Queen Elizabeth's funeral last year is reported to have attracted more than 4 billion viewers, making it perhaps the most-watched event in history.

This was the finest moment for the current Earl Marshall, Edward Fitzalan-Howard, more formally known as His Grace the Most Noble Duke of Norfolk. (Pictured.)

The 18th Duke spent 20 years planning the late queen's funeral but has had far less time to arrange the coronation of the United Kingdom's new monarch, King Charles III, on Saturday, May 6.

Despite making the news for dangerous driving and his recent divorce and remarriage, Fitzalan-Howard will try to be as inconspicuous as possible at the coronation, just as he was at the queen's recent funeral, which will be difficult for a man wearing the most extravagant uniform outside the military or the Church of England.

Since 1484 the Earl Marshal has supervised royal events through the College of Arms with assistance from quaintly named characters such as Garter King of Arms and Rouge Dragon Pursuivant.

The payment these heralds receive is appropriately medieval.

Although the Dukes of Norfolk have held this position since 1672, the first Earl Marshal of the Howard family was John, 1st Duke of Norfolk, in 1483.

A few other families have also had a turn, especially during the tumultuous Tudor era.

The most peculiar choice was Henry VIII, made Earl Marshal by his father at 3.

Unsurprisingly, there is confusion bordering on bewilderment about this post.

The Howard family has held different titles going back more than seven centuries.

On occasion, these have been stripped from them — most notably during the reign of Elizabeth I.

The unrelentingly Catholic head of the family had his dukedom removed, along with all his income.

It would have been little consolation then, but Philip Howard was eventually made a saint, canonized by Pope Paul VI in 1970.

Philip Howard, who should have been the 5th Duke of Norfolk, died at the Tower of London in 1595, accused of being a Catholic and a Jesuit conspirator. Philip's father, Thomas Howard, 4th Duke of Norfolk, was beheaded at the same location despite denying being a Catholic before the axe came down.

Similar fates befell the 4th Duke's father and grandfather.

It became a tradition among the Howards to suffer for being Catholic.

The Howard family tells us much about British history, especially Catholic history.

The Dukes of Norfolk have had demotions — promotions have been difficult as they have been at the top for so long anyway.

Some aspired to be kings, while others have been successful statesmen, generals, poets, and cardinals.

One was committed to an Italian insane asylum.

Most clung to their Catholicism, while a few did not.

Others merely talked about converting.

Duke Henry, appointed by Charles II when the monarchy was restored after Cromwell's republic, told the diarist John Evelyn that he "will go to Church and become Protestant" but couldn't bring himself to do so.

His son did instead.

It is the Howards' abilities and persistence that helped rehabilitate Catholics as acceptable members of British society. Continue reading

The cross, named the Cross of Wales, contains two shards of the True Cross, which is said to have been used in the crucifixion of Jesus Christ.

The Royal Palace made the announcement on Tuesday, NZ time.

The small fragments have been incorporated into the larger silver crucifix behind a rose crystal gemstone so they can be viewed only up close. One shard is 1cm in size and the other is 5mm.

Crafted from recycled silver bullion provided by the Royal Mint in Llantrisant, South Wales, the Cross of Wales includes a shaft of Welsh windfall timber and Welsh slate.

Words from the last sermon of St David are inscribed on the back of the cross in Welsh, which read: 'Byddwch lawen. Cadwch y ffydd. Gwnewch y Pethau Bychain', translated as: 'Be joyful. Keep the faith. Do the little things'.

The Cross of Wales is a gift from the King to the Church in Wales to celebrate its centenary. It will be blessed by the Archbishop of Wales, Andrew John, in a service at Holy Trinity Church, Llandudno, North Wales, today before it heads to London.

Upon its return from the coronation procession, the cross will be shared between Wales's Anglican and Catholic churches.

The silver elements bear a full hallmark, including the Royal Mark - a leopard's head - which was applied by the King himself in November last year when visiting The Goldsmiths' Centre in London.

"We are honoured that His Majesty has chosen to mark our centenary with a cross that is both beautiful and symbolic," said Archbishop Andrew.

"Its design speaks to our Christian faith, our heritage, our resources and our commitment to sustainability. We are delighted too that its first use will be to guide Their Majesties into Westminster Abbey at the coronation service."

The Roman Catholic Archbishop of Cardiff and Bishop of Menevia, Mark O'Toole, said: "With a sense of deep joy, we embrace this cross, kindly given by King Charles, and containing a relic of the True Cross, generously gifted by the Holy See. It is not only a sign of the deep Christian roots of our nation but will, I am sure, encourage us all to model our lives on the love given by our Saviour, Jesus Christ."

Well ahead of the coronation, King Charles met a Catholic delegation at Buckingham Palace.

As king, Charles is the supreme governor of the Church of England.

Speaking for the 12-member delegation, Cardinal Vincent Nichols of Westminster pledged his church's allegiance to the new king.

"For so many years, we have observed your desire and unstinting efforts to explore and enhance the well-being of the entire human family, through your commitment to religious faith, protection of the environment and relief of poverty," Nichols said.

