Working Groups

The Society brings together small groups of theologians to collaborate on specific issues over an extended period of time.

The St. Damasus Group for Preparation of a ‘Graduale Parvum’

The Society of St. Catherine of Siena’s recent one-day symposium led by Prof. László Dobszay, together with the London Oratory School, on restoring the use of Gregorian chant in ordinary parishes was (as was widely reported) an extraordinary success. It brought together Catholic musicians from all over the British Isles, comprising many very well-known figures together with parish priests and directors of small parish choirs.

Under Prof. Dobszay’s leadership, this work is now bearing fruit in the form of a small working group that will bring forward proposals for a ‘Graduale Parvum’, or ‘Small Gradual’, in both Latin and the vernacular for all forms of the Mass, for use in parish churches. We have put this initiative under the patronage of one of the great liturgists of the Church, St. Damasus, and the St. Damasus Group of the Society of St. Catherine of Siena will be led by Fr. Guy Nicholls of the Birmingham Oratory and will include Mr. Martin Baker, Director of Music at Westminster Cathedral, Mr. Jeremy de Satgé, and Rev’d. Dr. Laurence Hemming of the Society. We will be assisted informally by a number of constultants.

The group will be working hard to coordinate the proposal for the new ICEL translation of the Roman Missal so that the language and the style of music notation will fit well with what parishes will be adopting – probably from as early as Advent 2010. We have a publisher who is very keen to publish the results, and we are looking into ways of developing a network of support for parishes that want to make use of the new material. Two choirs have already said that they will look at using the new Gradual – Westminster Cathedral Choir and the Schola of the London Oratory School. Some parishes have also offered to participate by using the material as it is produced.

We have had strong encouragement to pursue this project from the Chairman of our Trustees, Bishop Malcolm McMahon OP, and we are looking to ensure that the outcome is in accordance with the desires of the Holy Father with regard to the future of liturgical celebration. The potential for transforming liturgical life in many parishes throughout the Anglophone world should not be underestimated.

We will present the results of the working group at a second, larger meeting at the London Oratory School in May 2010, and we will announce a date for that event as soon as possible. Please pray for this group as it begins its work.

The St. Nicholas Group for Study of Theological Issues in the Traditional Liturgy

The Society established a small group of theologians and scholars to study issues related to the Sacred Liturgy. The group met for the first time on St. Nicholas' Day in December 2007 to consider a paper on sacramental causality. The group meets six times each year. Its work continues through the efforts of the Society's St. Nicholas Appeal.

The 2005 Synod of Bishops and the Year of The Eucharist in 2005

In April 2004, in conjunction with the Holy Father's decision to make the Holy Eucharist the subject of the 2005 Synod of Bishops, the Society's trustees decided to devote resources to developing a research project on the Eucharist. The Society's officers prepared a proposal, which can be downloaded here.

The Question of Catholics Teaching in Institutions of Higher Education in Great Britain

In February 2000 a number of university teachers came together at Heythrop College, University of London, to consider problems related to the integration of faith and scholarship in the context of higher education. Under the title Faith in the Academy, discussion opened with a paper by Prof. Nicholas Lash, emeritus, University of Cambridge. A second meeting a year later was attended by the Dean of the Faculty of Theology and several members of staff of the Institut Catholique de Paris. These discussions revealed the need for closer consideration of the teaching office of the Bishop in relation to higher education, as well as to the need for further dialogue between Bishops and theologians.

An official working group was constituted in November 2001 under the chairmanship of Bishop Malcolm McMahon OP to explore these issues within the context of the development and present state of bishops, canon law, and theological and philosophical issues.

The working group has issued a document entitled The Vocation and Formation of Theologians and the Teaching Office of the Bishop in the British Context, which was received by the Committee for Theology of the Roman Catholic Bishops' Conference of England and Wales. It was later sent on to the Bishops' Conference and to the Catholic Theological Association (CTA) of Great Britain and discussed at the CTA's annual conference in August 2003. The document can be downloaded here.