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For centuries this Catholic family has orchestrated Britain’s most Anglican royal events

May 4, 2023 Catholic News Agency 2
Arundel Castle in Sussex has been the seat of the Duke of Norfolk’s ancestors for 850 years. / Miles Sabin from Brighton, UK, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

London, England, May 4, 2023 / 09:00 am (CNA).

The Earl Marshal of England is little known and rarely seen, but he oversees the world’s biggest spectacles. 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.

The 18th Duke of Norfolk, Edward Fitzalan-Howard, is the hereditary Earl Marshal of England and is the country's premier lay Catholic. Photo courtesy of WIKIMEDIA PIC
The 18th Duke of Norfolk, Edward Fitzalan-Howard, is the hereditary Earl Marshal of England and is the country’s premier lay Catholic. Photo courtesy of WIKIMEDIA PIC

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, which will take place 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 it is often stated that 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 the age of 3.

Queen Elizabeth proceeding to Westminster for her coronation in 1559 with the Duke of Norfolk at top right. PUBLIC DOMAIN
Queen Elizabeth proceeding to Westminster for her coronation in 1559 with the Duke of Norfolk at top right. PUBLIC DOMAIN

It’s not surprising that 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 at the time, 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. 

One small step was a concession the 12th Duke obtained in 1824, when he was no longer required to deny Transubstantiation — a vital element of Catholic belief. After that date, they could perform their duties as Earl Marshal without needing a deputy to stand in for them. Previously, Catholic dukes had to step aside at the last minute in case the Protestant public gaze should be upon them. 

The 16th Duke of Norfolk, who organized Queen Elizabeth's coronation, was prominent enough in his day to merit a cigarette card. Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons
The 16th Duke of Norfolk, who organized Queen Elizabeth’s coronation, was prominent enough in his day to merit a cigarette card. Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons

Some confusion remains to this day. The Dukes of Norfolk’s ancestral home is in Sussex, far from Norfolk. For 850 years they have owned the magnificent Arundel Castle, recently robbed for relics of Mary Queen of Scots. They also own 16,000 prime acres of Sussex. In contrast, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex (better known as Prince Harry and Meghan Markle) own no land in that valuable county. Nor are they playing much of a part in the coronation. The Sussexes of Montecito do have a superior title though. 

Part of the secret of the Dukes of Norfolk’s longevity has been keeping up with the times. When the present Duke was charged in court, he told the magistrate that he drives an elderly BMW because he likes “being simple and unpompous.” This is very different from the 16th Duke, who organized Queen Elizabeth’s coronation. When he led the England cricket team to Australia, he famously said: “Gentlemen, I wish this to be an entirely informal tour. You will merely address me as ‘Sir.’”

As is so often the case, the present 18th Duke of Norfolk is not a direct descendant of the 16th Duke. Descent in this family has often been confusing because of an absence of male heirs. If Norfolk had been in Scotland, things would have been different and a woman could have been the key organizer of King Charles III’s coronation. Since the Duke of Norfolk is not allowed to be a woman, there will probably never be a “Countess Marshal.”

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The Dispatch

Pope Francis: Freedom is under threat in Europe

May 3, 2023 Catholic News Agency 15
Pope Francis spoke about the Christian roots of Hungary during his general audience in St. Peter’s Square on May 3, 2023. / Daniel Ibanez/CNA

Vatican City, May 3, 2023 / 02:21 am (CNA).

Pope Francis said Wednesday that freedom is under threat in Europe, as people choose consumerism and individualism over building families and community.

Even today, “freedom is under threat,” he said May 3. “Above all with kid gloves, by a consumerism that anesthetizes, where one is content with a little material well-being and, forgetting the past, one ‘floats’ in a present made to the measure of the individual.”

“This is the dangerous persecution of modernity that advances consumerism,” he underlined.

“But when the only thing that counts is thinking about oneself and doing what one likes, the roots suffocate,” he warned. “This is a problem throughout Europe, where dedicating oneself to others, community feeling, the beauty of dreaming together and creating large families are in crisis. All of Europe is in crisis.”

Pope Francis spoke about Europe, its roots, and the problem of consumerism, during his weekly audience with the public.

Speaking about his visit to Budapest, Hungary, April 28-30, he asked those present at the audience to think about “the importance of preserving roots, because only by going deep will the branches grow upwards and bear fruit.”

He began his reflection on the three-day trip to Hungary’s capital city by recalling the European country’s Christian roots and the ways those were tested in the 20th century.

“Their faith, as we have heard from the Word of God, has been tested by fire,” he said, noting the atheist persecution in the 1900s, when “Christians were struck down violently, with bishops, priests, religious, and lay people killed or deprived of their freedom.”

“But while attempts were made to cut down the tree of faith, the roots remained intact,” he said, pointing out the steadfastness of the “hidden Church” in Hungary.

“In Hungary, this latest persecution, the Communist oppression was preceded by the Nazi oppression, with the tragic deportation of a large Jewish population,” the pope added.

“But in that atrocious genocide, many distinguished themselves by their resistance and their ability to protect the victims; and this was possible because the roots of living together were firm,” he said. “Thus the common bonds of faith and people helped the return of freedom.”

Quoting St. Pope John Paul II, Pope Francis also spoke about Hungary’s “many saints and heroes, surrounded by hosts of humble and hard-working people.”

He noted, in particular, the devotion of Hungary’s St. Stephen, to the Virgin Mary.

“I want to recall, at the beginning of the month of May, how very devoted the Hungarians are to the Holy Mother of God,” he said.

