Volume 116 the Smarter Printer 433 Wakefield Road Bradford BD4 7LX Tel: 01274 393956 E-No: [email protected] CONTENTS EDITORIAL 6

The Ampleforth Journal passionate about print September 2011 - July 2012 Volume 116 the smarter printer 433 wakefield road bradford BD4 7LX tel: 01274 393956 e-no: [email protected] www.wheeldenprint.co.uk CONTENTS EDITORIAL 6 THE ABBEY From the Abbot's Office 9 The Ampleforth Community 13 St Benet's Hall 21 Fr Benedict Webb OSB 22 Abbot Luke Rigby OSB 27 Fr Edmund Hatton OSB 31 Fr Alberic Stacpoole OSB 35 Miles Wright 39 David Tate 41 Robert Thompson of Kilbum 45 . Augustine Baker Again 53 John Bunting 55 OLD AMPLEFORDIANS Ampleforth and Charities 59 The Ampleforth Society 75 Old Amplefordian Obituaries 79 AMPLEFORTH COLLEGE Headmaster's Introduction 113 Scholarships and Bursaries 119 Academic Life 121 The School 125 Eric Boulton 133 • 1 Headmaster's Lectures 135 Chaplaincy 136 The Arts at Ampleforth 140 • • Activities 143 1111 Wit i Games 146 I ST MARTIN'S AMPLEFORTH Headmaster's Introduction 153 Academic 159 Prizegiving 161 Spiritual Life 163 Pre-Prep 166 Music 168 Drama 171 School Events 172 Sport 173 CONTENTS 5 UFtNAL VOL 1 16 1 EDITORIAL `extra,' available mainly to those who can afford it, but a normal part of being a FR DOMINIC MILROY OSB Christian in a needy world, and therefore an integral element in our approach to EDITOR OF THE AMPLEFORTH JOURNAL education. Charitable Status and Charitable Work Special reference is made to some who have devoted a substantial part of their lives to the orchestration or management of charitable giving, but the list includes many MPLEFORTH and its various works have who have become involved in 'one-off' projects. There is a brief account of how the ACharitable Status. This means, broadly school itself attempts to lay the right foundations. speaking, that these works are non-profit-making and are exempt from tax, provided that they can be There are, of course, many whose charitable outreach is not known to us. The article shown to be of public benefit. There has recently does not claim to be comprehensive: it simply summarises, in a fairly random way, been much 'political' discussion of what constitutes what we happen to know. public benefit. This has focussed largely on bursaries and on shared facilities. As a result, the concept of charity (including the word itself) has become so coloured by legal definitions and distinctions that its real meaning has been somewhat marginalised. Charity, in its primary sense, is not a legal concept and has little to do with profit margins. It means that selfless love of neighbour which, in its Christian context, is rooted in the love of God. If this is the case, then the primary purpose of any 'charitable' institution should not be simply to raise bursaries or to share playing-fields. These are important projects in their own right, and they depend entirely on largely anonymous benefactors. But they also point to something deeper - the promotion, throughout our extended community, of personal attitudes of selfless and loving service. This is hard to quantify. It is one thing to claim that Ampleforth, because it is a Catholic and Benedictine school, promotes a 'culture' of charity, but is there any evidence that such a culture really exists in practice? Fortunately, there is. During the summer holidays of 2012, two boys, currently in the school, skate-boarded from Land's End to John O'Groats raising £21,000 for disabled children. If this were an isolated and private venture, it would be impressive enough in itself. If, however, it can be seen as part of a wider pattern, it becomes significant. A central article in this number of The Journal sets out some of the evidence for the existence of this wider pattern. There is so much data that it has to be presented in a somewhat condensed form. Many Amplefordians are named, ranging from 'the great and the good' to many who are only just setting out on their careers. The impact is intended to be cumulative, suggesting that the habit of giving is not simply an 6 EDITORIAL THE AMPLEFORTH JOURNAL VOL 1 16 THE ABBEY From the Abbot's Office RT REV CUTHBERT MADDEN OSB ABBOT OF AMPLEFORTH VERY great deal of the work of an Abbot might be characterised as 'routine Aduties.' This, of course, covers a multitude of tasks ranging from presiding at the celebration of the Liturgy of the Hours, through such concems as the pastoral care of the community, the government of its various works and the regular schedule of visits to our dependent works, which are at some distance from the Abbey. It might be of interest, then, to say a few words about the Congress of Abbots which occurs once every four years in Rome because this is not simply another part of 'routine duties.' The Congress met in mid September which is usually a pleasant time in Rome though this year the weather was surprisingly hot and humid. Some 270 Abbots gathered together with representatives from the various regions of