PRESS RELEASE FROM THE LATIN MASS SOCIETY
For Immediate Release
8 August 2007
Bishop Fernando Arêas Rifan of Campos, Brazil Revisits England
26 August - 2 September
Bishop Fernando Rifan, the world’s only Catholic bishop ordained in the Traditional Rite and in full communion with the Pope, will revisit England 26 August-2 September at the invitation of the Latin Mass Society (LMS). He will carry out a short programme of engagements for the LMS.
Bishop Rifan is head of the Apostolic Administration of St John Mary Vianney in the Diocese of Campos, Brazil where he runs a network of priests, churches, nuns, schools, social work agencies and a seminary alongside the administration of the new rite Bishop of Campos.
Bishop Rifan last visited England and Scotland in October 2004 when he carried out a major programme of public liturgies for the LMS and met with English and Scottish bishops, including Bishop Kevin Dunn of Hexham & Newcastle and Cardinal Keith O’Brien of Edinburgh.
John Medlin, General Manager of the LMS, said: “The highlight of Bishop Rifan’s visit will be his celebration of Pontifical Low Mass in the Lady Chapel of Westminster Cathedral on Friday 31 August at 2.00 pm. We are grateful to Mgr Mark Langham, the Cathedral Administrator, for letting us make these arrangements.”
Bishop Rifan will also attend the LMS’s packed residential training conference for young priests who wish to learn the Traditional Rite of Mass at Merton College, Oxford from Tuesday 28 August to Thursday 30 August. Bishop Rifan will celebrate Pontifical Vespers at the conference on Wednesday 29 August at 6.00 pm.
Archbishop Vincent Nichols of Birmingham will open the conference on Tuesday 28 August with a Solemn Latin Mass in the New Rite at 11.45 am.
Bishop Rifan is available for interviews. Please contact John Medlin to arrange.
Bishop Rifan’s Itinerary
Sunday 26 August at 9.00 am: Pontifical Low Mass at the High Altar, Brompton Oratory, London SW7
Monday 27 August at 6.30 pm: Pontifical High Mass, Corpus Christi Church, Maiden Lane, London WC2
Tuesday 28 - Thursday 30 August: Attends LMS Training Conference for Priests at Merton College, Oxford and celebrates Pontifical Vespers (Wednesday at 6.00 pm)
Friday 31 August at 12 noon: Pontifical Low Mass in the Lady Chapel, Westminster Cathedral, Victoria
Sunday 2 September at 9.30 am: Pontifical Low Mass, St James’s Church, George St, Spanish Place, London W1
Pictures of the Mass at Westminster Cathedral can be found on the traditionalcatholic.org.uk web site.
. . . . ENDS . . . .
For further information, please contact John Medlin, General Manager, or Yvonne Windsor, LMS Office Administrator, on (T) 020 7404 7284; (F) 020 7831 5585;
E-mail: thelatinmasssociety@snmail.co.uk
|