Saluting a fearless fighter for the truth

By Luke Coppen
BISHOP John Brewer was fearless in standing up for the truth and had a burning passion for the Word of God, Archbishop Patrick Kelly said at the Bishop of Lancaster's funeral Mass on Monday.
In a moving and deeply personal homily, the archbishop paid tribute to the late bishop's zealous faith and courage in accepting death.
"Shallowness infuriated him. Lukewarnmess for the truth of the Lord and the potential of priestly life and service made those piercing eyes blaze," the archbishop told a packed congregation at St Peter's Cathedral, Lancaster.
"Playing games, self-seeking, keeping up appearances: no place for that. Depth, passion, drove him to fear no one in standing up for what is true."
Archbishop Kelly recalled a brief meeting with the bishop the day before he died, aged 70, from complications arising from cancer surgery.
'As he opened his eyes he began as he always did these last few years. `E.e, it's R Archbishop.'
"I said: 'A little bird told me you weren't so good'. 'The little bird was right,' he said.
"I then said: I missed two meetings to come here and I'd rather be here.' And that meant to both of us: it isn't a mild chill.
"So he accepted I was right to be there because it was
time to return to the dust', to be awakened, to receive the light 'reserved for those who have instructed many in virtue'."
The archbishop said he hoped Bishop Brewer's death would inspire the bishops' conference to be ever more passionate and profound in its presentation of the faith.
He looked forward to the completion of a new teaching document on the Scriptures, which Bishop Brewer had worked on in the last months of his life.
"Perhaps we must reflect again on his passion to ensure our conference is doctrinally, theologically powerful, confident, articulate," Archbishop Kelly said.
"Perhaps his death will be a stimulus to us, his brother bishops, to prepare a solid, strong, challenging document
on the Word of God." Bishop Brewer was last week commended by Pope John Paul II for his dedication to teaching the faith of the Church. The pontiff praised the late bishop's "great energy and total dedication to malcing the Lord better known and loved among all sections of society".
Bishop Brewer's funeral Mass was celebrated by Archbishop Cormac MurphyO'Connor, four fellow archbishops — including Cardinal Thomas Winning of Glasgow and the nuncio. Archbishop Pablo Puente — and 22 bishops.
Also present were four Anglican bishops and representatives of the Methodist Church, Baptist Church, Free Church and Salvation Army. Other dignitaries included the the Mayors of Lancaster and Carlyle and the chief executive of Lancaster City Council.
The evening before the funeral Mass, Bishop Brewer's body was received into St Peter's Cathedral.
Bishop Daniel Mullins of Menevia, who gave the homily at the reception Mass, said that the late bishop was "a benign father in God" dedicated to the people of Lancaster diocese.
Bishop Mullins, a close friend of the late bishop, said: "He did not spare himself, nor did he think of himself.
"His life was filled with a genuine desire to see you come to new life and full maturity in Christ.
"His concerns were always in relation to you. They were for you sanctification. You are now his advocate, his glory and his crown at the judgement seat of God.
"We accompany him with our prayers across that awesome barrier that marks the boundary between this human life and eternity. May he rest in peace."
Bishop Brewer's body lay in state in the cathedral until the funeral Mass on Monday. After the Mass, it was laid in the bishop's vault in the graveyard attached to the cathedral.
Mgr Patrick O'Dea, one of the diocese's three vicars general, will serve as administrator of the diocese, until