Tuesday, August 28, 2012

Judicial Vicars


Judicial Vicars don`t make the news much. However at the minute there are quite a lot of changes in the air. In recent weeks new judicial vicars have been appointed in Lancaster, Middlesborough, Nottingham and Hexham and Newcastle. I`ve taken over from Fr Paul Zielinski in our diocese as he stands down after twenty-three years in the position. I`m glad to say he is staying to work on the tribunal so his experience and knowledge will continue to be of service.

In Middlesborough Canon Alan Sheridan is standing down and Fr Stephen Maughan is taking over. In Lancaster Mgr Michael Tully is retiring and Fr Adrian Towers is the new man. In Nottingham Fr Peter Vellacot takes over from Mgr Canon Edward Walker who has been in the job for thirty-six years. What I found interesting is that Frs Vellacott, Towers and Maughan have all been associated with the Extraordinary Form. Fr Maughan was the celebrant of the Missa Cantata in York Minster last year, Fr Vellacott has a Saturday morning Latin Mass in his parish and I remember Fr Towers learning the Extraordinary Form and saying it at his parish in Cottam outside Preston although it hasn`t been listed for a while now. 

All of this is of no great significance, as canon lawyers have to know Latin, but makes me feel less of an oddity!

8 comments:

Simon Platt said...

Fr Towers is still saying his traditional mass, I think once a month. I last assisted at Cottam in July. I think Father was away this month.

Dorothy B said...

Congratulations, Father. May it be a most fruitful ministry.

Anonymous said...

Congratulations Father Michael. Hope you top Fr Z's 23 years!!! And perhaps gain the same 'elevetion' of your contempories across the country by being known as Cannon or Msg Brown - a fitting title for a significant role!!!!

1569 Rising said...

Do the subscribers and editorial staff of The Tablet know about this surrepticious and underhand infiltration by traditionalist clergy into thy upper reaches of Diocesan power. Where will it end?

Fr Michael Brown said...

Glad to hear it Simon. Couldn`t see that Mass on the LMS site.
Thanks Dorothy, I`ve added your blog to my blogroll.
Anonymous, thanks for your congratulations. It seems that our diocese doesn`t do Monsignors or canons (although a couple of the latter survive) so no danger of that happening.
1569, I`m not sure it is accurate to consider the JV part of the upper reaches of diocesan power. The Judicial Vicar is not like the Area Episcopal Vicars who form the bishop`s inner council.

Dorothy B said...

Thank you, Father, how kind!

Damask Rose said...

Congratulations, Father.

GOR said...

Congratulations, Father!

And don't feel like you're an oddity. Recently Cdl. Burke spoke about the need for Canon Law in the Church and how it was discounted post Vat II.

And he's not a bad 'oddity' to follow!