"The Catholic community is profoundly supportive of these fundamental concerns, as we strive to offer our society, your kingdom, an education for young people that is rooted in faith and its consequent commitment to human dignity."

Source

• Daily Mail
• CathNews NZ

I've learned to spot the disappointment in people's faces when I don't have an opinion on Harry's latest girlfriend, or Kate's dresses.

As my wife will tell you with some regret, I'm a bit of a disappointment in the royal gossip department.

But I'm no republican. I get that it goes with the territory once you throw off your imperial monarchy and set up on your own, like Ireland, India or the U.S.

But if a royal heads your state, it's obvious that once you defenestrate them, their powers will transfer to the president, and soon you'll be obsessing about Melania Trump's footwear or Emmanuel Macron's holiday home.

So: I respect the royals, even admire them. I can riff, for example, on the evangelical Anglican piety of the Queen — a model of tireless, faithful service — and Prince Charles, who shares his family's Christian passion for the environment.

But the people themselves, and their dramas? I don't live them the way many do — with an intensity normally reserved for soap operas.

So when, in the Peruvian mountain city of Ayacucho 20 years ago, tearful strangers — Quechua speakers, mostly — crossed the Plaza de Armas to commiserate over the death of Diana, Princess of Wales, I was taken aback and didn't know what to say, except gracias, es una tragedia.

The months prior to her brutal end in a Paris traffic pile-up had been tawdry.

The messy divorce from Charles a year earlier, her tearful self-pitying interview on the BBC, her affairs and the cold-shouldering from what she called ‘the Firm' — it wasn't the royals' finest hour, and there was even dark talk of the monarchy's extinction.

But two decades on, the monarchy thrives, and the coverage of the anniversary of Diana's death has helped me see why.

The BBC's brilliant account (also on Netflix) of the seven days leading up to her funeral, as told in part by the princes, William and Harry, was essentially the story of the restoration of a deep, preternatural bond between a people and their sovereigns, one that has a powerful religious resonance. Continue reading

• Austen Ivereigh is a British writer, journalist and commentator, and co-founder of Catholic Voices, a communications project now in 20 countries.

It's somewhat providential that the two stories have coincided, especially after a story was brought to my attention late last week about a possible correlation between the papacy and British royalty.

As I've written many times in the past four months or so, Pope Francis is a pretty beloved figure around the world, even by large portions of a mainstream media that is usually suspicious of — or even hostile towards — the Catholic Church, and in many cases with due cause.

But someone at CNN was thinking back to another figure in our not-too-distant past who was loved by the media and wondered "Is Pope Francis the Catholic Princess Diana?"

Eric Marrapodi was reflecting on Pope Francis's recent trip to Lampedusa in southern Italy, one of the closest parts of Europe to Africa and the hoped-for destination of many Africans trying to make a new life for themselves, often risking their lives in the pursuit of that dream. It reminded him of Princess Diana's efforts to cast a spotlight on humanitarian issues.

But watching Francis' first few months in office, it's hard not to notice that he seems to have taken a page from the late Princess Diana's playbook.

The Princess of Wales knew where she went, the media followed. Her activism brought global attention to homelessness, HIV/AIDs, and, most prominently, land mines. Continue reading

Sources

• Gavin Abraham, The Catholic Soapbox
• Image: CNN

Gavin Abraham, a journalist for more than a dozen years, has spent most of the last six years working in Catholic media.

The apostolic vicar, Bishop Camillo Ballin, said the move is being made because Bahrain is more central and "easily accessible for meetings and conferences of Church officials".

Bahrain's easier visa regime has been suggested as a factor in the vicariate's decision, which has come after several threats to the religious freedom of Christians in the region.

A Kuwaiti member of Parliament, Osama Al-Munawer, said he would submit a bill calling for the removal of all churches in Kuwait. After facing criticism, he later said that existing churches should remain, but he advocated a ban on the construction of any new non-Islamic places of worship.

In March, the Grand Mufti of Saudi Arabia, Sheikh Abdul Aziz Bin Abdullah, reportedly said it is "necessary to destroy all the churches of the region" in accord with an ancient rule that only Islam may be practised there.

Shi'ite clerics in Iran are criticising Bahrain's Sunni monarch, King Hamad Bin Isa Al Khalifa, for granting the Catholic Church 9000 square metres to build a new church, complaining that he destroyed dozens of Shi'ite mosques during the unrest that erupted there early last year.

In Bahrain the head of the Salafist Asalah party, Abdel Halim Murad, said the building of churches in Islamic lands was "haram" (forbidden) and that the sound of church bells could not be allowed to drown out the call to prayer in the Arabian peninsula, the cradle of Islam.

The vicariate tends to the spiritual needs of around two million Catholics in the Arab Gulf states, the vast majority of them expatriates from the Philippines, India, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka.

Bahrain already has one Catholic church, built in 1939 and serving about 80,000 Catholics, and shares another place of worship with the Anglican community.

The apostolic nunciature in Kuwait will remain.

Source:

Catholic News Agency

CNSNews.com

Image: Arabian Gazette