EWTN Conference on English Catholicism

I purposely came to the home of The Crescat a day earlier than expected so I could accompany her to a conference in Greenville, SC today on English Catholicism.

Notwithstanding the previous night's drinking at The Thirsty Beaver, we awoke before dawn's early light and made our way south. Arriving at Our Lady of the Rosary church, Fr. Dwight Longenecker - he of the outstanding blog, "Standing on My Head" - warmly greeted us.

The talks . . . were wonderful. I think sometimes at Catholic conferences too much emphasis may be given to the contributions of Third World cultures to our faith. As a result, I think certain groups get "left out" and that is certainly true of the British. Then again, the term "British" and "Catholic" rarely go together in many people's minds, except maybe for episodes of "Brideshead Revisited." And that whole mess with Henry VIII.

But the English have been stalwarts of the faith for a long time. Today's speakers included Fr. Dwight Longenecker, a former Anglican priest who now serves as a Catholic priest after "swimming the Tiber," Joanna Bogle, who writes for the Catholic Times in the UK, and Joseph Pearce, a writer and professor, who has written on the great English Actholic writers, especially G. K. Chesterton and J. R. Tolkein.

Highlights included Pearce's very convincing argument that, despite no explicit knowledge, Shakespeare was indeed a Catholic, and the sheer joy that exuded from him speaking of the debt he owes to Chesterton for bringing about his personal conversion. I very much enjoyed Joanna Bogle's description of the Catholic traditions in everyday life and celebrations, enough to where I bought her book at the break (snatching the last copy away from the Crescat). And Fr. Dwight's point about the lack of imagination in Liturgy was a good one to ponder - how often is it that Liturgy becomes utilitarian rather than transcendent.

Alas, pictures from the event will have to wait until Tuesday, when I return home to download them.

Tomorrow: on to Washington DC!