The History of the Parish of Our Lady and St. Martin – Part 2

Here is part 2 of the history of the Parish. I'm still looking to find out who the stained glass windows portray.

Since posting Part 1, I've had some correspondence with Simon who told me the following:

"I am writing to you from London but I grew up in Jersey and remember with great fondness growing up in St Martins and serving as an alter server at St Martins in the days of Fr Sorohan and then Fr Feolin. Not sure if I have spelt their names right! I remember being taught by the Nuns of FCJ at Saturday school. 2 nuns still alive who taught for many years are Sr Beatrix and Sr Juliett then known as Sr Chantel. You mentioned the monstrance presented by Napoleon III. I also remember A Chalice that was also given by him and his wife. There was also a chalice the was older which was more valuable which had an Irish background. You might have more information on this to put in your next musing but if I can give you any more I can remember I will help. I know in the early 70's my father electrified the organ as he was tired of spending every Sunday hand pumping it!"

"I remember you mentioning the old Catholic Church at Gorey and asked my grandmother about it and she remembers going to church there. She is 95 this year and remembers many old events and was telling me she was the first woman to show a bull at the agricultural show and was also the first to wear a white coat to show it due to the farmer giving his brother incomplete instructions!. She was also working at the farm next to St Ouens Manor during the war and remembers the execution of Francois Scornet."

The History of the the Parish of Our Lady and St. Martin – Part 2
Catholic Herald, 1972

The Parish School

There was neither money nor building for a school, but Father Larose was not to be beaten. He used his small sacristy (which measured only 6 by 4 yards!!) An excellent teacher was found in St. Thomas's Children of Mary group. She was keen on teaching and able to speak both French and English.

The opening date was fixed for the first Monday of December, 1884. Ten, fifteen, then twenty children came forward. Not only infants arrived, but big country boys, ranging in age from 8-12 years.

Very soon there were some forty children altogether. One teacher was obviously not enough, and the premises, too small and cramped.

The Dames de St. Andre immediately sent in one of their best assistant mistresses to help out, and Father Larose offered the use of the biggest room in the presbytery for a school room. The teachers gave their best attention to the school, and soon gained their children's affection, the parents' esteem, and the priests' confidence. The school children gave them honour, and the people were extremely pleased to see all the children in church, singing French hymns during the services. This was something completely new for them, and they spoke highly of their joy and admiration.

These happy impressions were not without foundation. Even children who until then had gone to the Protestant school came to swell their ranks, and soon the number rose to 80. The room in the presbytery then grew too small, and every room in the house was turned over for school use.

Father Larose Has to Move Out of the Presbytery

In the meantime, where was the priest going to live? His unselfishness was not to go unrewarded. Near the church there was a big house. The Dames de St. Andre were interested in acquiring it as they wanted to set up the same sort of organization in St. Martin's as they had just done in St. Matthew's.

They encountered many difficulties in their at-tempts to have it as the tenants were not sure when they would be moving out, and, as its owner was a Protestant, would he agree to rent it to nuns?

Their fears were soon cast away. The house became vacant much earlier than expected, and the owner was willing to rent it. The Dames de St. Andre took it and kindly offered it to the priests as a presbytery until such time as they themselves should move in to St. Martin's.

Difficulties Arise with the School

For four years everything went well, there were then some eighty pupils, but difficulties arose, the lay teachers had to leave. An Oblate Father took on the boys, and the girls went to Protestant schools. This state of things could not continue, so the Rev. Mother of St. Helier promised Father Fick in 1891 that she would replace the lay teachers who had left.

The priests discovered a small cottage just big enough to lodge three people, quite near the church, so the nuns decided to go a year sooner than anticipated. Their school was to become so prosperous that the Dames de St. Andre built a large school for girls, one of the last joys of Mother Lucie's Generalate.

The Mission's Progress (1888-90)

In 1888, Father Larose was replaced by Father Feat. The progress in the mission was evident. In the following year there was an increase of fifteen baptisms and sixty Easter Communions. Father Feat set up the Confraternity of the Rosary, and the Apostleship of Prayer as aids to devotion, and many people joined them. He had been there for hardly a year when he was sent to the Canadian missions.

His successor, Father Collin, started his ministry by building a small school for boys. While this work was going on the church was completely restored and the surrounding land bought for a Catholic cemetery thanks to the generosity of the Oblate Provincial, Father Rey.

When the school was finished, Father Collin had just time to move back into the now vacated presbytery before being appointed to France.

Father Caux (1890-79)

The new Rector found his church scarcely big enough to house the congregation, so in 1892 he had a gallery built for the school children. The following year, he enlarged the presbytery, which allowed him to have another priest living with him who would he able to look after the needs of the newly opened centre of St. Joseph at Grouville.

After seven years, Father Caux was recalled to France (1897), and was succeeded by his assistant, Father Raffier.

St. Joseph's Grouville (1893)

A small school was opened by a Miss Corbin on 14 August, 1893, with the wholehearted support of Father Caux, the Rector of St. Martin's. This new Catholic school was opened in a house called 'Les Champs', Grouville, and was destined to be used at the same time as a chapel to enable the Catholics of Grouville and St. Clement's to assist at Mass on Sundays.

The first Mass was celebrated on 15 August 1893, and Father Raffier became the first priest-in-charge.

Soon the premises became too small, so it was decided to build a new and spacious school-chapel.

On 18 February 1985, the General Council of the Oblates gave their approval and on 29 June 1895 the contract of purchase of a field called 'Le Close de l'Ormel' was passed in the Royal Court of Jersey between Philippe Le Feuvre and the Rev. Charles Cox, procurator, under the seal of the Bailiff of Jersey. This field was situated near GrouvilleArsenal, and through the generosity of St. Thomas's, a school-chapel was soon built.

The building had to be enlarged twice, in 1902 and 1909. This time, the chapel was completely separated from the school, and permission was granted for the celebration of marriages. When the States closed the schools, the classrooms were put to use as a club and patronage, and the chapel enlarged. The plain glass windows were replaced with stained glass, and when the Jesuits left Jersey after the War they generously offered St. Joseph's their old high altar from the Maison St. Louis.

St. Joseph's Bell

In 1954 Mr. D. Berezai presented a large bell to the church. This was consecrated on 1 October 1954 by Archbishop King, and was baptized 'Jeanne-Marie', to commemorate the centenary of the proclamation of the Immaculate Conception, and the Archbishop's golden jubilee of the ordination to the priesthood.

In 1971 Beaulieu Convent were renovating their chapel and offered their pipe organ to St. Joseph's. This was gratefully accepted and installed in the September.

Father Trevien (1899-1906)

Two years later, in 1899, Father Trevien was nominated to St. Martin's. It was during his rectorship that a bigger school for boys was built (1902), as the old one had become too small. The school was staffed by the Brothers of Christian Instruction from Highlands.

Chapels

In the following year (in November 1903) he was responsible for opening a new Mass centre at Gorey Village.

Father Gullient (1906-1911)

In 1906, Father Gullient became Rector. He it was who enlarged the new cemetery and erected its magnificent cross, and built the Lourdes Grotto near the entrance of the church.

Father Pierrat (1911-1937)

Father Pierrat, his assistant, succeeded him in 1911. During his term of office the States closed down the two Catholic schools in St. Martin and Grouville. The buildings were empty of children, but were soon full of life. Helped by the Jesuits from Maison St. Louis, he formed a club and patronage.

After spending 26 years in the parish he retired to St. Mary's House, and spent his last years as chaplain to the Orphanage of the Sacred Heart. He died at the age of 77 in the year 1949, and was buried in the church cemetery.

Father Meline (1937-1953)

Father Meline then came as parish priest-not that he was unknown in the parish-he had worked in it for a good number of years beforehand. During the War years he was involved in encouraging his parishioners, especially those who had been put in prison by the Germans.

The Stone Altar

After the Occupation, the church's wooden altar was replaced through the kindness of the Sister Superior of the Orphanage. The stone altar came from St. Mary's House, former Juniorate of the Oblates. It had been made in Angers (France) and originally consecrated by Mgr. Dontewill, Superior General of the Oblates, in 1923. It was reconstructed in St. Martin's, and consecrated by Bishop King of Portsmouth on 22 March 1949.

The Church Bell

Having been rung ever since it was suspended in the belfry in 1856, the bell had to be melted down and remade. It was blessed and rehung on Palm Sunday, 1949 by Father Jort, the Superior of St. Thomas's, and rung for the first time on the Holy Thursday.

New Building at Gorey

50 years after the opening of the original chapel in Gorey, Father Meline bought a hall, called 'Badmington Hall', previously a non-conformist chapel, and then a cinema, and converted it for use as a church, and opened its doors for worship on 20 December 1953. Nine months later, on September 1954, Bishop King solemnly blessed the new church with the title of Our Lady of the Assumption.

