THE heart of the City ofLondon is eerily reminis-cent of a ghost town onmost weekends.

The financial crisishas already led to shopclosures and a prevalentsense of unease in London’s normallycrowded financial district.

One small spot, howev-er, is unfailingly busy on the first Saturday ofevery month, as a spiri-tual group meets for activities you would notnormally associate withhigh finance – silence,prayer and scripturalstudy according to thetime-honoured traditionof the Carmelite order.

The group is dubbedCarmel in the City andrecently celebrated itsfirst anniversary.

Carmel in the Citymeets at St Joseph’sChapel, Moorgate, whichis easy to miss unless youknow where to find it –not far from Moorgatetube station.

The chapel may not bemuch to look at from theoutside, but inside itfairly glows with modernicons, especially a life-sized icon of theBlessed Virgin Mary setagainst a background ofa flowering London.

It is to this chapel thata disparate group assem-bles, of all ages and sizes.At the most recentCarmel in the City meeting on 2 May, thegroup included teachers,directors, businesspeople and nurses, aswell as a priest visitingfrom America.

Also in attendance waslively eight-year oldKatherine Reith and herfather, Nick Reith, whohad travelled with hisfamily all the way fromHampshire to attend.

Nick, along withteacher and artist SuzyWyatt, from south London, was there for ashort ceremony officiallyreceiving both of theminto the long formationperiod of becoming aThird Order Carmelite –the second time Carmelin the City has held theceremony in six months.

The ceremony over,the group convened tothe hall above the chapelfor its monthly do-it-yourself feast that, in thewords of the group’sco-founder Sylvia Lucas,“is a lesson in itself”.

Without any priorplanning, each attendeebrings a particular itemof food to share thatmanages to complementthe whole. “Food has become the metaphor forsharing,” says Sylvia.

This month’s exercise

in sharing included bottles of wine, averitable mountain ofhome-made spring rolls,a liberal smattering ofdesserts as well as plentiful cups of tea.

“You can feel the lovehere,” says Nick Reith.“Everyone says it is asecular world but in themidst of London’sapparent power andgreed is this lovely littleoasis where you can meetChrist or just meet your-self, with like-mindedpeople.”

Dancer Celia Asboltagrees. “It’s like a familyhere. We accept everyonewho comes, whoever theyare. ” Regular attendeeMartin O’Brian – whoturns up in biking geardangling a large rosary –agrees. “I love theCarmelites,” he says.“Because Carmelite people were here I feltthere was somethinghere, something special.”

Speakers

Each Carmel in theCity meeting usuallyincludes a guest speakeras well as a period ofLectio Divinia – the ancient Catholic tradi-tion of Bible study usingpassages relevant to theyearly liturgical round ofthe Catholic Church.

The guest speakersprovide the twist.Carmel in the City hasover the year welcomed aCarmelite nun and authoress, the prior ofAylesford Carmelite friary in Kent, theprovincial delegate to theCarmelite Third Order,an Anglican Franciscan,as well as lively inter-faith ecumenical discus-sions involving JenniferPotter, the localMethodist pastor, theAnglican female vicar ofa local church and Fr Peter Jordan, the affable Catholic parishpriest in charge of bothSt Joseph’s and theequally busy St Mary’sMoorgate.

Carmel in the City isdeliberately meant to bean open spiritualitygroup, not just a closedmeeting for CarmeliteThird Order members.It is a fertile meetingplace for those wishingto explore spiritualtruths from a decidedlyCarmelite slant, with the

chance of friendship anda cup of tea thrown intothe mix. Given the exalt-ed traditions of theCarmelite order – whichhas produced no lessthan three famous doctors of the CatholicChurch – St Theresa ofAvila, St John of theCross, and St Therese ofLisieux – visitors mightconceivably feel a un-worthy an intimidated,but the opposite is thecase. The Carmelite tradition honourswelcome, natural spon-taneity, a refreshing lackof rigid rules and regula-tions, and above all agenuine commitment toshared prayer – with adose of good humour.

This is not a group fullof long faces, but whensilence is needed, the hallgoes quiet and a mysteri-ous sense of peace seemsto settle over the circle ofpeople praying and med-itating from a Christianperspective.

