The Requiem Mass of Ann Widdecombe will take place on August 12 at Buckfast Abbey in a private gathering of friends and family. The abbey, which was her regular place of worship, called Widdecombe a “woman of profound faith”.
The Requiem Mass will be offered by the Right Reverend David Charlesworth OSB, Abbot of Buckfast.
In a statement, Buckfast Abbey said: “Ann was a frequent worshipper in the Abbey Church, attending our Sunday Solemn Mass and notably attended our Holy Week and Easter services. Many in our worshipping community knew her as a kind and warm character. She will be missed and fondly remembered.
"Ann was a woman of profound faith, a faith which found expression in the public forum of politics. Ann was unafraid to express her unwavering convictions, formed through her Roman Catholic faith. She had a sharp intellect and was a dedicated public servant. Fr Abbot and the Monastic Community extend their heartfelt condolences to her family and friends.”
The abbey asked for privacy at the Mass, to be attended by Widdecombe’s closest family and friends, “so that they may gather in remembrance and grief with dignity and peace”.
Widdecombe was received into the Catholic Church in 1993 and through her public service in her political career was known for upholding Catholic teachings pertaining to the sanctity of life and religious liberty. In 2010, Widdecombe was offered the role of ambassador to the Holy See by Prime Minister David Cameron and in 2013 was honoured as a Dame of the Order of St Gregory the Great by Pope Benedict XVI.
Following the announcement of her death aged 78 and subsequent opening of a murder inquiry, Mass was offered for the repose of her soul in both Buckfast Abbey and Westminster Cathedral on July 11. Chair of the Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales, Archbishop Richard Moth, said that she sometimes served as lector at the Sunday evening Mass at Westminster Cathedral.
On July 23, a Mass organised by the Catholic Writers’ Guild of England and Wales was said for the repose of the soul of Widdecombe, who previously served as Mistress of the Keys of the Guild.
Cardinal Vincent Nichols paid tribute to Widdecombe, calling her a “person of great freedom”.
“She was not afraid. Fear, or timidity, is often the enemy of freedom. But in her, freedom won over fear every time. She was ready to say what she held to be true. She was free to grant to others the freedom to say, in their turn, what they thought. She was ready to argue the toss in a measured and thoughtful manner. She was free to change her mind, her allegiance, when she thought it right to do so. She also had that personal freedom to enter into fun and enhance it with her joy in life.
“But there is one more freedom that she possessed and expressed quite recently, I understand. When asked if she feared death her answer was ‘No’. And her reason was firm and unequivocal. She had no fear of death because, as she said, ‘I know that my Redeemer liveth’.”