Last French Oblates in St. Martin's

Fathers Quinton (1953-1957) and Helouet (1957-1960) were the last Oblates of the French Province to be rectors at St. Martin's. More English speaking people were moving into the area, and it was felt that the work of the Church should be handed over to Oblates of the Anglo-Irish Province. Thus, after a period of seventy-six years, (1884-1960) the French Oblates, witnesses of such progress in the St. Martin area, left to concentrate their manpower resources at St. Thomas's.

The Anglo-Irish Province of the Oblates Takes Over (1960)

In the early years of the take-over they were helped by a French priest, Pere Chuffard, now superior of St. Thomas's, who rendered invaluable assistance during the transition period.

Father John Crean (1960-1963)

Father Crean was the first rector of the new era in the life of St. Martin's. He was followed by Father Connolly (1963-1967) who in turn made way for the present Parish Priest. Father Donal Sorohan (1967-)

Father Sorohan's exploits at St. Martin's have made a great visual impact on the property. His major work has been the rebuilding of the old presbytery, (during which time he tells us he converted, and slept in the old billiard room, even installing a phone there, so as to be always at the service of his people), then moved into the new presbytery on 5 April 1969. The area roundabout was laid out as a car park for the use of parishioners in these days of motor transport.

He also turned his attention to the church. The fine old organ from St. Matthew's was acquired, renovated, and placed in the church in December 1969, and the following year the interior of the church was unpicked and modified in accordance with the requirements of the new liturgy.

So the work, started so long ago by a lone priest in the Faldouet area, continues, priests and people working together for the increase of God's Kingdom on earth.

Network Stability Problem: A case of jargon overload

Emily Gallichan ‏@EmilyGallichan  May 9

Jersey was liberated from power temporarily today! Wonder what caused it? #liberationdayunplugged #jsypowercut

Ryan Morrison ‏@upyourego  May 9

Taking re-enactment to a whole new level by doing it without power #LiberationDay #jsypowercut

Jersey Garrison ‏@JerseyGarrison  May 9

Sorry to anyone affected by #jsypowercut we were testing a new weapon which required more power than we expected.

Jersey Electricity apologises to islanders after a power cut disrupted yesterday's liberation Day celebrations. Chief Executive Chris Ambler said: ‘The Normandie 2 undersea cable was at the time out of service for planned maintenance by grid operator RTE in France so Jersey and Guernsey were being supplied from the Normandie 3 cable. Unfortunately, a network stability problem led to a complete loss of electricity supply from Normandie 3 at I 1.06am leading to an Island-wide power cut in Jersey and widespread power cuts in Guernsey.

Constable of St Helier, Simon Crowcroft, sounded rather annoyed on the radio yesterday when he described the apology above as inadequate and wondered if we could be told the real reason rather than making use of spin exemplified in the mysterious phrase “network stability problem”.

What is so striking about that phrase is that if you Google for the phrase “network stability problem” and the phrase “power cut”, you get exactly three results, all of which refer to the power cut on Liberation day, and are quoting Mr Ambler.

It is not exactly a Googlewhack, but it is remarkable and suggests that the term was coined by Mr Ambler at a moment’s notice to cover the cracks in what went wrong.

We now have a rather more detailed explanation:

Chris Ambler  told the BBC the Normandie 2 cable was out of service due to planned maintenance leaving the Normandie 3 cable to supply both Jersey and Guernsey.

"The system was stable, but demand was increasing pretty steadily and more strongly than we'd anticipated." Normandie 3 then "tripped out" to prevent an overload, he said.

I had just turned off a light upstairs, and come downstairs, and just as I turned on the kettle, the power went off. At first I thought it was an internal fuse, but then I realised it was a power cut. Was my kettle the straw that broke the camel’s back and caused Normandie 3 to “trip out”?

But on a more serious note, does this mean that Normandie 3 on its own is insufficient to meet peak demand on electricity? After all, the maintenance was, as Mr Ambler pointed out,  not carried out at night (when lighting and cooking can cause spikes in demand) or in winter when demand is higher.

Are we now dependent on having both cables live to cope with peaks in demand? And as a supplementary, have we enough generating capacity locally to manage if, for some reason, we lost both connections if there were problems (as has happened) with the French grid?

Chief executive Alan Bates in Guernsey made it clear that Guernsey cannot rely on just one cable for its demand: "We used only Normandie 3 to import electricity from France; and supplemented that supply with some on-island generation."

The external supply of power from France means that we can grow the population beyond the capacity of local power generation, but it comes with a price, and that price is the occasional outage of the system if those power conducting umbilical cords are cut, either on the sea bed or at the French end.

Mr Ambler said: “"We need to now review this, to look in detail at what went wrong." 

"It is not yet clear what caused the fault, aside from the fact that it originated from the CIEG cable network and was not related to the works taking place in France.”

New Dictionary Definitions:

Network stability problem: power cut caused by unknown factors.

Community Service and Sentencing

The teenagers sentenced in the Morgan Huelin case have been given community service orders. The sentences passed down by the Youth Court yesterday afternoon range from 140 hours of community service for the first defendant (also found guilty of possessing drugs and indecent images of children), to 100 hours of community service for one of the other teenagers, 50 hours for two defendants, and a 12-month binding over order for the final defendant.

Often when being handed down as a sentence this is perceived to be a ‘soft option’. It is clear that those who make those remarks do not even know what community service is, why it exists or why it is not the ‘soft option’ they consider it to be - in more ways than one.

So this blog posting explains what a Community Service Order involves, and I am grateful to my correspondent Adam Gardiner, who has given me details of what is involved, and why it is important.

A Community Service Order is a direct alternative to prison – in other words, an alternative to a custodial sentence. It carries with it an option, should the convicted person not complete that community service or in the meantime re-offends, for that Order can be cancelled and the person imprisoned.

Details can be found at:

https://www.gov.je/CrimeJustice/CommunityService/Pages/index.aspx

A Community Service Order is generally only considered as an option when the person is not seen as being a threat to society nor likely to re-offend if released back into the community. It is very unlikely to be handed down as an option for either hardened criminals (extensive record of serious crime) or those most likely to re-offend (history of offending and behavioural issues) or for crimes that society and legislation have deemed to have no alternative that a custodial sentence, i.e. murder

When properly analysed, Community Service is not a soft option at all. It will require that person to undertake manual work that is of benefit to the community or to a community - unbudgeted but necessary environmental work for example.

That work is largely conducted over weekends which has considerable social implications. Community Service of 100 hours, for example, given that is most usually over a Saturday and Sunday and does not generally exceed 6 hours/day, means that a person so sentenced will ‘lose’ 17 weekends at least. Remember too, if they do not comply it is back to court and possible imprisonment. This is quite an incentive for most.

Community Service also relies on several external factors too. Should a custodial sentence impact on other members of a family and thereby cause hardship for them or other third parties, Community Service is seen as an equitable solution provided the court is satisfied that in handing down a Community Service Order there is strong probability that that person will not re-offend or constitute a risk to society. It’s a judgment call.

It is is also worth noting that Community Service costs the taxpayer nothing save the supervisory staff from the Probation Service who at other times undertake other work within the service. However, placing a person in prison has a cost to the taxpayer.

With an average daily population of circa 150 inmates at La Moye and a total cost of running the prison at around £10.65m (of which 82% is staff cost) that means each prisoner costs the taxpayer circa £65,000 per year.

http://www.statesassembly.gov.je/AssemblyReports/2015/R.77-2015.pdf

While the prison has capacity for 255 prisoners, if that were also to be the daily average the staff cost would escalate considerably - and therefore the cost to the taxpayer.

Statistics show that those who are sentenced to Community Service respond positively and the vast majority never re-offend.

Those who shout about Community Service should consider the the bigger picture - if we were to imprison every wrong-doer. We should need a larger prison, more staff, and more tax revenue to pay for all of that. I am therefore sure the majority would agree that Community Service is also a good option for the taxpayer.

Disabled People and Community Service

Community Service Order generally results out of an SER (Social Evaluation Report) - conducted by the Probation Service who advise the court on ‘suitability’.

Probation delve into people’s backgrounds, their social problems, family circumstances, and indeed take account of any disability they may have.

However, that does not necessarily mean that a physical ‘disablement’ precludes anyone for Community Service as the options are quite wide. Equally manual work does not mean physical work - perhaps the term to use is mundane work - so long as it is of benefit to the community or a community (hence its title).

An example might be working at a grant assisted charity like Les Amis; working with other disabled people and reading to those who cannot. There is often an element of subtle catharsis in the type of work certain people are tasked to undertake by Probation.

Brown Study - 1

While Tony Blair makes front page headlines in the Daily Mail for what seems to be yet another sleazy money making scheme, I was wondering what happened to Gordon Brown. You don’t hear a lot of him, and yet he is doing a lot.

The only difference is that unlike Tony Blair, he’s not giving speeches for excessive sums of money, and the work he is doing is to make the world a better place.  Isn’t it strange how one Prime Minister seems to lack principles apart from feathering his own nest, while his successor as Prime Minister wants to help others, and improve the lot of those most in need of help.

