World Mission Day

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Modern religious Art - Brian Whelan

The Martrydom of St Edmund by Brian Whelan


Some time ago I lamented that in Trinidad there are few people doing religious (Christian) art. In the greater world there are those who paint religious art, and Brian Whelan is one such artist.

Now I can't say that his art is fantastic. I leave that up to the crisics. What I know is that I love the photos of the pieces. And it has been my experience that if the photo is great, then the actual piece must be phenomenal.

According to the Independent news agency Brian Whelan is having an exhibition at St Martin in the Fields, Trafalgar Square, (london England) from 8 - 20 November. His art is described below:

Brian Whelan's paintings, much like the medieval art he admires, depict a sublime comedy of life's glories and tragedies on both religious and secular plains.

As a 'visionary painter', Whelan's religious works have been shown alongside those of Stanley Spencer, Peter Howson, Eric Gill and Marc Chagall, and can be found in public and private collections worldwide. His Martyrdom of St. Edmund permanently hangs in St Edmundsbury Cathedral. Other religious institutions where his work can be seen are in Santiago de Compostela in Spain, Czestochowa in Poland; and Ohio in the USA.

In addition to painting religious subjects, Whelan, whose father hails from Dublin and mother from Kilkenny, feels compelled to paint London, the city he grew up in. This immigrant status and the theme of the journey inform the work: the street, the pubs and bars, the church, the underground, the train and the red bus.

Wikipedia has this to say about his art:

Whelan's propensity to merge both the sublime with the ridiculous is not always readily embraced. His paintings in the Window Gallery of St. Martins School of Art (London) were turned to face the wall after complaints were made from the public.

Seamus Heaney, Spokeof Whelan's work: "His work is bold and commanding."

Who is Seamus Heaney? Well Seamus Heaney he is an Irish poet, writer and lecturer. who has received the Nobel Prize in Literature (1995), the Golden Wreath of Poetry (2001), T. S. Eliot Prize (2006) and two Whitbread prizes (1996 and 1999). He was both the Harvard and the Oxford Professor of Poetry and was made a Commandeur de l'Ordre des Arts et Lettres in 1996. In 2011, he was named one of "Britain's top 300 intellectuals" by The Observer. So when Seamus Heaney speaks, many listen.

Sister Wendy Beckett described Brian When's work as: "Clear, strong, prayerful work with joy at its centre."

Sister Wendy Beckett is a South African-born British art expert, consecrated virgin and contemplative hermit who became a celebrity during the 1990s, presenting a series of acclaimed art history documentaries for the BBC.

Below is a series of Paintings from Whelan:


Album cover by Brian Whelan for the Band "The Popes"


Brian Whelan - CityScape (London)

CUBAN CARDINAL RESIGNS AFTER A LIFE OF FIGHTING FOR LOVE

What an inspiring news story. A freedom fighter for love has arrived at the age of retirement as Archbishop. I am sure there were many times when this great Catholic must have thought that he would not live to see his 75th Birthday. Here is the story from the Catholic News Agency:

Havana, Cuba, Oct 21, 2011 / 02:01 pm (CNA).- Cardinal Jaime Ortega of Havana, Cuba submitted his resignation as Archbishop of Havana on Oct. 18, upon reaching the canonical age of retirement.

According to Canon Law, bishops must submit their resignations upon reaching the age of 75. The Pope has the authority to decide whether to accept the resignation or to allow a bishop to remain in office.

In recent years Cardinal Ortega has become one of the principal mediators with the Cuban government on issues such as the release of political prisoners. Between 2010 and 2011, 115 prisoners were freed, 103 of which traveled to Spain with their family members.

Cardinal Jaime Ortega was born on Oct. 18, 1936. He studied theology at the seminary of St. Albert the Great in Matanzas, Cuba, and at the Seminary for Priests of the Foreign Missions in Quebec, Canada.

He was ordained a priest on Aug. 2, 1964. In 1966 he was imprisoned by the Communist government and held in a work camp until 1967.

In December of 1978 he was named bishop of Pinar del Rio and in 1981 he was appointed Archbishop of Havana. He was president of the Cuban Bishops’ Conference from 1988 to 1990.

The cardinal also hosted John Paul II during his historic visit to Cuba in 1998.

Give the Catholic Money and He'll have another child... or five

Well I am against this idea.

The article from Catholic News Agency on September 1st 2011 concerns me. A Catholic Parish in an Indian City of Kerala, have decided to pay money to Catholic Families when they have their fifth child as an incentive for Catholic Families to have more children.

