Rome - Part 1

I'm currently faced with one of those annoying situations where I can't find the wire to connect my digital camera to the computer. I've a feeling it might be at home in Hull, in which case, you might not get many pictures of my trip to the Eternal City for a week or so. Say a little prayer to St Anthony and I'm sure it will turn up.

Anyway, on with the first main entry on Rome...

Ryan met me in London last Saturday evening and the action started with watching the World Cup final in a Whitehall pub. Naturally, we were gutted but not too despondent as England had done wonders to get to the final after the drubbing by South Africa earlier on in the tournament. A lovely meal in Chinatown followed.

On Sunday morning we had the rare treat of Mass at the Brompton Oratory. Ryan had never been before so I made sure we got there for the Solemn sung Latin Mass at 11am. Despite my Latin being patchy, it was beautiful. Mass celebrated ad orientem, with a full choir, in such a stunning church really hits home the reality that heaven and earth are united at Mass. It was as if we were already in Rome.

After lunch and final arrangements for our accommodation in Rome at the Marist Fathers HQ, we headed over to the British museum. As well as being a stunning work of architecture, the museum apparently has collections which number more than 13 million objects. They originate from all continents, including ancient Egypt to the Roman Empire. Some of the most noticeable features we saw were the bust of Ramesses II and the Rosetta Stone, which dates back to 196 BC and was instrumental in advancing modern understanding of hieroglyphic writing.

Around tea-time, it was time to head to Heathrow. The flight was due to set off at 8:10pm. Instead, the Alitalia plane eventually took off just before 9pm. It meant that it was well gone midnight when we arrived at Fiumicino airport and got our bags. A taxi to Trastevere cost 40 euros. At 12:45pm, we arrived at the Marists headquarters and was greeted there by Fr Kevin, who had very kindly stayed up so late to welcome us and let us in. After giving our apologies for our lateness, we hit the sack in our shared room in the basement (which has just been beautifully renovated) of the mansion-sized house.

On Monday morning, our first port of call after Mass and breakfast was the Vatican and St Peter's. I've been to Rome twice before and Ryan a few more times than that. It means we kind of know the main attractions quite well but, nevertheless, a visit to our spiritual home was high on the agenda. We spent about 15 minutes in front of the Blessed Sacrament before a quick look round to refresh our memories as regard to the sheer scale of the place.

It was already beginning to emerge that there were lots of English people around, probably due to half term. This was illustrated by the long list of school and parish groups from all over the country that were mentioned at Wednesday's general audience.

From Vatican City, we headed over to the Venerable English College to see James Wilson, a first year seminarian from our home diocese of Middlesbrough, who had invited us. We went out for a few beers and chatted about how he and the other new students were getting on.

Later on, myself and Ryan found a nice little restaurant and were later joined by Father David Barrett of the Diocese of Northampton, whom we know well through our involvement in the Faith movement. Fr Barrett is currently in Rome for a year doing further studies.

After the filling meal, Ryan and I walked back to Trastevere to signal the end of Roma day one.

Papa and Roma

Apologies for the lack of blogging recently, but I hope you will excuse me when I tell you I've just got back from a week in Rome!

I went with my good friend, Ryan Day. We set out last Sunday and got back to London early this morning.

The picture you see above is the pope at his General Audience on Wednesday. We managed to get to the front row of the third section of seating in St Peter's Square. Pope Benedict passed us twice in the popemobile, almost within touching distance. The picture is taken by Anthony Finns, from Accrington, who happened to be sitting next to us with his wife, Hilary and her mother.

My camera was playing up and I was gutted when it wouldn't snap as the pope passed. But I'm very grateful to Anthony for offering to send me the picture via email as a great pictorial memory of the experience of seeing the Holy Father close up. Benedict looks well, and, like every week, there were thousands (more than 30,000) that gathered in St Peter's Square to hear his catechises. It was the third time I've seen him - once at the World Youth Day and once at an audience last summer. But I've never been as close as on Wednesday. It was a breathtaking experience.