Who gets the headlines? Tony Blair, of course, for scandal sells. But the real scandal is that not enough coverage is given to what Gordon Brown is saying. He was interviewed on Sky News, but

Gordon Brown is  now United Nations Special Envoy for Global Education and Chair of the International Commission on Financing Global Education Opportunity.

He recently commented on the situation with regard to Syria, which I am reprinting here. I think he is totally right – not only does education give Syrian’s hope, it also gives them the intellectual tools and skills to reconstruct their country.

Sowing the Seeds of Syria’s Future

By Gordon Brown

We are at risk of producing a lost generation of young Syrians. Nearly six years of civil war have displaced them from their homes, denied them the chance to plan for their future, and stolen their hopes. And in hopelessness, as we now know all too well, lie the roots of future violence in the Middle East.

The end of Syria’s brutal war may seem far off. But we must not behave as if peace will never come, because, when it does, Syria will have to call upon its best and brightest – the generation at risk of being lost – to rebuild their country.

Today, almost all of those young people have been denied training in the skills they will need in the future. If there is to be any hope for meaningful reconstruction, it will have to be built on the bedrock of a higher education.

We must, of course, be realistic and acknowledge the obstacles in the way of delivering higher education to refugees outside their country. There are language barriers. Academic credentials must be documented or verified in some way. And significant new funding will be necessary (with just 1.3% of global humanitarian aid directed toward education, such funding will be hard to come by).

Notwithstanding these challenges, there is one significant step we can and should take immediately: the creation of an international clearinghouse dedicated to providing access to higher education. The existing, if limited, resources available to refugees must be brought together in one place, providing comprehensive information for Syrians seeking to begin or resume their studies.

Many important initiatives are already underway. Turkey recently unveiled plans to open three institutions tasked with offering higher education to Syrian refugees. In Lebanon and Jordan, a European Union-funded program is providing 3,000 young Syrian adults with the skills necessary for higher education. And a coalition of Canadian higher education institutions and providers has joined with the World University Service of Canada to increase financial support for refugees.

With the support of Jusoor, an organization led by Syrian expatriates, the Institute for International Education has created the Syria Consortium for Higher Education in Crisis, a consortium of colleges and universities providing scholarships for Syrian students whose education has been disrupted by the conflict. The institute also provides educational opportunities to Syrians through its Emergency Student Fund, which issues grants to ensure that students from Syria can continue their studies in the United States.

At the grassroots level, individual donors such as George Soros have been generous in their support. Moreover, universities have offered scholarships, and organizations like the Dutch NGO Spark are reaching out to Syrian refugees still in the region to provide opportunities for higher education. The Scholar Rescue Fund offers fellowships to academics to continue their work in safety outside of Syria.

Meanwhile, digital advances are helping to close the gap between refugees and a university education. The University of the People is an accredited US university dedicated to providing a quality, traditional college education online at no cost (except for a small fee for processing exams) to students with no other accessible alternatives. It has created a scholarship program to cover the cost of the examination fees for 500 refugees, with the goal of serving 12,000 in the future.

To make these chances available to more young people, we need a clearinghouse linking refugees in need with universities and organizations in a position to help them. John Sexton, President Emeritus of New York University, is dedicating himself to creating such a clearinghouse; and, under his guidance, the newly formed Catalyst Trust has provided seed funding.

The reasons to support this effort are manifold. Jorge Sampaio, a former president of Portugal, has spearheaded the Global Platform for Syrian Students, connecting universities offering scholarships with refugees (through his effort, some 150 students have resumed their studies). Sampaio says that a clearinghouse could increase awareness and mitigate the risks faced by refugee students, with dramatic positive effects.

By the time the World Humanitarian Summit takes place in Istanbul in May, we must establish a funding facility for education in emergencies. In addition to ensuring that conflict does not disrupt the education process, such a fund could provide ongoing support to the global clearinghouse – perhaps even providing financial aid to talented young people.

We cannot wait for the war to end to pick up the pieces and rebuild – not when there is work that can be done today. By removing barriers to information we will provide refugees with the opportunity to continue their studies. And, as hope takes root among Syria’s lost generation, they will lay the groundwork for the reconstruction and revival of their country.

Liberation Tales: Four Explorations of Freedom

Liberation Tales: Four Explorations of Freedom

An End to Exile - Babylon, 537 BC

The stars fought from heaven; in their courses they battled, and there was war in heaven. And the portent proved true, a sign of our Lord, and Babylon the Mighty fell. Like a vast tower, great was its fall, and all the peoples who had been brought into captivity were granted their freedom, scattered out, a multitude of tongues. Cyrus the Persian, the Great King, gave us our liberation, and at last we could return. The exile was over.

At last our trek was over, and we beheld again Jerusalem, the golden city, and it was in ruins. The Temple was torn down, the houses shells, blackened and burnt, and the walls of the city broken asunder. As far as Ein Gedi to the east, Arad in the south, and Lachish in the west, there was destruction, and those who had been left managed barely to subsist.

But among the ruins, there is hope. We will build again, and restore the sanctuaries, and the fires of holiness will again burn brightly. And we will celebrate this day of liberation, and tell tales, even to the last generation of our peoples.

An Occupiers Tale, 410 A.D.

Our grand enterprise began so well, so promising. We would have established an Empire upon whom the sun would never set. But, alas, it was not to be. And yet all seemed so well.

The inhabitants of these Islands had, with little effort, been subjugated, and we had trained up administrators from within their ranks. At first there had been a measure of resistance, but they soon saw the wisdom of compliance with our demands. They passed our laws as their laws, and on our behalf, they could be as zealous as any soldier in the pursuit of insurrection.

Of course, they had not to deal with the persistent menace of those troubles tribes from Judea. There, I think, we had already shown our mettle, and crushed them underfoot, in mass exterminations of all the troublemakers, which once came to almost all the inhabitants of a city.

But I am sure those we placed in positions of power would learn to carry out our orders, however much they would at first feel distress of doing so. Our empire is built on power, and we know how the lust of power, and the fear of its loss, can make most of those we have conquered conform to our ways, our laws, and our justice. They will convince themselves of the greater good, as they always do.

And we would have brought peace to the world, had not our supply lines been cut by the incursions in Europe, forcing us upon our own resources, and providing opportunities for those discontented with our order.

So we have now to leave these primitives to their lot, and they will know soon enough the loss of our departure, as our legion leaves Britannica, at last, to return to Rome.

The Day Before Our Liberation - Jersey, 1945

The prison gates were flung open, and we were free, free at last. What had been a crime, anything done against the enemy, from listening to the wireless to acts of sabotage was now void. And we were set free, in anticipation of the Island being set free on the next day.

And I looked at the police officer as I left; the same who had barely three weeks earlier discovered a wireless set, and arrested me for non-compliance with the German laws, and wondered at how he must be feeling, and whether he would regret doing his duty, as he saw it, for the greater good.

Perhaps there will be a time for recriminations, perhaps one day the past wounds can be healed, and there will be time for truth and reconciliation, a time for facing the truth, and a time for forgiveness. But now it is enough that it is a day to rejoice, and I walked out. I can see the blue sky one more, and hear in the distance the crash of the waves upon the coast, the cry of the gulls as they soar in perfect freedom on warm currents of air.

Tomorrow, we are told, our occupation will be at an end, and we will be able to rejoice. That is no false promise, for we will be able to cheer the troops as they arrive, and we will see an end to five long years. And we will mourn those who died here of disease and starvation, or who were taken from the Island, never to return. And we shall celebrate the return of our ancient rights and liberties; for this is the heart of our liberation.

An African Village, 2016

Food is very scarce again, and we starve ourselves lest the children go hungry. Often the crops fail, and famine casts its shadow across the land, a thin and gaunt spectre of death, and we suffer hunger pangs; people are often thin and emaciated through lack of sufficient food. Give us today our daily bread, we pray, and bread is often a luxury, course-grained and rough in texture though it is.

While we are able, we take rainwater, and boil it, but in drought, we must subsist on brackish, unpleasant tasting water, and we are often ill; dysentery is rife. Where there is illness, we make the dangerous trek some span of 30 miles or more to the local mission, where there is a nurse and doctor, and we pray they have been given medicines or the means to buy them; they too, often find themselves struggling, keeping patients in the makeshift hospital only to see them die for lack of medicine or blood for operations.

And it is a dangerous trek; in our land, there are tribal warlords who prowl like hungry lions, seeking to devour. The officials often take bribes, and siphon off the funds so desperately needed, yet somehow help still comes, through the little people, those who dedicate their life to come and live simply among us, and who can get help from their friends and supporters in the richer world.

Will there come a time when the rich nations will take our plight in earnest, and all the people who know such plenty will come to share it? Will we be forever the beggars, taking the barest scraps from the rich people's table, forgotten as we scramble unseen for crusts? They are not free; they are enslaved with greed, with an inability to reach out, to emphasise with our plight; would that they came to live and see what our lives are like.