A parish in Kerala’s Wayand district now offers fixed-rate deposits of $225 that are held in the name of the fifth child born to a Catholic family in 2011.

Fr. Jose Kocharackal, vicar of St. Vincent De Paul Forane Church in Kalpetta, said that the church had issued deposits to two families in the parish. Part of the Sunday collection is set aside for funding the deposits.

The program was planned and instituted with help from the Sion Prolife Movement in the Diocese of Mananthavady, UCA News reports.

Salu Mecheril, the organization’s regional coordinator, said the campaign’s popularity is increasing. A second parish is preparing to adopt the same plan.

Well there is a concern that the Catholic Population is on the decline.

In 2008 the Kerala Catholic Bishops’ Conference said that a family trend to have only one child or none at all would imperil the Catholic community.

The 2001 census said that Christians made up 19 percent of Kerala’s population of over 31 million, a drop from the 1991 census which showed they made up 19.5 percent. Kerala is mostly Hindu, but Muslims account for about 25 percent of the population.

The Indian government has an initiative to encourage parents to make two children the norm. So there are those who will oppose that, and I agree with them. BUT FIVE CHILDREN? Let's leave that up to God and His plan.

British Monarch can marry a Catholic but cannot convert

The Catholic News Agency has an interesting article by David Kerr about the spouse of the British Monarch being allowed to be Catholic:

The Catholic Church in the United Kingdom is giving a mixed reaction to plans to reform the centuries old law that prevents the British monarch from being Catholic or marrying a Catholic.

“The Act of Settlement amounts to iniquitous anti-Catholic discrimination,” said Peter Kearney, spokesman for the Catholic Bishops of Scotland.

The U.K. Prime Minister, David Cameron, revealed this week that he has written to the 15 other Commonwealth states where Queen Elizabeth is head of state with a view to reforming the Act of Settlement, which has been in force since 1701.

“This rule is a historical anomaly - it does not, for example, bar those who marry spouses of other faiths - and we do not think it can continue to be justified,” wrote Cameron.

However, the proposal does not include lifting the ban on Catholics ascending to the throne. The reason offered for this is that, upon coronation, the British monarch automatically becomes the Supreme Governor of the Church of England.

“While a partial repeal is welcome, the continuing ban on a Catholic becoming head of state remains state-sponsored sectarianism,” Kearney told CNA Oct. 14.

Prime Minister Cameron is due to discuss his proposal with fellow Commonwealth leaders when they meet at a summit in Perth, Australia, later this month. Already the Prime Minister of Canada, Stephen Harper, has said he will support the reform.

The Act of Settlement was originally passed to prevent the descendants of the Catholic King James II from ascending the throne. He was deposed in the 1688 “Glorious Revolution” by supporters of the Protestant William and Mary. Mary was the eldest Protestant daughter of James II and was married to William of Orange, who later became William III.

In recent years, the Act has affected several members of the British royal family.

In 2001, Lord Nicholas Windsor, the youngest son of the Duke and Duchess of Kent, permanently forfeited his right to the royal succession by converting to Catholicism.

In 2008, Autumn Kelly, the Canadian fiancée of the Queen’s grandson Peter Philips, renounced her Catholicism in favor of Anglicanism, thus preserving her husband’s slim chances of becoming king. He is currently 11th in line to the throne.

The U.K. Prime Minister’s other proposals for reforming the monarchy include ending the current preference given to male heirs over their older sisters.

“We espouse gender equality in all other aspects of life and it is an anomaly that in the rules relating to the highest public office we continue to enshrine male superiority,” wrote Cameron.

Trinidad and Tobago - the worlds best Travel Destination.

The article in the Trinidad Express says "T&T is World's Best Tourist Destination"

How did this little island achieve such a status? Well a group of Tourism organisations came up with it. They are called: The European Union Council on Tourism and Trade (EUCTT)

I searched for this group and could find no website. Not even a reference to them. Who are they?

... and has anybody told America about TRINIDAD and Tobago and our new status?

The award has previously been presented to Syria in 2007, Turkey in 2008, United Arab Emirates in 2009 and the Republic of Korea (South Korea) in 2010.

I am so happy that these people are seeing what I have seen, and know what I have known...

Welcome to the Caribbean... Welcome to Trinidad and Tobago.