Without making anybig noise about this mystery, it is the kind ofquiet spiritual revolutionthat London has seenover the generations inmany different guisesand traditions – such asthe birth of Methodism afew blocks away from StJoseph’s as well as aonce-flourishing mediae-val Charterhouse justdown the road.

Carmel in the City“provides a space to reflect, find communityand orientate our lives tofind out what are funda-mental and eternal values,” says Sylvia Lucas, a school advisor.

Kim Insley, aprogramme directorworking from the Insti-tute of Education atLondon University, seesthe coming together ofsuch a group as fulfillinga vital need.

“London has become acommunity that doesn’tcare any more because ofthe economic crisis. Andit has come to rely toomuch on money.Carmelite tradition tellsus that each individualreally is important, madein the image and likenessof God,” she says.

The fact that thegroup is flourishing doesnot surprise CharmynJayasura, the nationaltreasurer of the CatholicWoman’s League and a

trained accountant.“It is a success, I

think, for simple reasons.You share with othersand you also learn whenyou come.”

For the curious,fearful perhaps of beingswept into an authoritar-ian organisation with itsown strange rituals, thewelcome is reassuringlymild. There is no coercion to join theCarmelite Third Orderor even to come again.“I’d say come and see.And if you think it is notfor you, we never forceanyone to come back.”

The spirit of welcomeis unmistakablyCarmelite. The Order,formed from a group ofChristian hermits whowere ultimately forced toflee from Mount Carmelin the Holy Land in theMiddle Ages, has no single charismaticfounder and one of theshortest rules of all thereligious orders.

When Carmel arrivedin Europe in the 13thcentury, the order strug-gled to find a welcomeamong the establishedreligious orders and –without land of theirown – tended to settle onthe outskirts of citiesand thus have direct regular contact with or-dinary people.

Carmel in the Cityholds historical reso-nances, with its sense ofministering to the peopleand a healthy dose ofpragmatism in findingsits niche in the world.

What Carmel in theCity offers, in the wordsof another co-founder,Martin Pendergast, “isthe possibility for peopleinvolved in the commer-cial and finance sectorsto think critically aboutwhat they are doing aspeople of faith. Withoutbeing preachy about it,we have an ethical dimension about whatwe are doing at Carmelin the City.”

Does this filter downto the banking communi-ty which has shouldereda large amount of the

blame for the recession? One intriguing point

about Carmel in the cityis that growth has beenorganic. With a mini-mum of advertising out-side Carmelite circles thegroup continues to ex-pand, attracting up to 50attendees every month.

One way to under-stand Carmel in the Cityis to understand what itmost definitely is not. Itis not a yogic meditationgroup in a vaguelyChristian context. Nor isit a charismatic prayermeeting or a group pray-ing ‘gimme’ prosperityprayers. It is not a seriesof lectures about aspectsof Catholic doctrine, or agroup dedicated to char-ity work. There is no

wildly charismatic priestor leader encouraging agroup of eager disciplesto religious excess.

Instead, what you seeat a typical meeting is aring of chairs, groupedaround a central table onwhich rests an openBible and a lamp from

the Lebanon inscribedwith the word ‘peace’ indifferent languages.

The lamp burnssteadily. Peace, in differ-ent languages, seems tobe what this little groupis all about and is some-thing sorely needed inLondon right now.

CMYK

The Universe, Sunday May 17, 2009 10 NEWS The Universe, Sunday May 17, 2009 FEATURE 27

How one Catholic group is speaking thelanguage of prayer in the City of London

Every month, a little Catholic chapel inthe heart of the city of London hosts anever-expanding group of people exploring Carmelite spirituality as wellas ecumenical outreach with otherchurches. Nick Black investigates.

Fertile meeting place: Carmel in the City attractspeople of all ages and from all walks of life

ANGELS and Demons is little morethan “harmless entert a i n m e n t ,” withmany factual errors and little cul-t u ral va l u e, a c c o rding to the Va t i c a nnewspaper.