As for us, we still wait, and pray, and hope, for our God is a God of justice and mercy, of the beggar, the widow, the stranger; a God who tells us that it is justice to leave the gleanings for the poor. This cannot be their God. Who do they pray to, if pray they do, when they throw away good food, and governments pay farmers to have surplus food destroyed? Is their God a destroyer, a despoiler, one who despises the poor of the land?

We pray that their eyes will be opened; and then we will have our liberation. And all the nations can rejoice.

Cry Freedom

There goes the bell, we won the fight
Sing out the song of victory tonight
All the joy our thoughts will bring
Let the bell of freedom ring!
Let the bell of freedom ring!

Today’s blog is a collection of quotes on this theme.

Stephen Schwartz, from “Pocahontas”

You think you own whatever land you land on
The Earth is just a dead thing you can claim
But I know every rock and tree and creature
Has a life, has a spirit, has a name

You think the only people who are people
Are the people who look and think like you
But if you walk the footsteps of a stranger
You'll learn things you never knew you never knew

For whether we are white or copper skinned
We need to sing with all the voices of the mountains
We need to paint with all the colors of the wind

Andrew Sails:

We talk of people being imprisoned in a marriage, a slave to fashion, caught in a web of deceit, immured in debt, chained to their desk, and so on. The bars of the prison house can be to do with wealth, health, addiction, fear, envy, malice, greed….

I remember Nelson Mandela saying that during his decades in jail in South Africa his soul enjoyed a freedom unknown to the gaolers who locked him up.

Charles Dickens, A Christmas Carol:

“Much they saw, and far they went, and many homes they visited, but always with a happy end. The Spirit stood beside sick beds, and they were cheerful; on foreign lands, and they were close at home; by struggling men, and they were patient in their greater hope; by poverty, and it was rich. In almshouse, hospital, and jail, in misery’s every refuge, where vain man in his little brief authority had not made fast the door, and barred the Spirit out, he left his blessing, and taught Scrooge his precepts.”

“There are some upon this earth of yours,” returned the Spirit, “who lay claim to know us, and who do their deeds of passion, pride, ill-will, hatred, envy, bigotry, and selfishness in our name, who are as strange to us and all our kith and kin, as if they had never lived. Remember that, and charge their doings on themselves, not us.”

Robert Pleasance, American Quaker to George Washington, Slave Ownero on Freedom:

How strange then must it appear to impartial thinking men, to be informed, that many who were warm advocates for that noble cause during the War, are now siting down in a state of ease, dissipation and extravigance on the labour of Slaves?

Manifesto of the Bolivian Methodist Church (1970), in The Cry of My People

Not only are there dehumanizing tendencies within people, there are dehumanizing forces encrusted in society. Sin also has a social and objective dimension. The social, political, cultural or economic structures become dehumanizing when they aren't at the service of "all persons and the whole person," in one word, when they become structures which perpetuate injustice. Structures are a product of persons but they assume an impersonal and even demonic character by going beyond the possibilities of individual action. Collective and concerted action to change said structures is necessary, for there is no structure which is sacred or unchangeable.

Thomas Merton:

“Every person becomes the image of the God they adore. He whose worship is directed to a dead thing becomes a dead thing. He who loves corruption rots. He who loves a shadow becomes, himself, a shadow. He who loves things that must perish lives in dread of their perishing. The man who leaves the Lord the freedom of the Lord adores the Lord in His freedom and receives the liberty of the sons of God. This man loves like God and is carried away, the captive of the Lord’s invisible freedom. A god who remains immobile within the focus of my own vision is hardly even a trace of the True God’s passing”

Jeremiah on Liberation

This poem was inspired by these two verses, and pondering the nature of freedom, and things we have forgotten. It didn't come out the way I intended, but sometimes that happens when writing, that the subject changes as you write. I had no idea it would be global, and address the refugee crisis, and the orphan children until they appeared in the poem, unbidden, and crying out for help. It also addresses the fact that we consume so much while others go so hungry, and the moral call for compassion.

Isa_61:1  The Sovereign LORD has filled me with his Spirit. He has chosen me and sent me To bring good news to the poor, To heal the broken-hearted, To announce release to captives And freedom to those in prison.

Jer_34:17  So now, I, the LORD, say that you have disobeyed me; you have not given all Israelites their freedom. Very well, then, I will give you freedom: the freedom to die by war, disease, and starvation. I will make every nation in the world horrified at what I do to you. 

The prophet Jeremiah makes the point that liberation must mean giving freedom to all, and that shutting away from sight other calls for freedom or silencing the voices calling for help is a betrayal of that freedom.

Matthew Henry's commentary says: "God's compassions towards us should engage our compassions towards our brethren; we must release as we are released, forgive as we are forgiven, and relieve as we are relieved. "

Jeremiah on Liberation

How soon freedom is forgotten, lost:
The price once paid, the five year cost;
And now there is liberty that is blind,
Uncaring, lacking compassion, unkind;
The rich complain about having to pay,
While the poor struggle to have a say,
And are left behind, in a lottery of life;
Liberation means for all, not just a few,
Who gather for a service, take a pew;
And the great and good make a speech,
About how great liberty is, but to reach
Those struggling with bad housing, poor
Knocking to be heard, standing at the door;
Behold I stand at the door, but it is locked:
And entry denied, immigration is blocked,
Even as children, dying as refugees, starve,
Not part of the pie, some so carefully carv;e
The rich man in his castle, poor man at gate,
By happenstance, by twist and turn of fate;
Hear this: I proclaim good news to the poor,
And say enough is enough, time for no more,
Consuming the world while so many are unfed;
Remember the five long years, and those dead,
Who died of malnutrition, hunger, and hope
Seemed fading, but survivors managed to cope,
Until the good ship Vega came to their aid,
And now they wring their hands, we are afraid!
We cannot take any in, not even a young child,
Orphaned, homeless, with no one left to care,
Because one would set a precedent, we fear;
And yet they will be there, proud and the good,
In Liberation square, making speeches. Would
That they could see how Compassion calls out,
And how even the graves of the dead will shout
For justice, for mercy, for an outstretched hand:
For time is running out, like many grains of sand;
The smug speeches of the well-fed do not sit well,
With hunger pangs of orphan children in living hell,
Surviving in shacks on poles, and dusty death
Comes closer with each day, with every breath;
And so this song is done, the word is spoken:
Jeremiah in his prison cell, in chains, not broken:
Freedom to die by war, disease and starvation,
Or to seek justice, compassion, consecration.

The History of the Parish of Our Lady and St. Martin – Part 1

From "The Catholic Herald" in 1972, comes this interest chronicle of the Catholic Church in St Martin. It doesn't answer some questions, and I have been trying without difficulty to find solutions, and I wonder if any of my readers can help. These are:

1) Why are three walls of the Church built in granite, and one in rendered cement? Did the funding run out, and shortcuts taken to ensure the Church was built?

2) The stained glass around the walls has depictions of faces of what are presumably Catholic saints, but no one seems to know or have recorded whom they are. Does anyone have any idea?

I'll be posting more on this history next week, but I'd also like to recomment 'A Community in Transition', by Alasdair Crosby, which is an excellent book, with both interviews (with members of the Catholic community and priests past and present) and a history of the Irish / English speaking Church in Jersey. The books cost £12 and are available from the back of all the Catholic churches in Jersey, Catholic Pastoral Services, the Catholic Gift Shop and Waterstones

The History of the Parish of Our Lady and St. Martin – Part 1
Catholic Herald, 1972
Early Evangelization by Father Hallum (1847-55)

In 1847, a French priest, Father F. Hallum from Bordeaux settled in the Island. He had come for health reasons, but soon felt that he should do something to help the spiritual needs of the local residents. At that time, he was living with a Mr. Philip Falle at Carteret View House (Grande Route de Faldouet) in St. Martin's parish.

First Chapel at Faldouet (1847)

He set to work, and next door he built a small school and chapel which he called 'Notre Dame de St. Martin'. Although in an unofficial capacity, he worked there for about eight years. In those days, in and around St. Martin, there lived about 350 French people and 200 Irish. The Irish had come to Jersey on account of the famine in Ireland, and were working on the construction of St. Catherine's Harbour, the foundation stone of which bears the date 1847.

A Petition from French Catholics for an Official Mission to be set up in St. Martin, sent to Mgr. Grant, Bishop of Southwark (1851)

We the undersigned French Catholics, living in the country in the east of Jersey, humbly ask Mgr. Grant, our Bishop, to look with favour on the sorry state of affairs that we have had to suffer for nearly 50 years in what regards the good of our souls, those of our sick, our children, and our old people.

At the beginning of the century Mgr. de Grimouville, titular Bishop of St. Malo, and other churchmen, ministered to our needs and have left behind happy memories of their stay. When they left, however, everything was done for the town area, and nothing for the country.