Gordon Anthony Pantin - archbishop of Port of Spain

Rev Gordon Anthony Patin – 8th Archbishop of Port of Spain

27 Aug 1929 - Born - Port of Spain
3 Jul 1955 - Ordained Priest Priest of Congregation of the Holy Spirit
29 Nov 1967 - Appointed Archbishop of Port of Spain,
19 Mar 1968 - Ordained Bishop Archbishop of Port of Spain,
11 Mar 2000 - Died Archbishop of Port of Spain,

The living water website has a very nice article taken from the Sunday Guardian of March 19th 2000 about the man Archbishop Anthony Pantin after his death.

Anthony Gordon Pantin was born in Port of Spain in August 27, 1929, the second son of Julian Andrew Pantin, a business executive and his wife Agnes, nee Mazeley.

He received his primary education at Sacred Heart School and Belmont Intermediate School (now the Belmont Boys’ Secondary RC School). From the latter he won a Government Scholarship, (called a Government Exhibition in those days) to St Mary’s College. Also among the group of Exhibition winners from that school was Ellis Clarke who would become first President of independent Trinidad and Tobago.

He also took part in sports, playing cricket and football and was a member of the Sixth Trinidad Sea Scouts, under the direction of the saintly Fr Cristobal Valdez. At St Mary’s, Anthony Pantin was in the top academic stream and although considered a strong contender for the open island scholarship, the young Pantin decided to enter the priesthood at age 17 and was anxious to begin his priestly studies.
His elder brother, Fr Gerald “Gerry” Pantin once observed that “Tony” wanted to be a priest from the time he was seven years old. He had been an acolyte at St Patrick’s Church from an early age.

He spent a short time teaching at St Mary’s College before embarking for Canada.
Archbishop Pantin entered the novitiate of the Holy Ghost Congregation in Canada in 1946 and attended the University of Montreal, graduating with his BA degree. He returned to Trinidad in 1949 for a three-year teaching stint at St Mary’s College.
In 1952 he left for Dublin, Ireland, where he pursued studies in Theology. He was ordained priest on the 3rd July, 1955 and was sent to Guadeloupe as a missionary priest until 1959. He returned to Trinidad to teach at Fatima College in Port of Spain until 1964.

In 1965 he returned to St Mary’s College where he was elected to the post of Religious Superior, where he served until 1967. In November of that year, he was requested to accept responsibilities as head of the Archdiocese of Port of Spain, a post which was left vacant by the resignation of the legendary Count Finbar Ryan.

Father Anthony Pantin’s Episcopal consecration took place on March 19, 1968.
As Archbishop he took the motto, “All things to all men” which would today be translated, “All things to all people”. During his 32 years as Archbishop, he made strenuous efforts to fulfill the expectations of that motto.

Bishop Galt, who was a close friend from school days remembers him as having the ability to meet people of all classes on equal terms. He was also able to censure anyone if he thought that that person had done something wrong, but his admonitions were always made in a charitable manner. He was especially concerned with enriching the lives of the disadvantaged and underprivileged. He insisted on seeing anyone who visited, took all telephone calls, and wrote innumerable letters to people at home and abroad.

It was his great pleasure to visit the hospitals, and homes for the elderly and destitute on Christmas Day, where he would chat and sing with the inmates.
He founded the Mary Care Centre to provide a home for pregnant unmarried teenagers. In his sermons he usually called attention to the lot of the homeless and the lonely.
He is remembered as a mediator in the troubled times of both the Black Power crisis and the attempted coup. Many people also refer to the encouragement they received from him during times of personal crisis.

He was instrumental in forming the Inter-Religious Organization and took an active role in that group. He also took an active role in the activities of the Antilles Episcopal Conference, the association of Caribbean Bishops.

He was a humanist, the people’s priest.

The National Library website has another interesting article about Gordon Anthony Pantin.

The Roman Catholic Church has accepted the Government's offer for an official funeral for Archbishop Anthony Pantin.

Pantin's funeral rites will be spread over a three-day period, beginning on Thursday with an official service and ending with his burial on Saturday at the Cathedral crypt.

The Catholic Church has also accepted the proposal of acting Prime Minister Lindsay Gillette that there be a national day of prayer.

Pantin, 70, died in his sleep on Sunday of acute heart failure. He was the third bishop to die at the Archbishop's House at 27 Maraval Road, Queen's Park West.

The last burial of a Roman Catholic bishop in T&T took place over 59 years ago. Bishop John Pius Dowling also died in his sleep in a chair at the house on June 6, 1940. Bishop Patrick Vincent Flood, who built the house, was the first bishop to die there on May 17, 1907. Bishop Finbar Ryan, who followed Dowling, was buried in Ireland.