Two dispassionate articles inL’ O s s e r v a t o re Romano m ay disap-point the film’s promoters, who hadsought a conflict with the Vaticanof the type that surrounded The DaVinci Code in 2006. Both films arebased on books by author Dan Brown.

An editorial in the paper called boththe film and the book “modest” and“rather innocuous”.

An accompanying review said thatv i ewers “must face two hours of harm-less entertainment that has little to dowith the genius and mystery of Chris-tianity, without getting beyond theusual stereotypes”.

The review said the film was “pre-tentious” but actually complimented the“dynamic direction” and “splendidphotography” and said the computerand studio reconstructions of theVatican, Sistine Chapel and St Peter’s

Basilica, which were off-limits tofilming, were “magnificent”.

The film is the second collaborationbetween director Ron Howard andBrown, with Tom Hanks again in thestarring role. It was shown on May 4at Rome’s Auditorium performing art scomplex.

Before the screening, Howard andthe cast met reporters and tried hardto get some controversy going. The di-rector said he had run into problemsshooting the film in Rome, and bl a m e dthe Vatican without explaining what hadbeen done to obstruct production or bywhom.

Publicity

The Vatican spokesman, JesuitFr Federico Lombardi, would notcomment on Howa r d ’s assert i o n s ,speculating that he was just trying todrum up a bit more publicity for thebig Hollywood production.

The Vatican newspaper editorialacknowledged that the two books andfilms dealt with controversial issues:the Church and sexuality in the caseof The Da Vinci Code and faith and

science with Angels and Demons.However, in these works “the point

of view is always the least problem-atic possible”, it said.

“The good guys are always the pro-gr e s s ives, in favour of sex and science,whether they are heretics or popes, andthe bad guys are those who opposethem in the name of faith and tradition,and are always committing crimes.”

In the latest film, Hanks’ character,R o b e rt Langdon, an ex p e rt in religioussymbolism, is called in to investigatethe shadowy sect known as ‘Illuminati’who try to influence a papal electionby threatening to bl ow up cardinals withan ampule of mysterious antimatter.

The review said that the film “cer-t a i n ly doesn’t deserve the seal of goodculture; it’s more of a gigantic, clevercommercial operation”.

L’ O s s e r v a t o re Romano’s e d i t o r, GianMaria Vian, was reported in the Italian daily Corriere della Sera as s aying that A n gels and Demons p o s e dno danger to the Church.

“It only confirms the centuries-oldfascination with our faith and our sym-b o l s ,” he said. “If only all anti-Catholicoperations were like this one.”

THE Holy Father has un-d e rlined the Swiss Guard ’si m p o rtant task of pro t e c t-ing the Pope and wa t c h i n gover the Vatican.

The Guard must keepwatch over the ApostolicPalace and be vigilantand kind to all those whoenter, the Pope said.

But, most importantly,the guard must “faithful-ly, loyally and honourablyserve the supreme pontiffand sacrifi c e, if necessary,their life for him,” he said.

The Po p e ’s commentscame on May 7 duringa special audience withSwiss Guards and 32 newrecruits.

New soldiers are swornin during a colourfulceremony at the Vaticanevery May 6 to commem-orate the day 150 SwissGuards died saving PopeClement VII’s life duringthe sack of Rome on thatdate in 1527.

Today, the Swiss Guardnu m b e rs 110 men, but thatmay some day change.

The Guard’s new com-mander has re i t e rated thathe is open to the possibil-ity of allowing femalerecruits.

Colonel Daniel A n r i g ,who was named by thePope in December to headthe Guard , told Italiantelevision on May 5 thatletting women join theelite papal guard “may bepossible”.

The commander hadmade a similar statementfive months ago , s o o nafter his appointment.At that time, he said

that although he wa sunfamiliar with the finerdetails of the Swiss Guardre g u l a t i o n s , he believe dthat “as commandant,one has to be alway sopen to new questionsincluding those relating torecruitment”.

Anrig said if the corpswe re to include wo m e nit would happen in thedistant future.

No repeat of Da VinciC o d e controversy forAngels and Demons film

Pope stresses vital roleof elite Swiss Guard

Vigilant: New recruits are sworn-in at the Vatican

By Michael Kavanagh

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