`We ask you to consider how most of us live some 5, 6, or even 7 miles from the town chapel, and this is too small to house us all. It takes some 1 ½ - to two hours to go there, and the same to return, then 1 – 1 ½ hours for the service, which can add up to 5 ½ hours just to attend Mass. There is no question of going to Vespers. When we eventually return home between 2.30 and 3 p.m., Vespers has already begun in town.

You will be able to see therefore what difficulties are encountered by wives and mothers trying to see to the care and running of their house and going to Mass.

What shall be said of the domestic servants who make up most of the Catholic population in the country? Their plight is even more painful. Their non-Catholic masters, full of misguided good will, would say to them ; 'There is a chapel not far from here, go there if you wish, but we cannot really allow you to have any more time off.'

There is also a great difficulty for confessions, Communions, fetching a priest to visit the sick. All this brings harmful results for the life of the Church in this area, and the loss of many souls.

'The sick die without the sacraments, and are assisted on their deathbed by Protestant ministers.

'As there are no churches the workers frequent public houses where they lose health, money, their souls, and bring misery to their families.

'Herewith, my Lord, is a short sketch of the evil caused by the absence of the Church. A Catholic chapel has been built here uniting all the Catholics. Everything needed to form a considerable congregation already exists, all that we ask you to do is send us a priest who will remedy all our ills.'

There followed a number of signatures representing 336 persons.

A similar letter, written by 200 Irish Catholics living in the St. Catherine area accompanied this demand.

Factors Showing the Advisability of a Chapel-

A report written by Father Hallam to Bishop Grant, and sent with the petition.

'Three were necessary in the Island, and I offered you my services, completely freely, have never asked for a salary, only the permission to celebrate Mass. Not wishing to be completely useless in the Father's House 'Non recuso laborem' (I never refuse work).

'The Archbishop of Bordeaux has already written to you on my behalf.

'Enclosed with this letter are two petitions signed by 550 Catholics, 350 French and 200 Irish, as well as a petition from the town joined to that of the country, showing the unanimity of Catholics, and the need and usefulness of a chapel in the country.

'The priests in town object to this happening as it would make large inroads into their attendance.

'To that we would reply that most of the Catholics living in the country are daily helps, small time farmers, all of them poor, so not having much money to give to the town churches. The other consideration is that Catholics in the country areas hardly go to Mass at all. Some have not been for f five and even ten years. Everyone in the Island, whether they be Catholics or Protestant agree when they say that the real problem we are faced with is one of selfish interest opposed to the interest of the people as a whole. Why should a considerable number of people be forced to suffer and be sacrificed for the sake of two individuals (i.e. the town clergy)? So it is that Protestants rejoice and mock at the way the Church tries to preserve and protect her Faith!'

On 15 April 1855, Father Hallum wrote to Bishop Grant to tell him he was leaving the Island, and mentioned that he had received a letter full of praise from the Constable of St. Martin, in which he was thanked for the work he had done.

As no priest arrived, on 16 October 1856, another petition was prepared, and signed 'Benoit'. It was addressed to the French Emperor, Napoleon III, stating how French Catholics were abandoned to their own devices in the east of the Island. This petition was transmitted to the Archbishop of Paris, who forwarded it to the Bishop of Southwark.

Most probably this 'Benoit' had drawn up and signed the petition in ignorance of what had already been done by Bishop Grant. On 17 September 1856 he had named Father Joseph Guiramand a priest from the Avignon diocese and a former chaplain to the French Army, and a Knight of the Legion of Honour, as priest-in-charge of the Catholic mission of Our Lady of St. Martin

Despite his years, he was 65, he accepted the post of missionary.

Father Guiramand Comes to Jersey as First Priest of Our Lady's Parish (1856-82)

Father Guiramand arrived the same year in Jersey. We know this as Father Morlais, the Rector of St. Thomas's, mentions the fact in a letter to the Bishop of Southwark, dated 30 October 1856. He also observed:-

'There is absolutely nothing at St. Martin's. Everything is needed, even an altar stone. The building that Father Hallum used as a chapel could be rented and transformed once more into a chapel. He (Father Guiramand) seems well disposed towards this hard task. God will help him, and we will do all that we can to lighten his burden.'

On his arrival in Jersey, he lodged at 10, Duhamel Place, St. Helier. From there he wrote to Bishop

Grant on Christmas Day, 1856, to say that he would follow the counsel given him. He would rent a room at St. Martin and erect an altar in it.

It was impossible for the poor priest to travel constantly back and forwards between town and St. Martin.

Soon he was able to write (2 May 1857)

'Tomorrow we start the necessary work to enable us to celebrate our Sacred Rites, in Father Hallum's old chapel.'

And later, (24 September 1857):

`We were able to bless our chapel at St. Martin's on 6 September at 3 p.m. All who have seen it have greatly admired it.'

Nevertheless, an article dated 7 October 1857,published in the local newspaper, signed by the Editor, Le Moine, did not seem to be in favour of the chapel.

Need for a Proper Church

Soon the chapel had become too small, and something had to be done. It was necessary to build a church, but with what? Where was the money to come from? His parishioners were poor working men and a few retired people. He would have to beg. He wrote to all the Bishops of France.

We know that the Bishop of Besancon sent his offering through Bishop Grant, (letter dated 31May 1859). The Bishop of Coutances (whose diocese used to include the Channel Islands) allowed a collection to be taken throughout his diocese, (letter dated 4 June 1859), while Queen Amelia of Portugal sent him £20.

A collection was also taken in most of the big churches of Paris, by permission of the Archbishop.

The French Emperor, Napoleon III, sent a beautiful monstrance with the imperial arms engraved on its foot, and at the same time sent a set of Stations of the Cross. The good Father Guiramand even went begging in France, and was generally well received.

Building Started

By 3 September 1862, he was able to inform the Bishop that the foundations of the new church had been laid, and that by Christmas, the roof would be on.

On hearing this the Bishop sent two Latin inscriptions to be placed in the church. In February 1863, the church was opened and blessed by Bishop and given the name of Our Lady of the Annunciation and Martyrs of Japan.' Mgr. Bracart, Bishop of Coutances preached the sermon.

The mission became prosperous, but soon his years caught up with him, his strength ebbed, and eventually the mission fell into a sorry state. The fact that he had no schools helped this decline.

Children were sent to Protestant schools and became the prey of heresy. The parents became dissatisfied with their mission and saw nothing there to attract them.

Father Guiramand worked there for 26 years until his death at the great age of 89 in September 1882.

Father Tardivon Replaces Him (1882-84)

He was replaced, in 1882, by Father Tardivon, from the diocese of Nevers, France, but he died within two years of his arrival, and was buried, as he wished, by the sacristy wall.

On his death, the Jesuit Fathers undertook the parish work with their well-known zeal and devotion, until the arrival of the Oblate Fathers in September 1884.

The Oblates are called to the Parish

Bishop Virtue of the newly formed Portsmouth diocese approached the Oblates' Provincial with the view of obtaining a priest for St. Martin's. The Provincial's decision was approved by the Superior General on 16 September 1884:

It is a labour of zeal, which completes the work already undertaken in Jersey, i.e. the evangelization of the French population.'

Father Bourde, the Superior from St. Thomas's, always ready to fill the breach when there was a job to be done, repeated in St. Martin's parish the laborious work he had already completed at St. Matthew's. His stay was not very long, however, as Father Larose arrived in Jersey to replace him on 23 November 1884.

Father Larose (1884-88)

The new priest knew what the parish was like. Under obedience to his superiors he accepted a posting that was not exactly to his taste, in a rural backwater, but the parishioners welcomed him and saw his fine qualities.

When he was installed, the Oblates' Superior gave a warm hearted speech announcing a great service of improvements that were to be carried out on the mission.

- more next week!

The Road to Repair

On 27 June 2008, a note appeared on the States website about the long road works which had been taking place on Victoria Avenue, under Deputy Guy de Faye’s term of office as Minister for Transport and Technical Services.

This was the refit of the road which initially did not provide room for emergency services to go Westbound at Bel Royal, and which gave us the “kinks” in the Avenue travelling West. It seemed at the time that aspects of the project had not been properly managed.

“The major road works project on Victoria Avenue between Bel Royal and Rue de Galet which has been causing unavoidable traffic delays, is due to be finished on Wednesday 2 July and the road will be back to normal on the morning of 3 July. As well as the new road surface, the project has also delivered new and improved safety measures which will help to reduce the accident rate in and around Bel Royal and the car park entrance near the hamburger bar, better pedestrian facilities, improved street lighting, drainage refurbishment and provision for fuel tankers unloading at Bel Royal garage.”

“The project was originally scheduled to take only ten weeks, however Transport and Technical Services (TTS) found the condition of the ground below the surface of the road was much poorer than expected. The project had to be lengthened by two and a half weeks to allow an extra thickness of asphalt to be laid to form a new road construction that will ensure a fifteen year life for this road which has 28,000 vehicles a day using it.”

