On the Road with the Continuity Team
by Stephen Ryan, MJ

It doesn’t seem possible to capture with words the moving events of the last few weeks. Thousands of people have tried, and it seems the words fall short of what we saw with our eyes and experienced in our hearts. We pray that the Great Pope John Paul II, an extraordinary man, is now in a world of unending joy in the Great Family of God. We remember as if it were yesterday (though it was really 1990) how he sent us off to the Soviet Union with the words, “You have a very important mission.”

He was referring to our hopes of working with young Catholics throughout Ukraine. Eventually we were able to gather tens of thousands of young people together for concerts of Christian music and talks on spiritual themes such as ‘The Real Presence’, ‘How to make a good Confession’, and ‘The role of the Blessed Mother in the Church’. We gave retreats throughout Western and Central Ukraine. Though we weren’t present when His Holiness visited Ukraine in 2001, nevertheless we rejoiced in that great celebration with our Ukrainian brothers and sisters. And now Pope John Paul II is gone from us.

For the moment we remain here to continue our work, and we pledge our loyalty to His Holiness Pope Benedict XVIth. Our efforts to foster loyalty to the Pope and faithfulness to the official teachings of the Catholic Church go forward, especially among the young people.

With the International Path to Rome conference in London this year (November 12th and 13th), we’ve been speaking at parishes around the country, especially in the Southeast of England.

On the weekend of April 9th and 10th we spoke at all the Masses at Holy Family parish in Lancing, West Sussex. Fr. Tony Lovegrove has been very supportive of our work with Continuity from the moment he arrived at Holy Family. Fr. Tony is a regular attendee at the monthly Continuity Prayer/Study Reunion on the second Friday of every month.

We repeat the same message over and over, the message carried on the cover of this month’s issue in the words of our new Pope and conveyed to the world by the Secretary of State for the Vatican, Cardinal Angelo Sodano: “Benedict XVIth tells the truth: The Church is alive!”. This was the thrust of Pope John Paul II’s message, a message of hope, of a new springtime of evangelisation in the Church today. We repeat this message over and over because so many people need to hear it. So many people form their ideas about the Catholic Church, not from reality, but from the secular media, perhaps the greatest enemy of the Church today.

Monsignor Graham Leonard, the President of the Continuity Movement, spoke recently with an English Archbishop, who said that the number of lapsed Catholics returning to the Church in the light of the events of the last four weeks in Rome has been phenomenal, as well as inquiries into the Faith by non-Catholics. Similar stories are being related from various corners of the globe. The world has been focused on Rome and the world witnessed Continuity in the choosing of the successor of St. Peter, watching live via television and the Internet. The world saw millions of people from around the world, and the vast majority of them very young people, at times weeping, at times rejoicing, always united in spirit.

This message of hope is the message of the International Path to Rome conference and we are visiting parishes and schools extending a personal invitation to come and experience a weekend of profound spirituality and deep food for thought with renowned converts and lifelong Catholics from around the world.

As part of our mission in spreading the Good News of the Gospel, we were invited to the renowned Downside Abbey to address the older classes of young men. We spoke about the nature of discerning one’s vocation, the importance of fidelity to our Baptism and Confirmation, the damaging effects of Subjectivism as evidenced in the continued fracturing of Protestantism, and the great harm done in rejecting those teachings of the Church that one finds ‘difficult’. We showed a twenty minute video of Miles Jesu and its apostolates throughout the world, and challenged them to learn and live their Catholic Faith the way God wants them to, with their whole heart, mind and soul.

When the talks were finished we had about 30 new members of the Continuity Movement from around the UK, and one young lad from France! Father Raphael, who was so gracious to us throughout our stay, said a 15 year old boy came up to him later in the hall and told him about our talk. When Fr. Raphael asked him what he thought, the boy replied, “Inspiring. Very inspiring!” “And that”, said Fr. Raphael, “from a 15 year old I’d never expect to hear say something like that!” God be praised. We are very grateful to Richard and Leia Iago, Continuity members, for their generous hospitality during our stay at Downside. We had some very inspiring and thought provoking discussions together. And the monks have invited us back. Not a bad visit, that!

Stephen is a member of the Catholic Writers Guild for England and Wales