the Communio Internationalis Benedictinarum (CIB) and ecumenical observers. I should explain that the CIB is the organisation which draws together the Benedictine women throughout the world in much the same way as the Benedictine Confederation does for men. The Benedictine Confederation is largely the work of Leo XIII who in 1893 wanted to organise the independently-minded, autonomous, Benedictine houses into a worldwide order along the lines of the Franciscans and Dominicans. His efforts met with only partial success: the abbeys throughout the world remain autonomous but they are, in the main, gathered into groupings known as Congregations. Ampleforth, for example, is a member of the English Benedictine Congregation. The Congregations have an Abbot President who is a primus inter pares with certain specific duties, for example conducting the canonical visitations of the monasteries of the Congregation and presiding at Abbatial elections. Most of the ordinary business of the Confederation is transacted by the meeting of Presidents, but every four years all the Abbots of the Benedictine world gather together to elect an Abbot Primate, presently Abbot Notker Wolf of the St Ottilien Congregation, and to discuss matters of mutual interest or concern. 1 One fascinating aspect of the Congress is the world-wide nature of Benedictine monasticism. The majority of the houses of the Confederation are in Europe and the USA. Many of these houses are quite small - but each one is special for the area around it. It is the case, however, that between 20-25% of Benedictine houses are in the developing nations of the world - and the challenges for these houses are different from those facing the European and American houses. THE ABBEY 9 face diminishment in numbers as we face an aggressive secular agenda. In Europe we healthy independence of self-sustaining monastic communities. We also discussed the number of monks has meant that some houses have already The reduction in the work of Dialogue Interreligieux Monastique-Monastic Interreligious Dialogue clear that the coming decade will see amalgamations and further closed and it is quite (DIMMID), the body which promotes monastic inter-religious dialogue. Abbot of the perceived threat is the reunion this year of the closures. One measure Timothy spends part of his time working to promote dialogue with Islam. Whilst the Congregations after more than a century of separation. As Cassinese and Subiaco Jesuits and Franciscans have a long track record in this work, Benedictines are diminishment in European and Amercian monasticism shaped one might expect, the comparative new-corners - but many of our communities are in countries where The assembled Abbots discussed the significance part of the agenda of the Congress. Islam is very active and so the work he is undertaking is of importance to the change. As the of autonomy of communities at this time of reader will understand Benedictine Confederation. We are also much involved in the International the reduction of monastic numbers means that the surviving monks need to change Commission on Benedictine Education (ICBE) which is promoting cooperation if their communities are going to be able to attract new members and so it is between the various communities which run schools — and there are a surprising important to understand and tackle questions of monastic stress and burnout - number of communities all over the world which are engaged in this work, nearly all especially among office holders, and along the same lines the congress explored of whom are seeking to give expression to their Benedictine ideals in the nature of what we could learn from modern business management techniques. Whilst change the schools they run. Finally there is the Monastic Formators' Programme in which is inevitable in these days it is also important for monastic communities to ensure that mature religious from the Benedictine and Cistercian Houses around the world gather the changes they implement do not compromise the essentials of monastic living. together for a programme which is designed to help them become Novice Masters This, too, was a topic of discussion among the Abbots. and Novice Mistresses. This particular programme receives a great deal of support from English monasteries: Belmont and Ampleforth Abbey provide personnel to run If 'developed-world' monasticism is facing diminishment in numbers and the the three month course and Buckfast is one of the Abbeys which helps to ensure that changes this brings, the 'developing world' is facing a very different set of problems. monks and nuns from the emerging nations can afford to attend the course of studies. In many countries monastic numbers are exploding. This is particularly true in Korea and Vietnam. The same phenomenon is seen to a slightly smaller extent in parts of As you might guess, much of the most interesting work happens outside the formal Africa.

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