And there was also work done in 2015, when Eddie Noel said: "It's got a life span typically of about 15 years and it's about halfway through that you end up doing patch up work to the surface, just to keep the road surface to a good enough standard and to make it last for the rest of its life."

So I rather wondered what was happening when I read this about road works taking place this May:

“The Department for Infrastructure is carrying out repairs on the road surface on Victoria Avenue. The area of work is from La Rue du Galet to Bel Royal, westbound lanes. The work starts on Tuesday 3 May for two weeks (weather permitting).”

What happened to the fifteen years? I asked Deputy Eddie Noel. He was good enough to check, and apprise me of the reason why.

“Following recent investigations we have determined that some high stressed areas of Victoria Avenue have failed earlier than the predicted 15 year design life. There are a number of reasons for failures of this nature and in this instance it is due to failure of the underlying layers of the road. Our works in 2008 repaired the surface and the immediate layers below the surface but did not include these lower layers. When inspected at the time they were found to be in good condition.”

“The repairs will include the removal of the surface course, the inspection and appropriate repair of the underlying layers and the replacement of the surface course. It is anticipated that the majority of the areas that have failed will be strengthened, using a thicker layer of asphalt.”

“DfI regrets that these areas have failed after being laid 8 years ago; however it is not unusual that localised failures occur. It is imperative that the areas are repaired and the surface strengthened, sealed and made watertight to minimise further damage.”

It is clear then that this is rectifying a problem, and the Minister is taking action sooner rather than later to ensure that the damage does not get worse; it is like getting teeth repaired before decay reaches into the roots.

But why might the road fail in this way?

In general, most damage is done by cumulative vehicle passages: the impact of vehicles going over the road and tearing it up. The force exerted on the road by a given vehicle is related to the vehicle’s weight (load) as transmitted through the vehicle’s axles.

The best scientific study, which has been largely replicated by later studies, was that done in the USA, where it was reported that:

“The AASHTO Road Test established that heavier vehicles reduce the serviceability of a road structure much faster than light vehicles. Results from the test indicated that the damage to the road structure varies approximately according to the fourth power of the axle load, which provides the basis for the so-called ‘fourth power law’”

When we look at heavy vehicles, we find that the following vehicles are not permitted on Jersey roads without a permit:

Vehicles or trailers over 7ft 6.5ins (2.3m) wide
Rigid vehicles over 30ft 6ins (9.3m) long
Articulated vehicles over 36ft 1in (11m) long
Trailers (draw bar type) over 22ft (6.7m) long
Vehicles with a maximum axle weight over 10,500 kg (23,148 lbs)
Vehicles with a gross weight over 32 metric tons (70,548 lbs)

These have a P30 permit and are only allowed to travel on specified routes

Heavy trucks obviously cause more road damage than cars, but how much more? According to the American figures, road damage from one 18-wheeler is equivalent to 9600 cars

The study assumed a fully loaded tractor-trailer at 80,000 pounds, and a typical passenger car at 4,000 pounds. That’s 20 times difference in weight, but the wear and tear caused by the truck is exponentially greater.

As can be seen above, that’s over the gross weight requiring a P30 permit, but not massively so.

The University of Michigan economist Richard C. Porter, writing in “Economics of the Wheel: The Costs of Cars and Drivers” notes that: “Typically, a truck will carry 10 times as much weight per axle as a car, and hence that truck will do 1000 times as much damage to the road (per axle). For practical purposes, road damage is done by trucks, not cars.”

“In determining the structural life of a road pavement, the effect of cars and similar vehicles is negligible…. It is therefore the heaviest axles in the stream of commercial vehicles that cause a disproportionately large amount of structural damage to a flexible pavement.”

An Ohio study looked at the effects in detail, and noted that:

"Clearly, different types of vehicles (and different weights) will do different amounts of damage. So we need some way of standardizing these impacts. "

This they did by calculating an engineering standard: ESAL = damage done by 18,000 lbs on a single axle. (18,000 lbs = 18 kips, kilo-pounds)

Representative ESAL numbers are:

Passenger car 0.0008
Urban Transit Bus 0.6806
SU2 Truck 0.1890
SU3 Truck 0.1303
CS3 Truck 0.8646
CS4 Truck 0.6560
DS5 Truck 2.3187

Key: SU = single unit; CS = conventional semi-trailer ; DS = Double Trailer. n = number of axles.

The first policy implications of their study were this: When discussing road wear cars don’t matter - road damage is effectively caused by trucks.

The study also asked: How many times (passages) can such a truck pass over a durability road before it deteriorates from new to needing re-surfacing?

The statistics showed that the number of passages rises steeply with the number of axles. Going from 2 to 4 single axles results in a factor-of-10 increase in road life. The effect is even stronger with tandem axles. Going from 2 single axles to 2 tandem axles quadruples life. Going from 2 single axles to 4 tandem axles is a factor-of-33 improvement .

It also noted that an earlier than anticipated failure of a road surface was directly related to the volume of heavy traffic, either increased number of vehicles or greater loads on existing regular vehicles.

So the second policy implication they came up with was this: Public policy should provide incentives for truckers to distribute their loads over as many axles as possible, and to use tandem axles. This minimizes forces on the road, and hence road wear.

In conclusion...

Without adequate support, a pavement or gravel surface deflects too much under trucks carrying heavy loads, developing cracks or ruts. These then let more moisture penetrate, worsening the cycle until the road fails completely. The amount of damage a road sustains is directly related to the weight of the load and how often it is applied, according to tests by AASHTO (the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials). Passenger autos and light duty vehicles are not a problem. It is trucks carrying legal weight loads of up to 80,000 GVW over weakened surfaces which do the damage.

A UK study on costs noted that “In general terms, cars pay much more tax and charges relative to their costs than heavy vehicles. For HGVs it is clear from most studies that they do not cover the costs for which there are established values, especially road construction and maintenance, carbon and congestion”

Of course, any extra charges levied on HGVs would probably impact on other areas, as for instance, where supermarket supply is concerned, and part of the cost would certainly go to the consumer. But nevertheless, if any mechanism needs to be found to recover costs of damage by heavy vehicles, no burden should fall on ordinary cars, which as the figures show, cause negligible damage to road surfaces such as that being done.

But heavy vehicles, the numbers licenced in Jersey, figures on their weight, tyres and axles, should be available and collected under the P30 permit system, and should be part of any future strategy for the longevity of Jersey's road systems.

Postscript:

As James has pointed out, Double Decker buses now use the Avenue frequently. They provide an approximately 50% increase in the number of passengers, but impose higher axle loadings (and road wear).

A New Zealand study noted that a two axle double decker would have the rear axle loaded above the standard 8.2 tonne limit. While this does vary by vehicle model, a typical loading would be 10 tonnes on the rear twin-tyred drive axle. 10 tonnes represents 120% above the standard weight allowance, and is calculated to produce increased road wear (at 4th power) of 207%.

Guernsey Watch

Guernsey Watch: An occasional review of the stories in our sister Island.

I’ve already commented on the general election, so the reader is referred there.
http://tonymusings.blogspot.com/2016/04/a-tale-of-two-islands.html

Tourism

Guernsey press reports that Guernsey is the more popular Channel Island than Jersey:

“A ‘NATURAL charm and rich history’ make Guernsey the number one of the Channel Islands, holidaymakers have said, warning that the island should not change to be more like Jersey.”

It is true that St Peter Port is a very charming and picturesque town, and as one of the gateways to Guernsey via the Harbour, and for visitors shopping, it has more to commend it than St Helier. The Financial heart of Guernsey has shifted out of St Peter Port and straddles the road between St Peter Port and St Samson.

This means the main town is relatively free of large glass fronted buildings of the kind which are so invasive in St Helier. They do spoil that stretch of coastline, but the traveller will probably bus or drive past it relatively quickly, whereas in St Helier, they are all pervasive.

Panama Papers

The Panama papers have not really impacted on Guernsey yet. As the Guernsey Press reports:

It’s too soon to say, to be honest,’ said William Mason, director-general of the Guernsey Financial Services Commission. ‘But the evidence suggests that Guernsey’s hard work in the past has meant that we are in a better position than many other jurisdictions.’

Mr Mason said the commission would take up ‘very seriously’ any issues brought to its attention through the release of documents leaked from Panama law firm Mossack Fonseca and admitted that he was ‘glad’ the firm had no local presence.

Jersey, of course, has offices of a local branch of Mossack Fonseca, although it is not licensed to carry on trust or company business. So what is it doing, It seems that it is acting as a conduit, facilitating links to its parent company, rather like an “introductions” agency. That does put Jersey potentially at more risk from collaretal damage than Guernsey.

