The Future of the Church

The future of the Church is in its priests; and this Saturday, 24 July, at 12:00 noon, two Dominican friars will - as I have previously mentioned - be ordained to the Sacred Priesthood in the Priory Church of the Holy Spirit, Blackfriars, Oxford, by Archbishop Longley.

The second of them is fr Thomas Skeats OP : and I’m embarrassed to admit that fr Thomas is someone whom I scarcely know, simply because he has spent much of the last couple of years away from Blackfriars studying at the Angelicum in Rome. On the negative side, this means that I can’t regale you with exciting stories about him : on the plus side, that fact probably relieves him greatly !

However, what I do know, from what I hear from all my Dominican friends, is that he will make another fine Dominican priest; another priest on whom we can rely for the Truth of the Faith at this time when all we believe is under attack from every side.

It will be my privilege to be praying for fr Thomas at his Ordination, and I do urge you to have him in your prayers as well, both now, and on Saturday as he becomes ‘a priest for ever, after the order of Melchisedech’.