Westminster celebrates in pomp and glory

BY HELEN SAXBEE
EVERYONE WHO IS anyone in the Catholic social scene was there from the Duchess of Kent to Charles Moore, the editor of the Sunday Telegraph, from the Apostolic Nuncio, Archbishop Luigi Barbarito to the Duke of Norfolk, the premier Catholic in the realm.
In a majestic ceremony last week, Cardinal Basil Hume celebrated the commemoration of the Centenary of Westminster Cathedral. The Solemn Mass of Thanksgiving for the Laying of the Foundation Stone was held on 29 June, and drew over 1400 worshippers, including 35 bishops of England and Wales, the Lord
Mayor of Westminster, and MPs John Gummer and Ann Widdecombe.
The Duchess of Kent, resplendent in a feathered hat, read from I Corinthians 3, while Archbishop Derek Worlock of Liverpool preached a sermon heralding the significance of the Cathedral and praising its origins.
Mgr George Stack told the Catholic Herald that "It was an historic and very moving occasion, everyone there saw themselves as a link between the past and futu're of the cathedral. Many of the visitors were overwhelmed."
Joined by the Apostolic Nuncio, Archbishop Barbarito and the Cardinal led an act of rededication at the Foundation Stone in memory of the creation of Cardinal Vaughan's magnificent Byzantine building,
The heavenly notes of Parry, Brahms' German Requiem and Mozart's Coronation Mass soared to fill the glorious interior, designed by architect John Francis Bentley in his last years as he struggled against cancer.
The Mass was followed by lunch for 960 guests in the leafy sun-drenched grounds of the CathedraL In conjunction with the special service, a Centenary Exhibition has opened in the Cathedral Hall, and will be showing '100 years of Art, Architecture & Treasures' until October.