Signs of the Times

Rebranding and reorganising departments is not just something which Jersey does alarmingly often – Guernsey’s change to committee government away from ministerial government also sees changes in the portfolios of those committees. Guernsey Press reporst this:

‘Civil servants will be more accountable’ under changes: GREATER civil servant accountability and responsibility will be a key feature under the restructure of government, the States’ chief executive has said, as work gets under way to bring about changes to the system. From 1 May the structure of government will change from the current system of 10 departments to a committee system made up of the Policy and Resources Committee plus six principal committees.

The structure of public service delivery will also change to reflect and support the new political system and there will also be greater distinction made between the strategic policy-making of the political committees and operational service delivery. As part of the changes, a great deal of work has gone into rebranding, including new logos, letterheads and new signage, at a cost of more than £45,000.

I find it deeply ironic that the main part of the change – described as “a great deal of work” – is all about new logos, letterheads, and signage. Changing the structure of a department, changing accountability and responsibility, are what is promised, but what do we see – changing the signs, letterheads and logos, at a cost of over £45,000. In this respect Guernsey is not so very different from Jersey, where similar cosmetic changes have been and are being made.

Guernsey press also reports on population. As with Jersey, vague generalities take the place of precision, and come to think of it, Jersey too has also avoided looking at how many people should be living on the Island. The Jersey mindset is focused on growing the population to replace elderly people while at the same time burying its head in the sand over the sustainability of this policy for infrastructure – water supply, schools, hospitals etc:

Many, many, many hours had gone into debating Guernsey’s new population management regime. There was just one thing missing – the policy to guide how many people should be living on the island. It had been an issue ducked throughout the management debate where it was insisted a focus on numbers would distract from the core issues of getting the right tools in the box. When it came to the big reveal, Policy Council attempted to shift the focus onto the ‘working population’ number, although buried within its report was indication that to achieve that the total population may need to hit some 70,000 people. The policy faced objections from those who felt it was too vague – members, though, rejected the opportunity to effectively cap the working population at its current level.

China

According to a report in the Guernsey press:

GUERNSEY is making ‘tremendous progress’ in China, according to the director of international business development at Guernsey Finance. After getting on for a decade of strong connections between China and the island, Kate Clouston said that Guernsey Finance and local firms were starting to see success in the region. Guernsey Finance will update on progress made at an event for industry on Tuesday 17 May.

It will be interesting to see how this is reported. Jersey, too, has (we are told) been making progress in China, so we are told, but facts and figures that are clear and unambiguous are hard to come by. What I'd like to hear both in the Guernsey report, and in any Jersey ones, are businesses saying that they have secured business worth £x thanks to the help given in making contracts by the Guernsey or Jersey teams working in China from their respective States. Good publicity for the firm, good publicity for the Islands - but will we ever have anything like this level of direct effect charted out?

TV and Radio Review

What possessed the BBC to show “Underground”, about an undercover policeman, the week after the finale of “The Night Manager”, which is itself about an undercover secret agent? To be frank, “Undercover” seemed flat in comparison, and I gave up watching.

The same cannot be said of “Line of Duty”, which has managed the neat trick of keeping its surprises undercover, and asking the actors concerned to act in real life. Daniel Mays, portrayed as the third bent cop in the new series, was on the cover of the Radio Times.

Each of the two preceding series have had a central character, but in this case, he gets killed off at the end of the first episode. Keely Hawes, returning as Lindsay Denton, lied – as she was told to by the writer – that she would not be returning – so when she did return, it was a huge surprise. Even more so, was her character being killed off later. That meant that the final episodes left the view completely in the dark as to whether the “Caddy”, the bent undercover cop – whom we all knew, but the team didn’t – would get away with framing another member of the team.

The production values have been excellent, with a mix of action, and interrogation scenes. I think no series has had such long interrogation scenes, as evidence is displayed bit by bit, and we see the innocent protest, and the guilty sip water. They are some of the most compelling scenes in the show, but just when you think it is deskbound, it explodes into action once more.

On the Drama channel, I’ve been watching re-runs of Dangerfield, which I missed the first time around. After Nigel Le Vallaint left, Nigel Havers took over but only remained for two seasons. I can see why! While the stories are still good, part of the charm was the fact that Dangerfield and his successor both also were GPs in a general practice, so there was a “grounding” in a medical clinic as well as the police work.

In what was clearly a budget cutting measure, the clinic was disposed off, along with the sets and the actors involved, the title sequence with the memorable music by Nigel Hess (lot of Nigels involved in this series) was not reshot but just replaced with a single caption or two and a few bars of fairly unmemorable music.

Meanwhile, Havers’ character, Dr Paige, was given a love interest who vanished after half way through, another love interest who ended rejecting him, and the female Detective Inspector. For consistency of character, it seemed to be very badly thought out and rather unconvincing. It was no surprise that Havers decided he had enough and would move on to pastures new.

On BBC Radio 4, I enjoyed “Portrait of Churchill”, a play about the portrait by Graham Sutherland. For his 80th birthday on 30th November 1954, an all-party committee of MPs decided to present Churchill, still the Prime Minister, with a portrait of himself. It was to be Churchill's for his lifetime but then to hang in the House of Commons. The commission was given to Graham Sutherland, aged 51, then at the height of his fame. It was a painting which was to prove highly controversial, and which was destroyed after Churchill’s death by his wife.

Dan Stevens was excellent as Sutherland and Benjamin Whitrow managed to capture the nuances of Churchill’s diction without slipping into parody, and there was a sparkling dialogue between the two. When it was first unveiled, Churchill described it as "a remarkable example of modern art" to laughter from his audience. Graham Sutherland later described the disposal of the portrait as an "act of vandalism".

A Time of Fire: A Meditation for Beltane

I have worked metals for many a year. I am the smith, and I have made many artifacts, forged in iron or copper, or bronze, for that is my skill, my art, handed down from smiths past, from generation to generation. This is our gift, to take fire and weave it with air and earth to bring a form from molten metals.

The metal comes out, molten from the crucible, and it takes many forms. The horned helmets, swords and arrow heads for the warrior, harps and lyres for the bards, iron nails for the shipwright, statuettes for the temple, jewelry for the women, pans for food, coins for exchange, and amulets for protection.

For I am not only the smith, I am also the patterner, shaping the ways of our tribes, as I take the metal, and cast it in many forms.

And now the time of fire has come upon us, and I must forge a sacred pattern.

The charcoal fire is burning brightly, and upon it rests a crucible of gold. It is a shining fiery liquid, almost ready to pour into the clay moulds.

It is time to blow upon the hot metal, and cast the charm. And I intone the sacred words, and make the spell:

Here is gold, fire from the sun, and may the wearer bring a burning passion for justice among our tribe.

As the gold melts, so let the fairness of righteousness and harmony flow across our tribe in the coming years. This is the fire of binding and friendship.

Here is gold, refined from base ore, and may the wearer bring a burning passion for purity and wisdom to speak to our tribe.

As the gold shines, and reflects the brightness of the sun, so may our tribe be guided in the paths of light. This is the fire of holiness and glory.

Here is gold hardening, as the fire cools, and may the wearer take us along the paths of the dead.

As the charcoal turns to ash, so let ashes from the funeral pyre be cast into the wind, blown across through thin places into the summer lands. This is the fire of hope and ending.

And I draw in the air, the rune of closing, and the pattern is made and complete. For I am not only the smith, I am also the patterner, shaping the sacred ways.

Now I pour the gold into the clay mould.

When the mould is broken, the charm will be complete, and there will be an armband of finely twisted gold, and I will take this golden torque and hand it to the druid. And he will place it upon the arm of the priestess, and the time of fire will be fulfilled.

And when I am dust, and all my tribe are dust, blowing in that other wind, another people, a far distant tribe, may yet come across this sacred torque, buried beneath the soil of ages past, and wonder again at the mysteries of our past.

Simon Whom He Surnamed Peter - Part 15

For the next weeks, my Sunday postings will be a transcript of the book "Simon Whom He Surnamed Peter" by the Jersey historian, the Reverend G.R. Bailleine (1873 – 1966).

Most of Balleine's books are either currently in print - as for example his History of Jersey - or online in the form of PDF versions. This book is not, so this is something different. As well as being a Jersey historian, Balleine was also a priest in the Church of England, and Ministre Deservant at St Brelade's Church for a time.

The Synagogue becomes a Sect
by G.R. Balleine

A SOUL-ROCKING experience like that of Pentecost never leaves men as they were. Its first result was to fill the disciples with missionary zeal. Hitherto they had hardly tried to make converts. Now they became eager to convince everyone that their message was literally a matter of life or death. And their efforts were not in vain. This success entirely changed the character of the group. Before Pentecost they could all meet in a single room and join in a common meal; all knew one another, and, what was more important, all had known Jesus. Now the new converts swamped the original group. Many centres became necessary. The synagogue became a Sect.

