The Faith explained in the spirit of Emmaus

We Believe by a Priest (Mgr A N Gilbey).
1 FIRST met Mgr Gilbey in 1932 when I went up to Cambridge. I was an undergraduate and he was the new Roman Chaplain whose headquarters were at Fisher House. Our friendship did not really begin until I returned to Cambridge in 1955 to become Vicar of Great St Mary's, the University Church.
As my vicarage was some distance from the Church, the Monsignor invited me to treat Fisher House as a second home. It became precisely that. I was in and out many times a week, for meals, to rest, for occasional glasses of sherry, and sometimes to attend Mass.
When I was appointed to the Bishopric of Southwark, he was among the first to know, as I sought his advice on the wisdom of a change. Although this is now a quarter of a century ago, the friendship endures and is precious to both of us; last May
he was one of the hosts at my seventieth birthday party.
I am therefore delighted to have a copy of his book We Believe'. a series of addresses on the Catholic Faith intended primarily for those who are considering the possibility of membership of the Roman Catholic Church. It is a clear,
straightforward, carefully constructed presentation.
It is written, as one would expect, with grace and charm. Although the Monsignor knows exactly what he believes and what he does not believe, and makes no concessions to those who belong to other denominations, he always writes with charity.
As an Anglican, I cannot be expected to accept some doctrines that the author considers to be essential. Perhaps the real divide is most noticeable when it comes to the distinction between reason and revelation. The Monsignor subscribes to these doctrines because of his understanding of the words "faith" and "church". I. like most Anglicans. reject them because our understanding of these crucial words is different.
But there is more to it than that because. if the Monsignor is right. then the mission of the Church is quite different from what many of us would believe it to be.
What puzzles but not surprises me, is that 1 have on my bookshelves theological books written by Roman Catholic scholars whose interpretation of the Faith appears to be very different from the Monsignor's. Whereas I may be a radical, as compared with the latter, I am sometimes a conservative as compared with the former. In short, there seems to be as much variation of doctrinal understanding in the Roman Catholic Church as there is in the Anglican Church.
This thought encourages roe because I do not believe that there is any possibility of reunion between the two churches if all the views expressed by the Monsignor had to be accepted by Anglicans before there could be ecumenical advance.
Having said that, and having tried to speak the truth of love, I know from personal experience. that the spirituality of the Monsignor is such that doctrinal and intellectual barriers arc transcended as we seek to serve the Lord and Master whom we both acknowledge.
On the occasion I met Pope
John XXIII in his study at Easter 1959 he said: "Two souls can meet in prayer though distances divide them. Just as on the road to Emmaus the two disciples found their different and individual problems solved because of Him who walked in their midst, so in the spirit of Emmaus we walk together". That, 1 hope, will be the outcome for those who read Monsignor Gilbey's book, whether they accept or reject its doctrinal basis.
Copies of We Believe may be obtained from Dr A R D
Mathias, Peterhouse, Cambridge for £7, or from bookshops.
Mervyn Stock wood