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May 28, 2014     Chris McDonnell, UK    Augustine of Canterbury (Comments welcome here)

chris@mcdonnell83.freeserve.co.uk Previous articles by Chris

The Church recognises two men with the name Augustine, one Augustine of Hippo and the other Augustine of Canterbury whose feast was celebrated yesterday, May 27^th. It was to this man that the title of Apostle of England belongs.  

The turn of the 6^th Century is indeed a long time ago and the arrival of Augustine in the company of his fellow monks, sent by Gregory,  was a significant time in the history of this island people.  

He was faced then with disagreements among bishops already here, the details of which were chronicled by the Venerable Bede in his History of the English Speaking people. Not unlike today really as people tried to come to terms with each other and the Gospel message it was their task to preach.       

The establishment of Canterbury as his See began the long provenance of Canterbury as the Seat of the Primate of All England. Over five hundred years after Augustine, the Cathedral in Canterbury was the scene of the martyrdom of Thomas a Becket, the result of further conflict between church and state.  

That same fate was to befall Archbishop Oscar Romero who was shot on 24 March 1980 while celebrating Mass at a small chapel located in a hospital called La Divina Providencia one day after a sermon in which he had called on Salvadoran soldiers, as Christians, to obey God's higher order and to stop carrying out the government's repression and violations of basic human rights. His previously conservative background and hostility to liberation theology were transformed by his experience of ministry as Archbishop. Offered protection in the weeks prior to his assassination, he declined, indicating that his people did not have such protection, why should he.

In a speech only days before his death he said this.

“But it is important to note why [the Church] has been persecuted. Not any and every priest has been persecuted, not any and every institution has been attacked. That part of the church has been attacked and persecuted that put itself on the side of the people and went to the people's defense. Here again we find the same key to understanding the persecution of the church: the poor.”

— Óscar Romero, Speech at the Université catholique de Louvain , Belgium , Feb. 2, 1980.  

The similarities with Francis are striking, given his transformation whilst Archbishop of Buenos Aries and his subsequent witness to the Church and all people as Bishop of Rome.  

Our lives are strengthened by the example of others, we are encouraged by their determination, inspired by their perseverance.

Given their lot in life, we often silently ask ourselves how we would match up if we were faced with similar difficulties and challenges.         

Although it is in this present time that we live and move and have our being, we cannot disengage ourselves from the historical context that is ours, our parents, our society, our country. We choose our friends but have no choice in our parents. Genetically our roots are deep within our people just as our faith springs from the family of our Christian Church. This is our home, this is where we come from, this is where we belong, however much we are challenged on the way.  

Just as we recognise the historical context so too we must be open to the excitement of the journey ahead of us. Francis, Bishop of Rome has reinvigorated the spirit of adventure that is our Christian pilgrimage. It is up to us to take up the challenge in faith and hope.

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