St Barnabas Society Mass - If you think the Ordinariate is a blessing for the Church, then please acquaint yourself with the important work of the St Barnabas Society!

The St Barnabas Society icon

The 5:30pm Solemn Mass at Westminster Cathedral today, Thursday 6 October, will be offered for the work of the
St Barnabas Society, which has been helping convert clergymen since the end of the 19th century. Originally called The Converts' Aid Society, the St Barnabas Society was founded in October 1896 by the then Archbishop of Westminster, Cardinal Herbert Vaughan. Since that time, the Society has helped countless former Anglican clergymen who would otherwise have found it very difficult to "cross the Tiber". Today, the St Barnabas Society is actively engaged in supporting those former Anglican priests who have risked all to join the Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham, which was only established by Pope Benedict XVI at the beginning of this year.

One of the main motivations behind the founding of what is now called the St Barnabas Society was a letter sent to Cardinal Vaughan by Pope Leo XIII. Just before the publication of Apostolicae Curae, issued on 15 September 1896, in which Anglican orders were declared to be "null and void", the Pope felt it would be wise to prepare a welcome for those Church of England clergymen who might now wish to join the Catholic Church. He therefore wrote to the Archbishop of Westminster in August 1896, expressing a pre-emptive concern for the plight of those Anglican priests whom he thought would soon ask to be received into the Church. In his letter to the Archbishop of Westminster, Pope Leo XIII wrote: -

"We would wish therefore to come to the aid of those who have taken this step or are ready to take it. For this purpose what we ourselves have thought of, and now propose to you, would be the formation of a considerable fund for the help of converted Anglican clergymen. 

We desire you, dearest son, to communicate with your brethren in the Episcopate for the organization of this work, and to invite all who have the means of doing so to join with you for the realisation of a project which affects the salvation of so many chosen souls."

Cardinal Herbert Vaughan

Within a few weeks, Cardinal Herbert Vaughan - founder of the Mill Hill Missionaries, the Catholic Truth Society, and the man behind the building of Westminster Cathedral - had set up the Converts' Aid Society. And although the publication of Apostolicae Curae didn't immediately lead to an influx of clerical converts from the Church of England, the Society was up and running in time to help and welcome those clergymen who became Catholic in the early part of the 20th century, such as Ronald Knox and R H Benson. In fact, Mgr Knox soon became one of the Society's leading committee members; whilst other giants of English Catholicism, such as G K Chesterton and Hilaire Belloc, acted as its patrons during those early years.

Due to the various technicalities of charity law, the Converts' Aid Society was reborn in the early 1990's, adopting its new constitution and name (The St Barnabas Society) in June 1992 - four months before my own conversion and baptism as a 16-year-old. According to the organisation's website, the proposal to name the charity the St Barnabas Society "in honour of the apostle Barnabas was made because one of the most far reaching effects of his many good deeds was to welcome the newly converted Paul of Tarsus and stand as surety for him at a time when he had few friends within the Church." The website goes on to add that,  "Barnabas then went on to encourage Paul to begin a new life the results of which were to be of overwhelming importance to the expanding Church of the first century."

The Society sees itself as having a similar ministry to that once exercised by its patron, St Barnabas. From its foundation in 1896, the charity has always aimed - like Barnabas once did - to provide generous welcome and encouragement for those new converts who have bravely chosen to follow God's call in seeking full communion with the Catholic Church. The principal objects of the Society also seem to have remained the same as those formulated at its inception, which were: -

1) To welcome with kindness and attention those who have embraced the truth at all costs.
2) To find Catholic acquaintances and friends for those who have forfeited former friendships for Christ's sake.
3) To assist clergymen, especially married clergymen with families, whose conversion has reduced them to need.

Nowadays, though, the St Barnabas Society has its work cut out as it seeks to help the many clergymen and religious who have recently left the Anglican Church in order to enter into full communion with the See of Rome, especially those who have joined the Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham. Today, the society also helps ministers from other protestant groups, such as the Presbyterian community, as well as female religious sisters and brothers from the Church of England and other Christian traditions.

The St Barnabas Society Mass at Westminster Cathedral will be celebrated by Archbishop Vincent Nichols and will be attended by Mgr Keith Newton, Ordinary of the Ordinariate, as well as various other members of the Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham. Needless to say, there is currently a huge amount of pressure on the Society's resources, as it seeks to aid the numerous clergymen who have recently joined the Ordinariate. The fact that so many Anglican priests and religious are choosing to be in full communion with the Catholic Church is excellent news, of course, but this step they are making not an easy one - as it involves some serious financial downsizing and risks. So, if you are currently thinking of a good cause to support, I highly recommend you consider the St Barnabas Society! As Mgr Ronald Knox preached at the 1956 Converts' Society Mass, "God forgive us if we cannot emulate the spirit of St Barnabas, when He raises up among us so often the spirit of St Paul."


[Images: 1 St Barnabas Icon; source: St Barnabas Society. 2 Cardinal Herbert Vaughan; copyright expired; source: Wikimedia Commons]