I thought I'd hit you with this magnificent picture first off and then give my diary and reflections on Rome in several posts.

We did a lot of walking and made the most of catching up with people we know out there, resulting in quite a few late nights. So what I'm trying to say is - I'm shattered! But you can look forward to my thoughts and more excellent pictures of the Holy Father and the Eternal City when I blog tomorrow and in the coming days.

All that's left to say tonight is - Viva il Papa!

RIP Matty Lee

Today was a first for me as a journalist. I had to cover my first funeral.

19-year-old second-year human geography student Matty Lee, son of permanent deacon Gerry (of Our Lady of Walsingham parish in Corby), tragically died in his sleep at his student house in Sheffield on October 2. As yet, the cause of the death has not been confirmed and an inquest is ongoing.

Matty's funeral took place at 10am at Our Lady's, in Occupation Road, this morning. More than 300 people packed out the church, with the congregation spilling out into the porch. People in attendance included his family, university friends from Sheffield Hallam, former schoolmates, teachers and parishioners of Our Lady's.

His brave father preached the homily, fighting back the tears towards the end. He assisted the celebration of Mass with seven priests. Traditional hymns were not sung. Instead, some of Matty's favourite songs picked by his mum and dad were played, including Elton John's "Can you feel the love tonight" and "I don't feel like dancing" by the Scissor Sisters.

It wasn't an easy thing to go and cover the funeral. Other journalists have spoken of their dread about going to report on them. But because it was a requiem Mass with loads of people in the congregation, it was good that I could just sit at the back of the choir loft and quietly take notes. As with every Catholic funeral there was a great sense of hope (as well as sadness) that Matty will have a share in the eternal life of Christ.

Please pray for the repose of his soul and for his family.

Cambridge Faith Forum

As promised, here is the programme for the forthcoming Cambridge Faith Forum:

Wednesday October 17: Anybody out there? Faith, science and the existence of God
Fr Stephen Dingley - holds a PhD in Astrophysics from Cambridge and is currently a lecturer in dogmatic theology at St John's Seminary, Wonersh

Monday October 22: The Devil made me do it. What does the Church teach about Satan?
Fr Luiz Ruscillo is Education Director of Lancaster Diocese and is a very popular speaker.

Monday October 29: Is the Church always right?
Fr Dominic Rolls - parish priest of St Joseph's, Dorking, Surrey

Monday November 5: Saints of the counter-reformation.
Fr Tim Finigan - parish priest of Our Lady of the Rosary, Blackfen, Kent, and is Dean of Bexley. He writes for the Catholic Herald and is the Hermeneutic.

All talks are at 8pm in the meeting room of Our Lady and the English Martyrs Church, Hills Road, Cambridge, CB2 1JR. The room will be signposted down the side of the church. Tea, coffee and biscuits will be served, followed by a pint or three at a local pub.

For further information, contact Fiorella Nash on fiorella@cantab.net or Ryan Day on rd312@cam.ac.uk.

Day in Cambridge

On my day off on Wednesday I had a nice little trip to Cambridge to visit Ryan who has just returned there for his final year at King's College. It's a handy place to visit as it's only

Upon my arrival at King's, Ryan greeted me after managing to evacuate his whole residence after "accidentally" setting the fire alarm off when cooking a garlic bread. After getting a lecture from a member of staff on how he should make sure the kitchen door is closed, we went in for a cup of tea following the switching off of the alarm.

After tea we went to Mass at Fisher House followed by lunch. Then I drove back to King's from the car park I was in a Ryan showed me some of the Arts faculties. We went into the history library for half an hour. Whilst Ryan studied, I continued reading Fr Elijah.

After a nice little wonder in the town, I met up with Ryan outside King's College chapel at 5:15 for Evensong at 5:30pm. It was a wonderful experience. The singing was angelic in such an historic chapel. I had mixed feelings, however, as the prayers and readings were in that weird Anglican old English "thou" and "thoust" language which was a bit off putting. But it did start off a discussion on the way back to King's about liturgy in the Catholic Church in relation to what we had just experienced. We both agreed that this was a treat (even though it was Anglican) compared to the quality of liturgy and music we are used to in our own Catholic parishes.

