A continuing survey of new groups, movements, events, and people impacting religion
The Congregation of the Oratory, a conservative liturgical and theological order founded by St. Phillip Neri in 1575, is finding a following among young Catholics in England at a time when other parts of the church are in decline.
The Oratorians came to England under the leadership of John Henry Newman in the 19th century and since then have spread to five cities (London, Oxford, Birmingham, Manchester, and York). The oratories operate both as parishes and communities, with secular priests living together although they don’t take vows as they do in religious orders.
Recently the Oxford Oratory took over a parish in York, becoming the third oratory to be established in England in a decade and the second one this year. Members and those pursuing a religious vocation (a comparatively large number compared to other orders and diocese in the UK) value the doctrinal conservatism and liturgical “stability”—with several Latin masses offered regularly. (Source: The Tablet, August 3.)