“Consecrated to her by the first king, St. Stephen, they used to address her without pronouncing her name, out of respect, calling her only by the titles of Queen,” Pope Francis said. “To the Queen of Hungary, therefore, we entrust that dear country; to the Queen of Peace, we entrust the building of bridges in the world; to the Queen of Heaven, whom we acclaim at this Easter time, we entrust our hearts that they may be rooted in the love of God.”

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The Good Shepherd calls us to ‘open our hearts to love,’ Pope Francis says at Mass in Hungary

April 30, 2023 Catholic News Agency 4
Pope Francis stands on an altar erected outside the Parliament Building in Budapest’s Kossuth Lajos’ Square during a public outdoor Mass on April 30, 2023. / Vatican Media

CNA Staff, Apr 30, 2023 / 05:47 am (CNA).

During an outdoor Mass in Budapest on Good Shepherd Sunday, Pope Francis called on Hungarians to be “open and inclusive,” reflecting on how Jesus wants his flock to share the abundant life they’ve received from him.

“Though we are diverse and come from different communities, the Lord has brought us together, so that his immense love can enfold us in one embrace,” the pope said in his April 30 homily, speaking in bright sunshine to more than 50,000 people gathered in and around the Hungarian capital’s picturesque Kossuth Lajos Square.

“[A]ll of us are called to cultivate relationships of fraternity and cooperation, avoiding divisions,” he said, “not retreating into our own community, not concerned to stake out our individual territory, but rather opening our hearts to mutual love.”

Prior to Mass, held outside the city’s majestic neo-Gothic Parliament building, the pope was transported in his wheelchair to a specially constructed altar platform flanked by banners in the colors of the Vatican and Hungarian flags and simply adorned with a towering wooden crucifix.

Pope Francis and Cardinal Peter Erdő, the archbishop of Budapest (left) are shown at the outdoor Mass held in Budapest, Hungary, on April 30, 2023. Erdő was the principal celebrant of the Mass; since the pope’s knee injury has impeded his mobility, he has called on cardinals to take his place at the altar. Vatican Media
Pope Francis and Cardinal Peter Erdő, the archbishop of Budapest (left) are shown at the outdoor Mass held in Budapest, Hungary, on April 30, 2023. Erdő was the principal celebrant of the Mass; since the pope’s knee injury has impeded his mobility, he has called on cardinals to take his place at the altar. Vatican Media

Cardinal Peter Erdő, the archbishop of Budapest, was the principal celebrant of the Mass; since the pope’s knee injury has impeded his mobility, he has called on cardinals to take his place at the altar.

In his homily, Francis zeroed in on “two specific things that, according to the Gospel, [the Good Shepherd] does for the sheep. He calls them by name, and then he leads them out.”

“The history of salvation does not begin with us, with our merits, our abilities, and our structures. It begins with the call of God,” the pope said.

“[T]his morning, in this place, we sense the joy of our being God’s holy people. All of us were born of his call.”

Pope Francis said he spoke especially “to myself and to my brother bishops and priests: to those of us who are shepherds.” He called on the faithful to be “increasingly open doors: ‘facilitators’ — that’s the word — of God’s grace, masters of closeness; let us be ready to offer our lives, even as Christ … teaches us with open arms from the throne of the cross and shows us daily as the living Bread broken for us on the altar.”

Seeing closed doors is “sad and painful,” the pope said. He referred specifically to the “closed doors of our selfishness with regard to others; the closed doors of our individualism amid a society of growing isolation; the closed doors of our indifference towards the underprivileged and those who suffer; the doors we close towards those who are foreign or unlike us, towards migrants or the poor.”

The pope’s plea was, “Please, let us open those doors! Let us try to be — in our words, deeds, and daily activities — like Jesus, an open door.”

As open doors, the Lord of life can enter our hearts, Pope Francis assured, with “words of consolation and healing.”

Pope Francis speaks during a public outdoor Mass in Kossuth Lajos Square in Budapest, Hungary, on April 30, 2023. Vatican Media
Pope Francis speaks during a public outdoor Mass in Kossuth Lajos Square in Budapest, Hungary, on April 30, 2023. Vatican Media

Speaking to his Hungarian hosts, he urged them to be “open and inclusive” and “in this way, help Hungary to grow in fraternity, which is the path of peace,” an apparent reference to the country’s contested migration policies.

While the pope has praised the country for being a leader in assisting persecuted Christians in other countries and welcoming more than a million war refugees from neighboring Ukraine, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s curbing of migrants from the Middle East and Africa is generally seen as being at odds with the pope’s call to openness. During the migrant crisis of 2015, Orbán sealed Hungary’s southern border with Serbia, closing off the main land route into Europe.

Pope Francis ended his homily with a reminder that Jesus “calls us by name and cares for us with infinitely tender love. He is the door, and all who enter through him have eternal life. He is our future, a future of ‘life in abundance.’

“Let us never be discouraged,” the pope said. “Let us never be robbed of the joy and peace he has given us. Let us never withdraw into our own problems or turn away from others in apathy. May the Good Shepherd accompany us always: with him, our lives, our families, our Christian communities and all of Hungary will flourish with new and abundant life!”

In his Regina Caeli reflection after the Mass, the pope referenced the ongoing fighting in Ukraine.

“Blessed Virgin, watch over the peoples who suffer so greatly. In a special way, watch over the neighboring, beleaguered Ukrainian people and the Russian people, both consecrated to you,” he said.

“You, who are the Queen of Peace, instill in the hearts of peoples and their leaders the desire to build peace and to give the younger generations a future of hope, not war, a future full of cradles not tombs, a world of brothers and sisters, not walls and barricades.”

Ending his three-day visit to Budapest, the pope is scheduled to deliver a speech on culture and academics Sunday afternoon at the Péter Pázmány Catholic University. He then will have a farewell ceremony at 5:30 p.m. local time before departing on his return flight to Rome.

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