic Church.<br /><br />I was reading over the weekend Fr Milburn's book about Ushaw College. I noticed that in the latter part of the 19th century, students from Ushaw took examinations for degrees at London and later Durham Universities; and that these students obtained exceptionally good degrees, beating all other colleges. In the time of the presidentcy of Mgr Newsham and Mgr Tate, excellence was the objective. If Ushaw once again pursued excellence, it could have a glorious future.Et Expectohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04273064434098923960noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8349030660517093328.post-60019538928454163032010-11-20T15:56:07.539+00:002010-11-20T15:56:07.539+00:00I am writing this from Rome where I have just retu...I am writing this from Rome where I have just returned from a reception hosted by Cardinal Raymond Leo Burke in the North American College. This seminary has about 240 students, all of whom wear the appropriate clerical dress - either cassock or black suit. They have to have studied Latin for a year before arrival, or do a 12 month course after arrival. They are allowed to study both forms of the Roman rite and there is growing and healthy interest among the seminarians in this form of Mass. I was told by one student that many seminarins in the USA now wish to learn this form of Mass alongside the new. The resurgence of the North American College is one of the success stories of recent years.<br />Compare this with the tragedy of Ushaw College which is closing. No Latin is taught so that the students are denied tuition in the official language of the Church, and anyone who has a desire for tradition has to keep his head down for six years so as not to jeopardise his chances of ordination. In addition, the wearing of clerical clothes has been frowned upon for many years. Young men no longer wish to go to Ushaw and, it is said, that some bishops no longer send their students there. To be frank, Ushaw has failed because its ethos for too many years has been negative and restrictive. Seminaries such as the North American College are reviving and succeeding because they are providing a formation that is attracting young men to the priesthood. Ushaw College is being closed because it has failed to do so. It is as simple as that. There is a renaissance occurring in the USA where the stale ideas of the 1960s have been banished from many seminaries. If the authorities in this country have the courage to recognise this reason for failure and accept that a drastic u-turn is required then it is still not too late to save this venerable old college. The means are there but is the will?Leo Darrochnoreply@blogger.com