Auxiliary Bishop John Mendes has taken over responsibility of the diocese, in keeping with Code 419 of the Code of Canon Law.

Yesterday, Mendes, Fr. Christian Pereira, Fr. Clyde Harvey, Fr. Joseph Harris, Fr. Garfield Rochard and Abbot Francis Alleyne of Mt St Benedict were at Archbishop's House overseeing funeral arrangements. Some of these senior clergymen represent the College of Consultors, which acts in emergency cases in administration of the church.

Pereira said, "The Archbishop has contributed tremendously to the country. It is up to us to make sure that his passing is not a loss, but that we are able to build and to integrate his contribution into the fabric of our national life. We will lose something if we throw it away."

The Archbishop's body will arrive at the Cathedral of Immaculate Conception, Independence Square, on Thursday at 6 p.m. for a Pontifical Mass presided over by the Papal Pro-Nuncio Archbishop Eugenio Sbarbaro DD. Archbishop Edgerton Clarke, president of the Antilles Episcopal conference, will deliver the homily.

Government officials, the diplomatic corps and representatives of religious groups are expected to attend this service.

The body will lie in state at the Cathedral on Friday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. for public viewing and services will also be held for schoolchildren.

At 10 a.m. on Saturday the church will say farewell to Pantin after the Archdiocese of Port of Spain celebrates a Solemn Eucharist with Mendes as chief celebrant. This will be followed by Pantin's entombment in the Cathedral crypt below the sacristy to the southwestern end of the altar.

A condolence book will be opened at Archbishop's House today to Thursday from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Another Article at the National Library website gives us some more insight:

Fr. Pereira and workmen descended eight stone stops into a stifling, dimly lit room, measuring ten by 15 feet.

There they found two caskets, one of zinc and badly deteriorated, the other of lead and still intact. The caskets are thought to contain the remains of the fifth and sixth archbishops of Port of Spain: Patrick Vincent Flood, in office till 1907, and John Pius Dowling, who died in 1940.

Only two coffins were found then, so it seems it will be necessary to break through the walls of the crypt to find the other tombs beneath the cathedral.

Priests and church officials, others than archbishops may have been interred beneath the cathedral as well.

Before Port of Spain became an archdiocese, run by an archbishop, in 1851, a number of bishops were in charge.

Those buried in the crypt could include James Bukley, bishop till 1828; Daniel McDonnell, bishop till 1844; Guillaume le Goff, cure till his death in 1855; Michael Monaghan, apostolic administrator till 1855; James Etheridge, apostolic administrator till 1861; Abbe Francois Cuenat, apostolic administrator till 1869; William O'Carroll, coadjutor till 1884; and George Vincent King, coadjutor till 1886.

Archbishop Pantin always said "It is all God's work" - 2 Cor 5:18.

He touched many lives and lived up to his motto: “Omnia Omnibus,” All things to All!

At his passing the headline of the front page of the Catholic News issue of Sunday, March 19, 2000 read: “We Remember How You Loved Us”.


Below is the Episcopal Lineage / Apostolic Succession for Archbishop Pantin.
• Archbishop Gordon Anthony Pantin, C.S.Sp. † (1968)
• Archbishop Marie-Joseph Lemieux, O.P. † (1936)
• Paolo Cardinal Marella † (1933)
• Pietro Cardinal Fumasoni Biondi † (1916)
• Domenico Cardinal Serafini, O.S.B. † (1900)
• Serafino Cardinal Vannutelli † (1869)
• Costantino Cardinal Patrizi Naro † (1828)
• Father Carlo Odescalchi, S.J. † (1823)
• Giulio Maria Cardinal della Somaglia † (1788)
• Hyacinthe-Sigismond Cardinal Gerdil, B. † (1777)
• Marcantonio Cardinal Colonna (Jr.) † (1762)
• Pope Carlo della Torre Rezzonico † (1743)
• Pope Prospero Lorenzo Lambertini † (1724)
• Pope Pietro Francesco (Vincenzo Maria) Orsini de Gravina, O.P. † (1675)
• Paluzzo Cardinal Paluzzi Altieri Degli Albertoni † (1666)
• Ulderico Cardinal Carpegna † (1630)
• Luigi Cardinal Caetani † (1622)
• Ludovico Cardinal Ludovisi † (1621)
• Archbishop Galeazzo Sanvitale † (1604)
• Girolamo Cardinal Bernerio, O.P. † (1586)
• Giulio Antonio Cardinal Santorio † (1566)
• Scipione Cardinal Rebiba †