I am writing this on the feast of Our Lady of Walsingham, overlooking the terrace of Villa Palazzola outside Rome, which offers stunning views over Lake Albano. Owned in turns by the Cistercians and the Franciscans, it was purchased in 1920 by the then Mgr Hinsley as a summer retreat centre for seminarians of the Venerable English College.
I am here to attend a Caritas conference representing Anchor House, an admirable Catholic home for the homeless, whom it tries to reintegrate into normal life. The previous chairman, Mgr John Armitage, now Rector of Walsingham, was rash enough to ask me to be a trustee. Some 50 of us are here to study “Christian leadership”, a skill in which I fear I may be sadly lacking. The Bishops of England and Wales are also in Rome, for their ad limina visit, and we plan to attend Mass with them at St Paul Outside the Walls later in the week.
