Fr Oswald Baker

From Mrs Kathleen Hatfield SIR – Your article by Mr Twiston Davies (July 30) does Fr Oswald Baker a grave injustice.
Unfortunately, Mr Twiston Davies relies too heavily on data that is obsolete and out of date. He had no idea of Fr Baker as a priest and, indeed, from the errors in his articles, seems not to have checked his facts.
Far from being “lonely with few friends”, Fr Baker was loved and respected by many, both in his parish of Downham Market and the world in general. His chapel in Downham Market was full to overflowing for his funeral.
As to Mr Twiston Davies’ reference to numbers attending Father Baker’s chapel – his congregation only dwindled in the last months of his life due to his failing health and inability to say Mass. How sad that a man of Twiston Davies’ experience has to resort to making halfbaked comments like “Although he never expressly admitted that he was wrong, Fr Baker is believed to have advised at least one priest not to allow himself to get into such a situation”.
Pull the other one, Mr Twiston Davies; Fr Baker would never have made such a comment, although he was treated abominably by the Bishops of East Anglia and the local priests.
I spoke with Fr Baker on the Tuesday before he died and he never regretted his stand. He was completely sure that he had made the right decision 30 years ago never to say the New Mass.
As one of Fr Baker’s parishioners, I do not believe that he led me “to a lonely life outside the mainstream of the Church”. Far from it. I, and my family, including two teenagers, are very much within the Church and thanks to Fr Baker, none of us have had to endure the horror of the New Mass.
Yours faithfully KATHLEEN HATFIELD Irnham, Lincs