But Jewish Sects never separated from the National Church. Judaism tolerated within its borders wide differences of opinion. Pharisees, Sadducees, and Essenes disagreed on vital points; yet they prayed side by side at the Feasts, and never tried to ex-communicate one another. The Dead Sea Scrolls have revealed another Sect of which we knew nothing. The new Sect of Nazarenes remained loyal to the Mosaic Law and regular at the Temple Services. So far removed were they from any suspicion of schism, that we read, `A large number of the Priests became obedient to the Faith', and no hint is given that they abandoned their Temple duties. (These were Priests probably of the humbler grades, not of the High-Priestly caste.)

The new Sect continued to believe and do the same as their fellow Jews; only they held two convictions the others did not share: they believed that Jesus had risen from the dead, and that He would return as Messiah.

Peter's first task was to train the new disciples. Speaking as a Jew to Jews, he could take the whole Jewish background for granted, belief in `the God of our fathers', the hope of a Messiah, the authority of the Old Testament. To this he added facts about the life and teaching of Jesus.

But two problems, on which Christian theology a little later hinged, he had not yet thought out: Who exactly was Jesus? And why did God let Him be crucified? Before long the Church answered these questions with the Doctrines of the Incarnation and the Atonement.

But, if the speeches in Acts give a true picture of his preaching, Peter had not yet reached either of these convictions. Jesus was `a man attested by God', `the Servant' of God, the `prophet like unto me' foretold by Moses, the heir promised to David, the long-awaited Messiah; and the crucifixion was still to him merely the most ghastly sin the world had ever seen. Thirty years later, as his Epistle shows, it had come to mean much more, `He bore our sins in His body on the tree.'

But of this teaching there is no trace in his early speeches. And the Ascension probably seemed something like what Greeks called an `apotheosis'. As they believed that Hercules and Aesculapius had been exalted to a place among the Gods, so Peter thought that Jesus had been caught up to God's throne.

The new Sect now attracted attention. Everyone had heard of John the Baptist; but he had preached miles away by the Jordan. But these new Baptists were baptizing in the heart of the city. Any day one might see Peter dipping somebody in one of the public pools. `These queer people,' men said, `think we have killed the Messiah, and are washing themselves to show their desire to be cleansed from all share in our guilt.' When the Twelve went to the Temple, crowds flocked round to question them; and fresh converts were won.

New adherents were baptized `in (or into) the Name of Jesus'. They pledged themselves to be Jesus-folk, to take Jesus as their Master and obey His laws. A Jew instinctively thought of religion as a Code of Law. As Pharisees kept the Rules of Hillel or else those of Shammai, so Nazarenes tried to shape their lives by the Rules of Jesus. 

So strong was this feeling that the earliest name for Christianity was `the Way'. We are told that the Jews `spoke evil of the Way'; `there arose no small stir concerning the Way'; Saul set out to arrest `any that were of the Way'. It was a new way of walking with God and walking with men; and to learn it one had to continue steadfastly in `the Apostles' teaching and fellowship', for they were the men who had lived with Jesus and remembered His rules.

Another result of Pentecost was a delightful feeling of fellowship. This often comes with the thrill of a new religious movement. `The Kingdom of God,' wrote an early Quaker, `did catch us all in a net, so that we often asked with great joy, Has Heaven come to earth?' The disciples could have said the same. There is no joy comparable to that of enthusiasts buoyed up by an ardent faith.

Their fellowship found expression in a common meal and a common purse. When Jesus was with them, He and His disciples had always eaten together. Could this survive the rapid growth of the Sect? There was a Jewish precedent. The Essenes numbered several thousands; yet for two centuries they maintained their common meals.

Peter at first tried to do the same. It was impossible, of course, to meet at a single table. Several centres had to be arranged; but the Breaking of Bread together must at all costs be continued. `They remained steadfast,' we are told, `in the Breaking of Bread.' Josephus describes the meals of the Essenes: `They enter their dining-room as a Temple, and sit in silence. The baker lays loaves in order; the cook sets food before each; but no one tastes it till prayer is offered. When they begin, and when they end, they praise God, the Life-Giver.' The Nazarenes' meal would be no less devout with one difference. Instead of solemn silence, `they ate with exultant joy'.

The evening meal and the Lord's Supper were not yet separated. References to it are too brief to make clear what meaning they attached to it. It was certainly a bond of fellowship. It was probably considered a continuation of the meals the Apostles had shared with Jesus, and therefore of the Last Supper. Since the Risen Christ had twice appeared at an evening meal, perhaps they dimly felt that He might be present with them. It is not so likely that they thought of the meal yet as a memorial of His death. To them the crucifixion was still a hideous crime to be shuddered at, not remembered with devotion.

It is even less probable that special sacredness was attached to the bread and wine. Such thoughts a little later gathered round the Supper. Twenty-five years later we meet them at Corinth. But in this dawn of Christian worship there is no trace of them.

In addition to the common meal there was the common purse. When Jesus was on earth, Judas had been treasurer, and all money had been handed to him. Peter tried to continue the plan of pooling all their funds. He did not make this compulsory. We shall see him telling Ananias: `While your field was unsold was it not your own? And, after it was sold, could you not do what you liked with the money?' But the feeling of fellowship was so strong, that Document A could say: `No one called any of his goods his own. Everything was common property; and no one was needy, for all who had land or houses sold them, and laid the proceeds at the Apostles' feet.' B says the same: `They shared all they had. They sold their lands and possessions, and divided the money among all according to their need.' Here again they were doing the same as the Essenes, of whom Josephus says: `On entering the Sect a man transfers all his property to it. Elected stewards administer the common fund.'

Among the disciples was Joseph Barnabas, whose home was in Cyprus, where he owned property. But, as one of the Tribe of Levi, he had duties in the Temple, where the Levites formed the Choir and the Temple Police. Every year he came to Jerusalem for his month on duty, and apparently stayed with an aunt, whose name was Mary. Hers was one of the houses in which the disciples met. So he got to know the Apostles, and threw in his lot with them.

A financial crisis had arisen. The poorer disciples in Jerusalem outnumbered those who had means, and funds were running low. Barnabas saved the situation. He sold his land in Cyprus, and brought the money, and laid it at the Apostles' feet. It was his all. From one of Paul's letters we learn that later he had to work for his living. But his gift brought him great gratitude. The instinct to share and share alike often appears, when religious fervour is strong; and more than one experiment has shown that, so long as the fervour lasts, Communism is not impracticable.'

But Marx would have pointed out that Peter's was not sound Communism. To sell one's property and spend the cash leads straight to bankruptcy. To live on capital is as dangerous to a group as it is to an individual. Peter, of course, knew this. But he thought the New Age was about to begin. At any moment he might see his Lord descending in the clouds. Who could provide for a future so miraculously unlike any the mind could conceive? Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow things as they are will entirely have disappeared! But he was wrong. The End was not yet. For the moment his plan produced plenty; but twenty years later foreign Churches had to raise funds to save Jerusalem Christians from starving.

Yet the ideal survived. `Call not anything thine own,' says the Epistle of .Barnabas, written about 130, `for, if you share what is immortal, much more must you share what is perishable.' And as late as the third century the Didache ordered, `Thou shalt share all things with thy brother, and shalt not call anything thine own.'

Document B tells the tragedy of Ananias. Its truth seems guaranteed by the certainty that no one would have deliberately spoilt the picture of Christian brotherhood by inventing such an ugly blot. Ananias and his wife Sapphira were Christians with property. They envied the popularity of Barnabas; so they sold a field of their own. But then they hesitated. Was it wise to give all? If they gave half, everyone would think this the whole, and they would get just as much gratitude, and still have something to fall back on if the Church should collapse. So the bag Ananias brought to the Apostles contained only part of the money. He looked up expecting thanks; but Peter was not deceived.

His knowledge need not have been supernatural. In a city like Jerusalem he may well have heard how much had been paid. He asked sternly, `Has Satan given you this idea of cheating the Holy Spirit?' People are sometimes said almost to die of shame. That day it actually happened. Ananias, smugly waiting for praise and meeting nothing but contempt, staggered and fell dead. Such deaths are not unheard of. A weak heart, a paralytic stroke, an apoplectic fit, brought on by sudden shock, may cause a death like his. In Palestine bodies must be buried promptly. So young men wrapped him in his cloak, and carried him to a tomb.

The story has a sequel. Three hours later, we are told, Sapphira arrived, knowing nothing of her husband's fate. Peter gave her a chance to explain. `Was it for so much that you sold the field?' When she replied, `It was,' he exclaimed: `Is this a plot to see how far you can go with God? I hear at the door the steps of the men who have just been burying your husband.' And she collapsed at his feet and died.

Deaths from shock are not uncommon. A slab in Devizes Market Place records: `On January 1753 Ruth Pierce of Potterne agreed with three women to buy a sack of wheat in the market, each paying her share. One of these in collecting the money discovered a deficiency, and demanded of Ruth the sum due. Ruth swore that she had paid, and called on God to strike her, if she had not. To the consternation of the surrounding multitude she instantly expired, having the money concealed in her hand.'

So Sapphira's death is not incredible. What is harder to believe is that Peter had forgotten the gentleness of Jesus with sinners.