I fell into step with a well-known public figure at the Big Assembly in 2010, when Pope Benedict met thousands of school-children at St Mary’s University College Twickenham.

We were crossing the running-track and he pointed to a spot on the ground and said: “That’s where I won my first medal for athletics.” I asked him if he remembered the time when we first met at the Naval College in Dartmouth about 20 years previously, when he was Principal Speaker at a College Dinner. I reminded him that he had urged all the young people present: “Never be afraid to stand up and be counted for your faith. I am never shy,” he had said, “to tell others that I am a Catholic. I unashamedly profess my Catholicism and am proud to be a member of my Church.” I asked him if he would say the same thing today, in the context of scandals and abuse. His reply was immediate: “We wouldn’t have these scandals if more people stood up for what mattered, for their religion and their faith, sensibly and truthfully, selflessly and convincingly. Others would admire us for it.”

If medals were being given out a year ago when Pope Benedict visited Britain, he would have collected a bagful – and they wouldn’t have been for athletics, though, in St Paul’s terms, he certainly ran the race and won the prize. However, if Benedict had indeed been given any award, I’m sure he would have appeared embarrassed to accept it, in his shy but endearing way. There was never a word out of place, and never a flicker of irritation or impatience. There was not one adverse criticism from a previously indifferent if not hostile press. His words and his actions were inspiring. He had “attitude” as it should be! In a crippling 4-day programme, he hammered home time and again, yet gently and convincingly, the same message as my former Twickenham athlete had given: Stand up and be counted for what matters, for religious freedom and faith in Jesus Christ. His own example added power to his words. His re-enforced it with his own integrity that stood out in sharp and silent contrast to the context of many of his listeners. Heart indeed spoke to heart. What he said might have meant different things to different people. He seemed to speak in biblical tongues, reaching out to everyone.

The Beatification of John Henry Newman provided the main reason for Benedict’s visit. But, it was two other events that alone justified the visit, in retrospect. They captivated my attention at the time and have remained in my memory ever since, and perhaps for ever. On the very spot where Sir Thomas More, Lord Chancellor, had been condemned by Parliament hundreds of years previously, because of standing up for his Christian faith and principles, Pope Benedict spoke to the assembled members of both Houses. What an historic moment, so full of poignancy. Here was a clear call for the re-awakening of nobility and principle among politicians and legislators, reminding them of their own high calling and accountability. This was the moment when the principle of promoting not oneself or one’s own individual career, but furthering the COMMON good was underlined for attention and action. In our turn, each one of us must now ask and continue to ask our local MP: What are you doing to respond to this call to further the Common Good in practice?

The second event etched into my memory took place in Hyde Park, normally associated with walks, leisure, the Serpentine, and soap-box speakers. It was not Benedict on a soap-box or a papal throne delivering another one of his thought-provoking speeches that struck me so forcefully. Rather, it was the reaction of the thousands of young people to the sudden appearance of the Blessed Sacrament on the altar before them. In the evening gloom, they spontaneously fell to their knees, as one. I wasn’t aware of anyone asking them to do so. They knelt reverently and in silence, lighting up the world by their action. One moment they had been in jovial, exuberant, and noisy mood; the next they were bending the knee and bowing the head in reflection and prayer. It was powerful. The witness of this young generation did not go unnoticed. It has promise for the future, as they demonstrate why they should be listened to.

In the 9 months since the Pope’s visit, the Diocese of Menevia has sought ways of deepening the effects of those remarkable experiences. Through a Pastoral Letter, our people and clergy have been asked, not to do anything frighteningly new, but to do the ordinary things even better: caring for one another; gathering our young people anew; going on pilgrimage to Lourdes, Rome, or Cardigan; setting aside time for personal prayer; seeing the preparations for introducing the New Missal as opportunities for renewing faith; coming to an understanding of what the Gospel means in daily life; taking part in Lenten Station Masses; becoming “Rooted in Christ” and reflecting on what that entails; and inviting the clergy to engage in a call to “Come Alive in Christ” through their annual retreat, on-going formation, and in-service training. These themes will remain dominant for at least the next 3 years. The early responses have been steady and re-assuring, nothing world-shattering, with no great programmes or expectations. They will have a peak when we celebrate the Silver Jubilee of the Diocese next year, on 19 March 2012, the Feast of St Joseph, Patron of the Diocese. In the 6th century, St David brought Christianity to Mynyw, the south-west corner of Wales. With nothing but faith and determination, he and his monks built a dozen abbeys. The living stones of today in Menevia are being asked to find ways of gripping the messages that David and Benedict sowed in their hearts – not least of all by standing up and being counted for their faith.

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Tom
Bishop of Menevia