After a lovely carbonara made by Ryan, we went to Fisher House again for the first half of a bible study group. We were introduced to different versions and interpretations of the New Testament and discussed what implications this has.

After collecting the car, we made the quick trip across town to Fiorella and Edmund Nash's household, where Ryan and Fiorella discussed the planning for the forthcoming Cambridge Faith Forum due to start next Wednesday.

Programme for that to be published here tomorrow.

A truly Catholic funeral

Last Thursday I had the honour of serving (along with three others) a Requiem Mass for popular Hedon (East Yorkshire) Catholic Gerry O'Malley. Gerry was step-dad to my good friend Ryan Day.

I had to cover a police awards ceremony in Northampton on the Wednesday evening. It involved listening to the awards being read out then literally interviewing as many people as possible afterwards. Hard work.

Then I shot up the M1 to Hull arriving at 12 midnight. After a Chinese takeaway it was time to work on the computer to file the copy. I had to write two separate front page stories for the two different editions as well as five other 200 word pieces about various police heroes and their tales. At 4:30am, I sent the copy by email.

With only about two or three hours sleep, it was time to get up for the funeral.

It took place at the beautiful St Charles Church in the centre of Hull. This is the home of Catholicism in the city. It was one of the churches that appeared in the book "Glimpse of Heaven" not so long ago. There were seven priests and a good 300 congregation.

Fr William Massie was chief celebrant and preached, including some quirky, amusing and often moving stories about Gerry's life. He was a man who was always there to help priests - with DIY jobs, general support and just a good mate. He would help anyone.

I will never forget the day he came to pick four of us up from Leeds Bradford airport on our return from Rome in August 2006. He was by no means in perfect health and greeted us whilst holding a tissue pressed against his bleeding forehead. He had managed to obtain a big gash by catching it wheh opening up the car boot. This is just one of the thousands of examples where Gerry put himself out the way to help people.

Before falling seriously ill with cancer, Gerry enjoyed more than one drink and a smoke with his friends down the pub. His drinking pals turned up in force to his requiem. Movingly, as the coffin was carried out at the end of Mass, the Salve Regina was bellowed out, moving many to tears.

Afterwards, there was a good old knees up in a village pub.

Gerry is a sad loss to the Catholic community in the Hull area but will always remain a fantastic example of how a lay Catholic can truly do the work of God through simple but profound things.

Please continue to pray for the repose of his soul and for the family.

May he rest in peace.

Journalism: Innacuracy when reporting on Catholicism

I am the first one to critcise a news organisation when they refer to the General Audience as a "Mass" or make other simple errors when reporting on Catholicism. This week, I myself been on the receiving end of inaccurate reporting regarding Catholic issues.

I wrote a story about Monsignor Peter Wilson leaving St Brenden's parish in Corby after 15 years. He is moving to the Catholic parish in Oundle.

When I received a copy of yesterday's paper, Monsignor had been referred to as "Mr" on two occasions. An Anglican priest, whom I mentioned at the bottom of the article (he was a new priest arriving in the area), had also been referred to as "Mr".

I was furious. Not because it was me that made the mistake (I had written Msgr throughout the article and the Anglican priest as Rev) - the sub editor had altered it! Lord knows how priests are now "Mr" according to my colleague! Needless to say, I sent an email to the newsdesk informing them of the mistake.

It did look bad, as I introduced myself to Msgr and new parish priest, Father Gerard Byrne, as a Catholic as well as a reporter so you would expect them to think I should get their titles correct. I did but the subs didn't - and the article appeared under my byline.

My point is - inaccuracies about Catholicism in the press are sometimes not the fault of the writer but of his/her superiors. So be careful when slagging off journalists - find out who made the mistake first.